1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Bankey. The Freemasons 3 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: are the oldest known fraternal organization in the world. Their 4 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: roots can be traced back to England in Scotland, with 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: guilds of Stonemasons and cathedral builders going back as far 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: as thirteen hundreds. When the need for new cathedrals declined, 7 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: the Masons shifted their focus. They are a male oriented, 8 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: oath bound society that requires strict discipline from its members. 9 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: And although the Freemasons are not a secret society, they 10 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: are a society with secrets. What goes on behind closed 11 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: doors has been the subject of blockbuster movies and best 12 00:00:54,560 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: selling novels. Members have included Beethoven, Winston Churchill, King, Edward Seventh, 13 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: and Oscar Wilde. In the United States, fourteen presidents, thirty 14 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: five Supreme Court justices, and thirteen signers of the Constitution 15 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: have been Masons. The Freemasons are still well organized and 16 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: practicing today in America. It's said that the Freemasons lurk 17 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: behind every aspect of life, from the early days of 18 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: our nation's capital, to political influence to murder in sevent 19 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: a British author claimed that secret factions of the Freemasons 20 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: called the Illuminati, were subverting religions in state authority. Certainly, 21 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: at the time, members held high ranking positions at every social, political, 22 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: and economic level. Rumors and whispers of conspiracies became widespread, 23 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: but perhaps none as scandalous as the events of eighteen 24 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: twenty six. On September twelfth, that year, stoneworker William Morgan 25 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: vanished from an upstate New York jail. Considered more of 26 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: a professional drunk and bagabond than Stonemason, Morgan had moved 27 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: his family from town to town, and from one failed 28 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: business endeavor to another. Along the way, had managed to 29 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: infiltrate the Freemasons, and it was there that Morgan's venture 30 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: scheming took another direction. He had partnered with one David Miller, 31 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: a struggling local newspaper publisher, to write a tell all 32 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: book on the inner workings and secrets of the Freemasons. 33 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: The two had begun teasing the public with the impending release, 34 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: hinting there were mysterious ceremonies, rituals, and headline grabbing corruption. 35 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: The hype Morgan hoped would need an instant bestseller and 36 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: a hefty fortune, and naturally, the Freemasons were less than thrilled. 37 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: They demanded Morgan returned stolen documents and halt the release 38 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: of the book. Neither happened. Lodges held meetings to discuss 39 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: how to deal with the potential fallout. On September eleventh, 40 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: law enforcement loyal to the organization arrested Morgan for outstanding debt. 41 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: Later that night, several Masons arrived at the jail with 42 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: bail money. As they ushered Morgan away to an awaiting carriage, 43 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: a witness allegedly heard him shout murder. The former Stonemason 44 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: was never heard from, more seen again. As the news traveled, 45 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,799 Speaker 1: the story became more elaborate, until the rumor was that 46 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: the Freemasons had kidnapped and killed Morgan. Miller went on 47 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: to publish the book, even after a small, mysterious fire 48 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: broke out in his shop. The book, along with the 49 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: story of Morgan's disappearance, became a symbol of all that 50 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: was wrong with the young country, sparking the anti Masonic movement. 51 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: The Mason's who had bailed Morgan out that night stood 52 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: trial in eighteen twenty seven, though without sufficient evidence that 53 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: there had been a murder, the judge handed down lenient sentences. 54 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: The book went on to be a bestseller even without 55 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: the many secrets the authors had promised, and membership in 56 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: the Freemasons dwindled for a while. Some believe Morgan was dead. 57 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: Others thought he had fled to Canada. Some die hard 58 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: conspiracists claimed he had assumed a new identity as a 59 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: pirate in the Cayman Islands. Exactly what did happen to 60 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: him is a mystery lost time. But we're drawn to 61 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 1: mysteries and seemingly unsolvable disappearances. And there's one disappearance that 62 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: has captivated historians and the public for centuries. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. 63 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: Welcome to American Shadows. In the first colonizers arrived on Broino, 64 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: a small island nestled between what's now known as the 65 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: Outer Banks Barrier Islands and the North Carolina Coast. Settlers 66 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: and crew arrived to a land far from anything they've 67 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: known back in England. One of their ships had been 68 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: lost at sea, leaving the newcomers with few supplies. The 69 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: captain set sail back to England, promising to return with 70 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: more ships and goods. After a harsh winter, those who 71 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 1: survived elected to return to England on another ship that 72 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: had arrived at the island. They set foot back in 73 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: their homeland just days before the supply ship arrived on Rono. 74 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: Unaware the settlers had left, The captain and crew were 75 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: startled to find the camp deserted. Worried something had happened, 76 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: the men searched for weeks before finally leaving a few 77 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: soldiers and supplies behind and heading back to England. Within weeks, 78 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: those left behind were dead. Sir Walter Raleigh remained undaunted 79 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: by this harsh, unforgiving land. For his next attempt to 80 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: colonize North America. He sent just over a hundred men, 81 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 1: women and children. The new colonists survived high seas to 82 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: discover their new home wasn't anything like the land they expected. 83 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: Like the other colonists before them, they had come unprepared 84 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: with insufficient supplies. Raleigh chose colonist John White as the 85 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: first governor. While he had no political experience, he had 86 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: been to the America's before. He had served as an 87 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 1: artist tasked with illustrating and documenting the so called New World. 88 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 1: The ship arrived on Roanoke on July twenty second of 89 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: fifteen eighty seven. The next morning, Governor White led a 90 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: search party and found the remnants of the former colony, 91 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: including the skeletons of the men who had been left behind. 92 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: White thought that Indigenous people had attacked and murdered the men. 93 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: It seems it didn't occur to him that the indigenous 94 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: people in question probably weren't especially keen on having their 95 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: land and resources forcibly taken over. Though the discovery was gruesome, 96 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,720 Speaker 1: it didn't persuade the colonizers to return to England. On 97 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,799 Speaker 1: July twenty five, they disembarked from the ship and sought 98 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: to rebuild the camp, despite having no experience surviving in 99 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: the middle of the wilderness. The settlers hadn't come from 100 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: England's elite society, but neither had they come from its underbelly. 101 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: Many had been used to a bustling city. They had 102 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: been shopkeepers, lawyers, or tradesmen. In exchange for colonizing America, 103 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: England had promised them land of their own. With limited knowledge, 104 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: the settlers planted crops and built new homes. On August eighteenth, 105 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: White's daughter Eleanor Dare gave birth to a girl, making 106 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: Little Virginia Dare the first English child born in America. 107 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: Life was hard but good. The newcomers did their best 108 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: to make a better way of life than they had 109 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: in England. Unfortunately, they had the little Ice age era 110 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: to deal with. The weather proved inhospitable, with droughts in 111 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: the summer and harsh cold winter. When one of their 112 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: own wandered off into the wilderness and was killed by 113 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: one of the local peoples, White realized that they were 114 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: greatly outnumbered and sent a delegation of twenty one men 115 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: to try to make amends with the indigenous tribes. Assisting 116 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: them was an indigenous man called Montero, who had lived 117 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: among the English. After his intervention and negotiation, the colonists 118 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: and the Crowatin people feasted together in a gesture of peace. 119 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: It turned out that they shared a common enemy, another 120 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: group of indigenous people, perhaps called the Rono. Feeling more 121 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: safely settled, White returned to England on November five, four 122 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: more supplies. Unfortunately, the Spanish Armada prevented him from returning 123 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: as quickly as he had hoped. The Anglo Spanish War 124 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: caused Queen Elizabeth, the first to commandeer every available ship 125 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 1: in anticipation of battle. White didn't return to the settlement 126 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,560 Speaker 1: for three years. When he finally arrived on his granddaughter's birthday, 127 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: in he found the Roanoke settlement completely deserted. Houses had 128 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,719 Speaker 1: been dismantled, the building supplies have been taken. Only a 129 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,839 Speaker 1: single clue to their whereabouts had been left. Someone had 130 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:18,679 Speaker 1: carved a word on a wooden gate post crow at in. 131 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: Believing the settlers had gone to live with the Crowdens, 132 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: he returned to the ship for the night, intending to 133 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: set out the next morning to look for them, but 134 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: the anchor rope snapped and bad weather forced the ship 135 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: out to sea and back to England. White never saw 136 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: his family again. Roanoke remains one of America's enduring mysteries. 137 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: The disappearance of an entire colony without a trace has 138 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: since become an iconic enigma, fueled by fiction, speculation, and 139 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: insufficient evidence to point to any one explanation. In nineteen 140 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: thirty seven, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech commemorating 141 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: the lost colony. A bridge had connected Roanoke Island with 142 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,839 Speaker 1: the mainland, and the community had begun working on infrastructure 143 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:19,239 Speaker 1: to support tourism the island and the Lost Colony experienced 144 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:24,959 Speaker 1: a resurgence in interest. Historians discovered that Sir Walter Rally 145 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 1: tried to return to the island again in fifteen ninety four, 146 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: but the expedition failed due to poor weather conditions. After 147 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: he was implicated and imprisoned for his role in an 148 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: attempt to dethrone King James the First, The next search 149 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: for the colonists didn't happen until six seven. John Smith 150 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: of the newly established Jamestown, Virginia settlement, had been captured 151 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: by the Powatan people. In his talks with their leader, 152 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: he learned about a place where people wore European clothing. 153 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: Smith instantly thought of the Lost Colony and sent a 154 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:03,439 Speaker 1: letter and map to England. Two of Smith's search parties 155 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: in sixteen o eight failed to locate the colonists. In 156 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: sixteen o nine, England received an unverified letter that the 157 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: Powhatan had slaughtered any surviving colonists, though no evidence or 158 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:22,559 Speaker 1: remains suggested the statement was based on facts. Periodically, searches continued, 159 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: though interest had faded over the years. Then, between seventeen 160 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: o one and seventeen o nine. Explorer and naturalist John 161 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: Lawson spent time at the original colony site and visited 162 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: the Hatteras tribe when he noticed the strong English influence. 163 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: Members told him that some of their ancestors had been 164 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: white with gray eyes. Lawson believed that the colonists had 165 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 1: assimilated into the local peoples once they lost contact with England. 166 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: The explanation seemed plausible, and further research died out until 167 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, when academics began to theorize about what 168 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: had happened to the colonists again. One theory agreed with 169 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: Lawson that the colonists had assimilated with some particular try. 170 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: They further theorized the Powhatans had attacked them in retaliation 171 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: for the English kidnapping their people. Another theory speculated that 172 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: the colonists had integrated with possibly multiple peoples when they 173 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: realized no help was coming from England. The gate post 174 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: carving seems to suggest that at least some left with 175 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 1: the crow Atints, since none of the local tribes were 176 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: large enough to take in all the colonists, scholars have 177 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: determined splitting up the village among the local peoples would 178 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: have been the most logical choice. The last holdouts in 179 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: the village may have finally decided to leave with the 180 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: Croatans and left the carving in case White returned. Excavations 181 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:53,599 Speaker 1: have never turned up a sign of a struggle or 182 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: massacre at the site. Along with missing building supplies, This 183 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,959 Speaker 1: suggests the colonists left of their own a core. There's 184 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,679 Speaker 1: also the possibility that tried to build a ship and 185 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: returned to England, though this is unlikely since they wouldn't 186 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 1: have had enough provisions to make the journey. If they 187 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: did try this, they were most likely lost at sea. 188 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: But there's one more explanation. A small area off the 189 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:26,080 Speaker 1: outer banks has coffins inscribed with Christian markings, suggesting that 190 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: the colonists might have moved there. The theory goes that 191 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: they were harvesting sassafras for Rally to sell. This supports 192 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: the conspiracy that Rally not only returned, but that he 193 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: kept the colonists survival quiet for personal gain. In the 194 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds, archaeologists began digging at the Roan Oak site. 195 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: The influx of Irish and German immigrants had sparked some 196 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: multigenerational Americans to connect with their English ancestors. Meanwhile, the 197 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: indigenous peoples who might have held some answers were driven 198 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: from the area to grant the land to European descended farmers. 199 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,599 Speaker 1: Without a lot of facts or evidence, the legend of 200 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: the lost Colony of Roanoke was revamped. All that remained 201 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:18,119 Speaker 1: were fictional stories until Louis Hammond made a rather unusual 202 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: discovery in ninety seven. James Lester, an Emory University geologist, 203 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: was leaving the university's alumni building on November eight seven 204 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: when Lewis Hammond approached and introduced himself. He showed Lester 205 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: the rock he carried and asked if someone in the 206 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: geology department might help to cipher the markings carved onto it. 207 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: Hammond told the geologist had come across the stone near 208 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: the Virginia, North Carolina border. Lester admitted that the markings 209 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: were unusual and difficult to make out. Before long, English 210 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: and physics professors, as well several curious students, joined them. 211 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: They pieced together a single word, an ananias Annanias had 212 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: been Virginia Dair's father. Excitement washed over the group. The 213 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: stone appeared to be a pivotal piece of evidence in 214 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: the disappearance of those first colonists. The scholars took the 215 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: stone to the biophysics lab for further evaluation. One of 216 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: Emery's rising star professors rushed to the lab when he 217 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 1: heard the news, Heyward Jefferson Pierce Jr. Was the university's 218 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: expert on southern history. The team studied the stone late 219 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: into the evening, with barely a break for lunch or dinner. 220 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: When Pierce and the others came out of the lab, 221 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: they announced to their peers that they had deciphered the 222 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: rest of the carvings. The stone told of heartbreak and loss. 223 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: It read Annonia Stare, and Virginia went hence into Heaven. 224 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: The rest of the scratches mentioned a burial site where 225 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: the remains of the colonists were buried after they had 226 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: been massacred. The team made plans to revisit the site 227 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: where the stone had been found and begin an archaeological day. 228 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: Hammond signed an agreement that granted Emory temporary custody of 229 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 1: the stone, as well as exclusive research and publication rights. 230 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: Two days later, Hammond, Lester, and Pierce left for Edenton, 231 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: a town on the Virginia North Carolina border. When they arrived, 232 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: they had difficulty finding the exact location of the stone's origin. 233 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: After leading the professors around a swamp, Hammond pointed to 234 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: an approximate location. They hunted for additional inscribed stones or 235 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: any evidence of the lost colony. Two days of exhaustive 236 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: searches turned up nothing. Then Hammond left, never contacting the 237 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: men or the university. Again suspicious, Emery hired the Pinkerton 238 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: Agency to investigate. The agency reported that no named Lewis 239 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:06,160 Speaker 1: Hammond existed. Pierce bought the stone for five hundred dollars 240 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty eight so that he could continue his 241 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 1: study and perhaps locate additional evidence. If some of the 242 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 1: colonists had survived, they might have left other clues to 243 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: their whereabouts. He became so obsessed that he took a 244 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: leave of absence from Emory. Then, in May of ninety nine, 245 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,439 Speaker 1: a stone cutter by the name of Bill Eberhart claimed 246 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: to have come across thirteen more inscribed stones on a 247 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:36,920 Speaker 1: hill in Greenville County, South Carolina. He contacted Pierce, who 248 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: quickly bought the property. While his piers thought the discovery 249 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: was another scam. Pierce concluded that the stone cutter wasn't 250 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: smart enough to pull off such a scheme, though he 251 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:53,040 Speaker 1: never found any more stones on the property. On July fifteenth, 252 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: Isaac Turner of Atlanta, Georgia stepped forward, claiming he had 253 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:01,439 Speaker 1: found a fifteenth stone. Not to be outdone, Eberhart returned 254 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: with stone sixteen through thirty five that he had allegedly 255 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: uncovered in Habersham County, Georgia. Then a man named William 256 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: Bruce delivered stone number thirty six, and Eberhart showed up 257 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:16,680 Speaker 1: once more with stone's thirty seventh through forty five, five 258 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: of which he claimed were grave markers. By winter, newcomer 259 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 1: Tom Jett turned in stone's forty six through forty eight. 260 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: With so many stones been nothing coming from them, Pierce 261 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:33,879 Speaker 1: began losing the university's support. Instead, he convinced his father 262 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: to help Pierce Senior ran Burnow College in Georgia. To 263 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:44,199 Speaker 1: Emery's relief, the college took over support and funding. On 264 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: October nineteenth of nineteen forty, Pierce called a press conference. 265 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: He claimed he had uncovered the story of Elizabeth Dair's 266 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:57,160 Speaker 1: survival from Massacre's forced marches and her desperate pleas for help. 267 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:01,159 Speaker 1: Pierce also wrote a lengthy piece about the Dare Stones 268 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: and sent it to the Saturday Evening Post. The Post 269 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: assigned one Boyden's Sparks. The investigative reporter interviewed Pierce's former 270 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,880 Speaker 1: Pierce and determined that the stones were fake and that 271 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: Pierce was trying to salvage his career and reputation. Eber 272 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,440 Speaker 1: Heart had a history in faking indigenous relics and had 273 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 1: ties to two of the other men who had found stones. 274 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: The Post's article pointed out Pierce's delusions and stated that 275 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:33,119 Speaker 1: Emery's greatest minds had been swindled by a Georgia hillbilly. 276 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: After the story appeared, Pierce retorted that eber Heart had 277 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: blackmailed him and his father, threatening to tell everyone they've 278 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: been working together to defraud the universities. For one day, 279 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: the news knocked World War Two stories from the top headlines. 280 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: Pierce moved to Michigan, and he never spoke of the 281 00:19:53,040 --> 00:20:03,760 Speaker 1: Dare Stones again. Though historians and scholars discounted the Dare 282 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: Stones as forgeries and hoaxes, Pierce believed the first stone 283 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: was authentic, based on the journal of one English writer 284 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: by the name of William Strachy. In sixteen o nine, 285 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: Strachy had sailed North America for a new lease on life. 286 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:22,960 Speaker 1: A shipwreck left him stranded on Bermuda for nearly a 287 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: year before he and the other survivors built a small 288 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: boat and hugged the coast line up to Jamestown, Virginia. 289 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: Miraculously they've all survived the trip. They found the settlement 290 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:38,880 Speaker 1: in total disarray. Strachy wrote in detail about the conditions there, 291 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,119 Speaker 1: which in turn served as the basis of the study 292 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 1: of early colonial life for future historians like Pierce. Strachy 293 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: also wrote about a prophecy and massacre that he said 294 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: explained the Roanoke colonist's fate, and for Pierce, the prophecy 295 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: neatly lined up with the inscription on that first stone. 296 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: Pierce also relied on a Powhatan prediction of a pataquismic event, 297 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:08,920 Speaker 1: and the prophecy claimed a nation would rise from the 298 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 1: Chesapeake Bay and overtake the Powhatan. A chief had purportedly 299 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: become so frightened that he ordered the Chessapeake people's extermination. 300 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: The English had the misfortune of being in the Chesapeake 301 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,719 Speaker 1: Bay area around the same time, the colonists who went 302 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,680 Speaker 1: to live with locals may have been massacred along with them. 303 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,200 Speaker 1: The theory was speculative, but Pierce took it to heart. 304 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: The wording and grammar on the stone matched the writing 305 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: and the spelling of the time, and colonists had been 306 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: known to leave carvings in stone and wood. If Pierce 307 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: was right, the first stone was authentic but discounted as fake. 308 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: Though Brunell College kept all forty eight Dare stones, it 309 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:59,639 Speaker 1: removed them from public display in At first, they were 310 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: stored in a boiler room beneath the school's auditorium. Today 311 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,400 Speaker 1: they reside in the attic inside one of the campus houses. 312 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,640 Speaker 1: Archaeologists are now certain that stones two through forty eight 313 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: were indeed faked, but that first stone tests are inconclusive. 314 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: While it may be possible to determine the authenticity of 315 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: the stone, the media circus in the nine thirties has 316 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:30,160 Speaker 1: caused scholars and universities to be understandably reluctant. The project 317 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:34,160 Speaker 1: would be costly and time consuming, and there's some concern 318 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,400 Speaker 1: that it might damage their reputations, as it did with Pierce, 319 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: which leaves us with the mystery intact. We may never 320 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 1: know if the original dare Stones message was real or 321 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: a hoax, or what truly became of the lost colony 322 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: of Roanoke. There's more to this story, and stick around 323 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. 324 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,439 Speaker 1: Swan J. Turnblad had no idea what to do with 325 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 1: the letter sitting on his desk. In all his time 326 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: as the editor for Minneapolis's Swedish language newspaper, he had 327 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: never seen anything like it. The author, fifty six year 328 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 1: old Swedish born J. P. Hedburg, was a successful businessman. 329 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,959 Speaker 1: In his letter, he stated that a local man had 330 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: discovered a stone slab in the roots of a tree 331 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,360 Speaker 1: on his land. While that wasn't entirely unusual, the markings 332 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: on it were. Hedberg included the inscription, which he said 333 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: looked like an unknown alphabet, consisting of two hundred and 334 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:52,159 Speaker 1: nineteen characters. The three grouped characters, written in Roman letters, 335 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: read a V M, believed to refer to the Virgin Mary. 336 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: Others resembled archaic Greek and Phoenician letters. One set of 337 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: characters bore no resemblance to the others and may have 338 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: been Runic numerals, but most were old Scandinavian ruins. The 339 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: date carved on the stone read thirteen sixty two. Turned 340 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 1: Blood sent a copy of the letter to the University 341 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:22,679 Speaker 1: of Minnesota for an expert opinion. There, Norwegian born professor O. J. 342 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:27,360 Speaker 1: Breda read the letter and examined the stone. His familiarity 343 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: with Scandinavian languages allowed him to transcribe the writings. It 344 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: told the story of eight Swedish and twenty two Norwegian 345 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: men who had set up a camp. Some went fishing, 346 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,920 Speaker 1: and upon their return found ten men dead, and so 347 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 1: asked the Virgin Mary to save them. Although had translated it, 348 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: Breda was skeptical about the inscriptions authenticity. He suggested that 349 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:57,199 Speaker 1: a runology expert studied the stone. Breda's translation found its 350 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: way to the Minnesota University Student newspaper. On January fourteenth 351 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: of eight nine. The story appeared, along with the editorial 352 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: comment that further tests should decide whether the discovery should 353 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,959 Speaker 1: be ranked with the Rosetta Stone or the Cardiff Giant. 354 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: A month later, on February twenty second, turn Blood's newspaper 355 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:22,680 Speaker 1: also published Brata's translation. Turn Blood added comments, sparking rumors 356 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 1: that the stone had been inscribed during a fourteenth century 357 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: invasion of what now Minnesota. The theory became popular with 358 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: the Swedish newspaper's readership. Other Midwestern Scandinavian papers printed the 359 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,560 Speaker 1: piece too. Eventually, the story made its way to larger 360 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: publications like the Chicago Tribune. Somewhere in the telling, Breta's 361 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: opinion regarding the authenticity became lost. Many with Scandinavian heritage 362 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 1: wanted to believe the stone was real. To them, it 363 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 1: would prove that they had discovered America long before other Europeans. 364 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,680 Speaker 1: The Scandinavian immigrants began to boast that not only had 365 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: they discovered the land before anyone else, but had also 366 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: been the first to penetrate the country's interior. Naturally, no 367 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 1: one stopped to think that indigenous peoples had lived on 368 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: the land, coast and interior long before anyone else. Still, 369 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: for the Scandinavian and other European communities, there was a 370 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: score to settle. The university shipped the stone by rail 371 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:29,240 Speaker 1: to a philologist at Northwestern University in Illinois. There, Professor 372 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 1: George Kerm initially thought the stones inscriptions were genuine, but 373 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: the more he considered it, the more the markings confused him. 374 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,400 Speaker 1: Though the stone had survived over five hundred harsh Minnesota winters, 375 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,480 Speaker 1: the edges of the letters looked more like a newly 376 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: carved tombstone. He agreed with Breda that a runologist should 377 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:51,640 Speaker 1: take a look, and sent copies of the newspaper clippings 378 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:56,240 Speaker 1: and the inscription to the University of Oslo. Three professors 379 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: there replied that the stone was a fraud. They stated 380 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: that the inscription had been clumsily written by someone with 381 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:08,120 Speaker 1: barely any knowledge of runic letters or basic history. Northwestern 382 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 1: returned to the stone to the man who had found it. 383 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,639 Speaker 1: Eight years later, in the summer of seven, a fellow 384 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: Scandinavian hr Holland visited him, seeking materials to use in 385 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,679 Speaker 1: a Norwegian settlement. He had heard about the stone and 386 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 1: convinced him to give it over. The following year, Holland 387 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: published a book on the runestone. He offered to sell 388 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: the stone to the Minnesota Historical Society, but they refused 389 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: the five thousand dollar asking price, though they also published 390 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: an article declaring the stone's authenticity. They cited several experts opinions, 391 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,439 Speaker 1: though the experts in question denied ever looking at the stone. 392 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:48,959 Speaker 1: The public seemed less enamored with the story than they 393 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:54,199 Speaker 1: had previously been, and the stone's popularity faded. But in 394 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:59,879 Speaker 1: nineteen forty eight, Minnesota established the Runestone Memorial Park in Alexandria. 395 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,639 Speaker 1: Holland found himself in a three way lawsuit over ownerships, 396 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: so contentious that the court ordered the stone locked up 397 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: and bonded for two dollars. Though there's no actual proof 398 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: the stone is genuine, many still believe that the Norse 399 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,639 Speaker 1: people made it to Minnesota before other Europeans. It's a 400 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 1: mystery that may never be settled. Today, the stone is 401 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: on display at the Ruined Stone Museum. American Shadows as 402 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by Michelle Muto, 403 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: researched by Ali Steed, and produced by Miranda Hawkins and 404 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and 405 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit Grim 406 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: and Mild dot com. From more podcasts from i Heeart Radio, 407 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 408 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: get your podcasts. M