Reverend Alexander Whitaker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Whitaker

Alexander Whitaker (1585–1616) was a Christian theologian who settled in North America in Virginia Colony in 1611 and established two churches near the Jamestown colony. Known as "The Apostle of Virginia" by contemporaries, he was the son of William Whitaker (1548–1595), noted Protestant scholar and Master of St. John's College, Cambridge.

Born in Holme, Lancashire, Whitaker was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and became a clergyman in the North of England.[1] Travelling to Virginia in 1611, he was a popular religious leader with both settlers and natives, for he was responsible for the baptism and conversion of Pocahontas. His relative tolerance of the Native American population that English colonists encountered can be found in his sermons, some of which were sent back to England to help win support for the new colonies in North America. The most famous of these sermons is Good Newes from Virginia (1613), in which he describes the native population as "servants of sinne and slaves of the divill," but also recognizes them as "sons of Adam," who are "a very understanding generation, quicke of apprehension, suddaine in their despatches, subtile in their dealings, exquisite in their inventions, and industrious in their labour."

It was a marked difference from the other reports such as those by Cotton Mather which described the native population as little more than beasts, deserving of extermination.

Whitaker drowned in 1616.

Before leaving England, Whitaker had crossed paths with a York merchant who later became an English naval captain and explorer of New England, Christopher Levett of York. In Whitaker's will of 1610, and proved following his death in 1616, Whitaker noted that he owed "Christopher Levite, a linen draper of the city of York" just over £5.[2] Trained as a York merchant, Levett later founded the first settlement at Portland, Maine, where he was granted 6,000 acres (24 km2) by the King. The settlement failed.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~madgenealogist/WhitakerDes...

American Wills proved in London (1611-1775). Alexander Whitaker of Blackfriars, London, now crossing the seas to Va., dated 16 Feb., 1611. Bequests to: my brothers Samuel, William and Jabez Whitaker; my sisters Frances Whitaker, Susanna Lothrop, and Mary Clarke, wife of Raynes Clarke; my cousin William Gouge. I leave to my brother Samuel my Bill of Adventure to Va. and the profits thereof if I die without issue. Christopher Levitt, linen draper of the City of York, my cousin Anthony Culverwell and Mr. Crashawe owe me money. Sir Henry Griffith of Burton Agnes, Yorks., owes me for a chest of viols. Exec. to be my said brother Samuel and overseer my cousin William Gouche of Blackfriars, clerk. Wits: Richard Culverwell and Caleb Gouge. Pr. 4 Aug 1617 in Commissary Court of London by Samuel Whitaker and, on his death, admin. granted in PCC 3 Sep 1617 to the sister Susan Lothrop. (Guildhall: 9171/23/75 & PRO: PCC PROB 11/130/95).