Our 2016 Gathering was held May 13-15 in Nags Head, North Carolina on the Outer Banks. Our hotel was near the Wright Brother’ s First Flight Monument and Jockey’s Ridge State Park, the largest active sand dune in the eastern United States. We visited the famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse built in 1870 and moved to its current location in 1999.
We visited the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site where the first English settlement in North America in 1587, known as the Lost Colony, is discussed in exhibits. Clay Swindell, one of the lead archaeologists on the Lost Colony team, met with us on Friday morning for a special tour. He brought artifacts found over the years at sites that may have been from the 1587 settlement or an earlier English expedition.
John Bridger was one of the 117 settlers in 1587. The colony, which was promoted and backed by entrepreneurs led by Sir Walter Raleigh failed sometime between 1587 and 1590 when supply ships were late arriving. The sailors found the settlement abandoned with no trace of the inhabitants, and their fate remains a mystery. Archaeologist Clay Swindell gave us a tour of the area and talked about the continued search for clues.
Our cousin Kevin Duffus, an historian with the State of North Carolina was our dinner speaker. He discussed Blackbeard, the well-known pirate who roamed the shores of eastern North Carolina. Kevin also mentioned finding the original Fresnel lens of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse that had vanished for 140 years.
Slideshow produced by Al Mittelmaier
Invocation
given by
Betty Bridgers Cullen
Lord of our fathers, hear our prayer —
We, the Bridger Family, give thanks for the pirates, privateers, and politicians of the late 16th century who through nefarious schemes and skullduggery or honest economic ambition set sail for the New World. From the notorious Blackbeard to the knighted Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake, England’s best and worst charted a course that would increase the scope of their mother country and redirect the journey of our Bridger grandfathers.
Buffeted by the turmoil of the times, Joseph Bridger sought freedom and redemption on the open seas. Guided by the faith of his fathers and the fortitude with which he had been blessed, our grandfather landed in an untamed wilderness and lived with passionate authenticity through his political, entrepreneurial, and military endeavors. Believing that a larger, eternal truth governed mankind, Joseph Bridger put word to deed in the building of St. Luke’s Church that provided the people of a new nation with sanctuary to worship as they chose.
Like our grandfather and mariners of the 16th century, the Bridger Family has crossed the seas of time and space and praised God in the glory of St. Luke’s Church. Learning that the journey is as important as the destination, we have already launched our next expedition of discovery to append the history of Joseph Bridger in the context of his home at Whitemarsh. As points of light on the same Bridger star, our heading will hold true but our watches will vary.
To our principals and investors, we celebrate your efforts to test and smooth the waters. Through the professionalism of our archaeologists, historians, and preservationists, we pay tribute to the native peoples who once walked the land and to our ancestors who lived and are buried there. Lastly, to our artists, writers, and musicians, it will be up to you to make a joyful noise!
As Frederick W. Faber wrote:
Faith of our fathers! Living still
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword,
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene’ er we hear that glorious word:
Faith of our fathers, holy faith:
We will be true to thee to death.
God Bless you all that you may live with dignity and grace.
Amen