Then the people said that all Virginia was divided into eight _Shires_: James City, Henrico, Charles City, Elizabeth City, Warwick River, Warrosquoyake, Charles River, and Accawmacke, and that a lieutenant was appointed over each to protect them against the Indians.

John Stevens remembered when William Claybourne, the famous rebel of colonial Virginia, tried to urge the people, against the will of the king, to drive the colonists out of Maryland, which they claimed as a part of their domain.
Claybourne established a colony at Kent Island, from whence a burgess was sent.

Leonard Calvert was governor of Maryland, and a misunderstanding arose between him and Claybourne on Kent Island.
Claybourne must go, for the island was part of Maryland, although the right of his lordship's patent was yet undetermined in England.
Claybourne resisted.

He declared that he was on Virginia territory by the king's patent, and was the owner of Kent Island, and that he meant to stay there.

He would also sail to and fro in his trading ship, the _Longtail_, to traffic with the Indians.