Sara Agnes Rice Pryor – författare

Pyrrhus Press specializes in bringing books long out of date back to life, allowing today’s readers access to yesterday’s treasures.

"When you send againe I entreat you rather send but thirty Carpenters, husbandmen, gardiners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons and diggers up of trees, roots, well provided; than a thousand of such as wee have: for except wee be able both to lodge them and feed them, the most will consume with want of necessaries before they can be made good for anything." – John Smith

John Smith is one of the most common names in the English language and akin to the use of John Doe, but every Briton and American is familiar with the explorer and mercenary Captain John Smith, who helped found the first permanent English colony in the New World at Jamestown in 1607. Jamestown is fondly remembered today for being the first permanent English settlement in the colonies, but it was not fondly remembered by those who lived and died there. The English quickly learned it would be difficult to establish a permanent settlement because of the poor weather, the swampy terrain, the hostile natives living nearby, and the general inexperience and ineptitude of the English settlers. During their first winter, everyone nearly starved, and more than half of the settlers died. By the end of the winter of 1609-1610, known as the “starving time”, barely 10% of the settlers were still alive.

Nevertheless, Jamestown is remembered today because the settlement did survive through the hardships and go on to serve as the capital of the English colony for much of the 17th century. At the same time, one of the biggest reasons for its survival and fame today can be attributed to the local Native Americans, particularly Pocahontas, who has added both a human and romanticized, mythological element to Jamestown. She was the daughter of the paramount chief (mamanatowick) Powhatan, leader of an Algonquian-speaking native group in eastern Virginia. It was this group that Smith and the other English settlers came into contact with, and Smith credited her with saving him from being killed by the Native Americans. After that, Smith was able to establish relatively friendly relations and trade with the local inhabitants, ensuring Jamestown’s survival.

Jamestown has often been cast as the backdrop of this unique relationship, one that the colonists sought to portray as representative of relations with Native Americans. Subsequent retellings of the story have often fictitiously cast Smith and Pocahontas lovers and even husband and wife, portraying both characters in a more romantic and positive light. While their relationship has been the subject of countless historical texts and even children’s books, it has no historical basis in fact, and there is still even some doubt over whether she saved Smith’s life in the famous encounter that has ensured her name remains instantly recognizable nearly 400 years after her death. 

This carefully crafted collection of Sara Agnes Rice Pryor''s works is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents:The Mother of Washington and her TimesReminiscences of Peace and WarThe Birth of the Nation: Jamestown, 1607Autobiography of Sara Agnes Rice Pryor - My Day: Reminiscences of a Long Life

The mothers of famous men survive only in their sons. This is a rule almost as invariable as a law of nature. Whatever the aspirations and energies of the mother, memorable achievement is not for her. No memoir has been written in this country of the women who bore, fostered, and trained our great men. What do we know of the mother of Daniel Webster, or John Adams, or Patrick Henry, or Andrew Jackson, or of the mothers of our Revolutionary generals? This book is dedicated to Mary Ball Washington, the second wife of Augustine Washington, a planter in Virginia and the mother of George Washington, the first President of the United States.Contents:Mary Washington''s English AncestryThe Ball Family in Virginia Coat Armor and the Right to bear it Traditions of Mary Ball''s Early Life Revelations of an Old Will Mary Ball''s Childhood Good Times in Old Virginia Mary Ball''s Guardian and her Girlhood Young Men and Maidens of the Old Dominion The Toast of the Gallants of her Day Her Marriage and Early Life Birthplace of George Washington The Cherry Tree and Little Hatchet The Young Widow and her Family Betty Washington, and Weddings in Old Virginia Defeat in War: Success in Love In and Around Fredericksburg Social Characteristics, Manners, and Customs A True Portrait of Mary Washington Noon in the Golden Age Dinners, Dress, Dances, Horse-races The Little Cloud The Storm Mary Washington in the Hour of Peril Old Revolutionary Letters The Battle-ground France in the Revolution "On with the Dance, let Joy be unconfined" Lafayette and our French Allies In Camp and at Mount Vernon Mrs. Adams at the Court of St. James The First Winter at Mount VernonThe President and his Last Visit to his Mother Mary Washington''s Will; her Illness and DeathTributes of her Countrymen

Reminiscences of Peace and War is a book based on author''s journals which is intended to contribute to public discourse about the Civil War. In this book Mrs. Pryor wrote about antebellum society but also defended the Confederacy, as did fellow writers Virginia Clay-Clopton and Louise Wigfall Wright; the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) recommended the works of these three for serious studies by other women.

Jamestown was the first settlement of the Virginia Colony, founded in 1607, and served as capital of Virginia. This book follows the first steps English settlers made in the New World. It contains plenty of legendary and historical information related to the arrival and first landing to America.