Thomas Rolfe was the only child of Pocahontas and John Rolfe had his paternal grandfather John Rolfe Sr, while his maternal grandfather was Wahunsunacock, the chief of the Powhatan tribe in Virginia.
After his mother died in England, he was raised in England till he was an adult, and then he went back to the colonies.
He was born in January 1615, in Virginia. He was recorded to be the first child born with English and Native American blood.
He was named Thomas after Governor Sir Thomas Dale who was Pocahontas keeper during her capture and marriage to Rolfe. The family went back to England and was treated like royalty. They travelled the country, re-connected with Captain John Smith, and prepared to return to Virginia in March 1617.
Pocahontas, however, fell very sick before they could begin the trip back. Young Thomas was not well or strong enough to begin the journey back to Virginia so he stayed with Sir Lewis Stukley and his uncle Henry Rolfe raised him.
In England, he got formal education and after he became an adult, he went back to his roots. At this point, his father had died. However, his father before his death had willed to him all the land that was given to him from the natives for his marriage to Pocahontas.
Thomas then went back to Virginia in 1635. There is no further mention of him until 1641 so it is believed that he began to cultivate the land he inherited.
Thomas put in the effort to build a relationship with his Native American people, however, the years since his birth had not been peaceful for the English and Powhatan people and contact with the natives had become forbidden.
Thomas didn’t stop trying to meet with his relatives. He married Jane Poythress, the daughter of Captain Francis Poythress, who was a wealthy landowner in Virginia Colony.
They had a daughter, who continued the legacy of Pocahontas and from her, the lineage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe grew.
