USA > Connecticut > New London County > Groton > Groton, Conn. 1705-1905 > Part 5
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In an unpublished manuscript Rev. Frederick Denison thus writes of the Pequot fight and its results: "Thus ended a memorable day, not alone for Groton but for all New England, for the right arm of the savages was this day
* History of New London, Caulkins, 1860, p. 184. *: Vol. I, p. 440.
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broken so that it never recovered its strength. This vic- tory prepared the way for other conquests; henceforth the English were deemed invincible and the final stroke to the Indian power was struck in the great swamp fight with the Narragansetts in 1675.
"Broken in spirit as in power, a remnant of the Pequots remained. Some readily joined the English to enjoy their protection and were of some service against other tribes, as in the war with King Philip. Others sullenly retired to the forests to meet their doom of gradual decay. As the lands were purchased and occupied by the whites they retired from the shore, till finally the colonial power re- stored and guaranteed to them certain lands as a portion while any of their blood should survive. The original grants were two: one near Mystic and one near Pawcatuck. These were finally exchanged for others in the north part of Groton and of Stonington, each portion of the tribe having its ruler.
"The reservations in North Stonington and North Groton (now Ledyard) were called Mashantuxet. Their settle- ment here was effected in about 1666. Cassasinamon re- mained the ruler of the Groton portion of the tribe till his death in 1692. Nominal chiefs succeeded but their affairs were in fact conducted by agents appointed by the Colony. As they had no mechanical skill or spirit of industry, they lived wholly by fishing, hunting, basket-making and an unproductive species of husbandry. They seemed incapable of accepting any new ideas from the whites. They not only received protection from the colonial government but special efforts were made to improve their intellectual and moral condition. But as they had no written language of their own and would not consent to acquaint themselves with the English tongue, their education was impossible. The most of their native tongue that I have been able to gather are the words used by them in counting from one to ten; these are (spelling them according to their sounds) 1-Nucker, 2-Nee, 3-Swee, 4-Yam, 5-Pan, 6-Nuck-
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PEQUOTS IN AFTER YEARS
ahdunce, 7-Sucesewunce, 8-Suonce, 9-Passitokum, 10- Pihog.
"De Forest in the appendix of his work on the Indians of Connecticut gives these words a little differently 1-Nu- qunt, 2-Neeze, 3-Shurh, 4-Yanh, 5-Nuppau, 6-Nuc- qunddosk, 7-Nezzangnsk, 8-Shwausk, 9-Pauzsacongeu, 10-Piugg.
"At an early day a missionary was chosen to labor among them. By invitation, we infer, from Capt. George Denison, the Rev. William Thompson, son of the Rev. William Thompson of Braintree, Mass., was introduced to the tribe and obtained lands near the center of the town of Groton. Mr. Thompson was engaged in 1657 by the court of com- missioners, acting as agents for the 'Society for Propa- gating the Gospel in New England,' and received a salary of ten pounds per annum for the first two years and twenty pounds per annum for the next two, after which the stipend was withheld for alleged 'neglect.' His residence was usually in New London but he ministered to the Pequots at Mystic and Pawcatuck.
"Owing to the intractable character of the Pequots and his own feeble health, Mr. Thompson left them and re- moved to Surrey County, Virginia, in 1663. Other labors for their religious elevation proved alike futile. The Mo- hegans, west of the Thames River, who were originally a branch of the Pequot tribe, but who early revolted from them and joined the English were scarcely more impres- sible. Great sums of money have been expended upon these (people) in seeking to impart knowledge and maintain Christian worship among them, but they have nearly all sunk away and their reserved lands, called the Mohegan tract are a mournful desolation. Not a pure-blooded Mohegan is now living.
"The Pequots sank away more rapidly than the Mo- hegans. While they refused to accept the virtues and arts of the whites, they readily received all foreign vices. Like all savages, they were fond of whatever would produce intoxication, and so they were eager for the distilled drinks
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of the English. Many recollections are furnished by my early years of the appearance and habits of the miserable remnant of the Pequot tribe that occupied the reserved lands near Lantern Hill. Often in bands of from four to twelve they came from their homes to the seaside and to the villages, bringing baskets, scrub-brooms and splinter mats to exchange for liquor or sell for cash so as to procure the coveted drink. They rarely sold their rude manufactures for clothes or food and never for mechanical instruments. It is a singular fact that none of them manifested a taste for mechanical pursuits; at least, I do not recollect to have seen an Indian mechanic or one who desired to learn the use of any curious English instruments.
"These squads of Indians in their journeys always moved in single file: thus they followed the custom of their an- cestors, who by necessity moved in this manner through the forest paths; English roads and English examples could induce no change in them from their old ways. In short, they were a hopeless, unteachable race. Even in making their baskets they were reluctant to use the simplest instru- ments that were unknown to their fathers. But the Indians were at least honest and generous among themselves. When a lad I remember to have been much interested and amused in observing their manners to each other, as seated on the ground by the roadside in front of my grand- father's dwelling they divided the food and drink with which they were furnished. I never saw an Indian mani- fest greediness, however hungry he might be. No one ever appropriated to himself more than his proper share. The pitcher of cider would pass around the circle again and again, no one manifesting a disposition to secure the lion's share and no one looking at another with an eye of sus- picion. . . . The last full-blooded Pequot of the Groton tribe, i. e. pure by both father and mother, was Frederick Toby, who died in 1848." In reviewing the history of this once proud and powerful tribe, that swept over the land with all- conquering power, but now nearly extinct, who can
* "Moses P. Dailey, the last surviving pure-blooded member of the
1
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avoid discerning the brevity and vanity of human glory or refrain from uttering for the poor Indian the language of pity and lament!"
The reservation above referred to was situated in North Groton, near Lantern Hill, and comprised about two thou- sand acres. In addition to this the Pequots also claimed title to Nowayonk (Noank) and until 1712 exercised the rights of ownership. In that year the town passed a vote dividing the Noank land into lots,* and apportioning them to those men who served in King Philip's war. In 1714
Pequot tribe of Indians that dwelt in eastern Connecticut and part of which later emigrated to Rhode Island, died August 20, 1915, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Abram D. Manchester, of 635 Public st., Providence. For 60 years plying his trade of professional nurse, to which profession he took because of his knowledge of the cura- tive and healing power of herbs, he was probably one of the best- known figures of Providence during the last half-century. He was in his 91st year.
"Mr. Dailey's grandfather emigrated from Connecticut to Rhode Island with two other families because of the practice of selling tribal lands to the whites in exchange for "fire-water." It was at this time that his grandfather dropped the tribal name and took that of Dailey. Benjamin West Dailey, father of Mr. Dailey, was three years of age when the Pequots who were to be the Rhode Island representatives of the tribe came here in 1800. The old warrior grandfather carried out his purpose so well that his son lived soberly, while Mr. Dailey has never touched tobacco or liquor in any form. From the camp at Norwich the Pequots came to this city and settled at a place now known as Blackstone Park on the banks of the Seekonk river. Later they went up an old cartpath, which was afterward developed into Broadway, and pitched their tents. The camp was opposite where the later site of the Harris Homestead stood, and about where St. James Episcopal Church was erected. At the time Mr. Dailey's grandfather came here, Provi- dence, west of the top of Westminster street, was virtually covered with forestry. At the corner of Jackson and Westminster streets was a thick grove, through which a narrow path led southeasterly, and over this the Pequots were wont to travel as they went to the shore of Narragansett Bay for fishing purposes.
"Mr. Dailey's brothers, Jeremiah and Joseph, and his sister, An- geline, lived until well after maturity, when tuberculosis carried them away, as it did two younger children. Mr. Dailey escaped the fate of his kindred and tribal relatives by keeping to the open all the time until the danger period was passed, when he took up professional nursing. His aunt, Dorcas Dailey, for years was one of the picturesque fixtures of Narragansett Pier as the maker and seller of Indian baskets. Mr. Dailey was born in Norwood, the son of Benjamin and Harriet Dailey, and has been for years a familiar figure on Courtland street."-Providence Journal.
* "Preposalls made to the towne of Groton for the dividing of a cer-
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the Indians were removed to the reservation in North Groton, although hunting and fishing privileges were re- served for them at Noank.
Cassasinamon having died in 1692, Scattup or Scadoab was appointed his successor, though Robin Cassasinamon, son of the former chief, set himself in opposition to him, and for a time these two persons exercised the authority of sachem. Young Robin petitioned the Assembly* "setting forth the rights of the Pequots to Nawyonk and complain- ing of the injustice of the Groton people in taking posses- sion of it. The commissioners of the Missionary Society in England interested themselves in the affair. By Samuel Sewall, their agent in Boston, they sent an address to the government of Connecticut requesting it to notice the com- plaints of the Pequots, and not suffer wrong to be done to a people who for more than seventy years had been sub- missive to the English and dependent upon their protection. They had lately directed Mr. Experience Mayhew to visit the Pequots and Mohegans, and offer them the Gospel; but they feared the scandal of thrusting them out of their worldly possessions would embitter their spirits and make them averse to receiving the heavenly tidings. Samuel
taine tract of land lying and being in the township of Groton, in the County of New London.
"That all that tract of land lying and being in sd. towne as above sd., Commonly known by the name of Nawayunk, bounded north- erly with Lieut. John Faning his land, and westerly by the brook till it comes to the Salt Cove near Mr. Ashbe his dwelling house, and then by the Cove to the Sound, and then southerly with the Sound till it comes to the turning up to goe up the Salt Cove or River commonly called and known by the name of Mistick River, and so bounded with the salt water easterly till it comes to the land now in the possession of James Packer of sd. Groton, and then with said Packer's Land till it comes to sd. Faning's Land first mentioned ;- which said tract of Land the Pequet Indians have had a privilege upon; be devided or lotted out into Equial lots of equial value or worth as neare as may be; that all the propriaters in sd. Groton that have right therein may draw out, each man or person, their lots which shall stand good to them, their heirs and assigns forever-only the Pequet Indians are nevertheless to injoy their prevelidge above mentioned as it was formerly granted to them by the town of New London.
"Voted May 22, 1712. Attest, Nehemiah Smith, town clerk. "Samuel Smith, townsman."
History of the Indians of Connecticut, De Forest, p. 423.
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Sewall also wrote on the subject, one letter to Governor Saltonstall and another to Jonathan Law. In each he ex- pressed his opinion that depriving the Pequots of Nawyonk was contrary to former enactments of both the General Court of Connecticut and the Commissioners' Court of New England; and in his letter to Law he closes with the hope that the Assembly would not only preserve what land was remaining to the tribe, but would, if necessary, make addi- tions to it. 'For I hope,' he concludes, 'though the natives are at present so thinned as to become like two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, yet God will hasten their reformation and increase.'
"The Assembly issued an order commanding the town of Groton to return the land, or make suitable payment for it, or appear before the next session of that body to answer to the complaint of the Pequots. In October 1714 a com- mittee was appointed to examine into the claims of the Indians; and in the meantime, all persons were forbidden to disturb them in fishing, hunting or planting on the dis- puted lands. On investigation, the committee very justly came to the conclusion that Nawyonk no longer belonged to the Pequots. They had left it because it was worn out; they had not lived on it for forty years; they had been pro- vided with another tract four times as large; and it seemed unfair that industrious farmers should be kept out of a large body of land merely to accommodate a few idle Indians in hunting and fishing. The Assembly concurred in the report, and declared the lands at Mushantuxet suf- ficient for the Pequots; but granted them the privilege of hunting and fishing at Nawyonk as they had done before."
But the Indians were not to be allowed to enjoy undis- turbed possession of the lands allotted to them. Their lack of thrift and failure to improve the land invited trespass, and the settlers were not slow to improve every oppor- tunity to better themselves at the expense of the Pequots. The heirs of the first Winthrop claimed that the grant in- fringed on land given to their ancestor, and five-hundred acres were taken away, the town giving in exchange six-
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hundred acres elsewhere. The chief cause of complaint, however, was the encroachment of the whites. This was facilitated by the divided authority in the tribe, and it is difficult to determine the exact methods by which the vic- tims were robbed of their possessions. They complained at first that their orchards were taken from them, then that the horses and cattle of their neighbors were pastured on their land, still later that fences were erected, enclosing parts of the reservation. The settlers justified their action on the ground that the Indians were not fee-simple owners of the land but only life tenants, and as they made no use of the land it was a pity to see it running to waste. Again, some individual Pequots sold privately some tracts of res- ervation land which gave color to the right claimed to erect fences,
De Forest says :* "In 1731 the tribe, according to one account, numbered one-hundred and sixty-four persons, of whom the males over sixteen years of age amounted to sixty-six or sixty-seven. Another statement makes the number of males who lived on the land, sixty-two; of those who lived in English families, nineteen, and of the wigwams on the reservation, thirteen. Two-hundred acres of land were cleared, two-hundred more were partially cleared ; but only fourteen were planted, although the Indians had besides a considerable number of apple trees. The reser- vation still amounted to seventeen-hundred and thirty- seven acres; but it was rocky, hilly, and for the most part only fit for pasturage."
From this it appears that the process of disintegration was already at work. Complaints from the Indians or from their overseers-often contradictory in their torms- continued to be made to the General Assembly, and serious efforts were made by them to improve conditions, but ap- parently without much effect. In 1742 there was a school teacher among them, and missionaries from the Society in Great Britain for the Propagation of the Gospel in New * History of the Indians of Connecticut, DeForest, p. 423.
---
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England labored with some success for their conversion. The reformation was not lasting, as subsequent events proved.
In 1766 the Assembly, after repeated requests, appointed a committee to examine into the affairs of the tribe :* "This Assembly do appoint Hezekiah Huntington and Jabez Huntington Esqrs a committee to repair to the town of Groton, enquire into the condition and circumstances of the Indians in said town and their lands, and what is necessary to be done for their relief and help, to civilize, instruct and christianize them, with full power and authority to give order and direction for doing whatever they shall find necessary presently to be done for their relief, for school- ing and preaching among them, and to draw on the Treas- urer of this Colony for money to discharge the expenses arising thereby not exceeding the sum of twenty pounds, lawful money; and that said committee report what they find to be (the) condition of the Indians and the circum- stances of the land belonging to them in said town, their doings in pursuance thereof, and their opinion on the whole subject matter, to the General Assembly of this Colony to be holden at Newhaven on the 2nd Thursday of October next,"and in October they submitted the following report :**
"Whereas Hezekiah Huntington and Jabez Huntington Esqrs were by this Assembly at their sessions in May last appointed a committee to repair to the town of Groton, enquire into the condition and circumstances of the Indians residing there, and report to this Assembly with their opinion; and whereas the aforesaid committee have re- ported to this Assembly that many of said Indians are poor and needy, and sundry of them widows who have lost their husbands in the late war &c., and that said Indians ap- peared disposed to attend preaching and to send their chil- dren to school, but that the parents of said Indian children seemed at present unable to provide decent cloathing for said children to attend the school there; that they appre-
* Colonial Records of Connecticut, Vol. XII, p. 491.
Ibid, pp. 524-25.
:
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hended some further assistance was necessary, and that it was reasonable some further allowance should be made to the Reverend Mr. Johnson and to the schoolmaster there, for their respective services done or to be done for said Indians, &c., as per report on file: It is thereupon resolved by this Assembly, that the sum of twenty pounds be paid out of the public treasury of this Colony, and put into the hands of the aforesaid Hezekiah Huntington and Jabez Huntington, Esqrs who are hereby appointed a committee to advise and direct said Indians in the conduct and man- agement of their affairs, and are instructed to apply said monies so by them to be received according to their best dis- cretion, in procuring cloathing and some raw materials to be wrought up by said Indians for cloathing for the benefit of such of said poor children whose parents are unable to provide necessary cloathing for their said children to attend said school, all to be distributed to and among said poor children for the purpose aforesaid. It is also further re- solved by this Assembly, that there be paid out of the public treasury of this Colony the sum of four pounds to Mr. Hugh Sweetingham, for his service in teaching the school for said Indians the year ensuing: such allowance for preach- ing and teaching said school to be as a further encourage- ment and in addition to the allowance already made to them respectively by the Commissioners for Indian Affairs at Boston. And that a copy of this resolve shall be a sufficient warrant to the Treasurer of this Colony to pay the respec- tive sums herein mentioned accordingly."
The number of Indians living on the reservation at this time was one-hundred and fifty-five, all in poverty-stricken circumstances. A number of Pequots were killed in the French and Indian War while serving in the Colonial forces, and in the Revolutionary War many laid down their lives. Rev. John Avery says :* "In the record of deaths that oc- curred in North Groton (now Ledyard) in the year 1776 I find nine Indian names, and it is stated upon the record that 'these nine natives all died in the army this year.' The
* History of Ledyard, p. 253.
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same record for 1778 contains the names of six Indians who died in the army." The same authority says :* "In the year 1786 a large number of Pequots, with a few Mohegans, ac- companied by Indians from other parts of Connecticut, from Rhode Island and from Long Island, removed to Oneida County, N. Y., and by invitation of the Six Nations settled on some of their unoccupied lands, forming the nucleus of what has since been known as the Brotherhood Tribe.
"As we come down into the present (nineteenth) century we find the number of this ever-diminishing tribe very much smaller than they had been reported previously. In 1832 the number has fallen to about forty. In 1848 their overseer, Col. William Morgan, gave their numbers as twenty-eight, of whom twenty lived in Ledyard, and the remaining eight in other places. At the present time (1901) there are eighteen persons."
As Indian Town was situated in that part of Groton which became Ledyard in 1836, we do not pursue its history further.
The following poem was written by a worthy son of Groton, William Allen Wilbur, Dean of George Washington University, Washington, D. C .:
A PEQUOT IDYL
Light and shadow softly blending,
As the summer day was ending, Fell in sunset warmth and sheen Over hills of sylvan green. Upon a summit lifted high,
In outline gaunt against the sky,
Stood the sachem Mononotto Leaning on his hickory bow.
Eastward beneath the hill Lay the river white and still, And over the shore suddenly free Swept the view to the open sea. And the Sound beyond the river's mouth Guarded the island hills to the south. Inland stretching iar away
* History of Ledyard, pp. 256-7.
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A wilderness of verdure lay. And the voice of sea and land was heard On the hill in the evening song of a bird.
The warrior's stern, impassive face Was softened with the kindly grace Of the closing day. His eye beheld A world at rest; within him welled Emotions rising for release, Reflecting nature's smile of peace.
Through the streets of the Indian town Blazed the camp fires up and down, Casting warm and ruddy light Over the wigwams richly dight. The Pequot warriors reveled long In feast and dance and battle song. The night fled on, and deeper shade Settled o'er wigwam and palisade. The sounds of revelry died away: In fateful slumber the village lay.
But the Pequot sachem was ill at ease, And the whispering wind in the forest trees Sighed with the burden of woe it bore, And moaned as it never had moaned before. The warrior slept; in dreams there stole A shadow of evil o'er his soul. In the northern sky was a rack of storm, A gathering cloud, whose ominous form Of surging, rolling masses lay In marshaled lines of black array, Then like sulphurous breath from the mouth Of war, it rose and drifted south. As darkness gathered overhead, The dreamer shrank in nameless dread; Nature felt the presence of death And shuddered and waited and held her breath. But not for long; a blaze of light Burst forth across the arch of night, A shaft of lightning fell; next came A crash of thunder; answering flame Rose from the fortress higher and higher In one wild holocaust of fire.
With a shudder of fear Mononotto awoke: It was all a dream. No voices broke The stillness, save the surging song That woods and wandering winds prolong, And the monotone of ocean's roar On Wicopesset's surf-swept shore. The sachem said, "Hobbamock is here, Hobbamock the evil; he fills me with fear!" He rose and wrapping about him his cloak, Passed swiftly out of the lodge as he spoke. The village was still; the fires had burned down;
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PEQUOTS IN AFTER YEARS
At the gate was no sentry, no guard in the town. In the grey of the morning the fortress bore No trace of the life of the evening before. As he stood by his lodge there came to his ear A warning of terrible danger near, An ominous sound growing ever clearer, A heavy tread coming ever nearer. He knew 'twas the Puritan soldiery, And there leaped to his lips the startled cry,- "Owanux! Owanux!"* To Arm! To Arm! The woods repeated the awful alarm: "Owanux! Owanux!"
In stern reply
Came a rattling volley of musketry, And a hail of shot among the trees, And a ringing voice on the morning breeze, --- "Forward! Forward! Carry the gate!" Mononotto turned, but all too late, For into the fortress even then Was pouring a column of armed men. The sagamore swiftly bent his bow And watched a winged arrow go True to its mark. An exultant yell Burst from his lips as a foeman fell. As Mononotto's war-cry rose, A hundred Pequots bent their bows,
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