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Jonas Profit

Jonas Profit (born c. 1590s, died after 1610) was an English mariner and explorer. He was a colonist with the Jamestown first supply and an early fisherman and fishmonger in the Colony of Virginia.

Biography

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In May 1607, Profit left England for the Colony of Virginia as a colonist with the first supply.[1][2][3] From June through September 1608, Profit was a crew member and the designated "fisherman/sailor" on captain John Smith's boat Discovery Barge on its two expeditions throughout the Chesapeake Bay.[4][5][6] He has also been described as a "soldier" in the writings of Smith.[7][8] During the July 1608 expedition, Profit was put in charge of the pinnace as "master."[2]

Profit worked as a fishmonger in the Jamestown region.[9][10][11] Seafood he likely caught/harvested (through nest-less fishing) and sold included speckled trout, Atlantic croakers, Norfolk spot, flounder, oysters, blue crabs, and rockfish.[12][13][14]

Legacy

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The road Jonas Profit Trail in Jamestown is named for Profit, located near the beach and marina.[15]

Profit is a central character in the 1957 symphonic drama The Founders by Paul Green.[16]

The 2006 book The Weight of Smoke: A Novel of the Jamestown Colony by George Robert Minkoff is written from the perspective of Profit. The fictionalized version of Profit in the book had accompanied Sir Francis Drake on his voyages in the Caribbean.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Cato, Farrah (2021-05-13). "John Smith". Open Anthology of American Literature.
  2. ^ a b Barbour, Philip L. (2018-01-01). The Complete Works of Captain John Smith, 1580-1631, Volume I: Volume I. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-1-4696-0005-5.
  3. ^ "First Supply". Archived from the original on 2009-03-23.
  4. ^ Smith, John. "The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: With the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours From Their First Beginning Ano: 1584. To This Present 1624". docsouth.unc.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  5. ^ "A Closer Look: John Smith's Chesapeake Voyages". National Park Service.
  6. ^ Schmidt, Susan (2006). Landfall Along the Chesapeake: In the Wake of Captain John Smith. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8296-8.
  7. ^ McCartney, Martha W. (2007). Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 978-0-8063-1774-8.
  8. ^ "The First Residents of Jamestown". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
  9. ^ Montgomery, Dennis (2007-03-21). 1607: Jamestown and the New World. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7425-6900-3.
  10. ^ Jamestown Rediscovery. Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. 2000. ISBN 978-0-917565-10-6.
  11. ^ Grizzard Jr., Frank E.; Smith, Daniel Boyd (2007-03-21). Jamestown Colony: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-85109-642-8.
  12. ^ Williams, John Page (2006). Chesapeake: Exploring the Water Trail of Captain John Smith. National Geographic Books. ISBN 978-1-4262-0069-4.
  13. ^ Hughes, Stan E. (2016-05-09). Children of the Bluefish. Archway Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4808-2855-1.
  14. ^ Hume, Ivor Noël (2007). "We are starved". research.colonialwilliamsburg.org. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
  15. ^ Rand McNally Streetfinder Tidewater, VA. Rand McNally. 2002. ISBN 978-0-528-97898-2.
  16. ^ Green, Paul. The Founders. Samuel French, Inc. ISBN 978-0-573-68014-4.
  17. ^ Westerhoff, Jeff (2007). "Book Review - The Weight of Smoke: A Novel of the Jamestown Colony". Historical Novel Society.