Leader Of Jamestown Colony

Military Calling.

John Smith was born in Lincolnshire, England, to George and Alice Rickards smith. His father was a farmer who, while not wealthy, lived comortably, owning one small farm and leasing another from Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby. Smith, unlike a majority of English children, attended grammar school where he learned to read and write. He also attracted the attention of Lord Willoughby, whose patronage helped him leave the farms of Lincolnshire. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a merchant in the seaport of King's Lynn where Smith learned what he did not want to do with his life. The death of his father and remarriage of his mother left him with a small inheritance. The first thing he did was end his apprenticeship, thus freeing him to follow a military career.

Service.

In late 1596 or early...