By Caleb Foca, B.A. History and Museum Studies, Christopher Newport University (’25), and Sheri Shuck-Hall, PhD, Professor of History, Christopher Newport University
Alchemy, the spiritual and experimental practice of transforming raw materials into something greater, was woven into the fabric of Virginia’s earliest settlers. Today, we know of its presence through physical evidence: crucibles, cupels, and glass stills unearthed by archaeologists. Interestingly, the very same laboratory equipment used to hunt for gold was also employed to distill medicinal elixirs and aqua vitae (spirits), establishing an early American tradition of distillation. This exhibit explores the roots of alchemy, its presence in early colonial America, and how its quest to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, whether transforming base metals into gold or agricultural crops into spirits, laid the groundwork for modern chemistry and shaped the American identity.
What is Alchemy?
When you hear the word alchemy, what comes to mind? For many, it evokes images of magic, wizards, and witchcraft—tropes frequently reinforced by popular media like the Harry Potter franchise or Fullmetal Alchemist. However, while early alchemical endeavors were rooted in mysticism and religion, their practical execution was remarkably scientific. The rigorous experimentation with metals pioneered by alchemists ultimately laid the foundation for modern chemistry.[1]
Alchemy operates on the premise that humans can manipulate natural elements to create entirely new substances. This is the principle of “material alchemy,” or transmutation, most famously exemplified by the attempt to turn “base” metals such as lead into silver or gold. While this objective seems impossible given our modern understanding of atomic structures, it aligned perfectly with contemporary 17th-century science. Alchemists believed that physical matter could be altered by subjecting it to extreme conditions, utilizing the four classic elements: earth, water, air, and fire. By mixing, heating, or freezing materials, they sought to trigger dramatic chemical reactions. These theories were often inspired by real-world metallurgy, such as compounding copper and tin to make bronze, which led alchemists to wonder just how far these metallic transformations could go.[2]
Additionally, there was a deeply spiritual side to the craft. Spiritual alchemy was molded by early modern religious ideas. Many alchemists believed that the natural world had been corrupted by human sin, but that pure-hearted practitioners could manipulate the material world to restore a divine, perfected order. This labor was known as the Opus alchymicum (the Alchemy Work), and practitioners believed that a pure soul was required to succeed.[3]
The Early History of Alchemy
The origins of alchemy can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where it began as part of the sacred rituals of the priesthood. To distinguish themselves from the lower classes, priests claimed they possessed the divine power to emulate the gods’ creative works. Over centuries of trade and cultural exchange, this “divine art” spread. As European thinkers engaged with these ancient texts, the practice evolved into the Western tradition of alchemy that flourished from the medieval period through the 18th century. Alchemists viewed the world as an ordered system that could be intentionally disrupted and reordered through violent physical processes—most notably, extreme heat—to forge something entirely new.[4]
In 17th-century England, alchemy played a prominent role in intellectual life. Alchemists were not isolated mystics; they were often astronomers, mathematicians, and physicians who mingled in the highest academic circles. It is important to note that alchemy was never a monolithic practice. It frequently absorbed local pagan traditions, and during the Renaissance, it became heavily Christianized. A notable example from this era is John Dee, Queen Elizabeth I’s personal astrologer and adviser. Dee was one of the most famous minds of his time, straddling the line between alchemy and early chemistry. His work epitomized the Christianized view of the craft; he firmly believed that alchemy belonged in a practical laboratory rather than just in books, and that alchemical knowledge was a divine gift bestowed by God.[5]
By the 1700s, open research and discussion of alchemy had declined sharply in England. As the Enlightenment took hold, newly formed scientific institutions like the Royal Society began excluding pseudo sciences and occult practices (such as palmistry, divination, and alchemy) from their official publications. While institutional support vanished in Europe, interest did not disappear overnight; across the Atlantic, colonial American practitioners continued to study and experiment with alchemical traditions.[6]
Alchemy Comes to Jamestown
Historical records show that four named “refiners” sailed on the original 1607 voyage to Jamestown. Because Jamestown was founded primarily as a profit-driven enterprise by the Virginia Company, historians deduce that these men were sent specifically to locate and process precious metals. The English were acutely aware of the vast wealth the Spanish Empire had extracted from the Americas, and they wanted the necessary expertise on hand to exploit any gold or silver they might find.[7]
Beyond written records, the strongest evidence of alchemical practice in Virginia comes from the ground. Archaeologists working with Jamestown Rediscovery have unearthed a vast array of industrial artifacts from the early fort site. Chief among these are ceramic vessels known as crucibles, which were specifically designed to withstand the intense heat of a furnace needed to melt, refine, and test metals.[8]
Archaeologists have also found chemical residues and raw materials, including sulphur. In the 17th century, sulphur had dual purposes. It was used by apothecaries to compound medicinal cures, but in alchemy, it was revered as one of the Tria Prima (the three primary substances, alongside salt and mercury). In spiritual alchemy, sulphur symbolized the human soul.[9]
Alchemists also relied on various liquid reagents to provoke chemical reactions. One prominent import found at the site is aqua vitae (Latin for “water of life”), a high-proof distilled spirit. Imported in specialized glass vessels from the Netherlands, aqua vitae was used as a solvent in alchemical research, a base for medicine, and occasionally enjoyed by the colonists as a strong drink.[10]
To help modern visitors visualize this work, the Spirits Museum displays a replica of an alembic, a specialized glass hood used in the distillation process. This piece was meticulously reproduced through a collaboration between the Jamestown Rediscovery project and the Corning Museum of Glass. Based on glass fragments excavated from the Jamestown fort, a master glassblower recreated a historically accurate circa-1607 alembic. When additional apothecaries and refiners arrived in the colony in 1608, tools like this alembic were vital to both the search for local metals and the distillation of medicinal cures and alcohol.
Alchemy in Colonial America
Alchemy was not isolated to Virginia; it spread throughout the thirteen colonies during the 17th century, becoming a major intellectual pursuit for the colonial elite. By the turn of the 18th century, only wealthy individuals possessed the leisure time and capital required to import expensive books and maintain private laboratories. Though the New England colonies are often remembered as strictly puritanical, they were actually home to some of America’s most prominent alchemists. Foremost among them was John Winthrop Jr., the governor of Connecticut. Winthrop was an avid scholar who amassed a massive personal library of alchemical and scientific texts. He used his knowledge to treat the sick, establish early chemical industries, and fund the creation of new ironworks and townships. Winthrop even authored alchemical treatises that circulated widely in Europe, some of which were translated into Italian.[11]
Winthrop belonged to an active network of colonial intellectuals that included figures like Robert Child and George Starkey (an American-born alchemist who later moved to England and became internationally famous under the pen name Eirenaeus Philalethes). The popularity of alchemy among the elite mirrored a broader acceptance of folk magic, astrology, and divination among everyday colonists. While we often look back at early America as a uniformly orthodox Christian society, everyday religious practices up until the Great Awakening were frequently blended with deep-seated mystical traditions.[12]
From Alchemy to Chemistry
If alchemy was once a cornerstone of early colonial life and global trade, what caused its demise? First, and most practically, its core premise did not work. As experimental science advanced, it became clear that the classical elements (earth, air, fire, water) did not accurately reflect the building blocks of matter. Thinkers grew disillusioned when centuries of attempting to transmutate base metals failed to yield gold. Second, institutional gatekeeping in the 18th century effectively ended the publication of alchemical texts, and the old guard of practitioners gradually died out.[13]
However, the empirical methodology of alchemy did not vanish; it evolved. The centuries spent testing metals, cataloging acids, and designing laboratory equipment birthed the field of modern chemistry. New generations of researchers stripped away the spiritual allegories of the craft and applied rational, systematic theories to the elements. As alchemy was discredited, chemistry gained academic legitimacy. Former alchemists redirected their skills toward understanding genuine chemical properties, permanently disproving transmutation while unlocking the secrets of the periodic table.[14]
While alchemy failed to produce literal gold, its core philosophy left a lasting mark on the American identity. A direct intellectual line connects the early refiners of Jamestown to the founders of the United States. At its heart, alchemy is the belief that human effort can transform something ordinary into something extraordinary. Through grit, heat, and hard labor, a dull metal could become something precious, just as raw ingredients could be distilled into potent spirits. In much the same way, early American colonists believed they could take the raw, ordinary materials of the New World and forge a distinct, self-made nation.
About the Author
Caleb Foca graduated with a B.A. in History and Leadership Studies and a minor in Museum Studies from Christopher Newport University in 2025. He completed this exhibit as part of his internship with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, in partnership with CNU’s Public History Department. While at CNU, Caleb also volunteered at The Mariners’ Museum and Park and the Spirits Museum. After graduation, he plans to work in public history and eventually pursue a Ph.D. in History.
Notes
- Matthew Moncrieff Pattison Muir, The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry (London: George Newnes, 1902; reprint, Project Gutenberg, 2004), chap. 1, “The Alchemy of the World.”
- Gary Patterson, Chemistry in 17th-Century New England (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2020), 14–18; David A. Katz, An Illustrated History of Alchemy and Early Chemistry (Published by the author, 1978–2008), 3–5.
- Jon Butler, “Magic, Astrology, and the Early American Religious Heritage, 1600–1760,” The American Historical Review 84, no. 2 (1979): 319.
- A. Tramer et al., “What is (was) alchemy?,” Acta Physica Polonica-Series A General Physics 112 (2007): S5; Katz, An Illustrated History, 12.
- Patterson, Chemistry in 17th-Century New England, 22–25.
- Butler, “Magic, Astrology, and the Early American Religious Heritage,” 324–27.
- Katz, An Illustrated History, 31.
- Umberto Veronesi et al., “Testing the New World: Early Modern Chemistry and Mineral Prospection at Colonial Jamestown, 1607–1610,” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11 (2019): 6853.
- Veronesi et al., “Testing the New World,” 6858–59.
- Historic Jamestowne, “Case Bottle,” Historic Jamestowne Artifact Collection, accessed April 21, 2025, https://historicjamestowne.org/collections/artifacts/case-bottle/.
- Patterson, Chemistry in 17th-Century New England, 45–49; Muir, The Story of Alchemy, chap. 10, “The Transition Period.”
- Patterson, Chemistry in 17th-Century New England, 54; Muir, The Story of Alchemy, chap. 11, “The Dawn of Chemistry.”
- Butler, “Magic, Astrology, and the Early American Religious Heritage,” 339–41.
- Patterson, Chemistry in 17th-Century New England, 88–92.