Evening star., 1939-08-24
Mystery Persists in England
On Grave of Pocohontus
Grovesend Hos No Answer to Queries
On Disappearance of Bones

Wrofe, gent, were dlSlnterred from
underneath O tavern.
The bones were those Of q young
woman, and gave certain evidence
of a Mongoloid ancestry. Efforts
were made to sell them to remote
descendants Of Mrs. Wrolfe, now
resident in the United States, but
they came to an end when the rector
of 18th century st. Georges Church
at Gravesend declared that the real
remains of the lady reposed some
where in the churchyard, according
to his parish records.
Then the bones disinterred from
under the tavern disappeared and
nobody in Gravesend knows what
has become of them. A diligent
search In the neighborhood of the
old church has failed to- bring to
light similar remains. So it may now
fairly be said that all that was
mortal of Mrs. Reoecca Wrolfe has
disappeared from the face of the
earth and folks in Gravesend are
tired of answering questions by
curious Americans concerning the
celebrated lady who once honored
their town by dying in IT..
Best Known as Pocahontas.
In the United States, Of course
Mrs. Wrolfe is best known by another
name and has a considerable place
in history. Until she went to Eng
land she was Pocahontas-which in
Algonquin meant something like
"the gay kid" She was America s
first burlesque actress and her big
act, turning cartwheels stark naked
in an open field, greatly delighted
the none too moral settlers of
Jamestown.
But that was before they made
"Rebecca Wrolfe" out of her, and
broke her wild heart, and killed her.
Today she shares with one other
the distinction of being Gravesend' S
chief claim to fame. The tablets
face each other on the walls of the
chancel of the ancient church. The
other is to Gen. c. c. Gordon, the
hero of Khartoum, who once taught
school in the town.
In the same church two stained
glass windows honor Pocahontas.
They are gifts of the Colonial Danes
of Virginia and were unveiled in
1914 by one of her descendants, Mrs.
Woodrow Wilson. One depicts Ruth
bearing a sheath Of grain. The other
depicts Rebecca at the well. The
tablet on the wall relates that she
died at Gravesend and was buried
near this spot on March 81, 1877" a
date which may be wrong by a year
The verger of the old church takes
visitors into the vestry and displays
another exhibit-a copy Of what ap-
pears to be about the meanest let
ter a man ever wrote concerning his
wife in which John Rolfe-not
Thomas Wrolfe," as the parish rec
ords have it-explains why he mar
ried the "unbelieving creature" He
loved her and wanted to save her
soul.
Nature of Disease in Doubt.
The poor fellow was in a bad fix
at the time for dour James the First
had limited that it might be con-
sidered high treason for one of his
humble subjects to have wed the
daughter Of a reigning potentate. as
he believed Powattan to be, and
savored of trying to horn in on
divinely constituted royalty.
Folks in Gravesend still dispute
over their cups, the real grave of
Pocahontas, and the question seems
to hinge on what disease killed her
She died either on shipboard on her
way back to Virginia or In a Graves
end inn, to which she had come with
her infant son for the purpose Of
boarding ship. The most generally
credited story Is that she succumbed
to tuberculosis. In that case she
probably was buried in the church.
yard, as was recorded in the parish
register. But young woman within
day or two of death from this dread
disease hardly would have been in
condition to start on such a long
journey.
The other version is that she died
of smallpox, although there is little
doubt that she also had tuberculosis.
In that case her remains probably
would not have been inferred so close
to the center of the town for fear of
infection-although the same entry
might well have been made in the
register. There was undoubtedly,