The Watts Family, Native American, and Tidewater, Virginia Historical , Research, Preservation, and Service Foundation, Inc. (WFNATF) is a public non-profit foundation looking to simulate and broaden others to tell their family story and collect their history.  In this way, we all can find a better understanding from where we have come and where we might go and the impact that history has had on the communities in which we live and the surrounding areas.

The Tidewater Area is a very unique part of our nation and the world because of its complex and interesting history, cultural relationships, race relations, economic importance, military history, social institutions and structures, historical sites, and current demographics, to name a few.  The foundation seeks to assist in our understanding of how different cultures shaped this area which is a story to be told, shared and understood so as to continue to subscribe to the notion of "A More Perfect Union."  European, African, and Native Americans are all bed fellows in this Nation, Virginia, and in Tidewater’s history and its accomplishments in a shared history.

The Foundation recognizes that many people and different cultures do not understand their shared history, contributions to the whole, the complexity of that history, and  interdependencies they have on making their environment and geographical areas, their lives and others  better for all.  To this end, the foundation asks the question, “how do we share history, interdependent relationships, and understanding in a practical way?”   The answer lies in giving people real life examples of untold stories and relationships that have shaped the thinking of and reaction to one another.

Therefore, looking at the history of Tidewater, Virginia and this Nation, by-in-large the African American and Native American Stories have been omitted or reframed in such a way as to make some people feel better, while making others have a sense of being overlooked, unappreciated or misunderstood, excluded, and hoped by some, to be forgotten, and not given their rightful place in the story of  "Building America." 

Rightfully, the African American and Native American Stories should be seen differently by other races and groups in the making of America because the early settlers of North America desired to conquer, enslave, and remove them from their lands, change their cultures, redefine who they were as a people, vilify, and deprive them of their dignity—and “Still They Rise.”

One becomes acutely aware of this point by the laws that were passed in Virginia in1672 that allowed “free” persons to own slaves and promoted  the loss of most Coastal Indian Reservations by the end of the 1700's.   The 1750's slave laws and the enactment of the Virginia Racial Integrity Act of 1924 labeled anyone who had any African ancestry to be considered  “colored” (black). Further, The Act classified all non-whites, including Native Americans, as colored

From the early 1600s, the Virginia Legislators knew that the laws of Virginia and the geographical areas that both African and Native American peoples were forced to live would lead to interracial marriages. The intent of these practices was to eradicate the Native American Culture and Identity in Virginia.  If this intent were accomplished, the State could control Native Americans with the same restrictions that were imposed on African Americans.  Nonetheless, they survived and prospered together and maintained their culture.

In 1705, the Virginia General Assembly removed any lingering uncertainty about the state of African Americans.  It made a declaration that would seal the fate of African Americans for generations to come:

"All servants imported and brought into the Country...who were not Christians in their native Country...shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion...shall be held to be real estate. If any slave resists his master...correcting such slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction...the master shall be free of all punishment...as if such accident never happened."

What the WFNATF learned in its studies is that in the Tidewater Virginia and North Eastern North Carolina areas, African American and Native Americans found ways and learned to survive together in a time and region that was intent on erasing their culture and identity.

The Watts Family history is a case study that shows how African American and Native Americans interacted together to build businesses, family connections, community organizational structures, and  provided for the education of their children in an environment that was hostile to their needs and existence. 

Moreover, the foundation intends to promote historical documentation and storytelling, research, and preservation of documents, artifacts, sites, buildings, and land that helped shape the customs, culture, economic, social and organizational structures, and societal attitudes that existed in the past and that are still present in Tidewater, Virginia area today. For purposes of the foundation’s work, programs, and services, the Tidewater, Virginia Area is defined as the Coastal Region of Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina (outlined in the1873 Tidewater Map below).

The Tidewater, Virginia Watts Family Story

(European-African-Native American-Australian)

Over the years the Watts Family Foundation members and researchers through historical research of records, stories, and DNA have come to  realize that the Tidewater, Virginia Watts Family story was more complicated, interracial, interfamily-connected, far reaching, and more international than originally thought. After researching more than 400 stories, 3,600 documents, comparing 19,000 DNA matches, cross referencing shared matches, and then cross referencing that information to known direct line relatives both American and Australian, regions, ethnicity, and family trees of Danial Watts and the women with whom he fathered children and their offspring, it became clear that the Watts Family Story was too intense and powerful to write and include all the details associated to current and known relatives.

What is more,  it is clear that because there are so many branches of the Tidewater, VA Daniel Watts Family, attempting to concentrate on the details of individual family members, would surely mean that someone’s family line and important facts would be left out of the story.

For  example, when the Foundation started with Daniel Watts’ and Henry Watts’ ancestry and offspring’s, it was soon recognized that this approach was too limiting and short-sighted because the larger story of the Tidewater, VA Watts family started to emerge which included other branches of the family like family members of all of Daniel Watts’ sons, their DNA ancestry, and past ancestors. Plus, the locations started moving from Tidewater, VA to include North Western Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, North Eastern Tennessee, Philadelphia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia in America, England, Ireland, and Australia.

Moreover, the Foundation learned through research, documents, and DNA relative matches and stories that our early Virginia story is interwoven into the story of “The African Origin of the American Melungeon’s.” This story explains why so many family members stayed in Tidewater, VA and Northeastern, NC and were allowed to gain their freedom, or were born free, and could move freely from Tidewater, VA to North Carolina and Philadelphia and other areas before slavery was abolished.

This information is highlighted in the research of TIM HASHAW titled “MALUNGU: THE AFRICAN ORGIN OF THE AMERICAN MELUNGEONS.” In his research document section titled “THE EARLIEST CLANS IN SOUTHERN TIDEWATER COLONIES,” you will learn how the Weaver, Newsome, Hall, Nickens, Bass, Chavis, Watts and other families became  part of this Melungeon family as far back as 1615-1775.  This is proven through DNA. Furthermore, through DNA, the Australian relatives are heirs of this history as well through Daniel Watts, son Charles Watts, and his offspring’s.

You can read Hashaw’s document on the Tidewater Watts Family Foundation Website, “MALUNGU: THE AFRICAN ORGIN OF THE AMERICAN MELUNGEONS.”

MELUNGEONS

You will also find on the Tidewater Watts Family Foundation Website, Description of Today's Mixed Race Native American Tribes in Virginia, History of the North American Slave Trade and Mixed Native American Indian Rolls. History of Indigenous People of the Chesapeake.

Wolf Creek Cherokee Tribe of Virginia

Cornelius Watts, b. 1590 - d. 1640

Watts Indian Rolls

Indigenous Peoples of the Chesapeake

Based on this wealth of information, the Foundation has decided to lay out a much boarder story, general family events and contributions, interconnective families and cultures, amazing events, locations, historical connections, historical sites, and stories and items that apply to most or all branches of the Tidewater, VA Watts Family. This change includes North American Native Americans, European Americans, Africans, Europeans, and Australian ancestry.

 

The full story starts with European-African-Native American interracial marriages and the birth of offspring’s that date back to the 1600’s in America. When it comes to Daniel Watts and the women with whom he fathered children and their offspring’s, we are all products of those relationships whether in America, Europe, Africa, or Australia for the DNA runs through all of these family relations.

The largest African groups that runs through our family’s DNA are Nigerian, Cameroon/Congo/Bantu, and Ivory Coast/Ghana people. There are other African groups in our family members’ DNA: Benin/Togo, Mali, and Senegal, but by-in-large the first groups of African ancestry seems to run constant across all lines.

With regard to relatives in America and Australia who have a larger ancestry of European DNA, the largest family DNA is from European groups that are in England, Northwestern Europe, and Ireland. There are other groups like Scotland, Baltics, and Sweden/Demark in our DNA, but the first group of European ancestry seems to track, by far, in all of the more than 19,000 family DNA matches that we reviewed.

Because of the numerous, amazing family stories that include Europe, America, Africa, and Australia, we have had to change the focus of the book regarding the Tidewater, VA Watts Family Story to reflect the larger context and meaning of the family story.

If we were to boil it all down to one slogan it would be “WE ARE ALL  FAMILY WITH MANY BRANCHES BUT WE ARE STILL FAMILY.”

The Tidewater, VA Watts Family History is intended to be a basic guide to families about why historical research, preservation of documents, history, storytelling, and sites is important to the welfare, understanding, and behavior of people, society, and communities in our present day.

There are many family connections of European, African, Australian, and Native American ancestry in the Watts Family Branches from the 1600s to present day that includes European ancestry primarily from England and Ireland; African ancestry from what is known today as the Angola region of Africa: Native American Tribes such as Virginia Cherokee Nation (Watts) The Watts Family (It's Name) by all indications have Native American connections in Virginia, North Carolina, and other states. This is bored out by stories, documents and more than 9,000 DNA family matches-family tree lines that have been cross checked and referenced against the Tidewater Watts Family trees, Native American Records, Early American History, and Research. This is reflected on all sides of the Watts Family lines from Daniel Watts back to colonial times in America. Nansemond Nation (Tidewater-Hall-Bass-Nickens); Meherrin, Herford County, NC (Hall-Bass-Weaver); Chickahominy and Pamunkey Tribes (Charles City-Cotman); are a part of the Original  Powhatan Nation; Occaneechi Nation (Wilson-Webb-Morrow-Edmondson)--Mebane, NC/VA; and Choctaw Nation -Limestone County, AL (Cox-Inman-Coleman).

We have learned that when we are unaware of what has happened in the past and we have not preserved or articulated our history and lessons learned we cannot benefit as a society from the efforts, knowledge, service, and community structures that were put in place for the good of all. Even more, we will not have a clear sense of who we are. 

The Foundation believes that archiving family stories, history, and facts along with research and preservation of historical artifacts and sites are critical to understanding who we are and carving out history for future generations.

The Foundation also invites all branches of the Tidewater, VA Watts families, and other families  to participate with us in our programs, services, research, and preservation efforts to improve relationships between different cultures by understanding the past and the history which has helped to shape us all.

Finally, it is important to celebrate the contributions of the European, African, African-American, and Native American people in this nation and especially in the State of Virginia and Tidewater areas of Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina because the story of America cannot be told without us. We are a part of some of the first families in this nation.

The Foundation

The Watts Family Foundational Information

The oldest documentation of the Tidewater, VA members of the Watts Family is that of Daniel Watts and Mary Carey Watts listed as a couple. Daniel is posted as a “free” Person Head of Household in the 1810 tax Census in Norfolk, VA. Mary is posted as a white female. Their children are Henry, Noah, Bartlett, and Benjamin. These children are born Free Issue. Daniel names his sons and deeds his land to his four sons in an 1832 Norfolk deed book 57, page 343.

Daniel Watts was emancipated in 1805 by Robert Cox and Ephraim  was emancipated in 1799 by George Jolliff. The record shows these Watts members received their freedom sixty-five years before the abolishment of slavery. We also know that Bartlett was hired out to George Jolliff till the age of twenty-one.

In 1820 Mary and Daniel are taken to court for living openly as husband and wife (as an interracial couple). The outcome of this court date is unknown. Later Mary and Daniel fought a legal and moral battle against the family of Mary's first husband Dempsey Watts, Sr. to prove that their son Henry Watts was born free.

Mary was taken to court by Dempsey, Jr., and his siblings in a fight over her dowry of land from her first husband. Mary was able to keep most of her land and deeded this land for the sum of $5.00 to Henry (her son by Daniel). Daniel deeded his 41 1/2 acres to all four of his sons that he had with Mary.

Note: In Virginia law during slavery, if a white female has a child with a person of color that child is bound by service until they were 21 years of age. That child then may petition the court to show that he/she was born free. This was the law that Henry and his siblings were born under.

Henry and Bartlett (children of Daniel and Mary) are hired out for a poor tax to the family of their mother's first husband (because Dempsey Watts was deep in debt). During the days of hire to the family of their mother's first husband, Ann Watts, daughter of Dempsey Watts, places Henry and his first wife Mary in her will and refers to them as "hires."

Henry's parents helped Henry dispute the will of Ann Watts and provided documents to the court of Norfolk County, VA that Henry was born free, and that Henry is a landowner.  Henry is able to prove his case. Henry now owns land of the family he was once "hired out to."

By 1832, Daniel Watts, Ephraim and Benjamin relocated north to Philadelphia. We know this by an 1832 deed and 1850 census. Daniel is now listed with his second wife Jemima (no children). It is unknown what happened to Mary his first wife. It is also unknown who Ephraim is to Daniel, but on census records they are listed together in Philadelphia. It is suspected Ephraim is a son of Daniel by an unknown female or he is a sibling to Daniel.

It is evident that the Watts family had a close relationship because there are deeds and wills to show that the family worked as one unit. There is one sale of the land by Daniel Watts where he stipulates the Watts burial grounds are not part of the sale and are to be strictly used for Watts family members. The burial ground is still here today in Chesapeake, VA.

There are many branches of the Tidewater, Virginia Watts Family tree, and for the Watts Family, there are foundationally identifiable family roots and geographical areas that inform us of who we are and where we have come from.

Although family members have married into different family structures and are in different parts of the county and the world, it just so happens that the original geographical location of the European, African, and Native American Watts Family History started in Tidewater, Virginia (Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Hampton, and Newport News), and even areas in Northeastern North Carolina.

Although we find a branch of Tidewater, VA Watts relatives in Australia, they seem to be connected through their DNA and documents to be descendants of Daniel Watts through a son named Charles Watts.

It is clear that we cannot speak of the History of Tidewater, Virginia, unless we include the Watts Family History. Their past and present-day contributions through charity, leadership, and their impact on society has not been to only the African-American Communities but to the Tidewater, Virginia Community at large between 1615 to today.