The Lost Colony of Roanoke: New Perspectives

267 Pages·2017·17.076 MB·English

by  Brandon Fullam

The Lost Colony
of Roanoke
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The Lost Colony
of Roanoke
New Perspectives
B F
Randon uLLam
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
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Names: Fullam, Brandon, 1944– author.
Title: The lost colony of Roanoke : new perspectives / Brandon
Fullam.
Description: Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc.,
Publishers, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017009138 | ISBN 9781476667867 (softcover :
acid free paper)
♾
Subjects: LCSH: Roanoke Colony. | Roanoke Island (N.C.)—History—
16th century.
Classification: LCC F229 .F85 2017 | DDC 975.6/17501—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017009138
BRiTishLiBRaRyCaTaLoguingdaTaaReavaiLaBLe
ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-6786-7
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-2849-3
© 2017 Brandon Fullam. all rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
on the cover: White’s party find traces of the colonists, 1590(new
york Public Library, digital Collections); background: map of early
america 1585, John White, eodor de Bry, omas harriot (Library
of Congress); old paper banner (© 2017 cranach/istock)
Printed in the united states of america
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
For ann, alexis, and evelyn
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Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part I: The Raleigh Years
1. setting the stage: 1496–1586 9
2. Planning the Cittie of Ralegh: July 27, 1586–July 22, 1587 20
3. simon Fernandez and the aborted Chesapeake Plan:
July 22–august 27, 1587 25
4. decisions at Roanoke: august 28–september 30, 1587 38
5. The Colonists select a mainland settlement site:
october–november 1587 50
6. Pivotal events in england and virginia: January–
June 1588 62
7. The Legend of the CoRa Tree and the outpost at
Croatoan: July–september 1588 70
8. a Critical gamble at sea: september 1588–august 1589 82
9. The great hurricane and the Final Collapse of the
Colony: september 1589 91
10. The “Legend of the Coharie” and the hurricane’s
aftermath: october 1589–January 1590 102
11. John White’s Final voyage; Roanoke and Croatoan
abandoned: February–october 1590 111
12. Raleigh and guiana; Rumors of survivors: 1594–1606 121
vii
viii Table of Contents
Part II: The Jamestown Intelligence
13. John smith’s A True Relation and the “Zúñiga map”:
1607–1608 128
14. The “men Cloathed” at ocanahonan and Pakrakanick:
1607–1608 134
15. The “men apparalled” at Pananiock/Panawicke:
1607–1608 145
16. John smith and the Powhatan- slaughter myth:
1608–1609 155
17. The Francisco Fernández de Écija Reconnaissance: 1609 164
18. William strachey and the “slaughter at Roanoke”:
1609–1611 173
19. The “slaughter at Roanoke” solved: 1610–1611 187
20. Lost Colony Clues and Powhatan oral Tradition:
1611–1612 196
Part III: Lost Colony Survivors and Descendants
21. survival Possibilities: 1612–1711 206
22. The search for descendants: 18th Century and Beyond 217
Summation 226
Chapter Notes 231
Bibliography 247
Index 253
Introduction
The focus of the present work is the 1587 Lost Colony, but its approach
is a significant departure from the traditional method of dealing with the
subject matter. on the one hand the book promises to provide the reader
with freshperspectives—supported by documentary evidence and previously
unexamined sources—about the activities, decisions, challenges, disappoint-
ments, and disappearance of the 1587 colony and the many subsequent
attempts to locate it. The chapters are presented in specific, continuous,
chronological segments so that the events that make up the story of the Lost
Colony can more readily be seen in their proper sequence of cause and effect.
The strict chronology also allows for the Lost Colony story to be understood
in its larger context, with the historical record serving as a permanent back-
drop to the narrative.
But this book intends to do more than offer new evidence and solutions
to the Lost Colony mystery. it also promises to identify and challenge the diffi -
culties and shortcomings of the theories and assumptions contained in virtually
all past and present nonfiction books and published material on the Lost Col -
ony. That endeavor is also facilitated by the aforementioned chronology, because
it allows for a focused examination of those past and current assumptions at
every key step in the Lost Colony narrative. a few of those key steps include
the decision to alter the original settlement destination at the Chesapeake Bay,
the condition and circumstances surrounding the colony at Roanoke, the selec -
tion of a mainland settlement site, the departure from Roanoke, and—most
importantly—the ultimate fate of the colony. in a few crucial places the book
also ventures into the field known as historical criticism, where it becomes
necessary to challenge traditional misconceptions about the precise meaning
of certain words and phrases penned by one particular Jamestown chronicler
when he referenced the Lost Colony. This dual, comprehensive approach is
unique among previously published books dealing with the Lost Colony.
The motivation for writing this book was a long- standing dissatisfaction
and fundamental disagreement with the theories and explanations about the
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