Gingaskin Tithable Timeline

Period What the records show Why it matters for your research

1640–1641 A 1,500-acre reservation/patent was set aside in Northampton County for the people who came to be called the Gingaskins.This is the legal starting point for tracking later Gingaskin households in county records.

1660s By the 1660s, Northampton still documented tribal governance, but the county marker notes that no Gingaskin werowances or council members are documented after the 1660s.After this point, researchers increasingly have to trace people through county civil records instead of tribal leadership records.

1680 - The reservation had been reduced from 1,500 acres to 650 acres, and the smaller tract was patented again in 1680.This narrowing of land is a major clue for where nearby tithables and associated households should cluster.

1681- A Northampton court abstract records “Franck an Indian at Gingaskin” in March 1681, showing named Native residence on the reservation in this period.This is one of the clearest surviving late-17th-century personal references tied directly to Gingaskin.

1720s–1730s -County tithables begin to matter more than reservation identity alone. Compiled Northampton abstracts show people in mixed-status households and nearby communities appearing as taxable persons, including entries such as Thomas Landman being tithable in John Driggers’s Northampton household in 1729.This is the period when FAN research becomes essential: surnames, neighbors, and associates matter as much as direct tribal labeling.

1730/1–1736 -Northampton court abstracts identify named people specifically as Indians, including Elizabeth Jeffery in 1730/1 and Thomas Fisherman and Thomas Jeffery in the 1730s.These are valuable bridge records between explicit “Indian” identity and later tax-list appearance.

1744 A strong tithable anchor: Thomas Jeffery was listed as tithable in Northampton County in 1744 adjoining Joseph Jeffery; Joseph Jeffery was also tithable that year.This is one of the clearest published Northampton tithable references tied to people identified elsewhere in the record as Indian.

1747–1758 -Northampton court records continue to show named Indians and their associates in debt suits, trespass suits, and county levy allowances, including Thomas Jeffery, Solomon Jeffery, and John Daniel.This helps you build a surname cluster around Jeffery, Fisherman, Daniel, and related reservation families.

1769 A compiled note in the introduction to Free African Americans states the Gingaskins numbered only about thirty persons by 1769.By this stage, the tribe was still present, but the population was small enough that nearly every named adult matters genealogically.

1784 White neighbors petitioned against the reservation, arguing the people were no longer “real” Indians; on 15 December 1784 the Northampton court appointed commissioners to investigate persons living on the lands appropriated to the Gingaskin Indians.This investigation is one of the most important transition points for identifying who was actually on Gingaskin land in the late 1700s.

1787–1789 Legislative disputes continued; the Library of Virginia guide notes that an October 18, 1789 executive communication included a list of Indians belonging to the Gingaskin tribe.This is a major target record for your surname reconstruction because it may name the recognized tribal members near the end of the reservation era.

1792 The General Assembly required the Northampton court to appoint trustees to manage the reservation lands and disputes.After this, the surviving evidence becomes even more administrative and property-focused.

1795 The Library of Virginia specifically identifies Northampton County land records relating to Gingaskin Indian lands, 1795–1815, including an investigation of persons, including free negroes, living on Gingaskin land.This is a prime source for a documented surname chart because it is directly tied to the reservation occupants.

1800–1802 Later tax visibility continues in personal property tax lists; for example, Rachel Jeffery was taxable on a horse in Northampton County from 1800 to 1802.By this point, households are often easier to find in tax lists than in older tribe-specific references.

1812–1813 In 1812 the remaining members were pushed toward division of the land, and in 1813 Virginia passed the act that ended the reservation and allotted the land to individuals.This is the closing point of the Gingaskin reservation era and the start of tracing descendants as individuals in ordinary county records.

Gingaskin Nation Surname Table

Colonial Virginia (1660s–1800s)

Surname Earliest Dated Record Found Record Type County Identity Wording Used Clustered Associates

Jeffery / Jeffries 1730s–1744 Tithables, Court Orders Northampton Indian, later Mulatto Fisherman, Daniel, Johnson

Fisherman 1730s Court Records Northampton Indian Jeffery, Collins

Daniel 1740s–1750s Court, Tax Northampton Mulatto / Free Jeffery, Satchell

Ashby Early 1700s Tithables Accomack Free Negro / Mulatto Bunting, Harmon

Bunting Early–Mid 1700s Tithables Accomack MulattoAshby, Collins

Harmon 1700s Tithables Accomack Free Negro Ashby, Murray

Murray 1700s Tax Lists Accomack Free Harmon, Webb

Robins / Robbins Mid 1700s Tithables Accomack Mulatto Wise, Collins

Collins 1700s Court, Tax Both Counties Mulatto Bunting, Robins, Johnson

Johnson 1700s Court, Tax Northampton Free Negro Jeffery, Collins

Ward Late 1700s Tax Lists Accomack Free West, Parker

West Late 1700s Tax Lists Accomack Free Negro Ward, Parker

Parker 1700s Court, Tax Both Counties Mulatto Ward, West

Satchell 1740s–1760s Court (witness/bonds) Northampton Free / AssociateDaniel, Jeffery

Driggers 1720s–1730s Tithables Northampton Free Landman, Collins

Landman 1729 Tithable (household listing ) Northampton Servant / Free Driggers

Jacob / Jacobs 1700s Court Northampton Indian / Mulatto Jeffery

Francis Late 1600s–early 1700s Court Northampton Indian Early reservation inhabitants

Pool / Poole 1700s Court, Tax Northampton Mulatto Johnson, Collins

Lang 1700s Court Northampton FreeMixed community cluster

Webb 1700s Tithables Accomack Mulatto Murray, Harmon

Wise 1700s Tithables Accomack Free Negro Robins

Gingaskin Tithable Timeline

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Gingaskin Nation Surname Table

Colonial Virginia (1660s–1800s)

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