Simeon Simons | |
---|---|
Pokanoket leader | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1759 Pachaug |
Died | 1835 Connecticut |
Children | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_Simons |
Simeon Simon (1759-1835) was George Washington's bodyguard and a chief of the Pokanoket people.
Simon was born in Griswold, Connecticut (called Pachaug at the time) in 1759 during the French and Indian Wars, and died in 1835 at age 76. A card file at the Providence Public Library in Rhode Island states that he was a colored man, with a note at the bottom of the card: "'Colored'" as distinguished from Negro. He was said to have been a full blood American Indian, Pokanoket Tribe".[ citation needed ]
Simons was a descendant of Massasoit, Wampanoag chief in Massachusetts at the time of the Pilgrim's landing, and also of Massasoit's son Metacomet—better known as King Philip, Indian leader during the King Philip's War. Simons' Revolutionary War Pension states that he was born in Norwich, Connecticut; however, Norwich included part of Griswold and other towns at the time. [1] According to Griswold legend, General George Washington stopped to refresh himself in Pachaug on the way to Boston in June 1775. Word of his arrival spread rapidly throughout the small community, and Washington noticed a group of young men engaged in exercises such as leaping and wrestling. One of them was Simons, and he allegedly impressed the general with his athletic carriage. Washington summoned him to his room and asked him to be his bodyguard, and Simon remained with him throughout the Revolutionary War. [2]
The Marquis de Lafayette visited Johnson Tavern in Jewett City on August 22, 1824 and met many who had known Washington from the Revolutionary War, one of whom was Simons.
Voluntown is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 2,570 at the 2020 census. Voluntown was part of Windham County from 1726 to 1881.
Warren is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 11,147 at the 2020 census.
Metacomet, also known as Pometacom, Metacom, and by his adopted English name King Philip, was sachem to the Wampanoag people and the second son of the sachem Massasoit. His older brother Wamsutta briefly became sachem after their father's death in 1661. However, Wamsutta also died shortly thereafter and Metacom became sachem in 1662.
King Philip's War was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands and the English New England Colonies and their indigenous allies. The war is named for Metacomet, the Pokanoket chief and sachem of the Wampanoag who adopted the English name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Plymouth Colony. The war continued in the most northern reaches of New England until the signing of the Treaty of Casco Bay on April 12, 1678.
Tisquantum, more commonly known as Squanto, was a member of the Patuxet tribe best known for being an early liaison between the Native American population in Southern New England and the Mayflower Pilgrims who made their settlement at the site of Tisquantum's former summer village. The Patuxet tribe had lived on the western coast of Cape Cod Bay, but they were wiped out by an epidemic infection, likely brought by previous European explorers.
The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and formerly parts of eastern Rhode Island. Their historical territory includes the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
Benedict Arnold was an American-born military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defecting to the British in 1780. General George Washington had given him his fullest trust and had placed him in command of West Point in New York. Arnold was planning to surrender the fort to British forces, but the plot was discovered in September 1780, whereupon he fled to the British lines. In the later part of the war, Arnold was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army and placed in command of the American Legion. He led the British army in battle against the soldiers whom he had once commanded, after which his name became synonymous with treason and betrayal in the United States.
Matthew Griswold was the 17th governor of Connecticut from 1784 to 1786. He also served as the 21st lieutenant governor. He was also chief justice of the Superior Court, during the American Revolution (1769–1784).
Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin was the sachem or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. Massasoit means Great Sachem. Massasoit was not his name but a title. English colonists mistook Massasoit as his name and it stuck.
Wamsutta, also known as Alexander Pokanoket, as he was called by New England colonists, was the eldest son of Massasoit Ousa Mequin of the Pokanoket Tribe and Wampanoag nation, and brother of Metacomet.
Oneco was a sachem of the Mohegans in the Connecticut Colony and the son of Uncas. During King Philip's War (1675–78) he distinguished himself as a battlefield commander and has been credited as one of the executioners of Canonchet. Later, he was the lead petitioner in a legal case that tested whether the Mohegan sachemate was a political entity equal to The Crown.
The Great Swamp Massacre or the Great Swamp Fight was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between the colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett people in December 1675. It was fought near the villages of Kingston and West Kingston in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The combined force of the New England militia included 150 Pequots, and they inflicted a huge number of Narragansett casualties, including many hundred women and children. The battle has been described as "one of the most brutal and lopsided military encounters in all of New England's history." Since the 1930s, Narragansett and Wampanoag people commemorate the battle annually in a ceremony initiated by Narragansett-Wampanoag scholar Princess Red Wing.
Hobbamock was a Pokanoket pniese who came to live with the Plymouth Colony settlers during the first year of their settlement in North America in 1620. His name was variously spelled in 17th century documents and today is generally simplified as Hobomok. He is known for his rivalry with Squanto, who lived with the settlers before him. He was greatly trusted by Myles Standish, the colony's military commander, and he joined with Standish in a military raid against the Massachuset. Hobomock was also greatly devoted to Massasoit, the sachem of the Pokanoket, who befriended the English settlers. Hobomok is often claimed to have been converted to Christianity, but what that meant to him is unclear.
Mount Hope is a small hill in Bristol, Rhode Island overlooking the part of Narragansett Bay known as Mount Hope Bay. It is the highest point in Bristol County, RI. The 7000 acres that now make up the Town of Bristol in Rhode Island were called the Mt. Hope Lands. The elevation of Mt. Hope summit is 209 feet, and drops sharply to the bay on its eastern side. Mount Hope was the site of a Wampanoag (Pokanoket) village. It is remembered for its role in King Philip's War.
Wheeler's Surprise, and the ensuing Siege of Brookfield, was a battle between Nipmuc Indians under Muttawmp, and the English colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the command of Thomas Wheeler and Captain Edward Hutchinson, in August 1675 during King Philip's War. The battle consisted of an initial ambush by the Nipmucs on Wheeler's unsuspecting party, followed by an attack on Brookfield, Massachusetts, and the consequent besieging of the remains of the colonial force. While the place where the siege part of the battle took place has always been known, the location of the initial ambush was a subject of extensive controversy among historians in the late nineteenth century.
The Nehantic Trail is a 13-mile (21 km) Connecticut hiking trail and is one of the Blue-Blazed hiking trails maintained by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.
The Quinebaug Trail is a 8.1-mile (13.0 km) Connecticut hiking trail and is one of the Blue-Blazed hiking trails maintained by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.
The Pachaug Trail is a 28-mile (45 km) Connecticut hiking trail and is one of the Blue-Blazed hiking trails maintained by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. It is a horseshoe shaped trail.
EliezerJewett was the namesake of Jewett City, Connecticut, now the borough of the town of Griswold, Connecticut. He founded a settlement there in 1771.
Princess Red Wing, aka Mary E. (Glasko) Congdon, was a Narragansett and Wampanoag elder, historian, folklorist, and museum curator. She was an expert on American Indian history and culture, and she once addressed the United Nations.