encouraging the growth of the area. The Ludwell brothers (Thomas and Phillip) also built a substantial brick home, even larger than that of Page. The houses which Page and the Ludwells built were among the finest in the colony. The Pages' eldest son, Francis built another brick house nearby. By the third quarter of the seventeenth century, Middle Plantation began to look like a place of importance. Bacon's Rebellion During Bacon's Rebellion (1675), Middle Plantation was second only to Jamestown as the center of the political upheaval. On August 3, at the house of Major Otho Thorpe at Middle Plantation, Nathaniel Bacon held a convention of the leading men, including four councillors. They adopted resolutions stressing independence from the people in power. The people pledged themselves to resist the Royal Governor, Sir William Berkeley to the utmost, and to oppose any force sent out from England. Historians note that it was a struggle for power between Bacon and his followers and the more established settlers represented by Berkeley. During the resulting conflict, Governor Berkeley retreated to the Eastern Shore. After Bacon died of natural causes later that year, Berkeley soon regained power and returned to the Peninsula. After Bacon's death and the suppression of his followers, Middle Plantation was the site of the execution of William Drummond. Berkeley suggested he may have been "the original cause of the whole Rebellion." The same day on which Drummond was executed, the rebel Jean Baptista, a Frenchman, was also hanged there. Berkley also hanged many other colonists who had been involved in the uprising. Upon learning of the many executions, King Charles II was so displeased by the scale of retaliation that he recalled the Royal Governor to England. During the Rebellion, most of Jamestown was burned to the ground. The House of Burgesses moved temporarily to Middle Plantation while the reconstruction of the old parliament house was underway. Peace with the Natives Succeeding Berkeley on May 5, 1677, Acting Governor Sir Herbert Jeffryes invited the weroances of the neighboring Indian tribes to his camp to seek a lasting peace. On May 29, 1677, King Charles II's birthday, attendees included the queen of the Pamunkey, her son, Captain John West; the queen of the Weyanoke, the king of the Nottoways,King Shurenough of the Manakins (Monacans), and the king of the Nansemonds. By the articles which they all signed, the Indian leaders agreed to