William V. Pate to Speak at Robeson County, NC Meeting

Copied From the Robeson County message board posted by Sam West with permission:

*WHAT: ROBESON COUNTY HISTORICAL & GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING

WHEN: SATURDAY, MAY 2ND, 2009

WHERE: O. P. OWENS AGRICULTURE BUILDING, LUMBERTON, NC

PUBLIC IS WELCOME * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


TOPIC: THE SURVIVAL OF THE LOST COLONY: THE UNTOLD STORY by William V. Pate*

At 2pm on Saturday, May 2nd, the guest speaker at the Robeson County
Historical and Genealogical Society monthly meeting in Lumberton will be William
V. Pate, resident of Hope Mills and author of "*The Survival of the Lost Colony:
The Untold Story*". The public is invited to attend and to purchase an
autographed copy of Mr. Pate's book at a reduced price.

Mr. Pate examines the suppositions given for the disappearance of members of Sir
Walter Raleigh's colony on North Carolina's Roanoke Island in 1587. Most
historians have theorized that, after they stayed behind when their ships sailed
back to England for supplies, the colonists were murdered by hostile savages
[meaning unChristian people] or died of starvation. Most North Carolinians hold
to the theory that these colonists survived by being assimilated into the local
Croatoan Indian tribe.

In his 33 years of research, Mr. Pate examined countless documents of the
period, many written by men of authority on the expedition. His book provides
verbatim transcriptions followed by his comments on the insights they provide
for solving this mystery.

The author's prints and lists of the people & places connected to this
colonization are an unexpected benefit for readers. He includes tales handed
down by local Indians that Virginia Dare, the first person born in the Roanoke
colony, lies buried near the base of a several-hundred-years-old tree in Robeson
County. Of special interest to Robesonians will be the DNA project that many
expect to provide a definitive answer to part of this old American mystery.

The program will be held in the O.P. Owens Agriculture Center Auditorium at 455
Caton Road, which is just west of Interstate 95 between Highways 72 and 711 in
Lumberton (next to the Robeson County Health Department). To accommodate the
public, the speaker will precede the meeting.

--
Sam West
e-mail: sam.west.1@gmail.com