17th century The Wicocomico people were encountered by Captain
John Smith in 1608 as he explored Virginia. 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 manipulating and interfering in the governance of the local tribes by the mid-17th century. Sometime between 1652 and 1655, the Court directed the Wicocomico and
Chicacoan (or
Sekakawons) tribes to merge and relocate slightly south of the
Great Wicomico River. They were given 50 acres per fighting man, for a total of near Dividing Creek. The Lower Cuttatawomen probably merged with them between 1656 and 1659. The merged tribes' adopted the name "Wicocomico" since that group was the most numerous. The court appointed Machywap (formerly the leader of the Chicacoan) as the
weroance of the combined tribes, as he had an English wife, was therefore considered a friend of the Smith and his fellow colonists and "easy to manage (manipulate)". By 1659, the frustrations over encroachment from English colonists boiled over, resulting in the combined majority of the tribes of the Wicocomico to depose Machywap, possibly by force, and replace him with Pekwem (a Powhatan confederacy sympathizer without ties to the English colonists) as their weroance. Colonists' encroachment on their lands created constant problems. From 1660 to 1673, the Wicocomico frequently challenged colonists in court over land disputes. Although most disputes were settled in favor of the Wicocomico, by 1719 they retained only of their original 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."
18th century After June 1719 and the death of William Taptico, the last Wicocomico weroance, the colonial government confiscated the lands by force. The remnants of the Wicocomico dispersed, and the tribe has been considered extinct. In 1730, the
Tobacco Inspection Act of 1730 declared that one of the public tobacco warehouses should be "At Wiccocomico, at Robert Jones's; and at Coan, at the warehouses in Northumberland, under one inspection." == Cultural heritage group ==