To pick up where I left off a week ago on Mascommah
I think it's interesting that women signed the main deeds. Then seventeen males signed a separate document attesting to the fact that these women were the true and rightful owners of this land. This seems to indicate that land ownership descended from the woman. This is confusing in that I have always thought that Native Americans didn't understand the concept of land ownership. However, these deeds clearly stated that they are wives of male members of the tribe, and the land descended to them from their mothers. The only thing I can think of to explain this is that these deeds were signed in 1735. By this time, the Indians would have learned about land ownership, and maybe would have adopted the concept from the English. Interestingly enough, though, important male owners had to sign a document verifying that the women had the right to sell this land. I also wondered if the men didn't want to go on record as having given up their tribal land, so they made one of the more important women sign the actual deed giving up the land. This is all speculation, I absolutely admit.
How important was Mascommah? He signed three deeds. Many of the Indian signers only signed one or two deeds. There were several Indians who signed up to nine. If you want to make inferences on importance based on how many deeds he signed, Mascommah was probably moderately important, but was not a main chief by any means.
Who were Mascoma's contemporaries? Who were the English men who signed those deeds? Taking each deed individually, we will start with the first deed, a deed for land on the Deerfield River, somewhere around Ashfield and Colrain, Massachusetts. The English men who signed this deed were Ebenezer Hinsdell, Elijah Williams, Joseph Wells and John Hastings. Joseph Kellogg, Esquire was the interpreter for the Indians. This deed was signed on August 6, 1735, and it appears that it was signed in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Ebenezer Hinsdell was the founder of Hinsdale, New Hampshire. In colonial times, spelling was not an important consideration and you would find people's names spelled all different ways. This was doubly true of Indian names, which were hard to pronounce and spell, but the Hinsdell/Hinsdale spelling just goes to show that it happened with English names too. Hinsdale was ordained as a minister, and planned to become a missionary to the Indians of the Connecticut River Valley. Instead, he became the chaplain at Fort Dummer, a Fort on the Connecticut River right near where Brattleboro is. He ended up being in charge of trade with the Indians, as well as converting them to Christianity. He must not have been a very good preacher, because the “Annals of Brattleboro tell us “the Indians engaged at first but before long went back to their old ways.”
Although the Indians from Western Massachusetts had relocated to Schaghticoke, they often traveled back to their homeland to trade. In 1734, Hinsell presided over a treaty with the Schaghticoke
Indians, receiving and welcoming three Indians as “commissioners” One of them was described as a lieutenant named “Massamah” - which could have easily been Mascommah. This was a time of peace, with the Schaghticokes entering trade agreements and signing treaties, but twelve years later, they would be back to “wage bitter war on the invaders of their ancestral lands.”(Colin Calloway The Western Abenakis of Vermont 1994) Ebenezer Hinsdale was born in 1702 and died in 1763.
Elijah Williams was a storekeeper in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and a member of the local militia. In 1756, he was the commander of the Crown Point Expedition. This was an offensive against a French held position on Lake Champlain during the French and Indian War. Elijah was born in Deerfield in 1712 and died there in 1771.
Joseph Kellogg was born in Hadley in 1691. When he was 12, he was captured by Indians during the Deerfield Massacre. For the next ten years, he switched back and forth between the Indians and the French, becoming proficient in English, French, and several Indian languages. He travelled with the Indians and the French on trade expeditions. He went all the way to the mouth of the Ohio River. In fact, he was probably the first English person to get that far. Finally, in 1715 his brother went to Canada and dragged him home, promising him that he would have plenty of opportunities back in New England. Upon arrival home, he was made “Interpreter to the Indians and Sargeant of the Guard” at Northfield. Kellogg married, and stayed at Northfield for most of the rest of his life, although he was constantly called to serve as interpreter at Fort Dummer and Fort Number 4. He was Justice of the Peace in Northfield. He died on an ill fated mission to Oswego, New York, in 1756. ( Bedini, Silvio, “Joseph Kellogg of Deerfield “ The American Surveyor, Spring 2004 http://www.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor-CompassAndChain-March-April2004.pdf)
I think Mascommah could have been friends with Joseph Kellogg but I do not think he was friends with Ebenezer Hinsdell.
I think Mascommah could have been friends with Joseph Kellogg but I do not think he was friends with Ebenezer Hinsdell.
John Hastings was a doctor who was born in Hadley, Massachusetts in 1689. He served at Fort Dummer and later at Fort Number 4, near present day Charlestown, New Hampshire.
I couldn't find anything out about Joseph Wells.
The second deed concerned land on the Connecticut River near Northfield, Massachusetts. Williams, Hinsdell, and Hastings all signed this deed, too, and again, Joseph Kellogg was the interpreter. In addition, Thomas West was a signer of this deed, instead of Joseph Wells. I couldn't find any information on him.
The third deed concerned land near Sunderland, Massachusetts. This deed was signed by just two English men, Joseph Kellogg and William Brattle. We already know about Joseph Kellogg and William Brattle was the founder of Brattleboro, Vermont.
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