My Heritage – Jeremiah Hankins
We were searching to rediscover the first seed
so that the ancient drama could begin again.
~GEORGE SEFERIS
While researching this report I learned something new and exciting -- Princess Nicketti – she who sweeps the dew from the flowers—daughter of Opechancanough, the chief of the Powhatan Indians, may be my ancestor.
Tracing My Ancestry
I got my information from letters, telephone calls to great-aunts, books, and the Internet. My first clues were found in a letter written to my grandmother by her cousin. She told of our bloodlines. Her son had researched our ancestors in several county court houses in Virginia. She wrote about his discoveries.
“A man named Hughes came here (Virginia) from some part of England to do business with the settlers and Indians. I don’t know what products he bought or bartered, but I imagine furs would be one thing. Anyway, he shipped his wares to England when a ship came. He married one of Chief Powhatan’s granddaughters and they had children.
“A man named Davis from England had a ship and Hughes shipped his wares to England on Davis’s ship. Davis in turn married Hughes’ daughter. Hughes and his family moved farther inland and ended up in Amherst County. I am sure it was easier for Hughes to do business with the Indians having an Indian wife. It was said Hughes build the first house in Amherst Country. I guess it must have been a log cabin.”
I also found the same information in a book called OUR KIN, The Genealogies of Some of the Early Families who made History in the Founding and Development of Bedford County, Virginia. It says...
“Opechancanough, the celebrated chief of the Powhatans, left a lovely young daughter, the child of his old age, the Princes Nicketti, -- ‘she who sweeps the dew from the flowers.’ Some years after this graceful Indian maiden had reached the years of mature womanhood, a member of one of the old cavalier families of Virginia fell in love with her and she with him, and the result was a clandestine marriage, and a half-breed Indian girl, who married about the year 1680, a Welshman (others say a native of Devonshire, England), named Nathaniel Davis, an Indian trader, and according to some accounts a Quaker; and from this alliance many notable people in the East and in the West have descended. Their daughter, Mary Davis, born about 1685, married Samuel Burks, of Hanover, and their daughter, Elizabeth Burks, married Captain William Cabell, the ancestor of the Cabells.”
On the Internet we found more information including dates and pictures of the Powhatans. The following dates were taken from a web page showing the family lines of the Powhatan of Virginia. http://members.icanect.net/~paws/pow.htmi1064
1. Princess Nicketti Powhatan, daughter of Opechancanough, was born before 1644. Nicketti died after 1720 at age unknown. She married Trader Hughes at an unknown date. He died after 1720.
2. Princess Nicketti Powhatan and Trader Hughes had the following child: Elizabeth Hughes was born about 1660.
3. Elizabeth Hughes and Nathaniel Davis had the following children:
Martha Davis was born after 1680. She married Abraham Venables.
Mary Davis was born after 1682.
Trader Robert Davis was born after 1684, age of death unknown.
4.Trader Robert Davis and Elizabeth Unknown had the following child:
Abadiah Davis.
My great-aunts told me about my family ties to the Hughes through my grandmother’s father. I asked them to make us a family tree if they could.
Who were the Powhatan?
The Powhatan were Indians who lived in Virginia. The Powhatan Indians were both farmers and hunters. They grew corn, squash, potatoes, pumpkins, and tobacco. Their villages were usually near rivers. The rivers provided food, transportation, and water.
The Powhatan were also hunters. They mostly hunted deer. They would hide in the skins of a large deer they had already killed so they could get close to another deer without scaring it.
Hardships the Powhatan Faced
So it seems as though one of my ancestors was a Native American living at the time soon after the first English-speaking settlers came to the Jamestown area in Virginia. All the people coming over to America was a problem for my Native American ancestors. As the colonies grew the Native Americans came to regret their earlier friendship with the settlers. The Powhatans got tired of the settlers burning their villages and tobacco planters taking over their fields. In 1622 they rose up against the English. About 350 colonists, one in every three, were killed. One of the survivors wrote of the Powhatans, “Either we must clear them, or they us out of the country.” Within two years the Powhatan had been reduced from 8,000 people to 1,000 people.
British Background
My other ancestors came from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. In the early 1700s about the time my ancestors came over, these countries joined to become United Kingdom of Great Britain. Great Britain now has a constitutional monarchy. A constitutional monarchy means they have a set of laws and a king and/or queen.
The Parliament makes the laws for the country. The Parliament is made up of the monarch (the king and/or queen), the House of Commons, and the House of Lords. The king and queen is the head of state like our president. (My ancestors came over just after the time King James was the king of England, and Jamestown was named after him. This should give you an idea of how long ago this was.) You become king if you are the son of a king. Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords are elected.
Why They Came
Hughes came to America by ship to trade with the Indians. As my grandmother’s cousin wrote, they probably traded for furs and shipped the furs back to England
Religion
My ancestors from Great Britain were Quakers. An Englishman George Fox founded the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers in 1647. Quakers believed that all people were equal in God’s eyes and therefore should be treated equally. They also believed that each person has a small bit of God inside of them, so people did not need priests or services to get in touch with God. Furthermore, Quakers thought war was wrong so Quakers did not pay taxes for armies. Because of this about 15,000 of the 60,000 Quakers in England had been sent to jail. So my ancestors probably came over to American not only to trade, but also so they wouldn’t be sent to jail. Although they were originally Quakers, over the years they practiced a variety of different Christian religions primarily Baptist.
Life in America
On his way over on a ship Hughes was probably stuffed into tight quarters. In those days on the ships they often did not have enough food and fresh water. After arriving in the New World, Hughes continued facing many problems. He had to find food, shelter, and a way to make a living. After he fell in love with an Indian, he probably faced discrimination from Englishmen who did not like the Indians. The Indians may not have liked him because he was white. So he and his wife probably didn’t quite fit in anywhere.
Even so, Hughes and Princes Nicketti made a good life for themselves. They built a cabin, had children, traded with the Indians, and sold to the English. Because of their love, I am here today.