The English colonists began creating settlements upstream along the James River by around 1611 . By the end of the First Anglo-Powhatan War , the colonists under the command of Thomas Dale had removed the Native American presence at Jordan Point . Just after this time , the land at Jordan Point also became known as Beggars Bush , a common place name in England with over 120 known instances that alludes to both a temporary shelter for the indigent and a path to ruin . Beggars Bush also became the residence of an early settler in the area , Samuel Jordan . In 1620 , Jordan patented a 450-acre plantation around Beggars Bush that fell within Charles City , an incorporation of the Virginia Company of London , the early proprietor of the Virginia Colony . As with the majority of plantations in Virginia at this time , the plantation focused on tobacco production with labor primarily supplied through English indentured servants . During the Powhatan surprise attack of 1622 , Beggars Bush was besieged , but it was not overrun and no deaths due to the attack were listed . In the aftermath of the attack , Beggars Bush became one of eight strongholds in the colony , and the Virginia Company ordered all settlers from nearby plantations to abandon their lands and temporarily resettle there
Powhatan surprise attack of 1622
Indian massacre of 1622
Jordan Point, Virginia