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Category: Native Americans

Will of Peter Tusco
A Brief Bio of Peter Tusco, a “Spanish Indian” of Southington

A Brief Bio of Peter Tusco, a “Spanish Indian” of Southington

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AUTHOR: Katherine Hermes Peter Tusco died in Southington, Connecticut in 1767 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. His origins are not known, but in the probate records, he is identified as a Spanish Indian. He was probably an indigenous person from someplace in the Spanish territories, such as Florida. New England colonists considered Spanish Indians lawful captives under the presumption that they had been enslaved under the laws of New Spain. The desire for captive labor motivated colonial wars…

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Hartford Ancient Burying Ground headstones
A Research Note: The Epidemic of 1724

A Research Note: The Epidemic of 1724

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AUTHOR: KATHERINE HERMES On November 5, 1724, an epidemic broke out in Hartford, Connecticut, lasting until February 1, 1725. The sickness killed rich and poor alike. Among the 54 persons who died, it took 27 white men and 19 white women. It took 8 non-whites: two Native men named Peter, three unnamed Indians of unknown sex, and three men of African descent, York, Midway, and Ben. One of the women who died was Mrs. Mary Whiting, the wife of Col….

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The Will of Timothy Indian, A Christian Man of Farmington

The Will of Timothy Indian, A Christian Man of Farmington

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Author: Katherine A. Hermes, (with Sarajane Cedrone, who helped transcribe the will and inventory). In the mid-to-late eighteenth century, Farmington was home to a group of Christian Native people who lived in an indigenous community, but who often emulated the colonists both in religion and law. This new Christian community drew Native people from the Mohegan (New London County), Wangunk (Middlesex County), and Quinnipiac (New Haven County) tribes, in addition to the local Tunxis tribe that had long inhabited Farmington….

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The Will of Amy Pewompskin, A Native Woman of New Hartford

The Will of Amy Pewompskin, A Native Woman of New Hartford

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Author: Sharon Clapp Amy Pewompskin, also known as Saquama, of New Hartford, Connecticut, died on March 19, 1752, having declared her will on March 10, 1752 (appearing in the Litchfield County Probate Records of the time). Her “beloved mother” Mary was designated as the sole executor of her estate.  Amy identified two sisters and one brother, as well as an uncle “Cornelius Indian,” in her will. Her sisters were Christian, aka Mehannack, and Pationes [the “t” was not cross and appears…

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“How to find Onepenny: Re-telling Connecticut’s Native History through Wongunk Genealogy”

“How to find Onepenny: Re-telling Connecticut’s Native History through Wongunk Genealogy”

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On May 25, 2018 Prof. Katherine Hermes, J.D., Ph.D. and Prof. Alexandra Maravel, J.D.  of Central Connecticut State University, New Britain sat down with Ronna Stuller on the public access television show, “Thinking Green,” to discuss their genealogical research on the Wongunk (Wangunk), the Native people who lived (and in some cases still do) along the Connecticut River from Hartford (Suckiog) in the South Meadows, Wethersfield (Pyquag), South Glastonbury (Nayaug), Middletown, Portland (Wongunk Meadows), Haddam and Thirty Mile Island, East Hampton, Killingly…

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