USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lowell > Memories of the Indians and pioneers of the region of Lowell [Mass.] > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
. Coll; Hutchinson's History of Mass., vol. 2,
1. 141; 3 Mass. Hiet. Coll .; Palfrey's History of New 1. .. wid. vol. 2; Francis' Lifo of Eliot; 2 Mass. Re- Cons. Etc.
" See Mather's Magnalla ; Francis', and Moore's, Life of Eliot; Young's Curonicles of Mass. Bay, p. 365, noto, etc.
celestial light that played over the Puritan- ism of the sainted Eliot, gave it a beauty that was not born of earth, and that can never fade away.
Eliot had taken pains to learn the Indian language, even before the passage of the order to which reference has been made, and was the first to enter upon the mis- sionary work. On the twenty-eighth of October, 1646, after proper notice of his design, he proceeded, with three friends to what is now Newton Corner; and then and there was the Puritan interpretation preached to the red men of America. Encouraged by the success of this first effort, Eliot, a fortnight afterward, preach- ed again at the same place; and found
forevermore. But on this occasion it is of the Gospel of Christ for the first time
9
ed, to serve warrants and summonses, much yearneth toward them, and I have a and execute generally the orders and judg- great desire to make an Indian Towne ments of these Indian courts. Once in that way."
It would be scarcely reasonable to sup- colony visited each of these villages, and, pose that Eliot left Passaconaway without in connection with the local Indian judges giving him from time to time, some gen- held what may be called a county court eral information touching the tragic scenes for the Indians. These colonial and In- then being enacted in the far-off land of dian magistrates also led the way in the his birth-tbe land about which the Indians general civilization of the people over ever made so many strange inquiries .--- whom they had the charge.
That would indeed be a most pleasing picture, which should exhibit Eliot and Passaconaway sitting together upon the bank of the bowlder-bottomed Merrimack, while Eliot relates the marvelous story -- how Charles the First and his Parliament came into collision -- how Strafford and. Laud, the king's nearest friends, were put to death upon the scaffold-how the king's armies were routed, the king himself be- headed, the order of Bishops abolished, the House of Lords compelled to succumb, and the glorious old monarchy of England eclipsed in blood !
In 1647, or possibly in 1646, Eliot, after preaching at Concord, made his first visit PASSACONAWAY. to this place, accompanied by Captain After this we hear no more of Passacon- away for about twelve years ; and if there Simon Willard, and other friends, of both races. At that time, Passaconaway, sus- be truth in the saying, " Happy are the people whose annals are barren," both he and his people may be supposed to have pecting him of hostile designs, left the place, with his two sons, and would not see hin. Eliot's 'second visit to this spot passed this period in tranquil felicity, and was in the spring of 1648, when he found in blissful unconsciousness of the trials that here a great confluence of the Indians, were in store for them. Before the leaves engaged in fishing, and in wild festivities, fell from the trees in the autumn of 1660, -reminding him of the fairs in England. Passaconaway found himself burdened Finding excellent opportunities for his with the weight of about four score years. favorite work, he remained here many His star had long passed the zenith, and days, preaching and conversing, now to was sinking rapidly down the sky. His one group, and now to another. Passa- eye had become dim, and his natural force conaway and his sons listened with willing abated. Time had furrowed his face with ears to his discourses, and declared them- wrinkles, and turned his straight, black selves deeply impressed with the truth of locks to gray. He could not be uncon- his words. Nor was this impression mere- scious that the time was near when his ly momentary ; for, on visiting this place footsteps would be heard no more upon in the following spring, Eliot was press- his native river-bank-that he was liable ingly importuned by Passaconaway to come at any moment to be served with that per- and live with the Pawtuckets, and be their emptory summons which no child of mor- teacher ; and though, from the multiplicity tality may ever disobey-a summons to of other cares, Eliot could not accede to the great council fire of his fathers in the this proposal, he says :- "truly my heart land of shades. He therefore resolved to
it e it e 2
three months, one of the magistrates of the
f
Nor did they labor altogether in vain. Gradually, the Indians under their super- intendence shook off that habit of indo- lence which had become second nature, and applied themselves to agricultural pur- suits. Bear-skins were laid aside, and clothes like those of the whites generally assumed. It was soon noticed that they lived in better wigwams than their neigh- bors, and were solicitous that their chil- dren should be educated like the children of the whites.
·
10
resign the sachemship to his son, Wanna- kept it in lasting remembrance. Some of lancet, and to pass the remainder of his them, indeed, disregarded it; but by life unburdened by the cares of official many of them it was sacredly observed .- It kept them from joining the coalition of King Phillip, and thus saved them from the fate which finally befell the partizans more probably at Amoskeag Falls, where of that able but unfortunate patriot.
station.
His abdication was signalized by a grand banquet,-given possibly here, though the stately city of Manchester has since
The chief of the Pawtucket or Penna- arisen,-which was attended by a vast con- cook Confederacy who succeeded Passa- course of chiefs and braves, and other In- conaway, resided only occasionally here ; dians of high and low degree. Feasting most of his time, during the first fourteen and dancing were the order of the day .-- years of his sachemship, being spent far- Belknap tells us that some white gentle- ther up the valley, at the places already men of the colony were present by invita- mentioned as the abodes of Passaconaway. tion, participating gleefully in all the fes- The local chief of this place, at this time, tivities of the occasion. The old warriors was Nobbow or Numphow, who had mar- and sages of the tribe regaled the audience ried one of Passaconaway's daughters.
with the.triumphant recital of their proud- Two years after his abdication, in May, est exploits in battle and in the chase .- 1662, Passaconaway turns up again, in a Finally, in profound silence, Passaconaway condition truly pitiable.
arose, like General Jackson on a similar " Trained from his trec-rocked cradle to his bier occasion, to deliver his farewell address,- The fierce extremes of good and ill to brook,"
The feelings of this prophet, priest and he now comes before us supplicating the king on meeting his people for the last General Court " that this honord Courte time officially, and their feelings on part- wolde pleas to grante vnto vs a parcell of ing with the chief who had led them in the land for a comfortable cituation, to be council and in the field, so long, so ably stated for our Injoyment ; as also that this and so well, can be better imagined than honord Courte wold pleas to take into yr described. From the imperfect remains serious and grave consideration the condi- of this speech, as preserved by Hubbard, tion and also the request of yr pore sup- Belknap, and others, we may infer that pliant." In answer to this petition, which this far- sighted old Indian statesman had is still preserved among our State Ar- a presentiment of the great war between chives, Passaconaway received a grant of the colonists and the Indians which broke lands whien included parts of Manchester, ont fifteen years afterward, and desolated Londonderry, Litchfield, Merrimack, and New England with fire and blood. Among Bedford, in New Hampshire. The lands other things, he is reported to have said-
" I am now going the way of all the earth ; I am ready to die, and not likely to see you ever met together any more. I will now Have this word of counsel with you :- Take heed how you quarrel with the English. Hearken to the last words of your father and friend. The white men are the sons of the morning. The Great Spirit is their father. His sun shines bright about from the writers of the day, it is supposed them. Never make war with them. Sure as you light the fires, the breath of heaven will turn the flame upon you, and destroy you .- Listen to my advice. It is the last I shall be allowed to give you. Remember it and live."
The solemn counsel of such a chief as Passaconaway, uttered on so memorable an occasion, was not likely to be soon forgot- ten. Both the new chief and his people
were chiefly pine plains; but they includ- ed a good fishing-ground, and probably sufficed for all the wants of the " pore suppliant " and his dependents. Passa- conaway cid not live long to enjoy his grant. As nothing more is heard of him that his earthly days were shortly after- ward numbered and finished .*
Having now done with Passaconaway, I resume the narrative of the efforts that
For more about Passaconaw. y and his son. Wan- nalandet, ren the Farmer's Visitor for 1859 ; Potter. s Hatay of Manchester, N. II. ; Drake's Book of the lud'ans. etc.
--
11
were made to convert and civilize those of hered to the charter. He died in povert y his tribe who commonly abode at this in 1687, leaving a widow and several chil - place. The labors of Eliot, here and else- dren. Though a man of some bigotry and where, were cordially seconded by the many prejudices, his understanding was General Court, and especially by General cultivated, his integrity inflexible, his pa- Gookin, author of Historical Collections triotism disinterested and unconquerable, of the Indians, published in the first vol- his piety exemplary, his religious and po- ume of the Collections of the Massachusetts litical principles firm and unchangeable ; Historical Society, and of the History of he was zealous, active and benevolent, and the Christian Indians, published in the a true friend to the Indians, who mourned second volume of the Transactions of the his death with unfeigned sorrow .* *
American Antiquarian Society. Consid- ering how ably and how faithfully this man labored to improve the condition of the Indians of this place, and considering the comparitive oblivion to which his mem- ory has been consigned, I cannot deny myself the pleasure of brushing away the dust from his urn ; though I am consci ous of the probable failure of the attempt.
GOOKIN.
Major-General Daniel Gookin was born tations, to hear and determine all such in England, but immigrated carly in life matters that do arise among themselves, as to Virginia. In 1644, he settled in Cam- our magistrates [or Justices of the Peace] bridge, where he was chosen captain of a may do among the English ; with officers military company and a member of the to execute all commands and warrants as house of deputies. In 1652, he was elected marshals and constables." The Indian an assistant in the colonial magistracy, Commissioners here mentioned, were no- and, in 1656, was appointed by the Gener- minated by the Indians themselves, and al Court superintendent over all the In- commissioned by Gookin. And in addi- dians that had submitted to the allegiance tion to the petty courts of this local native of thecolony, among whom were the In- magistracy, the same statute provided that dians of the region of Lowell. Soon after Gookin, jointly with the local judge of each this appointment, he visited England, and village, "shall have the power of a county wasreceived with many marks of attention court, to hear and determine all causes at the court of the Lord Protector, Oliver arising among them ; the English magis- Cromwell, who, having recently conquered trate (Gookin) appointing the time and Jamaica from Spain, desired to remove place of the court, and consenting to the the Massachusetts colonists to that island, determination and judgment. And all and sought, but in vain, to enlist Gookin other matters beyond their cognizance, in that enterprise. During Gookin's ab- shall be issued and determined by the sence, Major-General Atherton filled the court of assistants" at Boston. Many other office of Indian superintendent. General laws and orders were passed by the general Atherton dying soon after General Gookin's court, with a view to the civilization of return to Massachusetts, in 1661, Gookin these Indians, which had important in- was at once reinstated in the superinten- fluences upon the Indians here. They pro- deney. He was was made Major-General vided among other things that the title to in 1681. Hle continued in the magistracy the soil should be deemed to have been
till the dissolution of the charter in 16S6. He was at the head of the party which ad-
INDIAN LAWS.
In this notice of Gookin, I mentioned that he was appointed superintendent of the Indians that had submitted to the English, by an act passed in 1656. This act provided that said Gookin do "take care that all such Indians do live according, to our laws, as far as they are capable ;' that he "shall constitute and appoint In- diau Commissioners in their several plan-
"For a fuller account of Gookin, seo 1 Mass Hist. Coll.pp. 228-230; and Eliot's, and Allen's, Biog. Dict.
if y f 1
3
-
12
vested rightfully in the Indians ; that such wonted rapidity. As early as 1653, a of them as acknowledged the colonial juris- number of white settlers took up their diction, should retain their lands for towns; abode in this vicinity ; and on the twen- that none of them should be dispossessed of ty-ninth of May, 1655, the General Court their cultivated lands, corn-fields or fishing- incorporated the town of Chelmsford, and also the town of Billerica, which, until the twenty-third of December, 1734, included what is now Tewksbury.
grounds ; that no assignment of land from them to any white man should be valid unless by license of the court; that no in- toxicating drinks should be sold or given to them except in case of sickness ; {but. WAMESIT RESERVATION. in these days, as in our days, prohibitory In order that this tide of white settlers liquor laws proved a poor barrier against might not disposses the Indians of their the force of depraved appetite ;) that none lands here, on which they had erected should practice as powwows, wizards or quite substantial wigwams, and some of witches under severe penalties ; that all which they had enclosed and brought un- these and other laws relative to the Indians der cultivation, Eliot, in 1653, two ' shall be once a year, if the time be safe, years before the incorporation of Chelms- made known to them by such fit person ford and Billerica, procured the passage of as the general court shall appoint." The an act by the General Court, reserving a doctrine of the lawyers, that ignorance of good part of the land on which Lowell now the law is no excuse for transgression, stands, to the exclusive use of the natives. was not applied to the Indians. This land then contained two Indian vil-
It was also made the duty of the super- lages-Pawtucket, which lay east of Paw- intendent, Gookin, to make order and give tucket Falls, and Wamesit, which lay east instruction, backed with suitable penalties, of Massick or Wamesit Falls, in Belvidere. for promoting morality, industry, good The village of Pawtucket, however, was manners, and a proper observance of Sun- finally merged in that of Wamesit. The day; to see that the children attended the bounds of this Indian reservation were en- schools, and all the people the churches; larged in 1656 and in 1660, A ditch to mark these bounds was dug about the year
"and to provide that the Indian teachers and ralers have some small encouragement 1665, Traces of this ditch may still be distributed among them, according to the seen.
people's ability." This " small encourage-
Here, as in other Indian towns, super- fnent" was obtained by a tax of one-tenth intended by Eliot and Gookin, the work of "their yearly increase of all sorts of of Indian civilization went on promisingly grain and pulse." But Gookin himself for ten years. An extensive traffic grew admits that this custom of tithes savored up between the whites and the Indians ; "too much of Judaism and anti-Chris- and in 1657 this traffic was regulated by tianism."
an act of the Legislature. Major Simon
While these efforts were being made for Willard, and three others, paid twenty- the improvement of the aborigines, the five pounds sterling for the exclusive right to trade with the Indians on the Merri-
work of settlement was prosecuted with great activity and success by the English. mack River.
In 1652, the valley of the Merrimack was
In 1669, Wannalancet and a party of surveyed by Captain Simon Willard and Indians from Concord, fearing an attack Captain Edward Johnson, as far north as from the Mohawks, came down the Merri- the outlet of Lake Winnipisiogee. Its mack in canoes, and built a fort for rich basins and valuable fishing-stations their protection on the hill in Belvidere, were thus laid open to the eager gaze of which has ever since been called Fort Hill, the great host of adventurers, and the tide and surrounded it with palisades. At of white population rolled onward with un- this the white settlers in the vicinity be-
1
13
came alarmed, and some of them shut themselves up in garrison houses. In 1680, the strange Indians whose presence created this alarm, united with several hundred others, including all the more turbulent and dangerous Indians belong- ing to this part of New England, in an ex- pedition against the Mohawks, by whom they were overpowered, and almost entire- ly destroyed. The wars of the Indians were generally fought on the principle of
That would be an interesting picture, which should portray this Indian teach- No-Surrender : and in this single cam- er standing in his rude pulpit preach- paign, it is said, more than fifty chiefs ing and catechizing, with a zeal out were slain. The mild disposition of of all proportion to his knowledge, the Wannalancet, always peaceably disposed, simple subjects of his pastoral care; or saved him from the destruction which thus the whole flock crowded around the chapel befell so many of his associates,
WAMESIT IN 1674.
Speaking of the Indian village here, in 1674, Gookin says :---
"It hath about fifteen families, and conse- quently, as we compute, about seventy-five serenely on the bench in his rude cabin,
souls. [This must mean seventy-five "' praying Indians; " the entire population being about two hundred and fifty.] The quantity of land belonging to it is about twenty-five hundred acres. The land is fertile, yielding plenty of corn. It is excellently accommodated with a fishing place ; and there is taken variety of fish in their season, as salmon, shad, lamprey eels, sturgeon, bass, and divers others, There is a great confluence of Indians, that usually resort to this place in the fishing season. Of these strange Indians, divers are vicions and wicked men and women ; which Satan makes use of to obstruct the prosperity of religion here. The ruler of this people is called Numphow. He is one of the blood of their chief sachems. Their teacher is called Samuel, son to the ruler, a young man of good parts. and can speak, read and write English and Indian completely. He is one of those that was bred up a school atthe charge of the Corporation for the indians .-- These Indians, if they were diligent and innus- trious-to which they have been frequently cx- cited-might get much by their tish, especially fresh salmon, which are of esteem and good price at Boston in the season ; and the Indians being stored with horses of a low price, might furnish the market fully, bring at so small a distance. And divers other sorts of fish :hey might salt or pickle. as sturgeon and bass ; - which would be mich to their profit. But not- withstanding divers arguments used to pur- suade them, and some orders made to encour- age them ; yet their idleness and improvidence doth hitherto prevail.
siderable numbers at that season. And this place being an ancient and capital seat of In- dians, they come to fish, and this good man takes this opportunity to spread the net of the gospel to fish for their souls."*
The magistrate, Numphow, here men- tioned, held his monthly court in a log cab- in near the Boott Canal. Samuel, the In- dian teacher, imparted his teachings in a log chapel near the west end of Appleton Street.
to listen to the persuasive words of Eliot -their Beecher, their Chapin, their Bishop Fitzpatrick. More interesting still would be the picture of Judge Numphow, the archetype of our Police Judge, sitting deciding every case by the law of Moses, believing the wit of man could make none better. Nost pleasing of all would that picture be, which should show us that court-house during the May term-Gookin sitting as chief justice, with Eliot on his right, and Numphow on his left-dispen- sing fines, floggings, and imprisonments, with a disregard of forms that might have astonished Sir Matthew Hale and the other " slow coaches " of Westminster Hall.t
But we are not left to our imagination for a view of the circumstances attending the annual visits of Eliot and Gookin to this "ancient and capital sest of la- dians." The pen of Gookin has transmit- ted to us a quite unique account of their visit in 1674. They arrived here on the evening of the fifth of May ; and the In- dians, elated with the news of their arri- val, assembled to greet them, in the wig- wam of Wannalancet, near Pawtucket Falls. The same evening, Eliot preached
At this place, once a year, at the beginning "Gookin's His. Coll., Chap. 7. of Miy, the English magistrae [to wit. Gookia himself] keeps his court, accompanied with tThis joint exerciso of Judicial functions by the clergy and the civil magistracy was not so novel a thing as may be supposed. By the laws of King Ed- gar, the Bishop and the Alderman (or, in his absence the Sheriff') of the County, sat together in the Coun. ty Court. Vaughan's Revolutions in English Histo- Mr. Eliot, the minister ; who at this time takes his opportunity to preach, not only to the in- habitants, but to as many of the strange Indians that can be pursnaded to hear him ; of which sort, usually in times of peace, there are con- ry, vol. 1, p. 224 ; 3 Blackstone's Commentaries, p. 61.
& ١٠ 1 1
1
14
to them on the Saviour's Parable of the ness, particularly the Mohawks, who per- Marriage of the King's son, being the first petrated upon them continual outrages. --- fourteen verses of the twenty-second chap- Now, herds of cattle were stolen; now, ter of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Gookin cabins were pillaged ; now, a stray Indian describes Wannalancet as a sober and was caught in the woods and murdered .---- grave sachem, between fifty and sixty Every atrocity, in short, from the scalping years of age. " He hath been always of a man to the robbing of a hen-roost, was loving and friendly to the English. Many practiced upon them with impunity. endeavors have been used several years
At the time of the conversion of Wan- to gain this sachem to embrace the Chris- nalancet, the work of planting Christianity
tain religion ; but he hath stood off from time to time, and not yielded up himself personally, though for four years past he hath been willing to hear the word of God preached, and to keep the Sabbath. A great reason that hath kept him off, I con- ceive, hath been the indisposition and averseness of sundry of his chief men and relatives to pray to God; which he forc- saw would desert him, in case he turned Christian. But at this time [May 6th, 1674] it pleased God so to influence and overcome his heart, that it being proposed to him to give his answer concerning praying to God, after some deliberation and serious pause, he stood up, and made a speech to this effect :-
** 'Sirs, you have been pleased for four years last past, in your abundant love, to apply your- selve, particularly unto me and my people. to exhort, press and persuade u- to pray to God. I am very thankful to you for your pains. I must acknowledge, I have, all my days, used to pass in an old canoe, (aliuding to his frequent cu-tom to pass in a canve up the river. ) and . now you exhort me to change and leave my old canoe, and embark in a new canoe, to which I have Intherto been unwilling; but now 1 yield up myself to your advice, and enter into a new canoe, and do engage to pray to God hereafter.' "
among the Indians had attained the acme of its success. Thirty years had rolled by since Elliot preached his first Indian sermon at Newton Corner. During this period, he had organized fourteen towns, inbabited by eleven hundred praying In- dians, Dr. Dwight says, the whole num- ber of Christian Indians in New England, at this time, was "not far from 10,000." It was written in the book of Destiny that this work should proceed no further. The trump of war was now to be sounded by the chief of the Pokonokets, and all these things were to pass away.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.