William West arrived in Virginia in 1656 and settled in Isle of Wight County. Although West's father was supposedly murdered by American Indians, West still maintained a relationship with local American Indian groups and in 1667 he paid colonists Richard Booth and John Brown to travel to a nearby Meherrin settlement. In 1676 however, West joined Nathaniel Bacon in rebellion against the colonial government, supposedly in protest of the governor's policies that were favorable towards American Indians. When the rebellion was put down West was sentenced to death, but he escaped his confinement and eventually died in Isle of Wight in about 1708.