Molly Ockett

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Molly Ockett (Indian name Singing Bird , baptismal name Marie Agatha ; born between 1730 and 1745 in Pequawket, now Fryeburg , Maine ; died August 2, 1816 in Andover , Maine) was an Abenaki healer .

Life

Saco River and White Mountains

Molly Ockett traced her ancestry as the daughter and granddaughter of chiefs of the Pequawket tribe, a tribe belonging to the Abenaki. That would mean that she would have been the daughter of Paugus , the last chief of the Pequawket, who perished at the Battle of Pequawket in 1725. However, it is more likely that she was born around 1744, as another story says that at the age of 15, in 1759, she hid in the bushes during the Rogers' Rangers raid on the Odanak Mission in St. Francis . Her parents were killed in the attack along with other Pequawket-Abenaki. Ockett lived with her family on the move to avoid the dangers of theEscape French and Indian war . Her story of a hike to Canada where the path was littered with corpses of Indians would fit with that. Smallpox broke out in the area around 1755 , from which much of the tribe died. She was baptized Marie Agatha by French missionaries. Other Indians pronounced this name Mali Agitt , which sounded like Molly Ockett to the English settlers. Other forms of the name were Molly Lockett , Molly Ackett , Mollyocket , Mollocket , Mollyrocket , Moll Ockett and Mollymockett . Ockett stayed in the area and lived with the first settlers to settle there. She led her Native American life, wandering the Androscoggin Valley , Lower Saco River Valley, and the Connecticut River area, and was a good hunter. She often shared her booty with the people of the area. In forests and meadows she gathered plants that she needed for her medicine.

She helped the first settlers with illness and women with childbirth and was nicknamed the Great Indian doctress . For most of the settlers, Molly Ockett was the only available doctor. Among the most important patients in 1810 were the young Hannibal Hamlin and the thief Henry Tufts , in whom she was treating a stab wound. Tufts remained her companion for the next few years. She was also a well-known storyteller. Many stories are told about the life of Molly Ockett - she is probably the most famous Abenaki who lived in the Androscoggin Valley.

Poland Springs Resort

Ockett also enjoyed staying in Poland . There she visited mineral springs, which she attributed healing properties. Most Poland residents thought she was an old drunken squaw, but the Ricker family, who ran the Wentworth Ricker Inn and where she was frequented and welcomed, later built the Poland Springs Resort , which marketed the healing properties of the mineral water .

Ockett had places where she slept and worked in every town in Androscoggin Valley. In Fryeburg, for example, she lived in a cave-like shelter near the foot of the Jockey Cap Mountains, and in Bethel on the north side of the Androscoggin River, she had a storage facility for birch bark. In Andover, she sold baskets and other handicrafts, and the parishes of Rumford , Canton , Poland, Minot , Trap Corner , Paris Hill , Bethel, North Conway , Fryeburg, and Baldwin all considered Molly Ockett a resident of their parish. Her lifestyle inspired her to build campsites. For them the land was part of their birthright. Her walking areas included Vermont , New Hampshire , Maine and southern Québec .

After she had warned Colonel Clark about an attack during the American Revolution in 1781, the latter wanted to show his appreciation. Ockett initially refused, but she accepted his offer after a severe winter and moved to Clark and his family in Boston. There she came into contact with European medicine. However, missing her traditional way of life, she did not stay long in Boston. She spent the rest of her life on her traditional wanderings in Maine and Vermont and died on August 2, 1816 in Andover, Maine. There she was buried in the cemetery and later a tombstone was erected bearing the inscription: "MOLLOCKET Baptized Mary Agatha, died in the Christian Faith, August 2, AD, 1816. The Last of the Pequakets."

family

Around 1764 she married Piel Susup, actually Peter Joseph. That year they both revisited the Odanak mission, which had been rebuilt after the raid. There they had their wedding blessed and their daughter Marie Marguerite Joseph, called "Molly Susup", baptized. Piel Susup died around 1772 and there are records that Molly Ockett lived near Fryeburg from 1766 with a pigwacket named Jean Baptiste Sabattis. They had several children together, which included Captain John Susup and Paseel (Basil). One of her daughters married a white settler and lived with him near Derby, Vermont. She later broke the relationship with Sabattis when his first wife came to Fryeburg and asserted her claim to him by challenging Molly Ockett to a fight. This took place on Fisch Street in Fryeburg. Witnesses were the wife of a settler and Sabatti, who smoked a pipe and watched the fight. It is not known whether she won or lost, but she was tired of the whims of the Sabattis and joined another Indian group.

Aftermath

  • The "Molly Ockett Middle School" in Freyburg was named after Molly Ockett.
  • Molly Ockett Day is held annually in Bethel.
  • The “Molly Ockett's Cave” in Fryeburg was named after Molly Ockett, the “Molls Rock” is located on the east bank of the Umbagog Lake and the “Moll Ockett Mountain” is located near the town of Woodstock .
  • Some streams have been named after Molly Ockett, such as the Mollidgebrook near Errol , New Hampshire and the Mollywocket Brook , a tributary of the Androscoggin River near Berlin , New Hampshire.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Julie Boardman: When Women and Mountains Meet: Adventures in the White Mountains . Julie Boardman, 2001, ISBN 978-0-9708324-1-2 , pp. 12 ( books.google.de ).
  2. ↑ a b c d Biography of Molly Ockett. In: nedoba.org. Retrieved December 26, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b Jane Campbell: Ockett, Molly - Vermont Historical Society. In: vermonthistory.org. Retrieved December 27, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Who was MollyOckett? In: mollyockettdays.com. 61st Annual Molly Ockett Day July 21, 2018, accessed December 26, 2018 .
  5. ^ The Many Faces of Molly Ockett Molly Ockett & Her World Museums of the Bethel Historical Society - Online Collections & Catalog. In: bethelhistorical.org. Retrieved December 27, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Molly Ockett. In: womenhistoryblog.com. 2008, Retrieved December 26, 2018 (American English).
  7. ↑ Molly Ockett. In: msad72.org. moms.msad72.org, accessed December 27, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Home. In: mollyockettdays.com. 61st Annual Molly Ockett Day July 21, 2018, accessed December 27, 2018 .
  9. ^ To Enduring Legacy · Molly Ockett & Her World · Museums of the Bethel Historical Society - Online Collections & Catalog. In: bethelhistorical.org. Retrieved December 27, 2018 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ockett, Molly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maria Agatha (baptismal name); Bird Singing (Native American name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Abenaki healer
DATE OF BIRTH between 1730 and 1745
PLACE OF BIRTH Pequawket, now Fryeburg , Maine
DATE OF DEATH August 2, 1816
Place of death Andover , Maine