USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > Waban, early days, 1681-1918 > Part 3
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As the globe cooled further it shrank, puckering its outer skin of cooled hard rock into great and small ridges and val- leys and cracks where the liquid rock from below sometimes flowed up to form volcanic peaks. Some of this later cooled rock, called melaphyre (pronounced mell'-a-fur), may be seen in ledges on the back of the lot at 40 Collins Road, just across the track from the Waban station.
Through successive ages the tops of these protruding rock eminences were broken, ground, blown away and washed down by changes of temperature, early plant growth, wind and water, forming soil and gravel which filled the valleys. Then Waban, with surrounding land, sank so that it was far below the sea level, and the weight of sea water above it compressed the gravel and earth into solid rock many hundreds of feet thick. This story is told by the "pudding stone" rock along Chestnut Street north of Roslyn Road, and at the bend of Caroline Park.
Great rivers flowed out to the ocean over Waban, bringing clay which settled over the "pudding stone" and was com-
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pressed into a softer slaty rock many feet thick. This slaty rock layer called argillite (pronounced ahr'-jill-light ) shale may be seen along Tamworth Road at 59 and in the rear of 18 Annawan Road.
Waban gradually rose from the depths of the sea while the shrinking of the globe pushed the layers of rock into huge wrinkles and folds shaped like the little wrinkles in the clothes on a bed where children have been playing. In comparatively recent years, only about 90,000 ago, the ice ages came to Waban, covering it with layers of snow which pressed itself into ice thousands of feet thick flowing as creeping rivers of ice, called glaciers, from the northwest over Waban to the ocean. Grasp- ing the soil and rocks in its mass, this ice passed like a gigantic rasp over the land, grinding off the mountains, hills, and ridges and pushing soil into the ocean. When the ice finally melted it let go of the sand, gravel and rocks it was carrying, leaving them in piles the shape and composition of which tell the stories of the ice ages and form our little hills and hollows, gravel, sand and clay banks. The growth and decay of plants in succeeding years has made new surface soil on uplands and peat in the deep swamps.
OUR EARLIEST INHABITANTS Prehistoric Indians
Before white men came, Indian tribes lived here for many thousands of years in the age of fire, wood, leather, stone and bone tools and weapons. The slaty ledge behind 18 Annawan Road was an excellent source of sharp-edged thin stones stronger and straighter than shells for cutting bark and skins or scraping hides before white men brought metals, and the steady cold spring and high ground close by made the spot ideal for wigwams not too far from the river. For food, besides the salt water fish, birds and shellfish, for which they journeyed to the ocean, the following were some of the things obtained
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THE GEOLOGY OF WABAN
in Waban: fresh water fish, mussels, turtles, deer, wolves, raccoons, rabbits, foxes, woodchucks, mink, squirrels, turkeys, geese, ducks, grouse, quail, woodcocks, carrier pigeons, song birds and their eggs, skunks, muskrats, frogs, chestnuts, wal- nuts, hazelnuts, acorns, ferns, purple iris, jack-in-the-pulpit bulbs, wild rice, asparagus, sassafras, sumac bobs, bumblebees' honey, maple and black birch syrup, rumcherries, pincherries, barberries, blueberries, huckleberries, shadberries, elderberries, strawberries, checkerberries, blackberries, thimbleberries and grapes. They cultivated tobacco, beans and several varieties of squash, gourds, and Indian corn.
The Vikings
The first white men to visit Waban were probably the Vik- ings under Eric the Red, from Norway and Iceland, who are thought to have built the old heavy stone dam across the river at Watertown and fortifications at the Norumbega Tower on the river in Weston. They called this land Vinland and they probably ate wild grapes along the Charles in Waban a thousand years ago.
WABAN, the WIND
ARTHUR M. SOUTHWICK
(In the preparation of this paper, use was made of notes furnished through the kindness of Mr. Frederick T. Hackley; assembled by Mr. T. H. Von Kamecke from data on Indian Sachems and Sagamores of the Nonantum tribe from the records of the Massachusetts Antiquarian Society, the State Records and the records of Major Daniel Gookin. Assistance was also rendered by Miss Mabel Parmenter of the South Natick Historical Society. Various other sources were also employed.)
Because the hill north of Fenwick Road was his favorite hunting ground, and to perpetuate the memory of his exemplary character, the name of an American Indian was chosen as the name of this community when the branch railroad was con- structed through this locality.
Waban, meaning "The Wind" or "The Spirit" in his In- dian language, was born in 1604, a Nipnet of the Algonquin Indians. His birthplace was probably the old Indian village of Musketaquid, now called Concord, Massachusetts. There he lived his early life near Nashawtuck, which is now called Lee's Hill. He was not born a chief, but soon became a respected leader because of his great intelligence, wisdom and the power of his oratory. Waban was a very gifted man.
In his young manhood he married Tasunsquam, the eldest daughter of Tahaltawan who was Sachem (Indian Chief; pronounced say'-kem) of Musketaquid, and Waban became Sagamore (lesser chief) of this Assabet tribe. He spoke the Mahican (pronounced Ma-hee'-can) dialect. This was the lan- guage of all Indians who lived in New England, the Algon-
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quin Indians. Groups of his tribe often journeyed to the ocean, which they reached at the old stone dam near Water- town Square, and camped on the neighboring hills where the mosquitoes were not so many. Here the water of the river be- came salt, and great quantities of fish were easily taken. Salt flats extended on either side of the channel yielding abundantly all kinds of shellfish. The name of the river was Quinobequin, meaning circular. The explorer, Captain John Smith, renamed it the Charles in honor of the young son of King James.
Before the Puritans came to the mouth of this river, exploring and fishing vessels sometimes sailed in to obtain water, tobacco, food and furs from the Indians in exchange for metal tools, liquor and trinkets. At that time the only white man living on the promontory of Boston, then called Shawmut, was a hermit named William Blaxton (Blaxtun or Black- stone), self-styled Clerk of Shawmut. He had been educated for the ministry and had a good library in his house, not far from the location of the present State House. It was one of Blaxton's customs to visit the many Indian tribes throughout New England, and in this way he met and formed a warm friendship with young Waban. Probably Waban acquired a considerable knowledge of the English language and ideas dur- ing his early association with Blaxton, causing him to establish most of his tribe in Newton.
In 1630 Governor John Winthrop came to Massachusetts (meaning "Place of Many Hills," referring to the Blue Hills) with his charter and Puritan colonists. The Rev. John Eliot came in 1631 as a substitute for the Rev. Mr. Wilson in Bos- ton, and the following year became the minister of the church at Roxbury. He had received his degree at Jesus College of Cambridge, England, in 1622 when he was eighteen years old, and had subsequently become a Noncomformist so that he could not preach in England. In 1643 Eliot began to learn the language of the Indians, and with the end in view of preaching
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the Gospel to them in their own language, it became his custom to travel with Major Daniel Gookin, Commissioner to the In- dians, on his visits to the tribes within New England. Thus while Gookin, who was then in his early thirties, attended to the civil claims of the Indians, Eliot taught them English and made good progress in learning their language.
On a visit to Waban's wigwam on a hill in Newton a little west of Oak Square, Brighton, early in his ministry, Eliot found this sagamore to be extremely intelligent and thought that Waban, with his knowledge of English, would be a very valuable man in the Indian country. Eliot spoke of this to Gookin who shared his opinion and made Waban in 1632 the Governor of all the Indian tribes from about where Dover, New Hampshire, is to Mt. Hope in Rhode Island and west to the Connecticut River. Waban was then aged twenty-eight. In that year Governor Winthrop and others made an excursion up the Charles River with Waban.
Waban was the first Indian to be converted to Christianity by Eliot. This occurred in 1646. In the same year, on October 28th, Eliot preached his first sermon in the Indian language to the Indians in Waban's large wigwam on the southeast slope of the hill in Newton. After the sermon, which took up one and a quarter hours of the three hour conference, the Indians de- clared they understood it all, and Eliot distributed apples and biscuits to the children and tobacco to the men. Tahaltawan and his sannaps (braves) had come from Concord to hear Eliot. Questions of the Indians were answered by Eliot with the help of Job Netsutan, a Long Island Mohigan Indian interpreter.
Eliot's text at that first meeting was "Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live" (Ezekiel 37:9). Eliot explained the Com- mandments and asked if they understood; they said "Yes." There was a time for questions; the Indians asked how to get
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to know Christ and if God could understand prayers made in the Indian language. Eliot said that God made us all and to illustrate, said, "There is a basket. It is made of white and black straws and many other things which I do not know; but the man that made it knows; he knows all that is in it." The Indians also asked why God did not make all men good and why sea water is salt and river water fresh. (John Eliot must have needed much mental agility that day!) A drunken Indian in the assemblage asked, "Who made sack?" But the other Indians silenced him and told him that that was "a papoose question." At the close of that long, long meeting, the Indians were asked if they were tired, but said "No," and asked to hear more.
Two weeks later there was a second meeting, lasting all the afternoon. Some of the Indians cried; Waban and many of his men were so stirred that they were unable to sleep that night long ago in Nonantum. After the third meeting, Waban himself arose and began to eloquently instruct his people. Once Waban took four little boys, aged from four to nine years old, to call at John Eliot's house and asked that they be taught; so earnest was he to convey his new teaching to his people, young and old.
This Indian settlement and the surrounding vicinity Waban called Nonantum or Noonatomen, meaning "Place of Rejoicing." Waban became a missionary in earnest and his tribe, living a sober and industrious existence, became the first community of Christian Indians in North America.
Eliot continued to preach regularly at Nonantum with the help of Waban and some white missionaries. Governor Winthrop, Lieutenant Governor Dudley and many of the magistrates with Commissioner Gookin assembled at these Sun- day gatherings to show the Indians that Eliot's efforts were in conformity with their will. One week the Gospel services would be at Waban's wigwam in Nonantum and the alternate
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week at the wigwam of the lesser ruler, Paim-bow, in Natick, to which the Governor and magistrates journeyed by canoe.
Waban was held in deep respect by all the magistrates, the Governor and Indian Commissioner. We have proof of this in the papers of Daniel Gookin who refers to what Waban called "the great sickness": "Several of them recovered, par- ticularly WABAN, and John Thomas; the one the principal ruler, and the other a principal teacher of them, who were both extreme low, but God has in mercy raised them up; had they died, it would have been a great weakening in the work of God among them."
At the desire of Major Gookin, Waban was made Justice of the Peace by Governor Winthrop in 1646. The fol- lowing is a copy of a warrant issued by Chief Waban, not in his best English, but in language which could be commonly understood by all Indians in Massachusetts at that time:
"Nonantum Baye Colonie "You, you big constable, quick you catch um Jeremiah off scow, strong you hold um, safe you bring um afore me, Waban, justice peace."
Gookin says of Waban when Justice of the Peace: "When asked by a young Justice what he should do when Indians got drunk and quarreled, Waban replied, "Tie um all up, and whip um plaintiff, whip um fendant and whip um witness.' " (Also, see Allen's Biographical Dictionary.)
Through Waban's example whole tribes of Indians were made Christians and many churches were organized, such as at Grafton (Hassanimisco), Oxford and other places. The In- dians at Nonantum were industrious and pious; they were taught trades, the women eagerly learning to spin quite well. They cultivated the ground, fished and kept cattle.
Two young Indians were sent to the first President of Harvard College for education in 1645, and on June 9, 1647, John Eliot assembled a large gathering of Indians at Harvard
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and preached to them there. The college charter, given by the colonists in 1650, included the education of Indians. The third of the college buildings at Harvard was specifically for the education of Indians. It was of brick and cost £400 to build. Only one Indian ever received a degree. An Indian language primer by Eliot, printed in 1654 in the college president's house, was the first book in North America printed in the (Massachu- setts) Indians' language. Eliot also translated the book of Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew into the Indian tongue. The first complete Bible translation by Eliot was printed at Harvard College in 1664. He was at work upon this prodigious task for seventeen years.
Waban, notable for his wisdom and leadership, in 1649 devised a short code of laws for the government of his Indians. These laws were similar to those of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for white men, except that the penalties for Indian transgressors were lighter. Some of Waban's Indian laws were as follows:
"If any man shall be idle a week, or at most a fortnight, he shall pay five shillings.
"If any man shall beat his wife, his hands shall be tied behind him, and he shall be carried to the place of justice to be severely punished.
"Every young man, if not another's servant, and if un- married, shall be compelled to set up a wigwam and plant for himself, and not shift up and down in other wigwams.
"If any woman shall not have her hair tied up, but long loose, or be cut as men's hair, she shall pay five shillings.
"All men that wear long locks shall pay five shillings.
"If any shall kill their lice between their teeth, they shall pay five shillings." (Copies in the American Antiquarian So- ciety. Drake's History.)
The fines went to the local church. This code was signed by Waban, Governor, Paim-bohou (Paim-bow), Deputy Gov-
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ernor, and Pennahannit, Marshall General, who attended the Indian Courts for Waban. He was called Captain Josiah. Wattasacompanum, called Captain Tom, also assisted Waban and Gookin in the Indian Courts, being a grave and pious man.
Waban at first signed his name by making a cross, but later became a good penman, signing his name "Thomas Waban," Thomas being the Christian name given him by his English friends.
INDIAN HATCHET HEADS DUG UP IN WABAN That on the left found in 1905 by Esmond Rice in Nehoiden, Irvington area. On the right, found by Edward Kellaway on his land on Wyman Street.
In the year 1649, John Eliot made a report to the London Corporation about his work with the Indians and made special reference to Chief Waban as follows: "that a Nipnet Indian Sagamore by name WABAN hath submitted himself to the Lord, and much desires one of our Chief ones to live with him and those that are with him."
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The localities of Newton and Brighton were given by the General Court to the Proprietors of Cambridge in 1636, except- ing the rights of the Indians to the lands they had improved: Cambridge being at first called New Towne. The portion which is now Newton was held as common lands of Cambridge, but was soon divided among the Cambridge settlers, becoming known as Cambridge Village until its separation, when it took the name of Newton. 1354393
Early settlers made a bargain with Waban "to keep six score head of dry cattle, on the south side of Charles River, and he was to have the full sum of eight pounds, to be paid as followeth: Thirty shillings to James Cutler, and the rest in Indian corn at three shillings the bushel, after Michaeltide next. He is to bargain to take care of them twenty-one days of this present month, and to keep them until three weeks after Michaelmas (September 29th) ; and if any be lost or ill, he is to send word into the town, and if any shall be lost through his carelessness, he is to pay according to the value of the beast, for his default."
his + mark
WABAN
(With Waban's reputation for excellence of character, one doubts the need of foreseeing any lapses, but the colonists were notoriously wary of giving their trust).
Finding that some of the whites exerted a pernicious in- fluence upon the Nonantum Indians, Eliot, in 1651, arranged for them to move with all their possessions eighteen miles up the river to South Natick, "the Place of the Hills," then a wooded wilderness. Some of the Concord Indians came to join them. There at the site of the present dam, the praying Indians built a foot bridge, three streets with house lots for each family, a fort with stockade, and a Meeting House fifty feet by twenty-
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five with chimneys in it. The lower floor was used as a sanctuary on Sundays and a schoolroom on week days, the upper story serving as a warehouse and place to hang outer clothing, with a room divided off to accommodate the minister. The fort was made of heavy whole logs, and the Meeting House of sawed and well-framed lumber. In front of the dwellings of the early ministers the Indians planted "Friendship Trees." There Waban's tribe dwelt in peace for twenty-four years, planting, tending cattle, trapping, fishing, hunting, spinning, making brooms and baskets, keeping the Sabbath and becoming more and more like the English settlers.
In 1675 some of the wilder tribes, banded together by Metacomet, started a real war with the English settlers. He was a proud, brave, crafty leader of the Wampanoags of Poca- noket from Mt. Hope on Fall River in Rhode Island, a son of Massasoit, and became known as King Philip. He rejected Eliot's preaching saying, "Why should I give up my thirty- seven gods for your one? I care no more for your religion than that button on your coat!" Angry at the English settlers who were rapidly depriving him of the fishing, planting, hunting places and playgrounds of his Indians he started a war of ex- termination which was at first very successful. The Massachu- setts, Rhode Island and Connecticut settlements banded to- gether to combat Philip's forces, took firearms from the savages as fast as possible, and sent to England for more weapons.
This war brought great suffering and losses to Waban and all the other praying Indians. Hated by Philip's men for their loyalty to the English, they were also detested by those of the whites who did not know them well because of their rela- tionship to the savages. Fifty-two of their able-bodied men were recruited for the army of the English in July and fought well against their own relatives, bringing four Indian scalps to Governor Leverett for proof of their loyalty, but on August 30th they were ordered to confine themselves to five of their
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fourteen towns and to go no further than one mile from the center of these towns, so they could not hunt or tend their cattle. The wily Philip spread rumors to discredit them with the English, and the people of Boston became so incensed that to appease them an order was passed by the General Court to put the Natick Indians on Deer Island in October of 1675.
Six carts, a few men and a friendly, tactful Englishman named Captain Henry Prentice, were sent to remove the 200 men, women and children, arriving with no more than a half hour's notice. Catching up a few of their possessions they all assembled in an hour or two and sadly started away from their homes. Most of their possessions, including a good crop of corn, had to be left behind. Some believed they were to be shipped away and sold as slaves, many cried and prayed, but they were patient and humble without murmuring or complain- ing against the English. Gookin and Eliot met and consoled them at a spot in Watertown near the present Arsenal; from there, with other praying Indians, they were ferried in three boats to Deer Island, not to leave on pain of death. The other towns of the praying Indians were forcibly moved to other islands in Boston Harbor.
Their rude shelters and scant clothing were inadequate, and their food, mainly clams, was, in spite of almost continuous digging, insufficient for the 400 to 500 confined to Deer Island. Many died that winter, but there were few complaints. They were at least protected from Philip's warriors who rav- aged and massacred the smaller settlements, and from the rage of the Boston English, some of whom plotted to massacre these defenseless, loyal Christian Indians on Deer Island. Eliot and Gookin were disliked for their attentions to these prisoners, and Gookin's life was threatened.
At the request of the Council at Boston, Gookin selected two of the best praying Indians from Deer Island and sent them on December 30th as spies to determine the location and
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intentions of Philip's forces; the reward to be five pounds each. They performed this difficult task well, and were hustled right back to the Island. In February, 1676, the General Court voted to raise an army of 600 men with Major Savage as Commander- in-chief. As he refused to go unless he might employ the help of the Island Indians, Captain John Curtice (Curtis) was allowed to take six of these braves, including the two who had acted so well as spies. They were very cheerful at being chosen.
In April, Captain Samuel Hunting and Lieutenant James Richardson were allowed to arm and lead a company of forty eager braves who performed good service after the attack on Sudbury. More were recruited as arms arrived from England so that there were eighty in the company of Christian Indian soldiers when summer came. They were employed on all expe- ditions while this war lasted, and with the help of Indian allies, contributed much to its successful conclusion. The excellent conduct of these fighting men caused the English to relent, so that in May the Natick Indians were moved to the mainland at Cambridge on the Charles River, a welcome change, as some were very sick, including Waban himself. Gookin and Eliot brought the sick ones food and medicine, and soon they were well again.
At a court held among the praying Indians, where there was a full meeting of them, Mr. Eliot being present with Major Gookin and some other English, Waban, the Chief ruler of all Indians, in the name of all the rest made an eloquent and affectionate speech:
"We do with all thankfulness acknowledge God's great goodness to us in preserving us alive to this day. Formerly, in our beginning to pray unto God, we received much encourage- ment from the English, both here and in England. Since the war began between the English and wicked Indians, we ex- pected to be all cut off, not only by the enemy Indians, whom we know hated us, but also by many English who were much
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exasperated and very angry with us. In this case we cried to God for help. Then God stirred up the Governor and Magis- trates to send us to the Island, which was grievous to us; for we were forced to leave all our substance behind us, and we expected nothing else at the Island but famine and nakedness. But, behold God's goodness to us and to our poor families, in stirring up the hearts of many godly persons in England, who never saw us, yet showed us kindness and much love, and gave us some corn and clothing together with other provisions of clams that were provided for us. Also in due time God stirred up the hearts of the Governor and Magistrates to allow some of our brethren to go forth to fight against the enemy both to us and the English, and was pleased to give them courage and success in that service unto the acceptance of the English, for it was always in our hearts to endeavor to do all we could to demonstrate our fidelity to God and to the English and against their and our enemy. And for all these things we desire God only may be Glorified."
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