RESEARCH FINDINGS

Jeanne Tedesco (a descendant of Benjamin Wiser Jr. who lives in Massachusetts) made me aware of a map of Woburn on the internet ( www.yeoldewoburn.net/Waterfield1688.jpg)  that details “Squa(w) Sachem’s Reservations [land]”.  The map is described on the website as follows: “this map was constructed by the late George Cooke and George T. Littlefield of Winchester and is designed to show “the approximate location in 1638” of the lots in Woburn and Winchester which had been granted to the inhabitants of Charlestown.  The descriptions of the lots, from which the compilers prepared their map, were taken from the Charlestown Book of Possessions.  This land is situated in the westerly part of Winchester.  Source: Abstracts of Wills of Early Woburn Deeds, Recorded at Middlesex County Registry, 1649-1700 by Edward F. Johnson”.  Woburn is located about 11 miles north of Boston.    Benjamin Wiser’s possible ancestry to Squaw Sachem is as follows; father-James Wiser, grandfather-James Wiser, great-grandfather, James Rumneymarsh Quanahpohkit Wiser, great-great-grandmother, Abigail (“Princess Yawata”), and great-great-great-grandmother, Squaw Sachem, spouse of Nanapashemet.

The website, www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/MainStreet/MMD666.html also contains some very detailed information about Squaw Sachem.  Let me share with you a few of the most interesting items.

“It is to the sachems of the Massachusetts Bay that Winchester owes its beginning as a colonized community and subsequent town.  The sachems were the leaders, the kings and queens of the Massachusett tribes whose domain extended from north of Plymouth to the Merrimack River.”

“Squaw Sachem was the title of the queen who lived west of the Mystic Lakes (among other places), while her three sons, each of whom had his own territory, were called sagamores by the English.” 

“The first sachem of the Massachusetts Bay territory to be identified by name, Nanepashemet (husband of the Squaw Sachem) was known to the colonists only by reputation, since he died in 1619, well before John Winthrop’s arrived in Charleston in 1630.”

“Nanepashemet (whose name is usually translated as “New Moon”) was, according to modern scholarly thought, chief sachem of the Massachusetts, though older histories may identify him as a Pawtuckett or even a Naumkeag.”

“According to the traditional story, Nanepashemet was living around Lynn before the Tarratines invaded.  Under pressure from his enemies, he retreated to Medford, where he built a stockade on Rock Hill, where he fell to his enemies in 1619.  The site was visited by the Pilgrim Edward Winslow who, along with Myles Standish and eight others, explored the Massachusetts Bay in September 1621, guided by Squanto and two other friendly Indians.  At the end of the month, they went ashore and met a chief named Obbatinewat who told them of Nanepashemt’s widow, the Squaw Sachem.  Though they found Nanepashemet’s last refuge, they did not find the queen.”

“According to the colonial writer, Thomas Lechford, “commonly when (the king) dies the Powahe (powwow) marries the Squa Sachem, that is, the queene.”  Widowed in 1619, the Squaw Sachem married Webcowit sometime before 1635.  In Winchester, the Squaw Sachem has been called “Queen of Mysticke”…but she was queen of much more-of Salem, Concord, and other communities from Charlestown to Marblehead.”

 “The queen died in 1650.  Although stories have been written that, in the end, she was deaf and blind and died by drowning, there is no documentary evidence.  Only her death date is known since, in that year, lawsuits over the land began.  The Squaw Sachem was survived by a son and daughter [this is most likely Yawata] and several grandchildren.  The son lived around Salem, and the daughter at the “praying village” of Natick.  Some of their histories are known through the time of King Philip’s War and for a few years beyond, but as the natives gradually left the colonized areas, their stories disappear from the written records.”

OBITUARIES

Please accept our condolences to those who recently lost family members.

Syracuse NY Post-Standard, Thursday, 18 Nov 2004; November 16, 2004 Margaret E. Brown Morse, 83, of Syracuse, died Tuesday at St. Joseph's Hospital. She was born in Oswego and had resided in the Syracuse area most of her life. She was employed with Hall-Mc Chesney Company retiring in 1983. She was a communicant of St. Daniel's Church and a member of its Legion of Mary. She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Malcolm S. [ancestry to Benjamin Wiser-his mother, Pearl Helena Smith Morse Bush, Albert Albro Smith, Elizabeth M. Albro Smith, Sabra Morse Albro, Aletha Wiser Morse, Benjamin Wiser]; a son, Dennis Morse, of Liverpool; a daughter, Jeanne Moss, of Madison, WI; two grandchildren, Sandra Bennett, John Morse; two great-grandchildren. Services 8:30 a.m. Friday at Gang Memorial Chapel, 9 a.m. in St. Daniel's Church. Entombment in Woodlawn Mausoleum. Calling hours are Thursday 3 to 6 p.m. at the funeral home, 104 Fordham Rd. at Teall Ave.

Charlotte NC Observer, Friday, 2 Jul 2004; Michael R. Maloney -Mr. Maloney [ancestry to Benjamin Wiser-his mother, Shirley Marie Vail Maloney, Mary Florence Moran Vail, Matilda Ann Gregory Moran, Matilda Ann Wiser Gregory, Samuel Wiser, Benjamin Wiser], 49, of Charlotte, died peacefully Wednesday, June 30, 2004 at Carolinas Medical Center, after a courageous 10-month battle with leukemia. Mr. Maloney was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 9, 1954, son of James C. Maloney and the late Shirley Vail Maloney. He was a graduate of Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois; the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and completed his graduate work at DePaul University, in Chicago. He was the Vice President of Finance and Administration at Universal Manufacturing & Logistics. He was the Sunday school teacher of the Homebuilders Class at Matthews United Methodist Church. But more than all his accomplishments, he was our father, husband, brother and son, and we loved him dearly. He made us laugh, and even though we are crying, we know the angels have begun to laugh in our place. Mike is survived by his wife, Brenda and sons, Nathan and Christopher, all of Charlotte; his father, James C. Maloney of Aurora, IL; one sister and five brothers, Nancy Maloney of Aurora; Neil Maloney of Aurora, IL; Brian Maloney of Round Lake Beach, IL; James A. Maloney of Schaumburg, IL; Terrance Maloney of Mount Prospect, IL; and, Thomas Maloney of Columbus, Ohio; 9 nieces and nephews and a large extended family. The Maloney Family would like to give our grateful thanks to Drs. Gary Frenette, Margaret Divish and Mike Richardson and so many others at CMC. We love you all up on 4 Tower and our "adopted" hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit! Also, we thank our MUMC family, Universal Manufacturing & Logistics family, neighbors and friends for all their love and support this past year; we are truly blessed by each of you. A memorial service to celebrate Mike's life will be at 2 p.m., Friday July 2, 2004 at Matthews United Methodist Church, 801 S. Trade Street, Matthews, NC 28105. Dr. Ken Lyon and Rev. Linda Kelly will officiate. The family will receive guests following the service in the dining room. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Matthews UMC for the development of a scholarship fund in memory of Mike Maloney, to the American Cancer Society, 6000 Fairview Road, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28210, or to any charity of the donor's choice. Harry and Bryant Company is serving his family.

Logan, UT Herald-Journal, Saturday, 27 Nov 2004; Neil Wiser Olson, 86, resident of Blackfoot, Idaho, passed away at his home in Blackfoot on Nov. 24, 2004. He was born March 22, 1918, in Millville, Utah, to Earl Delore and Leda Pearl Wiser [ancestry to Benjamin Wiser-Leda’s father, John Harvey Wiser, John McCormick Wiser, Samuel Wiser, Benjamin Wiser] Olson. When Neil was 18 months old his mother passed away. He was raised and educated by his grandparents, Fanny and Martin Olson, in Millville. He graduated from the Logan Academy as a welder and pipefitter. On July 27, 1937, he married Hazel Andrews in Logan, Utah; they were later divorced. He married Dora Lynn Darger on Jan. 13, 1958; they were later divorced. On April 29, 1978, he married LaVerne Fallis Blackburn; their marriage was solemnized on April 29, 1986, in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. Neil worked as a pipefitter-welder for 52 years. He worked in real estate and made a hobby of fixing old homes and apartments. He loved to work and worked hard all his life. He loved to plant a garden and to watch it grow. He always enjoyed working in the yard, raising chickens, mowing the lawn or building something. He had an innovative mind and invented several things: pipe clamps, gate locks and mailbox stands. Neil had a love for the gospel and the scriptures. He loved food, especially chocolates. He loved to get in the car and just drive around, reminiscing of old times and places. He enjoyed splitting wood, building a fire and watching it burn. He is survived by his wife, LaVerne of Blackfoot; his children, Myrna (Paul) Maughan of Martinez, Calif., Jerry (Betty) Olson of Big Water, Utah, Kendall (Colleen) Olson of Murray, Utah, Alice (John) Bosworth of Syracuse, Utah, Leda (Michelle) Saunders of Denver, Colo., Tony (Bert) Herrick of Blackfoot, Ben Blackburn of Tooele, Utah, Jerry (JoAnn) Blackburn of Leadore, Idaho, Dell (Margy) Blackburn and Garnelle Ward, both of Blackfoot, and DeLance (Ruth) Blackburn of McCook, Neb.; 30 grandchildren; and 60 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; five sisters, Roma Jones, Leeta Love, Rhoda Lee, Viola Knapp and Donna McKeen; and one brother, Dean Olson. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 27, at the Riverside LDS Chapel, 7 N. 700 West, Blackfoot. The family will meet with friends from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., prior to services at the church. Interment will be at 4 p.m. in the Millville Cemetery in Millville. Services are under the direction of the Hawker Funeral Home, 132 S. Shilling Ave., Blackfoot.

Thanks for any suggestions in regards to our family newsletter. Please contact me at or at 6 Baton Rouge, Roswell, NM  88201, or at (505) 623-2534. Please note that my e-mail address has changed.