December Meeting, 1948
A STATED Meeting of the Society was held at the Club of Odd Volumes, No. 77 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, on Thursday, 23 December 1948, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the President, Augustus Peabody Loring, Jr., in the chair.
The records of the Annual Meeting in November were read and approved.
The Treasurer, on behalf of the Corresponding Secretary, reported the receipt of a letter from the Honorable Raymond Sanger Wilkins accepting election to Resident Membership in the Society.
Mr. Henry Hornblower, II, of Boston and Mr. Waldron Phoenix Belknap, Jr., of Boston, were elected Resident Members of the Society.
The Reverend Frederick L. Weis read a paper entitled:
The New England Company of 1649 and its Missionary Enterprises
THREE hundred years ago the New England Company for propagating the gospel among the Indians—the oldest Protestant foreign missionary society in the world—was chartered by Act of Parliament on 27 July 1649. This ancient corporation is still carrying on the work for which it was established, though now in places far removed from New England.1
But missionary work among the Indians had been started some years previous to this date. In his Wonder Working Providence, &c., completed in 1651 and first published in 1654, Captain Edward Johnson of Woburn describes the Indians as he knew them, and acquaints us with the beginnings of missionary work among them at that time. “The Indian people in these parts at the English first coming, were very barbarous and uncivilized, going for the most part naked, although the country be extreme cold in the winter-season.” Their clothing was made of deerskin. The women did all the work at planting time, while the braves spent their time hunting, fishing and fowling. As Captain Johnson affirms: “This is all the trade they use, which makes them destitute of many necessaries, both in meat, drink, apparell and houses.
“As for any religious observation, they are the most destitute of any people yet heard of.” Soon after the first settlement, the English attempted to bring them to the knowledge of God, particularly the Reverend John Wilson of Boston, who visited their sick and instructed others as they were capable of understanding him. “But yet very little was done that way, till . . . now of late years the reverend Mr. Eliot hath been more than ordinary laborious to study their language, instructing them in their own Wigwams, and Catechising their Children. As also the reverend Mr. Mayhewe, one who was tutored up in New England, and called to office by the Church of Christ, gathered at a small Island called Martins Vineyard; this man hath taken good pains with them.” “Also Mr. William Leveridge, Pastor of Sandwich Church, is very serious therein, and with good success.”2
Of the early Massachusetts tracts relating to the conversion of the Indians, now very rare, those which would have been known to Johnson, at the time the above pages were written, are: New Englands First Fruits (1643), The Day-Breaking if not the Sun-Rising of the Gospell with the Indians in New England (1647), The Clear Sunshine of the Gospell breaking forth upon the Indians of New England (1648), and The Glorious Progress of the Gospell amongst the Indians of New England (1649).3 These tracts express the hope that this good work may be continued by encouraging active young students at Harvard College to study the Indian language, converse with the natives, and preach to them “that so the gospell might be spread in those darke parts of the world.”
William Wood’s New England’s Prospect (1633) mentions “one of the English preachers” who “hath spent much time in attaining to their language, wherein he can speake to their understanding, and they to his.”
This undoubtedly refers to the Reverend Roger Williams who was probably the first to labor as a missionary among the Indians of Massachusetts, for he speaks of working among them when he was the Congregational minister of the First Church in Plymouth, 1631–1633, and later at Salem, before he was banished.4 After his settlement at Providence, he was chiefly concerned with the Narragansett Indians.
The Narragansetts, a warlike race, had subjugated the neighboring tribes before the white men came to America. Thus the Niantics, Cowesets, Shawomets and Nipmucs to the west and north, and the Wampanoags, Pocassets and Sakonnets to the east, as well as the Massachusetts Indians, were their vassals. Their domain extended from Weymouth to Mt. Wachusett on the north, and to the Atlantic on the east and south. The Narragansetts were persistently averse to Christianity, but friendly to Roger Williams apart from his missionary endeavors.5
In the preface to his Key into the Language of America, printed at London in 1643, Williams wrote: “My souls desire was to do the natives good, and to that end . . . God was pleased to give me a painful Patient spirit to lodge with them, in their filthy Smoke holes (even when I lived at Plymouth and Salem) to gain their tongue.”
New England’s Prospect, mentioned above, included five pages of Indian-English vocabulary. But Roger Williams’ Key contained the first extensive vocabulary or study of the Indian language printed in English, and “it must have been of great practical use to the missionaries, traders and early settlers in the outlying districts of New England.”6
In his preface Mr. Williams dwells at considerable length upon the conversion of the Indians, so much to be desired. “For my selfe,” he writes, “I have uprightly laboured to suite my endeavours to my pretences.” Yet notwithstanding his efforts, he confesses that he cannot “report much.” However, Wequash, a Pequot captain, before his death reminded Mr. Williams that two or three years previously they had spoken of God and Man. Said he, “Your words were never out of my heart to the present; me much pray to Jesus Christ.” But aside from Wequash, Williams did not succeed in persuading the Indians to accept Christianity, and he soon gave up in discouragement. In England he had better success. Several prominent members of Parliament commended “his printed Indian labours” and when he returned to New England a year later, he brought with him a charter for his Rhode Island Colony, due perhaps in considerable measure to his Key into the Language of America and his unselfish missionary efforts.7
But the first instance of an Indian who really became a Christian was that of Hiacoomes, in the year 1643, at Martha’s Vineyard. This resulted from the preaching and friendly attitude of the Reverend Thomas Mayhew, Jr., to the natives of his father’s island possessions. By 1646 the younger Thomas had attained such mastery of the Indian language as to be able to preach to the natives in their own tongue without the help of an interpreter, and before the end of the year 1650 a hundred Indians of the Vineyard had embraced Christianity. Mr. Mayhew sailed for England on business connected with the future welfare of these natives in 1657, but, with all hands, was lost at sea, and the ship was never again heard from.8
As early as 1643, perhaps earlier, the Reverend John Eliot, the “Apostle to the Indians,” had begun his study of the Algonquin tongue, in order to preach in that language. To this end he discovered an intelligent Indian in the neighboring town of Dorchester who had learned to speak English with considerable success. “He was the first,” wrote Mr. Eliot, “that I made use of to teach me words, and to be my Interpreter.” In September, 1646, he spoke to the natives at Neponset. They listened sympathetically, but showed little interest in what he had to say. However, he kept coming back to them and eventually he won their confidence, first at Dorchester and later at Punkapoag, to which place they soon removed.9 His next attempt was made at Nonantum (in Newton, near the Watertown line) on 28 October 1646. This time he was accompanied by Isaac Heath, an elder of the Roxbury church, the Reverend Thomas Shepard, minister at Cambridge, and Major-General Daniel Gookin, his friend and companion in this work from beginning to end, the historian and guardian of the Indians. Here at Nonantum Mr. Eliot founded the first community of Christian Indians within the English colonies. These Indians removed to Natick in 1651 where they were gathered into an Indian church in 1660.10 On alternating weeks he preached to the Natick and Punkapoag Indians for the next forty years. For the furtherance of this work of God, declared Governor Winthrop, several English colonists came to hear Mr. Eliot preach to the natives, and sometimes “the governor and other of the magistrates and elders” came, while the Indians, of their own accord, “began to repair thither” from other places. On one occasion the governor, with about two hundred people, Indian and English, were present.
At these services Mr. Eliot first proceeded to catechize the children, “who were brought to answer him some short questions, whereupon he gave each of them an apple or a cake.” After this he began a service of worship with prayer in English. “Then he took a text, and read it first in the Indian language, and after in English; then he preached to them in Indian about an hour.” That the work had its humorous side we learn from several long lists of questions and answers which followed the sermon. Finally he concluded with a prayer in the Indian tongue. At the Cambridge synod in 1647, Mr. Eliot preached to the Indians in their own language before the entire assembly.11
We are apt to forget sometimes that Eliot did not do all this work unaided. Thus Mather tells us: “All the good men in the country were glad of his engagement in such an undertaking, the ministers especially encouraged him, and those in the neighborhood kindly supplied his place,” and performed part of his work at Roxbury for him while he was abroad laboring among the Indians. On the other hand, we are equally apt to forget the extraordinary difficulties he must have encountered as the first Englishman who learned to write in the Algonquin dialect and to speak it fluently. For the Algonquin was not a written language. In order to speak to the natives effectively, he was obliged to prepare, one after another, catechisms, grammars, vocabularies, translations of the Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms, sermons and tracts, and eventually he translated the whole Bible into the Algonquin tongue. In time these were all printed and are a monument and a memorial to the industry and distinguished scholarship of a busy minister in a small colonial parish. Concerning this unselfish labor, he wrote: “I diligently marked the difference of their grammar from ours: When I found the way of them, I would pursue a Word, a Noun, a Verb, through all the variations I could think of. And thus I came at it. We must not sit still, and look for Miracles; Up and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee. Prayer and Pains, through faith in Christ Jesus, will do anything.”12
We soon find him ranging farther afield. Each summer beginning with 1648 and for nearly thirty years thereafter, he made journeys to Lancaster and Lowell and Brookfield, and even as far as Woodstock, Connecticut. He visited regularly all the praying towns of eastern Massachusetts, and occasionally took his way through Middleborough or Plymouth to visit the Indian towns on the Cape and on Martha’s Vineyard. His benevolent zeal prompted him to encounter with cheerfulness unpredictable danger, and to submit to the most incredible hardships. Once he wrote in a letter: “I have not been dry, night or day, from the third day of the week unto the sixth; but so travelled, and at night pull off my boots and wring my stockings, and on with them again, and so continue. But God steps in and helps.”13
The colonists became so interested in the work that he was doing that, on 26 May 1647, by Act of the General Court, it was “ordered, that £10 should be given Mr. Elliot as a gratuity from this Co’te, in respect of his greate paines & charge in instructing the Indians in the knowledg of God . . . and that some care may be taken of the Indians on the Lords dayes.”14
Mr. Eliot was one of the most useful preachers in New England. No minister saw his exertions attended with greater success. He spoke out of the abundance of his heart, and his sermons were appreciated in all the churches. “His moral and religious character was as excellent as his ministerial qualifications were great.” Such was his charity that he gave to the poor Indians most of his salary of fifty pounds which he received annually from the New England Company for propagating the gospel.
On the day of his death he was found teaching the alphabet to an Indian child at his bedside. “Why not rest from your labors now?” asked a friend. “Because,” replied the venerable man, “I have prayed to God to render me useful in my sphere and he has heard my prayer, for now that I can no longer preach, he leaves me still strength enough to teach this poor child his alphabet.”
John Eliot died 20 May 1690 saying that all his labors were poor and small.15
These early attempts to convert the natives, while they demonstrate the charity and warmth of heart of Williams, Mayhew, Eliot and others, reflect also certain provisions set forth in the charters of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies. For the grant of these charters was, in fact, contingent upon the Christianizing of the Indians by the founders of New England.
The king expressly declared, in his grant to the Council of Plymouth in 1621, that “the principall effect which [he] can desire or expect of this action, is the conversion. . . of the people of those parts, unto the true worship of God and Christian religion.”
Governor Edward Winslow and the people of Plymouth were strongly in sympathy with this goal. In his Brief Relation, printed in 1622, Governor Winslow declared that “for the conversion [of the natives] we intend to be as careful as of our own happiness; and as diligent to provide them with tutors for the . . . bringing up of their children of both sexes, as to advance any other business whatsoever, for that we acknowledge ourselves specially bound thereto.” Until his death in 1655 no one worked more persistently to this end than he did, and it was in large measure due to him that the New England Company of 1649 owed its establishment.
Again, among the many long paragraphs of the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company, one declared that to “wynn and incite the natives of [the] country to the knowledge and obedience of the onlie true God and Savior of mankinde, and the Christian faythe,” was, in the “royall intention and the adventurers’ free profession, the principall ende of this plantation.”16 And that these pledges might be had in perpetual remembrance, the seal provided in England for the colony bore an Indian with extended hands, with Paul’s words: “Come over and help us.”17
With all these definite aims and commitments, perhaps we may wonder why so little progress appears to have been made, and also why more effective steps were not at once taken to convert the Indians. Actually there were some good reasons for this state of affairs. Stark necessity in the form of providing food and shelter caused our forefathers to wrestle with many difficulties unforeseen by the king and those who drew up the charters. Self-preservation was plainly the first duty of the colonists.18
Ignorance of the Indian language was another impediment, and it was natural that many thought that the Indians must first be taught English before they could receive religious instruction. President Henry Dunster of Harvard College was one of the first to take a realistic attitude in this matter. He insisted that “the way to instruct the Indians must be in their own language, not English.”19
Then, too, John Eliot believed that civilization must precede Christianity for the natives, or at least go along with it, for “such as are so extremely degenerate must be brought to some civility before religion can prosper or the Word take place.”20 Concerning this, Trumbull wisely remarks: “Whatever anticipation of an eager acceptance of the Gospel by the natives may have been entertained by the colonists before coming to New England, was dispelled by nearer acquaintance with Indian life and character. For beads and strong-water, cloth and fire-arms, the red man’s receptivity was ample. To the new religion he manifested indifference if not aversion.”21
This was true, certainly, of all the Indians for a considerable period of time. All efforts of the Pilgrim Fathers to convert Massasoit and Philip, and their whole tribe, were calmly but firmly repelled. The Wampanoags were friendly with the Pilgrims, yet were not only afraid of Christianity, but definitely hostile to it. Uncas and the Pequots refused to have anything to do with it. The Narragansetts and the other tribes of Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut were wholly uncooperative, even with their good friend Roger Williams. The Indians on the Cape, those around Boston, and those to the north and west of that town, were far from cordial to Christianity for many years after the settlement of the English. Only when Williams, Mayhew and Eliot began to speak to the natives in their own language, and went out of their way to be friendly to them, did a few of the Indians deign to pay attention to the missionary endeavors of the whites.
But whatever the failings of others, “Mr. Eliot engaged in this great work of preaching unto the Indians upon a very . . . sincere account:—his compassion and ardent affection to them. . . in their great blindness and ignorance;—and to endeavour, so far as in him lay,” to fulfill “the covenant and promise, that New England people had made unto their king, when he granted them their patent.”22
While Eliot and Mayhew were busily engaged with the conversion of the Indians, Governor Edward Winslow, agent for the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies, sought to obtain subscriptions in England to continue this good work. The New England colonists were particularly indebted to him because, during the weeks of nervous tension following the execution of King Charles I, Governor Winslow was able to cause Parliament to vote the passage of his “Act for the promoting and Propagating of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in New England.”23
Omitting the very interesting preamble, we come to these words: “Be it therefore enacted by this present Parliament, that for the furthering so good a work there shall be a Corporation in England. . . by the name of the President and Society for Propagation of the Gospel in New England . . . consisting of sixteen, viz. a president, treasurer, and fourteen assistants; and that William Steel, Esq., Herbert Pelham, Esq., James Sherley, Abraham Babington, Robert Houghton, Richard Hutchinson, George Dun, Robert Tomson, William Mullins, John Hodgson, Edward Parks, Edward Clud, Richard Floyd, Thomas Aires, John Stone, and Edward Winslow, citizens of London, be the first sixteen persons; out of whom, the said sixteen persons, or the greater number of them, shall choose one of the said sixteen to be president, another to be treasurer. They or any nine of them, to appoint a common seal. . . .24
Moreover, “the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England in New England for the time being . . . are hereby ordered and appointed to dispose of the moneys [paid unto them by the Treasurer] in such manner as shall best and principally conduce to the preaching and propagating of the Gospel of Jesus Christ amongst the Natives; and also for maintaining of Schools and Nurseries of Learning, for the better education of the children of the Natives.”25
Finally, the Act ordered a general collection to be made for the purposes aforesaid in and through all the counties, cities, towns and parishes of England and Wales.26
This Act, and the New England Company of 1649 which it established, was thus passed by a Puritan Parliament; the collections were to be made from the Puritan parish churches throughout England and Wales; and the officers of the Company in England were Puritans then living in the city of London, of whom no less than five had lived in New England.27 Furthermore, the money collected was to be sent to and expended by the Commissioners of the United Colonies in New England, all of whom were required by law to be members of the churches of these colonies, which at that time were all Congregational, there being churches of no other denomination in those colonies. Finally, the New England missionaries to the Indians were Congregational ministers of the Puritan and Pilgrim churches of New England, and the Indians, when converted, became thereby members of Indian Congregational churches and congregations in the Indian praying towns. With such a strong Puritan background, the legal existence of the Company under this Act naturally and automatically ceased when Charles II was proclaimed King on 8 May 1660.
After this date more than a year went by during which the members of the old society ceased to function publicly. In the meantime, those members offensive to the new government under Charles II quietly withdrew. A royal charter was issued on 1 February 1661/2 in which the membership was enlarged from sixteen to forty-five, the new members chosen being more acceptable to the government of Charles II. Mr. Robert Boyle, brother of the Earl of Cork, was named “to be the first and present Governor” and the law courts decreed that the former properties of the Society might be retained by the new Company.
The new charter provided that “there be, and forever hereafter shall be, within this our kingdom of England, a Society or Company. . . by the name of the Company for Propagation of the Gospell in New England, and the Parts Adjacent, in America.” The usefulness of this last phrase came a century later when, in 1786, the Company transferred its activities to Canada.28 But the new Company retained for a score of years the services of the Puritan Commissioners of the United Colonies in New England.
The dangers to which the colonists of New England were exposed, especially from the French in Canada, the uncertain temper of the Indians to the north and west, and, indeed, from the Indians within their borders, had resulted in the adoption, in 1643, of certain articles of confederation by the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven. By these articles the above-named colonies entered into an offensive and defensive league, the cost of wars to be borne in proportion to the male inhabitants of each colony, Massachusetts to furnish one hundred men and the others forty-five each. This confederacy was acknowledged and countenanced by Charles I, Cromwell and Charles II from its beginning until 1686 when a commission from King James II revoked its powers and legal existence.
Each colony elected two commissioners annually to act together with the others as a unit in dealing with the Indians. They chose a President from among their number and met during the first part of September each year at Boston, Plymouth, New Haven and Hartford in rotation until 1664, after which time they met every three years, the Massachusetts members attending to matters in the meantime.
After 1649 the supervision and distribution of funds for the Christianizing of the Indians became a special and principal part of the business of the Commissioners and was efficiently performed by them until after King Philip’s War when the Indians were so much reduced in strength and numbers that the work became less vital, and the gospelizing of the natives also received less of their attention. Each year the Commissioners sent a letter to the Governor and Company in London, giving a report of their activities during the year, with their financial accounts, and frequently reports from the missionaries in the field were also enclosed with the annual letters. By 1680 the affairs of the New England Company were practically in the hands of the Massachusetts and Plymouth commissioners with the occasional assistance of a member from Connecticut. New boards were appointed in 1685, 1699 and 1704, each containing some of the former commissioners, but supplemented from time to time as need arose with members of the clergy, magistrates, governing officials and Boston merchants, who remained in office until removal or death, up to the time of the American Revolution.29
From 1649 to these commissioners were the principal men and the most distinguished group of citizens of the four colonies. Thereafter, until 1775, they were chiefly from Boston and vicinity. Among them were twenty-three colonial governors and ten deputy-governors, while the rest were high ranking military officers, clergymen, councillors, judges and merchants. Their secretaries and treasurers were highly competent gentlemen, sympathetic to the needs of the missionaries and the Indians. Since they were the the chief administrative officers of the Company in New England for a century and a quarter they deserve to be named: Edward Rawson, William Stoughton, Samuel Sewall, Adam Winthrop, Anthony Stoddard and Andrew Oliver.
In the seventeenth century Major-General Humphrey Atherton, Major-General Daniel Gookin and Captain Thomas Prentice served successively for life as Superintendents of the Indians of Massachusetts by commission from the General Court of this colony.
Before discussing the Act of 1649 we reviewed briefly the missionary endeavors of Roger Williams and Thomas Mayhew, Jr., together with a longer glimpse of the work of John Eliot and the efforts of Governor Winslow to obtain assistance in England towards the continuation of this good work. We must now summarize the missionary labors of several Massachusetts clergymen who were able, with the assistance of the New England Company, to continue and amplify their work in the gospelizing of the Indians of this colony.
To understand the spiritual ascendency of the Mayhews over the Indians, we must glance for a moment at their political standing at Martha’s Vineyard. Thomas Mayhew, the elder, a merchant in Southampton, England, settled at Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1631. He soon purchased the English and Indian rights to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and the Elizabeth Isles and settled on the Vineyard where he became Governor, Chief Justice and the Lord of the Manor of Tisbury until his death in 1682. He was succeeded as Chief Magistrate by his grandson, Major Matthew Mayhew, who also became Lord of the Manor of Tisbury. By 1690 every available office on the island was filled by a member of the Mayhew family. But soon after the death of the elder Thomas, his progeny turned to more spiritual offices.
When the Reverend Thomas Mayhew, Jr., was lost at sea in 1657 the Indians begged the old Governor of the same name to continue the ministrations of his son, which he did with commendable success until his death at the age of ninety years. Following him, the Reverend John Mayhew, son of the younger Thomas, devoted his life to the Indians. He, in turn, was succeeded by his son, the Reverend Experience Mayhew, a very scholarly man though not a college graduate, who, in 1709, translated the Psalms into the Indian language, and who received an honorary degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College in 1723. Mr. Mayhew also kept a journal of his two missionary visitations to the Indians of Rhode Island and Connecticut in 1713 and 1714.30 He published his Indian Converts in 1727, being the lives of thirty Indian ministers and eighty other pious Indians on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and the neighboring Elizabeth Islands.31
Three sons of Experience Mayhew prepared for the ministry, the eldest, Nathan, dying as a very young man. The second was the Reverend Jonathan Mayhew, D.D., minister of the West Church in Boston, celebrated as an orator and patriot. The Reverend Zachariah Mayhew, youngest of the three, then began his lifelong service as a preacher of the gospel to the Indians of Chilmark and Gay Head. He died in 1806, the last of his name to serve in this capacity, thereby bringing to an end the period of 163 years devoted by members of the family to missionary work among the natives of this island.32
John Eliot wrote of them: “If any of the human race ever enjoyed the luxury of doing good, if any Christian ever could declare what it is to have peace . . . we may believe that was the happiness of the Mayhews.”33
While most of the Mayhews remained on one island and the Tuppers served one church, the Reverend John Cotton, Jr., of Plymouth taught in all the praying towns of Plymouth Colony from Provincetown to Middleborough and from Pembroke to Sakonnet, walking or riding many scores of miles each year, sleeping often in the wigwams of the Indians and sharing their slender meals. Mr. Cotton, who was the son of the famous Boston divine of the same name, was called in 1664 to preach to the English at Edgartown. His nephew, Cotton Mather, tells us that soon “He hired an Indian. . . for Fifty Days, . . . to teach him the Indian Tongue; but his Knavish Tutor . . . ran away before Twenty Days were out. However, in this time he had profited so far, that he could quickly Preach unto the Natives” which he did for about two years, assisting Mr. Mayhew. He was ordained at Plymouth in 1669, where he remained until 1697. Besides this charge he was missionary to the Indians of Plymouth and vicinity. Thus in 1674, he preached regularly at Titicut and Acushnet, besides supervising and occasionally preaching in the thirty-two praying villages of Plymouth Colony and on the Cape, having several hundred praying Indians under his charge. In 1685 Governor Thomas Hinckley reported to the New England Company that, besides officiating in Plymouth, Cotton instructed the Indians at Saltwater Pond, at Middleborough and at Pembroke.
His son, Josiah Cotton, said of him: “My father was of a strong healthy constitution, so that he was not hindered by sickness for above one day from his public labors for 20 to 30 years together.”
The Reverend Thomas Prince wrote that Mr. Cotton, being well acquainted with the Indian language, was desired by the Indian Commissioners to correct Mr. Eliot’s (1663) version of the Bible. His method was: “while a good Reader in his study read the English Bible aloud, Mr. Cotton silently look’d along in the same place in the Indian Bible: & where he thot of Indian words which he judg’d could express the sense better, There He substituted them, & this 2d Edition is according to Mr. Cotton’s correction.”
Again, in 1688, Mr. Eliot wrote to the Honorable Robert Boyle, Governor of the New England Company: “I must commit to” Mr. Cotton “the care and labour of the revisal of two other small treatises, viz: Mr. Shepheard’s Sincere Convert and Sound Believer, which I translated into the Indian language many years since.”
A number of Mr. Cotton’s reports to the New England Company in London and to the Commissioners at Boston have survived and may be found in print.
His son, Josiah Cotton of Plymouth, labored as an Indian missionary in Plymouth Colony and on the Cape from 1707 to 1744 and compiled a dictionary of the Indian language. Another son, Roland Cotton, was settled as minister of the Sandwich church, but also worked among the neighboring Indians as a missionary, 1691–1722.34
Like the Eliots, the Mayhews, the Cottons and the Tuppers, several generations of the Bourne family were also Indian missionaries. The first, the Reverend Richard Bourne, settled in Sandwich about 1641, where he was Deputy to the General Court and member of the Council of War. This noble-hearted man began his labors for the temporal and spiritual good of the Indians soon after his arrival at Sandwich. About the year 1660, at his own expense, he obtained from the Indian owners a deed of sixteen square miles of land for the benefit of the Mashpee Indians, that they might have a place where they could remain in peace and security from generation to generation. The deed was so drawn that “no part or parcel of the lands could be bought by or sold to any white person or persons, without the consent of all the said Indians,” and the deed was ratified by the General Court of Plymouth Colony. Here at Mashpee Mr. Bourne was ordained minister by Eliot and Cotton, on 17 August 1670, and at the same time the Indian church at Mashpee was gathered. It consisted of his disciples and converts, amongst whom he had preached and worked since 1662, and so continued until his death in 1682. Much of this time, too, he had general oversight of the praying towns on the Cape.
He was followed by his grandson, the Honorable Ezra Bourne, Judge and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Barnstable, who served as a missionary among the Mashpee Indians, though probably not ordained, until his death in 1764. His son, the Reverend Joseph Bourne, Harvard College, 1722, was ordained at Mashpee, 26 November 1729, and preached to the natives here until 1742, after which he served as a missionary and guardian to the Cape Indians for the remainder of his life, dying in the year 1767.
Barber declared in 1834: “This is the largest remnant of all the tribes of red men west of the Penobscot River, who, but a little more than two centuries ago, were fee-simple proprietors of the whole territory of New England.” The population of Mashpee in 1930 was 361, all of some Indian descent.
The Mashpee church is important because it was the mother church of the many Indian praying towns on the Cape. In 1674 there were twenty-seven in full communion and ninety baptized persons in this church, and 350 praying Indians on the Cape, living in twenty-two praying villages, of which the largest and most important was Mashpee.
Besides preaching to the Mashpee Indians, Richard Bourne was supervisor, preacher and teacher to these other praying towns, as were his successors in the Mashpee church.35
Like the other missionary families, the Tupper family furnished several generations of missionaries. They founded the Indian church at Herring Ponds, Sagamore, in the northern part of Sandwich (now Bourne), and extending into the southern part of the town of Plymouth. A meeting house, built for these Indians by the personal contribution of Judge Samuel Sewall, was finished here in 1691.
Captain Thomas Tupper, born in Sandwich, England, 1578, settled in Sandwich, Plymouth Colony, 1637, where he became the first minister and missionary at Herring Ponds from 1658 until his death in 1676, aged ninety-eight years. He also served the town of Sandwich as Captain and Deputy to the General Court for nineteen years. Captain Thomas Tupper, Jr., succeeded his father as minister and missionary to these Indians from 1676 until his death in 1706, also serving as Captain, member of the Council of War for Plymouth Colony, selectman for fourteen years, town clerk, and Deputy to the General Court for eight years. He married Martha Mayhew of the missionary family of that name on Martha’s Vineyard. Their son, Eldad Tupper, appointed to act for the Indians here as minister and missionary among them, though probably not ordained, died at Sandwich in 1750. His son, Elisha Tupper, born at Sandwich, 1707, succeeded as minister and missionary at Herring Ponds from 1739 to 1787, dying at the age of eighty years. Four generations of Tuppers served this church 129 years. In 1792 one hundred and twenty Indians remained here.36
Last of the missionaries of whom we must speak is the Reverend Samuel Treat, who labored among the Indians at the eastern end of the Cape, preaching to them in their own language for forty-five years until his death in 1717. The Nauset Indians were living in 1685 in Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham and Orleans; the Monomoy Indians in Chatham; and the Potanumoquut Indians in Orleans and Harwich. Together they numbered about 246 souls in 1674, though Mr. Treat declared that there were five hundred of them in 1693.
Mr. Treat made himself so perfectly acquainted with their language that he was able to speak and write it with great fluency. Once a month he preached in the several villages. At other times four Indian preachers, whom he had trained, read to their congregations the sermons he had written for them. He translated the Confession of Faith into the Nauset dialect, which was printed. He visited his charges in their wigwams, but before his death a fatal disease swept away a great number of them. In 1764 there remained four Indians in Eastham, eleven in Wellfleet, and ninety-one in Harwich; but by 1800 only three remained in Harwich and one in Truro.37
Time will not permit us to review the lives of many another worthy, interesting as they are. For we must now ask the question: “What did the New England Company of 1649 accomplish?”
For nearly half a century the Reverend John Eliot worked unselfishly and unsparingly among the Indians. Six generations of missionary Mayhews labored and preached and died among the natives of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The Reverend John Cotton, Jr., and his sons Josiah and Roland, inspected the praying towns of Plymouth and the Cape, visiting and preaching among them for nearly a century. Four generations of Tuppers supervised and preached to the Indians at Herring Ponds. Three generations of Bournes ministered to the church at Mashpee and throughout the Cape region, while fifty more missionaries gave part of their lives to this good work in several sections of the Commonwealth.
Most of these pioneer missionaries selected and trained able native assistants, some as circuit teachers and preachers in the praying towns, and others as settled pastors of the Indian churches. As the Indian population of Massachusetts shrank in numbers with the passing years, fewer native preachers were available. Thereupon neighboring clergymen were persuaded to preach to the Indians for another generation or two until 1786, when the Corporation in London transferred its activities to the “parts adjacent” in Canada.
Early in its history Harvard College was granted money by the New England Company to educate Indians for the ministry among their own people, a dormitory at the college was built to house them, money was provided for books and small libraries, many religious tracts were printed in English and in the Algonquin language, as well as John Eliot’s translations of the Bible, salaries were paid to most of the English missionaries and native preachers by the New England commissioners, and smaller payments were made as time went on to a steadily increasing number of other clergymen engaged in part time work, and to deserving natives.38
From 1649 to 1775 eighty-three Commissioners managed the affairs of the London Corporation in New England. There were seventeen Indian churches in Massachusetts, five more in Rhode Island and Connecticut, ninety-one praying towns in New England and four early Roman Catholic missions in Maine. Of all these, only the churches at Mashpee and Gay Head survive today. Seventy-two New England clergymen were missionaries and preachers, and 133 Indians preached in the various churches and praying towns.
Probably the year 1675 marked the high point of this whole missionary enterprise, for after that period the Indians began to disappear, largely because of drink and tuberculosis, and because they were not able to stand up under the civilization imported by the colonists. Today probably not a single person of pure Indian descent remains in New England, and those Indians who have survived are of mixed origin in whom Negro and Portuguese blood forms a considerable factor.39
During its long existence the New England Company has been severely criticized from time to time by persons ignorant of its true character, or by others who were jealous of those in authority. But, as Mr. Winship declares, “The dominating impression left upon a reader of the letters that passed between Corporation and Commissioners during the Society’s first decades is one of high integrity and serious consideration of the obligations assumed by those who had undertaken this trust.”40 In April, 1651, the Corporation wrote, “’Tis strange to see what and how many objections arise against the work, some from ill management of former gifts bestowed on the country of New England . . . some upon ourselves, the Corporation, as if we had so much per pound of what is collected or might feast ourselves liberally therewith, whereas through mercy we never yet eat or drank of the fruit of it; and neither have had or expect a penny or pennyworth for all the pains we shall take.”41
Governor Thomas Hutchinson remarked in 1765, in his History of Massachusetts: “Perhaps no fund of this nature has ever been more faithfully applied to the purposes for which it was raised.”42 This is high praise from an astute observer whose own father had been a commissioner of the Company for many years, and who was himself intimately acquainted with all of the commissioners for at least a generation.
The Successors of the New England Company of 1649
In 1762 one hundred and four of the leading clergymen, colonial officials, public-spirited citizens and merchants of Massachusetts, who had the welfare of the Indians very much at heart, organized a “Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge among the Indians of North America,” which was duly chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature.43 All of the Commissioners of the old New England Company then living were named as incorporators. These were: the Reverend Andrew Eliot, D.D., the Reverend Thomas Foxcroft, the Reverend Jonathan Mayhew, D.D., the Honorable Thomas Hubbard, Treasurer of Harvard College, and the Honorable Andrew Oliver, Secretary and Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts. Secretary Oliver’s name heads the long list, and he is known to have been very deeply interested in the promotion of the proposed society. The government of King George III, however, disapproved of it, and the organization was therefore obliged to disband.
Twenty-five years later, at the conclusion of the Revolutionary struggle with Great Britain (the New England Company for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians having abandoned its work in the United States in 1786), seven members of the former, disallowed “Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge” joined with others, in 1787, in the formation of the present “Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others in North America.”44 This society was at once incorporated by the General Court of Massachusetts and is still flourishing at a ripe old age of more than 160 years. The seven members of the new society who had belonged to the disbanded organization of 1762 were: Governor James Bowdoin, the Honorable Samuel Dexter, Lieutenant-Governor Moses Gill, the Honorable William Hyslop, Deacon Jonathan Mason, Lieutenant-Governor William Phillips and Deacon Ebenezer Storer. Probably none of the other members of the disbanded society were then alive.
The Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians of North America (1787) is limited to fifty members equally divided among the clergy and the laity of the Congregational churches of Massachusetts. Like the “Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers” and the “Massachusetts Congregational Charitable Society,” it was not disbanded at the time of the doctrinal controversy of a century and a quarter ago. The fifty members are equally divided among liberal and evangelical Congregationalists. Many among its members have borne the most honored names in the history of this Commonwealth, and among its present membership are numerous descendants of the New England Commissioners of the original New England Company of 1649. Thus, three hundred years later, the work for which the ancient and honorable New England Company was founded by Act of Parliament—the “Propagating of the Gospel among the Indians. . . in North America”—still goes on.45
APPENDIX
I
Indian Praying Towns and Missions in New England
1. Ashland. Magunkog Praying Town.
Here, a little west of the present village of Ashland, the Reverend John Eliot established a praying town as early as 1669, for in that year it was called “a new town.” In 1675 it consisted of 11 families or about 55 souls. Of these eight were church members at Natick and 15 were baptized persons. According to Gookin, Magunkog (Makunkakoag or Magunco) means “a place of great trees,” and an old chestnut was still standing in 1874 measuring 22 feet in circumference, which attests to the strength and fertility of the soil. Part of the town was purchased for the praying Indians of Magunco with money given to Harvard College by Governor Edward Hopkins of Connecticut, a former Commissioner of the United Colonies and one of the 16 English members of the New England Company of 1649. Until 1823 these lands were rented to tenants at one penny sterling per acre.
Three thousand acres of land belonged to the praying town. “The Indians plant upon a great hill, which is very fertile. . . . Their teacher is named Job; a person well accepted for piety and ability among them. . . . They have plenty of corn, and keep some cattle, horses and swine, for which the place is well accommodated.” The Indian title was relinquished 20 June 1693 and the land was set off to Hopkinton, 13 December 1717, to become part of the town of Ashland in 1846. Willard Hubbard was missionary here, 1770–1778.
Indian preachers:
- 1669 Wohwohquoshadt
- 1675 Job Kattenanit
- 1716 Simon Ephraim
2. Auburn. Pakachoog Praying Town.
This town consisted of about 20 families, or about 100 souls in 1674. It was situated upon a fertile hill, partly in Auburn (formerly called Ward) and partly in Worcester, “and is denominated from a delicate spring of water that is there.” Mr. Gookin continues: “As soon as the people could be got together, Mr. Eliot preached unto them; and they attended reverently. Their teacher [used in the ecclesiastical sense], named James Speen, being present, read and set the tune of a psalm, that was sung affectionately. Then was the whole duty concluded with prayer.”
Messrs. Eliot and Gookin approved of James Speen. “This man is of good parts, and pious. He hath preached to this people almost two years; but he yet resides at Hassanamesit [i.e., Grafton], about seven miles distant. . . . Then I gave both the rulers, teacher, constable, and people their respective charges; to be diligent and faithful for God, zealous against sin, and careful in sanctifying the sabbath.”
Native minister:
- 1672–1676 James Speen
3. Barnstable. Chequaquet (Weequakut) Praying Town.
Weequakut (pronounced Chequaquet, and so spelled today) is in the southern part of Barnstable, at Centerville. In 1674 these Indians, with the praying Indians of Satucket (Harwich), Nobscusset (Dennis) and Matakees (Yarmouth), were grouped together as being 122 in number, of which 55 were men and 67 women. Thirty-three of this number could read, 1 5 could write, and four could read English. They were under the supervision, in turn, of Richard Bourne, John Cotton, Jr., Roland Cotton, Josiah Cotton, Daniel Greenleaf, Gideon Hawley and other English ministers.
Native preacher:
- 1698 Manasseh
4. Bourne. Cataumet Praying Town.
This village was situated in the lower part of what is now the township of Bourne (formerly the west or second parish of Sandwich) on Buzzards Bay. There were 40 Indians here in 1674. (For preachers and missionaries, see Mannamit [No. 6] below.)
5. Bourne. The Indian Church at Herring Ponds (1658).
This Indian church was situated at Comassakumkanet (Herring Ponds), partly in Plymouth and partly in that section of Bourne known as Sagamore, west of the Cape Cod Canal, formerly part of the second precinct of the old town of Sandwich.
Roger Williams began preaching to the Indians at Plymouth in 1631 or 1632, John Eliot, the Apostle, began in 1646 and Thomas Mayhew, Jr., in the same year. Captain Thomas Tupper began in 1658, Richard Bourne about the same time and John Cotton, Jr., in 1664. In his list of the first six churches (1673), Mr. Eliot mentions Martha’s Vineyard, 1659, and Natick, 1660, but does not mention Herring Ponds Church, probably because it had not then been organized as a church. Yet Captain Tupper began his missionary work here in 1658. Thus this Indian parish is one of the oldest in New England. The church must have been gathered before the death of Captain Tupper in 1676. It is quite possible that Roger Williams preached to the Comassakumkanet Indians in 1631 or 1632.
The Tuppers also worked at Pompesspisset, which was nearby. In 1693 there were 180 Indians connected with the Herring Ponds church under Thomas Tupper. In 1698 there was a meeting house and 348 Indians, in 1792 there were 192 Indians associated with the church, and in 1803 there were 64 Indians (49 adults, 14 males and 35 females; and 15 children). The Commissioners of Indian Affairs reported that there were still Indians living here in 1849. After 1767 Mr. Elisha Tupper removed to Pocasset but continued to preach here once a month.
Native ministers:
- 1674–1685 Charles of Mannamit
- ca. 1698 Ralph Jones
- 1698–1709 Jacob Hedge
- 1720–1775 Solomon Briant
- 1767–1770 Isaac Jeffrey
Missionaries:
- 1647–1654 William Leveridge
- 1658–1676 Thomas Tupper
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1676–1706 Thomas Tupper, Jr.
- 1691–1722 Roland Cotton
- 1706–1750 Eldad Tupper
- 1707–1744 Josiah Cotton
- 1738–1787 Elisha Tupper
- 1758–1807 Gideon Hawley
- 1774–1779 Duncan Ingraham
- 1812–1834 Phinehas Fish
- Meeting house: 1689, finished by 1691, the gift of Judge Samuel Sewall to the Herring Ponds Indians.
6. Bourne. Mannamit Praying Town.
Mannamit was situated in the upper part of Bourne near the southern entrance of the Cape Cod Canal. It was the name of a small river which emptied out of the Herring Ponds near the boundary of Plymouth and which formerly followed what is now the lower half of the Canal on the Buzzards Bay side. This place is now called Monument and covers the section of the town from Monument to the Canal. Mannamit was just being organized as a praying town when Richard Bourne made his survey of the Cape Indians in 1674. He was the supervisor of all the Cape Indians but the Tuppers were the preachers here.
Native preachers:
- ca. 1674 Wuttananmattuk ca.
- ca. 1674 Meeshawin ca.
- 1720–1775 Solomon Briant
- 1674 Peter, alias Sakantucket
- 1674 Charles of Mannamit
- 1757–1767 Isaac Jeffrey
Missionaries to the Bourne praying towns:
- 1674–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1681–1691 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1691–1722 Roland Cotton
- 1722–1746 Benjamin Fessenden
- 1729–1742 Joseph Bourne
- 1758–1807 Gideon Hawley
7. Bourne. Pisspogutt Praying Town.
Supposedly shared the same ministers and teachers as Pocasset (see No. 8 below).
8. Bourne. Pocasset or Pokesit Praying Town and Church.
This village, long a praying town, appears to have been organized as a church in 1767 when there were eight wigwams here. Mr. Tupper preached here at that time to a mixed congregation of Indians and whites (Massachusetts Archives, 33: 442). Its position was that of the present village of Pocasset, a few miles north of Cataumet, towards the Cape Cod Canal. It enjoyed the same missionaries as Mannamit (No. 6) above, but had, in addition, the services of Mr. Elisha Tupper when it became a distinct parish and church in 1767. Before 1767 it also had the services of two Indian preachers.
Native preachers (see also Mannamit above):
- 1725–1758 Joseph Briant
- 1758–1762 Joseph Papenah
Minister (see also Mannamit above):
- 1767–1787 Elisha Tupper
9. Bourne. Pompesspisset Praying Town.
This village was near the Herring Ponds Church and shared its ministers and missionaries. (See No. 5 above.)
10. Branford, Conn. Pierson’s Mission to the New Haven Indians.
The Reverend Abraham Pierson, settled minister of the Branford Congregational Church from 1645 to 1665, as early as 1652 began to preach among the Quinipiac Indians of the neighborhood in their own tongue. He published at Cambridge, 1658, Some Helps for the Indians Shewing them How to improve their natural Reason, to know the True God, and the true Christian Religion, &c. This he translated into the Quinipiac dialect used by the Indians around Branford. It is the only printed work in that dialect. But the good work which he started here was never completed for, with the English church of Branford, he removed to Newark, New Jersey, in 1665.
Missionary:
- 1652–1665 Abraham Pierson
11. Brookfield. Quabaug Town.
Mr. Eliot preached to the Indians at Quabaug in 1649 and 1655. The latter year he purchased 1,000 acres of land there for the site of a praying town. The people were friendly and favorable to the preaching of the gospel and he was hopeful that a praying town might soon be started there. Gookin likewise declared: “There are two other Indian towns, viz. Weshakim and Quabaug, which are coming on to receive the gospel.” Unfortunately the English settlement of Brookfield was sacked and burned during King Philip’s War and these hopes were never realized. However, the Reverend Gideon Hawley was the Indian missionary at Sturbridge (in the Quabaug district), 1752–1758, and the Reverend Eli Forbes at Brookfield, 1760–1775.
12. Canton. Praying Town at Punkapoag.
The Punkapoag (Pakomit or Pecunet) Indians were the Neponset Indians of Dorchester (q.v.) who had been granted this plantation of 6,000 acres by the town of Dorchester in 1656 and had settled here at that time. Dorchester then extended as far south as the present town of North Attleborough, and the Punkapoag settlement doubtless contained natives from this whole area now made up of the towns of Milton, Canton, Sharon, Stoughton, Foxborough and Mansfield as well as Dorchester proper. Punkapoag always remained a praying town rather than a church, although in 1669 there were at this place eight or ten probationers. Their church connection was with Natick. In 1675 there were 12 families of Punkapoag Indians, or about 60 souls. A year later, 10 November 1676, some 35 men and 140 women and children resided at Punkapoag and in Dorchester, Milton and Braintree. They were well behaved and comfortably situated.
“There is a great mountain, called the Blue Hill, lieth north east from it about two miles. . . . This is the second praying town. . . . They have a ruler, a constable, and a schoolmaster. Their ruler’s name is Ahaton; an old and faithful friend to the English. Their teacher [preacher] is William Ahaton, his son; an ingenious person and pious man, and of good parts. Here was a very able teacher, who died about three years since. His name was William Awinian. He was a very knowing person, and of great ability, and of genteel deportment, and spoke very good English. . . . In this village, besides their planting and keeping cattle and swine, and fishing in good ponds, and upon Neponsitt river which lieth near them; they are also advantaged by a large cedar swamp; wherein such as are laborious and diligent, do get many a pound, by cutting and preparing cedar shingles and clapboards, which sell well in Boston and other English towns adjacent.”
Punkapoag was one of the four places of stated worship in the Bay Colony in 1684. There was still one pure blood Indian here in 1849, the rest being of mixed blood. In 1857 the tribe was nearly extinct; “only some fifteen or twenty, and those mostly of mixed blood, remain.” John Eliot, senior and junior, preached here once a fortnight for many years.
Indian preachers:
- 1656–1672 William Awinian
- 1674–1717 William Ahaton
- 1717–1743 Amos Ahaton
- ca. 1742 Aaron Pomham
English missionaries:
- 1656–1690 John Eliot, Sr.
- 1657–1668 John Eliot, Jr.
- 1668–1671 Habakkuk Glover
- 1680–1727 Peter Thacher
- 1707–1727 Joseph Morse
13. Castine, Maine. Indian Mission, 1611. Roman Catholic.
Pentagöet, now Castine, at the lower end of the peninsula on the east bank of the Penobscot River, was the seat of an early mission to the Indians under the charge of Father Peter Biard, a Jesuit priest. He soon removed to Mount Desert Island. Shortly thereafter a fort and trading station were established at Castine, and Father Gabriel Druillettes, a Capuchin priest, conducted a mission among the Tarrantine Indians, 1632–1646. In 1646 Friar Leo, also a Capuchin, supervised the erection of a chapel at Castine, with the assistance of Father Thevet, a Franciscan. Now extinct.
14. Charlestown, Rhode Island. Indian Church, 1702. X. Congregational.
This church had for its preacher the Reverend Samuel Miles. (But he is said not to have been the Harvard graduate by the same name who was living in the next township at the same time and was doing missionary work there!) He was followed by the Reverend Joseph Torrey.
Missionaries:
- 1702–1710 Samuel Miles
- 1732–1791 Joseph Torrey
- 1770–1775 Edward Deake (part time)
15. Charlestown, Rhode Island. Indian Baptist Church, 1750.
The first minister of this church was James Simons, perhaps an Indian. His successor was the Reverend Thomas Ross, born at Westerly, Rhode Island, 11 September 1719. When he came here and how long he preached is unknown, except that he was here in 1770. In 1774 there were 528 Indians living in this town, many of whom later removed to New York State.
Ministers:
- ca. 1750 James Simons
- ca. 1770 Thomas Ross
16. Chatham. Monomoy Praying Town.
The Monomoy Indians, never very numerous, seem to have disappeared by 1765. In 1674 Richard Bourne had general oversight of them. He reported that there were 71 praying Indians in this place, of whom 42 were adults and 29 were young men and maids. Of these 71, 20 could then read, 15 could write, while only one could read English. The Reverend Samuel Treat of Eastham preached to them regularly after that time. In 1685 there were 115 adults, but by 1698 there were only 14 houses, that is, about 84 Indians. In 1762, 30 are reported and long before 1800 there were none.
Indian preachers:
- ca. 1685 Nicholas
- ca. 1698 John Cosens
Missionaries:
- 1672–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1672–1717 Samuel Treat
- 1708–1726 Daniel Greenleaf
- 1729–1742 Joseph Bourne
17. Chilmark. Nashnakemmuck Indian Church, 1651.
This Indian church was organized in 1674 but preaching had been conducted here for many years before that date. The first preacher, Momonequem, had been converted in 1649 and began preaching here in 1651. He was followed by John Tackanash who was ordained in 1670. He, with Japheth Hannit, had been ordained for Sanchacantacket (Oak Bluffs) with the idea that they were also to preach in the other Indian towns as well. Janawannit died in 1686 and was succeeded by William Lay, alias Panunnut. He was followed by Stephen Tackamason, son of Wuttattakkomason. The home of the Reverend Experience Mayhew was at the “Manor of Tisbury” here in Chilmark.
In 1674 there were 231 Indians in Chilmark and Gay Head, of whom 64 were in full communion. Preaching was continued by the missionaries of the island. In 1792 there were 25 Indians left but the church became extinct sometime after 1784.
Indian ministers:
- 1651– Momonequem
- 1670–1684 John Tackanash
- 1674–1686 Janawannit
- 1683–1712 Japheth Hannit
- Died 1690 William Lay
- 1690–1708 Stephen Tackamason
Missionaries:
- 1647–1681 Thomas Mayhew, Sr.
- 1673–1689 John Mayhew
- 1694–1758 Experience Mayhew
- 1701–1723 Josiah Torrey
- 1727–1752 Nathaniel Hancock
- 1767–1806 Zachariah Mayhew
18. Chilmark. Muckuckhonnike Praying Town.
There was an Indian praying town at this place of which we know nothing except that the preacher, Panupuhquah, died about 1664. He was an elder brother of William Lay. The Mayhews had the general oversight of this and the two following praying towns.
Native minister:
- Died 1664 Panupuhquah
19. Chilmark. Praying town at Seconchgut.
In 1698 there were 35 Indians in this town.
Native preachers:
- 1698–1713 Stephen Shohkow
- 1698–1718 Daniel Shohkow
20. Chilmark. Talhanio Praying Town.
The native minister was:
1670–1684 John Tackanash
21. Concord. Musketaquid Praying Town.
The Indian name for Concord was Musketaquid. When the General Court granted the plantation of Nashobah to the natives of this vicinity in 1654 many Musketaquid Indians settled there.
The praying town at Concord was of a temporary nature and is chiefly important because of the fact that it contained many Christian Indians from outlying towns during 1675 and 1676. This was arranged through the personal benevolence of Mr. John Hoar of Concord who took pity upon the hungry and shelterless Christian Indians and allowed them to settle for the time being on his own land. He was a true friend to them and it was he who obtained the ransom and release of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, wife of the first minister at Lancaster.
The Indians at Musketaquid during King Philip’s War were mostly Nashobahs, 58 in number, whereof 12 were able men, the rest being women and children. But so great was the fear and bigotry of some of the townspeople of Concord that Captain Moseley was able to march off with these Indians to Deer Island, in spite of the protests of Mr. Hoar. In his haste to be away with them Captain Moseley required the natives to leave behind six months’ supply of corn and provisions. Because of this they had to be supported by the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England during their stay on Deer Island. After the war most of these Indians settled at Natick.
22. Dartmouth. Nukkehkummees Indian Church.
Forty communicants lived here at Nukkehkummees and in other parts of the original town of Dartmouth in 1698, but by 1713 there were “very few in number” left. Mr. Cotton preached regularly here and at Acushnet. He was followed by the Reverend Samuel Hunt of New Bedford. William Simon or Simons was ordained by Japheth at Martha’s Vineyard in 1695, and it was he who accompanied the Reverend Experience Mayhew as interpreter on his missionary trips to Rhode Island and Connecticut in 1713 and 1714. Japheth Hannit, who was ordained in 1670, often preached to these Indians, though he was regularly settled on the Vineyard.
Old Dartmouth contained the following praying settlements: Nukkehkummees, Acushnet (New Bedford), Assameekq, Cooxit or Acoaxet (Westport) and Sakonnet (Little Compton). Adjacent was Cooxissett (probably Rochester). The church here was gathered about 1690.
Indian preachers:
- 1670–1695 Japheth Hannit
- 1695–1718 William Simons
- 1711–1718 Samuel Holms
- ca. 1770 Thomas Simons
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1708–1730 Samuel Hunt
23. Dennis. Nobscusset Praying Town.
In 1685 the preacher for this town was Manasseh, at which time there were 121 Indians here and in the neighboring town of Harwich. (See data under Barnstable.)
Indian preacher:
- 1685–1698 Manasseh
Missionaries:
- 1670–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1681–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
24. Dochet Island, St. Croix River, Maine. Mission, 1604.
In 1603 Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts, received a trading concession for “Acadia.” The following spring he set sail with his Lieutenant, Samuel de Champlain, and four score colonists, including a Huguenot minister and a Catholic priest. They landed on Dochet Island 26 June 1604, which they called St. Croix, but they sailed away in the spring of 1605, and in August removed to Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The name of the Huguenot minister is not known, but that of the priest was Nicholas Aubrey (or d’Aubri). The Indian mission was abandoned in 1605.
25. Dorchester. Neponset Praying Town, 1646–1656.
The Neponset tribe of Indians, inhabiting the territory of what is now Dorchester and Quincy, were all who remained in 1630 of the much larger and more important tribe, the Massachusetts Indians, who had lived in the area extending in a semi-circle around Boston from Malden to Cohasset. At the time of the arrival of the colonists, this tribe was reduced to less than 100 braves. They made little or no progress in the arts of civilized life and soon lost most of the energy which they had possessed in their wandering life. In the spring they lived at the falls of the Neponset River (at Milton-Dorchester Lower Mills) to catch fish, and at planting time they removed nearer the sea for salt water fishing.
The first settlers felt much interest in these natives and great efforts were made to civilize and convert them to Christianity. But when John Eliot first preached to them in 1646 he met with little encouragement. Believing that they should live a good distance from the white settlers to better promote their temporal and spiritual interests he solicited for their removal and, in 1656, the town of Dorchester granted 6,000 acres of land to them, which was laid out at Punkapoag whither they removed, and there the lapse of years saw their extinction. Mr. Eliot preached to them fortnightly from 1646 until their removal, and thereafter almost until his death in 1690. (See Canton.)
26. Easthampton, Long Island, New York. Mission.
Here the Reverend Thomas James, Jr., was settled as minister of the English Congregational Church from 1650 until his death on 16 June 1696. During most of this time he also preached to the Indians of this part of Long Island, especially between 1662 and 1675. For some years he received a stipend from the New England Company of 1649.
27. Edgartown. Indian Church at Chappaquiddick, 1659.
The earliest Indian church in Massachusetts was gathered in 1659 on the large island of Chappaquiddick, a part of Edgartown, off the eastern end of Martha’s Vineyard. John Hiacoomes was the first Indian known to have been converted to Christianity in this Commonwealth. His conversion took place in 1643 under the Reverend Thomas Mayhew, Jr. Hiacoomes began preaching to the Indians in 1646 on Martha’s Vineyard, where he was a very valuable assistant to the Mayhews of the first three generations.
In 1670 Messrs. Eliot, Mayhew and Cotton ordained Hiacoomes and John Tackanash as ministers, Momatchegin as ruling elder and Nohnoso as deacon of this church and of the other praying towns on the Vineyard. Hiacoomes also preached to the Indians of Nantucket and gathered the first church on that island. But his main task was here on Chappaquiddick where he preached to his own people from 1659 to 1690. Joshua Momatchegin assisted Hiacoomes in preaching until 1690 when he became minister of the church, serving until his death in 1703. In turn, he was succeeded by the deacon of the church, Jonathan Amos, who preached here and at Gay Head until his death in 1706. Amos was the last native preacher of this church, after which the missionaries having oversight of the Indians of Martha’s Vineyard preached here at stated intervals until the church became extinct. There were 60 Indian families (about 360 individuals) at Chappaquiddick in 1674; 138 were members of the congregation in 1698; in 1764 there were 86; and in 1792, 75 Indians remained here.
Native preachers:
- 1659–1690 Hiacoomes
- 1670–1703 Joshua Momatchegin
- 1703–1706 Jonathan Amos
Missionaries:
- 1642–1657 Thomas Mayhew, Jr.
- 1647–1681 Thomas Mayhew, Sr.
- 1656–1661 Peter Folger
- 1664–1667 John Cotton, Jr.
- and doubtless 1713–1746 Samuel Wiswall
- 1673–1689 John Mayhew
- 1694–1758 Experience Mayhew
- 1767–1806 Zachariah Mayhew
- 1810–1836 Frederic Baylies
28. Edgartown. Nashamoiess Praying Town.
Nashamoiess (Nashawamass) means “He is beloved of the Spirit.” Here John Tackanash preached from 1670 to 1684 and, following him, from time to time all the missionaries of the island of Martha’s Vineyard took their turns.
This village is situated in the southern part of the town.
Native preacher:
- 1670–1684 John Tackanash
29. Edgartown. Nunnepoag Praying Town.
In 1698 there were 84 Indians in this town. Joshua Tackquannash was the minister and Josiah Thomas the teacher.
Native preachers:
- ca. 1698 Joshua Tackquannash
- ca. 1698 Josiah Thomas
30. Fall River. Watuppa Ponds Praying Town, 1709.
In 1709 a group of Pocasset Indians lived on a small reservation of 195 acres on the east side of North Watuppa Pond. Samuel Church (Mr. Sam, as he was called), a dignified Indian who had preached at Sakonnet as early as 1685, was their minister from 1706 to 1716 and probably until the settlement of Mr. Brett. The Reverend Silas Brett preached to these natives in a small meeting house from 1747 to 1775. By 1763 the natives had divided the lands of the reservation among themselves. In 1849 there were still 37 remaining, and 16 persons in 1857.
Fall River was set off from Freetown (Assonet) in 1803. The Indian name of the stream, which later furnished so much waterpower to the mills, was Quequechan, meaning “quick-running water.” In the last half mile of its course from the Watuppa Ponds there is a drop of 140 feet into the Taunton River. The Watuppa Ponds now furnish the Fall River water supply, having been taken by the city for that purpose in 1907.
Native preacher:
- 1706–1716 Samuel Church
Missionaries:
- 1689–1727 Samuel Danforth
- 1747–1776 Silas Brett
31. Falmouth. Succonesit Praying Town.
Mr. Bourne’s account of the Cape Indians, 1674, lists Pispogutt (Bourne), Waywayontat or Wewewantett (Wareham) and Sokones (Falmouth) together as having 36 praying Indians, 20 adults and 16 young men and maids, of whom 20 could read and seven could write. In 1685 there were 72 Indians in this congregation. Gideon Hawley mentions four wigwams (or about 24 persons) at Succannessett or Sussconsett (also Falmouth) in 1764.
Indian preachers:
- 1685–1709 Old John
- 1708–1719 John of Falmouth
- 1758–1762 Joseph Papenah
Missionaries:
- 1674–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1681–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1709–1723 Joseph Metcalf
- 1729–1742 Joseph Bourne
- 1757–1764 Gideon Hawley
32. Falmouth. Waquoit Praying Town.
The Waquoit (Wakoquet) praying town is listed by Mr. Bourne in 1674 with Satuit, Pawpoesit, Cotuit and Mashpee with the Mashpee group of 95 Indians, 70 adults and 25 youths and maids, of whom 24 could read, ten could write and two could read English. Waquoit was, therefore, doubtless situated on the bay of that name in Falmouth or near the Mashpee border, but at all events it was associated with the Mashpee church and enjoyed the benefit of its preaching. (See Mashpee church.)
33. Gay Head. Indian Congregational Church, 1663.
Founded in 1663 at the southwest corner of the island of Martha’s Vineyard this Indian church, though under the supervision of the missionaries of the island, had its own native preachers for many years. There were 231 Indians in this congregation in 1674, of whom 64 were in full communion. During 1674 part of these 64 members were dismissed to form the new church at Nashnakemmuck at Chilmark (No. 17, q.v.). By 1713 the number of parishioners had increased to 260, which was evidently the high point in the population of the town in Colonial times.
Sachem Metaark, the founder and first minister, died 20 January 1683 and was succeeded by David Wuttnomanomin, deacon and preacher, who died in 1698. The third minister, Japheth Hannit, born in 1638, died 29 July 1712, was the son of Pamchannitt. He was followed by Jonathan Amos, deacon and preacher, who died in 1706, the son of Amos of Chappaquiddick. Then Abel Wauwompukque, brother of Metaark, preached until his death, 1 October 1722, and was succeeded in turn by Joash Pannos (Paunos or Panneu), ordained in 1716, died in August, 1720, son of Annampanu. Peter Ohquanhut, probably the last native preacher, was settled here in 1725.
Experience Mayhew, as general missionary on the Vineyard, preached in this church regularly at each meeting in town until his death. The Reverend Messrs. Josiah Torrey and Nathaniel Hancock, both of West Tisbury, also preached in turn, as did all the settled ministers of the other towns on the island.
The meeting house was built in 1690 but was not finished until 1713. It was still standing in 1786, though seldom favored with a congregation at that time. The last child to be baptized was Mary Cooper in 1784, shortly after which the meeting house was abandoned. Twenty-five natives still belonged to the parish as late as 1792, but soon after this the old church became extinct. (See Chilmark.) After 1792 the Baptist Church of Gay Head (1702) took its place.
Gay Head was part of Chilmark until 1870 when it was set off as a separate town. At that time it had a population of 160. It continues to be populated exclusively by the descendants of the Indians of Martha’s Vineyard, though nowadays they are mostly of mixed blood. The inhabitants subsist mainly by fishing and agriculture.
We are told that during the first World War the Gay Head Indians furnished to the army and navy of the United States the largest number of men, in proportion to its population, of any town in the United States.
Native preachers:
- 1663–1683 Sachem Metaark
- 1683–1698 David Wuttnomanomin 1683–1712 Japheth Hannit
- Died 1706 Jonathan Amos
- 1683–1714 Elisha Paaonut
- 1709–1718 Daniel Shoko
- 1712–1722 Abel Wauwompukque
- 1713–1720 Joash Pannos
- ca. 1725 Peter Ohquanhut
- ca. 1770 Zachariah Osooit
- ca. 1770 David Capy
Missionaries:
- 1663–1681 Thomas Mayhew, Sr.
- 1664–1667 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1673–1689 John Mayhew
- 1694–1758 Experience Mayhew
- 1701–1723 Josiah Torrey
- 1727–1752 Nathaniel Hancock
- 1767–1786 Zachariah Mayhew
Meeting house: 1690, still standing in 1786.
34. Gay Head. Indian Baptist Church at Gay Head, 1702.
Unlike all the other Indian congregations on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, which were Congregational, this society began as an independent Anabaptist church. It was never large, but in 1702 there were about 30 members, ten of whom were men, out of a total Indian population at that time of some 300 souls. After 1792 this church evidently absorbed the members of the earlier (1663) Indian Congregational Church of Gay Head. Fifteen members of this society became affiliated with the Baptist church at Holmes’ Hole 8 April 1832. Since 1855 the Baptist Missionary Society has supported a series of missionary preachers here. It is extraordinary that this church, for fully a century the weakest of the Indian churches of Martha’s Vineyard, should alone have survived them all and at the present day is the only church in the town of Gay Head.
Colonel Charles Edward Banks, the historian of the Vineyard, wrote of the founding of this church: “It may be doubted whether any Indian of that day had a clear conception of the white man’s religion as an abstruse proposition, to say nothing of its various sectarian interpretations.”
All of the preachers of this church before 1855 were Indians. Isaac Decamy came from a mainland family. Josias Hossuit, Jr., was preaching here in 1727 when the congregation was called “a small society of Baptists.” Samuel Kakenehew lived at Chappaquiddick and preached here as well as there. Silas Paul, the only Baptist preacher on the Vineyard during his ministry, was born in 1738, baptized in 1758, began preaching here in 1763, and died 22 August 1787. Thomas Jeffers was born in Plymouth, 1742, and died at Gay Head 30 August 1818, aged 76 years. Joseph Amos came to Gay Head from Mashpee. In 1839 there were 47 communicants.
Native ministers:
- 1702–1702 Josias Hossuit
- 1702–1708 Stephen Tackamason
- 1708–1720 Isaac Decamy
- 1720–1727 Josias Hossuit, Jr.
- post 1727 Ephraim Abraham
- died 1763 Samuel Kakenehew
- 1763–1787 Silas Paul
- 1792–1818 Thomas Jeffers
- 1832–1855 Joseph Amos
The present meeting house is on the main road between Menemsha and Squibnocket Ponds.
35. Gay Head. Indian Praying Town at Gay Head.
This praying town was distinct from the other two churches of Gay Head and had a meeting house of its own. How long it lasted is not known but, being Congregationalist, its surviving members must have joined the first church in this place eventually. It had the benefit, with all the other praying towns on the Vineyard, of the oversight and preaching of the missionaries of the island.
Indian preachers:
- 1683–1714 Elisha Paaonut
- 1698–1722 Abel Wauwompukque
36. Gosnold. Indian Praying Towns on the Elizabeth Islands.
The Elizabeth Islands are thirteen in number, but some are very small. Together they make up the township of Gosnold. The more important islands may be remembered by the rhyme:
Cuttyhunk and Penakeese,
Nashawena, Pasquenese,
Great Naushon, Nonamesset,
Uncatena, and Wepecket.
The most important and largest, being seven and a half miles long, is Naushon. Major Winthrop’s Island is so-called because it was owned by Major-General Wait Winthrop, one of the Commissioners of the New England Company of 1649.
In 1671 Mr. Mayhew stated that there were then 15 families of Indians on the Elizabeth Islands, seven of which were praying families. In 1698 nine families of praying Indians on Major Winthrop’s Island belonged to the church on Martha’s Vineyard of which Japheth was the minister (Gay Head, No. 33). Three families at Saconeset Point in Falmouth attended services here. The missionaries from Martha’s Vineyard visited the Islands from time to time and preached here. Mr. John Weeks, an Englishman, was the resident missionary.
Native preachers:
- ca. 1698 Asa
- ca. 1700 Jannohquosso
- 1709–1727 Daniel Shohkow
- ca. 1711 Sampson Natusoo
Missionaries:
- 1670–1681 Thomas Mayhew
- 1698–1717 Mr. John Weeks
37. Grafton. Hassanamesit Indian Church, 1671.
John Eliot began preaching at Hassanamesit as early as 1651, and through his efforts an Indian church was gathered here in 1671, being the second church of praying Indians in the Bay Colony. At that time there were 12 Indian families or 60 souls settled here, of whom 16 were church members in full communion and 30 others were baptized Indians. Indeed, several members of the Natick church had been living here as early as 1669. The name of the town, Hassanamesit, means “a place of small stones” and was situated on the Old Connecticut Path not far from the Nipmuc (or Blackstone) River. Its area was four square miles, about 8,000 acres, with rich land, plenty of meadow and well watered. “It produceth plenty of corn, grain and fruit, for there are several good orchards in the place.” The natives also kept cattle and swine and were as prosperous as in any Indian town in the country.
During King Philip’s War the Indians remained loyal and friendly to the English, though they suffered more at the hands of the English than from the enemy. Early in the war many went down to Natick with other praying Indians of the vicinity whence, unfortunately, all were sent to Deer Island, Boston Harbor, where about 500 friendly praying Indians were confined throughout the war. When finally, in desperation, the English decided to trust them, a number of them volunteered as scouts and a military company of Indians was formed which in short order, because of their intimate knowledge of the wilderness, brought about the destruction of the enemy Indians. They were allowed, eventually, to return to their praying towns, much reduced in numbers, for many had died of exposure, disease and hunger on Deer Island. The church in Grafton was re-established and the Indians remained here peacefully for several generations. In 1698 there were five families. By 1765 Hutchinson reported eight or ten families (40 or 50 persons) at Grafton, and in 1849 there were still a number of Grafton Indians living here.
Joseph Tuckappawill (Tappakkoowillim or Tuppukkoowelim), “a pious and able man, and apt to teach,” began preaching here as early as 1669 and served as a scout in King Philip’s War. James Printer, his brother, also served the colonists faithfully as a scout during the war and was employed by the New England Company as preacher and teacher in this place from 1708 (and doubtless much earlier) to 1717, when a small pension was paid by the Company to his widow Mary for his long and useful service. He was called James “Printer” because he helped print and proofread the Eliot Bible.
Indian preachers:
- 1669–1677 Joseph Tuckappawill
- 1698–1717 James Printer
Missionaries:
- 1651–1680 John Eliot
- 1680–1715 Grindall Rawson
38. Harwich. Satucket Praying Town.
The Indian praying town of Satucket (Sawkattucket, Saquetucket or Sahquatucket) was located chiefly in the northwest corner of the present township of Harwich, though some of the Indians may have lived in what is now Brewster (the original parish of Harwich) and in Dennis. In 1685 (with Dennis) there were 121 adult natives in this town, and in 1694 there were 14 praying families (about 84 persons). By 1712 there were 140; in 1762 64 Indians; but in 1792 there were only six or seven Indians left. Mr. Treat was the active missionary here.
Indian preachers:
- 1685–1714 Manasseh
- 1711–1714 Hercules
- ca. 1714 Menekish
- 1762–1770 John Ralph
Missionaries:
- 1674–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1681–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1708–1726 Daniel Greenleaf
- 1675–1717 Samuel Treat
39. Kent, Conn. Scatacook Moravian Indian Mission, 1740.
In 1740 the Reverend Christian Henry Rauch, a Moravian missionary, established an Indian mission at Shekomeko, New York, some 22 miles west of Scatacook. Through his preaching numerous converts were made at Scatacook, which by that time had become the headquarters for the remnants of the several tribes of the lower Housatonic valley in western Connecticut. By 1752 about 120 Indians had been baptized there, virtually all the inhabitants, including the sachem. A school and a church were built and the congregation flourished for a few years, but the mission was abandoned in 1763.
Missionary:
- 1742–1744 Christian Henry Rauch
40. Lakeville. Nemasket Indian Church, 1665.
The first Indian minister of this church may also be considered the first Christian martyr of his race. He was John Sassamon (or Wussausmon), a Punkapoag Indian, born at Dorchester, served with the English in the Pequot War, 1637, became a convert and was educated in the Indian department of Harvard College, was employed as a schoolmaster at Natick, and is said to have aided John Eliot in translating the Indian Bible. After a time he left Natick to become King Philip’s secretary. Subsequently he was chosen minister of this church at Nemasket (then in Middleborough, now Lakeville), where he was given a house lot in Assawompsett Neck. On 29 January 1675/6 he was found drowned under the ice in Assawompsett Pond with marks of violence upon his body. Three Indian henchmen of Philip were tried, convicted and executed for his murder, there being little doubt but that it occurred by Philip’s command because of Sassamon’s success in converting the Indians to Christianity.
There were 70 Indians here in 1685 but early in the next century this church united with the church at Titicut.
Indian ministers:
- 1673–1675 John Sassamon
- ca. 1685 Stephen
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1689–1727 Samuel Danforth
- 1707–1744 Peter Thacher
The meeting house, built ca. 1665, was burned in King Philip’s War.
41. Lakeville. Assawompsett Indian Church, 1665.
Probably Sassamon was also the first minister of this church (see Nemasket above). In 1666 all these congregations (Nemasket, Titicut and Assawompsett) were in a flourishing condition though they may not have been organized as churches at that early date. The Assawompsett meeting house was near the old Pond Church. In 1698 there were 20 houses (or 80 persons) in this place which was then in Middleborough and is now in Lakeville. Assawompsett Pond is the largest pond in Massachusetts.
John Hiacoomes was the son of the native preacher of that name at Chappaquiddick in Edgartown. The Assawompsett church eventually was absorbed by the Titicut church.
Native ministers:
- 1673–1675 John Sassamon
- 1698–1711 Jocelin
- 1698–1718 John Hiacoomes
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1689–1727 Samuel Danforth
- 1707–1744 Peter Thacher
42. Lakeville. Quittacus Praying Town.
The praying town of Quittacus (or Aquittacus) on Great Quittacus Pond in Lakeville consisted of seven houses (about 42 persons) in 1698. The inhabitants were associated with Assawompsett church.
43. Lancaster. Nashaway Indian Town.
The word Nashaway means “land between the rivers,” a perfect description of the central part of the town of Lancaster. Yet while it contained several praying Indians, including the sachem, Sholan, Nashaway was only one of the “hopeful” towns. In 1648 Mr. Eliot wrote: Sholan, “the great sachym of Nashaway doth embrace the Gospel & pray unto God, I have been foure times there this Summer, and there be more people by far then amongst us, and sundry of them do gladly hear the word of God, but it is neer 40 miles off and I can but seldom goe to them; whereat they are troubled and desire I should oftener, and stay longer when I come.”
John Prescott, the founder of the English settlement at Lancaster who had discovered the new way (Bay Path) to Connecticut, guided Eliot the next year to Amoskeag, New Hampshire, 1649, by way of Wamesit (Lowell). The Apostle preached again in Lancaster in 1649 where “their good affection is manifested to me and to the good work I have in hand.” (See John Eliot’s letters in Edward Winslow’s The Glorious Progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New England, 1649, and in his own A further Discovery of the present state of the Indians) Washacum, in the second precinct of Lancaster, now Sterling, was the summer residence of the Nashaways. Jethro, a member of the Natick church, was sent to Washacum as minister and teacher in 1674 but little was accomplished here for King Philip’s War soon broke out. Lancaster was attacked 22 August 1675 and several settlers were killed, while on 10 February 1675/6 Lancaster was sacked and burned, Mrs. Rowlandson and many others were carried away captive or massacred and the town had to be abandoned for two or three years. Most of the Nashaway Indians did not return. (See The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, Frederick L. Weis, Editor (Boston, 1930), 2–11, 83–86.
44. Little Compton, Rhode Island. Sakonnet Praying Town.
As early as 1674 these Indians were under the charge of Mr. Cotton who preached regularly to them with the Coxit Indians of Westport at Acushnet in Dartmouth. In 1698 there were 40 praying Indians here, 20 of whom were men. A native preacher, Samuel Church (called Mr. Sam, alias Sochawahham) preached here in 1685 and may have served here until 1711, when he was stationed at Fall River. In 1685 we find “at Sekonett, Mr. Sam sometimes teacher, now George” where 90 Indians were under his care. At that time Little Compton was part of Dartmouth in Plymouth Colony. Later it was ceded to Rhode Island.
Indian preachers:
- 1685–1711 Samuel Church
- ca. 1685 George
- 1714–1718 John Simons
- 1714–1718 Benjamin Nompash
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1697–1700 Eliphalet Adams
- 1704–1748 Richard Billings
45. Littleton. Nashobah Praying Town.
Nashobah, near Nagog Pond, was the sixth Indian praying town. The area of this village was four miles square. In the records of the General Court, 14 May 1654, is the following: “In ansr to the peticon of Mr. Jno. Elliott, on behalf of seuerall Indians, the Court graunts his request, viz.: liberty for the inhabitants of Nashop [Nashobah] and to the inhabitants of Ogkoontiquonkames [Marlborough] and also to the inhabitants of Hasnemesuchoth [Grafton] to erect seuerall Indian townes in the places propunded, wth convenjent acomodacon to each, provided they prjudice not any former graunts; nor shall they dispose of it wth out leave first had and obtajned from this Court.” Here in Nashobah in 1674 there were ten families, or about 50 souls. The land was fertile, well stored with meadows and woods, and good ponds for fishing nearby. They also had apple orchards which furnished them with cider, the cause of much drunkenness among them. Their minister was John Thomas, a sober and pious man.
The town was deserted during King Philip’s War. They went first to dwell with Mr. John Hoar at Concord but were soon sent down to Deer Island, Boston Harbor, where they suffered greatly. On 11 November 1676 they were back at Concord, still numbering 50, ten men and 40 women and children. Later most of them settled at Natick and very few of them ever returned to Nashobah.
Indian preacher:
- 1669–1714 John Thomas
Missionary:
- 1654–1676 John Eliot
46. Lowell. Wamesit Praying Town.
Wamesit (Pawtuckett or Pentucket) was the fifth Indian praying town. It was situated at the junction of the Concord and Merrimac Rivers and at first consisted of two settlements about two miles apart which were later joined as one town. The Indians hereabouts were almost entirely destroyed by the pest of 1612/3 and were further reduced in the war with the Mohawks by death, wounds and captivity. In 1670 there were 15 families, or about 75 souls, but by 1674 this number had grown to 250 Indians, men, women and children. The settlement within the bounds of what is now Lowell was at that time partly in Chelmsford and partly in Tewksbury.
The plantation consisted of about 2,500 acres of land which was fertile and yielded an abundance of corn. Good fishing was also to be had here—salmon, shad, eels, sturgeon, bass, etc. During the fishing season many strange Indians resorted to this place, which was harmful to the progress of its religious development.
Mr. Eliot preached here in 1649 and frequently thereafter. About 1669 a praying town was established. The minister from 1670 to 1675 was called Samuel. He was the son of the ruler, Numphow, and could speak and write in English and in the Indian tongue, having been one of those who were “bred up at school at the charge of the Corporation for the Indians.”
Messrs. Eliot and Gookin visited this place each May when Mr. Eliot preached not only to the praying Indians but also to those strange Indians who could be persuaded to hear him. By this means, on 5 May 1674, Wannalancet, eldest son of old Pasaconway, chief sachem of Pawtuckett, became a praying Indian and attended meetings each Sunday thereafter.
At the time of King Philip’s War Symon Beckom, the native preacher, and George the teacher with many of the tribe escaped to Pennacook (Concord), New Hampshire, and joined Wannalancet there where they remained for a season, but by 1684 they had returned to Wamesit and there was stated preaching here at that time.
Native preachers:
- 1669–1675 George
- 1670–1675 Samuel (H. C.)
- 1675–1685 Symon Beckom
Missionary:
- 1649–1675 John Eliot
47. Marlborough. Okkokonimesit or Okommakamesit Praying Town.
This village, originally granted in 1654 (see Littleton), contained in 1674 several church members affiliated with Natick church and about ten families, or 50 souls, and covered about 6,000 acres of land. Much of it was very good land, well husbanded, and yielded plenty of corn. There were also several good orchards here which they had planted. But the English at Marlborough so greatly outnumbered them that the Indians did not flourish here and were uncomfortable in their situation. Their minister was named Solomon.
During King Philip’s War the Indians of Grafton, Hopkinton (Ashland), Oxford (Sutton) and Dudley (Webster) abandoned those towns and settled in Marlborough, but not for long. For they were removed to Deer Island, Boston Harbor, until after the war when most of the survivors eventually settled at Natick or in other Indian plantations.
Indian preachers:
- 1669–1675 Nausquonit (retired)
- 1669–1675 Job (H. C.)
- 1669–1675 Sampson
- 1675–1676 Solomon
Missionary:
- 1654–1675 John Eliot
48. Mashpee. Indian Congregational Church at Mashpee.
Due to the efforts of the Reverend Richard Bourne the present township of Mashpee, 16 square miles in area, was bought and set aside forever as an Indian township. The deed was drawn “so that no part or parcel” of the lands “could be bought by or sold to any white person or persons without the consent of all the said Indians; not even with the consent of the General Court.” This instrument, with the foregoing condition, was then ratified by the General Court of Plymouth Colony.
“The Reverend John Eliot went down to Mashpee, where Richard Bourne, a godly man, on the 17th of August, 1670, was ordained minister of an Indian church which was gathered upon that day, and the Indians and such of their children as were present were baptized.” This was the mother church of all the praying Indians on the Cape, quite a number of whom, in the several praying towns in which they lived, held membership in the Mashpee church. As in all the other Indian Congregational churches the ministers and missionaries of this church were supported in part or wholly by the “Company for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians of New England and Parts Adjacent” and the Daniel Williams Trust Fund for the Perpetuation of Preaching to the Indians until the year 1786, and thereafter, in the case of Mashpee and other churches, but principally Mashpee, by the Williams Fund and until 1858 by the “Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others in North America, 1787.”
The Reverend Daniel Williams, a London clergyman, died in 1711 and left by will the fund which bears his name. “I give the remainder of my estate, to be paid yearly to the College of Cambridge in New England, or to such as are usually employed to manage the blessed work of converting the poor Indians there, to promote which I design this part of my gift.” In 1775 the New England Company and the Williams Fund were each supporting 16 missionaries. Mr. Hawley received from the Fund $100 yearly, Mr. Phinehas Fish from $390 to $433. Today the income is about $700, and two-thirds of this fund is still spent at Mashpee. During the ministry of Mr. Hawley, in 1757, the present meeting house was built by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England. On 9 September 1923 President Abbott Lawrence Lowell, as President of Harvard College, the Trustee of the Williams Fund, took part in the rededication of the church building. At that time the following memorial was erected:
old indian church
built in 1684
remodeled in 1717
rededicated in 1923
in memory of the friends who labored
among the indians.
to the ones who gave more
grounded hopes of adoration
of the things of god.
in 1711 daniel williams left a trust fund in charge of
harvard college for the perpetuation of preaching to the
indians
indian preachers
simon popmonet
solomon briant
william apes
joseph amos, the blind preacher
that it may stand in all future years
the indestructible record of a rugged race
now to their gentle memory be naught
but kind regards and to their quiet
ashes—peace.
The Congregational Indian Church, founded in 1660, became extinct in 1858 and the present Indian Church is now affiliated with the Baptist denomination.
In 1674 there were 27 Indians in full communion with the church and 90 baptized Indians. By 1693 there were 214 adult Indians in this congregation. In 1698, 263 Indians dwelt here. In 1762 there were 75 families of the red men; but by 1792 there were 280 Indians, largely of mixed blood. By 1800 there were 380 souls in 80 Indian houses, and during that year Isaac Simon died, the last Indian of Mashpee of pure Indian blood. By 1812 there were 357 worshippers, but by 1930 the population was 361, all of some Indian descent but mostly mixed with Negro or Portuguese blood. In 1945 there were 343.
Native preachers:
- ca. 1685 Josiah Shanks
- 1682–1725 Simon Popmonnit
- 1720–1775 Solomon Briant
- 1725–1759 Joseph Briant
- 1833–1855 William Apes
- ca. 1840 Joseph Amos (Baptist)
Ministers and missionaries:
- 1662–1682 Richard Bourne
- 1682–1719 Shearjashub Bourne
- 1693–1721 Roland Cotton
- 1719–1764 Ezra Bourne
- 1729–1742 Joseph Bourne
- 1754–1758 Joseph Green
- 1757–1807 Gideon Hawley
- 1808–1811 Elisha Clap
- 1812–1840 Phinehas Fish
- Meeting houses: (1) 1660; (2) 1684; (3) 1714; (4) 1758, built by the New England Company, remodelled 1817, rededicated 1923.
49. Mashpee. Canaumet Praying Town.
The small praying towns of Canaumet (or Codtanmut), Shumuit (or Ashumuit) in Mashpee, and Weesquobs nearby contained in 1674 22 praying Indians (12 adults and ten young people) of whom 13 could read, seven could write and two could read English. These villages were supplied from time to time by the ministers from Mashpee and were under the jurisdiction of the missionaries of that place. At other times they attended the Mashpee church.
Indian preachers:
- ca. 1685 Josiah Shanks
- 1685–1725 Simon Popmonnit
Missionaries:
- 1662–1685 Richard Bourne
- 1694–1721 Roland Cotton
50. Mashpee. Cotuit Praying Town.
The small praying towns of Cotuit (partly in Mashpee and partly in the southwest portion of Barnstable), Pawpoesit, Santuit (Satuit), together with Mashpee Church and Waquoit (Wakoquet) in Falmouth, contained 95 praying Indians (70 adults and 25 young men and maids), of whom 24 could read, ten could write, and two could read English. The Indian preachers and missionaries of Mashpee church officiated here and at the four following praying towns. Later the people of these small towns went to the center of the town to Mashpee church.
51. Mashpee. Pawpoesit Praying Town.
(Same as Cotuit, No. 50 above.)
52. Mashpee. Santuit (or Satuit) Praying Town.
(Same as Cotuit, No. 50 above.)
53. Mashpee. Shumuit (or A shumuit) Praying Town.
(Same as Canaumet, No. 49 above.)
54. Mashpee. Weesquobs Praying Town.
(Same as Canaumet, No. 49 above.)
55. Mendon. Quinshepauge (or Nipmuc) Praying Town.
The Quinshepauge praying town, on the edge of Nipmuc Pond, was organized by John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians, before King Philip’s War but was abandoned at that time when Philip’s Indians burned the meeting house of the English settlers (built in 1668/9) in 1675. They returned soon after the war. Their native preachers are unknown, if indeed they had any, except as they may have attended worship at Grafton.
Missionaries:
- 1675–1680 John Eliot
- 1680–1715 Grindall Rawson
56. Middleborough. Titicut Indian Church, 1665.
The Indian Church of Titicut (or Kektekicut) was organized in 1674 or thereabouts, though a meeting house had been built here as early as 1665. In the former year there were 35 Indian families (about 100 persons) in the congregation; in 1685 there were 70 adult Indians; but by 1694 there were only about 40 left. The church lasted until 1760 when the few remaining Indians began to worship with the whites at the Independent Church of Titicut.
Probably John Sassamon was the first minister of this church. He was followed by Stephen who officiated here in 1685. Charles Aham was the minister in 1698 and was followed by Nehemiah Abel who later removed to Slocum’s Island where he was the teacher in 1712. Thomas Sekins succeeded Nehemiah Abel. Thomas Felix, who also served as the local magistrate, was minister in 1712. He was followed by John Simon who removed early, for he was settled at Sakonnet, Little Compton, 1714–1718. Joseph Joshnin served from 1710 to 1718 and probably much longer, while John Symons, the last native minister on record, preached here from 1747 to 1757. John Cotton, Jr., preached here regularly, as did Peter Thacher, from 1708 to 1713, and probably until his death in 1744.
Indian ministers:
- 1673–1675 John Sassamon
- ca. 1685 Stephen
- ca. 1698 Charles Aham
- ante 1712 Nehemiah Abel
- ante 1712 Thomas Sekins
- ca. 1712 Thomas Felix
- 1698–1714 John Simons
- 1710–1718 Joseph Joshnin
- 1747–1757 John Symons
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1689–1727 Samuel Danforth
- 1707–1744 Peter Thacher
- Meeting house: 1665; this one or its successor was later used by the Separatist Church of Middleborough.
Montville, Conn. Mohegan Praying Town, 1660, see Norwich.
57. Montville, Conn. Mohegan Baptist Church, 1770.
This church was probably in or near the Mohegan reservation of 2,700 acres in the town of Montville. The Reverend Samson Occum, a celebrated Indian preacher educated by Dr. Eleazer Wheelock, shepherded the first contingent of Mohegan Indians from this place to Oneida, New York, where ultimately most of the Mohegan tribe went including, perhaps, this congregation. In 1831 a meeting house was built in the Mohegan reservation for those who remained and the Reverend Anson Gleason began his labors here in 1832.
58. Mount Desert Island, Maine. St. Sauveur Mission, 1613.
In June, 1613, two French Jesuit priests, Father Peter Biard and Father Ennemond Masse, began the mission of St. Sauveur at Fernald’s Point at the entrance of Somes Sound, Mount Desert Island. But the colonists were expelled shortly after as trespassers on English soil by Captain Samuel Argall of Virginia who destroyed the mission and took Father Biard with him to Virginia.
59. Mystic, Conn. Indian Mission at Mystic, 1659.
The Reverend William Tompson (Harvard College, 1653) lived here in 1659 while he was a missionary for the “Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians of New England” and had a mission among the Pequots (Mohegans) in this place.
60. Nantucket. Occawan Indian Church, 1665.
At the time of the settlement of Nantucket by the English in 1661 there were about 3,000 Indians on this island. By the year 1674 there were 300 praying families. The church at that time consisted of 30 Indians in full communion, 20 of them males and ten females. Forty children had been baptized. The natives were then settled in three praying towns: Oggawame (Occawan), half way on the road to Siasconset, near Gibbs Swamp; Wammasquid; and Squatesit.
Peter Folger came to Nantucket in 1663. He could speak and write in the Indian language and must have preached often in the Occawan meeting house and at other places on the island. The English settlers in 1674, we are told, numbered 27 families, many of them being Anabaptists and the rest Quakers.
Mr. Cotton visited the island during that year. He spoke often to the Nantucket Indians who worked each summer around Boston as farm laborers and to help get in the harvests. Many were pious, Mr. Cotton declared, most of them “sober, diligent, and industrious,” which he calls commendable qualifications. He desires and prays, however, that all praying Indians may more and more increase in virtue and piety—so obviously he felt that there was still room for improvement.
In 1694 there were 500 adults in five assemblies of praying Indians and three churches, of which two were Congregational and one Baptist. Four years later, when the Reverend Messrs. Danforth and Rawson visited the island, there were still 500 adult praying Indians, two churches with 20 communicants each, five congregations and one meeting house. The churches continued to flourish up to the year 1700. After that the Indian population declined slowly until, on 16 August 1763, there were 358 praying Indians of whom 220 died of a fever the next fall and winter, reducing their number to 138 on 16 February 1764. In 1784 there were 35 left, and in 1792 there remained four males and 16 females. The last Indian of the Nantucket tribe, Abraham Api Quady, died in 1854 at the age of 84 years.
At the height of their strength, however, there were four Indian meeting houses, the first being at Occawan, five miles east of the town of Nantucket, the second at Myercommet, south of the town, the third near Polpis, northeast of the town, and the fourth at Plainfield.
With the decline of the Indian population after 1700 the number of native preachers also declined until, by 1727, there were none left on the island. Previous to this time, however, the Reverend Samuel Wiswall, later of Edgartown, preached here from 1710 to 1712 and, in 1728, the Reverend Joseph Baxter baptized 35 Indians on Nantucket. In 1727 the Reverend Timothy White was employed by the “Company for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians of New England and Parts Adjacent” to preach to the Nantucket Indians, which he continued to do each month from October, 1728, to 1751. Thereafter the missionaries on Martha’s Vineyard made stated visits to the Indian churches of Nantucket until this first Indian church became extinct about the year 1800.
Indian ministers:
- 1665–1670 John Hiacoomes
- 1665–1698 John Gibbs, alias Assasammogh
- ca. 1698 Job Muckemuck
- 1710–1718 Jonahauwasuit
- ca. 1718 Jonas Asosit or Hasaway
- ca. 1770 Benjamin Tarshema
Missionaries:
- 1665–1681 Thomas Mayhew, Sr.
- 1665–1667 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1665–1690 Peter Folger
- 1673–1689 John Mayhew
- 1694–1758 Experience Mayhew
- 1710–1712 Samuel Wiswall
- 1727–1751 Timothy White
- 1767–1806 Zachariah Mayhew
61. Nantucket. Second Indian Church, 1694.
This church was founded between 1674 and 1694. John Asherman was the native preacher in 1698 and at that time there were 20 communicants. How long it continued to exist we do not know, but probably by 1727 it had merged with the first Indian church and thus enjoyed the preaching of Mr. White. Caleb, a native minister, preached at another church than the first church, which was perhaps this one.
Native ministers:
- ca. 1674 Caleb ca. 1698 John Asherman
Missionaries:
- 1710–1712 Samuel Wiswall 1727–1752 Timothy White
62. Nantucket. Third or Indian Baptist Church, 1694.
Save for the fact that such a church existed in 1694 we know nothing about this church. By 1698 it may have become extinct since Messrs. Danforth and Rawson do not mention it.
63. Nantucket. Wammasquid Praying Town.
This was one of the three praying towns in 1674. The names of the Indian preachers on Nantucket at that time were John Gibbs (at Occawan), Joseph, Samuel and Caleb at the other two towns (i.e., Wammasquid and Squatesit) but which teachers were assigned to each of these three towns is not known. In 1698 there were five praying towns, the ministers being Job Muckemuck (at Occawan); John Asherman; Quequenah, Netowah, a man greatly esteemed, and Peter Hayt, a well-carriaged and serious man; Wunnohson and Daniel Spotso; and Codpoganut and Noah, a zealous preacher. It is difficult to assign them to the several villages. (See also towns numbered 64 and 65 below.) The resident missionaries to these Indian churches and praying towns were:
1674–1690 Peter Folger 1727–1751 Timothy White 1710–1712 Samuel Wiswall
64. Nantucket. Squatesit Praying Town.
This was the third praying town in 1674. (See No. 63 above.)
65. Nantucket. Fifth Praying Town.
This was the fifth praying town in 1698, name unknown. (See No. 63 above.)
66. Natick. Indian Church at Natick, 1660. Congregational.
The Reverend John Eliot (Jesus College, Cambridge, 1622). The Reverend John Eliot, Jr. (Harvard College, 1656).
This was the first Indian church to be founded in the Bay Colony. It was gathered by the Reverend John Eliot, the “Apostle” to the Indians, in 1660, though he had preached regularly to the Natick Indians every fortnight since 1646 when they were living at Nonantum in Newton. (Nonantum means “rejoicing”; Natick, “a place of hills.”)
By 1650 the English settlers were increasing rapidly in numbers in the vicinity of Nonantum and Mr. Eliot believed that in some instances they were exerting a bad influence upon the Indians. He felt that the Indians would fare better in a more remote situation. Moreover, their territory in Newton was growing too small for them and he wished for much more room in order to gather together the natives from the surrounding countryside into a homogeneous community. He wished to make a fair experiment of civilizing them. If he could be successful in forming one well-governed, Christianized town, he hoped to form many more after the same model. The territory a dozen miles to the west was still a wilderness, seemed to answer the needs of the Indians, so it was chosen by them and the place was called Natick. Then the Indians removed from Nonantum to Natick where 6,000 acres of land was granted to them in 1651 by the General Court of Massachusetts. Three long streets were laid out, two on one side of the river and one on the other. To each house built was attached a piece of ground. Most of the houses were built after the Indian fashion, but a school house and a meeting house, 25 by 50 feet, were erected in the English style. A fort, enclosed by a stockade, was also built. Finally, the Indians constructed a bridge 80 feet long over the river to connect the different parts of the town.
The natives were then organized as a civil government with their own officers and, in 1660, as a church with native officers, teachers, deacons, members of the church, and baptized children. Ten years later the church consisted of 50 members. In 1674 there were 29 families, or 145 individuals, living here, and in 1698 there were 59 men, 51 women and 70 children. The church was dissolved soon after 1698 at which time there was a small church of seven men and three women. Services were continued, however, and a new church was organized 3 December 1729 to include the few English inhabitants of the town. This second church was dissolved in 1752. A second English and Indian church was formed in 1753 but again was dissolved in 1803, by which time the English were settled in a different part of the town of Natick. The relative rights and numbers of the English and Indians were responsible for the several organizations and dissolutions of the church.
Being a wandering people, members of the Natick church frequently lived in the several neighboring praying towns and many of the choicest members of the church were sent out to serve as ministers, elders, deacons and preachers in these other towns. By 1671 a group of Natick Indians, living in Grafton, were dismissed to form a church there. (See Grafton.)
During King Philip’s War the praying Indians remained friendly to the English, often serving as scouts and spies for the colonial troops. This aggravated the resentment of the pagan Indians against the Christian Indians and forced the latter to remove from their exposed frontier towns. Thus, those living at Pakachoog (Auburn), Hassanamesit (Grafton), Magunkog (Ashland), Okkokonimesit (Marlborough), Wamesit (Lowell), and other praying towns, sought safety at Natick until there were too many to be accommodated here. Then for a time Natick itself had to be abandoned, the Indians being sent to live on Deer Island, Boston Harbor.
After the war, on 10 November 1676, the Massachusetts praying Indians were split up into four companies as follows: (1) at Medfield, 25 with James Rumney Marsh in charge; (2) 50 at Natick (Andrew Dewing’s); (3) 62 at Newton (near Charles River); and (4) 25 more at Newton (on Nonantum Hill). Thus is accounted for the 42 males and 120 women and children, a total of 162 Indians, who survived the war from this section of the country.
For 40 years Mr. Eliot preached to these people every other Sunday. At first he had the help of his son, John, who was settled as the minister at Newton nearby, but when the son died in 1668 the whole burden again fell on the “Apostle’s” shoulders. By 1681 Daniel Gookin (son of Major-General Daniel Gookin, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs) had learned to speak the Algonquin language and began to preach here in Natick, as well as to carry on the duties of his own church at Sherborn, several miles away, where he was the settled minister. His successor at Natick, Daniel Baker, also preached at Sherborn. After his death in 1720 the Reverend Oliver Peabody became the missionary at Natick in 1721, was ordained there in 1729, and preached to the Indians until his death in 1752. At the time of his ordination there were 30 Indian families in Natick and only eight English households in other parts of the town. Of the Indians, 16 adults were members and 12 minors had been baptized.
The last minister to the mixed congregation was the Reverend Stephen Badger. In a letter dated February, 1797, he wrote that there were then only two living Indian members, but that there were about 20 other Indians who were members of the congregation. He declared that the causes of the decrease and degradation of the Indians are drunkenness, wandering, laziness, thriftlessness and intermarriage with negroes and whites of low intelligence and bad character. Originally, however, they were a proud, self-respecting people who considered themselves on a standing of equality with the English, held up their heads and retained their native dignity. Being a race of warriors and hunters, to them labor in a field was proper work only for squaws. But when there were no longer enemies to fight, when civilization closed round about them so that they could no longer live by hunting and fishing, they became shiftless and lazy. Ownership of land meant little or nothing to them and, indeed, wilderness land was of small value in its undeveloped condition. So they sold their lands to the English who with great effort and labor turned those wild acres into productive farm lands. Hemmed in more and more by spreading farms, the Indians took to a wandering life, neglected or abandoned their small plots of land, or bartered them for rum and firearms. Thus they became a dependent race and lost their self-respect. Meanwhile, rum, tuberculosis and poverty completed their destruction. This is the sad story of the Indians of New England, a tragic end for a race which had once possessed many innate noble qualities.
All the meeting houses of this Indian church were at South Natick. The present Eliot church, built in 1828, stands on the spot where Eliot once preached, but the Indian church at Natick became extinct a century and a half ago. In 1849 there was only one Indian left at Natick, a girl 16 years of age.
Native preachers:
- 1669–1675 John Speen
- 1669–1675 Anthony
- 1690–1700 Daniel Tokkohwompait
- 1709–1719 John Neesnummin
- 1714–1727 John Thomas
Missionaries:
- 1646–1686 John Eliot
- 1664–1668 John Eliot, Jr.
- 1681–1714 Daniel Gookin, Jr.
- 1712–1720 Daniel Baker
- 1721–1752 Oliver Peabody46
- 1753–1799 Stephen Badger
Meeting houses: (1) 1651; (2) 1699; (3) 1721; (4) 1757; (5) 1828, the present Eliot Church (Unitarian) on the same spot.
67. New Bedford. Acushnet Praying Town.
The present township of Acushnet was taken from Fairhaven in 1860, which in turn was taken from New Bedford in 1812, New Bedford itself having originally been part of Dartmouth, 1787. Mr. Cotton preached here at stated intervals each year. Mr. Hunt learned the Algonquin tongue and began preaching to the natives in 1708. He was the settled minister at New Bedford, 1708–1730.
Native preachers:
- 1693–1713 John Briant ca. 1713 William Briant
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1689–1727 Samuel Danforth
- 1708–1730 Samuel Hunt
68. New London, Conn. Indian Mission at New London.
Several missionaries preached to the Mohegan Indians at this place, the first being William Tompson (Harvard College, 1653) who preached in the Indian language, 1657–1663, for the New England Company of 1649. Later Experience Mayhew of Martha’s Vineyard conducted two missions here in 1713 and 1714, and James Davenport admitted Indians to his church in 1744. The Montville Church (q.v.) was situated on the border of this town and Norwich.
Missionaries:
- 1657–1663 William Tompson
- 1713–1714 Experience Mayhew
- 1725–1758 Eliphalet Adams
69. Newton. Nonantum Praying Town, 1646.
Here John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians, began his first successful praying town in 1646 which, in 1651, removed as a body to Natick where in 1660 the first Indian church in the Massachusetts Bay Colony was gathered. (See Natick.) Missionary: 1646–1651 John Eliot
70. Norridgewock, Maine. Abanaki Indian Mission, 1646.
Father Gabriel Druillettes, formerly of Castine, founded a mission at Norridgewock among the Abanaki Indians in 1646. He remained here for a few months, during which he built a chapel, then removed to Castine again for a short time before going to Canada. He was followed by Father Joseph Aubry, and later still by Father Sebastian Rasle, whose long, self-sacrificing service among the Indians of this place lasted from 1691 to 1724.
In 1792 the Indians in the District of Maine were all Roman Catholics and were reduced to about 60 families on the Penobscot River and about 30 families at Passamaquoddy. At that time there was a mission church at each of these places.
In 1837 there remained at Old Town in Orono on the Penobscot River 95 families, in all 362 souls, all Roman Catholics. “To such a remnant is this tribe reduced—a tribe anciently and uniformly called the Tarrantine, who could bring into the field more than two thousand warriors, and who claimed the lands on both sides of the Penobscot river from its sources to its mouth.”
In 1841 at Pleasant Point in Perry, Maine, the remains of Passamaquoddy tribe numbered 120 souls, all Roman Catholic.
71. Norwich, Conn. Mohegan Mission at Norwich.
The first missionary to preach to the Mohegans with much success was the Reverend James Fitch of Norwich, 1669–1702. He was preaching to them with considerable regularity in their own language as early as 1670 and at that time had 30 grown persons and about ten young persons and children under his care. He gave the Indians about 300 acres of his own land and the town of Norwich gave more land to them. His successors were: Experience Mayhew, Eliphalet Adams, David Jewett and Jonathan Barber. About 1744 Mr. James Davenport admitted a few Indians to full communion in his church at Norwich.
The Reverend Samson Occum, who came from this vicinity, was the first Indian pupil educated by the Reverend Eleazer Wheelock at his Indian school in Lebanon (now Columbia). Occum preached here to the natives for short periods and on Long Island, New York. In 1755 and 1756 he accompanied Dr. Wheelock to England and preached there in many places to secure money to carry on the Indian school. In 1786 a few Mohegans went with Mr. Occum to Oneida, New York. This was the beginning of a general exodus of the Indians of this part of southern New England to New York state. Mr. Occum preached to his people at Brotherton, near Oneida, where he died in July, 1792. The Brotherton Indians, about 250 in number in 1791, were largely Mohegans, but also some came from Farmington, Stonington and Nehantick in Connecticut, and others from Long Island and from Charlestown, Rhode Island. John Cooper preached to the Indians at Montville in 1790.
Teachers:
- ca. 1733 Capt. John Mason
- 1737–1738 Jonathan Barber
- 1752–1757 Robert Cleland
- ca. 1770 Willard Hubbard
Native preachers:
- 1674 Weebox
- 1674 Tukamon
- 1784 Samson Occum
- 1790 John Cooper
Missionaries:
- 1660–1702 James Fitch
- 1713–1714 Experience Mayhew
- 1725–1746 Eliphalet Adams
- 1743–1744 James Davenport
- 1739–1775 David Jewett
- 1768–1773 Jonathan Barber
72. Oak Bluffs. Sanchacantacket Indian Church, 1670.
The first Indian church formed on the island of Martha’s Vineyard was gathered at Sanchacantacket (Sanchekantacket or Sengekontaket) in 1670, on which occasion Hiacoomes and John Tackanash were ordained as ministers of the native churches by Eliot, Cotton and Mayhew, and the church here was organized at the same time. It was situated near Sanchacantacket Pond, in what was then Edgartown, but is now in the township of Oak Bluffs. John Tackanash was thereupon settled here as the first minister where he remained until his death, 22 January 1683/4. He was followed by Japheth Hannit, who died on 29 July 1712. Tackanash and Hannit also preached in all the other praying towns on Martha’s Vineyard. Thomas Sockakonnit was deacon and preacher. The ministers of Edgartown and the missionaries of Martha’s Vineyard acted as overseers and preachers of this church.
Indian ministers:
- 1670–1684 John Tackanash
- 1670–1678 John Nohnoso
- Died 1688 Paul Mashquattuhkooit
- 1683–1712 Japheth Hannit
- 1698–1703 Thomas Sockakonnit
- 1698–1723 Job Peosin (Russel)
Missionaries:
- 1670–1681 Thomas Mayhew, Sr.
- 1664–1667 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1673–1689 John Mayhew
- 1694–1758 Experience Mayhew
- 1713–1746 Samuel Wiswall
- 1767–1806 Zachariah Mayhew
73. Orleans. Nauset Praying Town.
The Reverend Samuel Treat preached to the Nauset Indians in their own language for 45 years until his death on 18 March 1716/7. These Indians in 1685 occupied the territory extending from Truro to Orleans and at that time numbered 246 persons (including the Potanumaquuts). Mr. Treat made himself so perfectly acquainted with their language that he was able to speak it and write it with great fluency. Once a month he preached in the several villages. At other times the four Indian preachers read to their congregations the sermons he had written for them. Mr. Treat visited the natives in their wigwams, but before his death, however, a fatal disease swept away a great number of them. He translated the Confession of Faith into the Nauset dialect and it was printed.
Mr. Bourne reported 44 praying Indians here in 1674, 24 adults and 20 young men and maids. Of the whole number, seven could read and but two could write. There were 27 houses of Indians (about 120 souls) here in 1698. By 1764 there were only four Indians in Eastham, and in 1802 only one remained.
Native preachers:
- ca. 1685 Great Tom
- ca. 1698 Daniel Munshee
Missionaries:
- 1670–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1673–1717 Samuel Treat
- 1708–1726 Daniel Greenleaf
- 1729–1742 Joseph Bourne
- 1758–1807 Gideon Hawley and perhaps
- 1739–1772 Joseph Crocker
74. Orleans. Potanumaquut Indian Church.
This tribe was for many years the largest at the eastern end of the Cape. The southern part of Orleans was called Potanumaquut and the Potanumaquut Indians lived partly in this township and partly in Harwich, but towards the end mostly in Orleans. These natives were under the care of Mr. Treat who numbered them, along with the Nausets and Pamets, as 500 souls in 1700. At that time Thomas Coshaumag was their teacher and preacher. By 1764 there were 91 Indians at Potanumaquut, which was then the center of missionary effort and preaching at this end of the Cape and so continued for several years after this period. But by the year 1800 only three Indians remained at Potanumaquut and one in Truro.
We do not know when this praying town was organized into a church but Joseph Briant was ordained minister here in 1758.
Native preachers:
- ca. 1698 Thomas Coshaumag
- 1720–1775 Solomon Briant
- 1719–1760 Joshua Ralph
- 1758–1760 Joseph Briant
- 1762–1770 John Ralph and perhaps Elisha Ralph
Missionaries:
75. Oxford. Kekamoochuck Praying Town.
During the years the French Huguenot Church flourished in Oxford two of its ministers learned the Indian tongue and preached to the natives at the nearby village of Kekamoochuck Indians. Daniel Bondet and Jacques Laborie were employed for this work by the New England Company of 1649. (Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 26. 333–335.) Captain Gabriel Bernon, one of the commissioners of the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians of New England, etc., lived here but removed to Rhode Island soon after 1704.
Missionaries:
- 1686–1694 Daniel Bondet
- 1699–1704 Jacques Laborie
76. Pembroke. Matakeeset Praying Town.
The small village of Matakeeset was the seat of missionary activity on the part of John Cotton, Jr., and of his son, Josiah Cotton, for nearly a century. The latter compiled a dictionary of the Indian language. In 1685 there were 40 natives in this place, and in 1792 two or three families of Indians remained.
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1707–1744 Josiah Cotton
77. Plymouth. Manomet Ponds Praying Town.
Manomet was the third parish or precinct of Plymouth and was also called Kitteaumut or Catawmet. There were 40 Indians here in 1674, and in 1698 ten families or 50 persons. The Cottons preached here from 1674 to 1744 and probably longer.
Indian preachers:
- ca. 1698 William Nummuck
- 1698–1709 Jacob Hedge
- 1713–1718 Joseph Wanno
- 1757–1767 Isaac Jeffrey
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1707–1744 Josiah Cotton
78. Plymouth. Saltwater Pond Praying Town.
This pond was located on the coast below Manomet Ponds and, in 1685, there were 90 Indians here with Will Skipeag as their preacher. The Cottons, father and son, labored here also.
Indian preacher:
- ca. 1685 Will Skipeag
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1707–1744 Josiah Cotton
79. Pomfret, Conn. Quantisset Praying Town.
When John Eliot and Daniel Gookin visited this town in 1674 the Indians consisted of 20 families, or 100 souls. The town was located in the southeastern part of Old Woodstock, about four miles south of the Massachusetts Colony line. Daniel, their minister, was “a sober and pious young man from Natick.”
Indian preachers:
- 1669 Monatunkquanet
- ca. 1671 Wohwohquoshadt
- ca. 1674 Daniel
Missionary:
- 1670–1680 John Eliot
80. Rochester. Cooxisset Praying Town.
The exact location of the Cooxisset praying town is unknown to the present writer, but from the position in which it is listed in 1685 we suppose it may have been in Rochester or one of the neighboring towns. Rochester (Sippican and Mattapoiset) covers a large territory between Wareham and New Bedford, part of old Rochester now being in the newer towns of Marion and Mattapoiset. Governor Hinckley reported 85 natives here in 1685 with Indian John as their minister.
Native preacher:
- ca. 1685 Indian John
Missionaries:
- 1685–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1748–1775 Thomas West
81. Sandwich. Skauton Praying Town.
This large township originally contained the present townships of Mashpee and Bourne, two Indian churches (Mashpee and Herring Ponds) and numerous praying villages. The Reverend William Leveridge (or Leverich) was a pioneer missionary to the Indians in this town as early as 1651 and perhaps earlier.
Of the many Indian praying towns it appears that Skauton, in the northeastern part of the present town of Sandwich, was the only one left in the old township. In 1685 it contained 51 praying Indians. Eventually it was probably absorbed by the Mashpee church, although Hawley reported five wigwams (about 30 Indians) here in 1764, and nine wigwams in 1767.
Native preacher:
- ca. 1685 Simon Wickett
Missionaries:
- 1685–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1691–1722 Rowland Cotton
- 1722–1746 Benjamin Fessenden
- 1758–1807 Gideon Hawley
82. Sharon, Conn. Wequodnoc Moravian Indian Mission, 1741.
In 1741 the Reverend David Bruce began a mission here which was named Gnadensee on Indian Pond near the New York state boundary line. In a few years there were 20 or 30 converts. Bruce died in July, 1749. The last missionary was the Reverend Joseph Powell, after whose death here in 1774 the mission was discontinued.
83. Stockbridge. Housatonic Indian Church, 1734. Congregational. Reverend John Sergeant (Yale College, 1729), ordained 31 August 1735.
The Reverend Messrs. Samuel Hopkins, Stephen Williams and Jonathan Edwards with Colonels John Stoddard and Israel Williams, realizing the need of the Housatonic Indians of western Massachusetts for a village of their own with a meeting house and school, a minister and a teacher, appealed to the legislature of Massachusetts for a grant of land for this purpose. The legislature approved, granted 23,000 acres of land, comprising the present towns of Stockbridge and West Stockbridge, and guaranteed the whole tract to these Indian forever, except 385 acres apiece for the support of a minister, a schoolmaster and four white families to act as examples for the Indians. The plan was to Anglicize the Indians as a presumed help in the process of Christianizing them. The Reverend John Sergeant was engaged as their minister and the Reverend Timothy Woodbridge as their schoolmaster. The work was begun with a school of 25 Indian children in 1734. By 1737 a school house had been built and a meeting house was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, 1739.
In the meantime Mr. Sergeant had mastered the Housatonic dialect and could preach to the Indians without an interpreter. There were then 90 Indians at the mission, of whom 52 were baptized. The Society for Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians of New England and Parts Adjacent furnished the agricultural tools for the natives and the Reverend Isaac Hollis of London promised £300 annually to support 12 Indian boys in a boarding school. They were soon selected, lived with Mr. Sergeant and were taught by him. The loyalty of the Housatonic Indians was by this means completely established through the work of Mr. Sergeant.
The heads of the four white families were Ephraim Williams of Newton (father of Colonel Ephraim Williams, founder of Williams College), Josiah Jones of Weston, brother-in-law of Mr. Williams, Joseph Woodbridge, brother of the schoolmaster, and Samuel Brown. Unfortunately the perpetual guarantee of the ownership of the land was soon lost sight of and other white families began to settle in the town. By 1749 there were 53 Indian families composed of 218 persons. Of these 129 had been baptized and 42 were church members. But a year later there were 68 Indian families who owned only 4,170 acres of land while the remaining 16,500 acres were gradually sold to new white settlers.
Notwithstanding this unfortunate condition Mr. Sergeant worked unselfishly, preaching two sermons to the Indians and two sermons to the whites each Sunday, besides teaching in the Indian boarding school and making many missionary journeys among the western Indians. The pace was too great for him and he died at Stockbridge 27 July 1749.
The board of Trustees of the Indian boarding school at that time consisted of Colonel John Stoddard, Colonel Israel Williams, Reverend Stephen Williams and Reverend Jonathan Edwards. During the interim Reverend Gideon Hawley and Reverend Cotton Mather Smith taught in the boarding school. Meanwhile, the Reverend Elisha Williams, former President of Yale College, with the help of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians, founded an Indian girls school in the village.
The dismissal of the Reverend Jonathan Edwards from the church in Northampton proved to be a blessing for Stockbridge for he was at once settled as successor to Mr. Sergeant and, like him, accepted the task of teaching the twelve Indian boys in his own home.
Due to the loyalty of the Stockbridge Indians the plantation was not disturbed by the French and Indian Wars, but when, in 1754, two renegade Indians from Connecticut killed several white inhabitants, most of the Indians and whites fled to Great Barrington and the Connecticut towns until only the Edwards family and 42 Indians remained. It was some time before the panicstricken people returned, but Mr. Edwards remained with them until he was called to the Presidency of Princeton College in 1758 where he died a month after being installed.
The Indians of Stockbridge gradually increased until they numbered about 500. The Reverend Stephen West, D.D., succeeded Mr. Edwards, preaching to the Indians until 1775 when the Reverend John Sergeant, Jr., became their minister. Shortly before the Revolutionary War a township six miles square in New York state was given to the Stockbridge Indians by the Oneidas. This grant was accepted and, under the guidance of Mr. Sergeant, the entire tribe removed to New Stockbridge, New York, 1783–1785. During the period of the Stockbridge mission, however, 100 Indians had professed Christianity. In 1822 the New Stockbridge Indians again migrated to a new grant at Green Bay, Wisconsin. (For an excellent and full account of the Stockbridge experiment see Chard Powers Smith: The Housatonic, New York, 1946, pp. 111–43.)
Ministers of the Indian Church:
- 1734–1749 John Sergeant
- 1751–1758 Jonathan Edwards
- 1759–1775 Stephen West, D.D.
- 1775–1785 John Sergeant, Jr.
School teacher:
- 1734–1740 Timothy Woodbridge
Teachers of the Indian boys boarding school:
- 1740–1749 John Sergeant
- 1751–1753 Gideon Hawley
- 1734–1754 Cotton Mather Smith
- 1751–1758 Jonathan Edwards
Meeting house: 1739.
84. Stonington, Conn. Wequetequoch Indian Mission.
It is said that the Reverend James Noyes preached to the natives at this place. He was the son-in-law of Thomas Stanton, the official interpreter. Experience Mayhew preached here in 1713 and 1714 to 50 Indians.
Missionaries:
- 1732–1781 Joseph Fish
- 1733–1781 Nathaniel Eells
- ca. 1770 Edward Nedson
85. Sutton. Manchaug Praying Town.
This was a new praying town in 1674 when Eliot and Gookin visited this settlement. There were then 12 families of praying Indians, or 60 souls. Waabesktamin was assigned as their preacher, whom they gladly accepted.
Indian preacher:
- ca. 1674 Waabesktamin
Missionary:
- 1674–1676 John Eliot
86. Thompson, Conn. Manexit Praying Town.
Manexit was situated on the Quinabaug River. The Indians there in 1674 numbered about 20 families, or about 100 souls. Mr. Eliot preached to them and, after the sermon was ended, he presented unto them John Moqua, a pious and sober person, for their minister, whom they thankfully accepted.
Native minister:
- 1674 John Moqua
Missionary:
- 1674 John Eliot
87. Truro. Meshawn Praying Town.
The Meshawn (Meeshawn) or Pamet Indians lived in Provincetown but principally in Truro. They with the Punonakanit (or Ponanummakut) Indians were 72 in number in 1674, of whom 51 were adults and 21 young men and maids. Of these 25 could read and 16 could write in their own language. There were 20 houses of Indians here in 1698 (perhaps 80 Indians). Governor Hinckley said in 1685 that their minister, Potanummatack, a prudent, sober man, had recently died, much lamented. In 1792 only one Indian remained.
Native ministers:
- 1674–1685 Potanummatack
- 1685–1698 Daniel Munshe
Missionaries:
- 1670–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1673–1717 Samuel Treat
88. Uxbridge. Waeuntug Praying Town.
Waeuntug (Waeuntog or Wacantuck) was situated in the western part of Mendon, now Uxbridge, near the Nipmuc (or Blackstone) River, and contained about 50 Indians. In 1674 the ministers were James Printer, brother of Joseph of Hassanamesit, and Sasomet, both of whom lived in Grafton.
Native preachers:
- 1669–1674 James Printer
- ca. 1674 Sasomet
Missionary:
- 1669–1680 John Eliot
89. Wareham. Weweantic Praying Town.
This small Indian village is grouped with some of the Falmouth and Bourne Indians, a total of 36 Indians. Perhaps a third of them belonged here. Charles of Mannamit was probably their preacher in 1674 and Richard Bourne their missionary. Cowesit is a neck of land in this town. Missionaries:
- 1670–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1681–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1739–1787 Elisha Tupper
90. Webster. Chaubunagungamaug Praying Town.
This village contained nine families or 45 souls in 1674 and was called after the lake of the same name, being situated at the south end of it. The people were better instructed in the gospel than in any of the other new praying towns at that time. Their minister was Joseph who had been here for two years working among them though he lived at Grafton. He spoke English well and had a thorough knowledge of the scriptures. Mr. Eliot preached here in 1674, urging the people to stand fast in their faith. Joseph, son of Petavit, alias Robin, was a valuable scout for the English during King Philip’s War, but was, nevertheless, sold as a slave by the English. There was stated preaching here in 1684. Charles Gleason of Dudley was missionary here 1770–1775 and doubtless followed Perley Howe in this work, the latter being a well-known Indian missionary.
Native preacher:
- 1672–1676 Joseph
Missionaries:
- 1672–1686 John Eliot
- 1735–1743 Perley Howe
- 1744–1790 Charles Gleason
91. Wellfleet. Punonakanit (or Ponanummakut) Praying Town.
The village of Punonakanit (Billingsgate) contained 22 families of praying Indians in 1698, eleven Indians in 1760, but all had died before 1802.
Native preachers:
- 1670–1685 Potanummatack
- 1685–1698 Daniel Munshe
Missionaries:
- 1670–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1673–1717 Samuel Treat
92. Westport. Acoaxet Praying Town.
The Acoaxet or Cokesit Indians of Westport were associated with the Sakonnet Indians of Little Compton. John Cotton, Jr., preached to them at stated intervals at Acushnet. Westport was formerly a part of Dartmouth, being set off as a town 2 July 1787. There were 120 adult Indians here in 1685 at which time Isaac was their preacher. About 160 Dartmouth Indians (Acushnets, Cokesits and Sakonnets) surrendered peacefully in King Philip’s War, but in spite of promises were shipped to Deer Island, Boston Harbor, where many of them were sold as slaves in the West Indies or perished. A few returned.
Native ministers:
- ca. 1685 Isaac
- ca. 1698 Daniel Hinckley
Missionaries:
- 1669–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1689–1727 Samuel Danforth
- 1707–1744 Josiah Cotton
93. West Tisbury. Christiantown Indian Church, 1660.
The ancient settlement of praying Indians at West Tisbury (Ohkonkemme) was set apart in 1660 by Josias, the Sachem of Takemmy, and was later called Christiantown (Manitouwattootan) to commemorate the services of Governor Thomas Mayhew and his descendants who labored among the Indians as missionaries for more than two and a half centuries. The church was organized in 1680. Before the death of the Reverend John Mayhew, minister of the First Church in West Tisbury, there were about 100 members of this Indian church. In 1732 two silver flagons were presented to it by the Old South Church in Boston. Preaching was supported by the Company for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians of New England (1649) for more than a century, until 1786, when it ceased to function in New England. After that the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians, which had been organized at Boston in 1787, continued to support this church until it became extinct.
Following John Mayhew’s death the Reverend Messrs. Josiah Torrey and Nathaniel Hancock of West Tisbury supervised this congregation, frequently preaching here in the Algonquin tongue and administering the sacraments to the Indian members. By the year 1858, however, there had been no stated religious worship at Christiantown for some years and it soon became extinct, owing to an epidemic of smallpox which proved fatal to those Indians who had remained here. The present rude meeting house was erected in 1829 and now stands alone in the woods far removed from any habitation.
As far as known, Wunnanauhkomun was the first Indian minister. He died in 1676. John Amanhut, son of Sachem Wannamanhut, died here in March, 1672. Joel Sims, son of Pockqsimme, also preached here, but died young in 1680. James Sepinnu was brother of John Tackanash, the colleague of Hiacoomes. John Shohkow (alias Assaquamhut, son of Nashohkow), ruling elder and preacher, died in 1690. Micah Shohkow, his brother, a godly minister, died the same year, and Stephen Shohkow, a younger brother, was drowned on 6 August 1713. Isaac Ompany, a ruling elder and preacher, the son of Noquitompany, died 6 March 1716/7. Hosea Manhut, the son of John Amanhut, the second minister, was ordained pastor of “the Indian Church at the West End of this Island, 1724/5.”
The population of Christiantown was as follows: 1698, 82; 1762, 54; 1790, 40; 1828, 49; 1858, 53, the latter figure consisting of 23 males and 30 females.
Indian preachers:
- 1660–1676 Wunnanauhkomun
- 1670–1672 John Amanhut
- 1676–1680 Joel Sims
- 1680–1683 James Sepinnu
- 1683–1690 John Shohkow
- 1690–1690 Micah Shohkow
- 1690–1713 Stephen Shohkow
- 1713–1717 Isaac Ompany
- 1718–1719 Jabez Athern
- 1724– Hosea Manhut
Missionaries:
- 1660–1681 Thomas Mayhew, Sr.
- 1664–1667 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1673–1689 John Mayhew
- 1694–1698 Experience Mayhew
- 1701–1723 Josiah Torrey
- 1727–1752 Nathaniel Hancock
- 1767–1806 Zachariah Mayhew
- 1810–1836 Frederic Baylies
Meeting houses: (1) 1680; (2) 1695; (3) 1770, burned; (4) 1829, the present church.
94. West Tisbury. Takeme Praying Town.
How long this town of praying Indians continued is not known.
Native preacher:
- 1670–1684 John Tackanash
Missionaries:
- 1673–1689 John Mayhew
- 1701–1723 Josiah Torrey
95. Woodstock, Conn. Wabquissit Praying Town.
This place in 1674 was about four miles within the southern boundary line of Massachusetts on the Quinabaug River and contained about 30 families or 150 souls. The soil there was very rich, bearing not less than 40 bushels of Indian corn to the acre. “The sagamore inclines to religion,” said Mr. Gookin, “and keeps the meeting on sabbath days at his [long] house, which is spacious, about sixty feet in length, and twenty in width.”
The minister in 1674 was Sampson, an active and ingenious person, brother of Joseph of Chaubunagungamaug, and a brave scout and guide for the English in King Philip’s War. He was captured and killed by mistake by some Christian Indians at Mt. Wachusett, 1675. Mr. Eliot and Mr. Gookin spent 15 and 16 September 1674 at Wabquissit where Mr. Eliot preached, Sampson read the scriptures, and Mr. Gookin held court.
Native minister:
- 1674–1676 Sampson
Missionaries:
- 1674–1690 John Eliot
- 1690–1726 Josiah Dwight
96. Yarmouth. Matakees Praying Town.
There were 70 adult Indians in this praying town in 1685. Matakees (Mattakees) itself was in the northwest part of the town of Yarmouth near the small harbor now called Cummaquid. In 1713 the town of Yarmouth set off a tract of 160 acres of land between Long Pond and Bass River “for the Indian inhabitants to live upon.” This was Indian Town, located in the southern part of Yarmouth. Here about 1715 a meeting house was built near Swan’s Pond and there was an Indian burial place nearby. In 1767 there were six wigwams here. But most of these Indians died of smallpox in 1778. Late in that year the land was sold to pay the cost of attending them during the epidemic. A year later five Pawkunnawkut Indians were then living near the mouth of Bass River. In 1787 and 1797 but one wigwam remained. Solomon Briant preached to the Indians of this town from 1720 to 1775.
Native preachers:
- ca. 1685 Jeremy Robin
- 1720–1775 Solomon Briant
Missionaries:
- 1670–1681 Richard Bourne
- 1681–1697 John Cotton, Jr.
- 1708–1726 Daniel Greenleaf
- 1729–1742 Joseph Bourne
- 1754–1758 Joseph Green
- 1757–1800 Gideon Hawley
97. Columbia, Conn. Moor’s Indian Charity School, 1754.
This famous school was the forerunner of Dartmouth College. The Reverend Eleazer Wheelock, D.D., was settled as minister at Columbia (third parish in Lebanon), 4 June 1735–15 April 1770, leaving Columbia to become the first President of Dartmouth College, 1770–1779. These schools were supported by funds raised in England by Dr. Wheelock and Samson Occum, by the New England Company of 1649, by the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge among the Indians, 1709, and through the benefactions of Mr. Joshua Moor of Mansfield, Connecticut. Later, in 1763, Sir Peter Warren’s gift was used for this Indian school. Dr. Wheelock educated Occum at Columbia 1741–1744, began to teach other Indian boys 1754 and, by 1764, he had 30 scholars, half of whom were natives.
Missionary:
- 1754–1770 Eleazer Wheelock, D.D.
98. Farmington, Conn. Indian School and Mission.
The Reverend Samuel Whitman, minister of this town from 1706 to 1751, labored here among the Indians from 1737, or earlier, to 1751. John Mettawen was the native schoolmaster here in 1737. The Reverend Timothy Pitkin, who succeeded Mr. Whitman, also preached to the natives and acted as their supervisor, 1752–1785, and from 1770 to 1775, Edward Deake also taught and preached part time with him.
The natives were very numerous when the first settlers arrived in 1640, the hunting grounds and fishing places being particularly adapted and attractive to the Indians. In 1763 their number was about 100, many having previously removed to Stockbridge, the rest joining them there later.
Native teacher
- ca. 1737 John Mettawen
Missionaries:
- 1737–1752 Samuel Whitman
- 1752–1785 Timothy Pitkin
- 1770–1775 Edward Deake
99. Lyme, Conn. Niantic (Nehantic) Praying Town.
The Nehantic tribe of Indians lived in this town near a village now called Niantic. The Reverend Eliphalet Adams, minister at New London, 1708–1753, worked among these Indians 1725–1746. He was followed by David Latham who was here from 1770 to 1775 and doubtless earlier. Many Nehantics went to New Stockbridge, New York, 1783–1785.
Missionaries:
- 1725–1746 Eliphalet Adams
- 1770–1775 David Latham
100. Southampton, Long Island, N. Y. Montauk Praying Town. Here, at the eastern tip of Long Island, Samson Occum kept school for the Indians. He was ordained by the Suffolk Presbytery as a missionary and preached to the Indians of Long Island at this place.
Native minister:
- 1744–1770 Samson Occum
Missionary:
- ca. 1770 David Fowler
101. Tiverton, R. I. Pocasset Indian Town.
The Pocasset Indians were Christianized after King Philip’s War, sometime between 1687 and 1727. Probably Samuel Church of Seconnet and Fall River preached here under the care of John Cotton, Jr., of Plymouth and Samuel Danforth of Taunton.
The Reverend Othniel Campbell is recorded as the Indian missionary at this place in 1770 and 1775 and doubtless preached here to the natives during most of the years he was settled here, 1746–1775.
Missionary:
- 1770–1775 Othniel Campbell
Of these 101 Indian churches, missions, schools and praying towns, 25 were churches, 73 were praying towns and four were missions in Maine. They represent four denominations: 91 being Congregational, four Baptist, four Roman Catholic (in Maine), and two Moravian. All are extinct today except the Baptist church of Gay Head, founded in 1702. The only other Indian church in Massachusetts at the present time is the Baptist church at Mashpee which was organized by Thomas Jeffers about 1830 and now takes the place of the original Mashpee Indian Congregational Church, founded by Richard Bourne in 1660, but which became extinct in 1858.
Seventy-seven of these religious organizations were in Massachusetts, 14 in Connecticut, four in Rhode Island, four in Maine, and two were located on Long Island in the state of New York. The Dochet Island mission is called Roman Catholic though it may have been Huguenot as well, for there were present both a Roman priest and a Huguenot clergyman. It should also be borne in mind that in many towns the few Indians dwelling in these places attended and were often admitted to the local Congregational churches.
In 1774 a census revealed 1,363 Indians living in Connecticut, of whom the great part (824) lived in New London County. In 1792 there were 80 Mohegans left. Today there are none.
The Narragansett Indians of Rhode Island were strongly opposed to the propagation of the Christian religion and their sachems would not suffer the gospel to be preached to their people. Roger Williams made laudable attempts to win them but to no avail. In 1730 there were 985 Indians in Rhode Island. In 1774, by which time Bristol, Tiverton and Little Compton had been added to Rhode Island, the number was 1,482, but in 1792 there were less than 500, and today there are none.
By 1792 it is supposed there were no Indians in New Hampshire, some having removed into Canada but the greater part having become extinct. They were never very numerous in Vermont and by 1792 that state was entirely devoid of them. (1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., i. 209–211.)
In the District of Maine in 1792 there were 60 families (about 300 souls) in the Penobscot tribe and, in 1837, 362 at Old Town in Orono, all Roman Catholics. The Passamaquoddy tribe consisted of 30 families (150 souls) in 1792 and in 1841 there were 120 members of this tribe remaining in Perry, Maine, all Roman Catholics. Thus in 1792 there were 450 Indians in Maine, and in 1840 there were 482. By 1890 there were only 140 left. (See also Norridgewock.)
By the year 1849, in Massachusetts, there were at Chappaquiddick, Christiantown, Gay Head, Fall River, Mashpee (309 in 1840), Herring Pond, Grafton, Webster, Punkapoag, Natick and Yarmouth a total of 847 Indians. By this time they were generally of mixed blood. In 1945 the Indian population of Massachusetts consisted of 114 at Gay Head and 343 at Mashpee, a total of 457 souls.
* * *
Inasmuch as town boundaries have frequently changed, the following may assist in locating Indian praying towns:
- Bourne, see Sandwich
- Bridgewater, see Middleborough
- Chilmark, see Gay Head
- Concord, Littleton
- Dartmouth, Westport, New Bedford
- Dorchester, Canton
- Dudley, Webster
- Eastham, Orleans
- Edgartown, Oak Bluffs
- Elizabeth Isles, Gosnold
- Freetown, Fall River
- Hopkinton, Ashland
- Lakeville, Middleborough
- Lebanon, Columbia
- Martha’s Vineyard, see Chilmark, Edgartown, Gay Head, Oak Bluffs, West Tisbury
- Mendon, Uxbridge
- Middleborough, Lakeville
- Montville, New London, Norwich
- New Bedford, Dartmouth
- New London, see Montville, Norwich
- Norwich, see New London, Montville
- Oak Bluffs, see Edgartown
- Oxford, see also Sutton
- Sandwich, Bourne
- Scituate, Pembroke
- Stoughton, Canton
- Woodstock, Pomfret, Thompson
- Worcester, Auburn
Index of Indian Place Names
- Acoaxet, see Westport
- Acushnet, New Bedford
- Aquittacus, Lakeville
- Ashumuit, Mashpee
- Assawompsett, Lakeville
- Canaumet, Mashpee
- Cataumet, Bourne
- Catawmut, Plymouth
- Chaubunagungamaug, Webster
- Chappaquiddick, Edgartown
- Chequaquet, Barnstable
- Christiantown, West Tisbury
- Coaxet, Westport
- Comassakumkait, Bourne
- Cooxissett, Rochester (?)
- Cotuhtikut, Middleborough
- Cotuit, Mashpee
- Cowesit, Wareham
- Coxit, Westport
- Elizabeth Islands, Gosnold
- Hassanamesit, Grafton
- Herring Ponds, Bourne
- Housatonic, Stockbridge
- Katamet, Bourne
- Kekamoochuck, Oxford
- Kektekicut, Middleborough
- Kitteaumet, Bourne
- Magunkog, Ashland
- Makunkakoag, Ashland
- Manchaug, Sutton
- Mannamit, Bourne
- Manexit, Thompson, Conn.
- Manomet, Plymouth
- Mashpee
- Mattakees, Yarmouth
- Mattakesit, Pembroke
- Meshawn, Truro
- Mohegan, Montville, Norwich, New London
- Monomoy, Chatham
- Montauk, Southampton, L. I.
- Muckuckhonnike, Chilmark
- Musketaquid, Concord
- Myerscommet, Nantucket
- Namatakeeset, Pembroke
- Nashamoies. Edgartown
- Nashaway, Lancaster
- Nashobah, Littleton
- Nashnakemmuck, Chilmark
- Natick
- Nauset, Eastham, Orleans
- Nehantic, Lyme, Conn.
- Nemasket, Lakeville
- Neponset, Dorchester
- Nipmuc or Nipmug, Mendon
- Nipmuc River, Blackstone River
- Nobscusset, Dennis
- Nonantum, Newton
- Nope, Martha’s Vineyard
- Norridgewock (Maine)
- Nukkehkummes, Dartmouth
- Nunnepoag, Edgartown
- Occawan, Nantucket
- Ohkonkemme, West Tisbury
- Okkokonimesit, Marlborough
- Okommokamesit, Marlborough
- Packachoog, see Auburn
- Pakomit, Canton
- Pamet, Truro
- Panonakanit, Wellfleet
- Pawkunnakutt, Bristol, R. I.
- Pawkunnawkut, Yarmouth
- Pawpoesit, Mashpee
- Pawtuckett, Lowell
- Pecunet, Canton
- Pentucket, Lowell
- Pequot, New London, Norwich
- Pispogutt, Bourne
- Pocasset, Bourne
- Pocasset, Tiverton, R. I.
- Pokesit, Bourne
- Pompesspisset, Bourne
- Ponanummakut, Wellfleet
- Potanumaquut, Orleans, Harwich
- Punkapoag, Canton
- Quaboag, Brookfield
- Quantisset, Pomfret, Conn.
- Quinshepauge, Mendon
- Quittacus, Lakeville
- Sahquatucket, Harwich
- Sakonnet, Little Compton
- Saltwater Pond, Plymouth
- Sanchacantacket, Oak Bluffs
- Santuit, Satuit, Mashpee
- Satucket, Harwich
- Scatacook, Kent, Conn.
- Scusset, Bourne, Sandwich
- Seconchgut, Chilmark
- Sengekintacket, Oak Bluffs
- Shumuit, Mashpee
- Skauton, Sandwich
- Sokones, Falmouth
- Squatesit, Nantucket
- Succannesset, Falmouth
- Sussconsett, Falmouth
- Takeme, West Tisbury
- Takemmy, West Tisbury
- Talhanio, Chilmark
- Titicut, Middleborough
- Wabaage, Brookfield
- Wabquissit, Woodstock, Conn.
- Waeuntug, Wacantuck, Uxbridge
- Wakoquet, Falmouth
- Wamesit, Lowell
- Wammasquid, Nantucket
- Waquoit, Falmouth
- Washacum, Lancaster
- Watuppa Ponds, Fall River
- Waywayontat, Wareham
- Wecantuck, Uxbridge
- Weesquobs, Mashpee
- Weequakut, Barnstable
- Wequodnoc, Sharon, Conn.
- Wequetequoch, Stonington, Conn.
- Weweantic, Wareham
- Wewewantett, Wareham
The Indian Churches of New England
Massachusetts: | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Date | Town | Indian Name | Parish | |
1. |
5. |
1676 |
Bourne |
Commassakumkait |
1658 |
2. |
8. |
1767 |
Bourne |
Pocasset |
1674 |
3. |
17. |
1674 |
Chilmark |
Nashnakemmuck |
1651 |
4. |
22. |
1690 |
Dartmouth |
Nukkehkummees |
1670 |
5. |
27. |
1659 |
Edgartown |
Chappaquiddick |
1646 |
6. |
33. |
1663 |
Gay Head |
||
7. |
34. |
1702 |
Gay Head |
(Baptist) |
1702 |
8. |
37. |
1671 |
Grafton |
Hassanamesit |
1651 |
9. |
40. |
1674 |
Lakeville |
Nemasket |
1665 |
10. |
41. |
1674 |
Lakeville |
Assawompsett |
1665 |
11. |
48. |
1670 |
Mashpee |
1660 |
|
12. |
56. |
1674 |
Middleborough |
Titicut |
1665 |
13. |
60. |
1665 |
Nantucket |
Occawan |
1661 |
14. |
61. |
1694 |
Nantucket |
1674 |
|
15. |
62. |
1694 |
Nantucket |
(Baptist) |
|
16. |
66. |
1660 |
Natick |
1646 |
|
17. |
72. |
1670 |
Oak Bluffs |
Sanchacantacket |
1646 |
18. |
74. |
1720 |
Orleans |
Potanumaquut |
1670 |
19. |
83. |
1734 |
Stockbridge |
Housatonic |
1734 |
20. |
93. |
1680 |
West Tisbury |
Christiantown |
1660 |
Rhode Island: | |||||
21. |
14. |
1702 |
Charlestown |
||
22. |
15. |
1750 |
Charlestown |
(Baptist) |
|
Connecticut: | |||||
23. |
39. |
1740 |
Kent |
Scatacook |
(Moravian) |
24. |
57. |
1770 |
Montville |
Mohegan |
(Baptist) |
25. |
82. |
1741 |
Sharon |
Wequodnoc |
(Moravian) |
All are now extinct except number 7 above, Gay Head Baptist Church.
II
The Missionary Preachers
The numbers in this and the following section refer to the Indian Churches in the preceding section.
[For biographical details see Weis, Colonial Clergy of New England.]
- Adams, Eliphalet, 44, 68, 71, 99
- Badger, Stephen, 66
- Baker, Daniel, 66
- Barber, Jonathan, 71
- Baxter, Joseph, 60
- Baylies, Frederic, 27, 93
- Billings, Richard, 44
- Bondet, Daniel, 75
- Bourne, Ezra, 48
- Bourne, Joseph, 6, 16, 31, 48, 73, 74, 96
- Bourne, Richard, 3, 6, 16, 23, 31, 38, 48, 49, 73, 74. 87, 89, 91, 96
- Bourne, Shearjashub, 48
- Brett, Silas, 30
- Bruce, David, 82
- Campbell, Othniel, 101
- Clap, Elisha, 48
- Cleland, Robert, 71
- Cotton, John, Jr., 3, 5, 6, 22, 23, 31, 33, 38, 40, 41, 44, 60, 67, 72, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 89, 92, 93, 96, 101
- Cotton, Josiah, 3, 5, 76, 77, 78, 92
- Cotton, Roland, 3, 5, 6, 48, 49, 81
- Crocker, Joseph, 74
- Danforth, Samuel, 23, 30, 40, 41, 67, 92, 101
- Davenport, James, 71
- Deake, Edward, 14, 98
- Dwight, Josiah, 95
- Edwards, Jonathan, 83
- Eells, Nathaniel, 84
- Eliot, John, 12, 25, 37, 43, 45, 46, 48, 55, 66, 69, 79, 85, 86, 88, 90, 95
- Eliot, John, Jr., 12, 66
- Fessenden, Benjamin, 6, 81
- Fish, Joseph, 84
- Fish, Phinehas, 5, 48
- Fitch, James, 71
- Folger, Peter, 27, 60, 63
- Forbes, Eli, 11
- Fowler, David, 100
- Gleason, Charles, 90
- Glover, Habakkuk, 12
- Gookin, Daniel, Jr., 66
- Green, Joseph, 48, 74, 96
- Greenleaf, Daniel, 3, 16, 38, 73, 74, 96
- Hancock, Nathaniel, 17, 33, 93
- Hawley, Gideon, 3, 5, 6, 11, 31, 48, 73, 74, 81, 83, 96
- Hoar, John, 21
- Howe, Perley, 90
- Hubbard, Willard, 1, 71
- Hunt, Samuel, 22, 67
- Ingraham, Duncan, 5
- James, Thomas, 26
- Jewett, David, 71
- Kirkland, Samuel, 83
- Labourie, James, 75
- Latham, David, 99
- Leveridge, William, 5
- Mason, Capt. John, 71
- Mayhew, Experience, 17, 27, 33, 60, 68, 71, 72, 84, 93
- Mayhew, John, 17, 27, 33, 36, 60, 94
- Mayhew, Thomas, 17, 27, 33, 36, 60, 72, 93
- Mayhew, Thomas, Jr., 27
- Mayhew, Zachariah, 17, 27, 33, 36, 72. 93
- Metcalf, Joseph, 31
- Morse, Joseph, 12
- Niles, Samuel, 14
- Noyes, James, 84
- Peabody, Oliver, 66
- Pierson, Abraham, 10
- Pitkin, Timothy, 98
- Powell, Joseph, 82
- Rauch, Christian Henry, 39
- Rawson, Grindall, 37, 55
- Ross, Thomas, 15
- Sergeant, John, 83
- Sergeant, John, Jr., 83
- Smith, Cotton Mather, 83
- Thacher, Peter, 12, 40, 41
- Tompson, William, 59, 68
- Torrey, Joseph, 14
- Torrey, Josiah, 17, 33, 93, 94
- Treat, Samuel, 16, 38, 73, 87, 91
- Tupper, Eldad, 5
- Tupper, Elisha, 5, 6, 8, 89
- Tupper, Capt. Thomas, 5
- Tupper, Capt. Thomas, Jr., 5
- Weeks, John, 36
- West, Stephen, 83
- West, Thomas, 80
- Wheelock, Eleazer, 57, 71, 97
- White, Timothy, 60, 61, 63
- Whitman, Samuel, 98
- Wiswall, Samuel, 27, 60, 61, 63, 72
- Woodbridge, Timothy, 83
- Total: 90.
Roman Catholic Missionaries in Maine:
- Aubrey, Nicholas, 24
- Aubry, Joseph, 70
- Biard, Peter, 13, 58
- Druillettes, Gabriel, 13, 70
- Leo, 13
- Masse, Ennemond, 58
- Rasle, Sebastian, 70
- Thevet, 13
- Total: 8.
Occasional Preachers and Missionaries:
- Charles Chauncey, D.D., Boston
- Benjamin Colman, D.D., Boston
- Samuel Cooper, D.D., Boston
- Andrew Eliot, D.D., Boston
- Thomas Foxcroft, Boston
- Cotton Mather, D.D., Boston
- Increase Mather, D.D., Boston
- Richard Mather, Dorchester
- Jonathan Mayhew, D.D., Boston
- Charles Morton, Charlestown
- Ezekiel Rogers, Rowley
- Samuel Sewall, Boston
- Thomas Shepard, Cambridge
- John Smith, Sandwich
- Ralph Thacher, Chilmark
- Nehemiah Walter, Roxbury
- William Walton, Marblehead
- Edward Wigglesworth, D.D., Cambridge
- Roger Williams, Providence
- John Wilson, Boston
- Total: 20. Grand total: 118.
III
Native Preachers Among the Indians
- Aaron Pomham, 12
- Abel Wauwompukque, 33, 35
- Amos Ahaton, 12
- Anthony, 66
- Asa, 36
- Benjamin Larnell, H.C.
- Benjamin Nompash, 44
- Benjamin Tarshema, 60
- Caleb, 61, 63
- Caleb Cheeshahteaumuch, A.B., H.C., 1665
- Charles Aham, 56
- Charles of Mannamit, 5, 6, 89
- Codpuganut, 63
- Daniel, 79
- Daniel Hinckley, 92
- Daniel Munshee, 73, 87, 91
- Daniel Shoko, 19, 33, 36
- Daniel Spotso, 63
- Daniel Toppohwompait, 66
- David Capy, 33
- David Wuttnomanomin, 33
- Edward Nedson, 84 (Indian?)
- Elisha Paaonut, 33, 35
- Elisha Ralph, 74
- Ephraim Abraham, 34
- George, 46
- George, 44
- Great Tom, 73
- Hercules, 38
- Hosea Manhut, 93
- Indian John, 80
- Isaac, 92
- Isaac Decamy, 34
- Isaac Jeffrey, 5, 6, 8, 77
- Isaac Ompany, 93
- Jabez Athern, 77, 93
- Jacob Hedge, 5, 77
- James Printer, 37, 88
- James Sepinnu, 93
- James Simons, 15
- James Speen, 2
- Janawannit, 17
- Jannohquoso, 36
- Japheth Hannit, 17, 22, 33
- Japheth Hannit, Jr., 72
- Jeremy Robin, 96
- Jethro, 43
- Joash Pannos, 33
- Job, H.C., 47
- Job Kattenanit, 1
- Job Muckemuck, 60, 63
- Job Peosin, 72
- Job Russel, 72
- Jocelin, 41
- Joel Sims, 93
- Old John, 31
- John of Falmouth, 31
- John Amanhut, 93
- John Asherman, 60, 63
- John Briant, 67
- John Cooper, 71
- John Cosens, 16
- John Gibbs, 60
- John Hiacoomes, 27, 60
- John Hiacoomes, Jr., 41
- John Mettawen, 98
- John Moqua, 86
- John Nessnummin, 66
- John Nohnoso, 72
- John Ralph, 38, 74
- John Sassamon, 40, 41, 56
- John Shohkow, 93
- John Simon, 9, 44, 56
- John Speen, 66
- John Symons, 56
- John Thomas, 45, 66
- John Tackanash, 17, 20, 28, 72, 94
- Jonahauwasuit, 66
- Jonas Asosit (Hasaway), 60
- Jonathan Amos, 27, 33
- Joseph, 63
- Joseph, 90
- Joseph Amos, 34, 48
- Joseph Briant, 8, 48, 74
- Joseph Joshnin, 56
- Joseph Papenah, 8, 31
- Joseph Tuckappawill, 37
- Joseph Wanno, 77
- Joshua Momatchegin, 27
- Joshua Tackquannash, 29
- Joshua Ralph, 74
- Josiah Shanks, 48, 49
- Josiah Thomas, 29
- Josias Hossuit, 34
- Josias Hossuit, Jr., 34
- Manasseh, 3, 23, 38
- Menekish, 38
- Meshawin, 6
- Metaark, 33
- Micah Shohkow, 93
- Momonequem, 17
- Monatunquanet, 79
- Naumachegin, 27
- Nausquonit, 47
- Nehemiah Abel, 56
- Netowah, 63
- Nicholas, 16
- Noah, 63
- Panupuhquah, 18
- Paul Mashquattuhkooit, 72
- Peter, alias Sakantucket, 6
- Peter Hayt, 63
- Peter Ohquanhut, 33
- Potanummatack, 87, 91
- Quequenah, 63
- Ralph Jones, 5
- Sampson, 47, 95
- Sampson Natuso, 36
- Samson Occum, 57, 71, 97, 100
- Samuel, 63
- Samuel, H.C., 46
- Samuel Church, 30, 44
- Samuel Holms, 22
- Samuel Kakenehew, 34
- Sasomet, 88
- Silas Paul, 34
- Simon Ephraim, 1
- Simon Popmonnit, 48, 49
- Simon Wickett, 81
- Solomon, 47
- Solomon Briant, 5, 6, 48, 74, 96
- Stephen, 40, 56
- Stephen Shohkow, 19, 93
- Stephen Tackamason, 17, 34
- Symon Beckom, 46
- Thomas Coshaumag, 74
- Thomas Felix, 56
- Thomas Jeffers, 34, 48
- Thomas Sekins, 56
- Thomas Simons, 22
- Thomas Sockakonnit, 72
- Tom (Great Tom), 73
- Tukamon, 71
- Waabesktamin, 85
- Wattananmaktuk, 6
- Weebox, 71
- William Ahaton (Hahaton), 12
- William Apes, 48
- William Awinian, 12
- William Briant, 67
- William Lay, 17
- William Nummuck, 77
- William Simons, 22
- Will Skipeag, 78
- Wohwohquoshhadt, 1, 79
- Wunnanauhkomun, 93
- Wunnohson, 63
- Wuttanamattuck, 6
- Zachariah Osooit, 33
Total whites |
118 |
Total Indians |
157 |
Total |
275 |
IV
The New England Secretaries and Treasurers of the Corporation of 1649
1. Edward Rawson (born at Gillingham, England, 16 April 1615, died in Boston, 27 August 1693) was Secretary of the Massachusetts Bay Colony 1650–1686, and clerk and factor of the New England Company at Boston 1650–1680. Nearly all the business of the Company in America passed through his hands. He settled at Newbury, 1637, but removed to Boston in 1650 where he was a member of the Old South Church. With Samuel Sewall he was co-author of Justification of the Revolution in New England.
2. William Stoughton (born about 1631, probably in England, died unmarried at Dorchester 7 July 1701), Harvard College 1650, Fellow of New College, Oxford, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts 1692–1701, served as Secretary and Treasurer of the New England Company at Boston 1680–1699. During his regime commissioners appointed by the Corporation in London took the place of the Commissioners of the United Colonies. He was Judge 1676–1692, Chief Justice 1692–1701; Captain 1677, Major 1680, Lieutenant-Colonel and Commander-in-Chief for six years. He gave Stoughton Hall to Harvard College in 1698.
3. Samuel Sewall (born at Horton, near Basingstoke, England, 28 March 1652, died at Boston 1 January 1729/30), Harvard College 1671, Chief Justice of Massachusetts 1718–1728, and Secretary and Treasurer of the New England Company at Boston 1699–1724. The meeting house for the Indian church at Herring Ponds was built at his expense 1687–1691. He was a member of the Old South Church, was Captain of the Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company 1701; Assistant 1684–1686, Judge of the Superior Court 1684–1718, Chief Justice 1718–1728, Judge of Probate 1715–1728. His account book as Treasurer of the Company reveals that from 1711 to 1721 the Company contributed £1,300 to Harvard College. He was a voluminous correspondent, diarist and author.
4. Adam Winthrop (born at Bristol, England, 3 March 1676, died at Boston 2 October 1743), Harvard College 1694, was Secretary of the New England Company at Boston 1724–1733 and Treasurer 1724–1741. He was commissioned Justice of the Peace 1702, Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas 1715–1740, Chief Justice 1740, and Councillor 1716–1730. He was member of the Second Church in Boston; was Ensign of the Artillery Company 1702, Major 1706, and Lieutenant-Colonel 1709. He speculated in land and copper mining, lost heavily and was obliged to resign all his offices.
5. Anthony Stoddard (born Boston, 24 September 1678, died there 11 March 1747/8), Harvard College 1697. He was a wealthy merchant and Judge and served as Secretary of the Company at Boston 1733–1748. “He was a Lover of the ancient religious Principles of New England,—or religious Liberty and Forbearance,” and was a member of the Old South Church. He served as Justice of the Peace 1715, special Justice 1725, Judge 1733, and Councillor 1735–1742.
6. Andrew Oliver (born at Boston 28 March 1706, died there 3 March 1774), Harvard College 1724, Lieutenant-Governor and Judge, was Treasurer of the New England Company at Boston 1741–1774, Secretary 1748–1774, and guardian to the Indians of Suffolk County. His father and uncle, Governor Belcher, were also commissioners of the New England Company. Governor Thomas Hutchinson was his brother-in-law. Mr. Oliver was a member of the Old South Church, Justice of the Peace 1739, Councillor 1747–1757, Secretary of the Province of Massachusetts 1757–1771, and Lieutenant-Governor 1771–1774. His home was destroyed by the great fire in Boston in 1760. Five years later his home was sacked by a mob because of his appointment as agent of the Stamp Act in Massachusetts, though that appointment had been made without his knowledge and against his wishes.
V
The General Superintendents of Indian Affairs Appointed by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
- 1656–1657 Major-General Daniel Gookin
- 1658–1661 Major-General Humphrey Atherton
- 1661–1687 Major-General Daniel Gookin
- 1687–1709 Captain Thomas Prentice
Major-General Daniel Gookin was born in Kent about 1612 and settled in Virginia, 1621, where he was a member of the House of Burgesses from Upper Norfolk January 1641/2. He came to New England in 1644, principally on account of his friendship for the Reverend William Tompson of Braintree, whose missionary efforts in Virginia, Cotton Mather affirms, attracted Gookin as one of the “constellation” of his converts.
“GOOKINS was one of these: by Tompson’s pains
CHRIST and NEW-ENGLAND, a dear GOOKINS gains.”
Mr. Gookin for about forty years was one of the most active and valuable citizens of Massachusetts. On 26 March 1644 he joined the First Church in Boston, whence he was dismissed to Cambridge Church, 1648. In 1645 he was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, was Captain of the Cambridge Military Company 1648, being “a very forward man to advance martial discipline, and withal the truths of Christ,” was Major of the Middlesex Regiment 1676–1680, and Major-General of all the military forces of the Colony 1681–1687. He served Cambridge as selectman 1660–1672, and Deputy to the General Court 1648 and 1651, the latter year also serving as Speaker of the House. For thirty-five years he was Assistant or Magistrate for the Bay Colony, 1652–1687.
He took a deep interest in the conversion of the Indians and rendered valuable assistance to the Apostle Eliot in this way. He was the first to be appointed General Superintendent of Indian Affairs by the General Court. His duty was to visit the Indian villages, holding courts among them, appointing officers and making provision for the general welfare of the natives.
Two of his sons entered the ministry: Daniel, Harvard College, 1669, was minister at Sherborn and preached to the Indians at Natick; Nathaniel, Harvard College, 1675, was minister at Cambridge; Samuel, the youngest son, was Sheriff of Middlesex County 1689.
But the works for which Mr. Gookin is particularly famous are his two histories of the Indians: Historical Collections of the Indians of Massachusetts, 1674, printed by the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1792; and his History of the Christian Indians of Massachusetts, 1675, 1676 and 1677, printed by the American Antiquarian Society, 1836. After a long and useful life he died at Cambridge, 19 March 1686/7, aged 75 years.
Major-General Humphrey Atherton was born at Preston, Lancashire, England, 1609, the son of Edmund Atherton of Winstanley in Wigan. He came to Dorchester in 1635. He proved to be one of the most valuable men in the Colony and his death by accident in 1661 was a great loss both to Dorchester and to New England. Captain Edward Johnson described him in 1651 as “a very lively couragious man. . . of a cheerfull spirit, and intire for the Country.” By 23 August 1636 he had joined the First Church in Dorchester and, on 2 May 1638, was admitted freeman of the Colony. He became a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston 1638, was its Senior Sergeant 1642, Ensign 1645, Lieutenant 1646, and Captain 1650 and 1658. He was also Lieutenant of the Dorchester Military Company 1643, Captain of that company 1646, Major of the Suffolk Regiment 1652–1661, Major-General of the Massachusetts forces 1656–1661, and chief military officer in New England 1658–1661. In 1645 the Commissioners of the United Colonies appointed a Council of War and placed Captain Myles Standish of Plymouth at its head. Captains John Mason, John Leverett and Humphrey Atherton were his colleagues. Mr. Atherton was chosen Commissioner of the United Colonies in reserve 1656, 1659 and 1660.
He was as distinguished in his civil career as in his military service, being continually in the public service of Dorchester and the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1638 to 1661. He was selectman twelve years, being chairman of the board seven years, town treasurer three years and overseer of the Dorchester school in 1645. He served as deputy to the General Court ten years and was Speaker of the House in 1653. From 1654 to 1661 he was Assistant (or magistrate) of the Bay Colony.
Mr. Atherton was much respected for his religious character and spirit. He had great experience and skill in his treatment of the Indians, manifesting much humanity and sympathy for their unhappy condition but exercising great energy and decision of character when dealing with them if necessary. His efforts to instruct them are mentioned in the minutes of the New England Confederation.
Reverend John Eliot, the “Apostle to the Indians,” directed the following letter to him in 1657:
“To his much honored and respected friend, Major Atherton, at his house in Dorchester, these present
“Much honored and beloved in the Lord: Though our poore Indians are much molested in most places in their meetings in way of civilities, yet the Lord hath put it into your hearts to suffer us to meet quietly at Ponkipog, for wh I thank God, and am Grateful to yourselfe and all the good people of Dorchester. And now that our meetings may be the more comfortable and favrable, my request is, that you would please to further these two motions: first, that you would please to make an order in youre towne, and record it in your Towne record, that you approve and allow the Indians at Ponkipog there to sit downe and make a towne and to injoy such accomodations as may be competent to maintain God’s ordinances among them another day. My second request is, that you would appoint fitting men, who may in a fitt season bound and lay out the same, and record that alsoe. And thus commending you to the Lord, I rest.
“Yours to serve in the service of Jesus Christ,
John Eliot.”
On 7 December 1657 the town of Dorchester appointed Major Humphrey Atherton, Lieutenant Roger Clap, Ensign Hopestill Foster, and William Sumner a committee to lay out the Indian plantation at Ponkapoag, not to exceed 6,000 acres of land; and it was voted “that the Indians shall not alienate or sell their plantations unto any English” upon penalty of losing or forfeiting their lands.
By 1653 Mr. Atherton had been appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs and in 1658 the General Court appointed him commissioner to take care of the Indians, watch over their interests and appoint commissioners in the several Indian plantations in the Bay Colony. When Mr. Gookin went to England in 1656 Major Atherton was chosen to succeed him as the General Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Colony, which position he continued to hold until his death in 1661.
His tomb in Dorchester bears the following inscription:
“Here lies our Captain, & Majr. of Svffolk was withall;
A Godly Magestrate was he, & Major Generall.
Two Troops of Horses with him here came, such worth his loue did crave;
Ten Companies of foot also mourning march’d to his Graue.
Let all who Read be sure to keep ye Faith as he hath done.
With Christ he liues now Crown’d, his name was Humphrey Atherton.
He Died ye 16th of Sepr. 1661.”
Captain Thomas Prentice, born about 1621, of Cambridge and Newton, was chosen Lieutenant of the Troop of Horse, Middlesex County Regiment, 1656, and Captain 1662. He served with distinction during King Philip’s War in the Mount Hope and Narragansett campaigns and in the Great Swamp Fight, and he commanded the troop which escorted Sir Edmund Andros as a prisoner from Rhode Island to Boston in August, 1689. He was Deputy to the General Court 1672–1674, Justice of the Peace 1686, and Superintendent of the Indians of Massachusetts 1687. “An active, energetic, and valuable public officer,” he died at Cambridge 7 July 1709, aged 89 years. His grave bears the following epitaph:
“He that’s here interr’d needs no versifying,
A virtuous life will keep the name from dying:
He’ll live, though poets cease their scribbling rhyme,
When that this stone shall moulder’d be by time.”
VI
The New England Commissioners of the New England Company of 1649
By virtue of their office as Commissioners of the United Colonies 1649–1685—all dates inclusive.47
- Captain John Allyn, 1674–1675, 1677–1679, 1682.
- Honorable Matthew Allyn, 1660, 1664.
- Captain John Astwood, 1649, 1653–1654.
- Governor Richard Bellingham, 1670.
- Governor William Bradford, 1649, 1652–1653, 1656.
- Major William Bradford, 1673, 1680–1684.
- Governor Simon Bradstreet, 1649–1667, 1669–1672.
- Honorable John Browne, 1649–1655.
- Major Peter Bulkeley, 1682–1685.
- Deputy-Governor James Cudworth, 1655, 1657, 1678.
- Captain John Cullicke, 1652–1653, 1655.
- Deputy-Governor Thomas Danforth, 1662–1665, 1667–1670, 1672–1673, 1675, 1677–1679. Major-General Daniel Denison, 1654–1657, 1659–1664.
- Governor Joseph Dudley, 1677–1679, 1682, 1683.
- Governor Thomas Dudley, 1649.
- Governor Theophilus Eaton, 1649–1651, 1653–1657.
- Governor John Endicott, 1653, 1658.
- Honorable Benjamin Fenn, 1661–1664.
- Deputy-Governor Stephen Goodyear, 1650–1652.
- Honorable Timothy Hatherley, 1651.
- Major William Hathorne, 1650–1654, 1672–1673.
- Governor John Haynes, 1650.
- Governor Thomas Hinckley, 1667, 1673–1685.
- Governor Edward Hopkins, 1649–1651.
- Deputy-Governor William Jones, 1664.
- Governor William Leete, 1655–1667, 1673, 1677–1678.
- Governor John Leverett, 1667–1670.
- Deputy-Governor Roger Ludlow, 1651–1653.
- Deputy-Governor John Mason, 1654–1657, 1660–1661.
- Honorable William Pitkin, 1678.
- Governor Thomas Prence, 1650, 1653–1658, 1661–1663, 1670–1672.
- Honorable Edward Rawson, 1658. Secretary and Treasurer, 1650–1680.
- Honorable James Richards, 1672, 1675, 1679.
- Ensign Constant Southworth, 1669.
- Captain Thomas Southworth, 1659–1661, 1664–1668.
- Lieutenant-Governor William Stoughton, 1673–1677, 1680–1685. Secretary and Treasurer, 1680–1699. Honorable John Talcott, 1656–1658.
- Major John Talcott, 1662–1663, 1669–1671, 1673, 1676, 1683–1684.
- Governor Robert Treat, 1681–1684.
- Governor John Webster, 1654.
- Governor Thomas Welles, 1649, 1654, 1659.
- Governor Josiah Winslow, 1658–1660, 1662–1680.
- Governor John Winthrop, Jr., 1658–1660, 1663, 1665, 1668–1669, 1672, 1675.
- Major-General Wait Still Winthrop, 1675.
- Honorable Samuel Wyllys, 1661–1662, 1664, 1666–1667, 1670–1671.
Commissioners the New England Company of 1649, appointed 30 September 1685.48
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Commissioners of the New England Company of 1649, appointed 17 February 1698/9, confirmed 14 October 1699.49
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Commissioners of the New England Company of 1649, appointed 3 August 1704, and their successors.50
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Commissioners of the New England Company of 1649, appointed 13 March 1724.56 Nine of the above commissioners and the following:
- Reverend Benjamin Colman, D.D., 1724–1747.57
- Reverend Edward Wigglesworth, D.D., 1724–1755. [d. 1765; res. 1755]
- Governor Joseph Talcott, 1724–1741.
- Honorable Samuel Penhallow, 1724–1726.
- Honorable Edward Hutchinson, 1724–1752.58
- Edmund Knight, Esquire, 1724.
- Reverend Joseph Sewall, D.D., 1726–1769.59
- Honorable Anthony Stoddard, 1733–1748.4 Secretary 1733–1748.
- Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phips, 1734–1757.4
- Lieutenant-Governor Andrew Oliver, 1734–1774.4 Treasurer 1741–1774; Secretary 1748–1774.
- Reverend Thomas Foxcroft, 1747–1769.60
- Honorable Thomas Hubbard, 1748–1775.5
- President Elisha Williams, 1750–1755.61
- Reverend Andrew Eliot, D.D., 1750–1775.62
- Reverend Jonathan Mayhew, D.D., 1752–1766.7
- Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Cushing, LL.D., 1760–1786.63
- Honorable Harrison Gray, 1760–1776.8
- Honorable William Phillips, 1765–1785.64 Treasurer 1774–1777, 1784–1786.
Commissioners of the New England Company of 1640, appointed 3 April 1770.65
- Governor Matthew Griswold, 1770–1786.
- Deacon John Barrett, 1770.
- Reverend Charles Chauncy, D.D., 1770–1785.
- Reverend Samuel Cooper, D.D., 1770–1783.
Commissioners of the New England Company of 1649, appointed April, 177566
- Honorable Jonathan Mason, 1775–1786.
- Isaac Smith, 1775–1786. Treasurer 1775–1784.
New England Officers, 1650–1774.
Presidents of the Commissioners of the United Colonies, 1649–1685:
- 1649 Thomas Dudley
- 1650 Edward Hopkins
- 1651 Theophilus Eaton, 1654, 1655
- 1652 Simon Bradstreet, 1653, 1657, 1663
- 1653 John Endecott, 1658
- 1656 William Bradford
- 1659 John Winthrop, Jr., 1668, 1669
- 1660 Francis Newman
- 1661 Thomas Prence, 1672
- 1662 Daniel Denison, 1663, 1664
- 1664 Thomas Danforth, 1675, 1679
- 1667 William Leete, 1673, 1678
- 1670 Richard Bellingham
- 1677 Josiah Winslow
Secretaries:
- 1650–1680 Edward Rawson
- 1680–1699 William Stoughton
- 1699–1724 Samuel Sewall
- 1724–1733 Adam Winthrop
- 1733–1748 Anthony Stoddard
- 1748–1774 Andrew Oliver
- 1774–1786 (see Treasurers)
Treasurers:
- 1650–1680 Edward Rawson
- 1680–1699 William Stoughton
- 1699–1724 Samuel Sewall
- 1724–1741 Adam Winthrop
- 1741–1774 Andrew Oliver
- 1774–1777 William Phillips
- 1777–1784 Isaac Smith
- 1784–1786 William Phillips
President:
- 1649–1661 Rt. Hon. William Steele
Governors:
- 1662–1691 Hon. Robert Boyle
- 1691–1696 Maj. Robert Thompson
- 1696–1719 Sir William Ashurst
- 1719–1726 Robert Ashurst
- 1726–1728 William Thompson
- 1728–1728 Sir Nathaniel Gould67
- 1728–1746 Sir Robert Clarke, Bart.
- 1746–1759 Sir Samuel Clarke, Bart.
- 1759–1761 James Lamb
- 1761–1765 Benjamin Avery, LL.D.
- 1765–1772 Jasper Mauduit
- 1772–1780 William Bowden
- 1780–1787 Richard Jackson
Treasurers:
- 1649–1659 Richard Floyd
- 1659–1680 Henry Ashurst, Esq.
- 1681–1696 Sir William Ashurst
- 1696–1702 Henry Ashurst
- 1702–1704 Joseph Thomson
- 1704–1729 John Gunston
- 1729–1748 Joseph Williams
- 1748–1765 Jasper Mauduit
- 1765–1773 Thomas Wright
- 1773–1791 Alexander Champion, Sr.
Clerk:
- 1655–1666 John Hooper
VII
Members of the New England Company Named in the Act of Parliament
1649–1661 William Steel, Esq. |
President, 1649–1661 Chancellor of Ireland. |
1649–1661 Herbert Pelham, Esq. |
First Treasurer of Harvard College, 1639–1649. |
1649–1657 James Sherley |
Friend of the Pilgrims; died 1657. |
1649–1660 Abraham Babington |
An active member. |
1649–1653 Robert Houghton |
Inactive. |
1649–1661 Richard Hutchinson |
Deputy-President. Reappointed 1662. |
1649–1653 George Dun |
Inactive. |
1649–1661 Maj. Robert Thompson |
President, 1691–1696. Reappointed. |
1649–1661 William Molines |
An active member. |
1649–1654 John Hodgson |
Inactive. |
1649–1659 Edward Parks |
Inactive. |
1649–1659 Edward Clud, Esq. |
Inactive. |
1649–1659 Richard Floyd |
Treasurer 1649–1659; died 1659. |
1649–1659 Thomas Ayres |
An active member. |
1649–1658 John Stone |
Inactive. |
1649–1655 Gov. Edward Winslow |
Governor of Plymouth Colony; d. 1655. |
1653–1661 Thomas Speed |
Active member. |
Reappointed 1662. |
1661 George Clerke |
Active member. |
Reappointed 1662. |
1657 Gov. Edward Hopkins |
Governor of Connecticut; died 1657. |
|
1660 Richard Young |
Active member. |
|
1661 Joshua Woolnough |
Active member. |
Reappointed 1662. |
1656–1661 Thomas Bell |
Active member. |
Reappointed 1662. |
1656–1658 Dr. Edmund Wilson |
Active member. |
Died 1658. |
1656–1660 Capt. Mark Coe |
Inactive. |
|
1661 Erasmus Smyth, Esq. |
Active member. |
Reappointed 1662. |
1660 Col. William Puckle |
Active member. |
|
1657–1661 John Rolfe |
Active member. |
Reappointed 1662. |
1661 Henry Ashurst, Esq. |
Treasurer 1659–1680. |
Reappointed. |
1660–1661 Francis Warner, Esq. |
Active member. |
Reappointed 1662. |
The names in italics had lived in New England. See 4 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., 11. 281.
VIII
The Eliot Indian Tracts. Printed by the New England Company of 1649
[See Justin Winsor: “The New England Indians,” Proc Mass. Hist. Soc, xxx. 336–339, and George Parker Winship, The Eliot Indian Tracts (Cambridge, 1925).]
- I. 1643. New England’s First Fruits.68
- II. 1647. [John Wilson], The Day-Breaking if not the Sun-Rising of the Gospel with the Indians in New-England.69
- III. 1648. Thomas Shepard, The Clear Sun-Shine of the Gospel breaking forth upon the Indians of New-England.70
- IV. 1649. Edward Winslow, The Glorious Progress of the Gospel, Amongst the Indians of New England manifested by three letters.71
- V. 1651. Henry Whitfield, The Light Appearing More and More Towards the Perfect Day.72
- VI. 1652. Henry Whitfield, Strength out of Weakness.73
- VII. 1653. John Eliot and Thomas Mayhew, Tears of Resentence.74
- VIII. 1655. John Eliot, A Late and Further Manifestation of the Progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New-England.75
- IX. 1659. John Eliot, A further Accompt of the Progresse of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New-England and of the means used effectually to advance the same. Set forth in certain Letters from thence declaring a purpose of Printing the Scriptures in the Indian Tongue, into which they are already Translated.76
- X. 1660. John Eliot, A further Account of the progresse of the Gospel . . . being A Relation of the Confessions made by several Indians. Sent over to the Corporation, 5 July 1659.77
- XI. 1671. John Eliot, A Brief Narrative of the progress of the Gospel among the Indians in New England.78
IX
Some of the More Important Letters of John Eliot which are in Print
Written to: | Sources: | ||
---|---|---|---|
1. |
1646 Nov. 13. |
Edward Winslow |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, iv. 87–88. |
2. |
1647 Sep. 24. |
Thomas Shepard |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, iv. 49–59. |
3. |
1647/8 Feb. 2. |
Edward Winslow |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, iv. 89–92. |
4. |
1649 July 8. |
Henry Whitfield |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, iv. 119–122. |
5. |
1649 Nov. 13. |
Edward Winslow |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, iv. 79–86. |
6. |
1649 Dec. 29. |
Henry Whitfield |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, iv. 122–133. |
7. |
1650 Apr. 18. |
Henry Whitfield |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, iv. 133–135. |
8. |
1650 Oct. 21. |
Henry Whitfield |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, iv. 135–145. |
9. |
Hugh Peter |
Conversion of 5900 East Indians. |
|
10. |
1651 Apr. 28. |
Henry Whitfield |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., iv. 165–168. |
11. |
1651 Oct. |
Henry Whitfield |
3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., iv. 169–175. |
12. |
1651 Oct. 20. |
Edward Winslow |
N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., xxxvi. 291–294. |
13. |
1652 Dec. 6. |
William Steele |
N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., xxxvi. 294–297. |
14. |
1653 Mar. 18. |
Thomas Thorowgood |
Jewes in America, 1660. |
15. |
1654 Aug. 27. |
Thomas Thorowgood |
Jewes in America, 1660. |
16. |
1654 Aug. 29. |
Jonathan Hanmer |
T. N. Vail & Wilberforce Eames, 1915. |
17. |
1655 ca. |
Jonathan Hanmer |
Bulletin, J. Rylands Library, 1919. |
18. |
1655 ca. |
Jonathan Hanmer |
Bulletin, J. Ry lands Library, 1919. |
19. |
1655 ca. |
Jonathan Hanmer |
Bulletin, J. Ry lands Library, 1919. |
20. |
1655 Aug. 16. |
Thomas Thorowgood |
Jewes in America, 1660. |
21. |
1656 Oct. 16. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 19–20.79 |
22. |
1657 June 4. |
Humphrey Atherton |
1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., 11. 9. |
23. |
1657 Oct. 7. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 22–25. |
24. |
1657 Oct. 8. |
Richard Floyd |
Ford, 1–2; Proc Mass. Hist. Soc, xvii. 246. |
25. |
1658 Dec. 10. |
Richard Floyd |
Eliot Indian Tract viii. |
26. |
1658 Dec. 28. |
Corporation |
Eliot Indian Tract viii. |
27. |
1659 July 5. |
Richard Floyd |
Eliot Indian Tract ix. |
28. |
1661 Mar. 28. |
John Endecott |
Proc Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 312–313. |
29. |
1663 July 6. |
Richard Baxter |
Reliquiae Baxterianae, 293–297. |
30. |
1664 Aug. 26. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, Life of Boyle (1744), 548. |
31. |
1665 Aug. 25. |
Commissioners |
Col. Records of Conn., III. 484. |
32. |
1667 Dec. 10. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 28–31. |
33. |
1667/8 Jan. 22. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 31–32. |
34. |
1668 June 15. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 35–38. |
35. |
1668 Oct. 28. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 38–41. |
36. |
1669 June 20. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 49–55. |
37. |
1669 Sept. 6. |
Robert Boyle |
Ford, Some Correspondence, 27–30. |
38. |
1670 Sep. 20. |
Robert Boyle |
1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 177–178; Birch, Life of Boyle, 430–432; Eliot Indian Tract xi. |
39. |
1670 Nov. 30. |
Henry Ashurst |
Ford, 37–39; Proc Mass. Hist. Soc., xvii. 246–247. |
40. |
1671 June 27. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 62–63. |
41. |
1671 Sep. 4. |
Commissioners |
Ford, 43–47; Proc Mass. Hist. Soc., xvii. 247–249. |
42. |
1671 Oct. 1. |
Henry Ashurst |
Ford, 49–51; Proc Mass. Hist. Soc., xvii. 249–250. |
43. |
Robert Boyle |
Ford, 51–52; Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., xvii. 251. |
|
44. |
1675 July 24. |
John Winthrop, Jr. |
5 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, 1. 424–426. |
45. |
1675 Dec. 17. |
Robert Boyle |
Ford, 52–55; Proc Mass. Hist. Soc., xvii. 251–252. |
46. |
1677 Oct. 23. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, 432–435; 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 178–179. |
47. |
1680 Nov. 4. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, 435–437; i Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 179–180. |
48. |
1681 June 17. |
Robert Boyle |
Ford, 65–67; Proc Mass. Hist. Soc., xvii. 253. |
49. |
1682 May 30. |
Richard Baxter |
Powicke, 65–66. |
50. |
1682/3 Mar. 15. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, 437–439; i Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 181. |
51. |
1683 June 21. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, 439–440; 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 182. |
52. |
1683 Nov. 27. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, 440–441; 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 182–183. |
53. |
1684 Apr. 22. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, 442–447; 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 183–186. |
54. |
1686 Aug. 29. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, 447–448; 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 187. |
55. |
1688 July 7. |
Robert Boyle |
Birch, 448–449; 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., III. 187–188. |
X
Books and Pamphlets Printed in the Indian Language for the New England Company 164980
1664. |
Richard Baxter, see Eliot’s translations below, 12 and 22. |
|
1665. |
Lewis Bayly, see Eliot’s translations 13 and 21. |
|
1691. |
John Cotton, see Rawson’s translations 36 and 38. |
|
1685. |
John Cotton, Jr., see Eliot’s Bible, 19 below, which John Cotton, Jr., edited and amended. |
|
1. |
1698 |
Samuel Danforth, Greatest Sinners called and encouraged to come to Christ, &c. (Five sermons by Increase Mather, translated by Samuel Danforth.) Boston. |
2. |
Samuel Danforth, A few words addressed to the poor condemned murderers Josiah and Joseph, in their own languages; at Bristol, 12 October 1709, on the day when their sentence was executed. (Appended to a sermon by Mr. Danforth entitled: The Woful Effect of Drunkenness.) Boston. |
|
1707. |
Godefridus Dellius, translator of No. 33. |
|
3. |
1653. |
John Eliot, A Catechism. Cambridge. |
4. |
1655. |
John Eliot, The Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew. |
5. |
1658. |
John Eliot, Psalms in Metre. Cambridge. |
6. |
1661. |
John Eliot, The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Cambridge. |
7. |
1661. |
John Eliot, A Christian Covenanting Confession. Cambridge. |
8. |
1662. |
John Eliot, A Catechism. (2nd edition.) Cambridge. |
9. |
1663. |
John Eliot, The Whole Bible, both Old Testament and also the New Testament. Cambridge. |
10. |
1663. |
John Eliot, The Psalms of David in Metre. (2nd edition.) |
11. |
1663. |
John Eliot, The Psalter. Cambridge. |
12. |
1664. |
John Eliot, Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted. Cambridge. |
13. |
1665. |
John Eliot, Godly Living: Directs a Christian how he may live to please God. (Eliot’s abridged translation of Lewis Bayly’s Practice of Piety.) Cambridge. |
14. |
1666. |
John Eliot, The Indian Grammar Begun.81 Cambridge. |
15. |
1669. |
John Eliot, The Indian Primer, or the way of Training up our Youth of India in the Knowledge of God. Cambridge. |
16. |
1671. |
John Eliot, Indian Dialogues, For their Instruction in the great service of Christ. Cambridge. |
17. |
1672. |
John Eliot, The Logick Primer. Some Logical Notions to initiate the Indians in the Knowledge of the Rule of Reason. . . . Cambridge. |
18. |
1680. |
John Eliot, The Psalms in Metre. (3rd edition.) Cambridge. |
19. |
1685. |
John Eliot, The Whole Bible, both Old Testament and also the New Testament. (2nd edition amended and improved by John Cotton, Jr.) Cambridge. |
20. |
1685. |
John Eliot, The Indian Primer. (2nd edition.) Cambridge. |
21. |
1685. |
John Eliot, Godly Living, &c. (2nd edition of Bayly’s Practice of Piety.) Cambridge. |
22. |
1688. |
John Eliot, Baxter’s Call, &c. (2nd edition.) Cambridge. |
23. |
1689. |
John Eliot, Thomas Shepard’s Sincere Convert and Sound Believer (translated by Mr. Eliot in 1664 and amended and edited by Grindal Rawson in 1689). Cambridge. |
24. |
1720. |
John Eliot, Indian Primer, &c. (3rd edition, amended by Grindal Rawson.) Boston. |
25. |
Cotton Mather, An Epistle to the Christian Indians. Boston. |
|
26. |
1705. |
Cotton Mather, The Hatchets, to hew down the Tree of Sin, which bears the Fruit of Death, or The Laws, by which the Magistrates are to punish Offenders, among the Indians, as well as among the English. Boston. |
27. |
1706. |
Cotton Mather, An Epistle to the Christian Indians. (2nd edition.) Boston. |
1707. |
Cotton Mather, see Mayhew’s translation 31. |
|
28. |
1714. |
Cotton Mather, Family Religion Excited, and Assisted. Boston. |
29. |
1714. |
Cotton Mather, A Monitor for Communicants. Boston. |
30. |
1721. |
Cotton Mather, India Christiana. Boston. |
1698. |
Increase Mather, Five Sermons, translated by Danforth, No. 1 above. |
|
31. |
1707. |
Experience Mayhew, Translation of Cotton Mather’s The Day which the Lord hath made. Boston. |
32. |
1709. |
Experience Mayhew, The Massachusetts Psalter: or, Psalms of David With the Gospel According to John.82 Boston. |
33. |
1707. |
Cotton Mather, Another Tongue brought in, to Confess the Great Saviour of the World. (In four languages: Iroquois, Latin, English and Dutch.) Boston. |
34. |
1658. |
Abraham Pierson, Some Helps for the Indians, &c.83 (In the Quinipiac dialect.) |
35. |
1689. |
Grindal Rawson, Amended and edited edition of Eliot’s translation of Shepard’s Sincere Convert and Sound Believer. See Eliot’s No. 23. Cambridge. |
36. |
1691. |
Grindal Rawson, [John Cotton’s] Spiritual Milk for Babes. Cambridge. |
37. |
1699. |
Grindal Rawson, A Confession of Faith Owned & consented unto by the Elders and Messengers of the Church Assembled at Boston in New-England, 12 May 1680. Boston. |
38. |
1720. |
Grindal Rawson, The Indian Primer of the First Book and Milk for Babes. (3rd edition of Eliot’s Indian Primer, amended by Grindal Rawson, and 2nd edition of Cotton’s Milk for Babes, translated by Grindal Rawson.) Boston. |
39. |
1634. |
William Wood, New England’s Prospect (contains several pages of Indian vocabulary). London. |
40. |
1643. |
Roger Williams, A Key into the Language of America.84 London. |