Chanco
Encyclopedia
Chanco is a name traditionally assigned to an Indian who is said to have warned a Jamestown colonist about an impending Powhatan attack
in 1622. This article discusses how the Indian came to be known as Chanco. For a discussion of the various accounts of the Indian's warning, and its consequences for Jamestown, see the entry for Richard Pace (Jamestown)
.
's official account of the 1622 attack, but the Indian is not named. He is described only as a converted Indian "belonging to one Perry":
No contemporaneous account mentions a name for the Indian. The name "Chanco" does not appear until 1740.
published his History of the first discovery and settlement of Virginia. According to a description of the book on the Library of Congress website, ""William Stith compiled this detailed factual history of Virginia by culling material from the Records of the Virginia Company, a manuscript archive that Jefferson later owned and used in his own work." The archive was subsequently acquired by the Library of Congress and is now available online
Stith includes the story of the warning passed to Richard Pace by the Indian. In Stith's version, the Indian is named as "Chanco":
This passage appears to refer to a letter written from the Council in Virginia to the Virginia Company of London, dated April 4, 1623. The letter includes the following:
Stith apparently read this letter, during the course of his research, and concluded that the Indian called "Chauco" (which Stith read as "Chanco") was the same person as the Indian who gave the warning to Richard Pace.
Whether Stith's identification was correct or mistaken, remains undetermined. It appears that Indians warned colonists in more than one location. In Pocahontas's People, Helen C. Rountree argues that Chauco and the Pace's Paines Indian have probably been wrongly conflated.
Whatever the truth, the name "Chanco" has by now been firmly established in folklore as the name of "the Indian who saved Jamestown," and seems unlikely ever to be dislodged.
, which is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia. (http://www.chanco.org)
Indian massacre of 1622
The Indian Massacre of 1622 occurred in the Colony of Virginia, in what now belongs to the United States of America, on Friday, March 22, 1622...
in 1622. This article discusses how the Indian came to be known as Chanco. For a discussion of the various accounts of the Indian's warning, and its consequences for Jamestown, see the entry for Richard Pace (Jamestown)
Richard Pace (Jamestown)
Richard Pace was an early settler and Ancient Planter of Colonial Jamestown, Virginia. According to a 1622 account published by the London Company, Richard Pace played a key role in warning the Jamestown colony of an impending Powahatan raid on the colony....
.
The Unnamed Indian
The Indian's warning to Richard Pace is described in the London CompanyLondon Company
The London Company was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.The territory granted to the London Company included the coast of North America from the 34th parallel ...
's official account of the 1622 attack, but the Indian is not named. He is described only as a converted Indian "belonging to one Perry":
No contemporaneous account mentions a name for the Indian. The name "Chanco" does not appear until 1740.
First Use of the Name "Chanco"
In 1740, William StithWilliam Stith
William Stith was an early American historian. He is the author of one of the earliest histories of Virginia, The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia: being an Essay towards a General History of this Colony, published in Williamsburg by William Parks in 1747...
published his History of the first discovery and settlement of Virginia. According to a description of the book on the Library of Congress website, ""William Stith compiled this detailed factual history of Virginia by culling material from the Records of the Virginia Company, a manuscript archive that Jefferson later owned and used in his own work." The archive was subsequently acquired by the Library of Congress and is now available online
Stith includes the story of the warning passed to Richard Pace by the Indian. In Stith's version, the Indian is named as "Chanco":
Origin of the Name
Where did Stith get the name "Chanco"? Later in the book, he mentions the name again:This passage appears to refer to a letter written from the Council in Virginia to the Virginia Company of London, dated April 4, 1623. The letter includes the following:
Stith apparently read this letter, during the course of his research, and concluded that the Indian called "Chauco" (which Stith read as "Chanco") was the same person as the Indian who gave the warning to Richard Pace.
Whether Stith's identification was correct or mistaken, remains undetermined. It appears that Indians warned colonists in more than one location. In Pocahontas's People, Helen C. Rountree argues that Chauco and the Pace's Paines Indian have probably been wrongly conflated.
Whatever the truth, the name "Chanco" has by now been firmly established in folklore as the name of "the Indian who saved Jamestown," and seems unlikely ever to be dislodged.
Other uses
"Chanco" is also used in the name of "Chanco On the James," a retreat center on the banks of the James River in Surry County, VirginiaSurry County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 7,058 people, 2,619 households, and 1,917 families residing in the county. The population density was 24 people per square mile . There were 3,294 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
, which is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia. (http://www.chanco.org)