The first Africans arrived in Virginia aboard the White Lion in 1619. They had been
captured from a Portuguese slave ship and purchased with food by the governor
of the colony. These unfortunate folks worked in the capacity of indentured
servants for the elite of the English colonists. Like their Anglo masters, many
of them died of disease and as a result of Opechancanough’s attack three years
after their arrival.
2 Then, in 1628, the ship Fortune brought about one hundred more Africans to Virginia. Among
them, was a young boy who had taken the Christian name of John. He was just
sixteen years old when he sailed up the James River to his new home. The
captain of the Fortune had acquired
him and his companions from a Spanish slaver in much the same fashion that the White Lion had acquired its cargo nine
years earlier.
3 Frankly, the Massachusetts Bay ship had been a
welcome change for the involuntary guests of the Spaniards. The conditions
aboard that ship had been appalling. They had been stuffed below decks with
sickness, vomit and excrement with little to eat or drink. The heat had been
stifling at times and many of John’s friends had died along the way from their
homeland.
4 The captain explained to the eager plantation owners
gathered around his cargo that many of them had a great deal of experience with
cultivating tobacco. The dealing commenced almost immediately. They needed
laborers, and the captain wanted some of their tobacco to sell in England.
5 It was then that Hugh Gwyn stepped forward, waving
his hand and shouted, “I will take this bunch.” He was pointing directly at
John when he said it.
6 “How much will you give me for him?” the captain
asked. “I meant, oh well,” Gwyn snorted. “I’ll give you this bundle.” “Sold,”
the captain shouted over the heads of his other prospective customers. Then one
of the sailors grabbed John by the arm and took him over to Gwyn and retrieved
the bundle of tobacco.
7 “Do you understand any English, boy?” Gwyn asked. “A
little,” the boy admitted. “Well, that is better than none,” Gwyn replied.
“Come along then,” he motioned for John to follow him.
8 For the next two years, John worked hard at learning
English and about the cultivation of tobacco. He was a quick study in both, but
his master was rarely satisfied with anything he did. “Your food, clothing and
housing has cost me dearly. I need more work from you to justify these
expenses,” he would say.
9 The following year, John married a fellow servant
named Jane. “What is your family name?” the priest had asked him. John paused
for a moment. He didn’t want to assume the name of his master.
10 Then he remembered that day on the banks of the
river when he had been sold for a bundle of tobacco. “Bunch!” he exclaimed. “My
name is John Bunch.” “I will expect both of you to work just as hard as
before,” Gwyn told them as they walked out of the small chapel.
11 In the years that followed, Gwyn acquired more
servants to work alongside of John and his coworkers. Two of them, James and
Victor, became fast friends with John.
12 “Has old Gwyn always been such a tyrant?” James
asked. “For as long as I have worked for him,” John answered. They all laughed,
but Gwyn’s constant demands and temper tantrums were becoming unbearable.
13 “I will not endure another seven years of this!”
Victor declared one day. “What are you going to do?” John asked him. “I say
that the three of us leave this place and go to Maryland and find work,” he
replied.
14 “What about Jane?” John pleaded. “You can send for
her and the children later,” James suggested.
15 That night, John and his companions slipped out
into the darkness and headed north. They found a man with a small boat the
following day who was willing to allow them to board his vessel and cross the
Chesapeake into Maryland for a small amount of silver.
16 Gwyn, however, had no intention of allowing his
investment in these three men to quietly slip away. He immediately went to the
colonial authorities and demanded the return of his “property.”
17 A few days later, news came back that three men had
been apprehended in Maryland whom the authorities believed to be Gwyn’s
fugitive servants. Within days, he had identified the men and they were
awaiting trial before the General Court.
18 The court ordered the three men to be whipped for their insolence – thirty lashes each. Victor and James were also ordered to serve an additional three years at the end of their original term of indenture, but John was ordered to serve Hugh Gwyn “for the rest of his natural life.”
19 “How can that be?” John thought. “How can they make
such a difference between us?” Nevertheless, John’s case made it abundantly
clear that indentured servitude meant very different things for White and Black
servants.
20 Now these are the generations of John Bunch of
Africa:
21 John was the forefather of Henry, Samuel and many
others.
22 Henry married Ann Callaway; and they had a daughter
named Elizabeth.
23 Elizabeth Bunch married Andrew Hodges; and they had
a daughter named Susannah, who married Robert Reynolds and had two children: Jonathan
and Mary.
24 Samuel Bunch was the forefather of Anna, who
married Samuel Allred.
25 Samuel and Anna Allred were the ancestors of Barack Obama.
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