I am descended from the Bass family, but my own descent is somewhat murky. I wrote about it here. Conflicting claims have been made, some based on DNA, so if you read my article, you’ll learn that for awhile I had given up on sorting it all out.
Today, I came across this information about the 1790 North Carolina census in a book called Nansemond Indian Ancestry of Bass Families, by Albert D. Bell at FamilySearch.org. (Sign in before clicking the link.) Many of these complaints about the census records may be true in other states in 1790, also. I really don’t know. Many of the North Carolina Nansemond lived in the Great Dismal Swamp.
The US government map below shows the location of the Great Dismal Swamp.
By the way, the Bass name comes from Nathaniel Basse, an English settler whose sons married into the Nansemond or another Native American tribe.
This particular book is about the Nansemond Indians, who were part of the larger Powhatan Confederacy. A lot of people have never heard of the Nansemonds, but they were among the earliest to turn to Christianity, in part because of Nansemonds marrying English settlers. The Nansemonds lived right on the James River, where the English settlers first landed. Of course, the county of Nansemond was created much later.
These counties border North Carolina.
I have come across notes from some researchers speculating that Lewis “Bear” Green was related to the Powhatan tribes; this is especially intriguing since he is mentioned as being very dark-skinned. And I was told by one Nansemond researcher that my ancestry was from a Nansemond woman named Mary Burwell who married an unknown white man. This is interesting since some researchers claim the father of Lewis “Bear” Green was Lewis Burwell Green. I have not done enough research so far to determine if that is true, but I certainly had to look into it, which I am now starting to do.
This page talks about the Nansemonds’ interest in bear-hunting.
By the way, did you know that the word “gaol” is “jail”?
Here is some background on the earliest marriages of Nansemond Indians with English settlers and subsequent Christianization.
Native Americans were often mislabeled as negroes or mulattoes.
Page 7 is out of order in the original document.
Some of these statements may sound racist, but I feel it is right to include everything said by the author.
My question: Mention is made of the Croatan Indians and the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke”. Is this where the “Melungeon” term originated?
That’s all for now.
This is so interesting. I haven't completed enough of my family research, but I think sometimes that the Bays family may be connected and possibly descended from the Bass family. I'm currently researching my grandmother, great grandmother and great grandfather on my Bays side. As I get further into the family maybe I'll find the connection. Thank you for posting this valuable information.