Mother often would mention going down to Tuckahoe to pick cotton with old Fanny and Tom, especially as she aged and got into her nineties. I wish I could have experienced that day or days with her that apparently must have been so fresh and vibrant in her mind and so wonderfully nostalgic. Such a sweet connection for a child back to the old days. I regret not asking her for more details about these adventures.
We found that Tuckahoe was a ubiquitous plant the Indians used for food as the root was useful for making flour. We found that sometime well before 1825, Tuckahoe Creek was so named and indicated on Robert Mills’ Atlas of South Carolina Counties.
I wondered if there were names of places out there, especially in Virginia for that’s the origin of the word Tuckahoe, that might be a clue as to the origins of my family. You see, we, my family, have been at a loss as to the origins of my Gr., Gr., Great Grandfather Nathaniel Cook who came to Taxahaw and thus possibly to Tuckahoe from Anson County, North Carolina. Anson County lies just across the line to the north of Lancaster County. The three counties, Mecklenburg, Union and Anson comprised Anson County back then. Nathaniel as a young child was brought down to Taxahaw from just across the state line by someone? But, who? What happened to his parents? Was he an orphan? Did he come to live with an Aunt and Uncle? Did his parents bring him to Taxahaw and leave him for some unknown reason? I doubt that we will ever know the answer to these questions.
This 1930’s map of Taxahaw includes Tuckahoe, however, it is not indicated. Tuckahoe lies to the east of Taxahaw less than 2 miles distance as the crow flies. The Lynches River is delineated by the thick, predominantly dark meandering line on the far right of the map. The map shows Taxahaw at a time that reflects its heyday.
I was surprised to learn that there was a village just north of Manhattan in the Town of Eastchester, in Westchester County. The Village of Tuckahoe is sixteen miles north of mid-Manhattan. Today, it is a very well-heeled village of around 7,000. Tuckahoe was known for many years for its very fine, white marble. The Washington Monument is partially clad with Tuckahoe marble.
There is a small hamlet named Tuckahoe in West Virginia. Likely named for a nearby creek called Tuckahoe Run. Tuckahoe itself lies just outside White Sulfur Springs a town in Greenbriar County. The resort there, today, is known as The Greenbriar.
Just outside of Southampton, New York out on the eastern end of Long Island lies the Village of Tuckahoe.
West of Ocean City, New Jersey, is the Village of Tuckahoe lying just south of the Tuckahoe River as it makes its way out toward the Atlantic.
Tuckahoe is an unincorporated community in Jasper County, Missouri.
Finally, Tuckahoe is an unincorporated community to the west of Richmond, Virginia. Approximately, six miles further west from this community over next to the James River lies Tuckahoe Plantation where Thomas Jefferson lived for seven years and grew up as a child. I believe this is the most likely name-source for our Tuckahoe Plantation just southeast of Taxahaw. I believe the various plantations were well known and quite familiar with the Tidewater Planters of the day. Anyone from that area coming south could have brought the name with them. So the word “Tuckahoe” is not a Carolina word but a Virginia word. See this brief article about the Randolph’s Tidewater Virginia Tuckahoe here.
It seems perfectly natural that someone coming south from the Tidewater area would want to give their new plantation a familiar name.
More clues and more mysteries are to follow as I would like for you to meet some of my beloved ancestors.
Love you guys. Thank you so much for reading my ramblings.
My great great great grandfather was also an orphan.. Still not giving up on some more clues to his parents to be found.