USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > History of Manchester, formerly Derryfield, in New-Hampshire : including that of ancient Amoskeag, or the middle Merrimack Valley, together with the address, poem, and other proceedings of the centennial celebration of the incorporation of Derryfield at Manchester, October 22, 1851 > Part 13
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* See Mass. His, Coll. Third Series, Vol. IV. page 82,
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
There was a vast assemblage of the Indians at Pawtucket, and borne down with age and cares, the old Sagamon, at a pub- lic feast, made his farewell speech to his people. On such oc- casions, the old Sagamons relate the prominent incidents of their lives in songs and speeches, and give their advice to their peo- ple. It is highly probable that the fact had been announced to the confederate tribes, that Passaconnaway was about to make his farewell address to his people. The anticipated event called together an unusual assembly of Indians. The chiefs were gathered from all the confederate tribes, eager to hear the last words of their 'Great Sagamon' who, by his wisdom, his nat- ural powers of eloquence, and his supposed knowledge of the mysteries of nature, possessed an unbounded influence over the Indians.
The occasion filled all with sorrow, in spite of Indian stoi- cism. Passaconnaway was deeply affected, and his voice trem- ulous with age and emotion, still was musical and powerful-a splendid remnant of that whose power and beauty, in the ful- ness and vigor of manhood, had soothed or excited the passions of assembled savages, and moulded them to suit the purposes of the speaker.
"Hearken," said he, "to the words of your father. I am an old oak that has withstood the storms of more than an hundred winters. Leaves and branches have been stripped from me by the winds and frosts-my eyes are dim-my limbs totter-I must soon fall ! But when young and sturdy, when my bow -no young man of the Pennacooks could bend it-when my arrows would pierce a deer at an hundred yards-and I could bury my hatchet in a sapling to the eye-no wigwam had so many furs-no pole so many scalp locks as Passaconnaway's! Then I delighted in war. The whoop of the Pennacooks was heard upon the Mohawk-and no voice so loud as Passaconna- way's. The scalps upon the pole of my wigwam told the story of Mohawk suffering.
The English came, they seized our lands ; I sat me down at Pennacook. They followed upon my footsteps; I made war upon them, but they fought with fire and thunder ; my young men were swept down before me, when no one was near them. I tried sorcery against them, but they still increased and pre- vailed over me and mine, and I gave place to them and retired to my beautiful island of Natticook. I that can make the dry leaf turn green and live again-I that can take the rattlesnake in my palm as I would a worm, without harm-I who have had communion with the Great Spirit dreaming and awake-I am powerless before the Pale Faces.
61
PASSACONNAWAY.
"The oak will soon break before the whirlwind-it shivers and shakes even now ; soon its trunk will be prostrate-the ant and the worm will sport upon it! Then think, my chil- dren, of what I say ; I commune with the Great Spirit. He whispers me now-'Tell your people, Peace, Peace, is the on- y hope of your race. I have given fire and thunder to the pale faces for weapons-I have made them plentier than the leaves of the forest, and still shall they increase! These meadows they shall turn with the plow-these forests shall fall by the axe-the pale faces shall live upon your hunting grounds, and make their villages upon your fishing places!' The Great Spir- it says this, and it must be so ! We are few and powerless be- fore them! We must bend before the storm! The wind blows hard ! The old oak trembles! Its branches are gone ! Its sap is frozen ! It bends! It falls! Peace, Peace, with the white men-is the command of the Great Spirit-and the wish -the last wish-of Passaconnaway."
It has been supposed that Passaconnaway died about this time, and our historians give no account of him after the time of the delivery of 'his dying speech to his children.' But this supposition is erroneous. Passaconnaway was alive in 1663, and at the head of his tribe, so that his speech of 1660 can hardly be considered his 'dying speech,' without some stretch of the imagination.
Passaconnaway finding his planting and fishing grounds en- croached upon by those having grants from the government of Massachusetts ; already deprived of his planting grounds at Natticook where he had planted for a long while ; and the leg- islature having announced their intention to grant his lands at Pennacook whenever "so many should be present to settle a plantation there"-began to think he soon should not have land enough to erect a wigwam upon. Accordingly, May 9th, 1662, Passaconnaway presented the following petition to the legislature :
"To the honerd John Endecot Esqr together with the rest of the honerd General Court now Assembled in Boston the petition of papisseconnewa in the behalf of himself as also of inany other Indians who now for a longe time o'r selves o'r progenators seated upon a tract of land called Naticot and is now in the possession of Mr. William Brenton of Rode Iland marchant ; and is confirmed to the said Mr. Brenton to him his- heirs and assigns according to the Laws of this Jurisdiction, by reason of which tracte of land beinge taken up as a foresaid, and thereby yr pore petitionr with many oth (ers is) in an on-
9
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
setled condition and must be forced in a short time to remove to some other place.
The Humble request of yr petitionr is that this honerd Courte wolde pleas to grante vnto vs a parcell of land for or comfortable cituation ; to be stated for or Injoyment; as also for the comfort of oths after vs; as also that this honerd Court wold pleas to take in to yr serious and grave consideration the condition and also the requeste of yr pore Supliant and to a poynte two or three persons as a Committee to Ar (range wi) th sum one or two Indians to vew and determine of some place and to Lay out the same, not further to trouble this honerd As- sembly, humbly cravinge an expected answer this present ses- ion I shall remain yr humble Servante
"Wherein yu Shall commande
"Boston: 8 : 3 mo 1662.
"PAPISSECONEWA."*
The order of the court upon this petition is as follows, viz. "In answer to the petition of Papisseconneway, this Court judgeth it meete to grant to the saide Papisseconneway and his men or associates about Naticot, above Mr. Brenton's lands, where it is free, a mile and a half on either side Merrimack River in breadth, three miles on either side in length, provided he nor they do not alienate any part of this grant without leave and licese from this Court, first obtained." John Parker and Jonathan Danforth were appointed surveyors to lay out this township for Passaconnaway and his associates. The return of their doings is as follows, viz :
"According to order of Honrd General Court, there is laid out unto the Indians Passaconneway and his associats the in- habitances of Naticott, three miles square, or so much (eather) as containes it in [the figure of a romboides upon Merrimack River ; beginning at the head of Mr. Brenton's Lands at Nat- icott, on the east side of the River, and then it joineth to his line, which line runs halfe a point North West of the east, it lyeth one mile and halfe wide on side of ye river and some- what better, and runnes three miles up the River, the Northern line on the east side of the river, is bounded by a brook (called by the Indians) Suskayquetuck, right against the falls in the River called Pokechuous, the end line on both sides of the River, are parallells ; the side line on the east side of the River runes halfe a point eastward of the No: No : east and the side line on the west side of the river runes Northeast and by North
* See Mass. Archives.
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PASSACONNAWAY.
all which is sufficiently bounded and marked with I, also ther is two small islands in the River, part of which the lower end line crosses. One of them Papisseconneway had lived upon and planted a long time, a small patch of intervaile Land on the West side of the River anent and a little below ye Islands by estimation about forty acres, which joineth their land to Souhegan River, which the Indians have planted (much of it) a long time, and considering there is very little good land in that which is now laid out unto them, the Indians do earnestly request this Honerd Court, to grant these two small Islands and ye patch of intervale as it is bounded by the Hills.
This land was laid out 27, 3d mo 1663 By John Parker and Jonathan Danforth Surveyrs
this worke was done by us at our own charge wholly, at the request of the Indians, wh was important and as we were in- formed by the order of this Honord Court respecting ourselves. Hence we humbly request this Honerd Generall Court (if our services are acceptable ) that they would take order we may be considered Sd the same, so shall we remain yr
Humble Servants as before"
"The deputies approve of said return and do order the Indians pay the Surveyors what is justly due for the Laying out of the same the Honerable Magistrates consenting thereto.
WILLIAM TORREY, Clerk."*
This grant included parts of Manchester, Londonderry, Litch- field, Merrimack, and Bedford. Suskayquetuck the northern bound of the grant upon the east side of the Merrimack, is known as "Great Cohos Brook." This river was a noted place for fish, as well as the "Pokechoous falls" opposite its mouth, and the va- rious falls in the Merrimack betwixt them and the "two small islands in the River," "on one of" which "Papisseconneway had lived and planted for a long time." We almost wonder at the great liberality of the "Great and General Court" of Massachu- setts, in granting to Passaconnaway of his own territory so good a fishing place, and at the suggestion of the Surveyors, that the "two small islands" and the "small patch of intervaile Land" be added to the grant. But then the extent, and value of the fisheries at this place were not known, or this great lib- erality had not been shown. For, seventy-five years after, the Government of Massachusetts, drove the 'Scotch Irish' of Lon- donderry from this same fishing ground, to which they had no
ยท See Mass, Archives.
1
64
THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
better title, than when they restricted Passaconnaway to the same ground. And a poor "heathen Salvage" would have fared no better than a 'Scotch Irishman.'
The record of this grant discloses an important fact. In less than twenty years from the time that Passaconnaway sub- mitted himself to the colonists, and put himself under their pro- tection, he and his tribe were literally reduced to beggary. The Bashaba of the Merrimack valley, and the rightful owner of all its broad lands, had become a "pore petitioner" and "pore supliant" for a plantation of pine plains, and did "earnestly re- quest the Honered Court to grant two small islands and ye patch of Intervaile" to him-receiving them doubtless with all due submission and thankfulness, if not humility ! Old age, as well as contact with civilization, must have done its work upon the spirit of this haughty Sagamon, for him thus to have meekly asked his usurpers to grant him what was properly his own. For his sale to Wheelwright did not embrace "these two small islands or ye patch of Intervaile," and Massachusetts never pretended even a purchase from the Indians of the Mer- rimack valley, till after the date of this transaction.
Passaconnaway had four sons, if no more, and probably two daughters, if no more. His oldest son, Nanamocomuck was Sag- amon of Wachusett near Wachusett mountain. Mr. Eliot saw him at Pawtucket in 1648. He at that time promised to become a praying Indian. He was inimical to the English and removed to the Amariscoggin country in Maine. He was father of the afterwards noted Chief, Kancamagus or John Hogkins. The second son of Passaconnaway, and his successor, was Wonna- lancet, of whom we shall speak hereafter. We think Unanun- quoset and Nonatomenut were the names of two other sons of Passaconnaway, as their names are attached to the petition re- ferred to above. The first signature to the petition is that of Nobhow, the Sagamon of Pawtucket. The signatures are as follows :
NOBHOW in behalf of my wife and children. UNANUNQUOSET. WONALANCET. NONATOMENUT.
This petition asked the legislature to grant five hundred acres of land to Mr. John Webb in exchange for the island of Wickasauke-which they had sold to Webb to raise money wherewith to redeem their brother and countryman from bon- dage-they wishing the island back again. Now as Nobhow signs this petition in behalf of his wife and children, it clearly
65
WONNALANCET.
shows that his wife was part owner of the island before its sale. And as the Indian women were not acknowledged as owners of land unless they were of the royal family, the wife of Nobhow must have been the daughter of some Sagamon. Now as she owned the island of Wickasauke in common with Wonnalancet, it is highly probable that she was the sister of Wonnalancet, and the daughter of Passaconnaway. If this be so, it is also probable that the other signers were children of Passaconnaway. Another daughter of Passaconnaway, mar- ried Montawampate, the Sagamon of Saugus, prior to 1628, and was separated from him in consequence of a difficulty be- twixt him and her father.
Passaconnaway died prior to 1669, full of years and honors, and was spared the pain of witnessing the overthrow of his tribe. The year of his death is not known. He was alive in 1663, and as Wonnalancet was at the head of the tribe in 1669 and built the fort at Pawtucket at that time, it is evident that Passaconnaway was then dead. He was a wise, brave and politic Sagamon. He gained his great power and control over the Indians of New England, by his wisdom and bravery-but more by his great cunning. He was an accomplished juggler, and being a man of superior intelligence, he turned his juggling skill to the best account for his own personal aggrandizement, and that of his tribe. A juggler was supposed by the Indians to have intercourse not only with the Devil, the Bad Spirit ; but with Manit the Great Spirit-hence a skilful juggler had most unbounded influence. And when the character of a skil- ful juggler was united with that of Powah or Priest and Phy- sician, in one and the same man, as it was in Passaconnaway- we can most readily account for his great power and influence. In reflecting upon the character of the Merrimack Sagamon, the conviction forces itself upon one, that at the head of a pow- erful confederacy of Indian tribes, honored and feared by his subjects, and capable of moulding their fierce passions to his will, the history of New England would have told another sto- ry, than the triumph of our Pilgrim Fathers, had Passaconna- way taken a different view of his own destiny and that of his tribe-and exerted his well known and acknowledged power against the enemies of his race ; but providence seems to have tempered the fierce savages for the reception and triumph of the Anglo Saxon race in the New World.
Wonnalancet was the second and third child of Passaconna- way, being born about 1619 and of course younger than his sister who married in 1628, His name is indicative of his
66
THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
character, meaning literally, breathing pleasantly, derived from Wonne or Wunne, (pleasant ) and Nangshonat, to breathe. This name, after the Indian custom, he received after he had arrived at the age of manhood, and had shown to the tribe such qualities as deserved it ; and he ever proved himself worthy of this flattering cognomen. He was a good man-of a peaceful disposition-preferring the ease and comforts of peace, to the hardships and deprivations of war, and very readily followed the advice of his father, given in 1660, to cultivate friendly re- lations with the English. In fact, for a series of years prior to 1660, he had cultivated the friendship of the colonists, living near their advanced posts-at his beautiful Island of Wicka- sauke. It was a most fortunate circumstance for the English colonists, that Wonnalancet instead of Nanamocomuck, his el- dest brother, succeeded to the Sagamonship after the death of Passaconnaway. For, if Nanamocomuck possessed a tithe of the warlike qualities of his son Kancamagus, at the head of the Pennacooks in 1668, when he could readily have raised an ar- my of 500 warriors from the Namaoskeags, Pennacooks, Winne- pesaukies Pequauquaukes, Sacos, and Amariscoggins, he would have presented a most powerful obstacle in the way of the pro- gress of the Colonists. But Providence seems to have paved the way for the successful enterprise of the Colonists Wonna-
lancet succeeded to the Sagamonship and always used his best endeavors to preserve the good will of his English neighbors. He must have possessed a very mild disposition, or the contin- ual wrong-doing of the English towards him, must on some occasions have roused him to revenge his wrongs. To name but one act of oppression-that related before, when the Eng- lish, in 1642, seized and bound him, and farther insulted him, by firing upon him like a dog, when he attempted to escape from their hands-this, had he not been of the most amiable disposition, would have provoked in him the most implacable hostility to his English oppressors. But he seems to have acted upon principle, and to have ever adhered strictly to the instruc- tions of his father. He doubtless succeeded his father about
1668 as we find him at the head of his tribe in the spring of 1669. He then left his fort at Pennacook and removed to Pawtucket with his tribe, where they built a fort for their pro- tection from the Mohawks of whom they stood in great fear. The goodness of his character, his humanity and generous im- pulse, is sufficiently proved by the sale of his home, to pur- chase the liberty of his brother. His oldest brother, Nanamo- comuck had been imprisoned in Boston, for a debt due from
67
WONNALANCET.
another Indian to one John Tinker and for which he had be- come responsible. In order to raise the money to pay the debt and charges, the Indians made known to the Court their desire to dispose of the royal residence at Wickasauke, an island in the Merrimack, a few miles above Lowell. The Court gave them permission to sell it, as follows:
"License for Indians to sell an Island.
Whereas this Court is Informed yt Peasconaway's soune now in prison as surety for ye payment of a debt of forty five pounds or thereabouts and having nothing to pay but Affirme that sev- erall Indians now in possession of a smale Island in merrimack River (about sixty acres) the half whereof is broken up; are willing after this next yeares use of their sayd Island to sell theire Interest in ye said Island to who- euer will purchase it and so to redeem the sayd Peasconaway's soune out of prison. The magistrates are willing to allow the sayd Indians liberty to sell ye sayd Island to Ensigne Jno Ev- ered as they and he Can Agree for ye ends aforesaid. If their brethren the deputys Concent hereto.
8 Nov. 1659. The deputys consent hereto provided the In- dian[s] have liberty to sell the sid Island to him that will give most for it.
Consented to by ye magistrates.
EEWD. RAWSON, Secy .* "
Wonnalancet was the leader in the movement. Wickasauke was sold to "Ensign John Evered" or Webb as he was some- times called, and Nanamocomuck was set at liberty. Fearing the English, his enemies, he took up his residence with the Amariscoggins, a tribe owing fealty to his father Passaconna- way, where he died prior doubtless to 1669, at which time we find Wonnalancet at the head of the Pennacooks, a place Nan- amocomuck would have occupied had he been alive. The re- demption of Nanamocomuck was the work of Wonnalancet, a most benevolent act, and we are at a loss to account for his continued opposition to the Christian religion, when he so uni- formly acted as if prompted by its principles. But in spite of the example of his father who embraced the Christian belief in 1648, Wonnalancet continued in the belief of his ancestors, till 1674, resisting the mild persuasions of Eliot and evincing a fixed determination to die, as he had lived, in the religion of his fathers. The fort at Pawtucket, was used by Wonnalan- cet and his tribe, only as a refuge in case of alarm from the Mo-
* Mass. Archives, Vol. 30, p. 82.
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
hawks-and they continued to plant and fish up the river as usual. In 1659 as before noted, he had license to sell the Is- land of Wickasauke-and afterwards had a grant of an hun- dred acres from the General Court "on a great hill about twelve miles West of Chelmsford, because he had a great many chil- dren and no planting grounds."
In 1665, Wonnalancet, relinquished this grant of an hundred acres upon condition that the Court should purchase "Wicka- sauke" for them from "Ensign John Evered" or Webb, by giv- ing him five hundred acres of land in the wilderness adjoining his land. The petition was as follows :
"To the worshipfull Richard Bellingham, Esq. Govr and to the rest of the Honord Generall Coart.
The petition of us poore neibour Indians whose Names are hereunto subscribed, humbly sheweth that whereas Indians sev- erall years since we yr petit's out of pity and compassion to our pore brother and Countryman to redeem him out of prison and bondage whose name was Nanamocomuck the eldest son of Pas- saconewa, who was Cast into prison for a debt of another Indian unto John Tinker for which he gave his word : the redemption of whome did cost us our desirable posetions where we and ours had and did hope to enjoy our Livelihood for ourselves and posterity : namely an Island on merrimack River called by the name of wicosurke which was purchased by Mr. John Web : who hath Curtiously Given Vs Leaue to plant vpon ever since he hath possessed the same, we doe not know whether to Goe, nor where to place ourselves for our Lively hood in procuring Vs bread ; having beine very Solicitous wh Mr Webb to let vs Enjoy our said posetions againe he did condescend to our motion provided we would repay him his Charges but we are pore and Canot so doe-or request is mr Web may have a grant of about 5 C acres of land in two places adjoyning his owne Lands in the wilderness, which is our owne proper Lands as the aforesaid Island ever was-
10:8: 65. Nobhow in behalf of my wife and children.
Vnanunquosett Wanalancett Nonatomenut.
If the Court please to grant this petition then yr petitionr wanalancett is willing to surrender up ye hundred acres of land yt was granted him by the Court."
The petition was granted in the following terms :
"In Ans. to this petition the Court grant Mr. Jno Evered five hundred acres of land upon condition hee release his right
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WONNALANCET.
in en island in merimacke river called wicosacke which was purchased by him of the indian petitioners-also upon condi- tion wonalancett do release a former grant to him of an hun- dred acres and the court do grant said Island to petitioner- John Parker and Jonathan Danforth are appointed to lay out this grant of five hundred acres to John Evered.
Edwd Rawson Secy.
Consented to by the Deputies."*
14 Oct. 1665.
And Wonnalancet resumed the occupation of his "desirable posetions." From 1669 till 1675, it is probable that he contin- ued to plant this island and make his general residence there, only occupying the planting grounds at Souhegan and Penna- cook and the "fishing place" at "Namaoskeag," for so long a space as to secure their crops and catch their supply of fish. The royal residence of the Pennacook Sagamon was at "Nam- aoskeag," upon the hill inmmediately east of the Amoskeag Falls, and here Wonnalancet was accustomed, like his father, to meet his assembled subjects, and in council discuss the af- fairs of the confederacy, whether for war or peace. As a ref- uge the fort at Pennacook was kept in repair and occupied oc- casionally. It is even probable that the more restless and warlike of the Pennacooks may have continued to reside in the neighborhood, and at the Fort, most of the time from 1666 to 1675. But it is evident that Wonnalancet preferred to be in the neighborhood of the English. It was during this peri- od that Wonnalancet embraced the Christian religion. Mr. Gookin says that he and Mr. Eliot visited Pawtucket, May 5, 1674. This was at the fishing. season and the Indians from all the neighboring tribes had collected there to fish. In the eve- ning Mr. Eliot preached in the wigwam of Wonnalancet, tak- ing for his text the parable of the marriage of the king's son- contained in the first fourteen verses of the 22d chapter of Mat- thew. During service Wonnalancet appeared grave and sober. In fact he had attended preaching, and kept the Sabbath, prior to this date. The next day, May 6, Mr. Eliot proposed to him to give an answer concerning his praying to God. Wonnalan- cet stood up, and after due pause and deliberation, gave this answer :
"Sirs, you have been pleased, for years past, in your abun- dant love, to apply yourselves particularly unto me and my people, to exhort, press and persuade us to pray to God. I am
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