Wicocomino Native Lineage

William Taptico³ and Elizabeth??  My 7th great grandparents (paternal)

and last werowance of the Wicocomino Tribe of Virginia Chesapeake Bay area. William died in 1719 and the tribe was considered extinct on this date.

Thanks to extensive research by many, particularly early Virginia archeologist Helen C. Roundtree, then a DNA test by a male direct line of my Wiley Doke Tapp⁷ (Vincent⁶, William⁵, William⁴, William³ William², Machywap¹), the Taptico family is now in history books and proven Amer American/Native which ever term you view.  

This William³ was the son of another named William², the first named Wicocomino werowance/king (Americanized "chief").  My paternal gr gr grandmother was Sarah Frances Tapp born 13 Feb 1859 in Henderson, Henderson County, KY.  Her father was Wiley Doke Tapp⁷ born 28 Apr 1835 in Henderson, Henderson County, KY.  His father was Vincent Tapp⁶ then dating back through the male line of 4 William’s.

I’ve been obsessed with Native history and rituals since early childhood.  I only met my biological father as an adult, about 12 years ago.  Needless to say,I knew nothing of his genealogy until I began my journey to know my ancestors about that same time.

DNA is really opening up so much.  One of the most important for me will be finding how much of native genealogy has been suppressed.  This Taptico family integrated with British settlers, marrying British women, adapting British attire, and surviving by suppressing their heritage.  Unfortunately, this included the ownership of slaves in Virginia.  

William² is believed to be the son of Machywap¹ (documented in Helen C. Roundtree’s scholarly researched book “Pocahontas’s People:  The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through Four Centuries”, page 123.)  Machywap was the weroance of the Sekakowon (Chiskacone) tribe which the English pressured to merge with the Wicocomino tribe with Machywap being the ruler of this merger.  The Wicocomino’s didn’t take kindly to this and Machywap and his families lives were in danger.  It is believed that Machwap’s son, William, was raised with the British at this time.  This is speculative as no primary documentation at this time can prove this emphatically, but this conclusion can explain why William² Taptico, King of the Wicocomico’s, was so wealthy and dressed in British attire. HelenRountree did not make this link in her book referenced above, published in 1990.

History's suppression of this integration between white and natives may be why no native oral history exists for this lineage.  This is why DNA is so important to open up this long suppression of heritage and the truth.

Who lived here anyway?

A fast method for finding the original owners of your house if you know the date the house was built, can be quite easy if that date lies close to a census date.  My house was built in 1928, so to quickly find the probable owners I went to the 1930 census on ancestry.com and did a bit of crafty searching.

If you go to the correct census search page on ancestry.com (1930 census), on the right you will find "browse this collection" by state, county, and township/enumeration district.

State, county, and township is easy and self explanatory.  One you plug in your township you will be able to search enumeration district.  This you may not readily know, but if you scroll each district (which usually is listed by smaller groups within the township and even street names.  Once you narrow this search as close as possible by cross streets/neighboring streets, you can scroll through the pages (looking on the far left of each page at angle will be the street.  In the next column will be the street number.  There are other ways to search, but I have found this to be the most expedient, at least for now.

This can also help in your search for ancestors.  Many people new to searching for their family tree don't realize what great info they can find in a census record.  Each census year holds different types of information that you can miss if you don't read all the fine print.  And, I mean fine!  So, have a magnifying glass handy if you can't enlarge it big enough.  Happy hunting!!