QUAKER-ROOTS-L Archives
Archiver > QUAKER-ROOTS > 2003-04 > 1049780970
From: "Jeff Palmer" <>
Subject: [Q-R] Quaker/Indian Marriages(?)
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 01:49:30 -0400
In-Reply-To: <003f01c2fd65$17324590$6501a8c0@CX2062932A>
I suspect many of us have brickwalls where an ancestor, very soon after the
Quaker settling of Pennsylvania, married someone who seemingly popped out of
nowhere. One would expect that the pool of families in that era from which
a wife could have come would have been small enough for the parents of most
brides to be easily surmised. It's troubling, therefore, to write-off so
many such cases as examples of unmarried women immigrating without family
members (or at least, without family members sharing their surname) and
without appearing in surviving ships' registries.
Another possibility I once heard was that, supposedly, some Indians lived
near or amongst the English settlers, that they would commonly be given
English surnames (typically, common English names such as Smith or Jones),
and that they sometimes intermarried with the settlers. It's understandable
why the parentage of such a bride would not have been known or would not
have been recorded. Unfortunately, I don't recall ever seeing documentation
of such a marriage or of such a naming practice.
This evening, while researching an interesting story about Caleb Pusey
accompanying Gov. Keith on a mission to the Susquehanna-area Indian tribes,
I ran across the following from "The History of Pennsylvania...," Volume 2,
by Robert Proud (1728-1813):
At a council held at Coneftogoe, July 7th, 1721,
Prefent, Sir William Keith, Bart. Governor
Richard Hill,Jonathan Dickinfon,
Caleb Pusey, & Col. John French, Efquires,
James Logan, Secretary, with divers gentlemen,
Sinnekaes Nation. Onondagoes Nation.
Ghefaont Tannawree
Awennoot. Skeetowafs.
Cayoogoes Nation.
Sahoode
Tchehughque
Smith, the Ganawefe Indian, Interpreter from the Mingoe language to the
Delaware...."
If "Smith" was a Ganawefe Indian, it adds credence to the idea that some
Indians adopted English names as described above.
I'm curious if anyone...
- Has knowledge of an early Quaker marrying an Indian?
- Knows anything about Indians adopting English names?
- Has an early "brickwall" where the maiden name is a common English name
such as "Smith", "Jones", "Taylor", etc.
Jeff Palmer -
* * *
Quote of the Week: The man that hath not anything to boast but his
illustrious ancestors is like a potato: the only good belonging to him is
underground. Thomas Overbury, Characters, 1637
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