America’s Hidden Stories: Mystery at Jamestown set for Smithsonian Channel

Smithsonian Channel is marking the 400th anniversary of the first American democratic assembly with the premiere of Mystery at Jamestown, a special installment of the America’s Hidden Stories series.

Mystery at Jamestown searches for the remains of Sir George Yeardley, a self-made son of a tailor who went on to become the second governor of the colony in 1618. As scientists excavate and analyze the burials within the area that once held Jamestown’s original 1617 church, they try to match clues from the grave with historical records of Yeardley’s life. The show will also feature dramatic reconstructions of the precarious first years of the colony, with all of its rivalries, disease, starvation and conflict with the neighboring Powhatan confederation.

America’s Hidden Stories: Mystery at Jamestown bows on Smithsonian Channel on Monday, July 29, at 8 p.m. It is produced by Lisa Quijano Wolfinger, Kirk Wolfinger and Chris Bryson of Lone Wolf Media for Smithsonian Networks, with Charles Poe and David Royle serving as executive producers for Smithsonian Channel.