‘Elizabeth’ Basse, of the Nansemond

Not a known child of Whohomoco Robins, "King of the Nansemonds" Whohomoco Robins

Almost nothing is known of the Nansemond woman baptized "Elizabeth" who married a white colonist named John Basse in 1638. Mother is unknown. The marriage was recorded by John Basse in his personal prayer/sermon book. [1]

"John Basse married the dafter of the King of [th]e Nansomund Nation, by name Elizabeth in Holy Baptism and in Holy Matrimonie [th]e 14 day of August in [th]e Year of our Blessed Lord 1638.” [2]

John and Elizabeth had eight children: [citation needed]

1. Elizabeth; Wife of Alexander Benjamin McDougall — married 1687 in Virginia
2. John;
3. Jordan;
4. Keziah;
5. Nathaniel;
6. Richard;
7. Samuel;
8. William, Born 1654 in Norfolk County, Virginia, Died before 13 Aug 1742 in Norfolk County, Virginia Colony, British America. Husband of Catherine Lanier.

Elizabeth died in October, 1676.

The following was recorded in a sermon book apparently owned by John Basse:

"John Basse married [th]e dafter of [th]e King of [th]e Nansomund Nation, by name Elizabeth in Holy Baptism and in Holy Matrimonie [th]e 14 day of August in [th]e Year of our Blessed Lord 1638.” [1]

The Bass family descended from John1 Bass of Norfolk County, Virginia, who married Keziah Elizabeth Tucker, a Nansemond Indian. Their descendants lived in the English colonial community. Some of them became part of the white community. However, their son William1 Bass's son William2 Bass remained in Norfolk County and married the "Molatto" daughter of "Negro" slave Jean Lovina.

1. John1 Bass, born 7 September 1616, was an early settler of Norfolk County, Virginia. On 14 August 1638 he married Keziah Elizabeth Tucker,

Some Bass Families, 12]. Their children were

i. Nathaniel1, born 29 May 1640, d. 1652.

ii. Keziah1, born 4 September 1643.

iii. Elizabeth1, born 12 July 1645.

iv. Jordan, born 27 June 1648, d. 1651.

v. Samuel1, born 23 March 1653.

Keziah Elizabeth Tucker married John Basse, Sr. on August 14, 1638 in Norfolk, Va. Together they had the following children: John Bass, Jr; Nathaniel Basse; Keziah Basse; Elizabeth McDougall; Jordan Basse; Samuel Basse; Richard Basse, Sr.; Sarah Basse, Infant. .

"John Basse marrid Keziah Elizabeth Tucker dafter of Robin the Elder of ye Nansimums kingdom, a Baptized Xtian, in Holy Matrimonie accdg. to ye Canons of ye Church of England, ye 14th day of August in the Yeare of our Blessed Lord 1638". Elsewhere: "John Basse married ye dafter of ye King of ye Nansemond Nation, by Elizabeth in Holy Baptism and in Holy Matrimonie ye 14 day of August in ye yeare of Our Blessed Lord 1638." Keziah died Dec 4, 1676 and John Basse died April 2, 1699. [Taylor, all].

At the time of Jamestown settlement in 1607, the Nansemond tribe was located in the general area of Reids Ferry, near Chuckatuck, in the current city of Suffolk. Their "king" lived near Dumpling Island where he kept his treasure houses. At that time, the tribe had a population of approximately 1,200 persons with 300 bowmen.
During the early days of Jamestown, the Nansemonds shared their abundant stores of grain with the settlers, but hostilities broke out when the colonists began raiding the storehouses. As increasing numbers of settlers poured into the Nansemond River area, the tribal members relocated their reservation and tribal lands on several different occasions until the last land was sold in 1792. Nansemond County was created from Upper Norfolk County in 1637. The county became the independent city of Nansemond in July 1972, and on January 1, 1974, merged with the city of Suffolk.6

Some Nansemond claim descent from this marriage.[4] Based on her research, Dr. Helen C. Rountree says that all current Nansemond descend from this marriage, making the tribe a family affair.[5]The photo at left shows members of the Weaver and Bass families, ca. 1900:"William H. Weaver is sitting; Augustus Bass is standing behind him. The Weaver family were indentured East Indians (from modern-day India and Pakistan) who were free in Lancaster County by about 1710. By 1732 they were "taxables" [note: free blacks and Indians had to pay a tax in Virginia and North Carolina] in Norfolk County and taxable "Mulatto" landowners in nearby Hertford County, North Carolina by 1741.The Nansemond were affected by English colonial pressures in the 17th century and split apart. Those who were Christianized and had adopted more English customs stayed along the Nansemond River as farmers. "The other Nansemonds warred with the English in 1644, fled southwest to the Nottoway River, and had a reservation assigned them there by the Virginia colony. By 1744 they had ceased using the reservation and gone to live with the Nottoway Indians [note: this was an Iroquoian-language tribe] on another reservation nearby... The Nansemond sold their reservation in 1792 and were known as "citizen" Indians.[5]

Anecdote* 1638 In 1638 at Nansemond, VA, We have no clue how Keziah acquired her distinctively non-Indian name except that the name Elizabeth was taken at her baptism, a not unusual occurrence at the time. Part of the Nansemond tribe were quick to embrace Christianity and English ways. By the year 1650, the Nansemonds had split into "Christian" Nansemonds and "Reservation" Nansemonds. The Christian Nansemonds survived. Answer: The name Keziah is signficant for the Cashe River.

In the year 1746, the Reservation Nansemonds had dwindled to the point that they sold their reservation and merged with the Nottaway tribe. The last known Reservation Nansemond died in 1806. The Christian Nansemonds survive to this day, and many live in the Bowers Hill Community near Norfolk. The tribe has revived in recent years, and the current Chief is Barry "Big Buck" Bass while the Assistant Chief is Earl Bass, so the Bass name continues. There also is possible evidence of another Indian ancestor, Love Harris of North Carolina.

A fascinating, but most unlikely possibility is that Keziah was a given name and that her mother was one of the "Lost Colonists" of the Raleigh expedition. David Beers Quinn in "The Lost Colonists - Their Fortune And Probable Fate," published by the North Carolina Department of Archives and History, presents evidence showing that the lost colonists survived with the Chesapeake Indians on the south shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the present Princess Anne County, but that both the Chesapeake Indians and the remnant colonists were wiped out by Powhatan just before the landing of the new colony at Jamestown.

The Chesapeake Indians and the Nansemond Indians (who resided just west of the Chesapeakes near the present city of Norfolk) were, at one time, allies against the growing power of the ruler, Powhatan. It was reported by the Jamestown colonists in 1622, that they had seen "a savage boy about the age of ten years which had a head of hair of perfect yellow and a reasonably white skin." Sadly, the roster of the colonists at Roanoke Island shows no surname Tucker, or Christian name Keziah. Certainly the Nansemond Indians were at the right place, at the right time, and perhaps, with the appropriate political and ethical state of mind, to be motivated to rescue an English child from the depredations of their former ruler, Powhatan.

From < “Descendants of the Great Dismal” > Posted on September 23, 2017 By Nikki Bass

Resources:

• https://nativeamericanroots.wordpress.com/2015/05/22/the-nansemond-...

Ancestry:

• https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/377428?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a2250...