Thomas Harris, Gent., as Related by His Second Sonne

This paper offers interpretations developed from several years of excavation at the site of Curles Plantation, located on the James River just east of Richmond, Virginia. The "Findings" are presented in a fictionalized form. Life on the frontier of the 17th-century Virginia Colony is depicted through the device of a 1678 petition from William Harris to the governor. Embedded within the petition is a narrative of the life of Harris's father. In this way a single document is made to cover a variety of subjects about life in this area from the founding of the colony through the aftermath of Bacon's rebellion of 1676. Following the story is a short essay describing the sources of both information and inspiration used to construct the interpretations.