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 Greenville Daily Reflector
Today is the deadline to register for the East Carolina University Lifelong Learning Program's The Lost Colony and More Tour, scheduled for June 11-12 in Nags Head and Manteo. To register or for more information, call 328-9198 or visit 


http://www.ecu.edu/llp

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The Chowan Fort Discovery on the John White Map

The Chowan Fort Discovery on the John White Map

by Roberta Estes

First we'd like to congratulate Brent Lane with the First Colony Foundation for his keen eye in spotting the anomaly on John White's map drawn of "Virginia" in 1585-1586 and the British Museum for their fine detective work in locating the fort icon on the map, under patches, shown below. 

An enlargement  of the fort location on the map is provided, below, by the British Museum.  There were actually two fort icons, one on top of the other, and two layers of patches, per  their published technical results.  

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=753203&partid=1

This new piece of information is both important and enlightening....and like many news items, has been blown a bit out of proportion.  It has been reported that this is the location where the lost colonists relocated, which at this point, is certainly a leap of logic.   Let's take a look at what was found, what we know, and the possibilities of what it might mean.

John White was an artist.  He accompanied the 1584 and 1585/1586 military expeditions to what was then called "Virginia."  Those expeditions, headquartered off of Roanoke Island, were specifically to scout a suitable location for establishing a colony, the "Citie of Raleigh."  The location chosen was in the Chesapeake region, not Roanoke Island, but a snafu in 1587 resulted in the colonists being literally abandoned in August  on Roanoke Island where the following supply ships would never find them.  They sent John White, then the governor of the "Citie of Raleigh" back to England for supplies which they expected to arrive in the spring of 1588. 

The above map is John White's map drawn during the 1585-1586 military voyage of discovery.  The military men spent quite a bit of time exploring the region, meeting the natives, learning about the region and potential locations for a permanent colony. 

John White, in 1587 was only on Roanoke Island for a few days before departing again for England, so we know this map was not drawn on that trip.  Prevented from returning to Roanoke in 1588 and 1589 by England's war with Spain, when he was able to return in 1590, he found the colony removed and the message "CRO" and "Croatoan" carved on both a tree and fort post for him.  If they relocated to the Chowan River location, why would they have carved Croatoan and CRO at the fort?

Before White left, the colonists has discussed moving "50 miles into the main."  White told us this, but he never revealed the location.

However, the message they left for John White to find up on his return was "Croatoan."  They had done as they had promised they would, letting John White know where they went.  White, in his own words from his journal, was “greatly joyed that I had safely found a certain token of their safe being at Croatoan which is the place where Manteo was born”, “the island our friends.” 

John White could not have drawn this map in 1590, as he was only on Roanoke Island and only for a day or so before a hurricane blew the ship back to England.  Therefore, John White's original map had to have been drawn no later than 1586.  However, John could have modified this map anytime between then and his death in 1593.  Someone else could have modified the map, then or later.  But, assuming the modifications were made by White, why would John White cover this location?  And what does this fort location mean?

I've read in several news sources in the past few days that this is the final destination of the colonists and indeed, where they went.  While this is certainly one of the possibilities, there are also others, and I'd like to briefly touch upon the various possibilities and the logic for each.

1.  Military Fort - It's certainly possible that at one time the military colonists of 1585/1586 were planning to built a fort further inland.  If so, this initially looks like a great location, at the juncture of two rivers and fairly easy to defend.  However, there is no indication a fort was ever built there....and the resulting "coverup" patch on the map may indeed only reflect that change of plans and the lack of an eraser.  John White worked in paint, and there was no "White Out" or erasure for that.  His only choice if a planned location did not develop would have been to put a patch over the location.  A second patch on this map indeed is only to show changes to the coastline on the map.

2.  "50 Miles Into The Maine" - This fort icon on the map indeed may be the fabled location recorded in John White's own words, "at my last departure from them...for at my coming away, they were prepared to remove 50 miles into the maine."  Given that John White returned to England and was not with the colonists, the only piece of information he could convey is the PLANNED location of "50 miles into the maine." 

When White left, the relations with the Indians were deteriorating rapidly.  The English had just beheaded Wingina and killed many of his villagers.

John White never knew where the colonists actually went, although he believed, based on what he found, that they went to Croatoan and were safe.  He had arranged with the colonists before he left for a secret token, a cross, to be carved if they were in danger or under duress when they left Croatoan Island.  No crosses were found.  But a clear location, carved twice, was found.

If this fort was the "50 miles into the maine" location, why might John White cover it up? 

There are really only two options.  First is that it was no longer valid, meaning that further discussions or investigation caused them to change their mind about that location.  However, it's worth noting that no other location is marked and that this region does fit the "50 miles" criteria fairly accurately. 

The second possibility is to hide the location, probably from the Spanish.  Espionage was common in England at this time and the Spanish were actively seeking the colony in order to destroy them. 

3.  The only thing shown on the map is a fort symbol.  We don't know if this was originally meant to be a military outpost, the new "Citie of Raleigh" or something else.  We cannot assume that this fort was ever built.  In fact, there are no oral histories, or local histories or even rumors of a fort in this location.  It would be difficult to built a fort of the size required to house 117 people without some remnant remaining and being recorded in some type of record. 

By 1654, explorers from the Jamestown region were active in this same area and no fort or remnant of a fort was ever reported, less than 65 years later. 

It should be noted that the Tuscarora have an oral tradition of being descended from the Colonists.  The Hatteras Indians are recorded by Lawson in 1701 as both having an oral tradition along with grey eyes and lighter hair, unlike any other Indians.

4.  In terms of relations with the Indians, the military expedition of 1585-1586 was a disaster as what is known of the 1587 settlement before White departed for England. 

The 1585/1586 military colonists burned the village of Aquascogoc, destroying the corn crop, and therefore the food of the people for the upcoming winter.  These actions were the precipitating factor in the murder of George Howe, one of the 1587 colonists upon their arrival.  In retaliation for Howe's death, 1587 colonists beheaded Wingina, the chief, and massacred the people in his village across the bay from Roanoke island where they had resettled after leaving Roanoke Island where the English fort was located. 

For a refresher of the events leading up to the 1587 colony, please visit our website at this link:  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/faqs/lcstory.htm

Given these aggressions, would it be logical for the colonists to move to a location where they are surrounded by three tribes of Indians, at least one of them known to be hostile and a second likely to be?

Taken from Andy Powell's book, "Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke," the following is excerpted from the transcript of the original Barlowe journal from 1585-1586 which was included in the Hakluyt records compiled in 1589.  Several men, with Manteo, rowed upstream in the Roanoke River to the Chowan and up the Chowan for some distance, a total of about 140 miles hoping to find gold or the location of where gold could be found.  The newly discovered fort icon on the map is at the confluence of those two Rivers.  Here's what Barlowe had to say about that exploratory trip upriver.

"...on the one side whereof stands a great town, called Chowanoake, and the Lord of that town and country is called Pooneno: this Pooneno is not subject to the King of Wingandancoa, but is a free Lord. Beyond this country, there is another king, whom they call Menatoan, and these three Kings are in league with each other."

Apparently, word preceded their arrival, because many of the Indian towns were entirely deserted.  When leaving, the Indians took their food supplies with them.  Not only did the Englishmen want to learn where valuable ores might be found (gold and silver), they also wanted food, a commodity in scarce supply.  They had not taken enough food with them and presumed they would be able to obtain food from the Indians en route.  In order to obtain cooperation, they kidnapped Chief Menatonon and his son.  In Barlowe's words:

"I took a resolution with myself, having dismissed Menatonon upon a ransom agreed for, and sent his son into the Pinnesse to Roanoak, to enter presently so far into that River with two double wherries, and forty persons one or other, as I could have victual to carry us, until we could meet with more either of the Moratiks, or of the Mangoaks which is another kind of Savages, dwelling more to the Westward of the said River: but the hope of recovering more victual from the Savages made me and my company as narrowly to escape starving in that discourse before our return, as ever men did that missed the same."

Note on White's map the label, Moratuc, just below and across the river from the fort icon.  These Indians were not friendly to the military colonists.  The Chowanac weren't terribly happy with them either.  Kidnapping the king and his son did not endear the English to the Native people.  Barlowe again:

"I having been enforced to make him privy to the same, to be served by him [Menatonan] of a guide to the Mangoaks, and yet he did never rest to solicit continually my going upon them, certifying me of a general assembly even at that time made by Menatonon at Choanoak of all his Weroances, and allies to the number of 3,000 bows preparing to come upon us at Roanoak and that the Mangoaks also were joined in the same confederacy, who were able of themselves to bring as many more to the enterprise."

Nor were these tribes friendly towards each other.  Menatonan's son had also been a prisoner among the Mangoaks, later known as the Tuscarora.  The English sought to find the Mangoaks as they wanted to take some of the people prisoner, as described by the following passage from Barlowe:

"And that which made me most desirous to have some doings with the Mangoaks either in friendship or otherwise to have had one or two of them prisoners, was, for yet is it a thing most notorious to all ye country, that there is a Province to the which said Mangoaks have recourse and traffic up that River of Morattico [Roanoke], which has a marvellous and most strange Mineral. This mine is so notorious amongst them, as not only to the Savages dwelling up by the said river, and also to the Savages of Choanoke [Chowan], and all them to the westward, but also to all them of the main: the countries name is of same, and is called Chaunis Temoatan."

The fabled mines of Chaunis Temoatan have never been found.

When they did eventually find the Indians which they sought, this was the results, again told by Barlowe:

"...we heard certain Savages call as we thought, Manteo, who was also at that time with me in boat, whereof we all being very glad, hoping of some friendly conference with them, and making him to answer them: they presently began a song, as we thought in token of our welcome to them: but Manteo presently betook him to his piece [probably a gun], and told me that they meant to fight with us: which word was not so soon spoken by him, and the light horsemen ready to put to shore, but there lighted a volley of their arrows amongst them in the boat."

The reputation of the English had preceeded them.  The Indians on Roanoke island presumed the English would die of starvation.  They did not, and returned to the island with Menatonan's son as hostage.

When the English settlers arrive in 1587, hard feelings remained among the various mainland tribes.  George Howe was murdered in retaliation for the burning of the village of Aquascogoc.  The English then escalated the conflict and massacred the inhabitants of Wingina's village.  This action in 1587 just prior to John White's departure for England, did nothing to endear the English to the Native people.  By this time, they had alienated nearly all of the neighboring Native tribes by either warfare, kidnapping or burning their villages.  They were sitting on a tenderbox and the only tribe who would provide them with assistance would be Manteo's people, the Croatoan. 

Given this information, I've plotted the locations of the events noted above.

1=kidnapping of Menatonan and his son - both Chowanac

2=location of Moratuc [Tuscarora] who fought with Chowanac and fired upon the English.

3=location where English massacred Wingina and the people of his village

4=location of Aquascogoc, burned by the English

5=Roanoke Island, the site of the 1584 and 1585/86 military forts and where George Howe was murdered by Natives in revenge in 1587.  Subsequently, Wingina was murdered across the bay.

6=Croatoan, the location given by the colonists for John White to find when leaving the fort on Roanoke Island

Given the volatile situation in 1587, would you locate 117 English non-military colonists between locations one and two in a fort, or on Hatteras Island among friendly Indians?

 




 We can discuss logic and pros and cons today about whether the fort on the map was ever built, and for what purpose, but the real truth about the fort, if it ever existed in reality, lies someplace under about 1200 acres, including a golf course, near Salmon Creek in a location known as Avoca in present day Bertie Co., NC.  We are excited about an upcoming archaeological dig being planned by the Lost Colony Foundation and look forward to their findings. 

 http://www.firstcolonyfoundation.org/news/2012_white_map.aspx

 Click on the maps for much larger versions

The above map images are copyright British Museum 




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Map’s Hidden Marks Illuminate and Deepen Mystery of Lost Colony

For centuries, the Tidewater coast of North Carolina has held one of early America’s oldest secrets: the fate of more than 100 English colonists who vanished from their island outpost in the late 1500s.

Theories abound about what happened to the so-called Lost Colony, ranging from sober scholarship to science fiction. Some historians believe that the colonists might have been absorbed into American Indian tribes. Other explanations point to darker fates, like disease, an attack by Spaniards or violence at the hands of Indians. The wild-eyed fringe hints at cannibalism and even alien abduction. 

The shroud of mystery may finally be lifting. The British Museum’s re-examination of a 16th-century coastal map using 21st-century imaging techniques has revealed hidden markings that show an inland fort where the colonists could have resettled after abandoning the coast. 

The findings, announced Thursday morning, bring into focus a puzzle that has long fed the feverish curiosity of historians, archaeologists and amateur sleuths. Folklore has flourished over the colonists’ fate, including that of the first child of English descent born in the Americas, Virginia Dare. 

And the findings point to new mysteries. The analysis suggests that the symbol marking the fort was deliberately hidden, perhaps to shield it from espionage in the spy-riddled English court. An even more tantalizing hint of dark arts tints the map: the possibility that invisible ink may have marked the site all along.

James Horn, vice president of research and historical interpretation at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, cautioned that the Lost Colony had not been found. But the findings do provide the clearest marker yet for future archaeological excavations, which, if successful, could pinpoint where the settlers went. 

“It’s a pretty amazing piece of evidence from a source that has been staring us in the face all along,” said Mr. Horn, who joined historians with an organization called the First Colony Foundation to announce the findings. 

The discovery came from a watercolor map in the British Museum’s permanent collection that was drawn by the colony’s governor, John White. Hoping to establish a New World foothold for the English, White took the settlers to their original location, Roanoke Island, just inside the chain of barrier islands known today as the Outer Banks. 

It was the second English settlement on North Carolina’s coast, but it was the first to include civilians, among them wives, sons and — within weeks of their arrival in 1587 — White’s newborn granddaughter, Virginia Dare. 

White returned to England for supplies, but an attack by the Spanish Armada delayed his return for three years. When he did return, the settlers had vanished. 

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/us/map-markings-offer-clues-to-lost-colony.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

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A New World: England's First View of America

All of John White's water colors. This beautifully illustrated book reproduces in full the famous and rarely seen British Museum collection of drawings and watercolors made by John White, who in 1585 accompanied a group of English settlers sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to found a colony on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Sloan's introduction is followed by three specially commissioned essays covering John White himself, the indigenous inhabitants he depicted, and the historical context of his visit. The book explores John White's role as a colonist, surveyor, and artist who not only recorded plants and animals but also provided a window on a now-lost Native American culture and way of life. Oversize, with 185 color illustrations.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005MWRU4K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=genpagecom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005MWRU4K

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Researchers say they have new clue to Lost Colony

Researchers say they have new clue to Lost Colony

By MARTHA WAGGONER | Associated Press – 12 hrs ago

  

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — A new look at a 425-year-old map has yielded a tantalizing clue about the fate of the Lost Colony, the settlers who disappeared from North Carolina's Roanoke Island in the late 16th century.

Experts from the First Colony Foundation and the British Museum in London discussed their findings Thursday at a scholarly meeting on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their focus: the "Virginea Pars" map of Virginia and North Carolina created by explorer John White in the 1580s and owned by the British Museum since 1866.

"We believe that this evidence provides conclusive proof that they moved westward up the Albemarle Sound to the confluence of the Chowan and Roanoke rivers," said James Horn, vice president of research and historical interpretation at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and author of a 2010 book about the Lost Colony.

"Their intention was to create a settlement. And this is what we believe we are looking at with this symbol — their clear intention, marked on the map ..."

Attached to the map are two patches. One patch appears to merely correct a mistake on the map, but the other — in what is modern-day Bertie County in northeastern North Carolina — hides what appears to be a fort. Another symbol, appearing to be the very faint image of a different kind of fort, is drawn on top of the patch.

The American and British scholars believe the fort symbol could indicate where the settlers went. The British researchers joined the Thursday meeting via webcast.

In a joint announcement, the museums said, "First Colony Foundation researchers believe that it could mark, literally and symbolically, 'the way to Jamestown.' As such, it is a unique discovery of the first importance."

White made the map and other drawings when he traveled to Roanoke Island in 1585 on an expedition commanded by Sir Ralph Lane. In 1587, a second colony of 116 English settlers landed on Roanoke Island, led by White. He left the island for England for more supplies but couldn't return again until 1590 because of the war between England and Spain.

When he came back, the colony was gone. White knew the majority had planned to move "50 miles into the maine," as he wrote, referring to the mainland. The only clue he found about the fate of the other two dozen was the word "CROATOAN" carved into a post, leading historians to believe they moved south to live with American Indians on what's now Hatteras Island.

But the discovery of the fort symbol offers the first new clue in centuries about what happened to the 95 or so settlers, experts said Thursday. And researchers at the British Museum discovered it because Brent Lane, a member of the board of the First Colony Foundation, asked a seemingly obvious question: What's under those two patches?

Researchers say the patches attached to White's excruciatingly accurate map were made with ink and paper contemporaneous with the rest of the map. One corrected mistakes on the shoreline of the Pamlico River and the placing of some villages. But the other covered the possible fort symbol, which is visible only when the map is viewed in a light box.

The map was critical to Sir Walter Raleigh's quest to attract investors in his second colony, Lane said. It was critical to his convincing Queen Elizabeth I to let him keep his charter to establish a colony in the New World. It was critical to the colonists who navigated small boats in rough waters.

(excerpted)

Archaeologists must first re-examine ceramics, including some recovered from an area in Bertie County called Salmon Creek, he said.

"This clue is certainly the most significant in pointing where a search should continue," Lane said. "The search for the colonists didn't start this decade; it didn't start this century. It started as soon as they were found to be absent from Roanoke Island ... I would say every generation in the last 400 years has taken this search on."

But none have had today's sophisticated technology to help, he said.

"None of them had this clue on this map."

 Full Article here:

http://news.yahoo.com/researchers-clue-lost-colony-214550117.html

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Patch on 425-year-old map yields new clue to fate of Lost Colony

British, US researchers say patch on 425-year-old map yields new clue to fate of Lost Colony

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — A new look at a 425-year-old map has yielded a tantalizing clue about the fate of the Lost Colony, the settlers who disappeared from North Carolina's Roanoke Island in the late 16th century.

Experts from the First Colony Foundation and the British Museum in London discussed their findings Thursday at a scholarly meeting on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their focus: the "Virginea Pars" map of Virginia and North Carolina created by explorer John White in the 1580s and owned by the British Museum since 1866.

"We believe that this evidence provides conclusive proof that they moved westward up the Albemarle Sound to the confluence of the Chowan and Roanoke rivers," said James Horn, vice president of research and historical interpretation at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and author of a 2010 book about the Lost Colony.

"Their intention was to create a settlement. And this is what we believe we are looking at with this symbol — their clear intention, marked on the map ..."

Attached to the map are two patches. One patch appears to merely correct a mistake on the map, but the other — in what is modern-day Bertie County in northeastern North Carolina — hides what appears to be a fort. Another symbol, appearing to be the very faint image of a different kind of fort, is drawn on top of the patch.
 

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John White's Maps Revealing Secrets Over Four Centuries Old

It is a mystery that has perplexed historians for more than 400 years - what ever became of the 120 settlers who tried to establish England's first colony on the north-east coast of America?
Queen Elizabeth I and famed explorer Sir Walter Raleigh had hoped the expedition in the 1580s would create a capital in the New World, but something went terribly wrong.
The men, women and children simply vanished - possibly massacred by native American Indians - any evidence of a settlement disappeared and the infamous 'lost colony' became rooted in American folklore.
But solving the centuries-old mystery may have come a step closer this week after experts identified a tantalising clue hidden in a map drawn by a man on that fateful voyage.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138832/Is-Walter-Raleigh-s-lost-colony-drawn-invisible-ink-Clue-400-year-old-mystery-discovered-map-North-America.html#ixzz1tpWNFq2f

The ink, which is also disguised by a piece of paper glued to it, was likely put together using milk, citrus juice or urine, as was common at the time.
Its use during the 'lost colony expedition' also sheds light on an era of political suspicion at the time.

Location, location, location: Roanake Island is located just off what is now the state of North Carolina. White's maps have been praised for being particularly accurate

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138832/Is-Walter-Raleigh-s-lost-colony-drawn-invisible-ink-Clue-400-year-old-mystery-discovered-map-North-America.html#ixzz1tpVvn1o0

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John White Map Speaks to Modern Historians

 
The fate of Sir Walter Raleigh's famed "lost colony" in the New World – and the disappearance without a trace of more than 100 English settlers – has been an unsolved mystery for 400 years, a lost chapter of Anglo-American history. That so many men, women and children could simply vanish has become the stuff of American folklore. Many assume that they were either slaughtered by native American Indians or assimilated into their communities.

Now, a clue has emerged that experts hope could help solve the centuries-old mystery of the settlers' disappearance, and lead them to the site of what Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I hoped would be a capital, the first English attempt at colonisation.

Concealed on an Elizabethan map of the east coast of North America, but now identified by the British Museum, is a hint at the colony's location drawn in what appears to be invisible ink, further disguised by a barely-discernible patch of paper glued to it.

Scientific tests have revealed that a lozenge, the symbol for a fort, was hidden on the map drawn by John White, who accompanied Raleigh's first attempts to establish a colony. White led the settlers who were to establish the "Cittie of Raleigh" of which he was intended to be governor.

Its concealment on the map reflects an age mired in political intrigue – Elizabeth I was then facing plots to place the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots on the English throne – and fears of such a map getting into the hands of court spies.

Invisible ink was concocted at that time from milk, citrus juice or urine, and usually revealed by applying heat.

An official announcement will be made today, but an excavation of the site, now farmland, is planned.

 Cont.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/drawn-in-invisible-ink-is-this-the-site-of-walter-raleighs-lost-colony-7707486.html

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Hooray!!! There are still places where genealogists can search the SS index FREE.

Click here:

United States Social Security Death Index

 There are also a few other places. 

 http://genealogy.about.com/od/free_genealogy/a/ssdi.htm

 I always add this info to persons in my charts including the SS #. This proves I am putting the right person in the tree. 

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Melungeon Myth of Drake Dropping off Passengers on Roanoke

By Janet Crain

A myth exists on the Internet that the Melungeons, a group of dark skinned
persons of mysterious origins found living in East Tennessee two hundred
 years ago descend from Turkish prisoners and sundry other non-English persons
 said to have been rescued by Sir Francis Drake during the sacking of Cartagena and
then deserted on Roanoke Island in 1586. In truth, there is NO evidence there
 were any left behind there, much less several hundred. This myth was introduced
in a book published in the 1990's by Brent Kennedy titled The Melungeons:
The Resurrection of a Proud People : An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in
America.

This book might have lanquished in obscurity on the shelves of a few Libraries
 and book stores had it not been for the Internet and the new found surge
of interest in genealogy. Suddenly everyone fancied him or herself a Melungeon.
Several Unions were held of people from various mailing lists and persons attending
were happily discovering knots.on the back of their head, thought to indicate
 Turkish ancestry. Having someone in your Family tree who possessed six
fingers was a definite plus. These traits were all described in the afore mentioned book.
No one ever looked too closely into the incident said to have occurred in 1586. But
that is precisely what this paper intends to do.

In the sixteenth century, Sir Francis Drake was one of the most famous men in England, indeed the English speaking world and beyond. He could do no wrong in his Queen's eyes. He had brought her an enormous return on her personal investment in an earlier voyage. A brilliant man in many ways, Drake was ruthless, but highly admired by the captives he had freed and the Maroons who came to his aid to help him fight and share in the rewards.
Drake was returning home from the sacking of Cartagena when he decided to
visit Roanoke and dispose of some of the freed prisoners and Maroons he had
acquired during his adventures. He was carrying a human cargo of some several hundred. Ivor Noel Hume in "Virginia Adventures" contends Drake
highly inflated the numbers. The voyage had not been financially successful
in spite of his daring and flamboyant actions. It is quite likely he was
advancing his case by sending back reports of greater exploits than actually
had occurred. There were reports of many nationalities released from the
Spanish prisons as well as Maroons who had come in from their strongholds in
the surrounding areas to help Drake as he was known to be generous with the
spoils of his marauding. Alas this voyage would not compare to previous ones.

This voyage is of great interest to Melungeon researchers because this
voyage in 1586 is the basis of the Turkish connection first started by
statements in Brent Kennedy's book: Melungeons; an Untold Story of Ethnic
Cleansing. It is, in fact, the keystone of the Turkish Connection Theory.
Remove it and the rest crumbles. That is what I propose to do.

It is known that many of the people with him never reached Roanoke. Many died of
strange fevers in Florida. These fevers were the scourge of sea travel at
that time. Caused in part by the crowding together of humans in the cargo
holds of ships where the fetid air trapped and spread any  contagious
disease like wildfire, and probably acerbated by nutritional deficiencies.
In any case, reports contend that anywhere between 350 and 750 people died of
these fevers. Apparently Drake intended to leave the rest of the freed
Africans and South American Indians to furnish labor for the new Colony on
Roanoke which he expected to have grown to some 600 English by then. In
truth There were only about 100 men, badly in need of food and suffering the
ill effects of their bad treatment of the local Indians. Ralph Lane was in
charge at Roanoke and he accepted Drake's offer of minimal food supplies
(Drake had been out a long time and was running low himself) and a ship, the
Francis, capable of navigation into the bay plus other pinnaces, etc. and
armament. All the supplies were loaded onto the Francis along with Lane's
best naval officers. Lane wanted to stay a few more weeks exploring the
Chesapeake.

Hume states:


When on June 11, the two men (Francis Drake and Ralph Lane) exchanged their
unsettling news, several truths became evident; Drake was not there (as the
Roanoke settlers had first hoped) to resupply the Colony; he was short of
food himself and so was better able to supply guns than butter. Futhermore,
Lane could not have had any desire or ability to house 250 blacks who would
out number his white settlers two to one.

They came to an agreement whereby Drake would leave skilled workers,
artisans, two pinnaces, several small boats and a large ship, the Francis.
All the supplies were loaded onto the Francis along with the skilled
mariners needed to sail such a ship. Immediately a terrible hurricano struck
and it was every man for himself. The ships standing out in the roadway cut
and ran, scurrying out to the deep ocean to get away from the treacherous
shoals and currents, dangerous enough in good weather. The Francis was among
those who sailed on to England.

Ralph Lane then accepted Drake's offer to transport the first colonists back
To England. Most of the small pinnaces carrying the extra passengers had
been dashed to pieces on the shoals during the storms. The Turks, known to
have been with Drake, were apparently better safeguarded. They were valuable
as trade for English prisoners lanquishing in Ottoman prisons. Some 100
Turks were, in fact, ransomed to their homeland.

So, just who might have gone ashore before the storm hit? Many people have a
hard time visualizing the scene at Roanoke. Roanoke is surrounded by very
shallow waters, hence the name; Shallowbag Bay. The only way to get there
was by laborious offloading of men and supplies to shore boats and threading
through the one pass, Fernando Pass, and the treacherous shoals and currents
made worse at times by Northwestern winds blowing directly into the Bay. The
shore boats were large by our standards and equipped with a mast and sail.
They require a skilled pilot and several strong sailors to row. People didn't
 just hop on one and go sight seeing. Only those with important business
such as Sir Francis Drake and Ralph Lane who negotiated several times were
transported back and forth. The rest of the fleet with the passengers
onboard stood out in the Roadway, the navigable waters off the Outer Banks,
which wrap around this area like protecting arms.

I am saying this to lay to rest the idea of a huge number of the passengers
dis-embarking and perhaps being caught off guard by the storms and staying
behind. Hume and David Beers Quinn are the authorities on this period and
both say there were no Turks left. Hume says no one else, Quinn, at most a
very few. Left with no supplies on the Outer Banks what would they have
found to eat? If the Indians had not killed them, they would have starved.

It should be noted that the Native Americans communicated by a"grapevine" so
efficient that Indians in Canada knew of happenings in the Virginias. No
mention of any dumped off passengers was ever made.

Additionally, there was plenty of room for these passengers to sail with
Drake. Hundreds had died in the battles in Florida, from fevers, and in the
hurricane. Drake was returning with more ships than he left with, having
captured many. And they would have furnished badly needed labor to sail
these ships back to England.

Add to this the extreme difficulty of unloading these passengers in addition
to loading the Roanoke settlers, which the crew deeply resented for the
delay and extra work and danger this imposed and it is highly unlikely Drake
would have taken such actions in the middle of a three day hurricane.

Ivor Noel Hume says:


Thus the hurricane of June 1586 may have ripped away the first page from the
history of blacks in English America.

A cruel and terrible fate for these forgotten people that historians of the
time did not consider important enough to even record their fate.

Two weeks later an emergency supply ship sent by Sir Richard Grenville
arrived and found no one although they searched diligently. They left to return to England.
About one or two weeks later a big supply ship arrived with Grenville on
board. They were as mystified at the deserted condition of the island as the
men on the earlier supply ship. They searched even further "into the main"
(mainland) and as far as Chesapeake. Grenville was heavily invested in this
first effort, having sold an entire estate (consisting at this time as a
manor house and every type of supporting industry needed to run the estate;
mills, stables, barns, houses, dairies, animals, tools, even small villages)
to finance the settlement of over 100 men for over a year. It was a
requirement of Raleigh's patent from Queen Elizabeth that the area be
occupied continuously by English people. Finding no one and not knowing where
they had gone, he left some 15 soldiers to hold the fort. Based upon later
interviews with Indians, they all perished.

It is quite clear they found no one who could have been the passengers Drake
was previously carrying.

As previously stated the Indians had a very effective rumor mill which
carried news far and wide. It is just inconceivable that these
people could have survived unnoticed when their appearance would have been a
matter of great curiosity among people who had never seen African natives.

Thus it seems there is no evidence that any people were left behind in the Colony and documented evidence that 100 turks were returned to their homeland.


Resources:

The Virginia Adventurers by Ivor Noel Hume Copyright 1994 p. 53
Corbett, Spanish War. Refers to the return of 100 ex-galley slaves to the
Turkish dominions.
William S. Powell, North Carolina through Four Centuries, p. 42. Refers to
Queen Elizabeth's reason for returning the Turks.
David Beers Quinn, Roanoke Voyages. Cites Wright in footnote regarding Turks
Wright, Further English Voyages. Source of Quinn's information about Turks.
Hakluyt Society for 1975, Second Series, No. 148, p. 202, Note 3. Sir
Francis Drake's West Indian Voyage, 1585-1586. A detailed and authorative
account.
Acts of the Privey Council, 1586-87, PP. 205-206. (Public Record Office
[London]), PC 2/14:169) Contains a letter from the Queen's Privey Council
addressed to a merchant in London, who traded with Turkey, that asks him to
make arrangements for the return of 200 Turks to Turkey.
Document 10, The Primrose Journal (British Library Royal MS.7C,xvi, folders
166-173. Capt. Frobisher's journal of the 1586 Drake-led voyage. Mentions
Turks being aboard his ship.
David Beers Quinn Set Fair for Roanoke
David Beers Quinn The Roanoke Voyages 1584-1590


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