What Jamestown hero may have poisoned many of the first English settlers there, according to the TV documentary "Secrets of the Dead"?

CrazeeTracy

Captain John Smith Jan 09 06, 8:34 AM

McGruff

During the winter of 1609-1610, nearly 90 percent of the residents of the Jamestown colony perished in an episode now called "the starving time." But did the starving time actually have anything to do with starvation? A maverick pathologist says no. His theory: the deaths were result of arsenic poisoning, perhaps at the hands of an operative of the Spanish government, which was intent on getting rid of the English colony. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_jamestown/clues.html Jan 09 06, 8:44 AM

McGruff

So, who could have poisoned the colonists, as only 60 out of 214 survived? Enter one Baron Thomas Arundel, a radical Catholic and ‘unindicted co-conspirator' from the Guy Fawkes or "Gunpowder Plot" in 1605 to blow King and Parliament and avenge the Spanish Armada fiasco of 1588 in one fell swoop. Arundel had previously fought with the Spanish in Flanders and subsequently was one of the founders of the Catholic colony in America, Marylandia. (Anne Arundel County, MD is actually named for his sister.) As an alchemist, he was familiar with potions and poisons; while ratsbane (arsenic trioxide) was used by the colonists in an attempt to eliminate the above-mentioned vermin. There are also extant letters between Arundel and the king of Spain, offering to "do whatever was necessary" to punish the Protestant monarchy ...and prevent further English expansion in the New World. It would have been easy for Baron Arundel or a henchman to poison the colonists. Unfortunately, the settlement of Jamestown coincided with the worst drought in southeastern Virginia in 800 years, so access to drinking water would have been limited. Since arsenic is a cumulative poison (an alchemist would have known this), a sub-lethal dose of ratsbane could have been dumped in the communal well or mixed with barrels of flour. Days after the departure of the perpetrator, folks would have begun dying. And when the supply ships returned the next year, only 60 emaciated colonists remained. Over 150 perished, which makes Arundel America's most prolific mass murderer - up until Timothy McVeigh and the subsequent 9/11 terrorists. http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:5i8j7QaLw7YJ:msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php%3F/ubb/get_topic/f/36/t/000143/p/1.html+%22secrets+of+the+dead%22+jamestown+john+smith+poisoned&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Jan 09 06, 8:52 AM

McGruff

In what could be a macabre sequel to the story of Pocahontas, a pathologist says many of the settlers who died at Jamestown may have been poisoned with arsenic - perhaps by Capt. John Smith himself. Dr. Frank Hancock examined writings by Smith and other English settlers in Jamestown, Va., in search of a medical explanation for why so many colonists died within two years after the first permanent English settlement in America was established in 1607. His conclusion: Many of the colonists may been poisoned. "I continue to find what I consider circumstantial evidence that would lead one to believe that a plot may have been in place," said Hancock, medical director for Laboratory Corp. of America. While reluctant to name suspects, he said one settler wrote that Dutchmen in the colony had accused Smith of poisoning others with ratsbane, or arsenic trioxide. "There was an indication Smith was having disputes with the Dutchmen and others," Hancock said Wednesday. He said he found no mention of possible motives, but there was no question the atmosphere at the colony was politically charged. http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:WhAyoZ_4EJkJ:www.levymultimedia.com/original/www.levymultimedia.com/April/0414researcher.htm+%22secrets+of+the+dead%stown+john+smith+poisoned&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Jan 09 06, 8:58 AM

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