From: Jo Spencer 
Subject: [nikitie] Nikitie and Gabriel
To: nikitie@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, August 6, 2012, 1:29 PM

 
I would like to try and give a synopsis of what I have come to believe about Nikitie 'Hannah' and Gabriel Arthur. This is based on 10 years of research and the enormous work that has come out of this group. I have been hesitant about this because once something is on the internet it takes on a life of its own; whether its true or not.

Starting with the Abraham Wood letter; he refers to Gabriel Arthur (Arther) as being a young Englishman of about 19. So let's say Gabriel was born about 1653. English simply means from somewhere in the British Isles. There is information that has been found suggesting that this 1st Gabriel was from Scotland, and may have married a Shawnee woman. They then may have had a son who they named Gabriel Arthur. This 2nd Gabriel would then be a half-breed. This also fits with other information I have found. This 2nd Gabriel then married an Indian woman named Nikitie and Christianed as 'Hannah.'

Years ago, as I tried to connect Gabriel to other family lines with the name Arthur (Arther) in colonial VA there seemed to be a connection with the Arthur line who came to settle in Bedford Co, VA, and then trace back further east into Tidewater VA and the original parishes. One of these Arthur males was Barnabus who married Martha Talbot, daughter of Matthew Talbot. Some of these descendants went to GA and then to Knox Co, KY. Some of that clan did apply to the various Native American 'rolls' implying they had mixed-blood.

We now know that an oil painting of Nikitie was on display at a court house in VA and is now owned by a private family. One of our group members is working on taking a photo of the painting. With the painting was a plaque which does seem to confirm that Nikitie was a scout for George Washington. She seems to have had an important role in VA. She apparently was adopted by the Matthew Talbot family. This would make Barnabus Arthur her adopted brother-in-law. This leads us to think she may have in fact met and married Gabriel Arthur.

Approximately 1750, Nikitie and Gabriel had a girl child named Martha Arthur. Her birth place is found on-line as either Echota, the Mothertown of the Cherokee in TN, or Montgomery Co, VA. Either place seems logical. She married Abner Lester and his family was in Montgomery Co, VA. At this point, I think we can speculate that Nikitie could have come from any of the tribes in the area. 

And then there is my compilation document of about 90 females with the first name of Nikitie, and variations. These are the spellings;
Nickati, Nichetie, Nickotie, Nickeetie, Nickitie, Nicatee,
Nikatee, Nicatie, Nickette, Nicketye, Nycetye, Nicaty, Nicotye

These females all trace back to the Tazewell, VA area, although some of them died in other states. When you look at the last names they are almost identical to name lists for people we are considering 'Melungeon'... meaning complex racial mixtures found in VA, TN, KY and NC. 

I have substantiated the existence of these females by finding handwritten copies of census records with them on it; as well as other primary sources (birth, death, marriage, cemetery.) After 10 years of being a genealogy research focused primarily on VA, TN, KY, NC and SC...I can claim to have studied thousands of census records. They simply do not have 'Indian' first names listed. The 1st names are almost exclusively Queens and Kings of England and/or names from the Bible; Elizabeth, Henry, Charles, Elijah, Mary, Isabelle, Catherine,, Charles, etc. On these census records for Nikitie females, in every instance, there is a Nikitie surrounded by parents and siblings with English 1st names.

Then there was Niketti of the Powhatan, supposed cousin/niece of Pocahantas. This Niketti had a child with a man believed to have been trader Rice Hughes. He, and his father of the same name, have name variations in America (Reece Hooe, for example.) Hughes and Niketti had a trading post at Otter Creek in Tidewater, VA. Matthew Talbot owned 1000 acres on Otter Creek. And, I have found a record for Samuel Drake owning land on Otter Creek.

This Samuel Drake could have been either Samuel, the father or son. The son Samuel had a son John Drake and it was he who married Martha Lester, daughter of Abner Lester (Luster) and Martha Arthur, daughter of Gabriel and Nikitie. I come from John and Martha's son John who was my great-great-grandfather. I believe that this Samuel, father of John, was, in-fact, the 'Drake youth' killed along with Daniel Boone's son James at Wallen's Creek, VA, by Indians.

Land records show that a Gabriel Arthur was a part of a 1350 acre headright grant given to John Banister in 1690 for transporting '35 persons' one being Gabriel Arthur. I believe this was the 1st Gabriel coming back to VA. This piece of land is now identified as 'Arthur's Swamp' and was the site of a major Civil War battle. Going back in time to the early 1700's the land was referred to as the 'land of Edward Clark and Gabriel Arthur.'

Then there are the maps of Tidewater VA clearly showing a place known as Nicaty Wance. We know that the Indian tribes of VA were matrilineal; leadership passed to female descendants when possible. Niketti who married trader Hughes is believed to have been the daughter of Opechancanough, possible brother to Pocahantas's father, Chief Powhatan. As both of these men died, Pocahantas and Niketti would have been next in line to assume leadership for the Powhatan Confederacy in VA. Pocahantas may very well have been poisoned in London.

All this leads me to believe that 'my...our' Nikitie who married Gabriel could have been a direct descendant of Niketti of the Powhatan. Even if she was not a biological descendant, this name Nikitie, and all the variations, was somehow being given to female children in VA to tell us something critically important about the political history of the region.