The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-04
A QUEER NORTH CAROLINA RACE.
Are These Descendants of Members of
the Lost Colony of Roanoke ?

Are These Descendants of Members of
the Lost Colony of Roanoke
From the New York Sun.
There live in the swamps of Robson
county, North Carolina, a strange race
Of people. Their manners, customs, and
personal appearance are unlike those of
any other race on the American CONT
nent. They live within themselves, and
their intercourse with their neighbors,
both white and colored, is limited to the
extent which necessity demands
Among the citizens of the county they are
called Portuguese and mulattoes. They
are neither. Recent Investigations by an
tiquarians who have closely studied their
characteristics, incline to the opinion that
they are the descendants of the Croatan
Indians and the lost colony of Roanoke
Island
1t is an historical fact that .on the ar
rival of the relief expedition fitted out by
Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Richard Gren-
Vile the colony planted on Roanoke ISL
and few months before had totally dis
appeared. Years afterward when the
country had become sparseIy settled by
the English, and when the Tuscorora In
dams were the dominant tribe it was
tradition among them that in the interior
there were white men who were members
of smaller tribe of Indians, and that
these men possessed many of the gifts
of the English. 1t is generally thought
that when the English vessels sailed to
England for supplies for the infant col
ony those left on Roanoke Island were
too weak to defend themselves against
the Croatan Indians, their nearest neigh
bors, and that in an incursion the men
were killed and the women and child
rem carried away into captivity.
Whatever may be the supposition the
| fact, nevertheless, remains, that in this
remote county of the old North State
there exists to-day a strange and peculiar
people. Their associations have, in the
MAN, been with those who previous to
the war, were known in the southern
states as free negroes. They intermar-
ried with these free negroes, and the ma
! jority of them are more or less tinctured
with African blood. This admiXture,
however, does not change their charac-
teristics. There are among them certain
families who have held aloof from such
alliances and these occupy a position of
superiority while they are not, in the
! strictest sense, tribal in their govern
ment; they bow, in implicit obedience, to
| their rulers, who are always members of
| these pure-blooded families. These pure
| blOods, in personal appearance, resemble
| the Portuguese, but in every other charac-
! teristic, they are more like the Indian.
! They are brave, generous, natural hunt
! ers, fine shots, and very truthful. The
swamps bound in a game such as bear,
| deer, ducks, turkeys, and smaller animals
and birds. They never forget an injury,
| and treasure up their feelings of ven
| geance till they find way to crafty it.
| They live in houses of peculiar archi-
! tectural design, resembling the dug out"
| of the primitive western settler.
few years ago these people became a
source Of terror to their white neighbOrs,
One of their principle men, Henry Berry
Lowery, organized a band of them and
wrought as much crime in Robson and
the adjoining counties as did the James
/ gang in its more extensive field OF opera
lions. This man. on account of a real or
fancied wrong, waylaid and murdered
wealthy and influential white man, a
Mr. Townsend. The horrors of an Indian
war, except the scalping of the victims,
/ followed Women and children We're
killed as well as able-bodied men. No race
| was exempt. 1t was a war of eXtermi-
nation. Houses were burned, stock de-
| stroyed, and the country laid waste At
ter committing depredations, the band
| would return to the swamps, which are
! almost as impenetrable as the jungles of
| India. They are covered with dense I'M
| derbrush and only those familiar with
their recesses are able to find the hid
den paths that lead into their depths
.
/ and, being familiar with every inch of the
| ground, showed himself an adept in the
warfare. His second in command, Ste
phen Lowery, his uncle, was a capable
lieutenant, and was often sent on ma
rauding expedition with part of the COM
mand while the chief would strike at a
distant point
This was continued for several years,
and became so disastrous to that portion
of the state that the legislature passed an
act granting amnesty to all the despera-
does except Henry Berry and stephen
| Lowery, for whose capture or death a
a reward of $4,000 was offered. This ac-
tion of the state had the desired effect,
and the war came to an end. What be-
came of the leaders is not known. They
were never captured, and no one ever
claimed the reward for killing them. They
disappeared, and their followers resumed
the even tenor of their way.
These people are legal citizens of the
/ United States, but seldom avail themselves
of their privileges. They take no interest
in either local or national affairs. They
have fought against all efforts for their
| Improvement. and live to-day the same
| lives their ancestors did.