*Rolfe (right, standing behind Pocahontas) as portrayed in [Baptism of Pocahontas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_of_Pocahontas "Baptism of Pocahontas"), 1840, by [John Gadsby Chapman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gadsby_Chapman "John Gadsby Chapman")* (1585-1622) English farmer and merchant. Sailed to [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Topic Index/Jamestown]] with his wife, Sarah, in the "Third Supply", which was commanded by [Sir George Somers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Somers) and foundered in a storm in Bermuda. His wife died in 1610 (probably in Bermuda), and Rolfe decided to continue on tho the original destination along with a smaller group. When they arrived, they discovered a colony that had only barely survived the "Starving Times". The sixty survivors had actually decided to abandon Jamestown when Rolfe and the rest of his party arrived. Rolfe brought with him seeds of a better variety of tobacco than the wild plants the [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Notes to Fill/Powhatan Indians]] were cultivating. This was the valuable Spanish Tobacco that was grown in the Caribbean, althoug Spain had tried to prevent anyone else from getting seeds. It is unclear whether Rolfe stole seeds from Trinidad, where it was grown, or whether the Spanish had previously planted some in Bermuda. In any case, the better, commercially valuable tobacco saved Jamestown's economy. Rolfe established a plantation thirty miles upriver from Jamestown and shipped his first tobacco export to England in March, 1614. A month later, Rolfe married [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Notes to Fill/Pocahontas]], the daughter of Chief [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Notes to Fill/Powhatan]]. The chief's daughter, who as a young girl had saved the life of [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Topic Index/Captain John Smith]] in 1607, was by this time 19 years old. She and Rolfe had a son they named [Thomas Rolfe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Rolfe) in January 1615. The tobacco business was profitable, and in 1616 the Rolfes travelled to London to promote Jamestown, tobacco, and to show off the successful Christianization of a native. Pocahontas was accompanied by a dozen other [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Notes to Fill/Powhatan Indians]], and she was welcomed in London as a princess and presented to King James I. Rolfe published a "[True Relation of the State of Virginia](https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Rolfe%2C%20John%2C%201585%2D1622)" while in London. But as they were setting out on a return journey to Virginia, Pocahontas died of disease. Her son Thomas was also ill, but survived and returned with his father to Virginia. Rolfe married again and continued raising tobacco successfully. He died in 1622, possibly in the fighting during the [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Topic Index/Second Anglo-Powhatan War]]. The land given by [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Notes to Fill/Powhatan]] passed to Thomas Rolfe. Thomas seems to have kept in touch with his native relatives and in 1641, he seems to have visited his uncle [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Topic Index/Opechanacanough]], who had become chief when his brother had died shortly after Pocahontas. This was just a couple of years before the old chief began the [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Topic Index/Third Anglo-Powhatan War]], in which he would be killed.