Nottoway: allotment led by a woman, 1821–1878 (Southampton County, VA)

SUMMARYNottoway: allotment led by a woman, 1821–1878 (Southampton County, VA) [Connections: Virginia & Eastern Shore, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDWané Roonseraw (Edith Turner) petitioned in 1821 to divide the reservation. The 23 Feb. 1824 act gave William G. Bozeman (William Woodson) an allotment and opened shares to "any matrilineal descendant of the Nottoway." In court on 11 Mar. 1830, Turner was described as "a descendant of a female of the Nottoway tribe of Indians." Allotments continued until 9 Nov. 1878. The National Park Service records Millie Woodson, "a Nottoway woman," receiving an allotment in 1852–53. Her homesite was listed on the National Register in 2021 (#100006436). The Commonwealth recognized the Nottoway by Senate Joint Resolution 12 (2010)

PATTERNAfter allotment, the families lived on as landholders in a county whose records classed people by color. Woodson is also Bozeman's other surname

LENS (WW9)Women kept the line and the land passed through them

OPENHow the Woodson and Turner allottees were recorded in the 1850–1870 census (free colored? mulatto?). The fetched pages do not say, so this needs deep research

SOURCEEncyclopedia Virginia, "Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia"; Encyclopedia Virginia, Bozeman & Turner v. Trustees (1830); NPS, Millie Woodson-Turner Home Site. Primary: Southampton Chancery Causes 1749–1912, LVA.