The Story of the Nottoway People.

 

The Story of the Nottoway People

For many years, people from Virginia and worldwide knew about the Nottoway people. People from Virginia like us were educated learning about the Powhatan and Pocahontas, but we weren't taught that much in school about the Nottoway. Almost ten years ago, I found more information about these Native American people. The following story is something that I never revealed in public before until now. Many years ago, my late uncle Bill Bynum and I were in Southampton County, Virginia in real life. He said to me and my siblings that we were related to some of the Nottoway people as we traveled along the Nottoway River. I was skeptical back then, because I didn't know the current information that I have now. In retrospect, he was right, because my late uncle had freckles, high cheekbones, and a Native American physical appearance in many ways. A 23 and Me DNA test documented how I have a small percentage of Native American DNA. Therefore, this story from me is about the story about many of maternal ancestors, so this is the story of my ancestors. My late grandmother's home is ironically near the Nottoway River. By 2018 and beyond, I learned about my family tree in a higher level. I am a Black American, and I honor my black African heritage. Black is Beautiful eternally. The truth is that many of my black ancestors married people who are descendants of the Nottoway people, so their stories are part of my overall family tree story. 

This is my story, and the story of so many people, including my distant cousins. The Nottoway descendant Susanna Field Hurst-Turner was related to me. To start, the Nottoway people are an Iroquoian Native American tribe in Virginia, and they spoke a Nottoway language in the Iroquoian language family, too. The term Nottoway may derive from Nadawa or Nadowessioux (widely translated as "poisonous snake"), an Algonquian-language term. Frank Siebert suggested that the term natowewa stems from Proto-Algonquian *na:tawe:wa and refers to the Massasauga, a pit viper of the Great Lakes region.  In Southeast Virginia, there were many Native American tribes like the Nottoway, Powhatan, Meherrin, and Tuscarora people. Native Americans lived in the Americas for thousands of years. The region of Southampton County, Virginia is filled with saltwater, freshwater, rivers, bays, and marshes. The Native Americans were met by Europeans like English explorer Edward Band in the 1650s. Back then, there were about 400 to 500 Nottoway human beings. A Nottoway representative signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation of 1677 in 1680 (this is after the Virginian 1676 civil war or Bacon's Rebellion. In Virginia, this war about a battle between settlers and the English government in Virginia whose head was King Charles II), establishing the tribe as a tributary to the Virginia colony. English squatters encroached on their lands.

The Early Ages

By 1681, hostile tribes caused the Nottoway to relocate southward to Assamoosick Swamp in modern-day Surry County. In 1694, the Nottoway people moved again, to the mouth of a swamp in what is now Southampton County. Around this time, they absorbed the remnants of the Weyanoke, an Algonquian-speaking tribe that had formerly been part of the Powhatan confederacy. The Nottoway suffered high fatalities from epidemics of new Eurasian diseases, such as measles and smallpox, to which they had no natural immunity. They contracted the diseases from European contact, as these diseases were by then endemic among Europeans. Tribal warfare and encroaching colonists also reduced the population. Major changes happened to the Nottoway people by the 1700s and the 18th century. There were remnants of the Nansemond and Weyanock joining the Nottoway people. There were about 400 Nottoway people by the 1700s (according to colonial historian Robert Beverley Jr.'s observations). In 1711, two young Nottoway men attended the College of William and Mary. After the Tuscarora War (1711–1715), Tuscarora people migrated north, where they became the sixth nation in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and some Nottoway left with them. The Nottoway who remained in Virginia signed a treaty with the British in 1713 (being sought by Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood), that secured two small tracts of land within their historical territory. This treaty caused the Nottoway to British to rule over the Nottoway as tributaries of the English Crown and had mutual rights and obligations of both groups. They sold the smaller of the two tracts in 1734. In 1744, they sold 5,000 acres of their remaining land, followed by sales in 1748 and 1756. Back in the 1700s, there were Nottoway students attending the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Many Nottoway people fought with Lt. Colonel George Washington during the Seven Year Wars and had accolades from the House of Burgesses for their valor against the French at the siege of Ft. Duquesne. By 1772, only 35 Nottoway lived on their land, of which they leased half. Some Nottoway fought during the American Revolutionary War on the patriot's side. At the end of the 19th century, the Weyanock merged completely into the Nottoway, with the surnames Wynoake and Wineoak appearing on public documents. When the tribe sold more land in 1794, the Nottoway consisted of 7 men and 10 women and children. By the 18th and 19th century, the Nottoway human beings lived in the region called "Indian Town" located along the Nottoway River's middle reaches of the six miles between Courtland, Virginia and Cary's Bridge in Capron. There were many Nottoway Native Americans who created farmsteads along the region. They were created on the Indian Town Road which ran through the center of the Nottoway community. 

The Antebellum Period

By the 19th century, times have changed for the Nottoway people. There was the Square Tract reservation in a six square mile territory, south of the Nottoway River. It was divided among the Nottoway people form 1830-1880. From 1803 to 1809, Southampton County courts heard a protracted land dispute. At the time, as historian Helen C. Rountree wrote, "The Nottoway had no formally organized government. European-American trustees tasked with overseeing tribal issues were charged with drafting bylaws for the tribe. Tribal members married European-American and African-American spouses. Many Nottoway people owned slaves, and some didn't. Obviously, I don't agree with slavery at any circumstance. Many Nottoway men had non-Nottoway waves, some Nottoway women had non-Nottoway husbands, and many people had Nottoway ancestry. One of the major leaders of the Nottoway people was a woman named Edith Turner or Wane Roonseraw. She was the chief of the Nottoway or Cheroenhaka people. She lived from ca. 1754 to 1838. Turner was the leader who was involved in land transactions since 1794. She promoted self-sufficiency and great farming practices for the Nottoway people. According to 1808 records, she was a foster mother for two Nottoway children. She urged white trustees of the tribe to return four other Native children to the reservation. When she was 76 years old, she looked after at least 2 children in her home. She taught people about the Nottoway language and culture.  In 1820 she provided surveyor John Wood with a Nottoway vocabulary, allowing scholars a peek at the Iroquoian language. The only Nottoway of her time to write a will, Turner died in Southampton County in 1838 at about eighty-four years of age. A 1819 marriage license said that Edith Turner married William Green (a free person of color). Edith Turner left her household goods to Cheroenhaka member Edwin Turner. There was an elder Nansemond woman named Celia Rogers who passed away in September 1806. 

Roundtree's 1987 article called "The Termination and Dispersal of the Nottoway Indians of Virginia" mentioned the history of the Nottoway people too. As time went onward, many Nottoway people had intermarriage with African Americans. There is the story of my 7th great grandmother Nancy Woodson (ca. 1760 - ca. 1805). The matrilineal Nottoway woman, Nanny Woodson signed deeds on behalf of the tribe in 1794 and 1795 (with James Woodson and Henry Woodson, who could have been Nanny's brothers or uncles). She lived in reserved land at Indian Town. She had a common law marriage with a white man named Micajah Bozeman. The couple had four children who are: Anny Woodson, Winny Woodson, William G. Woodson-Bozeman, and Jincy Woodson. After Nanny passed away, her women children composed a family of residence at Indian Town. Billy or William Woodson was removed not far from the Indian land to live with his father Micajah Bozeman. Billy Woodson was sent to school by his father in North Carolina and was taught by the Quakers to read and write. Billy Woodson would soon marry who was Dix Woodson. Later, Billy Woodson moved to North Carolina again. Micajah Woodson died in debt in 1823 and left nothing to his children with Nanny Woodson. Billy Woodson came back to Southampton County, Virginia in 1823 to try to gain land. He spoke to the Virginia legislature to make his claim. Bozeman was allowed some land, but the Virginia Assembly maintain remaining matrilineages access to the trust. Billy Woodson married a white woman Rebeca Jackson promoted his farming in Halifax County, North Carolina. He had many children, Rebecca died, and Billy married another white woman. 

Jincy Woodson, Nanny Woodson daughter, married a probably free black man named James Taylor (who was born in the mid 1790s). He grown his farm a lot by 1850. Jincy Woodson and James Taylor had the children or Robert, Benjamin, and John Taylor. The family of Jincy and James Taylor moved to Petersburg. Winny Woodson married Burwell Williams. Their children are Patsy, Mary, John, and Sarah/Sally Williams. Mary Woodson Williams married Parsons Turner, and they had a child named Milly Woodson-Turner including Rebecca Woodson. 

The matriarch of the Nottoway people by the early 1800s was Edith Turner. She disagreed with the Trustees and Micajah Bozeman in dealing with the residence of maternally orphaned Nottoway. Edith Turner then applied to Governor William H. Cabell for help. She wanted the Trustees to return Billy Woodson and other Nottoway children to Indian Town. Governor Cabell rejected the Trustees and ordered the return of the children to the Nottoway tribe. The children returned and were in households headed by women, some were Iroquoian speaking. Billy Woodson lived with her sisters. 

In 1808, there were only 17 surviving Nottoway including Billy Woodson and Edith Turner, who became a chief. They owned 3,900 acres and cultivated 144 acres of corn. Edith Turner, who ran a successful farm on the reservation, successfully advocated for four Nottoway orphans to return to the tribe. In 1818, tribal members petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to be allowed to sell almost half of the remaining 3,912 acres of reservation land. The petition stated that there were only 26 Nottoways. By 1821, 30 Nottoways requested termination and for their land to be allotted in fee simple title. The Virginia General Assembly rejected that request and another in 1822. In 1823, Billy Woodson (Nottoway), an educated son of a European-American, requested termination, and in 1824 Virginia passed a law that would gradually terminate its responsibility and allowed remaining Nottoways to request individual allotment of land. Woodson (under the name Bozeman) and Turner applied for their allotment and shares of a fund in 1830. When Edith Turner died in 1838, her estate went to Edwin Turner (Nottoway), whose children owned the last of the Nottoway reservation. While other tribal members received individual land allotments through the years, Edwin Turner kept his and purchased more land. The last tribally held land was allotted in 1878. Despite an 1833 Virginia law that stated descendants of English and American Indian people were "persons of mixed blood, ....(not being black people or biracial people) however, with the end of the reservation, white Virginians considered them to be "free Negroes because of their African ancestry," as Rountree wrote.

The Millie Woodson-Turner Home Site was formed in ca. 1850 on Nottoway Native American land. It was occupied by the family and descendants (who are my ancestors) until ca. 1950. The site was one of the last remaining farms of the Nottoway's Indian Town. The area had wood products, agricultural field crops (like corn, soybeans, cotton, peanuts, and small grains). 

The American Civil War, Reconstruction, and Post-Reconstruction

The Nottoway tribe depended on the cultivation of staples, such as the three sisters, varieties of maize, squash, and beans. The cultivation and processing of crops were typically done by women, who also selected and preserved varieties of seeds to produce different types of crops. The men hunted game and fished in the rivers. They built multi-family dwellings known as longhouses in communities which they protected by stockade fences known as palisades. In the early 18th century, Nottoway girls wore wampum necklaces.  The Millie Woodson-Turner Site was on Indian Town Road (Route 651) in Southampton County, Virginia. This site was controlled by my 4th great grandmother Millie Woodson. She lived form November 1830 to 1910. She was the granddaughter of the Nottoway Native American woman Winifred Woodson Williams (who was my 6th great grandmother) and the daughter of my 5th great-grandmother Mary Woodson-Williams. Millie Woodson applied for and received her allotment of Nottoway land in 1952-1853 by the order of the Virginia's General Assembly. Through the oversight of the Trustees of the Nottoway tribe and the court of Southampton Country, the parcel was surveyed out of the tribe's "Square Tract" reservation. Close to the American Civil War, Millie Woodson built a frame cottage on the tract. Near Woodson were many members of her matrilineage. These relatives organized around the women of the Nottoway tribe, their souses, and their descendants. These families are of Artis, Bozeman, Crocker, Scholar, and Turner. 

After the American Civil War existed, the era of Reconstruction was formed. Millie Woodson-Turner married an African American free person of color named Morefield Hurst (1827-1918), who was my 4th great-grandfather. The couple had a small farm on the Nottoway allotment land and raised of family of 10 children. The 10 children are: Virginia, Cordelia (Candy), Johsua, Susanna, James, Josephine, George, William P., George, and Benjamin. Millie Woodson and her children plus her neighboring siblings and cousins were listed as "Native American" on the 1870 census for Southampton County. As time went on, my 3rd great-grandmother Susanna Field-Hurst Turner (1862-1949) took control of the farm's day to day operations. She married my 3rd great-grandfather Rev. James Thompson Claud (1857-1926) on August 18, 1880 in Southampton Country, Virginia (at 7 o'clock at night). Susanna and Rev. James Thompson Claud occupied the old reservation allotment. Rev. James Thompson Claud was the son of my 4th great-grandmother Sarah Claud (1842-1892. She was on the Rose Hill planation) and E.C. Barrett (a white slave owner). Sarah Claud (whose mother was my 5th great grandmother Zilphy Claud) would later marry a free issue African American named Thomas Hill. Free issue was used before the Civil War to identify people born free and who were manumitted and issued papers confirming their freedom. Rev. James Thompson Claud was a day laborer and a farmer growing corn, peas, and potatoes. He raised pigs. James Thompson Claud was engaged in the community and close to his half-sisters, whose parents were Sarah Claud and Thomas Hill. One of James Thompson Claud's half-sisters, who was Adeline Hill married a Nottoway allottee descendant (and my cousin) John H. Williams. There were progressive relationships formed among Nottoway people, free black Americans, and former enslaved black Americans. James Thompson Claud dressed up and ran other children off the allotment property as he didn't want his children to deal with "certain children." This is coded language to imply colorism which is wrong as I oppose colorism 100 percent. James Thompson Claud was a preacher and visited many Baptist churches in the area of Jerusalem or Courtland, Virginia. His descendants called him as a short man with a mustache, black hair, and light skin. He knew other farmers like James Artis, William Artis, John K. Britt, James Robert Crocker, Martha Stewart, Edwin D. Turner Jr. and John B. Williams. In 1883, James Thompson Claud, John K. Britt, James Robert Crocker, William Artis, Augustus Wiggins, and Thomas Hill worked together on a sale of a $100 grey mare. This was probably done to promote horseracing which common in Southampton County back in the 1800s. Millie Turner's grandchildren during the 1970s called her having long hair down to her waist and a stout brown skinned woman (looking like a full-blooded Native American with reddish skin). Her daughter Susanna Turner was described as a small, framed woman, light or brown skin with long hair and tall. She had a long thin face, a big nose, and high cheekbones with little legs. The Claud family had grown to be very large. 

The rest of the Nottoway's tribal land was divided among Millie's siblings and their cousins. The Millie Woodson Turner homestead was called the Claud Farm. My ancestors in that location rent land, borrowed money and made a living in farming. Susanna Turner worked in the fields to pick cotton, working hogs, and planting in the fields. There was a house garden with corn, bush beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and cucumbers. Cows were butchered and game was hunted. Susanna Turner would fish with her sister-in-law and friend Romine Turner. 

The last tracts of communal land were allotted to the Edwin D. Turner Sr.'s family by the 1870s to the 1880s. Later, all Nottoway lands were considered private property and the state's trust relationship with the tribe's real and personal property ceased. 

The Early 20th Century

By 1900, my 3rd great grandmother Susanna Field-Hurst Turner and her family owned many tracts in the neighborhood. Her brother, William Turner had land in the neighboring allotment home site. William Turner and his wife Romine Spurlock (1877-1972) plus their children looked after his elderly parents, Millie Woodson-Turner and Morefield Hurst until they passed away in the 1910s. Susanna's daughter Alice Rosetta (Ett) Claud told the story of the passing of Millie Woodson in 1955. She worked in the field and Virgie (Millie's granddaughter) helped Millie to rest on her bed. Millie passed away and Morefield came in and started crying. Morefield Hurst died later in 1918. 

Susanna Field Hurst Turner worked on the farm with help from her adult male children and her son-in-law. Her husband Rev. James Thompson Claude passed away in 1926. By the 1920s and the 1930s, Susanna's children were more engaged in farming and dealing with family affairs. By this time, the few remaining Nottoway Native American allotment families intermarried with each other and with African Americans and white people. Some of children and relatives of Susanna Turner left Southampton Country to work for wages in the urban centers in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Philadelphia, etc. Susanna's children who were my2nd great-grandfather Arthur Claud, Joshua Claud, and Nannie Nickens, stayed in Southampton County to farm cotton and peanuts. Whalen Nickens, husband of Nannie Claud (or Susanna's daughter) along with Susanna's son Joshua shared meat and help to butcher and scale fish. Susanna Turner cooked cornbread, apple turnovers, and did laundry. Susanna would use her wagon to go to Courtland to sell cakes, pies and chickens. James Thompson Claud preached at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church. As more Nottoway family descendants traveled all over the Tidewater area in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, etc., etc. The Claud farm remained the rural home location for the family descended from the Nottoway reservation allotee Millie Woodson-Turner. 

The World War II Era and the Passing of My 3rd Great Grandmother Susanna Field-Hurst Turner

From the early 1900s to the 1940s, we saw a massive migration of the Nottoway descendants or my ancestors into many places including Portsmouth, Virginia. First, it is time to describe Portsmouth. I'm from Hampton Roads, and Portsmouth is a port city filled with libraries, schools, religious places, and a strong urban culture. It is the sister city to Norfolk being on the Elizabeth River and other bodies of water in Virginia. By 1904, Sarah E. Claud (1885-1920), the daughter of Susanna Turner and Rev. James Thompson Claud relocated to Portsmouth, Virginia. She married William Moses Wright Sr. (1880-1937) on February 14, 1905, in Virginia. The couple lived on the South Street Extension, near the Seaboard Railroad Yard. Wright worked as a janitor for the Seaboard Shop. Sarah and William Wright had many children like John Henry Wright (1905-1975), Mary Louise Wright (1909-1964), William Moses Wright Jr. (1909-1981) and James Robert Wright (1913-1978). Many of Sarah's siblings moved to Portsmouth too like Lila "Tigue" Claud. Lila lived with Sarah and William Wright in 1905. Tigue Claud married Matthew Harris (who was from Ridgeway, North Carolina and worked as a caulker in the naval yards). They lived on Rutter Street after they married. Their children are Onie Harris (1914-1997), James Alexander Harris (1915-1969), Matthew Junior Harris (1917-1986), Willie Lee Harris (1919-1985), and Arthur Harris (1923-2009). Sarah Claud and Tigue's sister Addie Claud moved to Portsmouth too and married James Edward in 1920 (the couple lived on First Avenue, then Glasgow Street. Edwards was born in North Carolina and worked as a hauler for the teamsters). Susanna Turner's daughter Mattie Claud married Nottoway descendant Edwin Turner Jr., the son of Edwin Turner Sr. Mattie Claud and Edwin Turner Jr.'s children are William Turner (b. 1904) and Bessie Turner (b. 1906). Joshua Claud, the son of Susanna Claud, continued to be a farmer in Southampton County, Virginia. 

Susanna's daughter Lilly Claud moved to Philadelphia with her husband Ashby Jones, a railway man. They lived in north Philadelphia on 28th Street and then lived in 22nd and Diamond. Edwin Turner Jr., Mattie Turner, and Bessie Turner moved to Philadelphia too. Bessie Turner eloped to William Harris, brother of Matthew Harris (the husband of Bessie's aunt Lila "Tigue" Claud). Bessie and Lila were the anchor of the family in Philadelphia. Bessie was a private domestic for a family. Williams was a private chauffer. Arthur Claud's 2nd oldest daughter Susie Claud also moved to Philadelphia and lived with Lilly Claud until she finds a job and settled. The granddaughter of Millie Woodson and the daughter of Susanna Turner was Virgie Claud (1895-1968). Virgie Claud married John Walter Hardy (whose ancestors were related to Frederick Douglas. He lived from 1890-1939) on December 29, 1914, in Virginia. Virgie and John Walter Hardy lived in Courtland, Virginia. Virgie's paternal aunt Johnnie Hill Scott owned a country store. By 1926, Rev. James Thompson Claud was in failing health. So, he created a will at the Southampton Courthouse in April of 1926. The witnesses were James T. Gillette (a lawyer and future mayor) and Bessie T. Shands, the daughter of lawyer and former Senator William B. Shands. James Thompson Cluad's will direct all of his financial shortcoming be paid at his death. He wanted all of his household furniture given to his wife, Susanna. He wanted the balance his property to be sold and converted to cash. He wanted to give one third of the amount to his wife, Susanna. He wanted two-thirds of the access to be given to his children equally. He wanted his grandchildren to have the share if Susanna passed away. Susanna Turner was unaware of the will. James Thompson Claud passed away in October 1926. James T. Gillette moved to survey the property for sale. Susanna Turner went to the county clerk to protest and wanted the will to be renounced. Susanna's children and grandchildren said that James Thompson Claud would never want to evict his children. The court decided Gillette will be the executor of the estate. He sold about 200 acres of the Claud farm. Sebrell sold many tracts of land. The family said that Gillette deceived Susanna out of 350 acres of land. Gillette also facilitated the sale of Mille Turner's tract in 1917. The family said that Courtland legal officials played family members against each other to get land. Susanna Turner worked and farmed in the land until 1947 to live with her son King Arthur Claud or Uncle Boss Claud. 

John Walter Hardy lived on the eve of WWII. When WWII happened, the older sons joined the military, and the family grown. Virgie's daughter Getrude married Walter Porter in 1940. The children of Virgie and John W. Hardy were Getrude Hattie Porter (1915-1992), Verlee Hardy (1917-1995), John Melton Hardy Sr. (1919-1995), Leroy Hardy Sr. (b. 1921-1996), Mary Elizabeth Hardy Thorton (1923-1991), and Joseph Edison Hardy (1923-2011). Elizabeth and Joseph are twins. Mary Elizabeth moved to New York City. The eldest son of Virgie and John Walter Hardy, John Melton Hardy joined the U.S. Navy in 1940 and served the USS Memphis out of Norfolk, Virginia. Leroy Hardy Sr. served in the U.S. Army since 1942, and John Melton Hardy sent part of his military pay to his mother from 1940-1948. John Melton Hardy also served in the Korean War. 

Susanna Turner moved in with my 2nd great-grandfather Arthur Claud when she became very ill during the mid-1940s. Susanna Turner's great grandson Alfred O. Whittaker said that Susanna's house looked like a log cabin with lanterns, and other items. This was across the Nottoway River. The old family home (being formed in ca. 1850) was mysteriously burned to the ground later. The property was sold for business leaders for debt and unpaid taxes. Susanna Turner, my 3rd great grandmother passed away on March 10, 1949, of a coronary (related to congestive heart disease), probably as a product of a broken heart. Susanna Turner's children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, community leaders, and community members attended her funeral in Southampton County, Virginia. They left from Portsmouth, Baltimore, and Philadelphia to see funeral. It was an end of an era. 

From the 1950's to the President

In 1952, my distant cousin and one of the Nottoway leaders, Edwin D. Turner's granddaughters Rosa Ellen Sykes, sold her life interests to two Indian Town Road reservation allotment tracts to her daughter. Another relative contested the transfer. In 1953, a chancery court ordered the property to be auctioned. The money that same from the sale were divided in proportion to descent from the original allottee. As Edwin Turner Jr. married Mattie Claud (the daughter of Susanna Turner), their children and descendants were identified in the suit. So, William Turner and Bessie Turner Harris, who had lived with their grandmother Susanna Turner when their parents moved to Portsmouth, were considered interested parties. The court traced the Nottoway descendants in Southampton County, Virginia including Susanna Turner's grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Philadelphia, for the monetary divisions from the auction. 

The 1953 sale of the two allotment tracts, the last continuously controlled parcels of Iroquoian territory left the hands of Nottoway descendants. Farm loss done by lawyers and corporate interests (whose names are D.D. Barham, James T. Gillete, Robert S. Pope, Junius W. Pulley, William B. Shands, and William J. Sebrell) against the relatives and descendants of Millie Woodson was unjust in my view. Today, the site of Woodson-Turner reservation allotment (or where my ancestors had lived at) is an archaeological location, which include the remains of many reservation homesteads. VDHR chief curator Laura Galke had an analysis of the artifacts recovered by the Millie Woodson-Turner Home Site. Researchers found many tableware, vessels, and shreds. 

The children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of my late 2nd great grandaunt Virgie Mae Claud Hardy have flourished in Virginia and all over America. To start, Virgie and John Walter Hardy had many children who are Gertrude Hattie Porter (1915), Verlee Hardy (1917-1995), John Melton Hardy Sr. (1919-1995), Leroy Hardy Sr. (1921-1996), Elizabath Hardy Thorton (1923-1991), and Joseph Edison Hardy (1923-2011). Leroy Hardy Sr. married Olga Jannette Warren on April 9, 1955, in Portsmouth, Virginia. Their child is Leroy Hardy Jr. (b. 1961). My 2nd cousin Leroy Hardy Jr. married Nancy Fulton (b. 1963) on September 5, 1987, in Newport News, Virginia. They have many children (who are my 3rd cousins) who are Joshua Christopher Hardy (b. 1991), Daniel Nathan Hardy (b. 1993), Stephen Hardy (b. 1995), the twins Kristen Hiroko and Bethany Olga Hardy (b. 1997), Alisha Joy Hardy (b. 2000), and Aaron Lee Hardy (b. 2003). To this day, Leroy Hardy Jr. has been involved in Nottoway celebrations in Southampton County, Virginia. He owns his own family farm, and he is the Tribal Council Member at Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc. at Capron, Virginia. Leroy Hardy Jr. also educate students on speaking the language of English. 

The state of Virginia recognized two state-recognized tribes, the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia and the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe, in February 2010. Neither is federally recognized as a Native American tribe. Today, the Millie Woodson-Turner Home Site is an archaeological site. To this day, the Nottoway people celebrate in ceremonies and various events in Virginia. People of many backgrounds come to these ceremonies to learn about Native American culture and enjoy themselves. Multiple things are true. It is important to respect the great legacy of black people in America and the world that have fought evil, stood up for justice, and been a beacon of light to the world. It is vital to honor righteous Native Americans who followed truth, reject racist colonial agenda, and been a true inspiration for humanity in general. Also, we must be clear to reject racism including anti-Blackness (as Black is Beautiful and glorious), colorism, sexism, slavery, xenophobia, and all forms of evil prejudices that has harmed the lives of so many billions of people in the world. It is important to live right and to be humble in our walks on this Earth. One act of kindness to a stranger can change that stranger's life in positive ways forever, and we ought to learn that lesson. Now, you know the truth about this long story of a people. 

By Timothy

I give glory to the Lord for this opportunity to show the truth to the people. Like always, we believe in liberty and justice for all in the human race.