The Tunxis Genealogy page is an ongoing effort to identify families of Tunxis or “Farmington Indian” descent. The Tunxis were the original people of the region now called the Farmington Valley. They were closely related to the Wangunk and other Connecticut indigenous people, including the Pequot, Paugusett, Schaghticoke, Mohegan and Quinnipiac. In the eighteenth century, members of these other tribal nations came to Farmington and became known as “Farmington Indians.” Some joined the Christian Brothertown Movement led by Samson Occom and Joseph Johnson. The Timothy Indian, Mossock, and Tomtorker genealogies were compiled by Dr. Katherine Hermes, Professor Emerita, Central CT State Univ.

Timothy Indian

Timothy Indian had two daughters, Rachel and Sarah. He named his beloved friend, Solomon Indian, as his executor.

The Mossuck Family

The Mossucks were a large, Christian family of Tunxis who intermarried with other prominent Native families. Solomon Mossuck is possibly the “Solomon Indian” referred to by Timothy Indian in his will. Henry Mossuck, often considered the “last” Mossuck if not the “last Tunxis,” seems to have had a wife, Margaret Chaugham Mossuck, and two children. Spellings of the family name varied: Mossugg, Mossuc, Mossage, etc. and  ** after a name indicates a will; * indicates an estate administration.

Mossuck, Mossagg, Mossock

Peter Tomtorker

Peter Tomtorker’s land is recorded in the Farmington land records at the town hall. The Tunxis had orchards on Indian Hill. Timothy Indian and Peter Tomtorker both had land here at the time of their deaths in 1751. Indian Hill was not far from the meadow land where many of the Tunxis had home lots. His probated estate reveals few possessions. His exact lineage is unknown. He may have been related to the signatories of a 1708 deed to Thomas Wadsworth: Shrowashk, Tom ’s squaw, and Noketwo and Wasiasht and Wequashk and Tom’s squaw’s youngest daughter. Peter, a common name for Native men of the Wangunk, was not the English name Peter, but rather a Native name that was anglicized. It could have been two syllables that appear in many names like Peethuszo, who signed a deed in August, 1714, along with Petasa’s grandchild who made “her mark,” and Turramuggus. What the English heard was not always what the Natives said.