Williamsburg, Va. ? For the first time since Thomas Jefferson became governor, Virginia on Saturday celebrated the inauguration of a new chief executive with volleys from Revolution-era cannons and fife-and-drum flourishes on the grounds of the state’s Colonial Capitol.

Timothy M. Kaine followed in some historic footsteps as he took the oath as the state’s 70th governor.

Patrick Henry was also sworn in here as the first governor of an independent Virginia here in 1776, and Jefferson followed in 1779, the year the government moved to Richmond to elude British capture.

In a short speech to nearly 5,000 guests standing in the cold rain, Kaine evoked that history, exhorting residents to pursue “the promise of Virginia.”

He signed his first directive as governor: an executive order barring employment discrimination in state government on the basis of race, gender, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or political affiliation.

Saturday’s inaugural ceremonies were moved to Williamsburg for the first time in 227 years because of extensive renovations at the 200-year-old state Capitol that Jefferson designed in Richmond.