Background
James Needham was born in England. Possibly he was the son of George Needham of Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire, and his wife Barbara Fitch; it is evident that he belonged to a family of some social rank.
James Needham was born in England. Possibly he was the son of George Needham of Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire, and his wife Barbara Fitch; it is evident that he belonged to a family of some social rank.
He was a man of education.
He had a seat on the Ashley River. When Doctor Henry Woodward was sent by Sir John Yeamans in July 1671 to make discoveries in Virginia, Needham may have been one of the company. And when in August of 1672 Woodward was sent by the colonial council to arrest and overtake a traitor who was attempting to escape through the wilderness from Carolina to St. Augustine in the Spanish Dominions, Needham was named to accompany him. Again when Col. Abraham Wood residing on his plantation at Fort Henry, the present site of Petersburg on the James River, fitted out an expedition to trade with the Indians and discover a passage by water to the southwest, James Needham was selected to head the party. His companion was Gabriel Arthur, an uneducated but very intelligent lad, who was probably an indentured servant of Wood. The party also included eight Indians.
The journey was begun from Wood's post on April 10, 1673. Proceeding westward they were turned back by hostile Occaneeches who were encamped on the Roanoke River near the present site of Clarksville. The party reformed and again left Fort Henry in May 1673. They met some friendly Cherokees and safely passed the Occaneechi stronghold and pushed on to the west, crossing nine eastward-flowing streams. Beyond the Yadkin the party struck due west over the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains.
About two weeks later, after traversing the northwest-flowing headwaters of the New River, they came down into the valley where the water flowed to the southwest and were soon at the main Cherokee village which stood on a high bluff on the headwaters tributary of the Tennessee River, in what is now the state of Tennessee. While Needham was viewing the Valley of the Tennessee as he crossed the Alleghenies, Marquette and Joliet first saw the Tennessee country on their trip down the Mississippi.
While returning from his travels Needham readily effected a treaty with the Cherokees, and leaving Arthur to learn the language of the Indians, returned to Fort Henry accompanied by a band of Cherokees.
Wood welcomed him and refitted him for a return trip, which was begun in September 1673. Everything went well until the party passed the Occaneechi village, when on the Yadkin "Indian John, " who had been hired as a guide by Wood, fell upon Needham and murdered him in cold blood.
Quotes from others about the person
"Soe died this heroyick English man whose fame shall never die if my penn were able to eternize it, which had adventured where never any English man had dared to atempt before". (Abraham Wood)
