Is It Possible I Am Part Cherokee?
By W. F. Twyman, Jr.
Tatacoope Powhatan (Susan Taylor)
Last night on Ancestry, I discovered this woman. Her name is Tatacoope Powhatan (Susan Taylor). She was born in 1580 on Powhatan land. At the time of her birth, she had no inkling whatsoever of Englishmen. John Smith and his merry fellows would not settle at Jamestown, Virginia until 1607. The thing is Tatacoope and English settler George Worsham (1572-1660) found one another. In 1619, they were married and had a child, John William Worsham. However, the birth and marriage records for Tatacoope make no sense. A Cherokee woman or Powhatan woman did not give birth to a son in England in 1594, unless the handwritten records are in error.
Several of her descendants, including the Worshams of Virginia, adamantly believe their ancestor was a full-blooded Cherokee. There must be some reasonable basis for this belief which has survived over the centuries since Tatacooper died in 1628. She lies buried at the Westover Parish Cemetery in Charles City County, Virginia. The church was founded in 1613. I would credit contemporary accounts of Tatacooper over modern documents. It is my hope that expert genetic genealogists apply their skills, analyze the DNA matches, and resolve this puzzle. The Worshams, Womacks and other Virginia descendants deserve as much certainty as possible.
When I look upon Tatacoope’s face, am I looking into a part of me? Could it be true that my ancestors were one of the first mixed couples (Indian and English) in U.S. history? How cool would that be? That my DNA reflects the coming together of different strands of America in 1619? That my 1619 story is not the 1619 Project but the love and martial bond of an Englishman and a Cherokee woman? Once again, we should not let others tell our story. We should always tell our own story.
For the curious, Tatacoope had a family. She had parents. Her father was Chief Running Stream (1545 - 1618) and her mother was Princess Matatishe Minganuske Nonoma “Cornstalk” Powhatan (1551 - 1618). Like my Cousin Jimmy wrote in Migrations, “I AM ALL OF THIS AND THIS IS ALL OF ME.”
The records are faulty for Tatacoope. She deserves better documentation and memory in our national past. And so do her descendants, the Worshams, the Womacks and others. Do your thing, genetic genealogists.
Do your thing.
When all is said and done we are all related!
I think if we would realize
this we would treat each other a lot better than we generally do!