Chesapeake by James A. Michener Short Summary

Table of Content

Voyage Three: 1636 Timothy Turlock- a gross, ferret resembling thief, is sentenced for hanging, however, his mother cries and begs for a different punishment. The judge changes the sentence to seven years as an indenture in Virginia. He was sent from England, on Captain Barstowe’s boat, to the new world. At first he didn’t sell, but then sold cheap to a poor land owner, Simon Janney. Tim escaped from the Janney’s by hitting Simon over the head, he then escaped in one of the Janney’s boats. He lost the search party, and headed into the Chesapeake.

He was then “committed to the Eastern Shore. ” The Marsh Tim finds himself staying in a marsh, shortly after arriving he meets four white men who briefly teach him survival. Tim went to Jamestown to turn himself in, but he ended up at the Steeds. Mr. Steed passed away, it was his son, Henry and his mother, Mrs. Steed who he meets. They don’t turn him in based on Mrs. Steed’s word. For five days he stays there but then returns to ‘his’ marsh. It was now autumn. The Choptank Indians tell Timothy that they owned the marsh, and he needed to buy it from them.

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He did so by stealing guns and awes from the Steed plantation and trading it for the land. Henry knows Tim stole his things but can’t prove it because Tim can hide infinite things in his marsh that no one could find but him. Then Pentaquod’s tribe is threatened by hunters and Henry Steed wants to marry Pentaquod’s daughter. The Steeds are ‘king’s’ people and Catholics, which is a conflicting problem. The king is dead, and Henry goes to ask Turlock and his family (Tciblento and 2 boys) to come stay with him under his mother Steeds order. Father Ralph is attacked for being papist, and his church in burned down.

After seeing this Tim Turlock says “to hell with Catholics,” and moves back to the marsh. Meanwhile, a new 26 year old run away servant starts staying with the Choptanks. Paul and Ralph Steed go to Jamestown to vacate Tim Turlock’s past (indenture and charges). Ralph reconnects with his conceited mother, Mrs. Maynard. Paul gets the written release for Turlock, and on the way back Ralph almost commits suicide. From there on Ralph serves as Catholic father to the Eastern Shore. Tim rejoices when he receives the written release of his charges and embraces his marsh.

He doesn’t shoot animals inside the marsh. Jamestown and St. Mary’s City are pretty much replaced by Annapolis and Williamsburg as the new capitals of Maryland and Virginia. Clans start to nomadically live on old Patamoke land. Steed’s clear up tile with Jannay by paying him for written signature. Now Steeds were free of mortgages, loans, and debt. Jannay plans to buy and establish tobacco work at Rappahannock. Choptanks can’t convince white men they are different than ‘savage Indians’ and want no harm. Nanticokes constitute the killing of all Indians.

All Indians are being killed “like squirrels”. Turlock and family are threatened because of their Indian ways in marsh. Tim finds out the country commissioners pay for wolves being killed. Time and sons hunt wolves and actually find the commissioners burial spot. They kill wolves, get paid, and go dig them back up and get paid again. One hunt they come across and Dutch tribe and steal a Swedish servant girl. Tim falls in love with her, Birgitta, and kicks out Tciblento. His one son, Stooby, was a smart, good hunter. Tim can get women “by lusting over women and allowing them to see it. He ends up having six sons in total by Tciblento, Birgitta and three other indentures. He bought and married Birgetta. Tciblento is sad and alone. Stooby is in love with the water, fish, turtles, and boats. James Lamb had arrested Tim several times for theft and sleeping with his indentured servant girl, Nancy. Lambs want Nancy and Stooby to get together. Birgetta and Stooby enjoy a canoe trip together. Steeds find out Tciblento is dying from being hit in head by drunken hunter. She asks for Stooby, but Henry could only find Tim. Tim quickly says good bye. Mrs.

Steed won’t leave her alone, Tciblento dies during a conversation with Mrs. Steed. “No muffled drums marked her passage. ” Voyage Four: 1661 Edward Paxmore, 32-year old, indentured carpenter, was sent to court for wandering away too many times and cheating his master of work in Massachusetts. The judge extends his indenture by six months. However, when he went to court the next Monday to confirm his sentence, the judge was finishing up the case for a Quaker, Thomas Kenwothy. He’s been whipped and thrown out of Mass. three times for preaching the Quaker way. He disrespected the judge by wearing his hat in court.

He is sentenced to 30 whippings and after be hung in the center of town. Paxmore found this horrible and spoke out about it being too harsh. He’s sent to the jail with Kenworthy, they talk all night while Thomas teaches Edward of the Quaker ways. Paxmore decides he wants to follow in his religion. The two men pray for Thomas before he is taken in the next morning to the center of town. Once they are there, Edward, and the majority of the townspeople gather to watch Thomas be stretched and lashed 30 times before being hung. Thomas is still preaching when the bag is left over is head and he is dropped.

Edward had yelled out to stop whipping him at his 25th lash, afterwords the judge threatened to have him whipped but Edward brushed it off while claiming a judge had the same sentence put upon Jesus. Then the judge had him sentenced to be whipped ten times on a cart at each village until he is at Rhode Island. Each night his ten lashes began to heal, only to be ripped open at every village. At his last village in Ipswitch he meets Ruth Brinton, another quaker women who is also being whipped out of Mass. He wants to take her whips but they don’t allow it. He finds out she also knew Thomas.

In 1662 he returned to Mass only to be whipped out of Mass again and thrown into Rhode Island naked. In 1663 he returned and met the old judge a different man. The judge threatens to have him hanged, but he really doesn’t want to kill him. After a discussion it is established that the judge can’t handle another death on his hands, so he sends him to Barbados where from there he can go to Maryland. In Barbados he meets a Quaker group who he goes to a meeting house with. They sit for 80 minutes in prayer and then Paxmore describes what they do to Quakers in Mass.

He helped Sam Spence repair a ship, after which he sailed to Maryland. He lands at the Chesapeake and meets Henry Steed. From there he meets the Lamb family, and soon finds out Ruth Brinton was staying at there house. He reunited with her and she quickly began to recover from her whippings. The Cliff Ruth and Edward get married. The Quakers of the Patamoke settlement were very happy with the marriage of the two heros, and gave them land to live on where Pentaquod chose his first home, under the big trees past the marsh; Ruth named it Peace Cliff. Edward would build them a house and Ruth would sew Edward some new clothes.

In 1664 Edward built three great buildings. His home was the first. Second was a beautiful Quaker meeting house with six chairs in the back which face the rows for people to worship at; boys on one side, girls on the other. The third would be his first small boat. The Indians showed him how to hollow a tree, and build a structured backbone. He built another but failed, and then built 3 more. The last and best one he named after Ruth, Ruth and him then sailed to the Steed plantation and joined them for tea. They then asked him to build them a cabinet for their old pewter dishes.

He did a great job and then after Henry asked him to build him a ginormous ship that could sail to England to save money on trade. Edward agreed and spent a lot of time thinking about how he was going to do it. He had the Indians help him chop down a great tree, then created a small model. His biggest problem was figuring how to make the big ship with stand storms impact on the sides without filling the storage space with beams. The Indians quit building however fortunately Sam Spence owed Edward for past unpaid labor and gave him nine negro slaves, who could help him build. They proved great workers.

At first Ruth didn’t agree but the couple knew they would treat them right ( Edward built them small cottages ). Edward also ends up seeking help from Stooby Turlock with finding trees with natural knots that would serve as strong nails of the ship. Stooby ends up unofficially working for him. Edward learns a lot from a Bristol tobacco trader that comes to Devon one day. He teaches him that real technical words for the parts of the ship like trunnels, keel, keelson, knees, scantlings, transon, jib boom, and floor. He also learned very important facts about how to properly make and install a sturdy mast.

Father Steed comes and visits and finally meets Edward and Ruth. He talks to them about Quakers. Edward tries hard to explain to him what it means with out insulting him, being that he is a priest, and that Quakers don’t believe in the need of priests and ministers. All through page 237-243 Father Ralph and Ruth discuss the Quaker religion. Ruth believes slavery should be condemned and to be Quaker you can own no slaves. An English ship anchored in harbor with a captain Grimscon, he and his crew are supposed Quakers. They love the meeting house and Edwards ship. They seem suspicious to Ruth.

The Steed’s ship being build by Edward has many errors that need fixing but Steeds keep faith in the ship. The colonies are lacking salt, so the Steeds try to get it; by England and by harvesting in Turlock’s marsh. Nancy lives with Turlock’s now. Birgetta wants to leave, and Stooby is upset by how Tim has treated Birgetta. Tim ends up making little salt, mean while Stooby notices strange things about English ship. Stooby knocks out Tim and takes Nancy for himself. Father Ralph is ill and request to see Ruth; they talk a little bit but then he dies shortly after his family arrives.

Ruth tries to get to know her slaves–in the middle of the night she wakes up shaking saying to be “strangled by her sins,” and she insisted to Edward to get rid of their slaves. Edward traded the slaves to Steeds for the Patamoke boatyard. Grimscon and crew turn out to be pirates, which Stooby had figured out but never mentioned. They stole the Martha Keene along with Steed’s Slaves and Birgetta willingly. Young Steed, Turlock twins and Tim, Edward and 12 others use Grimscons original ship to follow pirates to Marigot Bay. Edward notes about a ship at sea.

They arrive two weeks before pirates. When the Marth anchors in they put their capture plan into action. They couldn’t get the ship back so they set it ablaze; as well as killing Grimscon and his first mate. Birgetta was traded away and slaves were sent to death. Edward finishes his boat manual. Tim Turlock accidentally falls overboard and drowns. All the men still consider the voyage a success which Ruth cannot understand. Also Ruth is haunted by her new sin of ridding her slaves which leads them to their deaths in Haiti. Voyage Five: 1701 6-year-old Rosalind Janney was an ugly but smart woman. She struggled to find affection but decided she didn’t need it. But her father insisted on her finding a man. Chilton Janney is exaggerated ancestor hero. The Janney’s don’t talk about Simon because of his bad records and traded for wife Bessy. Rosalind’s father ended up finding her a husband. She would marry and move in with Fitzhugh (Hugh) Steed, across the bay in Maryland. Before she left Rappahannock Virginia, her father gave her a ship and crew called the ‘Fair Rosalind’, after Shakespear’s play, as a wedding gift.

Which she would sail to the Steed plantation in and Meet Hugh and his daughter Evelyn Steed, as well as be greeted with a kiss by her arranged husband. Rosalind’s Revenge Rosa (Rosalind) realizes that the plantation is a disorganized mess and they need her to help get it together. Evelyn is arranged to married through letters like Rosa was, and Rosa wants her to meet her arranged husband and asks Hugh about him. Rosa and Hugh get married abd Rosa didn’t feel ugly and established she accepted the Catholic lifestyle but wouldn’t convert. Hugh feels obligated to sleep with her.

She ends up pregnant and ends up having three kids by Hugh. Rosa visits the Steed warehouse and Paxmore boatyard. She asks the Paxmore brothers for help in cleaning up the plantation. The brothers observe the Steed’s place and take Rosa to Peace Cliff to see their well built house, originally by Edward and added on to (a telescope house). She meets Ruth who obviously mentions slaves. They talk for hours about the church, how Edward died a few years back, and all about the Steed history like how Earl Steed, Hugh’s dad, was killed by Griscom’s vengeful pirate crew.

She also told Rosa about how Hugh was currently sleeping with Tim Turlock’s grand daughter, Nelly, and had children with her in the marsh. Rosa sailed back to Devon and decided not to confront Hugh and instead tend to her new garden. But first she had to deal with Regis and his mother Claxton (Evelyn’s arranged family) coming to see to their marriage. Rosa teased and ironically flattered Regis when they first meet. Evelyn doesn’t want to marry him, so before the wedding ceremony Rosa chases the Claxtons back to Annapolis. About a year later Father Darnley sends a much better Thomas Yates to court and marry Evelyn.

They got married and moved, immediately after Rosa spent time on landscaping. She planted trees and flowers that would live a long time or always come back, and also didn’t need much individual care, some examples: red maple trees, holly trees, and daylilie flowers. At first the garden didn’t do great but by 1706 they thrived. Hugh was always leaving now to the marsh. Rosa finds out that Nelly’s mom and dad were both Tim Turlock’s offspring (brother and sister), which may explain why they look less like Tim. Rosa and Mark Steed write and he says that he’s coming home with the October convoy.

However, those times were terrifying for ships and plantations due to pirates. Mark would have a long, tactical, scary voyage home ? even traveling with the October convoy, the joining of merchant and battle ships, which would cross the seas two or three times a year together. The October convoy fleet went head on with Bonfleur’s pirate army and sank Bonfleur’s ship, driving away the pirates. Mark Steed got home safe, and met Rosa. She said he was “the salvation of the Steeds,” and he was. He fixed and help make the plantation self-sufficient. They only hired expert slaves and indentureds for particular tasks.

Rosa had two hired for brick making. Rosa found a way to keep the ships from being eaten by worms by putting them upstream in certain months. Mark is visited by Nelly at the warehouse, she runs an unpaid tab under Hugh for fabric for her family. Rosa says not to protest. She tells Mark about Hugh’s kids with Nelly. Mark kind of likes Rosa based on her character. The Steed plantation is also becoming over populated so Rosa sends some of the more distant Steed family west up the Bay where Pentaquod once lived before it burned- but is now beautiful again.

Hugh was fun to have around, but it didn’t matter when he was away. Neither Hugh or Rosa loved each other but live in peace. But Hugh does love all his kids very much. Rosa took care of people on the island for most medical issues. Mark meets Ruth and her grand daughter Amanda. Rosa and Mark try to help Rosa’s real Janney family plantation but her two sisters and their husbands are hopeless so she crudes them out and leaves. She demands Mark goes to marry Amanda even though she’s Quaker. Mark and Amanda are married and moved in together.

Rosa puts all her attention to her three children of Hugh; Rachel, Samuel and Pierre. They were all very smart- she taught them as much as possible but then had to bring the boys to the Jesuit settlement to learn to become fine young men. On her way back she spots pirates. The pirates were Bonfleur’s, they took slaves, killed Mark and Rachel, and burned nearly the entire plantation. Rosa survived, and Hugh wasn’t even there. She swears to find and hang any pirates but especially Bonfleur. She takes two of the Steed ships and has more sails cannons put in. She had merchant sailors trained with guns and cutlasses.

They came across a pirate ship and captured 19 pirates. Instead of turning them into Annapolis authorities, she has them hung right on the island. She wanted the papers with her victory to be published at all the ports so Bonfleur and the other big pirates would know she would protect the Bay from piracy. Rosa told Hugh he was a coward and either him or her were getting on the ship to fight pirates. Hugh goes and Rosa starts planning the rebuilding of the house and cares for Amanda who is pregnant with her dead Mark’s baby. But Amanda says she’s going back to Peace Cliff.

Bonfleur is captured and hung at Patamoke. Rosa visits Evelyn and Tom Yates at their home on the James River. Hugh is back from the pirate hunting and decides to move to the marsh. He dies shortly after while hunting. Rosa buried him at the oak tree. Tom Broadnax, also the town judge, has a slave girl who gets pregnant with a bastard child. She is whipped and the baby was indentured to Broadnax until the age of 21. Rosa gets fined for speaking up about the Betsy (the servant girl) case. She meets Stooby Turlock who says Nelly was getting whipped out of Judge Broadnax’s spite.

Rosa goes to see Ruth. They both decide to go to the whipping post before Nelly’s sentence, stripe, and request to be whipped too. After that, no other women were whipped in Patamoke. Stooby tries to give Rosa, Hugh and Nelly’s kids but Rosa sends them back to the marsh with Stooby. Stooby lived years after 73 and took care of the kids. Rosa’s boys return from Bohemia, and want to continue their studies at St. Omer’s in France. But the May convoy was in danger because of the new big pirate, Edward Teach or Black Beard, who talked about killing Rosa and her family.

Luckily a Lieutenant Maynard chopped off Black Beards head in a fight. At the Broadnax’s they were abusing the grown indenture, Penny, who’s mother Betsy ran away. Starved, hardly clothed, beaten, and locked in a closest. One day Penny ran away and came across Rosa at the warehouse. They immediately fed her when Mrs. Broadnax came in. Rosa pushes her back and tells her to stay away. Rosa took Penny back home with her, then she is charged for harboring her. She went to court, by the only judge in town, and was sentenced three dunkings.

Judge Broadnax turned out to be Penny’s father by rape. Rosa is only given three very quick, not painful dunkings in the Choptank because the town supports her. Broadnax’s leave town from embarrassment. Rosa’s brick mansion she’s building is named ‘Rosalind’s Revenge,’ some say from her triumph over pirates, or over Broadnax, or just because Hugh said it before he left her for the marsh. Everyone thinks the house is ugly and not proportioned. Ruth Brinton Paxmore gives her last speech about slavery and Quakers at the church in 1721, and two days later died.

Amanda’s daughter, Beth, is grown and needs to be educated. Pierre and Samuel return from France. Rosa hires a tutor named Phillip Knollys, and starts a school for all the Steed children. Beth actually likes him and plans to marry him. Rosalind’s Revenge: Rosa had a new cupboard made for the saved pewter dishes. She had a family dinner. Told kids the stories of the brave Steed and Janney’s heroic past people. In October 1732, Rosa went for a boat ride on a cloudy day to Peace Cliff just to see the old Paxmore house. On her way back there was a bad storm which tossed her boat over.

The Turlock children found the wrecked ship and Rosa buried in the sand dead on a beach. Voyage Six: 1773 Jonathan Wilcok used blackmail on a Proprietor of Maryland, Lord Baltimore, to become the Priest of the Christian church that was north of the Dividing Creek. No force could stop him from doing what he wanted ( getting drunk, having bastard kids, bad wife and mistress, or throwing himself into others problems ). He became well over 300 pounds, his slaves had to help him get around like pushing him into a horse cart or squeezing him onto a boat.

There was a trial in Patamoke one day, the three men on trial were surprising, “with nothing but their common guilt to form a bond between them. ” Simon Steed- age 43, tall and austere, Catholic, went to St. Omer’s, smart, elegant, a gentlemen. Levin Paxmore- age 40, head of Paxmore boatyard, Quaker, he rebelliously wore a hat in court like Thomas Kentworthy did years ago, he displayed a different elegance than Simon, and times were tough for money. Teach Turlock- named after Edward ‘Black Beard’ Teach the pirate which he displayed most qualities, age 41, lived and loved the marsh “and dressed accordingly. They were being charged for not paying their share of the tax, must be paid in tobacco, to support the Christian church. Simon because he Catholic, Levin because he Quaker, and Teach because he doesn’t have it or care about the life outside of the marsh ‘he offered to shoot the tax collector’. They have refused 3 times, Simon and Levin are ordered by the judge to pay in tobacco, and Teach in part of his land. Teach loves his land immediately blacks-out from anger and jumps on the Jonathan and starts beating him up-sentenced to jail for six weeks.

Two justices talk after and one says he won’t let the people be taxed for the Church they don’t support, and is scared for an uproar from people like those 3 “will united on common ground. ” Three Patriots The new generation of Paxmore and Steed were talking about commerce. Steed wants Levin to build him a ship, Levin says no, I’ll build you a schooner. As they plan the ship Paxmore comes to find out that Steed request a slender, fast ship, even without room for cargo, just enough for cannons. He wanted a war ship. “Never!

Ours is to be a small schooner of peace,” Steed says. They plan out the ship together fast. Guy and Jane Fithian come- Guy tries to get Simon Steed to run Janney plantation that is about to go bankrupt, but Steed says no even after visiting Virginia. Jane and Simon get married. He is actually attracted to her in bed and might love her. She had started his life. When Turlock was in jail he behaved badly, and was sentenced more land away. When he is released from jail he steals the deeds requesting his land away with the help of his wife.

He also took his old sloop and 10 men and raided colonial ships-killing men and taking their goods. Levin was working 15 hour days to finish the Whisper, Steeds ship, and also had men start cutting trees for more ships that he knew he would have to build. Levin Paxmore’s wife was like Ruth Brinton and was fighting slavery and got into a fight with Levin over it insisting that he testify against it, but he didn’t have time. Some of Paxmore’s shipyard men borrowed tools secretly to help fix Teach Turlock’s ship.

Guy sent Simon 200 lbs of cheap, taxed, wanted, quality tea from Britain. Teach would not allow the sales of taxed tea happen in the bay, especially after the tobacco tax and stolen land. He talks to Steed about it and they agree to have the same goal in the inevitable war, and Teach burns the tea in the Fair Rosalind. Levin comes in and says he already planned on more war ships which made him apart of the rebellion. They were sending a letter to parliment, which Jane found idiotic. Teach becomes captain of the whisper. Jane and Simon love each other deeply and have a baby.

However, in one of Jane’s letters to Guy, Simon realizes how much she hates living in Maryland and the rebellion that has started. Turlock comes back from his first solo captain trip with big gold coins called ‘big joes’. His mission now is to get salt from St. Ubes (very close to England and never gone to before by colonies). Matt, Teach’s boy, is the first ever Turlock to learn how to read and write from Mr. Semmes. Talk about the colonies separating from England spreads more and Jane plans to leave Maryland with the baby after hearing Philadelphia’s plans to address the king (417).

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