FYI
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Message Board Post:
Is your family part of the Roanoke Lost Colony? It could be! My name is
Roberta Estes and I'm the Director for DNA Research for the Lost Colony
Center for Science and Research. (www.lost-colony.com) Our goal is to
discover the fate of the Roanoke Lost Colonists.
For those of you who don't know about the mystery of the Lost Colony, here's
a primer. In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh financed a venture in which 116 men,
women and children were planning to establish the first permanent colony in
the New World. Their goal was to raise tobacco and other supplies that
colonists were unable to obtain in England, and to search for precious
minerals, like gold.
In the fall of 1587, the colonists finally arrived on Roanoke Island in
present day North Carolina, after a very difficult journey in which their
food supplies were ruined. They sent John White, whom they had elected
governor, back to England to obtain food and supplies and expected his
return in the spring of 1588. However, the Spanish attached England and
England, having no Navy, impressed all of her fishing vessels and private
merchant ships into Naval service. Finally, in 1590, three years after
leaving the colonists which included his daughter, son-in-law and infant
granddaughter, he returned to Roanoke Island to find it deserted, but not
destroyed. It appeared as if the colonists had simply moved. A single
word, a clue, Croatan, was carved on a tree. The Croatan were the friendly
Indians living nearby. Before John's departure, he had instructed the
colonists to carve crosses if they had to leave in distress. There were no
crosses.
John White would spend the rest of his life searching for the Lost
Colonists. Many hints and clues indicate that at least some of the
Colonists survived and were assimilated into the native tribes. The
question is, did they, and if so, who are they today?
In 1993, the original site of the Croatan village was located. Subsequent
archaeological and genealogical research suggests that the colonists did
survive, and that when the land was granted to settlers, it was granted to
some of those survivors who were by that time considered to be Indians.
With recent advances in DNA for genealogy, we finally have, today, the
ability to solve the mystery. We have created a plan that combines history,
genealogy and DNA to solve the mystery. However, we can't do this alone.
We need the help of the families who have been identified as "families of
interest", being either roster members of the Lost Colony of those who
obtained land grants on the original Croatan village site. Many of those
names are the same.
In order to educate people and work closely with people who are interested,
we are sponsoring the Lost Colony Symposium for DNA and Recent Research
Sept. 7-9, 2007 at the Lost Colony Center in Williamston, NC. The symposium
will be held between the Center and the Holiday Inn, as noted on the flyer
at http://www.lost-colony.com/DNAsymflyer.html.
Given that your surname is one of those on our "Names of Interest" list, I
hope that people on the list will join with us in our research. I am hoping
from this mailing, aside from encouraging people to attend the Symposium, to
achieve the following:
1. To identify a primary research person or persons for your particular
surname who would serve as a contact/coordinator for future postings,
requests and research.
2. To identify a family archival website(s) if one exists.
3. To identify if there are any families of that surname that are from NC
(or early coastal SC or VA), have oral histories of Indian or "mixed"
heritage, are involved with any of the tri-racial isolate groups
(Melungeons, Red Bones, etc.) and/or have any oral history of the Lost
Colonies.
4. To determine if the family group is involved already with DNA testing,
and if so, who coordinates that effort.
5. To determine if there is any research occurring or that has occurred for
your surname in Great Britain, and if not, if anyone is interested in
pursuing that avenue.
To become involved with the Lost Colony project, or to support the project,
please attend our Symposium. Our project plan will be announced at the
Symposium, and we have a long list of wonderfully educational speakers.
Bring your pedigree charts and your genealogy as the right people will be
present to help you with your testing plan.
If you can't attend the conference, you can still join the project.
Information will be posted shortly about how to do that on the Lost Colony
website. We are in the process of setting us a private newsgroup for
project members only which will also be available after the symposium.
Here are some important links. Check the website or the blog for the full
list of colonists and don't miss our flyer about the symposium Sept. 7-9 in
Williamston, NC.
Our blog is at http://www.the-lost-colony.blogspot.com/. You can read about
the project and ask questions of those involved.
Our website is at www.lost-colony.com and lots of info is there as well.
Symposium Flyer (Sept. 7-9, 2007) - http://lost-colony.com/DNAsymflyer.html
To order DNA tests http://www.lost-colony.com/DNAproject.html and click on
the Family Tree DNA link.
Yline DNA results: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/LostColonyYDNA/
Please note that the above results are those of people who joined the
project and whose genealogy has not necessarily been connected to the Lost
Colony, the North Carolina area, nor Native tribes.
Mitochondrial DNA results:
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/LostColonymtDNA/
Please note that the above results are those of people who joined the
project and whose genealogy has not necessarily been connected to the Lost
Colony, the North Carolina area, nor Native tribes.
If you are interested in this project or can be of help in any way, please
contact me at [log in to unmask]
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