Jenkins then married Johanna Gerald, whose family was widely known in the Chesapeake for their radical, antimonarchical views and support for democratic republican government in the English colonies.
Radically egalitarian religious groups such as the Quakers, who had been persecuted and driven out of Massachusetts and Virginia, found a warm reception in Albemarle.
When Virginians who had been involved in Bacon's Rebellion had to flee, Jenkins welcomed them to Albemarle, where they would be safe from retribution by Virginia Governor Berkeley.
Miller, promising to restore royal rule and eliminate the radicalism that pervaded the Albemarle settlements, managed to have himself appointed governor.
The series of event took place known as Culpeper's Rebellion leading to the arrest of Miller and Jenkins elevation to governor by popular acclaim.
During the time, the radically democratic Albemarle republic became, in the words of one Royalist official, a haven for "negros, Indians and English servants."
As the southern colonies became more heavily dominated by white planters committed to black slavery, servants, slaves, and other democrats fled to the Jenkins' Albemarle settlements.
More than anywhere in colonial America, the Albemarle settlements led by John and Johanna Jenkins became a multi-racial democracy where woman exercised political influence.