Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-08-23

| iS"h" Hle Sat ullQer the SycdfnOreS,
probably within the plat of the first
pallsaded fort says a writer in the Bos-
Ton transcript. in describing a visit to
the site of ancient Jamestown, Virginia
Inc sun was high and hot, but a strong
sweet wind blew steadily from the west
| curling up the waters of the James,
which is just now flooded and salmon
pink in color with mud from the noun
| tainS a hundred and fifty miles to the
west. cardinal bird-was he a Ken
| lucky cardinal?-flitted to a branch in
front OF me, and gave final touch of
romance to the beauty about me.
| Things really didn't look so bad, and l
began to wonder a little why the John
Smith people had made such a mess of
| 1t, and why the little place had made
such a havoc with the Spaniards, near
| ly century earlier. when they founded
on this place San Miguel de Guandape,
and then between Indians. Negroes and
their own innate "cusSedness" went to
| speedy ruin and defeat.
In Looking over the famous island, l
was struck with the sense of how utter
ly different it was from the pictures
| and descriptions 1 had seen. It is a
| i'thSA letSt tiol tIilS IllOSI flOl.
able spot in our whole country is al
ways referred to in terms of the dark
| marshiness that should have kept the
English from landing there. The his
tories. when they give illustrations on
| this head, seem to have only the church
tower and a caving river front in mind.
Even Fiske and Winsor give no more
than this. And Winsor, with curious
| economy, affords only drawing of the
| tower made by an English lady in 1857.
| From the mainland, the approach to
| the island is, for a pedestrian, peculiar
| The road from Williamsburg, after wig
| Cling it's devious way through beauti-
| full but mostly deserted country fin
all brings you in sight of the river, to
| the left; then it dips behind some trees,
| and in another moment you are travers-
| ing Il level space, to the road strewed
| with probably historic bricks; Sedges
| and grasses shoulder-high on each side
let you see only some of the towering
| trees on the island in front. Suddenly
you strike narrow bridge. and find
| that your level road is barely two feet
| above the water. But the island.
| when you get to the end of the bridge,
| appears anything but swampy. and it is
some little distance farther on that
you discover you have landed on one
Of the four ridges" and still have
some low land to cross. From the
| James river, the side from which the
| ColOnists approached, the island is very
| attractive. The whole south side pre-
| sents now a nearly level. grassy eX-
| pansc. delightfully."- set with lines of
/ hi . 1,f
| picturesque ruin of the Amber Jacpue-
| lin mansion. Tradition has it that
here George Washington met his first
defeat-the lady would not marry him.
| Sycamores and mulberry trees stand a.
long the shore, which is an abrupt
| bank. ut least six feet above the water:
and for most of it's length has below it
| a narrow. sandy beach, running off
| nearly a mile to the southeast. where
the point of Goose Hill juts out. West
of the pier. which stretches far into
| the river the land rises little in the
neishborhood of the old church. and the
| trees are thicker.
| Besides the discrepancy between the
look of the island Itself and what has
been written about it. the most inter-
| cSting facts, which are new, have APP
parently not got into print at all, ex-
| cept lately i'm one historical magazine
| that probably hasn't five thousand
| readers in the whole country. Don't
| fear however, that I am going to ere
call that on a morning of early May in
| the year 1907 etc. I can. but will not,
name to you some well fnGwn Journal
lists who have come her. only to suffer
/ CHI nvrpcls that in rly Nav
Besides, jamestown has now bit of
| modern history. or rather of archaic
ology. that is little known and espe-
cially deserves printing because it has
led TO correcting our accepted history,
| including even the work Of so high an
authority as the beloved John Fiske.
The story of the uncOvering of the
jamestown relics is 4 very recent one
| but it has been much manglcd AMI
| distorted by some who have tried to tell
it. Among other mistakes. undue
| credit has been given to the efforts OF
f. f. Barney. who bougt: the island
some years ago. After the State o.
Virginia had granted tie immediate
| church and grave plot to the Associ-
alton. Mr.. Barney generously con-
veyed to the Association. 2@h acres of
ground surrounding the church. and in
Guiding the old Confederate fort H.
had tried before this to preserve the
tombs. but by method SO unwise as
to reflect seriously on his Judgment.
Many Of the stones he had had re-
| moved from the churckyard to a safe
place. ard it is said in lis behalf that
| he had a plat of the yard made at the
same time, and numbered stakes set to
show the position of each stone
When. however. the Association tried
to straighten things out, the suppose;
plat and stakes were now here to be
found, and the last degree of certainty
as to most of the yard WIS gone. The
need Of some such proceeding, however.
or the placing of a keeper, is shown by
| one incident Of the havoc Gone by relic
seekers. A year ago the captain of 4
barge lying in the river off jamestown
brought his wife over to see the rrlins
ana ne then told Mr.. Leil how, four
| teen wears before that, when his barge
was anchored in nearly the same place
hcr crew had come to the island IN,