The Immigrant Ancestor of most with this surname in the U.S. was the French Huguenot (Protestant), Lewis Tacquett [aka Taquet, Tacquet] (c1675-1743/44), born in France, moved to England as an apparent youngster, and who shortly after 1686 migrated to the Colony of Virginia. By 1711 he had settled on a small land grant on Cedar Run in present Prince Wm. Co., VA (then in Stafford Co.) along with another French Huguenot, Lewis Reno. Lewis Tacquett & his wife, Mary Sarah, (a British subject) were the parents of four known children: Lewis Jr., b c1709, John, b c1712, William, b c1722, and Rachel, birthdate unknown. [Note: Although entries have been made in the LDS Ancestral Files naming the wife of Lewis Tacquett Sr. as being Mary Sarah Spiller, a dau. of Wm. Spiller Sr., those who submitted that data did not provide any verifiable evidence to support this claim, nor has any such evidence ever been presented to us, or located by us, to support this in any way. The probability of this being true does seem unlikely as the "Mary Sarah Spiller" would have to have been a sister to Wm. Spiller Jr., who was the first husband of Rachel Tackett, the dau. of Lewis & Mary Sarah Tacquett Sr. - although I guess stranger things have happened.]. [See the new RENO family website for additional information on this old family.]

To the best of our knowledge, all those in the records of the British American Colonies, and in the United States before 1850 - and who left progeny - were from this line. There may be an additional family line that does not fit with this branch. This is the line of Rev. War veteran, Benoni Tackett, for whom we have yet to prove parentage. Our research indicates that he does not now have any descendants who bear the surname.

Our member Anthony Garland Tackett, a resident of Lancashire, England, secured our earliest record showing "Louis Taquet." This was in a 1686-87 list in the Huguenot Library in London, England, of Huguenots for whom passage was paid to Virginia by Englishman Nicholas Hayward. Included on this list were the family of Louis Reynaud (Reno), Jean de la Chaumette (Shumate), Michel Mauri, Marquis Calmes, Pierre Disboteau & Jean Mairac. We could not fully decipher the other names. A copy of this original document, with translation and comments, is available to anyone requesting. Just send us your request via regular mail, with a SASE, and we'll mail it to you.

Variant Spellings: The sons and grandsons of LEWIS TACQUETT used various spellings of the old surname but the most common were TACKETT & TACKITT. Variations later adopted include TACKKETT, TACKETTE & TACKET. The most common spelling is TACKETT.

The only other immigrants we have located, who bore a variation of the surname, were:

• Thomas Tackett from England, was "transported" to Maryland in 1661. Estate settlement records in Maryland indicate that he left no blood progeny.
• James Tackett, noted in 1675 Rappahannock Co., VA Last Will of Richard Loes as Loes' son-in-law. There is no evidence that James left any progeny.
• Humphrey Tackett, died testate Dec 1686, Elizabeth City Co., Virginia. This proved by 1790 era deeds naming two heirs of Humphrey, being three possible nieces, Elizabeth Vincent Janes/Jones, Ruth Vincent Cofield, & Mary Vincent. There appear to have been no male heirs and no records of any Tackett males of this time period have ever been found who would seem to fit as a possible male Tackett descendant.
• Edward Tackett, on a list of "Convicts transported via the port of London," from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to Virginia on the ship "Smith"; Capt., William Loney, with three others, on 27 Sep 1731. There has been no evidence forthcoming that Edward actually arrived in America, contrary to the feeling of some of my in-laws that this just must be my line. (:-
• Benoni Tackett [aka Benjamin Tackett], of Prince George Co., VA, a Rev. War veteran who died before 1777, leaving his widow, Lydia, and "three infant children:" Bartholomew, b 8 May 1770 [aka "Bartley Tackett"], Elizabeth and an unnamed child. Bartholomew may have left one son, William, but he did have three known daughters, Frances, Nancy & Elizabeth. We know of no male Tacketts descendant from this line past Bartholomew, unless it was William.
• Patrick Tackett, b c1840, Ireland, settled in the Kansas City, MO area by the 1880's. He, and his wife, Mary McCann, had 4 known children: John J., Charles, Rose Alice, & Grace Marie Tackett. To the best of our knowledge, only Rose & Grace had children.
• Gordon Wilson Tackett, b 1860 Scotland, marr. 1893 in Oregon Co., MO to a Sarah E. Barnard. They settled in Shawnee, OK. Their children were: Margret Susan Tackett [Mrs. Leslie O. Thompson], Windell Olliness Tackett, Lloyd Ralph Tackett, Fay Clemence Pslema Tackett [Mrs. Howard S. Allen], and Mabel Floyd Tackett.
• Robert Tacket, b c1779 Lanarkshire, Scotland, moved to Scarborough Twp., York Co., Toronto, Canada in 1833. Their children were Margaret, Mary, Jane, George & John Tacket. Some descendants have since settled in the Detroit, MI area. It appears that there are no descendants of this line who now bear the surname.