User:Steveprutz/jamestown/muster
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Virginia Muster of 1624 and 1625 O.S.
The 1624/5 Muster is a house-to-house survey that contains information about the location of households in Virginia, the individuals in each household and the ties that connected the colony's early residents to one another. The census-takers also made note of each household's provisions, buildings, boats, arms and ammunition, and livestock. The names of individuals who died during 1624 is part of the muster.
Background
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4 May [O.S. 14 May] 1607, more than 100 English men and boys established the Jamestown Settlement for the Virginia Company of London. After the voyage, ship food stores were low, so Captain Christopher Newport sailed for England for resupply.
James Island was a mosquito-filled swamp. The surrounding James River was also brackish, thus the drinking water supply was limited. Other environmental factors, such as a drought period combined with unskilled colonists (unable to farm or hunt) caused a slow decline in food and health. There was also the fear of hostile natives, which made leaving the settlement to forage a substantial risk.
The Indian massacre of 1622...