Addendum to the Petition for Federal Recognition
Dated January 10, 1986
In Repsonse to the "Letter of Obvious Deficiencies and Significant Omissions"
Dated (6/14/1983).
Part B
CONTINUED:
Page 70: [Page 69 continued] …include the Morit’s, St. Francis’s, Lapan’s, Phillip’s, Gardner’s and Winters’s. 293 Like the companion accounts from the St. Francis family already mentioned in the Petition, this oral history ties major contemporary families back to the Missisquoi village period before 1800. 295 The Lampman family member who passed on this account was clear that it described both the time of the Missisquoi village before 1800 and the time of her grandparents about 1880. 296
Footnote 293. See Family chart #'s 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 294. [M.I.A.?]
Footnote 295. 2262, 10/6/83 in Moody, Field Notes, 1983. It is common in Abenaki oral tradition for accounts to date back to a compressed time of the “grandparents”. Generally the oral histories of the period before 1850 gathered at Missiquoi are interwoven with the history of the grandparents of the older mid-20th century informants. The time marker which lends chronological verification to the Swatson account has helped to pin down the exact period involved. The core tradition deriving from non-Indians inappropriately renaming the village ‘Swanton’ sets the tone and time of the original account in the late 18th century.
There is growing evidence that the Lampman (Lantman) family of the Hoosac Falls, New York area above Albany were directly were directly associated with the Abenakis, Sokokis and other Schagticokes in trading relationships which date to the mid-18thc century. [Lampee 1938:93; Moody, Field Notes, 1977-98]. It is likely from the written and oral tradition that Henry Lampman, the father of Henry, who married to Julia Ann Morits, was himself of Abenaki descent. Lampman family oral tradition also indicates that intermarriage with Indians began with this generation, if not earlier. [78, 7/16/1983:11; 2291, 4/25/1979:1].
Page 71: "Until the tradition was recorded, it was only assumed that the Morits/Maurice family was connected back to the pre-1860 period from indirect accounts gathered at Odanak in the 1950's and early 19th century church records discovered in the 1970's. 296
The Swatson account is also a clear indication of both familial and tribal leadership patterns among the Lake Champlain Abenakis. The role of settling fishing grounds, particularly on the Missisquoi delta, appears here as the most memorable task of the community leader. As fish were the basic staple of winter, early spring and mid-summer existence, and even became 'legal tender' amongst all residents of northwestern Vermont in the 1816-17 'scarce years', the chief's role as arbiter of fishing grounds makes sense in historical context. 297
The recent fish-ins confirms that the freedom to fish for subsistence purposes has always been important to the Abenakis at Missisquoi. 298 A similar role for chiefs in settling hunting ground disputes is records among the Abenakis of Odanak. 299 Chief Swatson, or Joachim was one of the Morits family ancestors according to oral tradition. 300 He was clearly one of the family leaders with much wider responsibilities among many families in the Missisquoi community around 1800.
Footnote 296: Moody 1979: 42-3, fn 22: Day 1981: 86; RP: 58-9: & Family chart #'s 2,3,4,5-6,7,8,11,12,14,16,17,18,20,21 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 297. Perry & Barney 1882:1009.
Footnote 298. RP: 130-1.
Footnote 299. Day 1978: 156-7; Moody, Field Notes, 1977-85. The Missisquoi focus on fishing also underscores a major different between the Odanak population, which relied on their extensive hunting territories for their living, and Missisquoi where fishing and trapping for food and for a living has been the basic pattern since the 18th century. This point is discussed in more depth in the Odanak/Missisquoi contact Section (III) here.
Footnote 300. 2262, 8/18/81, p. 2. Other Missiquoi oral traditions in the St. Francis and Medor family refer back to the most celebrated ancestors for family origins and community history. Odanak Abenakis share this attribute of family naming and history. (Day 1978: 156; Day 1981: 73).
Page 72: "It is very significant that John Perry (about 1860), George Barney (1882) and other historians of Swanton and the region made no mention of Chief Swatson in light of these oral traditions.
Page 73: It appears from recent research that the role of inter-family leadership has always been filled at Missisquoi, occasionally with the term ‘chief’ applied to the male leader and ‘doctress’ to the female leader by Indians or non-Indians close to the families and community. 305 ‘Chief Swatson’ of the Monument village and ‘Madam Campto/ Crappo’ the ‘Indian doctress’ of St. Albans Bay stand out in the period around 1800. 306 A virtually identical account of one dispersed family band of Coos Abenakis at the headwaters of the Missiquoi in 1799 refers to the ‘the chief man’ being ‘Capt. Susap’ who was with ‘Molly Orcutt’, a well known ‘Indian doctress’. 307 In similar fashion, one non-Indian resident of Swanton recently stated that Nazaire St. Francis was “a sort of a chief, but he never … mentioned it even, but among his people they knew he was a patriarch.” 308 Contemporary St. Francis family informants recall that ‘Old Mitch’ St. Francis, Nazaire’s father, was “chief” of his people in his day (1860-1917) as well. 309 In the same fashion, the Lampman informant who recounted the Swatson tradition was quick to point out that Leonard Lampman, the present chief, is the contemporary successor to Swasson Morits. 310 There was a succession of such…
Footnote 305. Note that the term ‘chief’ has been found applied to male Indian leaders by both Indians and non-Indians. The term ‘doctress’ has only been found in non-Indian descriptions of Indian women who were healers. Many terms are used in the Indian community to describe women, and men, who serve in a healing capacity. Like other northeastern Algonquin communities, the healers were and still remain anonymous. [See Leadership Criteria list in Appendix 8].
Footnote 306. Adams 1889: 37; Moody 1979: 37-8; RP: 54.
Footnote 307. White 1882: 315; Moody 1979: 40.
Footnote 308. 2288, 11/13/83: 6. This impression of Nazaire was widely shared in the Abenaki community as well according to oral tradition from a number of families. [See Nazaire St. Francis card in AA; Moody, Field Notes, 1977-85].
Footnote 309. 7; 28; Moody, Field Notes, 1977-85. See also Mitchell St. Francis card in St. Francis cards in AA.
Footnote 310. 2262, 1982 in Moody, Field Notes, 1982.
Page 74: ...individuals including John and Martha Morits Lampman (1880's to 1915), then Martha Morits alone (1915 to 1940), and Walter Lampman (1940 to 1955). 311
Footnote 311. See John Lampman & Walter Lampman cards in Lampman cards, & Martha Morits card in Morits cards in AA. 2263, 10/6/83:11. See also Family History and learship chart in Appendix 2.
Page 76: "The census records in the greater Swanton area show that the Morits family was residing there from 1800 to 1840. Both Henry Morits (Mororits/Mowen) and John Morits (Moritts/Minels/Morois) appear in Highgate census records in the early 19th century. 319 John Morits is the direct ancestors of the Lampman, Morits and Martin family members today. 320 The Henry Morits line was closely tied to the Barratt Central family and appears in that genealogy today. 321 There is clear evidence in local land records that they were living up on the Rock River in the Highgate woods near the Canadian border. 322 The location of other Morits families in Swanton and St. Albans has also been ascertained in the same period. 323 The location of the Morits family on the Monument side of the Missisquoi in Highgate Springs puts the census family after 1800 in direct accord with the Swatson oral tradition of the Morits family before 1800."
Footnote 319. See 1800 to 1849 Highgate censuses in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 320. See Lampman & Martin Central family genealogies in RP; & Family chart #’s 5-6, 14, 18 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 321. See Arlene Murray Parks card & Henry Morits cards in Morits cards in AA; & Family chart # 18 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 322. See 1800 to 1822 Highgate Land Record list in Appendix 4B.
Footnote 323. See 1820 & 1840 Swanton censuses & 1830 St. Albans census in Appendix 1B.
Page 77: In 1800 the Mantle (Momtock/Laurent), Canard (Anus/Anance), Youngman (Young/Lajeunesse) and Winters families were living next door to John Morits and his family in the same small Highgate woods neighborhood according to the census. 326 The Winters family was specifically mentioned in the Swatson account. The same year Henry Mowen (Morits) and Henry Lampman were listed as living in another section of the Highgate woods with one Indian neighbor named Cross listed. 327 There were no Francis/St. Francis/ Mitchell families listed in Highgate in 1800, but a Lewis Francis family appeared in the Swanton census close by. 328 So, in 1800, at least three of the families cited in the Swatson oral tradition (1780 to 1800), including two major ancestral families and two contemporary Abenaki families, were indeed living in the Swanton/Highgate area. Perry’s landmark account of Abenaki ‘disappearence’ from the Missisquoi village by…
Footnote 326. See 1800 Highgate census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 327. See 1800 Highgate census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 328. See 1800 Swanton census in Appendix 1B.
Page 78: …1800 was matched by Abenaki emergence in small, disperced neighborhoods in the greater Swanton area just as oral tradition and the Petition have clearly stated.
By 1810, several familiar Missisquoi Abenaki names including Bartan (Benedict), Cibben (Kapino/Crapo), Legur (Lazare), Phillips, Gardner, Hogue (Hoague), Newell (Noel/Wells), Pine (Coas/Lapan) and Michel (Mitchell/St. Francis/Francis) were listed with John Morois (Morits), Henry Mororits (Morits) and a Lampman family in the Highgate woods. 329 A similar number of families with many of the same names appeared in Swanton census for the same year. 330 The names were listed alphabetically in both towns so no proximity between these families can be surmised. But the size of the listed Swanton and Highgate Indian population, 180 individuals in 22 families, clearly confirms that the Swatson oral tradition was an accurate depiction of the period around 1800.
The John and Henry Morits families were recorded in the Highgate census with the most consistency of any Indian family down to 1840. Freyner/Francis (St. Francis), Mitchel (Micha), Lampman, Barratt/Barns and many other families with direct descendants in the present community also appeared in the censuses. 331 In 1840, JamesFrancis and family were listed in the same neighborhood with the John Morits and Polly Newell (Noel/Wells) families. Nearby, there were two more Morits/Murran families living in two other small neighborhoods with Newell (Noel/Wells), Laraway (Laurent), Salt (Greenia ancestor), Nolete (Wawanolet/Whitehead), Barnes (Barratt) and Dacar (Cheney ancestor) families.Taken with the strong leadership tradition in the Morits family dating from around 1800, their consistent presence in the records...
Footnote 329. See 1810 Highgate census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 330. See 1810 Swanton census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 331. See 1820-1840 Highgate census in Appendix 1B; & Family chart #'s 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 15 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Page 79: ...followed by many other known Indian families, provides abundant confirmation that these ancestral Morits families were in the forefront of the Missisquoi community during the 1790 to 1840 transition period. This notion is further corroborated from Odanak where oral traditions gathered in the 1950's and 1960's specifically identified the Maurice/Molisse family with 18th and 19th century Missisquoi. 332
There was another important facet of the Morits family presence in the area from 1800 to 1840. There were three men named John Morits born from the 1750’s to the 1790’s and two named Henry Morits born before 1755 and between 1780 and 1785 who were listed in the records under the two men’s names. Each time the head of the family got old and presumably died, a younger replacement with the same name showed up in the records and took his place. 333 This pattern was common to Odanak and not unique to Highgate’s Morits family, but it has not been as well documented in the existing records elsewhere. 334
By definition, in Abenaki naming tradition, the direct identification with “an outstanding ancestor” confirms continued familial, and often, community leadership.
This pattern was the only consistent aspect of the local census listings during the 1800 to 1840 period in Swanton or Highgate. The rest of the families listed with John and Henry Morits households came and went in the records of that time. In fact, only in 1810, when most of the northwestern Vermont towns…
Footnote 332. Evidence is strong from the Odanak families who came to the Old Tyler Place in Highgate Springs each summer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were returning as much to one of their ancestral villages where relatives still resided as they were to a resort where they could sell their wares to the tourists. The Benedict (Panadis/Parady) and Claude (Glode/Pagonowit/Butter/Ladue) families, along with the Maurice (Morits) family were identified with this annual return migration.
(Day 1981: 86, 105, 107; Moody 1979: 43, 49; Moody, Pers. correspondence with Day, 1979-81).
Footnote 333. See 1800-1840 Highgate censuses in Appendix 1B & in AA.
Footnote 334. Day 1981: 73, 101-3. This naming sequence conforms to the common practice seen also at Odanak to name children and grandchildren the same first and last names.
Page 80: …reported more Indians than other years, did other portions of the extended families and Abenaki community appear with the core Morits nuclear families. 335 As noted above, all of the families identified in the Swatson Morits oral tradition were also found in either the 1810 Swanton or Highgate censuses that year.
This is strong evidence that the Morits extended family was a central or front family during the transition period after the village was lost in the 1790’s until about 1840. As discussed earlier here, the Mitchell (Micha) family subsequently emerged in the Swanton Lake Road and Back Bay neighborhoods. 336 And sources cited here and in the Petition have also shown how the Francis/ St. Francis family in Swanton emerged as a similar leading family from 1820 on as well. 337 This kind of revolving family leadership of the community has also been documented in the Missisquoi Abenaki tribe in the 18th century when the Wawanolet/Whitehead/Greylock, Portneuf and Mitchell/St. Francis families were most evident, as well as in present day when the Lampman, Vansalett, Richards, Medor, Lapan, Gardner, Maskell, Partlow and St. Francis families are serving similar functions in various public forums and contemporary records. 338
Footnote 335. Twelve family members were listed in the John Morritts family, nine in the Henry Mororits family in 1810. [1810 Highgate census in Appendix 1B & AA].
Footnote 336. See Mitchell family discussion [pp 29-31] here. See also 1810 Highgate, 1820 St. Albans, 1830 Alburg, Highgate, Sheldon, St. Albans & Swanton, 1840 Grand Isle, Sheldon, So. Hero, St. Albans & Swanton censuses, Household #'s 5 & 6 in 1850 Franklin census, Household #'s 27, 271 & 273 in 1850 St. ALbans census & Household #'s 7 & 20 in 1850 Swanton censuses in Appendix 1B. Moody 1979: 53, 56-7 fns 34 & 35; RP:63-6, 72-3, 223; & Family chart # 15 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 337. See Francis/St. Francis family discussion [pp 7-8, 31-2, 33] here. See also Moody 1979: 58-9 fn 36, 64, 76-7; RP: 61, 66, 77-83, 89-92, 94-5, 97, 99, 104-5, 107, 121, 124, 128, 133, 208, 210, 212, 219, 222-7; Addendum Part A: 3-5,9: & Family chart #'s 2, 3 & 4 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 338. RP: 29, 37-8, 41, 46-7, 90-2, 104-5, 118, 123-4, 127, 129-30,133.
Page 81: The two universal components of these long cycles of community leadership have been a large extended family and an extraordinary individual leader like Greylock, Francis Titigaw (Francis Michell), Swasson Morits, Madam Camp/Crapo, Mitchell and Nazaire St. Francis, Cadell Freemore Brow, Joe Patnode, Louis Gardner, John Lapan and many others. 339 And as always, these leading families in the records and non-Indian public view protect and reflect a much larger Abenaki population behind the scenes.
The Morits family did indeed remain a major force in the community after 1840, but in terms of written records, both they and the Lampman extended family became much more hidden. As oral tradition and the Petition have shown the Mortis, Lampman, Gardner, Lapan, Phillips, Demar, and other families went ‘on the ladder’ for much of the 1840 to 1940 period, moving from place to place leading a traditional, subsistence lifestyle. 340 Their clearest manifestation to date in the local records until about 1900 has been in intermarriage with some of the more settled families and their occasional mention as the local Swanton/Highgate basketmakers and herb gathers. 341
Footnote 339. See Family History and Leadership chart in Appendix 2; & Leadership Criteria list in Appendix 8.
Footnote 340. RP: 85-7.
Footnote 341. Moody 1979: 73-5; RP: 76, 81-3, 85-6; & William Morits card in Morits cards in AA.
Page 82: Other evidence from a variety of sources confirms that the Morits/Maurice/Tanagite family has an extensive history which touches on many contemporary Abenaki families and most of the known Abenaki neighborhoods in northwestern Vermont from the 18th century on. Not only are links with the Lampman, Winters and St. Francis families in evidence, but also with the Portneuf, Panadis/Benedict, Denis/St. Denis, Mitchell, Jerome, Robert, Butter/Pagonawit/ Claude, Joseph, Lawless, Capino/Crapo, Marie, Pierre/St. Peter, Saziboet, Nagazoa, Phaniff/Farnsworth, Tahamont/Duhamel, Littlefield and Obomsawin/Bowman families of Missisquoi, Durham & Odanak in the 19th century; 342 the Gardner/Morin, Greenia, Maskell, Francis/St. Francis, Goiette/Guyette, Lampman, Lapan, Demar/deMora, Martin, Hoague, Vancelett, Lafrance, Levick, Richards, Barns/Barratt Central families; 343 the Bellvue and Mercier Other families; 344 the Bohannon, Lafar/Tiriac, Reynolds, St. Andrew, Therrien, Minkler and Mitchell Small families; 335 and the Lajois/Lashaway/Playful, Chateneuf/Phaneuf, Winters, Gautier, Morits, Sartwell, Lapointe, Salesbury, Sears and Salt ancestral Missisquoi families. 346 These citations are concentrated around Swanton…
Footnote 342. RP: 58-9, 60, 82-3; Day 1981: 86; Moody 1979: 42-3 fn 22, 45, 52, 74-5. See also 1841 O'Callaghan's register in Appendix 5A; 1847 & 1853 St. Mary's register in Appendix 5B; Morits/Maurice family cards in Morits cards in AA; & Alexis Maurice, Joseph Morrisseau, Marianne Tanagite, Mary Morris, & Sophie Maurice cards in Morits cards in AA.
Footnote 343. Moody 1979: 62; RP: 86, 225-6. Also see 1841 & 1847 O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A; 1853 St. Marie’s register in Appendix 5B; Arlene Murray Parks, Gordon C. Morits, Hattie Morits, Joseph Morits, Julia Ann Morits, John Morris & Mary Morris cards in Morits cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 5-6, 7, 9, 10 & 18 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 344. See John J. Morits & Romauld Morits cards in Morits cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 3, 4, & 18 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 345. Moody 1979: 51 fn 28, 74; RP: 225. See also 1841 & 1844 O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A; Henry Murray & John Morris cards in Morits cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 7, 9, 12 & 14 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 346. RP: 225. See also 1841 O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A; 1847 & 1853 St. Mary’s registers in Appendix 5B; Alvira Moits, Anaize Merritt, Baptiste Morin, John F. Morris, Mary R. Morets, Sophronia Morice & Paul Morits cards in Morits cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 9, 15 & 18 in Appendix 11.
Page 83: …Highgate and St. Albans although the family also appears in Alburg, the Islands and Sheldon from 1800 to 1920. 347 There is also solid oral and documentary data that both the Gardner and Demar families share a common ancestry and name origin with the Maurice /Morits family. 348
By the turn of the 20th century, the Morits and Lampman families were focused on the John’s Bridge and Lake Road neighborhoods of Swanton. Virtually all branches of the family were leading the subsistence life and therefore do not appear in the 1850 to 1900 censuses except one family in the 1860 and 1900 Highgate Springs neighborhood, and an individual in the 1900 Franklin woods neighborhood. 349 Local records, however, locate them in several Swanton neighborhoods, as does the 1910 Swanton census. John, Walter and Dewey Lampman, three children of John and Martha Morits Lampman, were born in the 1880’s at John’s Bridge and the Lake Road according to local records. 350 Henry S. Morat (Morits), last descendent of that branch of the Morits family in Swanton, and his wife Mary Barratt of the large Barratt Central family, were living on Upper Ferris Street with adopted Champang and Hoague family members in their house. 351 It is quite likely that Arlene Murray, who is a contemporary member of the tribe with Milton roots, derives from this same Henry Morits (Murray) line found in early 19th century Highgate and 1910 Swanton. 352 The Albert Champang…
Footnote 347. See Franklin/Sheldon, Grand Isle/No. & So. Hero, Highgate, St. Albans & Swanton 1790-1910 Summaries of Names in Appendix 1A.
Footnote 348. See Louisa Dejardins Morin card in Gardner cards & Demar family cards in AA.
Footnote 349. See Household # 27 in 1860 Highgate census, household # 82 in 1900 Highgate census & household #231 in 1900 Franklin census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 350. See John, Walter and Dewey Lampman cards in Lampman cards in AA.
Footnote 351. See Household #76, Dist # 117 in 1910 Swanton census in Appendix 1B; & Henry Morits cards in Morits cards in AA.
Footnote 352. See Arlene Murray Parks card in Morits cards; Barrat Central family member list in RP; & Family chart #18 in Appendix 11.
Page 84: …cited living with Henry Morits was later to become the head of that Abenaki family in the 1930 to 1960 period.
Out on Lake Road, William and Mary Hoage were living with Napoleon and Josephine Sharkey Hoague in the same 1910 house. 353 They were living there in 1900 when the census was taken as well, but along with at least 300 other Abenakis, were missed or avoided by the census takers. On the edge of Back Bay in 1910, John and Rosa Bellvue Morits were living next door to Napolean Hoag’s brother Peter, and a Ledoux family. 354 Nearby on Bushey Street, John and Martha Morits Lampman were living with Merry J. (Martin)(Morits) Barratt. 355 Mary Jane Martin was Martha’s mother. She had remarried the herb gather Will Barratt after Will Morits died, and had been widowed a second time by 1910. 356 Out on the County Road, south of the Upper Ferris Street and Lake Road neighborhoods, Ed and Mary Lampman Martin were raising their family in a small neighborhood of Greenia’s, Hance’s (Hanks/Anus) and Root’s. 357
Mary Lampman Martin was daughter to the Henry and Julia Ann Morits Martin couple discussed in detail for the 1820 to 1880 period in Swanton’s outlying neighborhoods.
This interwoven, multi-neighborhood pattern of settlement evident in 1910 had taken the same basic form since the late 18th century, and continues in the Lampman, Morits and Martin family descendants today. The simultaneous jump in Lampman, Martin, Hoague and Morits family listings in the 1910 Swanton census shows on a family…
Footnote 353. See Household # 211 in 1910 Swanton census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 354. See Household #’s 310, 311, 313 in 1910 Swanton census in Appendix 1B; & Family chart #’s 5-6 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 355. See Household # 100 in 1910 Swanton census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 356. See Mary Jane Martin card in Martin cards; Will Morits card in Morits cards & Will Barrat card in Barratt card in AA. See also Family chart #’s 5-6 & 18 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 357. See Household #’s 436-51 in 1910 Swanton census in Appendix 1B; & Family chart #’s 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 7, 9, 15 & 18 in Appendix 11.
Page 85: …basis the doubling of recorded Indian population listed from 1900 to 1910. Of course, as far as these linked families are concerned, the dramatic shift in local Indian population was strictly as artifact of the census records, as many underground Abenaki families, including these four, were extensively recorded in the local Swanton records throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 358 The Morits, Lampman and Hoague Abenaki families have a continuous presence in the 19th and 20th century greater Swanton area which is tightly woven into the fabric of the Abenaki community at Missisquoi.
The family histories discussed here have a general theme of continuity which has been found to run through many of the major Abenaki family histories at Missisquoi from the 18th to the 20th centuries. The extensive links between the contemporary families discussed in the Petition and the other sources, have proven to be a direct outgrowth of Missisquoi Abenaki live in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries.
In fact, in the case of the major Morits Ancestral and Small family, there is a clear line of ancestry to the 18th century Abenaki families involved in Robertson’s lease, extensive intermarriage around the Missisquoi, Odanak and Durham Abenaki areas with other known Indian families, and then a deep and continuous involvement in the crucial transition period from 1790 to 1840 when the Highgate woods, St. Albans Bay and Swanton Indian neighborhoods were developing into their present forms. The Martin, St. Francis/Francis, Mitchell, Barratt, Lapan, Medor, Demar, Gardner, Lafrance, Olds, Phillips, Wells, Bertrand, Champang, Camron, Cheney, Vansalett, Lampman, Lafar, Blair, Dennis, Ledoux, Morris, Patnode, Paquette and Shedwick Central, Other, and Small Abenaki families tied to the present membership have all proven to have a similar, interwoven history traceable to the 18th and early 19th century Missisquoi Abenaki community. Further discussion of these families follows in the Addendum Part C.
Footnote 358. See the Lampman, Morits and Martin family cards in AA; Family History & Leadership chart in Appendix 2; & Martin Central family history in Section V here.
Page 91: Harold St. Francis, brother to Homer St. Francis and one of the first members of the family to join in the revitalization movement, lived for many years in the Lake Road neighborhood where he was married to the mother of the Partlow sisters. 386 Leonard Lampman recalls that it was his close relationship with Harold and Harold's ties to the Lake Road neighborhood that facilitated him leading the large Lampman/Morits Central family into official tribal membership in the 1976 to 1978 period. 387
Footnote 386. RP: 87, 224; 6, 4/26/77. See Family Chart # 4 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 387. 78, 9/16/83: 23, 36.
Page 100: Of the Rood farm area in the Lake Road neighborhood, as well as the John's Bridge campground near the Bullard farm, Blackie Lampman recalls that "all the families used it at one time or another". 421
Footnote 421. 78, 9/16/84:1, 2.
Page 101: The Rood and Skinner farms off Lake Road were sites used by the Morits and Lampman families back to the 1780's and most likely overlapped with the Morits/Tanagite/Towgisheat Indian farm listed in Robertson's lease in the 1760's." 428 The Towle farm in Franklin was the location of another Abenaki neighborhood in the late 1700's, throughout the 1800's and is remembered to this day by local non-Indians as the "Indian campground". 429
Footnote 428. See the Lake Road neighborhood in Swanton in Section II here.
Footnote 429. See Franklin and Sheldon in Section II here.
MORE on the way...
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Are the Barratt’s and or Lampman's “St. Francis/ Sokoki/Missisquoi” Members; or are they not? Part 3:
Addendum to the Petition for Federal Recognition
Dated January 10, 1986
In Response to the "Letter of Obvious Deficiencies and Significant Omissions"
Dated (6/14/1983)
Part B
Page 08: The common Abenaki practice of grandparents raising particular grandchildren is also documented in the Back Bay household of Pauline Savoie (Savage) which includes her granddaughter Helen Baraby (Benedict). 14 Another example is Frank Roberts (Robert-Obomsawin) and his family in the Lake Street neighborhood of St. Albans, who are listed living with his grandfather Edward Hances (Hanks/Anus) in 1919. 15
Footnote 14. See household # 162, District 118 in 1910 Swanton census in Appendix 1B & Families #’s 8, 10, 16, & 19 in Appendix 11. Gordon Day (1978: 156) mentions that a special bond existed with paternal grandparents in Abenaki society. Abundant evidence for all grandparents taking in grandchildren with whom they have a special affinity has been found in the contemporary community [John Moody, Filed Notes, 1977-85].
Footnote 15. See household #214, District # 113 in 1910 St. Albans census in Appendix 1B & Family chart # 15 in Appendix 11. These two men and their family are the only two Abenakis listed as ‘Indians’ in the 1910 census for this part of Vermont.
Page 20: In one of Swanton’s outlying neighborhoods, the Stephen Popple and Charles Sisco families were sharing a house. 83 These two Ancestral families were living from the basket, wood and leather working trade in the greater Swanton area, and had clearly joined their efforts as the Morits and Barratt families would in the next generation, and the Lapan and Gardner families would in the 1920 and 1950 period in the same basic area. 84
Footnote 83. See household # 152 in 1860 Swanton census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 84. See Basket Trade cards & Popple, Sisco, Morits, Barratt, Lapan & Gardner Family cards in AA.
Page 27: Louis Freemore was one of the first Abenakis to purchases land in Swanton. He was most likely an uncle to John Freemore who appears in several Central family genealogies and was an Abenaki family and community leader in the 1830 to 1870 period. 113 Lewis and John were both living in Swanton’s developing Back Bay [Page 28.] neighborhood along with Benjamin Popple, Nathaniel (Baquabarrat/Barrat), John Savard (Savage) and John Anus (Hanks/Henry) according to the 1820 Swanton census. 114
Footnote 113. Moody 1979: 56-8; RP: 64, 72-5, 222-3; Brow, Cota, Greenia, Medor and Vanslette Central family genealogies in RP & Family chart #’s 2, 3, 10, 15 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 114. See 1820 Swanton census in Appendix 1B; RP: 63-4.
Page 35: As noted earlier, there were many cases where efforts to retain their lands unsuccessful in the early to mid-19th century. The Lampman family had considerable land in Swanton to 1800 but was virtually destitute thereafter. In one sequence from 1803 to 1809, Samuel Sisco purchased land in Swanton, mortgaged it for payments of grain and cattle, then lost the land and had his widow and children warned out of town for poverty. 149 The two Highgate Morits families had lost their hundreds of acres on the Rock River and Franklin border by 1840 as well. And John Morits of St. Albans had to mortgage the eighteen acres of land between Lake Road and the Rood farm near Maquam Creek still retained from the old Missisquoi village lands in 1836. The arrangement read that he would pay in “good sound wood four feet long at fifty cents per cord” totaling almost sixty cords within a year…
Footnote 149. SLR, Bk 2:248; Bk 3:145-6; Bk 4:156 & 1803-1809 in Appendix 4A.
Page 36: …and one half, or lose the land. 150 By all indications, that land was indeed lost and the family went back to a local subsistence lifestyle after almost 40 years of well documented stability from 1800 to 1840. The Morits, Lampman, Hoague and other Abenaki families continued to use the ‘Rood Farm’ on the Maquam shore and the Lake Road neighborhood right down to the mid-20th century. But they had to settle for renting from land owners and living off remote marginal lands until after World War II when Leonard “Blackie” Lampman purchased some Lake Road properties which the family still owns today.
The John Morits mortgage details the extremely hard work required of all the Indian families who wanted to live freely on their ancestral lands. In those days, cutting and moving 30 cords of hard wood per year was a major job requiring at least sixty days of work if a horse was available.
Footnote 150. SLR, 1837 in Appendix 4A. This is the first indication of Morits family ownership of land in Swanton in the 19th century. Unlike the Highgate lands which were purchased and taken back from non-Indians in the early 1800’s, this land appears to have come down from the old Missisquoi village period intact. It was not indexed in the usual way and no record or any original purchase by a Morits family member from one of Allen’s agents or legal descendants before 1836 has been located.
Page 41: Close ties between several Swanton neighborhoods and the known family histories of other Abenaki neighborhoods and families has also appeared in these [Page 42.] records. A substantial and early Wells (Duel/Dewell/Newell) family presence in West Swanton and Back Bay has appeared from 1810 to 1840 in the school and census records. 169 In the same period, the same families were recorded at alternate times from Milton, Grand Isle and Franklin to Highgate and St. Albans Bay. 170 In the 1840 Highgate citation, Polly Newell and family were living in a small three family cluster with the Henry Morits and James Francis (St. Francis) families. 171 The same year, Charles Wells and family were living in a similar three family cluster at St. Albans Bay with the John Curtis (Cootwa) and John Baptiste (Sabadis/St. John) Ancestral families. 172 These citations alone link the three St. Albans Bay/Islands, Franklin/Highgate woods and Swanton/West Swanton branches of the Abenaki community together four generations earlier than the similar data present in the Petition family charts. 173 Evidence is also growing that the Noe (Nault/Denault) family in Swanton were also Wells family members. 174 The Richards (Rich), Guyette (Goyet), Gonyo (Gonio/Shawraw), Bluto (Blowdure) and other families tied to St. Albans Bay as well as the Greenia (Greenie), Beor (Bear), Barrett, Lafrance (Defran), Olds and St. Lawrence families linked to the Highgate/Franklin Abenaki families all appear in neighborhoods from West…
Footnote 169. See 1822, 1823, 1827, 1833, 1838 & 1840 Hog Island/West Swanton & Back Bay/ Dist 9 Swanton Scholars list in Appendix 3; 1800 & 1840 Swanton censuses in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 170. See 1800 Milton, 1810 Highgate, 1830 St. Albans & 1840 Grand Isle, Highgate & St. Albans censuses in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 171. See 1840 Highgate census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 172. See 1840 St. Albans census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 173. RP: 222, 224, 225, 227 & Lampman, Wells & St. Francis Central family genealogies in RP; & Family chart #’s 2, 4, 5-6, 8, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 174. RP: 226 & Gardner & Brow Central family genealogies in RP; & Family chart #’s 3, 7, 11, 15 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Page 43: …Swanton to the remote Fairfield Pond areas of Swanton in the 1820 to 1850 period. 175 The data makes very clear that the Abenaki community was in as much, if not more, motion throughout the Missisquoi area in the first half of the 19th century as they were in the better documented late 19th to mid-20th century period.
Furthermore, numerous citations of Abenaki family names identified with the 18th century Missisquoi Abenaki community show up in the scholars lists as well.
Glode (Glodish/Glade/Peckenowax)
Stephen (Old Etienne)
Mitchell (Michel/Micha/Moquin/Muckyaw)
Anus/Hanks (Hanis/Anus/Annis)
Morits (Morressey/Morrits/Towgisheat)
Denis (St. Denis)
Campbell (Crapo/Cabino/Cabba/Caanaa/Kapen)
Francis (St. Francis/Frenier/Frenyer/Frankah)
Medor (Rye/Ryia/McKee)
Martin (Watso)
St. Peter (Peter/Sopiel)
…families from Fairfield Pond, Swanton Junction, John’s Bridge, Swanton Center, West Swanton, Lake Road and Back Bay in the 1822 to 1859 period. 176 Many of the names including Francis/St. Francis, Mitchell and Medor/Kazia were in various stages of change from their 18th century to their 19th century forms in these records. 177 The cumulative weight of this data, combined with abundant information from the census and local records, shows overlapping portions of the large Missisquoi Abenaki community in transition from their historic 18th century form to their 19th and 20th century character in considerable detail.
Footnote 175. See 1824, 1827, 1833, 1834, 1840, 1842, 1844 & 1847 Swanton Scholars lists in Appendix 3.
Footnote 176. See, 1822, 1824, 1827, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1838 & 1840 Swanton Scholars lists in Appendix 3.
Footnote 177. See St. Francis, Medor & Mitchell/Micha family cards in AA.
Page 45: In the same fashion, Mary Martin first married William Morits and appears in [Page 46.] the Lampman and Gardner Central family genealogies, then William Barrat, son of Samual and Sarah Morits Barrat, progenitors of the major Barrat Central family line in Franklin, Highgate and Swanton in the 19th century. 184 Town records of William Morits and William Barrat also revealed that the one was a basketmaker and the other an herb gatherer.
Footnote 184. See Family chart #’s 5-6 & 18 in Appendix 11; Gardner & Lampman Central family genealogies in RP; & Will Morits cards in Morits cards, Mary Martin card in Martin cards and William Barrat card in Barrat cards in AA.
Page 50: In 1838, Marchess Mitchell (Micha) and Margt Baraby (Panady/Benedict) baptize their daughter Narcissa for whom Peter Baraby (Benedict) and Begin Giot (Briget Guyette) are the godparents. 195 They are the same couple well documented using various Canadian missions for the baptism of their children between 1826 and 1833. 196 The first and only time they appear in a census record was the 1840 St. Albans Bay neighborhood next to two Bluto families. 197 However, their obvious links to other Benedict (Baraby/Parady) families as well as the Mitchell, Belisle (Basil), Guyette, Savage, Francis (St. Francis) and Wells families from Swanton, St. Albans and the Islands confirms that they were leaders in the Abenaki community from 1830 to 1860. 198 Since the…
Footnote 193. See 1836, 1838, 1/3 & 1/17/1839, 4/30, 8/2. 10/3 & 10/9/1841, 1842, 4/23 & 5/16/1844, 10/26/1845 & 5/9/1847 in O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A; & 1849, 330/1850, & 7/4/1857 in St. Albans register in Appendix 5B. See also Family History & Leadership chart in Appendix 2 & Family charts #’s 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 194. Moody 1979: 73-4 fn 51. Compare Appendices 5A & 5B to Family Name Lists in Appendices 7A-D; Family Histories in Section V; & Family Charts in Appendix 11.
Footnote 195. See 1838 O’Callaghan’s Register in Appendix 5A & Family chart #’s 16 & 19 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 196. Moody 1979: 52, 58; RP: 65-6.
Footnote 197. See 1840 St. Albans census in Appendix 1B & Family chart # 16 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 198. Moody 1979: 52-55; RP: 65-6. See also Willliam Baraby (Benedict) Swanton baptism in 1841 with parents Peter Baraby and Marie Belisle (Bazil) and godparents Peter Baraby and Josette; Matilda Bennett (Benedict) 1841 baptism in St. Albans with John Bennett and Cath. Saveriagss (Savagess/Savage) parents and Francis Plasais (Francis) and Angel Pero (Perault); & Harriet Wells 1844 baptism with parents John Wells and Jane Gibouis (Young Gibo) and godparents Peter and Eliza Paridy (Benedict), all in O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A.
Page 51: …earliest citations, this family was identified with Lake Champlain and was the same Benedict (Panadis) family found at Odanak which always had a particularly close association with Missisquoi and returned for summers at Shipyard Bay in Highgate Springs until the early 1900’s. 199 The family also appears in North Hero, Swanton and Alburg with one of the last Benedict men recalled living on the Missisquoi in 20th century Swanton and the last Benedict (Bartemy) family at St. Albans Bay in the 1930’s. 200
Footnote 199. Moody 1979: 73-4 fn 50; Day 1981: 77.
Footnote 200. RP: 72-2, 95; 2258, 9/11/81:1; Ed Bartemy card in Benedict cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 8,16 & 19 in Appendix 11.
Page 56: A Barret and Francis (St. Francis) family living in St. Albans also are cited in the records, linking two of the largest Central families sixty years before their 20th century Swanton associations. 232 In the baptism of their child Charles Basset (Bessett) of the Bessett Small family was the godfather. 233 In the 1855 baptism, Theophile Phaneuf was the godfather for the Barratt/Francis family. The Phaneuf (Phaan/Farnsworth) family derived from an 18th century English captive-turned-Abenaki with ties to Odanak. 234 Theophile Phaneuf appears often in both….
Footnote 232. See 1855 in St. Marie’s register in Appendix 5B; & Family chart #’s 2, 4, 5-6 & 18 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 233. See 1831 in O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A; & Family chart # 10 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 234. Day 1981: 92.
Page 57: …O’Callaghan’s and St. Marie’s registers. He was married to an Abenaki woman listed simply and Morquis (Marguet) and later as Mary Marrais (Morits/Desmarrais/Demar) with whom he had several children. 235
Footnote 235. See 1847 in St. Marie’s register in Appendix 5B.
Page 59: Another important citation from St. Albans in 1847 lists a major community leader with ties to Swanton, Odanak and 18th century Missisquoi. Sophie Morrisan (Morits/Maurice) is listed in May, 1847 as the sole godparent of a boy named Louis whose parents are cited as Francis Joseph and Frances Theophile. 249 This is quite likely the same Sophie Morisseau (Molisse/Maurice) who had married Theophile Panadis (Benedict) nine months earlier at Odanak in September of 1846. 250 This Missisquoi Abenaki woman was well known at Odanak as a traditional and central figure in the Panadis family which returned for many years to Highgate Springs with the Odanak band of the Claude (Glode/Paganne/Pagonowit) family. 250
Footnote 246: See Glode/Ladue Ancestral family history in Section V.
Footnote 246s. See Glode/Ladue Ancestral family & Ladoux family histories in Section V.
Footnote 247. See 1846 in St. Marie’s registers in Appendix 5B
Footnote 248. See Family chart #’s 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 8, 14, 18, 19, 20 &22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 249. See 1847 O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A.
Footnote 250. Moody 1979: 73 fn 50, 74, 74: Day 1981, 79, 86, 91.
Page 61: Many families, most notably the Morits, Crapo and Francis/St. Francis families, who are identified with the 18th century Missisquoi village and Abenaki Indian origins, are also clearly present in the greater Swanton area and directly linked to the other, familiar contemporary Abenaki families. 255 Finally, the clear indication that many of the same family names and individual leaders like John Freemore, Lewis Colomb and their Lawrence/ St. Lawrence wives, Joseph Francis, Sophie Morrisan (Morits), Theophile and Marie Marrais (Morits/Demar) Phaneuf, Mitchell St. Francis, Peter and Margaret St. Peter Medor, Peter and Fretaia (Charlifoux) Vrepot, and Leon and Esther Cameron Patnode were joined by many other, less documented but clearly present families like Peter and Margaret Francis (St. Francis) Barrat, Marchess and Margaret Benedict Mitchell, Paul and Ozet St. Mary Campbell (Crapo), Joseph and Rachel Verge (Glode) Bluto, Joseph Guyette, John and Julia Desmarrais (Demar/Morits) Morice, Gabriel and Matilda Corrier (Medor) Lapan, Joseph and Phelmise Mitchell Berger, Julien and Mary Freemore Verhage (Glode), Telephore and Adelaide Barbo (Patnode) Courtouis (Curtis), Baptiste and Elizabeth Lafrance Lawrence (St. Lawrence), and Narcise and Leocadie St. Francis Gilodu (Glode/Verge), is conclusive proof of the extensive, inter-family ties that bound the 19th century Abenaki community together. 256 These citations touch on all the major 19th century Abenaki neighborhoods in the northwestern Vermont region.
Footnote 255. See Family chart #’s 4, 5-6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 17 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 256. See Family History and Leadership chart in Appendix 2; & Family chart #’s 2-22 in Appendix 11.
Page 67: The Lampman and Morits family movements between Swanton and Highgate, and in between the Middle Road, Lake Road, West Swanton (Hog Island), Back Bay and John’s Bridge (St. Albans Road) neighborhoods in Swanton from 1822 to 1881. 282 These movements were similar to those documented for John Lampman and Martha Morits, Leonard Lampman’s grandparents in the 1884 to 1930 period. 283 John Lampman was born in the John’s Bridge/St. Albans…
Footnote 282. 11, 1822,; Swanton Scholar’s List (SSL), 1829, Lake Road (Dist 10); SSL, 1830, Middle Road (dist 1) (near Peter Carley (Medor) in Appendix 3; 1830 Swanton census in Appendix 1B; SSL, 1831 Back Bay. Bow of the River (Dist 9) (near several other Indian families); SSL, 1834, Lake Road (Dist 10); SSL, 1841, Hiram Lampman, Lake Road (Dist 10); SSL, 1849, 1850, 1851 & 1857, Warden Lampman (his son), Back Bay/Bow of the River (Dist 9) in Appendix 3; Household # 271 in 1850 Highgate census in Appendix 1B; SSL, 1850, H. Lampman, Hog Island/West Swanton (Dist 15) in Appendix 3; Household # 534 in 1860 Swanton census (probably in John’s Bridge/ St. Albans Road (Dist 8) ara. [See Julia Ann Morits cards in Morits cards in AA].
Footnote 283. Moody 1979: 61-2, 74; RP 84-6, 224-5: 78, 10/2/81 & 2/16/84. Moody [1979: 74] refers to the tradition that the Morits/Maurice family originated in Bedford, Quebec in the mid-19th century. In fact, records and oral tradition underscore that the Pike River campsite was part of the network of sites visited annually or at need without heed to the border from the 18th century to the 1940’s. There is abundant historical documentation that the old village region called “Missisquoi” included Pike River and “them Indian lands” on Missisquoi Bay north of the Canadian/American border. [Lampee 1938]. The Pike River area was particularly noteworthy as a pike fishing grounds from which it derives its name. The Lampman’s/Mortis’ and other families used to go there in the spring and late summer to camp and fish by local account. [Moody, Field Notes, 1977-85].
Page 68: …Road neighborhood in 1855. 284 Henry was John Lampman’s uncle, and Julia Ann Morits was Martha’s aunt. 285 Citations in his family also focus in the John’s Bridge, Lake Road, Bushey Street and Back Bay neighborhoods from 1885 to 1940. 286 Henry and Julia daughter Mary Lampman married a Martin and appears in the genealogy of the Martin Central family. 287 The Martin (Mountain/Montagne/Hill/Watso) Central family had a similar settlement and campsite range of motion in the 19th century. 288 And a similar pattern has emerged in Lampman and Morits family records and traditions which date to the 1760 to 1820 period as well. 289 Even John, Herman and Leonard Lampman’s late 19th and 20th century muskrat and beaver trapping subsistence grounds in the Missisquoi marsh off Lake Road, West Swanton and Highgate Springs was mentioned by Perry (1882) as an enduring resource that also survived the late 18th century onslaught of non-Indian population. 290 Much of the Abenak survival in outlying neighborhoods hinged on those small game and resilient fish populations that continued to thrive into the 19th and 20th centuries including muskrat, squirrel, rabbit, pike, bullhead, perch and catfish. This local, natural abundance accounts in part for the ability of the Morits, Lampman, Martin and several other Indian families’ unnoticed survival in the Missisquoi area.
Footnote 284. See John Lampman card in Lampman cards in AA.
Footnote 285. See Henry Lampman card in Lampman cards & Julia Ann Morits cards in Morits cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 5-6, 14 & 18 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 286. See Lampman family cards in AA.
Footnote 287. See Mary Lampman card in Lampman cards in AA & Ed Martin card in Martin cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 5-6, & 14 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 288. See Martin Central family history in Seciton 5; Family cards in AA; Day 1981: 99.
Footnote 289. Perry & Barney 1882: 995; Aldrich 1891: 396; Swanton Land Records, 1837 in Appendix 4A; 78, 10/2/81:7 & 9/16/83:11-2; Moody, Field Notes, 1977-85.
Footnote 290. Perry & Barney 1882: 965; Perry mss: 198; RP:48-9.
Page 69: “In the following account of the Morits family both this early period and the late 19th century family migration are noted in the context of the Missisquoi Abenaki community. 291
“Well, you see when my grandmother and grandfather came across there was an old Indian Chief and his name was Chief Swatson and you see, he was the one that see to … the tribal people that was there, you know. Like their fish and everything, you see, he took care of it. And in Swanton then. … Back when it was Indian land. And Grandma said that when they come there, there wasn’t much there of it, only where they landed … where the Monument is here now in Swanton. … Grandma said that is where they landed, right there, and they came on shore. But Grandma said that the old Indian Chief Swatson and she said they named that town after old Chief Swatson because Chief Swatson died there. … It was the old chief himself, it wasn’t Swanton.”
The account goes on to describe a “whole tribe” of “quite a few families” totaling “more than 100 people” who lived at the old Missisquoi village back at the time of first settlement. 292 Families identified by name in the tradition….continued on page 70
Footnote 291. 2262, 10/6/83:3. This tradition hinges on the naming of Swanton, which conventional history ascribes to a Captain William Swanton. [Swift 1977:254]. The original account then stems from the period 1763 to 1790 when the town was essentially named Swanton by the New Hampshire grantees. Since the town was essentially New York territory, and therefore named and known as Prattsburg through the first half of the Revolution, the account probably refers to the 1784 to 1790 period when the Allen family first tendered a serious claim to and settlement of Swanton under that name. Note that this was the time of Daniel Portneuf, and the incidents with Captain Ondalamaguoin’s family in 1788. The tradition adds to the data confirming that a whole community of Abenakis lived in the area.
The oral tradition also fits well with the existing written histories of Swanton which confirm that a group numbering at least 70 was still at the Monument village in 1794. [Perry mss: 241-2; RP: 49-50]. Furthermore, the name ‘Swatson’ is close to the common Abenaki given name of the time, ‘Swasson’, which in turn was an Abenaki name of the French baptismal name Joachim. [Day 1981: 84, 95]. This Joachim or Swatson, was probably a Morits/ Tanagite family member, as each family tends to recall their more celebrated ancestor and, in most cases, derives their contemporary name from this source. [Day 1978: 156; Day 1981: 73]. That has also proven to be true of both the St. Francis and Medor Abenaki family names at Missisquoi by oral tradition within those families.
MORE to come.....
Dated January 10, 1986
In Response to the "Letter of Obvious Deficiencies and Significant Omissions"
Dated (6/14/1983)
Part B
Page 08: The common Abenaki practice of grandparents raising particular grandchildren is also documented in the Back Bay household of Pauline Savoie (Savage) which includes her granddaughter Helen Baraby (Benedict). 14 Another example is Frank Roberts (Robert-Obomsawin) and his family in the Lake Street neighborhood of St. Albans, who are listed living with his grandfather Edward Hances (Hanks/Anus) in 1919. 15
Footnote 14. See household # 162, District 118 in 1910 Swanton census in Appendix 1B & Families #’s 8, 10, 16, & 19 in Appendix 11. Gordon Day (1978: 156) mentions that a special bond existed with paternal grandparents in Abenaki society. Abundant evidence for all grandparents taking in grandchildren with whom they have a special affinity has been found in the contemporary community [John Moody, Filed Notes, 1977-85].
Footnote 15. See household #214, District # 113 in 1910 St. Albans census in Appendix 1B & Family chart # 15 in Appendix 11. These two men and their family are the only two Abenakis listed as ‘Indians’ in the 1910 census for this part of Vermont.
Page 20: In one of Swanton’s outlying neighborhoods, the Stephen Popple and Charles Sisco families were sharing a house. 83 These two Ancestral families were living from the basket, wood and leather working trade in the greater Swanton area, and had clearly joined their efforts as the Morits and Barratt families would in the next generation, and the Lapan and Gardner families would in the 1920 and 1950 period in the same basic area. 84
Footnote 83. See household # 152 in 1860 Swanton census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 84. See Basket Trade cards & Popple, Sisco, Morits, Barratt, Lapan & Gardner Family cards in AA.
Page 27: Louis Freemore was one of the first Abenakis to purchases land in Swanton. He was most likely an uncle to John Freemore who appears in several Central family genealogies and was an Abenaki family and community leader in the 1830 to 1870 period. 113 Lewis and John were both living in Swanton’s developing Back Bay [Page 28.] neighborhood along with Benjamin Popple, Nathaniel (Baquabarrat/Barrat), John Savard (Savage) and John Anus (Hanks/Henry) according to the 1820 Swanton census. 114
Footnote 113. Moody 1979: 56-8; RP: 64, 72-5, 222-3; Brow, Cota, Greenia, Medor and Vanslette Central family genealogies in RP & Family chart #’s 2, 3, 10, 15 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 114. See 1820 Swanton census in Appendix 1B; RP: 63-4.
Page 35: As noted earlier, there were many cases where efforts to retain their lands unsuccessful in the early to mid-19th century. The Lampman family had considerable land in Swanton to 1800 but was virtually destitute thereafter. In one sequence from 1803 to 1809, Samuel Sisco purchased land in Swanton, mortgaged it for payments of grain and cattle, then lost the land and had his widow and children warned out of town for poverty. 149 The two Highgate Morits families had lost their hundreds of acres on the Rock River and Franklin border by 1840 as well. And John Morits of St. Albans had to mortgage the eighteen acres of land between Lake Road and the Rood farm near Maquam Creek still retained from the old Missisquoi village lands in 1836. The arrangement read that he would pay in “good sound wood four feet long at fifty cents per cord” totaling almost sixty cords within a year…
Footnote 149. SLR, Bk 2:248; Bk 3:145-6; Bk 4:156 & 1803-1809 in Appendix 4A.
Page 36: …and one half, or lose the land. 150 By all indications, that land was indeed lost and the family went back to a local subsistence lifestyle after almost 40 years of well documented stability from 1800 to 1840. The Morits, Lampman, Hoague and other Abenaki families continued to use the ‘Rood Farm’ on the Maquam shore and the Lake Road neighborhood right down to the mid-20th century. But they had to settle for renting from land owners and living off remote marginal lands until after World War II when Leonard “Blackie” Lampman purchased some Lake Road properties which the family still owns today.
The John Morits mortgage details the extremely hard work required of all the Indian families who wanted to live freely on their ancestral lands. In those days, cutting and moving 30 cords of hard wood per year was a major job requiring at least sixty days of work if a horse was available.
Footnote 150. SLR, 1837 in Appendix 4A. This is the first indication of Morits family ownership of land in Swanton in the 19th century. Unlike the Highgate lands which were purchased and taken back from non-Indians in the early 1800’s, this land appears to have come down from the old Missisquoi village period intact. It was not indexed in the usual way and no record or any original purchase by a Morits family member from one of Allen’s agents or legal descendants before 1836 has been located.
Page 41: Close ties between several Swanton neighborhoods and the known family histories of other Abenaki neighborhoods and families has also appeared in these [Page 42.] records. A substantial and early Wells (Duel/Dewell/Newell) family presence in West Swanton and Back Bay has appeared from 1810 to 1840 in the school and census records. 169 In the same period, the same families were recorded at alternate times from Milton, Grand Isle and Franklin to Highgate and St. Albans Bay. 170 In the 1840 Highgate citation, Polly Newell and family were living in a small three family cluster with the Henry Morits and James Francis (St. Francis) families. 171 The same year, Charles Wells and family were living in a similar three family cluster at St. Albans Bay with the John Curtis (Cootwa) and John Baptiste (Sabadis/St. John) Ancestral families. 172 These citations alone link the three St. Albans Bay/Islands, Franklin/Highgate woods and Swanton/West Swanton branches of the Abenaki community together four generations earlier than the similar data present in the Petition family charts. 173 Evidence is also growing that the Noe (Nault/Denault) family in Swanton were also Wells family members. 174 The Richards (Rich), Guyette (Goyet), Gonyo (Gonio/Shawraw), Bluto (Blowdure) and other families tied to St. Albans Bay as well as the Greenia (Greenie), Beor (Bear), Barrett, Lafrance (Defran), Olds and St. Lawrence families linked to the Highgate/Franklin Abenaki families all appear in neighborhoods from West…
Footnote 169. See 1822, 1823, 1827, 1833, 1838 & 1840 Hog Island/West Swanton & Back Bay/ Dist 9 Swanton Scholars list in Appendix 3; 1800 & 1840 Swanton censuses in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 170. See 1800 Milton, 1810 Highgate, 1830 St. Albans & 1840 Grand Isle, Highgate & St. Albans censuses in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 171. See 1840 Highgate census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 172. See 1840 St. Albans census in Appendix 1B.
Footnote 173. RP: 222, 224, 225, 227 & Lampman, Wells & St. Francis Central family genealogies in RP; & Family chart #’s 2, 4, 5-6, 8, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 174. RP: 226 & Gardner & Brow Central family genealogies in RP; & Family chart #’s 3, 7, 11, 15 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Page 43: …Swanton to the remote Fairfield Pond areas of Swanton in the 1820 to 1850 period. 175 The data makes very clear that the Abenaki community was in as much, if not more, motion throughout the Missisquoi area in the first half of the 19th century as they were in the better documented late 19th to mid-20th century period.
Furthermore, numerous citations of Abenaki family names identified with the 18th century Missisquoi Abenaki community show up in the scholars lists as well.
Glode (Glodish/Glade/Peckenowax)
Stephen (Old Etienne)
Mitchell (Michel/Micha/Moquin/Muckyaw)
Anus/Hanks (Hanis/Anus/Annis)
Morits (Morressey/Morrits/Towgisheat)
Denis (St. Denis)
Campbell (Crapo/Cabino/Cabba/Caanaa/Kapen)
Francis (St. Francis/Frenier/Frenyer/Frankah)
Medor (Rye/Ryia/McKee)
Martin (Watso)
St. Peter (Peter/Sopiel)
…families from Fairfield Pond, Swanton Junction, John’s Bridge, Swanton Center, West Swanton, Lake Road and Back Bay in the 1822 to 1859 period. 176 Many of the names including Francis/St. Francis, Mitchell and Medor/Kazia were in various stages of change from their 18th century to their 19th century forms in these records. 177 The cumulative weight of this data, combined with abundant information from the census and local records, shows overlapping portions of the large Missisquoi Abenaki community in transition from their historic 18th century form to their 19th and 20th century character in considerable detail.
Footnote 175. See 1824, 1827, 1833, 1834, 1840, 1842, 1844 & 1847 Swanton Scholars lists in Appendix 3.
Footnote 176. See, 1822, 1824, 1827, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1838 & 1840 Swanton Scholars lists in Appendix 3.
Footnote 177. See St. Francis, Medor & Mitchell/Micha family cards in AA.
Page 45: In the same fashion, Mary Martin first married William Morits and appears in [Page 46.] the Lampman and Gardner Central family genealogies, then William Barrat, son of Samual and Sarah Morits Barrat, progenitors of the major Barrat Central family line in Franklin, Highgate and Swanton in the 19th century. 184 Town records of William Morits and William Barrat also revealed that the one was a basketmaker and the other an herb gatherer.
Footnote 184. See Family chart #’s 5-6 & 18 in Appendix 11; Gardner & Lampman Central family genealogies in RP; & Will Morits cards in Morits cards, Mary Martin card in Martin cards and William Barrat card in Barrat cards in AA.
Page 50: In 1838, Marchess Mitchell (Micha) and Margt Baraby (Panady/Benedict) baptize their daughter Narcissa for whom Peter Baraby (Benedict) and Begin Giot (Briget Guyette) are the godparents. 195 They are the same couple well documented using various Canadian missions for the baptism of their children between 1826 and 1833. 196 The first and only time they appear in a census record was the 1840 St. Albans Bay neighborhood next to two Bluto families. 197 However, their obvious links to other Benedict (Baraby/Parady) families as well as the Mitchell, Belisle (Basil), Guyette, Savage, Francis (St. Francis) and Wells families from Swanton, St. Albans and the Islands confirms that they were leaders in the Abenaki community from 1830 to 1860. 198 Since the…
Footnote 193. See 1836, 1838, 1/3 & 1/17/1839, 4/30, 8/2. 10/3 & 10/9/1841, 1842, 4/23 & 5/16/1844, 10/26/1845 & 5/9/1847 in O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A; & 1849, 330/1850, & 7/4/1857 in St. Albans register in Appendix 5B. See also Family History & Leadership chart in Appendix 2 & Family charts #’s 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 194. Moody 1979: 73-4 fn 51. Compare Appendices 5A & 5B to Family Name Lists in Appendices 7A-D; Family Histories in Section V; & Family Charts in Appendix 11.
Footnote 195. See 1838 O’Callaghan’s Register in Appendix 5A & Family chart #’s 16 & 19 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 196. Moody 1979: 52, 58; RP: 65-6.
Footnote 197. See 1840 St. Albans census in Appendix 1B & Family chart # 16 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 198. Moody 1979: 52-55; RP: 65-6. See also Willliam Baraby (Benedict) Swanton baptism in 1841 with parents Peter Baraby and Marie Belisle (Bazil) and godparents Peter Baraby and Josette; Matilda Bennett (Benedict) 1841 baptism in St. Albans with John Bennett and Cath. Saveriagss (Savagess/Savage) parents and Francis Plasais (Francis) and Angel Pero (Perault); & Harriet Wells 1844 baptism with parents John Wells and Jane Gibouis (Young Gibo) and godparents Peter and Eliza Paridy (Benedict), all in O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A.
Page 51: …earliest citations, this family was identified with Lake Champlain and was the same Benedict (Panadis) family found at Odanak which always had a particularly close association with Missisquoi and returned for summers at Shipyard Bay in Highgate Springs until the early 1900’s. 199 The family also appears in North Hero, Swanton and Alburg with one of the last Benedict men recalled living on the Missisquoi in 20th century Swanton and the last Benedict (Bartemy) family at St. Albans Bay in the 1930’s. 200
Footnote 199. Moody 1979: 73-4 fn 50; Day 1981: 77.
Footnote 200. RP: 72-2, 95; 2258, 9/11/81:1; Ed Bartemy card in Benedict cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 8,16 & 19 in Appendix 11.
Page 56: A Barret and Francis (St. Francis) family living in St. Albans also are cited in the records, linking two of the largest Central families sixty years before their 20th century Swanton associations. 232 In the baptism of their child Charles Basset (Bessett) of the Bessett Small family was the godfather. 233 In the 1855 baptism, Theophile Phaneuf was the godfather for the Barratt/Francis family. The Phaneuf (Phaan/Farnsworth) family derived from an 18th century English captive-turned-Abenaki with ties to Odanak. 234 Theophile Phaneuf appears often in both….
Footnote 232. See 1855 in St. Marie’s register in Appendix 5B; & Family chart #’s 2, 4, 5-6 & 18 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 233. See 1831 in O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A; & Family chart # 10 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 234. Day 1981: 92.
Page 57: …O’Callaghan’s and St. Marie’s registers. He was married to an Abenaki woman listed simply and Morquis (Marguet) and later as Mary Marrais (Morits/Desmarrais/Demar) with whom he had several children. 235
Footnote 235. See 1847 in St. Marie’s register in Appendix 5B.
Page 59: Another important citation from St. Albans in 1847 lists a major community leader with ties to Swanton, Odanak and 18th century Missisquoi. Sophie Morrisan (Morits/Maurice) is listed in May, 1847 as the sole godparent of a boy named Louis whose parents are cited as Francis Joseph and Frances Theophile. 249 This is quite likely the same Sophie Morisseau (Molisse/Maurice) who had married Theophile Panadis (Benedict) nine months earlier at Odanak in September of 1846. 250 This Missisquoi Abenaki woman was well known at Odanak as a traditional and central figure in the Panadis family which returned for many years to Highgate Springs with the Odanak band of the Claude (Glode/Paganne/Pagonowit) family. 250
Footnote 246: See Glode/Ladue Ancestral family history in Section V.
Footnote 246s. See Glode/Ladue Ancestral family & Ladoux family histories in Section V.
Footnote 247. See 1846 in St. Marie’s registers in Appendix 5B
Footnote 248. See Family chart #’s 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 8, 14, 18, 19, 20 &22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 249. See 1847 O’Callaghan’s register in Appendix 5A.
Footnote 250. Moody 1979: 73 fn 50, 74, 74: Day 1981, 79, 86, 91.
Page 61: Many families, most notably the Morits, Crapo and Francis/St. Francis families, who are identified with the 18th century Missisquoi village and Abenaki Indian origins, are also clearly present in the greater Swanton area and directly linked to the other, familiar contemporary Abenaki families. 255 Finally, the clear indication that many of the same family names and individual leaders like John Freemore, Lewis Colomb and their Lawrence/ St. Lawrence wives, Joseph Francis, Sophie Morrisan (Morits), Theophile and Marie Marrais (Morits/Demar) Phaneuf, Mitchell St. Francis, Peter and Margaret St. Peter Medor, Peter and Fretaia (Charlifoux) Vrepot, and Leon and Esther Cameron Patnode were joined by many other, less documented but clearly present families like Peter and Margaret Francis (St. Francis) Barrat, Marchess and Margaret Benedict Mitchell, Paul and Ozet St. Mary Campbell (Crapo), Joseph and Rachel Verge (Glode) Bluto, Joseph Guyette, John and Julia Desmarrais (Demar/Morits) Morice, Gabriel and Matilda Corrier (Medor) Lapan, Joseph and Phelmise Mitchell Berger, Julien and Mary Freemore Verhage (Glode), Telephore and Adelaide Barbo (Patnode) Courtouis (Curtis), Baptiste and Elizabeth Lafrance Lawrence (St. Lawrence), and Narcise and Leocadie St. Francis Gilodu (Glode/Verge), is conclusive proof of the extensive, inter-family ties that bound the 19th century Abenaki community together. 256 These citations touch on all the major 19th century Abenaki neighborhoods in the northwestern Vermont region.
Footnote 255. See Family chart #’s 4, 5-6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 17 & 22 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 256. See Family History and Leadership chart in Appendix 2; & Family chart #’s 2-22 in Appendix 11.
Page 67: The Lampman and Morits family movements between Swanton and Highgate, and in between the Middle Road, Lake Road, West Swanton (Hog Island), Back Bay and John’s Bridge (St. Albans Road) neighborhoods in Swanton from 1822 to 1881. 282 These movements were similar to those documented for John Lampman and Martha Morits, Leonard Lampman’s grandparents in the 1884 to 1930 period. 283 John Lampman was born in the John’s Bridge/St. Albans…
Footnote 282. 11, 1822,; Swanton Scholar’s List (SSL), 1829, Lake Road (Dist 10); SSL, 1830, Middle Road (dist 1) (near Peter Carley (Medor) in Appendix 3; 1830 Swanton census in Appendix 1B; SSL, 1831 Back Bay. Bow of the River (Dist 9) (near several other Indian families); SSL, 1834, Lake Road (Dist 10); SSL, 1841, Hiram Lampman, Lake Road (Dist 10); SSL, 1849, 1850, 1851 & 1857, Warden Lampman (his son), Back Bay/Bow of the River (Dist 9) in Appendix 3; Household # 271 in 1850 Highgate census in Appendix 1B; SSL, 1850, H. Lampman, Hog Island/West Swanton (Dist 15) in Appendix 3; Household # 534 in 1860 Swanton census (probably in John’s Bridge/ St. Albans Road (Dist 8) ara. [See Julia Ann Morits cards in Morits cards in AA].
Footnote 283. Moody 1979: 61-2, 74; RP 84-6, 224-5: 78, 10/2/81 & 2/16/84. Moody [1979: 74] refers to the tradition that the Morits/Maurice family originated in Bedford, Quebec in the mid-19th century. In fact, records and oral tradition underscore that the Pike River campsite was part of the network of sites visited annually or at need without heed to the border from the 18th century to the 1940’s. There is abundant historical documentation that the old village region called “Missisquoi” included Pike River and “them Indian lands” on Missisquoi Bay north of the Canadian/American border. [Lampee 1938]. The Pike River area was particularly noteworthy as a pike fishing grounds from which it derives its name. The Lampman’s/Mortis’ and other families used to go there in the spring and late summer to camp and fish by local account. [Moody, Field Notes, 1977-85].
Page 68: …Road neighborhood in 1855. 284 Henry was John Lampman’s uncle, and Julia Ann Morits was Martha’s aunt. 285 Citations in his family also focus in the John’s Bridge, Lake Road, Bushey Street and Back Bay neighborhoods from 1885 to 1940. 286 Henry and Julia daughter Mary Lampman married a Martin and appears in the genealogy of the Martin Central family. 287 The Martin (Mountain/Montagne/Hill/Watso) Central family had a similar settlement and campsite range of motion in the 19th century. 288 And a similar pattern has emerged in Lampman and Morits family records and traditions which date to the 1760 to 1820 period as well. 289 Even John, Herman and Leonard Lampman’s late 19th and 20th century muskrat and beaver trapping subsistence grounds in the Missisquoi marsh off Lake Road, West Swanton and Highgate Springs was mentioned by Perry (1882) as an enduring resource that also survived the late 18th century onslaught of non-Indian population. 290 Much of the Abenak survival in outlying neighborhoods hinged on those small game and resilient fish populations that continued to thrive into the 19th and 20th centuries including muskrat, squirrel, rabbit, pike, bullhead, perch and catfish. This local, natural abundance accounts in part for the ability of the Morits, Lampman, Martin and several other Indian families’ unnoticed survival in the Missisquoi area.
Footnote 284. See John Lampman card in Lampman cards in AA.
Footnote 285. See Henry Lampman card in Lampman cards & Julia Ann Morits cards in Morits cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 5-6, 14 & 18 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 286. See Lampman family cards in AA.
Footnote 287. See Mary Lampman card in Lampman cards in AA & Ed Martin card in Martin cards in AA; & Family chart #’s 5-6, & 14 in Appendix 11.
Footnote 288. See Martin Central family history in Seciton 5; Family cards in AA; Day 1981: 99.
Footnote 289. Perry & Barney 1882: 995; Aldrich 1891: 396; Swanton Land Records, 1837 in Appendix 4A; 78, 10/2/81:7 & 9/16/83:11-2; Moody, Field Notes, 1977-85.
Footnote 290. Perry & Barney 1882: 965; Perry mss: 198; RP:48-9.
Page 69: “In the following account of the Morits family both this early period and the late 19th century family migration are noted in the context of the Missisquoi Abenaki community. 291
“Well, you see when my grandmother and grandfather came across there was an old Indian Chief and his name was Chief Swatson and you see, he was the one that see to … the tribal people that was there, you know. Like their fish and everything, you see, he took care of it. And in Swanton then. … Back when it was Indian land. And Grandma said that when they come there, there wasn’t much there of it, only where they landed … where the Monument is here now in Swanton. … Grandma said that is where they landed, right there, and they came on shore. But Grandma said that the old Indian Chief Swatson and she said they named that town after old Chief Swatson because Chief Swatson died there. … It was the old chief himself, it wasn’t Swanton.”
The account goes on to describe a “whole tribe” of “quite a few families” totaling “more than 100 people” who lived at the old Missisquoi village back at the time of first settlement. 292 Families identified by name in the tradition….continued on page 70
Footnote 291. 2262, 10/6/83:3. This tradition hinges on the naming of Swanton, which conventional history ascribes to a Captain William Swanton. [Swift 1977:254]. The original account then stems from the period 1763 to 1790 when the town was essentially named Swanton by the New Hampshire grantees. Since the town was essentially New York territory, and therefore named and known as Prattsburg through the first half of the Revolution, the account probably refers to the 1784 to 1790 period when the Allen family first tendered a serious claim to and settlement of Swanton under that name. Note that this was the time of Daniel Portneuf, and the incidents with Captain Ondalamaguoin’s family in 1788. The tradition adds to the data confirming that a whole community of Abenakis lived in the area.
The oral tradition also fits well with the existing written histories of Swanton which confirm that a group numbering at least 70 was still at the Monument village in 1794. [Perry mss: 241-2; RP: 49-50]. Furthermore, the name ‘Swatson’ is close to the common Abenaki given name of the time, ‘Swasson’, which in turn was an Abenaki name of the French baptismal name Joachim. [Day 1981: 84, 95]. This Joachim or Swatson, was probably a Morits/ Tanagite family member, as each family tends to recall their more celebrated ancestor and, in most cases, derives their contemporary name from this source. [Day 1978: 156; Day 1981: 73]. That has also proven to be true of both the St. Francis and Medor Abenaki family names at Missisquoi by oral tradition within those families.
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