“My great aunt researched our family's genealogy in the 1950's, and we are direct descendants of Abadiah Davis, supposedly the granddaughter of Nicketti. My great aunt, in her records, noted that Nicketti and ‘Mr. Hughes‘, a Scottish hunter and fur trader, had a clandestine marriage that produced Elizabeth Hughes, Abadiah's mother. Elizabeth was married to Nathaniel Davis. My great aunt spelled Nicketti much differently than ‘nicketti‘, (it was actually 3 hyphenated syllables - we are all spelling it phonetically, as if it were an Italian name) but I can no longer find that spelling in her papers. She referenced a book ‘Kegley's Virginia Frontier’ and ‘The Cabells and Their Kin’ and noted that Hughes and Nicketti lived near the Balcony Falls on the James River. Her papers also note that the son of Nathaniel Davis and Elizabeth Hughes was called the ‘black Davis’ because of his dark skin, black hair and eyes.” (Sharon Newman, Hughes Genforum database, #10801, 24 Jan 2005)

“Catherine Seaman wrote about Nathanial Davis as well as Princess Nicketti in her book ‘Tuckahoes and Cohees.; Here is what she wrote about the ancestry of Princess Nicketti: ‘The genealogy of Opechancanough's descendants is biologically possible although Opechancanough was said to be nearly 100 years old when he was murdered in 1644. The daughter of his old age, Nicketti, may have been born when he was in his 70s (by 1614) and she may have married in the early 1630s. Nicketti's daughter, who was married about 1680, must have been born in the late 1650s when Nicketti was in her late thirties.’ This almost certainly rules out Rees/Rice Hughes as the man who ‘married’ Princess Nicketti, because Rees does not appear to have been born until 1625-1630. Therefore, he could not have married Nicketti in 1630. Of course, there might have been an earlier Hughes who formed a union with Nicketti or some other Indian woman. This also pretty much rules out Princess Nicketti as the mother of Elizabeth who married Nathaniel Davis. Nathaniel Davis died in Amherst County in 1779, naming his wife Elizabeth and his children Charles, Robert, Isham, James, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, Sarah, Thedosha, Matilda and Nancy in his will (Will Book 2, page 83.) The average life span at this time was 60 years, but even if we grant Nathaniel an 80 year life span, this means he was born around 1700. Therefore, he could not have married Elizabeth, the daughter of Nicketti, in 1680. Perhaps Elizabeth was the granddaughter or even the great granddaughter of Nicketti, or some other Indian woman.” (Nancy Kiser, Hughes Genforum database, #10802, 25 Jan 2005) -------------------- Mary Elizabeth HUGHES Sex: F Note: ! Elizabeth m. Nathaniel Davis, a Welshman and early settler in the region. He made a large fortune by having choice river-bottom lands and trading with the Indians. Nathaniel and Elizabeth had 4 children: Robert Davis, ancestor of President Jefferson Davis who never publicly acknowledged his Indian heritage; Martha Davis who m. Abraham Venable; Abadiah (also called Abigail) Davis who m. William Floyd; Mary Davis

who married Samuel Burks.

Note:

!This genealogy is found in "Family History", Kegley's Virginia Frontier" by F.B. Kegley, and "Floyd Biographical Genealogies" 1912 by N.J. Floyd. the Floyd book is found in the library of Missouri State Historical Society at Columbia, Missouri. Excerpts from it were sent in 1964 to

Broaddus and Pauline Burks from Clyde Campbell of San Antonio, Texas. He was a descendant of Samuel and Mary Davis Burks. The often quoted book, "The Cabells and Their Kin", has a few lines noting kinship of the Burks, Cabells, Venables, Floyds, and a branch of the Davises due to their Indian blood.

Father: "Trader" HUGHES

Mother: Niketti POWHATAN