North Carolina First Christian Birth: On July 22, 1587, John White landed on Roanoke Island with 120 men,
women, and children. As governor, White hoped to establish the first
permanent English settlement in the New World by developing a
self-sufficient economy and agriculture. On August 18, 1587, the first
English Christian was born: Virginia Dare.
North Carolina: Manteo was a Native American Croatan Indian, the chief of a local tribe that befriended the English explorers who landed at Roanoke Island
in 1584. In 1585 the English returned to Roanoke, arriving too late in
the year to plant crops and harvest food, and Manteo helped the
colonists make it through the harsh winter. He traveled to England
on two occasions, in 1584 and 1585. After staying there, he was among
those who sailed for the New World in 1587 along with Governor John White and his colonists, who founded the failed settlement later known as "The Lost Colony".
On Sunday, August 13, 1587, Manteo was christened on Roanoke Island,
making him the first Native American to be baptized into the Church of England.
North Carolina: Virginia Dare was born on August 18, 1587 at Roanoke Island
in colonial Virginia (present-day North Carolina). Virginia Dare was
the first English-born child in the Americas. She was the daughter of
Ananias Dare and Eleanor Dare and the granddaughter of Governor John White.
Ananias Dare served on the twelve-member board of directors for the
Roanoke Colony. Virginia’s mother Eleanor was the daughter of Governor
John White. The name Virginia was chosen to signify that she was the
first English child born in Virginia. She was baptized into the Church
of England on August 24, 1587 and was the first child and second person
in America christened into the Church of England. The first was the
Native American Manteo.
In November, 1587,
White sailed back to England to report to the Crown on behalf of the
colony. White was unable to return to Roanoke Island for over two
years. When he returned the only sign of the colonists were the letters
“CRO” carved on a tree and the word “CROATOAN” carved on one of the
palisade’s entrance posts. White searched for the colonists, but to no
avail. The fate of the Roanoke Island colonists is unknown, and the
Lost Colony remains a mystery.
