RALEIGH, N.C. — In what could be a macabre sequel to the Pocahontas story, 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 have 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.
In Europe, James I had angered both Catholics and Puritans as he sought to consolidate his hold on the throne; England and Spain were continuing their fight for global dominance; and the brother of colonist George Percy was imprisoned in the Tower of London, suspected of conspiracy.
In going through the writings of that period, Hancock found about 60 phrases that suggested symptoms of illness.
"Out of that, I began to seek a common medical diagnosis," he said.
He ruled out lead, cadmium and mercury, then settled on arsenic.
Hancock believes the poisonings occurred in at least four episodes from 1607 to 1610.
The deaths during the so-called "starving time" of 1609, after which only 60 of the 504 colonists remained, may have been poisonings as well, he said.
Historians blame rats for the starvation, saying they destroyed much of the colony's corn stores in the spring of 1609. Hancock acknowledged that ratsbane, used to kill rats, was present throughout the Jamestown settlement and on ships, and the poisoning could have been accidental.
But he said, "There is some pattern for the deaths in terms of timing" that warrants further study.
Hancock, who is not a forensic pathologist and has no experience with arsenic poisoning, admitted he has no clinical or historical evidence to prove his conspiracy theory.
Bone samples found in an excavation of the Jamestown site were provided by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, but test results were inconclusive.
"Without modern toxicologic evidence, it may never be answered," Hancock said.
His research will be featured in a documentary being produced by the BBC and PBS for Channel Four Television's "Secrets of the Dead."
"As far as a conspiracy, anything's possible, but I don't think it's probable," said Bill Kelso, director of archaeology for the APVA.
Karen Kupperman, a New York University professor and expert in Colonial history, said she is vaguely familiar with the accusations made against Smith but somewhat skeptical of Hancock's theory.
In a 1979 article in the Journal of American History, Kupperman speculated that nutritional diseases such as pellagra and scurvy killed many colonists, who were helped early on by Powhatan, a local chieftain and father of Pocahontas but who endured frequent episodes of hunger and disease.
"Obviously, this is something that has intrigued a lot of people, because there does seem to be a pattern that is hard to explain," she said.
Another historian, Carville Earle, has argued that colonists died of salt poisoning from drinking the brackish water of the James River. Kelso said a geology student from the College of William and Mary is testing groundwater in the area to see whether any conclusions can be drawn.
On the Net: Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities: www.apva.org.