I am a 5th Generation Mexican-American
My second great-grandmother Susan Ann Mayo was born in Tabasco, Mexico. You can visit her birth registry here:
I’m one of the only Latinos (and Indians) in Thomas Jefferson’s giant family!
Today I found out after almost 20 years of studying Spanish and Latin American culture and anthropology that I am of Mexican descent.
My second great-grandmother, Susan Ann Mayo, was born in Tabasco, Mexico, which makes me a fifth generation Mexican-American. [1]
Susan’s Powhatan Background
Susan is a descendant of the Powhatan Mayos Thomas Jefferson wrote about in his Notes on the State of Virginia in 1781. [2]
The Pamunkey faced similar issues with their ancestors being classified as “Colored” or “Black”, before finally receiving federal recognition in 2016 by President Barack Hussein Obama.
George Thomas Morris Jefferson is my second great-grandfather and Thomas Jefferson’s grandson. He was born in Powhatan, Virginia. Historically the Monacan Nation, which is shown on the map of their traditional territory on their website. They are now a federally recognized tribe. [3]
He married my Mexican-Powhatan grandmother, Susan Ann Mayo, in 1885. It appears they spent some time in Tabasco, Mexico as there were still some people living there with our last name. [4]
It looks like they had to go back to Virginia to register my grandmother’s birth. Hence the dating errors. [4] Alternatively, it could have been my grandmother’s sister who was born in Mexico while they were living there, or visiting.
Ann is a Pamunkey name we often give to women in our family; after Queen Ann of the Pamunkey.
A petition from 1705 or 1706 addressed to Virginia colonial governor Edward Nott bears the marks of Ann (described here as “Queen” of the Pamunkey Indians) and six “great men of Pamunkey Town.” This is one of three extant petitions that bear her name. — Encyclopedia Virginia
All three of my great-aunt Elizabeth Royall’s granddaughters are named Ann.
Mayos in Tabasco, Mexico
There were other Mayos in Tabasco, Mexico at the time. Including Juana Mayo who was baptized in Sagrario, Villahermosa, Centro, Tabasco, Mexico in 1885.
Her mother’s name was Maria Refugio Mayo. She had her daughter Juana, on March 5, 1914. We can also see a Cecilia born to Matilda Mayo on August 3, 1884.
There is also a Juan Mayo born somewhere in Mexico living in Santa Cruz, Arizona with his mother Angela Mayo and his sister Bacalia Bacacial.
All of the Mexican Mayos I’ve found don’t follow the traditional Spaniard custom of four names. This indicates they may not have had any Spanish ancestry, or at least didn’t belong to a proper Spanish family.
Royal Powhatan
There exists no records of any of the members of the royal family save for Pocahontas and the son she had with John Rolfe; and some of Pocahontas’ half-siblings and possible uncles.
The ancestors of the Mayo family of Richmond, Virginia are the only known holders of Powhatan’s Seat. The royal residence of King Powhatan.
The white English Mayo family held Powhatan’s Seat from 1726 to 1865. However, Thomas Jefferson wrote that by 1609 the Powhatans were already using the name Mayo at their capital in Henrico, Virginia after Captain John Smith landed in 1607. [2]
Susan’s father, Morris Mayo, was Peter’s Colored half-sibling or bastard.
Morris Mayo was probably born at their summer cottage in Powhatan. Or he could have just moved to Powhatan, Virginia on his own. His son, a veteran, was buried in Richmond, Virginia — the ancestral capital of the Powhatans — in 1945.
Morris was the bastard name for the Welsh-sounding Monacans in Virginia. Morris also means dark-skinned in Welsh.
Monacans strongly resemble Melungeons, indicating they were already thoroughly mixed with Africans and Europeans by the time they were photographed.
Why Mexico? Mayo vs Maya. History.
Next of kin? Some full-blood Navajo report showing markers for Indigenous Mexican ancestry on their 23andMe results.
Immediate next of kin for the Powhatan would have been one of the 34 clans it controlled. Next would be any of the Algonquian speaking peoples in what would become the United States and Canada.
With the Powhatan Empire crumbling, the Monacans or Mannahoacs would have been a great choice. However, by 1885 when my ancestors were getting married, racial purity should have diminished to near nil, if the tribes or clans hadn’t gone extinct outright.
“There remain of the Mattaponies three or four men only, and they have more negro than Indian blood in them. They have lost their language, have reduced themselves, by voluntary sales, to about fifty acres of land, which lie on the river of their own name, and have, from time to time, been joining the Pamunkies, from whom they are distant but 10 miles. The Pamunkies are reduced to about 10 or 12 men, tolerably pure from mixture with other colours.” — Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781.
Some of the Monacans banded with the Cayuga, who were Iroquois, and migrated North, first to New York then spreading into Canada to band with other Iroquoian-speaking tribes.
The Cherokee, who are also Iroquoian, were forced on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.
The last of Powhatan, as demonstrated by my family, decided to band with the remainder of the Monacans in Powhatan, Virginia who were Sioux and not Algonquian, between the James and Carolina. Undoubtedly since Powhatan County historically sits between the Monacan Nation and the Powhatan Confederacy, these people were Sioux-Alongonquian biracials.
And, in my case, Mexican, which appears to be unique for a Virginian tribe, but not states like Alabama, California or New Mexico. Tabasco, Mexico is home to the Chontal band of Mayans. The people who predicted the world would end in 2012. [5] Mayo is only a syllable off from Maya. It is highly likely that the Mayos have a indigenous Mayan ancestry. Considering the Powhatan have a history of human sacrifice.
Historically, Powhatan also extended into the West Indies. It’s very likely that we occupied some parts of Mexico. The purpose of banding and associating with a larger tribe like the Maya, was, one could argue, to maintain their identity. When I say I’m Mexican, people understand where to place me racially and politically immediately; however, when I say I’m Powhatan, I’m willing to wager Pocahontas doesn’t even come to mind at first unless you’ve rewatched the Disney movie as an adult.
Minor tribes like the Tutelo disappeared, whereas the Cherokee flourished — so long as they remained “civilized”. And, as you can see, in Mexico Indigenous people are thriving and often go out of their way to call themselves white.
Latino DNA
My DNA is very Latino-looking. I’m pretty much identical to an average Latino. Perhaps with more African admixture depending on which country you’re comparing me to.
I’d be very average in, let’s say, Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic. Whereas, in Argentina, I’d stand out like a sore thumb in public.
DNA comparison with another Latino — Puerto Rican and Panamanian — match on 23andMe. We are identical in terms of demographic; however, our proportions differ per category.
