Edmund Scarborough

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Colonel Edmund Scarborough (September 1617 - 1671) was an influential early settler of Virginia and member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1642 to 1671.

Scarborough was born in England; his father, Edmund Scarborough (1584-1635), was a barrister and graduate of Caius College, who emigrated to Virginia with his family circa 1628.

On April 28, 1651, Scarborough led a raid of some fifty men, on the nearby Pocamoke Indian village after convincing the settlers that the Indians planned to attack. At least one historian doubts the veracity of his story and suggested that he may have invented the story in order to raise enough men for the attack the village. After capturing some of the villagers and binding them in chains the Indians did start attacking the English. In May all the men involved in the action were called to appear in court for their illegal actions.

By 1663 Col. Scarborough had become an enemy of the Quakers located in Accomack County, Virginia (including Ambrose Dixon). After the group of Quakers moved to Maryland where they were offered more religious freedom, Col. Scarborough used his positions as commander of His Majesty's Forces on Virginia's Eastern Shore and Surveyor-General of the Virginia Colony to lead a force of men into Maryland and claim the area for Virginia. Scarborough escaped condemnation for his actions thanks to his influence at the court of Charles II; his brother, Charles Scarborough, was the king's physician.

His eldest son would drown as an adult in the York River on September 21, 1739.