SOURCE HEADER | URL: https://archive.org/download/sirwalterraleigh00mcmi/sirwalterraleigh00mcmi_djvu.txt | Edition: Hamilton McMillan, Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony, Wilson NC: Advance Presses 1888 (NYPL scan) | Fetched: 2026-09-14 (UTC) by worker B | Raw OCR/plain text, unedited
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3  3433  08188309  6 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 


vos-^ 


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'^^    -iHlSTORieAL»SKEreH»> 


■  aT"  THE- 


Attempts  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  to  Establish  a  Colony  in  Virpia, 


■VT-ITH- 


The  Traditions  of  An  Indian  Tribe  in  Nortii  Carolina. 


-ii>Ti^zc;-<^T'i2<rc 


The  Fate  of  the  Qclonij  of  EncjliAhmen  gcft  on  goancke  Inland 


By  Haii?iItoi]  McMillan,  A.  M. 


WMi'^m  a®  (sw^f'^B 


\'> 


/ 


'-«<* 


WILSO.>?,  N.  C.t 
ADVANCE  PRESSES, 

1838. 


Entered  aeeorfling-  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1888, 

By  HAMILTON  McMlLLAN, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


number!    I  U'r,Lu 

OF  190.  ^  ^ 


Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  Lost  Solony. 

Ax  His'ioKiCAL  Sketch  of  the  Attempis  .made  hv  SirWai, 

TER  Ralei(;h  to  Establish  a  CoLON^'  in  Viroinia  wijh 

THE  TkADrrioNs  OF  an    Indian    Tribe    in    Nori  h 

Carolina  Indicaiinc.  ihe  Fate  of  the  Colony 

OF    Englishmen     Left     on    Roanoke 

Island    in    1587. 


CHAPTER  I. 


In  1583,  ''Elizabeth,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  of  England,  France 
and  Ireland,  Queen,  defender  of  the  faith"  granted  to  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  letters  patent  '<to  discover, 
search,  find  and  view  such  remote  heathen  and  barbarous 
lands,  countries  and  territories,  not  actually  possessed  of  any 
Christian  Prince,  nor  inhabited  by  Christian  people  as  to  him,  his 
heirs  and  assigns,  to  every  or  any  of  them  shall  seem  good,  and 
the  same  to  have  hold  and  occupy  and  enjo^-,  to  him  his  heirs 
and  assigns  forever  " 

It  was  provided  further  that  a  settlement  should  be  made   in 

the  territory  granted  within  six  years  next  succeding  the  date  of 
the  letters  patent. 

This  grant  was  made  during  one  of  the  most  critical  periods  of 
British  histor^^  The  Protestant  Elizabeth  had  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  Netherlands  and  had  given  high  offense  to  Spain  by  re 
jecting  the  proposed  matrimonial  alliance  with  Philip,  the  reign- 
ing monarch  of  that  country.  The  Armada,  consisting  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  ships  of  war  and  carrying  fully  thirty  thousand 

men  threatened  an  early  attack  upon  England.  Powerful  allies 
stood  ready  to  assist  King  Philip.  The  length  of  time  necessary 
to  complete  this  powerful  armament  had  afforded  to  Elizabeth  op- 
portunity to  prepare  for  the  impending  danger.     Sir  Walter  Ral  - 


2  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

eigh  then  enjoyed  high  favor  at  Court.  The  Queen  early  dis. 
covered  his  soldierly  qualities  and  intellectual  ability  and  in  addi- 
tion to  high  rank  which  she  bestowed  upon  him,  readily  granted 
him  and  his  heirs  extensive  territory  in  North  America.  Raleigh 
was  one  of  the  most  skillful  generals  of  his  times  and  while  actively 
engaged  in  the  preparation  for  the  threatened  invasion  of  Enc^land 
found  opportunity  to  fit  out  an  expedition  to  the  coast  of  America 
to  make  discoveries  and  to  locate  a  colony  in  compliance  with  the 
terms  of  his  grant.  The  commanders  of  the  expedition  were 
Philip  Amadas  and  Arthui-  Barlowe,  who  sailed  with  two  barques 
from  the  coast  of  England  on  the  15th  day  of  Ai)ril  1584,  O.  S. 
and  reached  the  coast  of  America  in  July  of  the  same  year.  They 
sailed  along  the  coast  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  before 
they  found  any  entrance  or  river  issuing  into  the  sea.  These 
navigators  probably  entered  at  Katteras  Inlet  on  the  coast  of  what 
is  now  Nordi  Carolina^  and  having  anchored  '-within  the  haven's 
mouth  on  the  left  hand  of  the  same,"  they  went  in  boats  ''to  view 
the  land  adjoining  and  to  take  i^ossession  of  the  same  in  right  of 
the  Queen's  most  excellent  majesty  as  rightful  Queen  and  Princess 
of  the  same."  The  land  thus  taken  into  possession  was  Roanoke 
Island,  about  seven  leagues  distant  from  the  anchorage 

After  a  stay  of  nearly  two  months,  the  expedition  returned  to 
England,  carrying  two  of  the  natives,  Alanteo  and  Wanchese. 
The  disposition  of  the  natives  towards  the  Englishmen  was  friendly 
and  though  no  reason  is  given  for  carrying  the  two  Indians  to 
England,  it  was  probably  understood  that  a  second  expedition 
would  soon  follow  and  that  they  could  return  to  their  own  country 
at  an  early  day.  There  was  good  policy  in  impressing  them,  as 
prominent  men  of  their  own  land,  with  the  greatness  of  England. 
Manteo  and  Wanchese  returned  in  another  expedition  to  Roanoke, 
the  former  to  become  Lord  of  Roanoke,  the  latter  to  become  the 
determined  enemy  of  the  English. 

A  seeond  expedition  under  Sir  Richard  Greenville,  the  cousin 
of  Sir  Walter  Ra'eigh,  sailed  from  England  on  the  9th  of  April 
1585.  This  expedition  consisted  of  seven  vessels,  and  arrived  at 
Roanoke  during  the  following  ]u^j.     In   August  following,  Sir 


l.OSl^  COLONY.  3 

Richard  Greenville  returned  to  England,  after  leaving  a  colony  on 
Roanoke  Island  under  M.istcr  Ralf  Lane. 

Lane  cxjjlored  the  surrounding  country,  making  many  valuable 
discoveries,  and  finally  despairing  of  aid  exjiected,  embarked 
with  his  entire  colonly  on  the  fleet  of  Sir  Fran<:is  Drake,  which 
stopped  at  Roanoke,  and  sailed  for  England. 

The  departure  of  Lane's  colony  left  no  l-'ngiishmen  on  the 
shores  of  North  America. 

CHAPTER  IL 

In  less  than  one  month  from  the  departure  of  Lane,  Sir  Richard 
(ireenville  arrived  at  Roanoke  '.vith  supplies,  and  after  a  fruitless 
search  for  the  colonists,  he  left  fifteen  men  on  the  Island  to  hold 
possession  of  the  country  After  the  deoarture  of  Greenville 
these  men  were  seen  no  more  by  Englishmen. 

Not  discouraged  by  repeated  failures,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  fitted 
out  another  exi)edition  under  John  White  as  Governor,  who  with 
others  of  the 'colonists,  were  incorporated  as  -'The  Governor  and 
Assistants  of  the  city  of  Raleigh  in  Virginia."  The  city  of  Raleigh 
was  designed  to  be  built  on  the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay. 

Governor  White  was  instructed  to  call  at  Roanoke  Island  to  as- 

H  ceitain  the  fate  of  the  fifteen  men  left  there  by  Sir  Richard  Green, 
ville      The  commanders  of  the  ships   seemed  to  have  been  inde- 

^  pendent  of  the  authority  of  Governor  White,  and  fully  aware  that 
a  voyage  to  Chesapeake  Bay  would  delay  their  expected  cruise  in 
the  West  Indies,  refused  to  transport  the  colony  to  its  destination, 
and  thus  comix,dled  Goverr.or  White  to  stop  at  Roanoke  Island, 
The  vessels  departed  soon  after  in  search  of  Spanish  prizes. 

After  reciting  many  iiKjidents,  Governor  White  relates  that  -^on 
the  13th  of  August,  our  savage  Manteo,  by  the  commandment  of 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  was  christened  in  Roanoke  and  called  Lord 
thereof,  and  of  Dasamonguepeuk,  in  reward  of  his  faithful  ser- 
vice "  "llie  1 8th,  Eleanor,  daughter  of  Governor  White  and 
wife  to  Ananias  Dare,  one  of  the  colonists,  was  delivered  of  a 
daufjhter  in  Ronnoke.  and  the  same  was  christened  there  the  Sun- 


4  .  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

day  following,  and  because  this  child  was  ilie  first  christian  born 
in  Virginia,  she  was  named  Virginia." 

Governor  White  relates  that  a  violent  tempest  arose  on  the  21st 
of  August  which  lasted  for  six  days  and  threatened  the  destruc- 
tion of  one  of  the  vessels  then  ready  to  sail  for  England.  Gov- 
ernor White  was  sent  back  to  England  by  the  planters,  to  act 
there  as  factor  for  the  colony. 

The  Croatan  Indians  who  visited  Roanoke  Island,  invited  the 
colonists  to  reside  with  them,  and  the  latter,  prior  to  the  departure 
of  the  Governor,  expressed  to  hi»n  their  intention  to  accept  the 
invitation  and  to  remove  fifty  miles  "up  into  the  main  "  It  was 
understood  that  if  they  went  to  Croatoan,  they  were  to  carve  the 
word  Croatoan  on  the  bark  ot  a  tree  in  some  conspicuous  place, 
that  the  Governor  might  know  where  to  find  them  on  his  return. 
It  was  further  understood  that  if  they  left  the  Island  in  distress 
they  were  to  carve  the  Christian  cross  above  the  word  Croatoan. 

On  the  27  th  of  August,  White  sailed  for  England  and  the 
colonists  were  seen  no  more  by  white  men. 


CHAP  lER  III. 

On  his  arrival  in  England,  Governor  White  found  all  things  in 
commotion  The  long  threatened  storm  of  war  had  burst  upon 
England  and  the  services  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and  others  who 
were  interested  in  the  distant  colony,  were  enlisted  in  the  na- 
tional defense.  It  was  a  critical  period  of  British  history.  Queen 
Elizabeth  relied  upon  the  skill  of  Raleigh,  under  whose  guidance 
the  Armada  was  defeated,  and  "libertj^  of  person  and  liberty  of 
conscience  were  once  more  free  " 

On  the  22nd  of  April  15S8,  Governor  White  by  aid  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  sailed  from  England,  with  two  barques,  to  visit 
the  colony  at  Roanoke.  These  vessels,  disabled  in  fighting  ships 
encountered  during  the  voyage,  were  compelled  to  return  to  Eng- 
land. No  further  attempt  to  reach  the  colony  was  made  till  the 
20th  of  March  1590,  when  White  again  sailed   for  Virginia  with 


{  LOST  COLONY.  5 

three  vessels.     Nearly  six  months  passed  before  the  vessels  reached 

I    Roanoke  in  the  following  August 

I        In  his  account  of  this  voyage,  as  i)ul)lished  by   Hakluyt,   Gov- 

!  ernor  White  says  that  ''on  the  15th  of  August,  towards  evening, 
we  came  to  anchor  at  Hattorask  in  361/3°,  in  five  fathoms  water 

I  three  leagues  from  the  shore.  At  our  first  coming  to  anchor  on 
this  shore,  we  saw  a  great  smoke  rise  in  the  isle  Roanoke,  near 
the  place  where  I  left  our  colony  in  the  year  1587,  which  smoke 
put  us  in  good  hoi)e  that  some  of  the  colony  were  there  expecting 
our  return  out  of  England.  The  i6th  and  next  morning,  our  two 
boats  went  ashore,  and  Ca[)tain  Cooke  and  Captain  Spicer  and 
their  company  with  me,  with  intent  to  pass  to  the  place  at  Roan 
oke  where  our  countrymen  where  left.  At  our  putting  from  the 
ship,  we  commanded  our  master-gunner  to  make  ready  two 
minions  and  a  falcon,  well  loaded,  and  to  shoot  them  off  with 
reasonable  space  between  every  shot,  to  the  end  that  their  reports 
might  be  heard  to  the  place  where  we  hoped  to  find  some  of  our 
people." 

Omitting  some  unimportant  details  we  extract  from  White's  nar- 

'  rative  the  following  :  "Our  boats  and  all  things  filled  again,  we 
put  off  from  Hattorask,  being  the  number  of  nineteen  persons  in 
both  boats  ;  but  before  we  could  get  to  the  place  where  our  planters 
were  left,  it  was  so  exceeding  dark  that  we  overshot  the  place  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  when  we  espied  towards  the  north  end  of  the 
island  (Roanoke)  the  light  of  a  great  fire  through  the  woods,  to 
which  we  presently  rowed  :  When  we  came  right  over  against 
it,  we  let  fall  our  grapnel  near  the  shore  and  soimded  with  a 
trumi)et  a  call,  and  afterwards  many  familiar  tunes  and  songs  and 
called  to  them  friendly  ;  but  we  had  no  answer,  we  therefore 
landed  at  daybreak  an'^  coming  to  the  fire  we  found  the  grass  and 
sundry  rotten  trees  burning  about  the  place.  From  hence  we 
went  through  the  woods  to  that  part  of  the  island  directly  over 
against  Dasamonguq^euk,  and  from  thence  we  returned  by  the 
water  side  round  about  the  north  point  of  the  island  until  we  came 
to  the  place  where  I  left  our  colony  in  the  year  1587.     In  all  this 


g  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

way  we  saw  in  the  sand  the  ]jrint  of  the  savage's  feet  of  two  or 
three  sorts  trodden  in  the  night,  and  as  we  entered  up  the  sandy 
bank,  upon  a  tree  in  the  very  brow  thereof,  were  curiously  carved 
these  fair  Roman  letters,  C.  R.  O  ^  which  letters  presenty  we  knew 
to  signify  the  jjlace  where  I  should  find  the  planters  seated,  ac- 
cording to  a  iCC) et  token  o greed  upon  betiveen  them  and  ine  at  iny 
last  departure  from  them,  which  was.  that  in  any  way  they  should 
not  fail  to  write  or  carve,  on  the  trees  or  posts  of  the  doors,  the 
name  of  the  place  where  they  should  be  seated  ;  for  at  my  coming 
away  they  were  prepared  to  remove  from  Roanoke  fifty  miles  into 
the  main  Therefore  at  my  departure  from  them  in  Aug  1587,  I 
willed  them  that  if  they  should  happen  to  be  distressed  in  any  of 
those  places  that  they  should  carve  over  the  letters  or  name  a 
cross  t  in  this  form,  but  we  found  no  such  sign  of  distress.  And 
having  well  considered  of  this  we  pas-ed  through  the  place  where 
they  were  left  in  sundry  houses,  but  we  found  the  houses  taken 
down  and  the  place  very  strongly,  enclosed  with  a  high  palisade  ot 
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  let- 
ters, was  graven  "Croatoan,"  without  any  cross  or  sign  of  distress. 
This  done  we  entered  into  the  palisado,  where  we  fomid  many 
bars  of  iron  two  pigs  of  lead,  four  iron  fowlers,  iron  locker,  shot 
and  such  like  heavy  thmgs  thrown  here  and  there  almost  over- 
grown with  grass  and  weeds."  ''But  although  it  grieved  me  much 
to  see  such  spoil  of  my  goods,  yet  on  the  other  side  I  greatly 
joyed  that  I  had  safely  found  a  certain  token  of  their  being  at 
Croatoan^  which  is  the  place  where  Manteo  was  born,  and  tlie  sav . 
ages  of  the  island  otir  friends.'"' 

Foul  weather  compelled  Governor  White  to  return  to  the  fleets 
and  on  the  following  day  with  a  favorable  wind  they  prepared  to 
sail  to  Croatan,  but  owing  to  the  loss  of  all  their  anchors,  save  one, 
and  the  approaching  foul  weather,  it  was  determined  to  sail  to 
St.  John  or  some  other  island  southward  for  fresh  water,  and  after 
obtaining  victuals  and  necessaries  in  the  West  Indies  and  spending 


LOST  COLONY.  7 

the  winter  there  to  return  in  the  spring  to  seek  the  colonists  at 
Croatan.  One  of  the  \essels  being  in  a  leaky  condition  was 
compelled  to  sail  for  England.  The  other  vessels  after  cruising 
(or  a  while  in  search  of  Spanish  i)rizes,  finally  sailed  for  E'ngland 
and  arrived  at  Plymouth  on  the  24th  day  of  October,  1590. 

From  the  story  of  Governor  White,  it  is  evident  that  Croatoan 
was  situated  southward  from  Roanoke  Island,  and  upon  the  coast, 
for  the  voyagers  attempted  to  sail  to  it  u[)on  the  open  sea.  It  is 
jjrobable  that  the  /V/^my  mentioned  was  one  of  the  long  islands 
curtaining  the  coast  and  einbraced  within  the  ])resent  county  of 
Carteret.  It  is  so  located  on  one  of  the  oldest  ma])S,  bearing 
date  of  1666.  On  a  maj)  published  by  order  of  the  Lords  Pro- 
prietors in  1671,  the  ])eninsula  embracing  the  present  county 
of  Dare,  is  called  Croatan.  Lauson's  map  of  the  year  1709  also 
locates  Croatan  in  the  same  region.  The  sound  immediately 
west  of  Roanoke  Island  still  bears  the  name  of  Croatan.  The 
name  of  the  island  belonging  to  the  tril  e  was  probably  Croatoan, 
whih?  the  name  of  tlie  tribe  inhabiting  it,  may  have  been  Croatan. 
The  name  Croatan  was  given  to  the  tribe  by  the  English  from  the 
name  of  a  locality  within  their  territory.  That  part  of  their  ter- 
ritory lying  west  of  Roanoke  Island  was  called  Dasamonguepeuk 
by  some  of  the  natives.  Manteo,  by  order  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
was  made  "Lord  of  Roanoke  and  Dasamonguepeuk,"  the  first 
instance  of  a  title  of  nobility  being  conferred  on  an  American. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  territorv  now  embraced  within 
the  (ounties  of  Hyde,  Tyrrell  and  Dare,  was  claimed  and  occu- 
cujjied  by  the  friendly  tribe  of  Manteo  at  one  time,  and  was  des- 
ignated as  Croatan,  and  at  another  time  occupied  by  a  different 
trile  of  hostile  Indians  who  called  it  Dasamonc^uepeuk.  Croa- 
toan, the  principal  seat  of  Manteo  and  his  tribe  lay  to  the  south 
ward.  The  name  carved  upon  the  tree  according  to  a  secret  un- 
dcstanding  between  Governor  White  and  the  planters  prior  to 
the  departure  of  the  former,  was  Croatoan,  and  was  understood 
by  him  to  mean  an  island  sonthward  from  Roanoke,  "for  there," 
-*ie  relates,  "Manteo  was  born  and  the  savages  of  the  island,  our 
/"riends."  2 


8  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

For  nearly  three  hundred  years  after  the  departure  of  White 
no  trace  of  the  lost  colony  had  been  discovered,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  following  related  by  Lawson,  an  early  historian,  who 
wrote  in  1714.  "The  Hatteras  Indians  who  lived  on  Roanoke 
Island,  or  inuch  frequented  it,  tell  us  that  several  of  their  ancestors 
were  white  j^eople  and  could  talk  in  a  book,  as  we  do;  the  truth 
of  which  is  confirmed  by  gray  eyes  being  frequently  found 
amongst  these  Indians,  and  no  others,  They  value  themselves 
extremely  for  their  affinity  to  the  English,  and  are  ready  to  do 
them  all  friendly  offices." 

Purchas  tells  us  that  several  subsequent  voyages  were  made  at 
the  expense  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  to  discover  his  lost  countrymen, 
but  without  success.  Commanders  of  ships  in  those  days  were 
more  anxious  to  capture  Spanish  vessels  than  to  find  lost  English- 
men and  it  is  doubtful  if  a  single  ship  touched  at  Croatan  or 
Roanoke  to  make  enquiries,  after  the  departure  of  White  in  1590. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Who  were  the  Cioatansl  The  term  Croatan  or  Croatoan  was 
aj^plied  by  the  English  to  the  friendly  tribe  of  ^Lmteo  whose  chief 
abode  was  on  an  island  on  the  coast  southward  from  Roanoke. 
The  name  Croatan  stems  to  indicate  a  locality  in  the  ter- 
ritory claimed  by  Manteo  and  his  tribe.  Dr.  Hawks 
speaks  of  this  tribe  as  Hatteras  Indians,  and  from  an 
incident  to  be  related  hereafter,  this  title  seems  to 
have  been  recognized  by  these  Indians.  From  the  first  a])pear- 
ance  of  Amadas  and  Barlowe  to  the  dejtarture  of  Governor  A\hiie 
in  1587  relations  of  the  most  friendly  character  are  known  to 
have  ex'sted  between  this  tribe  nnd  the  English  colonists.  Their 
chief,  Manteo,  in  reward  of  his  faithful  services  to  the  English, 
was,  by  command  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  bajitized  as  a  meml.er  of 
the  Church  of  England  and  was  made  Lord  of  Roanoke  and  of 
Dasamonguepeuk.  For  reasons  given  in  the  succeeding  pages,  we 
believe  the  term  Roanoke,  then  api)lied  to  the  island,  was  after-^  1: 


LOST  COLONY.  9 

wards  given  to  a  large  extent  of  territory  contiguous  to  Pamlico 
Sound,  in  fact  to  all  the  territory  claimed  l)y  Manteo.  The  tribes 
at  that  early  day,  seemed  to  have  had  no  settled  boundaries  to 
the  territories  claimed  by  them  and  occupied  tlie  land  adjacent 
to  their  prmcii^l  seats,  alternately  with  other  triljes,  as  hunting 
grounds. 

The  history  of  this  tribe,  as  connected  with  the  early  attempts 
to  colonize  our  eastern  coast,  is  of  peculiar  interest  and  is  worthy 
of  extended  notice 

Harriot,  who  accompanied  Lane's  expedition  to  Virginia,  in  de- 
scribing the  Indians  on  our  coast,  says,  *'they  are  a  people  clothed 
with  loose  mantles  made  of  deer  skins  and  aprons  of  the  same 
around  their  middles,  all  else  naked,  of  such  a  difference  of  stat- 
ure as  we  of  Fngiand,  having  no  edge  tools  or  weapons  of  iron 
or  steel  to  offend  us  withal,  neither  know  they  how  to  make  any." 
^''Hie  language  of  every  government  is  different  from  any  other, 
and  the  further  they  are  distant,  the  greater  is  the  diffeience," 
**They  believe  that  there  are  many  gods,  which  they  call  Mantoac, 
but  of  different  sorts  and  degrees,  one  only  chief  and  great  God 
which  has  been  from  all  eternity."  '-They  also  believe  the  im- 
njortality  of  the  soul,  that  after  this  life  as  soon  as  the  soul  is  de- 
parted from  the  body  according  to  the  works  it  has  done,  it  is 
either  carried  to  heaven,  the  habitable  of  the  gods,  there  to  enjoy 
perpetual  bliss  and  hai)piness,  or  else  to  a  great  pit  or  hole,  which 
they  think  to  be  in  the  further  part  of  the  world  towards  the  sun- 
set, there  to  burn  continually,  the  place  they  call  Popogusso." 

In  reading  this  account  of  the  religion  of  the  natives  we  con- 
elude  that  at  some  period  they  had  conimunication  with  more 
civilized  races  from  the  East  who  impressed  upon  them  some 
idea  of  faith  more  exalted  than  that  common  among  savages. 
Some  may  be  ready  to  accept  the  absurdities  of  monkish  fancy 
and  readily  believe  them  to  be  descendants  of  the  <dost  tribes" 
who  had  retained  something  of  ancient  Jewish  faith.  The  differ- 
ence in  color,  language  and  other  characteristics  renders  it  diffi- 
cult  to  accept  such  a  theory.     The  knowledge  of  this  western  land 


k 


10  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

is  as  old  as  the  time  of  Plato  and  Solon,  who  mention  an  island  in 
the  West  called  Atlantis  -'and  a  great  continent  which  lay  beyond 
it."  The  Persians  established  a  colony  in  the  West  Indies  a  thou 
sand  3'ears  ago,  which,  by  "abstaining  from  all  admixture  with  the 
black  aborigines,  differs  l>ut  little  from  their  progenitors  in  the 
parent  country,"  The  Welsh  colonized  the  Carolina  coast  in  the 
twelfth  century.  In  1660  Rev.  Morgan  Jones  in  travelling  in  the 
Tuscarora  country  was  captured  by  the  Doegs^  a  branch  of  that 
tribe  who  spoke  Welsh.  He  describes  them  as  settled  upon  Pon- 
tigo  river  near  Cape  Atross,  This  statement  seems  to  confirm  the 
Welsh  chronicle  which  describes  Madoc's  colony,  L(;ng  before 
the  discovery  of  Columbus  the  Basques  sent  fishing  vessels  to  the 
northern  y^art  of  America.  The  Norse  records  describe  voyages 
to  the  American  coast,  reciting  facts  and  dates  which  are  con- 
firmed by  Irish  and  Arabic  chronicles,  and  also  by  the  inscription 
on  Woman's  Islands  on  our  northern  coast  bearing  date  of  April 
25th,  1 135.  If  we  discredit  the  accounts  of  these  early  voyages 
we  may  fhscredit  anything  of  ancient  date  recorded  in  history. 
The  Sanscrit  root  syllable  a/>  and  the  Latin  root  ci/c,  both  meaning 
water,  are  detected  in  the  names  of  scores  of  rivers  and  bays  on 
our  Atlantic  coast  facing  Euroi>e,  where  vessels  driven  by  the 
north  east  trade  winds,  would  ])robab1y  reach  our  shores. 

We  cite  these  facts  in  support  of  the  theory  that  colonies  were 
in  past  times,  located  on  our  coast,  and  in  course  of  time  were  neg- 
lected and  forgotten  by  the  parent  countries  and  became  absorbed 
by  native  tribes.  If  this  theory  is  accepted  it  will  account  for  tra- 
ditions of  wrecked  vessels  prevalent  among  the  Indians  described 
by  Hariot,  as  well  as  for  their  religious  notions  so  far  above  those 
commonly  found  among  savages.  Prescott,  as  quoted  by  Dr. 
Hawks  in  speaking  of  the  Indians  found  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of 
North  America,  says,  "they  had  attained  to  the  sublime  concep- 
tion of  one  Great  Spirit,  the  creator  of  the  universe,  who,  imma- 
terial in  his  own  nature,  was  not  to  be  dishonored  by  an  attempt 
at  visible  rei)resentation,  and  who  pervading  all  space  was  not  to 
be  circumscribed  within  the  walls  of  a  temple." 


LOST  COLONY.  11 

What  may  have  been  the  origin  of  the  tribe,  known  to  us 
through  the  English  colonists  as  Croatan,  can  only  be  a  matter  of 
conjecture  They  had  traditions  of  vessels  wrecked  in  past  times, 
and  they  affirmed  that  iron  implements  found  among  them  were 
obtained  from  such  wrecks  Children  with  auburn  hair  and  blue 
eyes  were  noticed  among  them,  which  impressed  the  belief  that 
they  had  had  communication  with  white  people.  From  the  appear 
ance  of  Amidas  and  Barlowe  in  1584  to  the  departure  of  Governor 
White  in  1587,  their  demeanor  towards  the  whites  was  friendly. 
The  treatment  received  by  Manteo  during  his  visit  to  England 
may  have  enhanced  the  good  teeling  towards  the  English.  What 
became  of  them  ? 

CHAPTER  V. 

After  the  departure  of  Governor  White  from  the  coast  of  Vir- 
ginia in  1590  five  expeditions  were  fitted  out  at  the  expense  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  for  the  relief  of  his  distressed  countrymen  at 
Roanoke.  These  expeditions  returned  with  no  tidings  of  the 
planters  and  it  became  the  settled  conviction  of  those  interested 
in  the  colony,  that  it  perished  from  starvation  or  savage  cruelty. 

After  the  settlement  at  Jamestown  in  1607,  Captain  John  Smith 
sent  a  hardy  woodsman  to  the  Chowanoke  Indians,  who  lived  near 
the  head  of  Albemarle  Sound,  under  the  pretense  of  sending  pres- 
ents to  their  king,  but  his  object  was  to  make  inquiries  concern- 
ing the  Roanoke  colony.  Captain  Smith  sent  two  other  men  to 
the  Mangoaks,  on  the  river  Nottoway,  but  they  returned  as  the 
other  had  done,  without  any  information  except  that  the  white 
people  were  all  dead.     (Vide  Williamson's  His.  of  N.  C.  Vol.  i, 

P   73)- 

It  is  evident  from  the  story  of  Governor  White,  as  given  on  a 

preceding  page,  that  the  colonists  went  southward  along  the  coast 

to      Croatoan     island,     now     a     part     of     Carteret     county, 

in      North      Carolina,     and      distant       about       one       hundred 

3 


12  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

miles  in  a  direct  line  from  Albemarle  Sound.  The  Mangoacks 
were  seated  northwest  from  Albemarle  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  messengers  returned  without  definite  information  The 
statement  of  Lawson,  as  to  the  tradition  of  the  Hatteras  Indians, 
may  throw  some  light  on  the  fate  of  the  English  colonists,  but  it  is 
a  matter  of  surprise  to  us  at  this  time,  that  a  historian  would  not 
pursue  the  investigation  of  that  tradition  far  enough  to  ascertain 
who  those  ancestors  were  who  could  ''talk  in  a  book.''  Europeans 
had  been  upon  the  coast  even  before  the  arrival  of  Amidas  and 
Barlowe  in  1584.  Persons  were  noiiced  among  the  natives  with 
auburn  and  chestnut  colored  hair,  2C[\^  traditions  existed  concern- 
ing wrecked  vessels.  Iron  implements  were  found  among  the 
Croatan  Indians  made  of  spikes  and  nails  obtained  from  a  wreck 
on  their  coast,  which  occurred  about  twenty  years  before  the  ar- 
rival of  the  English  colony.  A  previous  wreck  in  1558  was  men- 
tioned ;  some  of  the  crew  were  saved  and  were  supposed  to  have 
been  lost  in  their  attempt  to  leave  in  the  frail  boats  of  the  natives. 
Lawson  wrote  in  1714,  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  years  after 
the  colonists  were  last  seen  on  Roanoke  Island.  Sixty  nine  years 
after  the  settlement  on  that  island,  and  sixty  years  betore  the 
event  related  by  Lawson,  Roanoke  was  visited  by  an  Englishman, 
Francis  Yeardly,  who,  in  a  letter  to  John  Farrar,  Esquire,  dated 
May  8th  1654,  relates  a  visit  made  to  Roanoke  Island  by  himself 
and  others,  ''where  or  thereabouts  they  found  the  great  com- 
mander of  these  parts  with  his  Indians  ahunting,  wbo  received 
them  civilly,  and  showed  the  ruins  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  fort, 
from  which  I  received  a  sure  token  of  their  being  there.  After 
some  days  spent  to  and  fro,  in  the  country,  the  young  man,  the 
interpreter,  pravailed  with  the  great  man  and  his  war  captains  to 
come  in  and  make  peace  with  the  English,  which  they  willingly 
condescended  unto"  — (Vide  Hawks  His.  N.  C,  Vol.  2,  p  17*) 
So  that  at  that  early  day  the  island  was  occupied  by  Indians  who 
knew  nothing  of  the  lost  Englishmen  and  who  pointed  out  Ral- 
eigh's fort  as  an  object  of  curiosity,  without  any  tradition  as  to 
the  fate  of  those  who  built  it. 


LOST  COLONY.  LS 

Reverend  Mr.  Blair,  who  was  a  missionary  to  the  settlements  on 
Pamlico  Sound,  after  describing  the  difficulties  of  his  situation, 
writes  to  his  patron  Lord  \Ve3'mouth,  as  follows:  "I  think  it  like- 
wise reasonable  to  give  you  an  account  of  a  great  nation  of  In- 
dians, who  live  in  that  government,  computed  to  be  no  less  than 
100,000.  many  of  which  live  among  the  English,  and  all  as  far  as 
I  can  understand,  a  very  civilized  people."  This  letter  was  writ- 
ten in  1703.  Mr  Blair  speaks  of  a  desert  of  fifty  miles  in  extent 
to  be  crossed  in  reaching  the  place.  At  the  time  in  which  he 
writes,  the  descendants  of  the  missing  colonists  must  have  held 
only  a  tradition  respecting  the  events  attending  the  attempt  at 
colonization  on  Roanoke  Island  The  number  mentioned  b3^  Mr. 
Ijlair  is  evidently  an  exaggeration  and  the  location  of  the  tribe  is 
indefinite.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  descendants  of  the 
colonists  were  living  in  a  region  of  country  Southwest  of  Pamlico 
at  the  time  in  which  he  writes  and  that  they  emigrated  Westward 
towards  the  interior,  where  a  large  body  of  Croatan  Indians  and 
descendants  of  the  lost  colonists  had  ]jreviously  located.  It  is 
probable  that  the  civilized  Indians  mentioned  were  a  portion  of 
the  Croatan  tribe,  as  there  was  no  other  tribe  to  which  the  refer- 
ence could  apply.  At  that  early  day  very  little  was  known  of 
the  region  to  the  Southwest  of  Pamlico  Sound  and  the  missionary 
may  have  traveled  one  hundred  miles  in  reaching  the  place  of  his 
labor  which  seemed  to  be  at  a  great  dsstance  from  other  precincts 
visited  by  him. 

At  the  time  in  which  he  writes  (1703)  there  were  no  settlements 
of  white  men  known  to  exist  beyond  the  region  around  Pamlico 
Sound.  Subsequent  to  that  date  white  emigrants  penetrated  the 
wilderness  and  in  1729  there  was  a  settlement  made  on  Heart's 
Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Cape  Fear,  and  near  the  site  of  the 
present  town  of  Fayetteville,  Scotchmen  arrived  in  what  isnow 
Richmond  County  in  North  Carolina  as  early  as  1730.  French 
Huguenots,  in  large  numbers,  emigrated  to  South  Carolina  after 
V^.  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  some  of  them    had 


14  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

penetrated  as  far  North  as  the  present  Northern  boundary  of  that 
State,  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 

At  the  coming  of  white  settlers  there  was  found  located  on  the 
waters  of  Lumber  River,  a  large  tribe  of  Indians,  speaking  En-:;- 
iish,  tilling  the  soil,  owning  slaves  and  practicing  many  of  the 
arts  of  civilized  life.  They  occupied  the  country  as  far  West  as 
the  Pee  Dee,  but  their  principal  seit  w.-j.s  on  the  Lumber,  extend 
ing  along  that  river  for  twenty  miles.  They  held  their  lands  in 
common  and  land  titles  only  became  known  on  the  approach  of 
white  men  The  first  grant  of  land  to  any  of  this  tribe,  of  which 
there  is  written  evidence  in  existence,  was  made  by  King  George 
the  Second  in  1732,  to  Henry  Berry  a.ud /ames  Loian'e,  two  lead- 
ing men  of  the  tribe,  and  was  located  on  the  Lowrie  Swamp, 
East  of  Lumber  River  in  present  county  of  Robeson  in  North 
Carolina.  A  subsequent  grant  was  made  to  James  Lowrie  in  1738. 
According  to  tradition  theie  were  deeds  of  land  of  older  date, 
described  as  ''White"  deeds  and  ''Smith"  dceds^  but  no  trace  of 
their  existence  can  be  found  at  this  date. 

Many  of  these  people  at  a  later  period  purchased  their  lands 
from  persons  who  obtained  large  patents  from  the  King. 

Occasional  bands  of  immigrants  arrived  on  the  Lumber  River 
from  ancient  settlements  towards  the  East,  while  others  moved 
West  towards  the  Pee  Dee,  Catawba  and  French  Broad  rivers. 
These  people  were  hospitable,  and  friendly  relations  were  estab- 
lished between  them  and  their  white  neighbors  Subsequent  to  the 
coming  of  white  settlers  a  portion  of  the  tribe  went  North  to- 
wards the  Great  Lakes  and  some  of  their  descendants  can  be  found 
at  this  time  in  Canada,  West  of  Lake  Ontario.  Another  emigra- 
tion occurred  at  a  later  date  and  the  emigrants  became  incorpor- 
ated with  a  tribe  then  located  near  Lake  Michigan.  Many  famil- 
ies, described  as  white  people,  emigrated  towards  the  Alleghany 
mountains  and  there  are  many  families  in  Western  North  Caro- 
lina at  this  time,  who  are  claimed  by  the  tribe  in  Robeson  County, 
as  descendants  of  the  lost  English  colonists,   who  had  preserved 


LOST  COLONY.  15 

their  purity  of  blood  to  that  degree  that  they  could  not  be  dis- 
tinguished from  white  peojjle.  These  Indians  built  great  roads 
connecting  the  distant  settlements  with  their  principal  seat  on  the 
Lumbee,  as  the  Lumber  river  was  then  called.  One  of  the  great 
roads  constructed  by  them  can  be  traced  from  a  point  on  Lumber 
river  tor  twenty  miles  to  an  old  settlement  near  the  mouth  of 
Heart's  Creek,  now  Cross  Creek,  Another  great  highway  still 
bearing  the  name  of  the  ''Lowrie  Road"'  and  used  at  this  day  as 
a  public  road,  extends  from  the  town  of  Fayetteville,  through 
Cumberland  and  Robeson  counties,  in  a  Southwest  direction  to- 
wards an  ancient  Croatan  settlement  on  the  Pee  Dee. 

James  Lowrie,  previously  mentioned  as  one  of  the  grantees  in 
the  deed  made  by  George  the  Second,  and  recognized  as  a  chief 
man  of  his  tribe,  is  described  as  an  Indian  who  married  Priscilla 
Berry,  a  sister  of  Henry  Berry,  the  other  grantee  mentioned.  James 
Lowrie,  was  a  descendant  of  James  Lowrie  of  Chesapeake,  who 
married  a  Croatan  woman  in  Virginia,  fas  Eastern  North  Carolina 
is  still  designated  by  the  tribe)  and  became  the  progenitor  of  all 
the  Lowries  belonging  to  this  tribe.  According  to  the  prevalent 
tradition  respecting  this  family,  the  men  were  intellectual  and  am- 
bitious, and,  as  a  chronicler  of  the  tribe  described  them,  became 
^'leaders  among  men."  Many  persons  distinguished  in  the  annals 
of  North  Carolina  are  claimed  as  descended  from  the  original  James 
Lowrie  of  Chesapeake.  'You  will  find  the  name  of  James  Low- 
rie," remarked  the  chronicler,  ''wherever  3'ou  find  a  Lowrie  fam- 

iiy." 

Henry  Berry,  the  grantee  previously  mentioned,  was  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  English  colonist,  Henry  Berry,  who  was  left  on 
Roanoke  Island  in  1587.     (See  list  of  names  of  Lost  Colony.) 

Many  of  this  tribe  served  in  tne  Continental  Army  during  the 
Revolutionary  war  and  enjoyed  pensions  within  the  memory  of 
persons  yet  living.  A  considerable  number  served  during  the  war 
of  181 2,  some  of  whom  received  pensions  within  the  recollection 
of  the  writer.     From  the  close  of  the  Revolution  to  the  year  1835, 

4 


16  SIR  WALTER  RALKIGH'S 

they  exercised  the  elective  franchise  equally  with  white  men,  jier-' 
formed  militia  duties,  encouraged  schools  and  built  churches, 
owned  slaves  and  lived  in  comfortable  circumstances.  By  an 
ordinance  of  the  N.  C.  State  Convention  of  1835,  the  elective 
franchise  was  denied  to  all  'dree  persons  of  color."  To  effect  a 
political  purpose,  it  was  contended  that  these  citizens  were  "free 
persons  of  color,"  and  afterwards  they  were  debarred  from  voting 
till  the  year  1868,  when  a  new  constitution  was  adopted.  After 
the  adoption  of  the  new  State  constitution,  they  w^re  allowed  the 
benefit  of  public  schools,  but  having  been  classed  for  a  long 
period  as  "free  persons  of  color,"  they  were  compelled  to  patron- 
ize schools  provided  for  the  negro  race.  Owing  to  a  bitter  preju- 
dice aganist  negroes,  but  few  availed  themselves  of  the  privilege, 
the  greater  part  preferring  that  their  children  should  grow  up  in 
ignorance,  rather  than  that  they  should  be  forced  to  association 
with  a  race  which  they  hold  in  utter  contempt.  Separate  schools 
have  since  been  provided  for  their  race,  by  the  Legislature  of 
North  Carolina,  which,  by  special  act,  recognized  them  as  Croatan 
Indians. 

CHARTER  VL 

During  the  late  war  between  the  States,  an  incident  occurred 
which  caused  the  writer  to  investigate  the  traditions  of  this  tribe. 
Three  young  men  of  the  Lowrie  family  were  drafted,  according 
to  military  law,  to  work  on  the  fortifications  at  Fort  Fisher  in 
Eastern  North  Carolina,  and  while  on  the  road  to  the  nearest  de- 
pot HI  Robeson  County,  they  were  killed,  it  is  supposed,  by  a 
white  man  who  had  them  in  custody.  An  inquest  was  held,  and 
at  its  conclusion,  an  old  Indian,  named  George  Lowrie,  ad- 
dressed the  i)eoi)le  assembled,  in  substance  as  follows:  "We  have 
always  been  the  friends  of  white  men.  We  were  a  free  people 
long  before  the  white  men  came  to  our  land.  Our  tribe  was  always  , 
free.     They   lived   m  Roanoke  in  Virginia.     When  the  English  (' 


LOSl^  COLONY.  1 7 

came  to  Roanoke,  our  tribe  treated  them  kindly.  One  of  our  tribe 
went  to  England  in  an  English  ship  and  saw  that  great  country. 
When  l^nglihh  people  landed  in  Roanoke  we  were  friendly, 
for  our  tribe  was  always  friendly  to  white  men.  We 
took  the  F^nglish  to  live  with  us.  There  is  the  white  man's  blood 
in  these  veins  as  well  as  that  of  the  Indian.  In  order  to  be  great 
like  the  English,  we  took  the  uhite  man's  language  and  religion, 
for  our  people  were  told  ihey  would  prosper  if  they  would  take 
white  men's  laws.  In  the  wars  l>etween  white  men  and  Indians 
we  always  fought  on  the  side  of  white  men.  We  moved  to  this 
land  and  fought  for  liberty  for  white  men,  yet  white  men  have 
treated  us  as  negroes.  Here  are  our  young  men  shot  down  by  a 
white  man  and  we  get  no  justice,  and  tliat  in  a  land  where  our 
people  were  always  free." 

The  incident  above  related  occurred  in  the  latter  part  of  1864, 
and  owing  to  the  troubled  state  of  the  country  at  that  time,  and 
for  several  years  afterwards,  no  investigation  could  be  made  till 
the  year  1875,  when  the  writer  became  a  citizen  and  had  oppor- 
tunity of  interviewing  leading  persons  of  the  tribe. 

After  the  year  1835.  these  Indians  who  murmured  greatly^  at  the 
injustice  done  them  in  being  classed  as  "Mulattoes"'  or  ''I'ree  per- 
sons of  color,"  became  suspicious  of  white  men  and  at  first  we 
finmd  difficulty  in  eliciting  any  facts  relating  to  their  i)ast  history. 
After  years  of  patient  investigation,  gathering  here  and  there,  we 
present  the  following  snmmary  of  traditions  prevalent  among 
them  : 

The  tribe  once  lived  in  Roancke  in  Virginia,  as  they  persist  in 
calling  Eastern  North  Carolina.  The  name  Roanoke  is  applied  to 
the  country  around  Pamlico  Sound,  embracing  Hyde,  Tyrell  and 
Dare  counties  on  the  North,  with  the  series  of  islands  as  far 
South  as  Carteret  county  and  embracing  that  county  with  Craven 
and  Jones  Croatoan  or  Croatan  was  a  locality  far  to  the  South, 
off  the  coast  of  Carteret,  and  was  the  principal  seat  of  the  tribe. 
Their  leading  man    was    made    Eord  of   Roanoke.     The    name 


18  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

Manteo  they  do  not  recognize,  but  are  familiar  with  Mayna,  a 
name  very  common  among  them  and  representing  a  ver3'  quiet, 
law  abiding  people. 

At  an  early  period  after  the  English  colony  became  incorpor- 
ated with  the  tribe,  they  began  to  emigrate  westward.  The  first 
settlement  made  was  probably  in  what  is  now  Sami)son  county  on 
several  small  rivers,  tributary  to  Black  river.  A  portion  located 
on  the  Cap;e  Fear,  near  a  place  now  bearing  the  name  of  "Indian 
Wells"  and  at  Heart's  Creek  in  Cumberland  county,  now  Fay- 
etteville.  It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  at  what  date  the  tribe  lo- 
cated in  Robeson  but  it  is  probable  that  they  have  resided  there 
ior  200  years.  According  to  their  universal  tradition  they  were 
located  there  long  before  the  troubles  with  the  Tuscaroras  began 
in  1 71 1.  Some  of  the  tribe  fought  under  "Bonnul"  as  they  term 
Colonel  Barnwell,  and  we  have  reliable  evidence  that  they  brought 
home  a  few  Mattamuskeet  Indians  as  prisoners  and  slaves.  The 
descendants  of  these  Mattamuskeets  had  their  traditions  also. 
The  name  Dare  was  not  recognized  by  them  in  our  first  investi- 
gations but  we  afterwards  discovered  that  they  pronounce  the 
name  variously  as  Da?r,  Durr  and  Dorr.  This  discovery  was 
made  when  we  related  to  an  old  chronicler  of  the  tribe  the  story 
of  Virginia  Dare,  the  first  white  child  born  on  American  soil. 
This  name  Dorr  or  Durr  has  disappeared  on  the  Lumber  river 
since  the  war  of  18 12.  The  name  Dorr  appears  on  the  muster 
roll  of  a  company  composed  in  part  of  Indians  from  Robeson 
county  which  served  during  that  war,  in  the  United  States  Army. 

Several  chroniclers,  or  old  persons  who  keep  the  traditions  of 
the  tribe,  have  informed  us  that  there  are  families  bearing  the 
name  of  Dorr  or  Durr,  to  be  found  in  Western  North  Carolina 
who  are  claimed  by  the  tribe  as  descended  from  the  English 
colonists  of  Roanoke.  These  chroniclers  affirm  that  the  Dares, 
Coopers,  Harvies  and  others  retained  their  purity  of  blood  and 
were  generally  the  pioneers  in  emigration.  Many  names  are  cor- 
rupted   so  that  it  is  difficult  to  trace  their  history.     The   name 


W 


LOST  COLONY.  19 

Goins  was  originally  O'Guin,  as  appears  from  ancient  court  rec- 
ords. The  name  Lumber,  as  applied  to  the  river,  was  originally 
Lumbee  or  Lombee,  The  name  Manteo  is  not  familiar  to  them. 
While  they  have  a  tradition  of  their  leader  or  chief  who  went  to 
England,  yet  the3^  have  preserved  no  name  for  him.  The  nearest 
ajjproach  to  the  name  Manteo,  is  Maino  or  Mainor.  An  old 
woman,  whom  we  interviewed,  spoke  of  their  great  man  as  IVon- 
oke^  This  name  may  be  a  corruption  of  Roanoke,  for  wc  must 
remember  Manteo  was  made  Lord  of  Roanoke,     Mattamuskeet 

\  Lake,  according  to  a  tradition  preserved  by  these  Indians,  was  a 
burnt  lake  or  lake  caused  by  water  filling  a  hole  burnt  in  the 
ground.     We  are  indebted  for  this  tradition  to  an  aged  gentleman 

1^  of  Robeson  county  who  was  familiar  with  the  traditions  of  the 
tribe  from  about  1820  to  1824.  He  mentioned  several  persons 
who  represented  that  they  were  descended  from  Mattamuskeet 
Indians  who  were  taken  prisoners,  in  the  war  between  the  Whites 
and  Tuscaroras,  by  the  tribe  on  the  Lumber  river.  These  Matta- 
muskeets  could  locate  the  dwelling  places  of  their  ancestors  who 
lived  in  what  is  now  Hyde  county,  in  the  vicinit3'  ^*  Mattamus- 
keet L?ke.  In  our  investigations  we  could  find  no  tradition  re- 
specting these  persons.  The  names  given  by  our  informant  have 
all  disai)jjeared.  Large  numbers  have  emigrated  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  century.  Within  half  a  century  about  forty 
families  left  the  county  of  Robeson  from  about  Plainview  and  went 
to  the  Northwest,  '^Traditions  are  fading  fast."  our  informant  re- 
marked, <'as  far  back  as  1820  their  traditions  were  more  vivid  than 
^  now  and  were  familiar  to  old  and  young.  Now,  you  will  find 
their  ancient  traditions  confined  to  comparatively  a  few  old  per- 
sons." 

Pungo  Lake  is  known  among  them  as  Mattapungo,  They  have 
no  tradition  as  ro  any  river  named  Roanoke.  This  name  is  in- 
variably applied  by  them  to  the  territory  previously  described  as 
occupied  by  their  tribe  on  the  Eastern  coast.  Hawks,  as  previ- 
ously mentioned,  speaks  of  the  tribe  in  1587  as  Hatteras  Indians. 

5 


20  SIR  WALIER  RALEIGH'S 

When  the  Act  of  the  North  Carolina  General  Assembly  was  read 
to  them,  recognizing  them  as  Croatans,  an  intelligent  Indian  re- 
marked that  he  had  always  heard  that  they  were  called  Hattoras 
Indians.  The  line  of  emigration  extended  westward  from  what 
is  now  Carteret  count}^,  and  can  be  traced  according  to  traditioi"» 
as  far  West  as  the  French  Broad,  in  Buncombe  county.  Tradition 
respecting  localities  occupied  by  the  tribe  at  the  time  of  the  ab- 
sorption of  the  English  colony  is  vague,  but  definite  enough  to 
establish  the  belief  that  their  territory  once  embraced  i)ortions,  at 
least,  of  the  present  counties  of  Carttret,  Jones  and  Craven, 
It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  any  of  the  English  colonists  left  by 
Governor  White  ever  lived  West  of  the  county  of  Jones.  The 
settlement  on  the  Lumber  river  in  Robeson  county  was  made  dur- 
ing the  seventeenth  century,  possibly  as  early  as  1650.  The  re- 
vocation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  occurred  in  1685.  and  thousands 
of  French  Huguenots,  driven  to  exile,  found  refuge  m  South 
Carolina.  As  early  as  1709,  a  colony  of  these  exiles  located  in 
the  Eastern  part  of  North  Carolina.  Some  of  these  Huguenots 
penetrated  the  interior  as  far  as  the  Lumber  river  in  the  early 
part  of  the  last  century,  and  found  the  country  north  and  €ast  of 
them  thickly  populated  by  Indians  who  had  farms  and  roads  and 
other  evidences  of  civilized  life,  and  had  evidently  resided  there 
for  a  considerable  time  before  the  approach  of  white  men. 

Settlements  were  made  towards  the  Pee  Dee  and  at  points  be- 
yond that  river  after  their  location  on  the  Lumber. 

The  language  spoken  is  almost  pure  Anglo  Saxon,  a  tact  which 
Ave  think  affords  corroborative  evidence  of  their  relation  to  the 
lost  colony  of  White.  Mon  fSaxon)  is  used  for  man,  father  is 
pronounced  fayther,  and  a  tradition  is  usually  begun  as  follows  : 
<'Mon,  my  /ay f/ier  told  me  that  /lis  fayther  told  him,"  <S:c.  Men- 
sion  is  used  for  measurement,  aks  for  ask,  hit  for  it,  hosen  for  hose, 
lovend  for  loving,  housen  for  houses.  They  seem  to  have  but  two 
sounds  for  the  letter  a,  one  like  short  o.  Many  of  the  words  in 
common  use  among  them  have  long  been  obsolete  in  English 
speaking  countries.  ';  /L 


• 


LOST  COLONY.  21 

They  are  a  proiici  race,  boasting  alike  of  their  English  and  In- 
dian blood,  hosi)itable  to.  strangers  and  ever  ready  to  do  friendly 
offices  for  white  people. 

They  are  peaceable  in  disposition,  but  when  aroused  by  re- 
peated injury,  they  will  fight  desperately.  The  great  mass  shun 
notoriety  and  carefiiUy  avoid  places  where  crowds  of  other  races 
assemble.  They  generally  live  retired  from  public  highways,  and 
seem  to  show  Indian  characteristics  more  strongly  than  in  former 
times.  There  are  sixteen  churches  owned  by  them  in  Robeson 
county,  divided  among  iiaptist  and  Methodist  denominations. 
Their  schoolhouses,  built  entirely  by  private  means,  are  all  framed 
buildings  and  provided  f^vr^W^fcr  than  thn^p  of  the  colored   race;^. 

They  are  great  road  makers,  like  their  ancestors.  The  best  pub- 
lic- roads  in  North  Carolina  are  found  among  this  tribe. 

There  has  been  no  census  taken  separately  from  the  other  races, 
but  the  number  in  Robeson  county  is  fully  2,500,  and,  consider- 
ing the  settlements  in  other  counties,  the  total  is  not  less  than 
5,000.  The  enrollment  of  Croatan  children  in  Robeson  county, 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  twenty-one  years,  in  accordance  with 
an  Act  of  the  General  Assembly,  passed  in  1885,  shows  about 
eleven  hundred  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  public  instruction,  pro- 
vided separately  for  the  race. 

By  an  Act  of  the  General  Assemby,  passed  in  i887,  a  Normal 
School  for  teachers  of  the  Croatan  race  was  established,  and  the 
sum  of  ^500  is  annually  appropriated  for  two  years  by  the  State 
for  its  support. 

jl^ccording  to  the  law  of  North  Carolina,  all  marriages  between 
a  white  person  and  a  negro  or  Indian,  or  between  a  white  person 
and  a  person  of  negro  or  Indian  descent  to  the  third  generation, 
inclusive,  are  null  and  void,  but  there  was  no  inhibition  of  mar- 
riage between  an  Indian  and  a  negro,  till  the  General  Assembly 
of^j^SSy  amended  the  law,  by  declaring  all  marriages  between 
Croatan  Indians  and  negroes  or  persons  of  negro  descent  to  the 
third  generation  inclusive,  null  and  void. 


i 


22 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 


CHAPTER  VIl. 


In  investigating  the  traditions  prevalent  among  tliis  singular 
people,  we  found  many  family  names  identical  with  those  of  the 
lost  colony  of  1587.  For  the  information  of  the  reader,  we  give 
a  list  of  the  names  of  all  the  men,  women  and  children  of  Raleigh's 
colony,  which  arrived  in  Virgina  and  remained  to  inhabit  there. 
This  list  is  found  in  ist  Volume  of  Hawk's  History  of  North 
Carolina  and  copied  from  Hakluyt,  Vol.  Ill,  page  280. 
Anno  regni  Reginae  Eiizabethae  29. 


John  White, 
Roger  Bail}', 
Ananias  Dare^ 
Christopher  Cooper, 
Thomas  Stevens, 
John  Sampson, 
Dionys  Harvie^ 
Roger  Prat, 
George  Howe, 
Simon  Fernando, 
Nicholas  Johnson^ 
Thomas  Warner, 
Anthony  Cage, 
William  Willes, 
William  Brown, 
Michael  Myllet, 
Thomas  Smith, 
Richard  Kemme, 
Thomas  Harris^ 
Richard  Taverner, 
William  Clement, 
Robert  Little, 
Hugh  Tayler, 


John  Jones, 
John  Brooks, 
Cutbert  White, 
John  Bright, 
Clement  Taylor, 
William  Sole, 
John  Cotsmuir, 
Humphrey  Newton, 


Robert  Wilkinson, 
Jthn  Tydway, 
Ambrose  Vie  car  s^ 
Edmund  English, 
Thomas  Topan, 
Henry  Berry. 
Richard  Berry, 
John  Spend  love, 
John  Hemmington, 


Thomas  Colman^ 

Thomas  Gramme,  o\    '\\\ovc\2.%  Btitlei , 

Graham,  Graeme,         Edward  Powell, 


Mark  Bennet^ 
John  Gibbes, 
John  Stilman, 
John  Earnest, 
Yi^ViXy  Johnson^ 
John  Starte, 
Richard  Darige, 
William  Lncas, 
Arnold  A  rchard, 
William  Nichols, 
Thomas  Phevens, 
John  Borden, 


John  Burdon, 
James  Hyndc, 
Thomas  Ellis, 
John  Wright, 
William  Button, 
Maurice  Allen ^ 
AVilliam  Waters, 
Richard  Arthur, 
John  Chapman, 
James  Lasie, 
John  Cheven, 
Thomas  Hewett, 


Lc] 


LOST  COLONY. 


23 


^^'illiam  Berde, 
Richard  Wild  ye, 
Lewes  Wot  ton. 
Michael  Bishoj), 
Henry  Browne. 
Henry  Rufotte, 
Richard  Tonikins, 
Henry  Dorrell, 


Eleanor  Da)  e^ 
]\Iargery  Harvie^ 
Agnes   Wood, 
Winnifred  Fowcll^ 
Joyce  Archard, 
Jane  Jones, 


John  Sampson^ 
Robert  Ellis, 
Ambrose  Vice  as. 


Charles  Florrie, 
Henry  Mylton, 
Henry  Paine ^ 
'J'homas  Harris, 
Thomas  Scoty 
Peter  Little^ 
John  Wyles, 
Bryan  Wyles, 


George  Mai  tin, 
Hugh  Fattens  on, 
Martin  Sutton, 
John  Farre, 
John  Brid^^er, 
^u^w  Jones^ 
Richard  Shabedge, 


\yOMEN. 

Elizabeth  Glane, 
Jane  Fierce, 
Andry  'lappan, 
Alice  CJiarnian, 
Emma  Merimoth, 
Col  man. 


Margaret  Lawrence, 
Joan  Warren, 
Jane  Mannering, 
Rose  Fayne, 
I^lizabeth  l^ieears. 


IIOVS  AM)  CHILDkl'X. 

Thomas  Archard,  Geoige  HoK>e^ 

Thomas  Humphrey,     John  Prat, 
Thomas  Smart,  William  Wythers, 


CHILDREN   HORN   IX   VIRCIXIA. 

^'irginia  Dare,  Harvie. 

Manteo  and  Towaye.  or  Wanchese,  that  were  in  England,  re- 
turned to  ^"irginla  with  the  colony. 

Governor  John  White,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  colonists,  re- 
turned to  P^ngland.  Simon  Fernando,  the  Spanish  pilot  of  the 
expedition,  also  returned.  George  Howe,  one  of  the  '^A^ssistants" 
of  Governor  White,  was  killed  by  the  Indians  on  Roanoke  Island 
soon  after  the  arrival.  Omitting  the  name  of  the  perfidious  Fer- 
nando, we  have  120  persons  in  all,  including  men,  women  and 
children,  and  about  90  family  names,  represented   in  the  colony. 

The  names  in  the  foregoing  list  in  italics,  are  those  which  are 

found  at  this  time  among  the  Indians  residing  in  Robeson  county 
6 


24  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

and  in  other  counties  of  Nortli  Carolina,  The  traditions  of  every 
fainily  bearing  tlie  name  of  one  of  the  lost  coloni-ts,  point  to 
Roanoke  as  the  country  of  their  ancestors. 

If  we  accept  their  traditions  they  held  coinnmnication  with  the 
Eastern  coast  long  after  their  exorlous,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  it  was  a  party  of  tins  tribe  which  Lawson  describes  in  1714, 
as  visiting  their  old  hunting  grounds  and  who  described  their  an- 
cestors as  people  who  "could  talk  in  a  book." 

As  to  the  intellectual  character  of  this  singular  people  but  little 
can  be  written  as  public  schools  were  unknown  prior  to  1835,  and 
such  education  as  they  obtained  up  to  that  date  was  limited  to  a 
knowledge  of  reading  and  writing  and  the  fundamental  rules  of 
arithmetic.  Hundreds  have  grown  up  to  manhood  and  woman- 
hood in  perfect  ignorance  of  books.  By  nature  they  are  (}uick- 
witted,  and  judging  by  the  few  examples  of  educated  ones,  they 
are  equal  10  the  whites  in  mental  capacity.  Ex  LTiited  States 
Senator  Revels,  of  Mississippi,  belongs  to  this  tribe.  He  was  born 
in  Robeson  county  and  emigrated  to  the  northwest  where  he  was 
educated  and  subsecjuently  resided  in  Mississippi. 

The  action  of  the  North  Carolina  Legislature  in  establishing 
separate  schools  for  this  race  and  in  recognizing  them  as  the  de- 
scendants of  the  friendly  Croatans  known  to  the  early  colonists,  r 
IS  one  great  step  towards  their  moral  and  intellectual  elevation.  I 
They  are  almost  universally'  land  holders  and  occupy  a  territory 
in  the  county  of  Robeson  of  about  sixty  thousand  acres,  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  corn,  cotton  and  tobacco. 

CHAPTER  Vni. 

It  has  long  been  a.  settled  conviction  that  the  lost  colonists  per- 
ished  from  starvation  or  savage  cruelty. 

This  conviction  has  arisen  from  the  fact  that  they  were  seen  no 
more  by  white  men. 

The  particulars  given  by  Governor  White  of  the  understanding 
which  existed  between  him  and  the  colonists  prior  to  his  depart 


LOST  COLONY.  25 

lire  for  England  in  1587,  and  his  finding  the  word  Croatan  on  a 
Iree,  in  a  conspicuous  place,  on  his  return  in  1590,  seem  to  prove 
conclusively  that  the  English  had  accepted  the  invitation  of 
Mantco's  tribe,  and  had  gone  to  Croatan  Island.  The  fact  that 
they  were  seen  no  more  by  white  men  does  not  prove  that  they 
perished.  'I'he  same  fact  exists  in  regard  to  the  Croatans  and  the 
same  argument  would  prove  th-'^ir  destruction  also. 

We  must  remtmber  that  the  region  embracing  Croatan  Island 
and  the  adjacent  mainland  was  unexplored  for  a  long  period  after 
the  attempt  at  settlement  on  Roanoke  Island.  The  history  of 
those  times  shows  tiiat  in  1609  the  northeast  corner  of  North  Car- 
olina was  settled  by  a  colony  from  Virginia. 

In  1654,  sixty  seven  years  after- the  English  colonists  were  last 
seen  on  Roanoke,  Virginia  adventurers  had  explored  as  far  south 
as  the  Pamlico  and  Neuse  rivers.  In  1656  a  settlement  was  made 
on  Albemarle  Sound,  A  colony  from  Massachu  etts  was  located 
on  the  Cape  Fear  in  1660  and  was  soon  abandoned.  Sir  John 
Yeamans'  colony  landed  on  the  same  river  in  1664.  In  1690,  a 
French  colony  from  Virginia  settled  on  Pamlico  Sound,  and  iu 
1698  emigrants  from  Albemarle  also  located  in  that  region. 

^V'e  have  cited  these  facts  to  show  how  little  was  known,  from 
1587  to  1690,  of  the  region  where  tradition  says  the  Croatans 
were  settled. 

In  1690,  the  date  of  the  settlement  of  the  French  on  Pamlico, 
all  the  English  colonists  must  have  been  dead,  and  the  sad  story 
was  held  only  in  tradition,  and  it  may  be  that  the  Croatans  who 
were  then  remaining  in  that  region,  on  the  approach  of  the  new 
colony,  removed  farther  into  the  interior,  where  portions  of  that 
tribe  had  previously  located. 

As  previously  intimated,  the  traditions  of  the  Indians  now  living 
I  in  Robeson  are  sufficiently  clear  to  prove  that  at  an  early  period 
they  located  south  of  Pamlico  Sound  on  the  mainland.  Tradi. 
tion  in  regard  to  their  ancient  dwelling-places  on  the  tributaries 
of  Black  river  in  the  present  county  of  Sampson  are  more  defi- 
nite.    The  fact  that  French,  English,  Irish  and  perhaps  German 

I. 


26  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH'S 

names  are  loimd  among  them,  is  accounted  for  b)  the  tradition 
that  marria-I^es  frequently  occurred  between  them  and  the  early 
immigrants.  The  name  Chavis  which  is  common  among  this  peo- 
l)le  is  probably  a  corruption  of  the  French  name,  Cheves.  Goins, 
was  D'Guiii.  a>  court  records  prove.  Leary,  was  O'Leary.  Blauc 
or  Blaux  is  i'rcnch.  Braboy  is  of  recent  origin  and  was  originally 
"Brave  Bo\'*  and  (iates  back  to  the  war  with  the  Tuscaroras  in 
171 1,  and  was  conferred  on  an  Indian  by  the  commander  of  the 
English  for  some  meritorious  act. 

From  the  earliest  settlement  of  the  country  along  the  Lumber 
river  these  Indians  have  been  an  F^nglish  speaking  p'cojjle.  Their 
language  has  many  peculiarities  and  reminds  one  of  the  English 
spoken  in  ilic  days  of  Chaucer.  The  number  of  old  English 
words  in  common  use  among  them  which  ha\e  long  been  obsolete 
in  English  speaking  countries,  is  corroborative  of  the  truth  of 
their  tradition  that  they  are  the  descendants  of  the  lost  English- 
men  of  Roanoke. 

In  travelling  on  foot  they  march  in  "Indian  file"  and  exhibit  a 
fondness  ft)r  bright  red  colors.     They  unconsciously  betray  man  ' 
other   traits  characteristic   of    Indians.     The   custom   of    raisin 
patches  of  tobacco  for  their  own  use  has  been  handed  down  fron 
time  immemorial. 

In  building  they  exhibit  no  little  architectural  skill.  In  roa(" 
making  they  excel.  Some  of  the  best  roads  in  North  Caroline 
can  be  found  within  their  territory,  The^'  are  universally  hospita- 
ble and  polite  to  strangers.  They  are  proud  of  their  race  and 
boast  of  their  English  ancestry.  Like  their  ancestors,  they  are 
friendly  to  white  men. 

Their  traditions  are  generally  preserved  by  the  old  members  of 
the  tribe,  but  the  tradition  is  universal  among  them  from  infancy 
to  old  age.  that  their  ancestors  came  from  ^'Roanoke  in  Virginia." 
By  Virginia  they  mean  Eastern  North  Carolina,  and  the  term 
Roanoke  means  the  territory  occupied  by  the  tribe  in  the  vicinity 
of  Pamlico    .^ound.     In    religious   matters    they  are  Baptists  and 


LOST  COLONY.  27 

Methodists.     Tlie  latter  belong  to  what  is  called    the  Indian  Mis 
sion,  which  is  of  recent  origin. 

"They  never  forget  a  kindness,  an  injury,  nor  a  debt,"  said  an 
old  citizen.  "They  may  not  ])ay  you  when  a  debt  is  due,  but 
they  seldom  forget  an  obligation  and  are  sure  to  pay  you  after  a 
time."  In  common  with  all  Indians  they  have  a  great  resj  ect  for 
the  Quakers  and  look  upon  them  as  the  true  friends  of  the  Indian. 
In  the  olden  time  they  had  hou.ses  of  entertainment  for  travellers. 

The  number  of  family  names  to  be  found  among  them,  identi- 
( al  with  those  of  the  colonists  of  Roanoke  is  further  corroborative 
of  their  traditional  descent. 

The  line  of  emigration  from  their  original  seat  on  the  coast 
was  westward,  and  can  be  traced  as  far  west  as  the  French  Broad, 
in  Buncombe  county.  Though  hhuii)  families  of  this  tribe  emi- 
grated from  the  Lumber  river  a  long  while  ago,  yet  ti--^  ^^Titiniv 
.iif^nany  of  them  have  been  located  in  Western  North  Carolina 
with  unerring  certainty. 

The  writer  has  been  much  interested  in  investigating  the  traditions 
prevalent  among  the  Croatans  and  expresses  his  firm  conviction 
that  they  are  descended  from  the  friendly  tribe  found  on  our  east- 
ern coast  in  1587,  and  also  descended  from  the  lost  colonists  of 
Roanoke  who  were  amalgamated  with  this  tribe. 

Through   many  centuries  of  tmie  there   comes  down  to  us  the 

f  sad  story  of  the  lost  legions  of  Varus.     The  mystery  that  so  long 

hung  over   the   fate  of  those  legions  was  solved  by   Drusus  who 

I  found  the  bleeching  bones  of  his  countrymen  in  a  German  forest, 

neai  the  Baltic  sea. 

The  fate  of  the  lost  colonists  of  Roanoke,  we  submit,  is  revealed 
f    in  the  foregoing  pages. 

To  the  charitable   who  are   interested  in   the  moral  elevation  of 
'     humanity  we  heartly  commend  the  Croatans. 

,  THE  END. 


28 


EDUCATIONAI , 


WILSOH  COLLEGIiTE  INSTITl'TE, 


inra.! 


?■■• 


SILAS  E.  WARREN,  Principal. 


N 


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EDUCATIONAL. 


20 


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