Nancy was an enslaved worker who lived and worked at Tuckahoe during the Wight and Allen period. She was one of the children of Ellen Anderson Smith (father unclear) and thought to be born in early 1850. Her siblings were Daniel, Jane, Dilsey, Jordan, Harriet, Wallace and Andrew. Nancy is first mentioned in the inventory of the will of Edwin Wight in April 1850 grouped together with her mother as having the combined value of $500.
Though she likely would have worked in the fields with most of her family when she was old enough, the Allen records through 1859 never explicitly list her as a field hand. However, she certainly would have been required to work in some form and likely had a variety of simpler tasks around the property before she would have been forced to toil in the fields.
Nancy and her family lived in the North Cabin which still stands along Plantation Street. In 1858 their family of 9 was recorded as having 5 blankets among them.
After the Civil War, it seems that some of the Smith family stayed in the area. The 1870 census lists Ellen and Ed in Goochland County but Nancy was not living with them at the time. It is unknown if she lived nearby or if she left the area entirely.
