USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina V. I, Pt. 1 > Part 6
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In the meantime. a bark bearing advice that a new fleet was coming had been despatched from England, and some-
1586
End of the first colony
i
38
LANE'S COLONY, 1585-86
1586
what later Sir Richard Grenville sailed with three vessels freighted with supplies and bringing other colonists. The first bark arrived immediately after the departure of Lane, and finding the settlement abandoned, returned to England ; but when Sir Richard came, a fortnight later, he remained three weeks searching for the settlers and making explora- tions ; and then putting fifteen men in the fort, with an ample supply of provisions, he sailed away on a cruise against the Spaniards.
1586
CHAPTER IV
WHITE'S COLONY, 1587-91
Raleigh's embarrassments .- Conveys an interest in Virginia to Thomas Smith, John White, and associates .- The Citie of Raleigh in Virginia .- White's colony departs .- Howe murdered .- White de- spoils the fields of the hostiles .- Baptism of Manteo .- Birth and christening of Virginia Dare .- White returns to England .- The Armada .- White's first attempt to return to Virginia .- Raleigh makes further conveyance of his interest .- \Vhite sails in Feb- ruary, 1591 .- Finds colony removed .- Mace's voyage .- Elizabeth dics .- Raleigh arrested for treason .- The settlement at Jamestown .- Fate of the Lost Colony.
Raleigh's Embarrassments
The unexpected return of Lane's colonists greatly disap- pointed Raleigh. His efforts at exploration and colonization had involved great expenditures. He had already disbursed forty thousand pounds in the enterprise, a sum approximat- ing in this age half a million dollars, and that at a period when there was no great accumulation of wealth in England. He had now been at court some years and was a member of Parliament; and his fine powers and accomplishments, his versatility of genius and varied learning, commended him to the high favor of the queen, who gave substantial evi- dence of her inclination to push his fortunes. In 1584 she had bestowed on him a grant of twelve thousand acres of forfeited land in Munster, Ireland, which he attempted to colonize with English tenants and where he employed a large force in cutting timber for market, which, however, did not turn out a profitable enterprise. Also, beginning in the same year, he received annually for five years profit- able grants allowing him to export quantities of broadcloth from England-a sort of monopoly ; and he likewise obtained a lucrative monopoly in the grant of the "farm of wines," vesting in him the power of selling licenses for the vending of wine and, in some measure, of regulating the price of that commodity throughout the kingdom. Some months witer Lane's return, on the attainder of Anthony Babbington,
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40
WHITE'S COLONY, 1587-91
1585
Edwards' Life of Raleigh
the queen was also pleased to bestow on Raleigh all of the estates that had come to the Crown by the attainder, which gave him rich manors and broad acres in five counties of England. In July, 1585, when the war broke out with Spain, he was created Lord Warden of the Stannaries ( Cornwall and Devon) and Vice-Admiral of Cornwall and Devon ; and two years later he was appointed captain of the Queen's Guard, the office of a courtier, to succeed Hatton, who was to become Lord Chancellor. But neither his outlays in Ire- land nor his expenditures for Virginia had yielded him any return, while his living at court, where he indulged in mag- nificent display, involved large expenses.
The Citie of Raleigh in Virginia
1586
The corporation
Such were his circumstances when Lane's colony returned to England in the fall of 1586. But unwilling to abandon the enterprise and still hoping for profit from establishing a trade in Virginia, he now determined to associate mer- chants with him who would share the profits and the ex- penses. At that time some of the wealthy merchants of London were looking with eager eyes for new avenues of trade and commerce. Chief among these was Thomas Smith, whose subsequent enterprises led to his receiving knighthood at the hands of his appreciative sovereign ; and of their number was Richard Hakluyt, to whom posterity is indebted for the collection and publication of many narra- tives of exploration and discovery in that interesting period. To Smith and eighteen other merchants who risked their money in the enterprise Raleigh granted free trade forever with his colony in Virginia, and to thirteen others he assigned the right of governing the colony. Of these John White, who had been in all the previous expeditions to Vir- ginia, was constituted the governor, and the other twelve, who also were to accompany the colony, were nominated his assistants ; among them Ananias Dare and Dionysius Harvie, who carried their wives with them, and the former of whom was White's son-in-law. These thirteen Raleigh, by patent, under the powers contained in his own charter, on January 7, 1587, erected into a corporation under the name of "The Governor and Assistants of the Citie of
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41
RALEIGH ASSIGNS TO A CORPORATION
Raleigh in Virginia"; and the nineteen merchants were made 1587 members, "free of the corporation."
A permanent settlement attempted
These preliminaries being arranged, a new colony was col. lected, consisting of one hundred and twenty-one persons, of whom seventeen were women, twelve apparently being wives accompanying their husbands, and nine being children. On April 26, 1587, three vessels bearing the colonists left Ports- mouth for Plymouth ; and on May 8th finally took their de- parture from that port for Hattorask, where, after many adventures, two of them arrived on July 22d, and a few days later the other. Raleigh had given written directions that after taking in the fifteen men left by Grenville the vessels were to proceed to Chesapeake Bay, where a new settlement was to be made. and such was the purpose of Governor White. But when White with a part of his men had left the ship to visit Roanoke Island for the purpose of taking off the fifteen men. Ferdinando, the admiral, influenced the sailors to say that they could not be received back into the ship, thus constraining all the colonists to disembark. At sunset White's boat reached the island, but the only trace he could find of the men left by Grenville was the bones of one that lay unburied where he had been slain. The fort had been razed down, but the cottages were still standing, some of the outer planks. however, being torn off. Forced to remain there, White set the men at once to work to repair the buildings and to construct others. The colonists had hardly gotten established in their new homes, when George Howe, one of the assistants, having strayed off two miles + from the fort catching crabs on the shore opposite the main- land, was set upon by some savages, receiving sixteen wounds from arrows, and was slain. This was an evidence of hostility that White at once sought to allay. He sent Stafford with twenty men, accompanied by Manteo, who along with another Indian, Towaye, had gone to England and had now returned, to Croatoan, where Manteo's mother and kindred were; and from these friendly Indians it was learned that some savages from the mainland had taken the men left by Grenville unawares, had killed some of them,
April, 1587
The colony settled
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42
WHITE'S COLONY, 1587-91
1587 set fire to the house where they had taken refuge, and driven them from the island: they taking their boat and going to an island near Hattorask. after which they had never been seen. They also said that it was a remnant of Wingina's men dwelling at Dasamonquepeuc who had slain Howe. To establish more amicable relations with these hostile Indians, the Croatoans were requested to go over to their towns and proffer them the friendship of the English, who promised to forgive and forget all past offences ; and it was agreed that this embassy was to return with the answer within seven days. At the end of the time, no answers being received, White deemed it best to strike a blow to show that the colonists were to be dreaded. At night, accompanied by Stafford and twenty-four men and Manteo, he crossed over to Dasamonquepeuc and secreted his force near the Indian town; and early in the morning he opened fire on some Indians discovered there. Unfortunately, these were not the hostiles, who, fearing punishment for the murder of Howe, had fled, leaving their corn standing in the fields ; but they were some of the Croatoans who had gone there to gather the corn. White. disappointed in his revenge, de- spoiled the fields and returned home. The colony being now settled, on August 13th a ceremony was performed at Roa- noke that gave expression to the gratitude of Raleigh and the colony for the faithful and friendly services of Manteo.
The baptism of Manteo and Virginia Dare
By command of Sir Walter, the rite of baptism was admin- istered to Manteo, and there was conferred on him the order of Knighthood ; and he was created Lord of Roanoke and Dasamonquepeuc. And five days later another interesting event occurred, the birth of the first English child born in America. On August 18. 1587, Eleanor Dare, wife of Ananias Dare and a daughter of the governor, gave birth to a daughter, who the next Sunday was christened Virginia, because she was the first Christian born in the new country. A few days later, also, was born to Dionysius Harvie and his wife, Margery, a child, whose name, however, has not been preserved.
The colonists to remove into the interior
It was now discovered that certain other particular sup-
420
JAMESTOWN
HERE PASPAHEGH AND TWO OF OUR MEN LANDED TO GO TO PANANIOCK
NANSAMONE
CHAWWAN
ROONOCK
OCANAHONAN
PANANIOCK
HERE THE KING OF PASPAHEGH REPORTED, OUR MEN TO BE, AND WANT TO GO.
MORATTIC
MACHOMONCHOCOK
HERE DEMAINETH MEOHOCH FOUR MEN CLOTHED THAT CAME FROM ROONOCK TO OCANAMONAN
AUMOCAWAUNK
PAKRAK WICK
THE LOST COLONY
HAWNUPAWONO
3
43
WHITE RETURNS TO ENGLAND
plies were needed, as this was intended to be a permanent settlement; and there was consultation as to who should return with the fleet to obtain them. It was finally deter- mined that White himself would answer the purpose best, and he agreed to go with the vessels back to England. But before his departure it was resolved that the colony should remove to some point about fifty miles in the interior ; and it was agreed that they would, on departing from the island, leave some sign indicating their location ; and if in distress, a cross would be the sign. It is probable that this point, fifty miles in the interior, where the colony was to locate, was the highland near Ohanoak, where there were goodly cornfields and pleasant surroundings.
At length, the fleet being ready to sail. on August 27th, after a month's sojourn with the colony, White embarked and departed for England. On the return voyage he met with many perilous adventures, but finally, about the middle of October, made land at Smerwick, on the west coast of Ireland, and in November reached Hampton. With him came to England still another Indian, who. accepting Chris- tianity, was baptized at Bideford Church ; but a year later died, and was interred there. When the colonists receded from White's view, as he left the shores of Virginia, they passed from the domain of history, and all we know is that misfortune and distress overtook them; and that they mis- erably perished, their sad fate being one of those deplorable sacrifices that have always attended the accomplishment of great human purposes.
Conditions in England on White's arrival
On White's arrival, in November, 1587, seeking aid for the colony, doubtless the merchants and others who had ventured their means with Raleigh in this last attempt at colonization and trade in Virginia, were willing to respond ; but there were rumors of the preparation in Spain of a great Armada to invade England, and an order had been issued forbidding the departure of any vessel from any English port. In that period of excitement and alarm. the necessi- ties of the distant colonists were of less moment than the pressing matters at home. Still Raleigh, exerting his per-
1587
Doyle, English in America, 1, 72
44
WHITE'S COLONY, 1587-91
1583
The Invincible Armada, July 21-29, . 1583
Doyle, English in America, 1, 72 ; Edwards' Life of Raleigh, 1, 91
sonal influence, obtained a license for two small vesseis to sail, and on April 25, 1588, White departed with them from Bideford for Virginia. The captains, however, were more intent on a gainful voyage than on the relief of the colonists, and betook themselves to the hazardous business of making prizes. At length one of them, meeting with two ships of war, was after a bloody fight overcome and rifled, despoiled and disabled, and she returned to England within a month ; and three weeks later, the other, equally badly served, came home without having completed the voyage. Soon after- ward, the great Armada appeared, and Raleigh was among those who made havoc of the Spanish galleons in the "morris dance of death." that, beginning in the straits, lasted around the north of Scotland and on the coast of Ireland. Im- mediately on his return he was challenged to mortal combat by the queen's favorite. the handsome boy. Essex, and for a time retired to Ireland in seclusion. But soon all his powers and resources were employed in distressing Spanish com- merce and in taking rich prizes, while England was again and again threatened with Spanish invasion. In the follow- ing March, 1589, because. perhaps, both of his public em- ployments and of the greater facilities of the merchants to care for the colonists, he transferred his rights in Virginia by an assignment or lease to Thomas Smith, White and others, and relinquished his interest in the colony. What particular efforts these merchants made to relieve the planters are not recorded; but White afterward men- tioned "having at sundry times been chargeable and trouble- some to Sir Walter for the supplies and relief of the planters in Virginia." Because of the inhibition of the sailing of merchant ships from England, no opportunity presented for White to return to Virginia until early in 1591. He then ascertained that John Watts of London, merchant, was about to send three vessels to the West Indies ; but when they were ready to depart, a general stay was again commanded of all ships throughout England. Taking advantage of this cir- cumstance, White applied to Sir Walter to obtain a special license for these vessels to sail. on condition that they would transport a convenient number of passengers with their fur- niture and necessaries to Virginia. The license was obtained
45
THE HISTORICAL RESULT
by Raleigh, but the condition was not observed ; and the only passenger they would take was White himself, and no pro- visions for the relief of the colonists.
White sails for Roanoke
Leaving Plymouth on March 20, 1591, they sailed for the West Indies and sought to make prizes, and had some des- perate encounters. Eventually, on August 3d, they reached Wokokon, but were driven off by a storm. On Monday, the 9th, however, the weather being fair, they returned and anchored and went on shore, obtaining a supply of fresh water and catching great stores of fish. On the morning of the 12th they departed. and toward night dropped anchor at the north end of Croatoan. The next morning they sounded the inlet there, and then, on August 15th, came to anchor at Hattorask, seeing a great smoke on Roanoke Island. The next morning. after directing signal guns to be fired, to warn the colonists of their presence, they entered the inlet; but observing a great smoke toward the southwest. they landed and proceeded to it. only to meet with disappointment. Re- turning to their vessels, the morning following they set off again ; but on passing the bar one of the boats was upset. and seven of the crew, including the captain, the mate and the surgeon, were drowned, and the remaining men pro- tested against proceeding further. Distressing, indeed, was the situation of White and unpropitious the outlook of a journey begun with such a calamity. But at length the men reluctantly yielded and the boats proceeded to the island. arriving after night. anchoring off the shore and sounding a trumpet call and familiar tunes to evoke a response. But all in vain. No answer came, although in the distance a firelight was seen. At break of day they landed and hastened to the fire, finding no sign of the English. Then pressing across the island, they skirted along its western shore until they came to the north point near where the settlement had been. There on the shore they found a tree on which had been cut the Roman letters C. R. O. With despondent hearts they proceeded to the place of settlement, and saw that the houses had been taken down and the place strongly enclosed with a high palisade of great trees, very like a
1591 --
C. R. O.
...
46
WHITE'S COLONY, 1587-91
1591
Croatoan
fort; and on a tree was cut the word "Croatoan," but with- out the cross or sign of distress. The boats were gone; the pieces of light ordnance had been taken away, only some of the heavier pieces remaining, and the fort was all grown up with grass and weeds, as if long since deserted. A trench in which White had buried his boxes had been opened and his maps and property scattered, and his armor lay on the ground, almost eaten through with rust. It was a scene of desolation. There was still a hope, yet it must have been but faint, that the colonists could be found at Croatoan. White had just sailed along that island and had anchored at its northern end and had beheld no sign of the presence of any English there. Returning to the inlet, it was. how- ever, determined to go again to that island. But after they had weighed anchor, the design was relinquished ; and one vessel returned to England and the other steered for the West Indies. From that time onward the English who settled in Virginia were known as Raleigh's Lost Colony. They were not forgotten, but were never discovered.
Edwards' Life of Raleigh
Raleigh's efforts to relieve the colony
Mace
Greater enterprises now absorbed Raleigh, who had be- come one of the most heroic of that splendid company of heroes who brought lustre to the Elizabethan Age; but still, between 1587 and 1602, it is said that he sent out no less than five expeditions to seek his unfortunate company in Virginia. In 1602 he bought a ship, hired a crew, placed it under the command of Samuel Mace. who had twice be- fore sailed for Virginia, and in March sent it forth to search for the colonists. Mace struck Virginia forty leagues south- west of Hatteras, and spent a month trading with the Indians as he scoured along the coast : but without going to Croatoan or Hattorask, he returned to Weymouth in August. Raleigh hastened there to meet him, and found in the same harbor another vessel likewise just arrived from Virginia, but which had missed Roanoke also, by forty leagues to the northward. He, however, proposed to send them both away again, having saved the cost in the sassa- fras they brought, which he claimed because of his owner- ship of the land under his patent, no one having the right.
4
47
JAMESTOWN INSTEAD OF ROANOKE
he asserted, to trade in Virginia except by his license. The next year Richard Hakluyt, one of the grantees in the charter of the City of Raleigh, formally applied to Sir Walter for permission to sail to northern Virginia; but in the spring of that year, 1603. Elizabeth died, and before the summer had passed Raleigh was arrested for treason.
Jamestown settled-The Roanoke colony disappears
In the meantime the spirit of enterprise which had been stimulated by Raleigh's efforts at colonization had grown, and Thomas Smith and a few other London merchants, in 1599, had laid the foundations of the East India Company, whose great success led, in 1606, to the formation of another corporation, called the Virginia Company, with two divi- sions, at the head of one division being Thomas Smith, now knighted, and other London merchants and gentlemen who had been associated with Raleigh in his enterprise; and on December 19. 1606, Christopher Newport set sail with one hundred and forty-three immigrants and, on May 13th, settled Jamestown. The next year Newport was directed to make an expedition to find Raleigh's Lost Colony.
The fate of White's colonists
The colonists, warned by previous mishaps, certainly brought with them sufficient supplies to last until a crop would mature in the fall of 1588, and they did not neglect to begin their planting operations.
On his return White found no sign of any planting on Roanoke Island; nor was there evidence of any conflict with the savages-no graves, no butchery. The dwellings had been taken down and removed, and the light ordnance had been carried away. The growth of weeds indicated that two seasons had passed since the removal, and apparently the spot had not been revisited by the colonists in many months.
On his departure for England, the avowed intention was for the colonists to settle fifty miles in the interior ; and when he coasted along Croatoan leisurely he observed no sign of their presence on the shore. Instead of establishing them- selves on that barren sandbank, exposed to the attacks of the Spaniards, with no inviting streams, nor fertile fields, nor shady forests, they looked westward for a secure and agreea-
16c3
Virginia Company, 1666
1607
48
WHITE'S .COLONY, 1587-91
1608
ble location for their permanent settlement. Fifty miles would have brought them to the "goodly highlands, on the left hand between Muscamunge and Chowanoak," where the Indians already had fertile cornfields ; and there, according to Indian statements of different sources, they appear to have seated themselves on what are now the pleasant bluffs of Bertie County.
Several vessels were at different times despatched to search for them; but none of these entered the great sounds. At length, after Jamestown was settled. Newport in 1608 was specially directed to make an exploration to discover them. An expedition by water did not proceed far and was without result. A searching party by land penetrated to the territory of the Chowanists and Mangoaks, but did not find the colonists.
Smith in his "True Relation" ( 1608) repeats information derived from the king of the Paspehegh Indians, who re- sided above Jamestown. to the effect that there were men ap- parelled like himself at Ochanahonan, which seems to have been on the Nottoway; and that there were many at Pana- wicke, a region apparently between the Chowan and Roanoke rivers. Five years later, William Strachey, the secretary of the Jamestown colony, gave some account of the missing colo- nists derived from Machumps, a friendly Indian of con- siderable intelligence, who had been to England and who came freely and often to Jamestown. At Peccarecamek and Ochanahonan, the Indians had houses built with stone walls. one story above another, having been taught by the English who escaped the slaughter at the time of the landing at Jamestown. And at Ritanoe there were preserved seven of the colonists, four men, two boys and a young maid, who having escaped, fled up the Chowan.
For more than twenty years the colonists were reported to have lived peaceably with the Indians and to have inter- mixed with them in their locality, beyond the territory of Powhatan ; and then on the arrival of the colonists at James- town, Powhatan, persuaded by his bloody priests. procured their slaughter, he being present on the occasion. Some escaped ; but none ever had communication with the James- town settlers.
ยท
49
FATE.OF THE COLONY
Peccarecamek was apparently on the upper Pamlico, or Tar River ; and perhaps a trace of English blood might be found in the aggressiveness and fierceness of the Indians of that region a century later.
Traces of the colonists
If others were preserved on the sandbanks, as they might well have been, escaping in their pinnace through the waters of the sound. a trace of them possibly came down to posterity through their intermixture with the Hatteras Indians. That small tribe had always been friendly with the whites: and as late as 1709, grey eyes were found among them and they cherished a friendship with the English because of their affinity, according to their own traditions. Yet there were other opportunities for an admixture of the races. Thirty- two men of Captain Raymond's company were among them twenty days before the arrival of Lane's colony, and the following summer Captain Stafford and twenty men were with them until Drake came in June, and doubtless others were stationed there the next year to keep watch for the expected return of White, until all hope had expired. Other than these possible traces no memorial has ever been dis- covered of the existence of the Lost Colony, whose mournful fate, involved in mystery, has ever been a fruitful theme of song and story.
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