The Wicocomico, Wiccocomoco, Wighcocomoco, or Wicomico are an Algonquian-speaking tribe who lived in Northumberland County, Virginia, at the end and just slightly north of the Little Wicomico River. They were a fringe group in Powhatan’s Confederacy.
The Wicocomico people were encountered by Captain John Smith in 1608 as he explored Virginia.[1] He notes a village of about 130 men on the South side of the mouth of the Patawomeke (Potomac) River.
The Northumberland County Court began interfering in the governance of the local tribes by the mid-1600s. Sometime between 1652 and 1655, the Court directed the Wicocomico and Chicacoan (or Sekakawons) tribes to merge into a single identity and relocate slightly south of the Great Wicomico River. They were given 50 acres per fighting man, for a total of 4,400 acres (18 km2) near Dividing Creek.[2] The Lower Cuttatawomen probably merged with them between 1656 and 1659. The merged tribes’ identities became “Wicocomico” since the Wicocomicos were the largest in population size. Machywap (formerly King of the Chicacoan) was appointed by the Court to be the Weroance of the combined tribes, because he was considered a friend of the English and easy to manage. By 1659, Machywap had been deposed, possibly by force, and replaced with Pekwem as their weroance.
There were also constant problems with the colonists’ encroachment on their lands. From 1660 to 1673, the Wicocomicos and the colonists were constantly in court over land disputes. Even though most of the disputes were in favor of the Wicocomico, by 1719 only 1,700 acres (6.9 km2) remained of their original 4,400-acre (18 km2) reservation. In 1705, Robert Beverley, Jr. wrote “In Northumberland, Wiccocomoco, has but three men living, which yet keep up their Kingdom, and retain their Fashion; they live by themselves, separate from all other Indians, and from the English.”[3] After June 1719, the death of William Taptico, the last Wicocomico weroance, the English took the lands, leaving what remained of the Wicocomicos dispersed.