Lost Colonists and Hurricanes

Did a hurricane wash away the foundling colony?

This is the Theory #8 of the Fate of the Lost Colonists (out of 8 theories).

In 2017 a new theory was proposed by Brandon Fullam. After reviewing all the historical documents he wrote the book: The Lost Colony of Roanoke: New Perspectives.

First Fullam discounted previous theories, particularly the theory that Powhatan killed the Roanoke settlers or that Simon Fernandez was the villain Governor John White described. Instead he examined old reports from Spanish sailors (which most English-reading historians hadn’t looked at.) In addition, he investigated more modern weather patterns.

His theory is that Fernandez, as a well-connected sailor in the West Indies, heard that the Spanish were planning to look for the English settlement in the Chesapeake Bay and so decided to move the settlement further south, against the wishes of Govenor John White. In Fuller's view, Simon Fernandez was a hero, not a villain.

We know from White’s records that they encountered terrible storms. From Spanish records, Fullam showed that major hurricanes occurred in the West Indies in that time period. He theorized that a major hurricane from the Carribean to the North Carolina coast would likely have destroyed the colony and killed most, if not all, of the settlers.

If Fullam’s theory is correct, it would also explain why archaeologists have not found any evidence of the settlers as wind and flood water would have washed away the evidence.

Stengths and Weakness of the Theory

Support for his theory would include:

• Multiple accounts of storms from the English (particularly White) at the time of the exploratory journeys and attempted settlement
• Corresponding agreement from the records of Spanish settlements in West Indies
• Explanation why archaeology cannot find evidence of their colony (it was washed away.)
• Reasonable explanation for the behavior of Fernandez (he was helping the colony hide from the Spanish.)
• Possible counter explanation for John Smith's report that Powhatan said he had killed the Roanoke settlers (Per Fullam, Powhatan was likely talking about an unsuccessful earlier settlement and Powhatan and Smith did not understand each other's language well enough for Powhatan to know that those settlers had come from Roanoke.)
• Evidence that Carribean storms usually sweep as far north as the Outer Banks

Weakness of his theory:

• Alas, like all other theories, no proof
• His theory that Strachey's description of "the slaughter at Roanoke" was the one Englishman killed when the others escaped seems weak (but not impossible.)
• His characterization of Fernandez as wise and White as incompetently blaming him does not correlate well with contempary descriptions of the two men.
• Smith and Strachey definitely believed the natives killed the Roanoke colonists. While their conclusions are not infallible, they were closer to the evidence.

In short, Fullam does not completely destroy all other theories of the colonists. But he does provide sufficient evidence to suggest another theory that fits with much of the evidence we have.

Roanoke Unit Study

This is part of the investigation of the theories of lost colonists from the Early Settlers Unit Study.

Student questions:

1. Is it possible to prove or disprove the hurricane theory?
2. If this theory were true, does it eliminate all of the other theories as possible outcome of the colonists?

Students complete a chart comparing the different theories. Which are the strongest? Which conflict with each other and which could co-exist?

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