USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Framingham > History of Framingham, Massachusetts, early known as Danforth's Farms, 1640-1880; with a genealogical register > Part 6
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INDIAN VILLAGE AT COCHITUATE. - This word is spelled in official documents, Wachittuate, Coijchawicke, Catchchauitt, Charchittawick, Katchetuit, Cochichawauke, Cochichowicke, etc. As is so common with Indian place-words, modern usage has changed the original application of the term. Neither the Indians nor the early English set- tlers applied the name to the pond, but to the high bluff just south of the outlet. The exact Indian use of the term is given by Thomas Mayhew, Peter Noyes and Edmund Rice, in their record of the laying out of Mrs. Glover's farm in 1644: "The southwest bounds are the little river that issueth out of the Great Pond at Cochituate."
The word signifies, "place of the rushing torrent," or "wild, dash- ing brook," referring to the outlet in time of high water.
Of the original native owner of the land at this point and the immediate vicinity, we have no positive knowledge. This tract was included in the grant made by the General Court, under the right of eminent domain, to the Indians at Natick, after that plantation was established ; and the deeds to the English purchasers, all of which bear date subsequent to this grant, are signed by Waban, Piambow, Tom Tray and others. These names and some other reasons favor the inference that these lands were included in the inheritance of the tribe which dwelt at the Falls below, to be noticed hereafter.
But fortunately for history, the village-site on the bluff was left un- touched by the plow, till a period within the memory of men now
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History of Framingham.
living ; and the remains clearly indicate the permanent residence of a considerable clan. Mr. Joseph Brown, who was born near by, and was often on the spot, says, "I have been in the old Indian fort which stood on the highest point of the hill south of the outlet of Long pond, a great many times. It used to include about an acre and a half of land. A circular bank of earth with ditch outside, the whole about four feet high, enclosed it; and there was a raised mound in the centre, made I suppose, for a lookout. There were several cellar-holes - 'granaries' -inside the bank. It was woods all around ; but this place was always bare. It was first plowed up by Col. James Brown, who levelled the bank, filled up the holes, sowed rye, and made it into a pasture. There was an Indian wier in the brook, at the foot of the bluff, a little way down from the outlet." To this clear statement, nothing need be added.
Quite recently, two large mortars were found here; also abundance of pestles, gouges, spear heads, and fragments of steatite kettles, etc. Six or seven large granaries are still visible.
The size of the evidently strong fort indicates that the Indians regarded it as a place of importance, as well as a place of security. The land on the west slope of the hill was favorable for a planting- field. The height of the hill made it a good lookout-point. But the carefully constructed weir shows that the fisheries here were a prime factor in native estimation. The number of large granaries shows that immense quantities of shad and salmon were caught, dried and stored here in the spring, for use in time of need.
No excavations have been made here, to ascertain the place or mode of burial.
INDIAN VILLAGE AT THE FALLS. - The following deed, executed before the General Court had made formal grant of the land in question, is pretty conclusive evidence of aboriginal ownership on the part of the signers, and it goes far to establish a very early occu- pancy by the same parties.
The Indian was tenacious of his rights, whether natural or acquired. When not under compulsion, he discriminated clearly in such matters, and a careful study of these early deeds of transfer, will show that (contrary to a prevalent idea) he claimed ownership only in lands to which he had rights, inherited either through his own or his wife's an- cestors, or acquired by habitancy. After the English authorities took formal possession of a given tract or township, with or without his consent, and restricted his rights to a particular reservation, as in the case of Natick and Ockoocangansett (Marlborough), all who settled upon such reservation and joined the confederacy, acquired a mutual
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Indian Occupation.
interest in the said reserved lands, and also an interest in all lands which had before been held by any one of them in severalty. This accounts for what would otherwise appear to be an assumption of title on the part of the Indians at Natick, who signed deeds to such widely separated tracts of territory.
It is not always easy to determine from the description in a deed, what lands belonged to the grantors by aboriginal right, and what came through reservation and confederacy. But the land now to be described was never conveyed in any way to the Natick Plantation.
" This witnesseth that William Boman, Capt. Josiah, Roger, & James, and Keaquisan, Indians, now liveing at Naticke the Indian Plantation neare Sudbury in the Massachusetts Bay in New England, ffor and in consideration of a valluable sume of Peage and other goodes to us in hand paid by John Stone of Sudbury aforenamed to our full content & satisfaction, before the signing and delivery hereof have given, granted, bargained & sould, assigned, enfeoffed & confirmed, and by theis presents do give, grant, bargain & sell, assigne, enfeoffe and confirme unto the said Jno. Stone, his Heyres & assignes, a parcell of Broaken up and ffenced in land, lying on the South side of Sudbury line, upon the Falls of Sudbury River, and bounded with the Common land surrounding. The said land conteyning by estimation about ten Acres more or lesse. To have & to hould the said land with the ffences and all other the privileges and Appurtenances thereof be the same more or lesse, to him the said Jno. Stone, his Heyres and Assignes forever, to his and their only propper use & behooffe. In witness whereof wee the above named Indians have hereunto put our hands & seales this 15th day of May 16 56.
markis Boman
william X
Jaxt o Josiah williams want mark Roger ~ James John, Diederka A
no Kaaquisan.
This deed of sale was acknowledged by the Indians above named, and with their full consent the said land is passed over the 15th of : 3. mo. 1656."
Daniel Gookm
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History of Framingham.
A part of these names are known to be those of Indians belonging to the northward, at Stow and beyond. This fact, and other circum- stances, lead to the belief that the place was under the jurisdiction of the Wamesitts, whose head-quarters was at Pawtucket Falls (Lowell) ; and there is a probability that the Indian village at Cochituate belonged to the same tribe, before it was given to the Natick plantation.
Assuming that Boman and Roger were original proprietors, it is fitting that their names should be commemorated in the plain and brook which still mark the location of their ancient inheritance.
Another signer, Capt. Josiah, whose Indian name was Pennahannit, was a native of Nashobah (Littleton). He was among those who were attracted by Eliot to Natick, and became an active supporter of the apostle. The inference is plain that, at an earlier date, he had lived at Saxonville, and possessed at least a quasi right in the lands here. When the Indians at Natick and the other Praying towns were organized into a confederacy, Capt. Josiah was made Marshal Gen- eral, and had his quarters at whichever town his duties called him. On the death of Ahatawance, the sachem of Nashobah, about 1670, he was elected chief of the clan, and thereafter made his home at Nashobah, though he continued to discharge the duties of marshal till the Praying towns were disbanded.
The " Broaken up " land which these Indians sold to Mr. Stone, was their old corn-field and village-site, which they were obliged to "fence in" when the English cattle were turned out to roam over these plains and meadows, by the Sudbury settlers. Probably the lot comprised nearer fifteen than ten acres. As described in the deed, it lay "upon the Falls of Sudbury River," at Saxonville, though most of it was to the northwestward of the Falls, and included the south- erly and easterly slopes of the hill. The east bound was a line starting at the old dam, and running nearly north ; the south bound was the river and Boman's brook ; the west and north bounds were " common land." It was about eighty rods long from east to west, by about thirty rods wide from north to south. It formed the southeast corner of what has since been known as "Roger's field."
The wigwams included within this lot stood where Mr. Simpson's cottage and garden now are.
" Indian William's meadow," which lay near the old cotton-factory dam, was probably named for William Boman. Very likely he had his fishing-weir at this point in the brook. The laying out of this meadow to Rev. Edmund Browne of Sudbury, is thus recorded : " Item, one smale parcell of three acres, formerly called Indian William's meadow, lying towards the falls of Chochittuat river." As
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Indian Occupation.
this grant was ordered Oct. 18, 1654, the phrase "formerly called," carries us back as early as 1640, when the Glover farm was laid out, and indicates the ownership and perhaps residence here at that date of the Indian in question.
The fort of this clan was on the east side of Sudbury river, on the point of the bluff opposite the foot of Mechanic street. The land is now owned by S. S. Danforth. It had a bold front and sides, and was easily defended. The spring of water on which the inmates could depend was on the southeasterly side. Their large granaries were where is now J. R. Entwistle's house-lot, and were plainly to be seen when he graded up the place.
In the summer of 1877, while excavating for the road that runs on the easterly side of Mr. Entwistle's lot, at a point about twenty feet north from the northeast corner of the lot, Mr. Danforth came upon two skeletons, buried about two and one-half feet below the surface. They were in a fair state of preservation, but were carelessly handled and badly broken up. The position of the remains indicated that the bodies before burial were doubled up by bringing the knees against the chin, and laid upon the side. The heads lay towards the fort. It was the custom of some of the Indian tribes to bury their common people in this doubled-up position, and their chiefs and distinguished persons in a sitting posture. It is believed that this custom prevailed among our natives. Near these graves was found a sweating-pit, four feet deep, and three feet in diameter, with a lot of small stones mixed with cinders, at the bottom.
Remains of choice ornaments, and common domestic utensils, have been found in large quantities all along the top of the bluff here.
The early deeds specify "The Indian Graves," as a well-known point in this neighborhood. Evidently they were mounds raised over the burial-places of noted chiefs. The spot was near the easterly line of the old Kendall, now the Capt. Bradbury, farm ; but modern cultivation has obliterated all traces of the mounds.
In a deed to Caleb Johnson, of part of the Glover farm, dated Dec. 12, 1698, there is mention made of "an old Indian field," which lay to the north of the old Johnson house (now Mr. Marr's). It is still marked by a spot of blowing sand, on the northerly side of the Wayland road.
NOBSCOT. - A noted Indian trail ran from Cochituate, over the fordway at the old fulling-mill dam, thence to the foot of the bluff on which was the fort last described, thence across Sudbury river by the well-known fordway at Mechanic street, and thence westerly to North Framingham, where are evidences of a considerable number of
4
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History of Framingham.
wigwam-sites. The spots of blowing sand, large quantities of stone implements, and piles of fire-stones, point unmistakably to native habitancy around the railroad station. Angier Potter found pieces of two or three large potstone kettles, forty rods north of the depot. There is another spot of blowing sand and other signs, a short distance southeast of Mr. Potter's present residence. A piece of plow-land to the southward of the Nathan Frost house, was formerly a rich repository of arrow and spear-heads. And at a point on the river bank not far from the mouth of Cherry meadow brook, there was what the early settlers called an "Indian oven." It was an excava- tion in the ledge of rocks-to all appearance artificial,- bearing a close resemblance to an old-fashioned brick oven, and was black- ened with soot, as if from long usage.
But the most remarkable remains in this neighborhood are found on Nobscot and Doeskin hills. Well-authenticated tradition and official documents point out Peter Jethro's field and old Jethro's field - the former on the Berry farm (now George E. Slate's), and the latter some distance to the east; and the apple-orchard, planted by Jethro, Sen., before the advent of the white settlers, has scarcely gone to decay. The great stone-heap is named in the records as early as 1654; and Jethro's cellar-hole, "granary," still remains just as he left it. [See ante, p. 25.] This stone-heap was a carefully-constructed cairn, situated on the highest point of Nobscot, about twenty rods from the town line. It was nearly round at the base, and about eight feet in diameter and five and a half feet in height, gradually tapering towards the top. It was made of the stones which could be found near at hand. These stones were selected and laid up with care, making very close joints. The outside course was composed of stones about two by one and a half feet in breadth, and four to five inches thick. The top was covered with a flat stone, which from long usage had become quite smooth. From the position and structure of this cairn, there can be no doubt that it was an Indian look-out. It commanded a view of an extensive tract of country, in which were plainly distinguishable not less than eight Indian villages.
The Indian whose name is associated with these remains, and who resided here for a long term of years, was Tantamous, commonly known as Old Jethro.
Probably the following minute, in the Massachusetts Colony Rec- ords, III. 225, refers to him: "May 22, 1651. Capt. Willard and Lieut. Goodenow are appointed to lay out the thousand acres of land at Isabaeth [Assabet] which Jethro the Indian mortgaged to Herman Garret, which land by this court is granted to Watertowne to pur- chase of Herman Garret," etc. This seems to fix his early residence
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Indian Occupation.
or possessions at Assabet, and implies that he was a person of con- siderable importance. Herman Garret was a blacksmith, who had a house and land at Concord, and probably carried on his trade there before 1638. In his petition, dated May 19, 1651, he says "that 3 years since he obtained a verdict against Jethro of £16.6. 4., and £4 costs, for damage in a mare and colt done by him to your petitioner, and that said Jethro mortgaged 1000 acres of his lands to secure said debt."1 Which probably means that at some date before 1648 the Indian bought a mare and colt of Garret, and neglected to pay for the same.
Gookin, in his history of the Christian Indians, p. 473, says : "There was one family of them [at Natick] about 12 in number, the principal man named old Jethro, with his sons and relations. But this man and his relations were not praying Indians, nor did they live at Natick, only since the wars, but dwelt at a place near Sudbury, Nob- scot Hill, and never submitted to the Christian profession [except his son Peter], but separated from them, being sons of ill-fame, and especially the old man, who had the repute to be a powow." From this narrative it appears that Jethro and his kindred were a well-known family, whose abiding-place was at Nobscot; that he was a powow, i. e., a medicine-man, who combined the offices of priest and conjurer, and was held in great veneration by the natives ; that he never attached himself to Eliot, but stood aloof from Christianity ; that he was suf- ficiently versed in politics to see that in the struggle between the whites and Indians, which was precipitated by King Philip's adherents in the spring of 1675, it would be safest to put himself under the civil jurisdiction and protection of the Christian plantation at Natick ; and that Eliot and the rulers there consented to his coming among them. This plain statement that "he dwelt at Nobscot Hill" is in agree- ment with all the traditions and affidavits in relation to his "field " and " orchard" and granary. The date of the General Court's order, above quoted, is consistent with his settlement on our hill as early as 1640-45 ; and an apple-orchard planted at that time would be in full bearing in 1692, when George Walkup took up land just across the valley to the south.
The circumstances of the case lead to the inference that he continued to live here till the spring of 1675, when for safety, and to show his confidence in the whites, he removed with his family to Natick ..
But the event proved that his confidence was "vain." The English colonial government kept no faith with Indians, whether Christian or heathen. In the fall of that year it was determined to seize, disarm,
1 Mass, Archives, xxx. 18.
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History of Framingham.
and confine all the Indians dwelling in this neighborhood, without regard to character or allegiance. An order of the General Court was passed, forthwith to remove them unto Deer Island. To quote further from Gookin : "Capt. Prentiss accordingly went up. to Natick, with a few men and 5 or 6 carts, to carry such things as were of greatest necessity ; and he declared to them the Court's pleasure for their removal, unto which they quietly and readily submitted, and came down with him at an hour or two warning, about 200 souls of all
sorts. But old Jethro and his family secretly ran away in
the night ; and were with the enemy." The next we hear of him, he was dwelling near Wachusett. His name is not associated with any acts of hostility against the whites ; but he threw in his lot with those who committed atrocities during that bloody year. The next summer, after the death of Philip, he with other prominent In- dians was induced, by what he understood to be proposals of amnesty, to deliver himself up to the English at Cochecho (Dover, N. H.), where he was made prisoner, and soon after carried to Boston, where he was hanged Sept. 26, 1676. His family were sold into slavery.
PETER JETHRO was son of Old Jethro, and dwelt with the family for a time on Nobscot. The tract known as " Peter's field " was named for him. He was born about 1611. His Indian name was Hanto- mush. Mr. Barry says it was sometimes written Animatohu.
In a deed, dated July 12, 1684, of the tract two miles in width adjoining Sudbury on the west and Marlborough and Stow on the east, which he signed, he styles himself "one of the ancient native hereditary Indian proprietors of the said land." This agrees with our inference that Old Jethro's early home was at Assabet. And it is a circumstance confirmatory of the opinion already expressed, that the Indian villages at Cochituate, at the Falls, and Nobscot, were settled by Indians from the northward. The well-worn trail connect- ing these villages, and extending southeasterly to Natick, and north- westerly to Stow and Nashobah, was then a bond of union, as well as means of communication.
The earliest notice of this Indian is, that he witnessed the deed of sale of Musquitaquid (Concord) by Squaw Sachem to the English in 1635, at which date he was living at Nashobah. 1
He was living at Natick 1650; was one of Eliot's early converts, and received a good education. He was often employed, both by the Indians and the whites, to assist in drawing up important papers. In many of the treaties, the signatures of the Indians are in his hand- writing. It is evident that he was one of the more intelligent of those who joined the church at Natick, and made it his home there, and
1 Midd. Deeds, IX. 100.
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Indian Occupation.
was held in high esteem by the apostle. Gookin speaks of him as " a grave and pious Indian," whom he sent to be a teacher at Wesha- kim, near Nashaway (Lancaster). He carried the following letter of introduction : "Sept. 17, 1674. To Shoshanim, and the Indian peo- ple at Weshakim : With the concurrence of Mr. John Eliot principal Teacher unto the Indians, and the approbation of several of the rulers and teachers belonging to the churches of Natick and Hassa- namesit, I send unto you Jethro, a man approved in the church at Natick, to be a minister and teacher among you, and to instruct you in the good knowledge of the Lord God, and in the Gospel of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ." He was residing here at the breaking out of Philip's war.
While at Nashaway, he accompanied the Indians in their expedition against the English settlers on the Connecticut river ; was at the battle on Beers's plain in Northfield, Sept. 4, 1675, and in the night set free one of the white captives who was to have been burned the next day.
Only one stain rests upon his character. After the defeat of Philip, and it became evident that his cause was hopeless, the chiefs of the Nipnets and others living near Wachusett were desirous of making peace with the English. Peter seems to have had the confidence of both parties, and was selected to bring about a reconciliation. The Indians, including his father, were induced to go to Cochecho, as they understood to make peace. On the first of September, 1676, there were gathered nere at the garrison of Maj. Waldron about 400 mixed Indians, among whom were the aforesaid Nipnets and Jethro, Sen. Of the precise terms on which Maj. W. had accepted their submission, it is difficult to form a judgment. But that they regarded him as their friend, and trusted in his protection, is evident.
At this juncture, two companies, under Capts. Hawthorn and Sill, were sent from Boston to the eastward, with orders to kill and destroy all Indians who had been concerned with Philip. They reached Dover Sept. 6. As several of the Nipnet chiefs were known to have been active in the destruction of English towns, Capts. Hawthorn and Sill determined to assault the whole body of Indians at once. But Maj. Waldron objected, and contrived to take them by stratagem. He proposed to the Indians to have a training the next day, and a sham fight after the English mode; and summoning his own men, with those under Capt. Frost of Kittery, they, in conjunction with the two companies, formed one party, and the Indians another. Having diverted them awhile in this manner, and caused the Indians to fire the first volley, by a peculiar dexterity the whole body of them (except two or three) were surrounded, before they could form a suspicion of
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History of Framingham.
what was intended. They were immediately seized and disarmed, without the loss of a single man on either side. A separation was then made; the Pennacook Indians, and others who had joined in making peace the winter before, were peaceably dismissed ; but the strange Indians (as they were called) who had fled from the south- ward and taken refuge among them, were made prisoners, to the number of two hundred ; and being sent to Boston, seven or eight of them, who were known to have killed any Englishmen, were con- demned and hanged ; the rest were sold into slavery in foreign parts. Public opinion has ever been divided as to the propriety of the whole affair. The remaining Indians, however, looked upon the conduct of Maj. Waldron as a breach of faith, inasmuch as they had taken those fugitive Indians under their protection, and had made peace with him, which had been strictly observed. His treachery, as they termed it, was never forgiven ; and both he and Capt. Frost, after a lapse of many years, paid the forfeit of their lives, at the hands of the savages. 1
It has seemed proper to give this circumstantial account of this transaction, because of the relation it bears to our two Jethros. It is difficult for us to decide as to the precise agency of the younger Jethro in the death of his father. But the affair occasioned Dr. I. Mather to say of him: "That abominable Indian, Peter Jethro, betrayed his own father, and other Indians of his special acquaint- ance, unto death."
In an attempt to justify himself, Maj. Waldron says: "I promised neither Peter Jethro nor any other of that company, life or liberty, etc. All that I promised was to Peter Jethro, viz., that if he would use his endeavors and be instrumental for the bringing in One-Eyed John, etc., I would acquaint the Governor with what service he had done, and improve my interest in his behalf, etc."2
The following letter was in the handwriting, and was probably the composition of Peter Jethro, and will give an idea of his way of thinking and style of expression. It was sent in answer to a proposi- tion for the redemption of Mrs. Rowlandson and other prisoners, then in the hands of the Indians near Wachusett. It was received at Boston, April 12, 1676.
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