Roanoke Dare Stone

The Roanoke Dare Stone claims to be written by Eleanor Dare in 1581.
What does it say, where was it found, and is it authentic?

This is from the series "Theories of the Lost Colonists" which is part of the Early Settlers Unit Study. Students investigate nine different theories of the fate of the Roanoke Colonists. They weigh the evidence for each and determine the compatibility of the different theories with each other.

History of the Dare Stone

In 1937 a man named Louis Hammond found a 21 pound stone near Edenton, North Carolina that seemed to be a message from Eleanor Dare to her father, Governor John White. Also called the Chowan River Stone, it told how the settlers suffered miserably, moved inland, and all but seven were dead.

Hammond took the stone to Emory University in North Carolina, and Professor Hayward Pearce took interest in the stone and it's possible authenticty. After news of the stone was published in the Journal of Southern History in May 1938, the nation was transfixed by the story it contained.

However, the stone was found not long before North Carolina celebrated the three-hundred and fiftieth year of the Roanoke Settlement (1587 to 1937.)

Publicity Stunt?

OR

Authentic Evidence?

What Does the Eleanor Dare Stone Say?

Front of the Stone

Carved into the front of the stone are these words:

Ananias Dare & Virginia went hence vnto heaven 1591

Anye Englishman shew John White Govr Via

Anaias Dare was the son-in-law of Roanoke's governor, John White, who could not find the missing colonists when he returned to locate them in 1590. His granddaughter Virginia Dare was a few weeks old when he left, three years old when he returned to find them, and four years old in 1591 when the stone appeared to be written.

Message on the Back of the Eleanor Dare Stone

Transcribed into modern English, the one paragraph, choppy message reads:

Father, soon after you went for England we came here. Only misery and war for two years. More than half died these two years, more from sickness, about twenty-four. A savage with a message of a ship came to us but in a short time they were afraid of revenge and all ran away. We did not believe it was you. Soon after savages said the spirits were angry and suddenly murdered all except seven. My child and Ananias were slain. Much misery. All buried near four miles east of this river upon a small hill. All names written on the rock there. Put this there also. If any savages show this to you we promised you would give great presents. EWD

The actual message in Elizabethean English reads:

FATHER SOONE AFTER YOV
GOE FOR ENGLANDE WEE CAM
HITHER ONLIE MISARIE & WARRE
TOW YEERE ABOVE HALFE DEADE ERE TOW
YEERE MORE FROM SICKNES BEINE FOVRE & TWENTIE
SALVAGE WITH MESSAGE OF SHIPP VNTO US SMAL
SPACE OF TIME THEY AFFRITE OF REVENGE RANN
AL AWAYE WEE BLEEVE YT NOTT YOV SOONE AFTER
YE SALVAGES FAINE SPIRTS ANGRIE SVDDIANE
MVRTHER AL SAVE SEAVEN MINE CHILDE
ANANIAS TO SLAINE WTH MVCH MISARIE
BVRIE AL NEERE FOVRE MYLES EASTE THIS RIVER
VPPON SMAL HILL NAMES WRIT AL THER
ON ROCKE PVTT THIS THEIR ALSOE SALVAGE
SHEW THIS VNTO YOV & HITHER WEE
PROMISE YOV TO GIVE GREATE
PLENTIE PRESENTS
EWD

The initials "EWD" stand for Eleanor White Dare.

A Great Hoax?

The public was interested in this story, and over the next several years more than 40 other stones were found. All of them but the original have been proven to be a hoax. Professor Hayward had offered money for additional stones, and not surprisingly more stones were found. Hayward's professional reputation was badly damaged by the hoax.

But the original Chowan River Stone was different from the others. Could it be real? Because of the embarrassment of the hoax, some researchers did not want to investigate the first stone. It had been a career-smashing hoax for Hayward and no other historian wanted to suffer the same fate.

In this century some have examined the original Dare Stone and believed the carved message is several hundred years old. Not every one agrees. But some language experts have found the writing to be more authentic to Elizabethean English than would be expected from a fraud.

Evidence for and Against the Stone

As you weigh the case of the Chowan River/Dare Stone, consider these facts:

• The other Chowan River stones are known to be hoaxes.
• The original stone is different in size, lettering, and other features.
• Louis Hammond disappeared and no evidence of anyone by this name has been found.
• All of this happened the year before North Carolina promoted the 350th anniversary of the Lost Colony.
• More recently, evidence turned up on an old map of John White's that the colonists had been interested in the Chowan River area. No one in 1937 had evidence of this.
• Some Elizabethean language experts say there are peculiar phrases on the stone that a con-man would not know.
• Some point out that EWD's instructions to a native to take the stone to her father don't really make sense. This has been argued for and against its authenticity.
• Spanish sailors reported that natives were intested in their ships, somewhat like the Dare stone indicated. These reports only recently surfaced in English.

There is not a lot of interest currently in studying the stone. Some feel that it's relationship to Hayward and the fake stones has condemned the original stone to the notoriety of a hoax and not given it a chance. Some have stated that it is a disservice to the Lost Colony history to leave it unexamined for so long. Afterall, in 1938 it would have been easier to determine if the scratches on the surface were one year old vs three-hundred fifty years old; than it would now be to determine if such indentations are 80 years vs 450 years.

Dare Stone vs Other Lost Colony Theories

Students compare and contrast the different theories. Is the Dare Stone compatible with these other theories?

• The Roanoke Colonists were killed by Powhatan about 20 years later.
• The colonists attempted to sail away and were shipwrecked.
• They mixed with local native tribes.
• They migrated to Site X on the Chowan River.
• The colony was destroyed by a hurricane.

Early Engish Settlements

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