The Sinister Midwife of Jamestown

By applying a fresh pair of eyes to old, well-worn sources, Martha McCartney dug up some juicy details for her Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary.

"I literally went through them all page by page, looking for every reference I could find," McCartney says. "So I picked up a lot of things that were considered too miniscule to worry about before."

Among her finds is this provocative tidbit about the first Virginian to be publicly accused of witchcraft: Joane Wright - who came to Virginia in 1609 - may have aroused suspicion because she was a left-handed midwife. [Link]

No Kissing the Queenly Cuz

British royal historian Robert Lacey gives advice on meeting Queen Elizabeth II, who will be arriving Thursday to help commemorate the Jamestown anniversary.

Address the queen as "Your Majesty" or "Ma'am."

"'Liz' or 'Elizabeth' don't go down well," Lacey said. "And you wouldn't shout out, 'Queen!' or 'Queenie!' That would be considered rather aggressive."

If the queen lingers, feel free to engage her in friendly small talk. "Anything in the public realm is allowable," Lacey said. "But not, 'My family history shows that I am related to the Royal Family,' things like that." It's simply too familiar. [Link]

[Photo by Ricardo Stuckert]

Can a Virgin Be an Ancestor?

Saturday is the 81st birthday of Queen Elizabeth, who will soon be paying a visit to the United States. The Telegraph marks the event by suggesting that one of the Queen's distant cousins wasn't really a virgin.

This year's visit is for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first permanent settlement in troubled Virginia, a state named after the Queen's ancestor Elizabeth I. [Link]

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that by "ancestor" they mean "someone with the same first name who held the same job."

Does the Marriott Have Queen-Sized Beds?

The Jamestowne Society will be meeting May 12-13 at the Marriott in Williamsburg, Virginia. The question everyone is asking is, will the Queen attend?

[Carole E.] Morck said the Jamestowne Society has asked Queen Elizabeth II to attend their gathering because one of the queen's ancestors, Nicholas Martiau, qualifies her for membership.

Membership in the Order of First Families of Virginia is limited to descendants of those who helped establish Jamestown and the Virginia colony between 1607 and 1624. The group will not entertain requests for membership by anyone not invited into the association, according to the group's listing on The Hereditary Society Community Web site. [Link]

Tylers Tend to Attend

Harrison Tyler—grandson of our tenth president—will play a part in celebrating Jamestown's 400th anniversary. He's genetically predisposed to do so.

Harrison's grandfather, President John Tyler, attended the 200th anniversary jubilee of Jamestown's founding in 1807 and gave the keynote address at the centennial celebration in 1857 on Jamestown Island. Harrison's father, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, who was president of the College of William & Mary for more than twenty years, was a leading advocate of the 1907 Tercentenary, writing numerous books on early Virginia history when America celebrated her 300th anniversary. [Link]

Brits Greet Indians Without Reservation

A group of 55 Virginia Indians visited the resting place of Pocahontas in Gravesend, England, on Friday as part of the 18-month-long Jamestown 2007 celebration.

The Indians presented local representatives with gifts from their home state -- including a traditional Pamunkey clay pot and a large bundle of dried tobacco leaves, the cash crop of Virginia that came to attract English investors.

"It is tradition that when you go to visit an elder or a dignitary, you respect them by bringing tobacco one of the four sacred herbs," said Kevin Smith, a member of the Nansemond tribe. [Link]

Upon sampling the tobacco, their British hosts immediately entered into negotiations with the natives to purchase the land they call "Virginia." Colonization will commence early next year.

Woman Meets Granny Pocahontas

From The (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press:

CW meets Hollywood

Rolling out the glitz amid the gravel at the film's debut draws some stars, and those hoping to see them.

BY MIKE HOLTZCLAW
December 22, 2005

WILLIAMSBURG -- The red carpet sprawled out in two directions on Wednesday afternoon outside the entrance to the Kimball Theatre.

To the left was the line of guests waiting to see the East Coast premiere of the historical epic film "The New World," filmed on location at nearby Jamestown last year. And extending straight out from the front door was the ceremonial crimson for the stars and other celebrities.

[snip]

The 15-year-old screen newcomer [Q'Orianka Kilcher] who plays Pocahontas stole the show at the premiere even more than she stole it on screen.

[snip]

As she made her way up the carpet, she stopped to pose for photos and sign autographs. Jackie Spangler, of Williamsburg, exchanged pleasantries with Kilcher over the velvet rope and came away gushing.

"I really came out here today to meet her," Spangler said. "I do a lot of genealogy, and Pocahontas and John Rolfe are my grandparents if I remember to say 'great' 11 times. I'm glad I got the chance to meet her."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree

Scientists Barking Up the Wrong Family Tree

From The (Norfolk, Va.) Virginian-Pilot:

DNA from the wrong woman can't confirm colonist's identity

By DIANE TENNANT, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 10, 2005 | Last updated 11:40 AM Nov. 10

DNA samples that scientists had hoped would identify a skeleton found at Jamestown turned out to be from the wrong woman, and not from Bartholomew Gosnold’s sister.

Archaeologists still believe they have his remains; they just can’t prove it.

The results of the DNA tests were announced today at a press conference by archaeologists from Jamestown Rediscovery and a forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution.

It was not the result they had hoped for when bone and tooth samples were painstakingly removed from a 17th-century burial vault in a small English church last June. Researchers were searching for Elizabeth Gosnold Tilney, a sister of the man who helped found Jamestown in 1607. DNA tests have revealed that the samples came from a woman too young to be Tilney. None of the DNA matched that of the Jamestown skeleton.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]