Posted on 02/01/2009 4:59:35 PM PST by Vendek
“We found the houses taken down and the place very strongly enclosed with a high palisade of great trees, with curtains and flankers very fortlike, and one of the chief trees or posts at the right side of the entrance had the bark taken off, and five feet from the ground in fair capital letters was graven CROATAN, without any cross or sign of distress. We entered the palisade, where we found many bars of iron, two pigs of lead, four fowlers, iron sacker-shot and such like heavy things, thrown here and there, almost overgrown with grass and weeds.” -- John White, Second Voyage, 1590.
On July 22, 1587, 116 men, women and children landed on Roanoke Island off the coast of present-day North Carolina, the second English settlement sponsored by Walter Raleigh. Raleigh's enterprise was launched under a charter granted by Elizabeth I to discover and colonize the “remote heathen and barbarous lands of North America.”
Three years passed before the artist-explorer Governor John White could return with supplies for Roanoke in 1590, primarily because of the Spanish Armada. The colonists had disappeared, among them White's grand-daughter Virginia Dare, first child of English parentage born in the New World.
The mystery of the “lost colony” has endured for four centuries; theories of what happened abound, of which these are most potent:
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.erroluys.com ...
For the most part, the Lost Colony has been studied alone. The blog points to the fact that there were several other attempts by French and Spanish that also either foundered or were destroyed.
For an excellent read, The Three Voyages, a first hand account by Rene Laudinerre who founded Fort Caroline at what is now Mayport Florida in 1562-64 prior to the Lost Colony. His account is amazing in the detailed description of hoe very petty disagreements and pure arrogance caused the efforts to fail.
My personal belief is that they moved inland and assimilated. Even De Soto came to East Tennessee as early as 1540 where he found a white among the Cherokee. The trade between the inland and coastal people was well established and news of whites followed the trade routes.
The recent resurgence of intense study of the Mullengons points to such a scenario.They are a mixed heritage group with no certain source. They exist however and the origin is very early in the settlement of America
You are undoubtedly correct. Consider that Columbus, Raleigh & most of the other explorers were working under what amounted to Royal contracts. Others, like fisherman, pirates, or lumberman, had probably visited before. Some would have stayed, willingly (to form a base camp) or by happenstance (shipwreck). These 'private' enterprises would probably have been subject to seizure had the monarch found out about it.
That area was part of the Islamic Caliphate during the time period we are talking about so its conceivable black Islamic sailers/servants were taken prisoner by the Spanish and transported to South Carolina (then Carolana).
Finding "white markers" in what today is essentially a "white community" would not be a surprise of course. Finding "black markers" wouldn't be a surprise either, but finding Karachi' blacks' markers IS.
That area was part of the Islamic Caliphate during the time period we are talking about so its conceivable black Islamic sailers/servants were taken prisoner by the Spanish and transported to South Carolina (then Carolana).
Finding "white markers" in what today is essentially a "white community" would not be a surprise of course. Finding "black markers" wouldn't be a surprise either, but finding Karachi' blacks' markers IS.
Hi AUsome Joy,
If you look under “Signature Posts” on the right-hand column of the blog, you’ll find three items that explain how the book project works.
See item: “A Simple Guide to A Novel of America.”
You’ll also find links to two book archives - one related to a collaboration with James A. Michener - that give the nuts and bolts of building an epic!
It seems obvious that the Lumbee Indians are the descendants — they exhibit genetic traces of Europeans and their names are those of the colonists. Their ancestors could read and write too.
The DNA project will help answer once and for all....maybe
(ahem) DNA testing could be revealing.
LOL! I knew you were going to say that.
Do you really think so?
LOL. I just had to.
"Do you really think so?"
Yes. If you test widely enough in your family.
My dad's mother (who I never knew) is related to (mtDNA U5a) 9,000 year old Cheddar Man found in England. So....
They ran out of food and were forced to live on native plants.
Their fondest wish was for something to liven up their diet, so before they perished they carved “Crouton” in a tree.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t spell and created a mystery.
It is truly an interesting but very confusing tale. There has been a recent surge of interest by boomers to get to the bottom of their heritage. My area is home to an annual gathering where stories are swapped and genealogies scrutinized as never, never before.
I tend to believe that some Portuguese sailors with the Turkish genes sailed from Cartehegna and were abandoned by their Spanish Masters at a failed Georgia or Carolina Spanish colony.They somehow were amalgamated with other marooned or failed groups. I see no reason that some of the folks from the Lost colony were not part of the group.
I have books like that too. One is about linguistics, ugh!
Wouldn't that be "too" dangerous?
Eventually the English assimilated Powhatan's daughter which was the last straw for him and decided to make peace agreements (After shrewdly using various tribes to hamper the English).
Massacreed.
Do you recall what the other inscription read?
There are still surnames of the original settlers around there that have been in the area for centuries. Anyone interested in this mystery should read the book about Roanoke Island written by Lee Miller a few years ago. She theorizes that they moved inland and it had to do with copper. She also believes that political forces in England had something to do with it. I forget the details.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.