But by March of 1617, Rolfe is standing at another grave, this one at Gravesend, England, burying Rebecca far from the land she'd been taken from. And his and Rebecca's boy, little Thomas — is too sick to make the voyage home with him. So Rolfe does something almost unthinkable to a modern parent: he leaves his son behind, in the care of relatives, and sails back to Virginia alone. Not because he stopped loving his boy. But because he believed, deeply, that the colony's survival depended on him being there.

Opening Remarks / John Rolfe background

• Encyclopedia Virginia — John Rolfe entry (Bermuda shipwreck, first wife/infant daughter, Gravesend death, Thomas)
• Historic Jamestowne — Rolfe biography and timeline
• Grokipedia / Wikipedia — cross-check on first wife's name (disputed: "Sarah Hacker" ...