120
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
arrears of what consideration was covenanted
unto him by Leonard Calvert, Esq., for his
services in the office of Governor of this pro-
vince, being half of his Lordship's receipts for
the year 1646, and half of the customs for the
same year." It was ordered that he should be
paid. On Aug. 26, 1649, Lord Baltimore is-
sued a proclamation in which he declared that
"Captain Edward Hill (the Governor in
1646)" was only his "pretended lieutenant of
said province," but never fully authorized by
or from him. After his return to Virginia,
Hill resumed his seat in the assembly, as a
burgess from Charles City. From that time
until 1654, when he is mentioned as having
been unanimously chosen speaker of the house
of burgesses, nothing is known of him except
that, in 1650, he was summoned before the
council because, without obtaining the license
required, he had "collected fifty men to accom-
pany him on an expedition to the lands west
of the falls, with the avowed intention of find-
ing gold and silver in these parts." After his
election as speaker, one \\'illiam Hatcher
maliciously reported" him to be an atheist and
blasphemer, to the great indignation of the
"Honorable Governor and Council," who
"cleared the said Colonel Hill, and certified the
same unto the House." On March 31, 1654-
55. Col. Hill was a member of the council, and
in March of the year following, the council
ordered that he should be given command of
"100 men at least," and sent to remove "by
force if necessary," 600 or 700 western and
inland Indians who had "set down near the
falls of James river and were a great danger."
Hill, who w^as at that time commander-in-chief
of Henrico and Charles City counties, at the
head of a force consisting of colonists and
friendly Pamunkey Indians, met the hostile
savages on a small creek in Hanover county.
as John Ledderer recites. His little army was
put to confusion, and Tottopottomoy, the chief
of the Pamunkeys was killed, wdience since
that day the creek has been known as Totto-
pottomoy Creek. The failure of the under-
taking brought down upon Col. Hill, the cen-
sure of the assembly, which directed, in 1656,
his suspension from all civil and military
offices, that he should be "incapable of resti-
tution but by an assembly," and charged to his
account the expenses of procuring peace with
the Indians. Col. Hill was successful, how-
ever, in regaining the favor of the assembly,
for in April, 1658, he was again a member of
the council, and in March, 1659, he was a
burgess for Charles City and speaker of the
house. His death occurred about the year
1663, and he was succeeded in his large landed
estates by his son. Col. Edward Hill Jr., of
Shirley, of whom a sketch will appear later.
Dew, Thomas, of Nansemond county, was, in Jan., 1639. appointed by the assembly an inspector of tobacco in Upper Norfolk county. He was a member of the house of burgesses in April, 1642 and again as "Captain Thos. Dew," in Nov., 1652, as "Lt. Col. Thos. Dew" in 1653, and as "Colonel Thos. Dew," in Nov., 1654. He was elected to the council on March 31, 1654-55. on March 13, 1657-58 and was present as a member in March 1659-60. In Dec, 1656. the assembly passed a resolution on the petition of Col. Thomas Dew, permit- ting that gentleman to make discoveries of the navigable rivers between Capes Hatteras and Fear, with such other gentlemen and planters as would, voluntarily and at their own charge, accompany him. Whether or not Col. Dew remained in the council after 1660. is not known. The following are the grants of land he received: (i) Thomas Dew, four hundred
