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The most popular and very believable account is that the island was named by the British explorer Bartholomew Gosnold, after his infant daughter -- Martha... He would take short sails to "the big island" (Martha's Vineyard) for the purpose of gathering sassafras root, to be hauled back to England for medicinal use. Gosnold was only on Cuttyhunk about six weeks because of a small skirmish with the Wampanoags... the British wisely withdrew from the Islands before winter. Before leaving, however, it's believed that Gosnold named the big island after his infant daughter, Martha... Another, not as popular version of the...

Results from other recent tests on bone samples confirmed that the Jamestown skeleton was an immigrant to America, showing that he ate a diet rich in wheat as opposed to an American corn diet, researchers said. The quest to identify a nearly intact skeleton found at Jamestown continues. Jamestown officials said this week that without DNA proof, researchers are doing other studies to test their theory that the skeleton discovered in 2002 belongs to Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, a founder of the first permanent English settlement in North America, established almost 400 years ago. The announcement came after The Church of...