Last updated: November 8, 2023
Place
Millie Woodson-Turner Home Site
Photograph by Brad McDonald, courtesy of the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office
Quick Facts
Location:
Capron, Virginia
Significance:
Archaeology - Historic (Aboriginal), Ethnic Heritage - Native American
Designation:
Listed in the National Register - Reference number 100006436
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
Private
The Millie Woodson-Turner Home Site in Capron, Virginia was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. The site is significant as an example of a Nottoway reservation allotment, a division of land that transformed the way the Nottoway people distributed and owned land beginning in the 1830s.
Beginning in 1677, the Nottoway tribe was a tributary to the English colonial power in Virginia. In 1705, the Nottoway reservation was formally established in present-day Sussex and Southampton counties, at a significant reduction from traditional Nottoway lands. Due to economic hardship, many Virginia tribes including the Nottoway were forced to sell portions of their land that were not actively being used by tribe members. Deeming the Nottoway incapable of managing the sale of these lands, the colonial government appointed white trustees to oversee these sales and distribute the funds.
In the 1820s, tribal leader Wané Roonseraw (English name Edith Turner) successfully petitioned the legislature to end the trustee system, and instead distribute the remaining reservation land into individual descendant ownership allotments. From the 1830s through the 1880s, Nottoway descendants could petition the state legislature for an allotment of land; by the 1880s, all remaining Nottoway reservation lands had been distributed, and the trust relationship was terminated. After this point, all of the former reservation land was considered private property.
In 1852 or 1853, Millie Woodson, a Nottoway woman, applied for and received an allotment of land. She and her family built a homestead and farm on the property, where several generations of descendants lived and tended the land. The original home burned down in the 1940s, and the property was sold by auction in 1953, with the profits amongst descendants divided in proportion to descent from Millie Woodson. Today, the site of the allotment is archaeological, with remains from several reservation homesteads.
Beginning in 1677, the Nottoway tribe was a tributary to the English colonial power in Virginia. In 1705, the Nottoway reservation was formally established in present-day Sussex and Southampton counties, at a significant reduction from traditional Nottoway lands. Due to economic hardship, many Virginia tribes including the Nottoway were forced to sell portions of their land that were not actively being used by tribe members. Deeming the Nottoway incapable of managing the sale of these lands, the colonial government appointed white trustees to oversee these sales and distribute the funds.
In the 1820s, tribal leader Wané Roonseraw (English name Edith Turner) successfully petitioned the legislature to end the trustee system, and instead distribute the remaining reservation land into individual descendant ownership allotments. From the 1830s through the 1880s, Nottoway descendants could petition the state legislature for an allotment of land; by the 1880s, all remaining Nottoway reservation lands had been distributed, and the trust relationship was terminated. After this point, all of the former reservation land was considered private property.
In 1852 or 1853, Millie Woodson, a Nottoway woman, applied for and received an allotment of land. She and her family built a homestead and farm on the property, where several generations of descendants lived and tended the land. The original home burned down in the 1940s, and the property was sold by auction in 1953, with the profits amongst descendants divided in proportion to descent from Millie Woodson. Today, the site of the allotment is archaeological, with remains from several reservation homesteads.