The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-11-26
WILLIAM FINDS 1T HARD TO GET
AWAY FROM INDIANS.
QUOTES ETHNOLOGI0T PETERSON
The Gentleman Prom Washington Throws
Some Interesting sidoiights On
che Subject.

from Macon to Atlanta my friend,
Judge Hall, introduced me 70 DR..
Peterson, Of st. Louis, very learned
and cultured gentleman, who was con-
nected with the chronological depart
ment Of the government and was en-
gagged IN examining Indian mounds
aud in writing up the history of the
Indian tribes, especially of the five
tribes known as civilized, viz: the
Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, Chloe
taws and Seminoles. AS these we're
our Indians, became much interested
In his discourse, for he had been care
full ard diligent in his research, and
what he knew, he knew well. We
talked about DeSoto and how, with o
handful of brave soldiers, he overran
this country and took captive as many
Indian girls as his men wanted.
"Why did not these Indians over
whelm DeSOto and his handful Of fol-
lowers and extinguish them?n / asked.
Because" said the doctor, "they
were paralyzed with fear of this new
and aggressive race Of people-iust as
the Peruvians were paralyzed by Pr
zarro, who oyerran and conquered
Peru with less than hundred men.
The doctor has been 10 eastern
North Carolina investigating the tribe
Of 1000 Croatoans over there. They
were originally called Hatteras Indi-
ans, but about three hundred years
ago Sir Walter Raleigh planted a colo
ny of English and Portuguese on Roam
oke island put them in charge of Gov
ernOr John White, a very practical and
accomplished gentleman. A few days
after landing, Governor Whites
daughter, Eleanor, who had married
Mr.. Dare, gave birth to a child and
she was named Virginia, and so Vir-
ginia Dare was the first English child
born on American soil Let the boys
and girls remember that. But no man
knows anything more about her. Gov
ernor White aud Sir Walter went back
to England for supplies and farm
ing tools for the colony and on
their return trip got into a fight
with some Spanish cruisers and lost
their cargo and many of their men
and had to go back to England,
and it was several years before they
made another venture, and when they
arrived at the island the colony was
nowhere to be found and little Virginia
has never been heard Of. The colony
left some marks on a tree pointing to
an Indian town called Croatoan, but
the town was deserted. The doctors
investigations have satisfied him that
the colony did not perish nor were
they killed, but that the men wanted
wives and went into the interior and
co-habited with the Croatoans-for it
was found hundred years after that
these Indians were of mixed colors
and many of them spoke broken or
mixed English and Portuguese,
although they had no intercourse with
white people until the colony came nor
for hundred years after. He believes
that Virginia Dare probably grew up
with those Indians and her descend
ants are now of mixed blood.
1t seems that these Creations were
never Americanized until the last civil
war, when many of them came to the
: front with their guns and said they
wanted to fight some. They were &C.
copied and enrolled and did fight for
the confederacy. During the war
there was an election held in county
; where some Of them lived, and they
were persuaded by an ambitious candi-
date to go to the polls and vote for him.
Their votes were challenged by the
other fellow upon the ground that they
had some negro blood in their veins.
They were very indignant and said,
"When you want us to fight for you
we are same as white folks when We
want to vote, you say we are nagurs.
And so a committee of four doctors
was appointed to examine them anC
say what they were. The committed
took them out to q sandy place in The
road and had them take off their shoes
h and make tracks barefooted Five O.
! them made very fair Anglo-Saxo1
!. tracks and were accepted, but of thu
: other two the report was that the hollow
Of their feet made holes in the ground
and they were rejected. There ar
some of these Croatoans on Newman
ridge, in Tennessee. remember that
: some years ago, party of us wer,
: riding in the negro car on the stat
y road, and when we reached Kingston
{: colored convention Of preachers go
y aboard and claimed the car. SANFORD
Bell ordered us out, and we retired, 0
j. course, but one man did not move
y He was a dark, cadaverous individual
{; with black eyes and black hair. ''Wha
Z are your" said Sanford, care you
white man or negro?" He smiled an,
said: "Mine fader a Portugee, min
mudder nagur. Sanford locke
y r 4