JAMES TOWN

a district in James co., Virginia, in which was made the first ermanent English settlement within the ts of the United States. It was founded, in 1607, on a peninsula, 32 miles from the mouth of the James River. Through the action of the current this has now become an island, and a portion of the ancient town has been carried away. The ruins of a church, a fort, and one or two houses still remain. James town was of considerable importance in pre-colonial times as the capital of the colony. The first legislative a embly ever convened in America met here in 1619. The place began to decline following the removal of the government to Williams burg. In 1676, during the Bacon rebellion, i¢-was burned, and never rebuilt. In 1781, it was the scene of an engagement between the Americans under Anthony Wayne, and the English forces under Lord Cornwall is.