The Reinvention of the Alleged Vermont and New Hampshire Abenakis: Are the Barratt’s and or Lampman's “St. Francis/ Sokoki/Missisquoi” Members; or are they not? Part 2:

Here is a portion of that material (I have transcribed the material) which pertains to the Barratt's (Barrat/Barret/Barrett), Lampman's, Martin's and Morits/Moritz families claiming to be "Abenakis" in Swanton, Franklin County, Vermont. Though I (retrospectively) was not intending to "work" some of this data into this blog (yet) this Barratt Ancestral Research recently became quite extensive and expansive, due to the intermarriage(s) between the Barratt's and other families, not to mention the shared common Morits/Martin ancestry, so I have "mapped out" in this posting many more more surnames and families mentioned herein, than simply just-the-Barratt lineage.

Most of it, I have concluded, is based on CONJECTURE'S, HYPOTHETICAL'S, and just plain genealogical MANIPULATION'S on the part of quite a number of "scholars" and others, which of course, as usual, includes John Moody.

At least that is my own conclusion (in agreement with the BIA's O.F.A. conclusions of these documents claims); yet (if one does not think this is an accurate assessment of the Vermont "Abenakis" documents, then do the homework/research and decide what is FACTUAL and what is not.

Their 1982 and subsequent "Addendum" of January 1986 according to the Proposed Findings of November 09. 2005 and subsequent Final Decision of June 2007 concluded that the '82, '86, and 1995 claims of being "Abenakis" were built on ASSUMPTIONS, DISTORTIONS, MANIPULATIONS and unsubstantiated ALLEGED "ORAL" HISTORIES.

So, with that said, here is what is the Oct. 1982 Petition (in part) and also the ADDENDUM (in part) of January 10, 1986. [Eventually, I will post the whole of both document materials with FULL transcription].

Petition for Federal Recognition as an American Indian Tribe by the "Abenaki Nation of Vermont" dated October 1982:

Page 37: In June, 1765, “Daniel Poorneuf, Francis Abenard, Francois Joseph, Jean Baptist Jeanosis, Charlotte, widow of the late chief of the Abenakque Nation at Missisquoi, 10 Marion Poorneuf, Theresa, daughter of Joseph Michel, Madeleine Abernard and Joseph Abomsawin” leased an area of timberland about 4.5 miles long by 1.5 miles wide in the Missisquoi area to James Robertson, a merchant and “Indian agent” from St. Jeans Quebec (Perry, 1882:

Footnote 10. There is some possibility that this Charlotte is the daughter of Grey Lock, and the same Charlotte who baptized a child at Chambly in 1760, with Francois Michisenile as father, and that both are ancestors of Mitchell St. Francis who later raised his family in Swanton (Chambly, Book 1760, p. 6).

Notice how these ALLEGED and REINVENTED "Abenakis" write and linguistically switch from … “there is some possibility…” and then turn that conjecture into an implied fact with … “that both are ancestors of Mitchell St. Francis,” [who is a genealogical ancestor of Homer Walter St. Francis, Sr].

Page 38: 971-3; Lampee, 1948: 107; see Appendix A). The document has sometimes been interpreted as a sign that the Abenaki were preparing to leave the area (Charland, 1964: 173; Day, 1973: 10). But as John S. Moody pointed out, a careful reading of the lease provides for an opposite interpretation (Moody, 1979: 13).
The area leased ran up to the village, two miles below the Falls, and expressly reserved twelve family farms on both sides of the river for the use of “Pierre Pechenowax, Francois Nicowizet, Annus Jean Baptiste, Momtock, Joseph Comprent, Towgisheat, Cecile, Annome Quisse, Jemoganz, Willsomquax, Jean Baptiste the White Head, and Old Ettiene.” Terms of the lease included yearly plowing of these farms, “as shall be sufficient for them to plant their Indian corn every year,” in addition to a yearly rent of Spanish dollars, corn, and rum. The lease was to run 91 years. The document certainly reveals the intention of the Abenaki to remain in their homeland. It also reveals that authority and responsibility in such matters resided with representatives of individual families, both men and women, who watched out for the interests of their own families by acting collectively when the situation required it.

Page 58 and 59: “Portneuf is an Abenaki family from Missisquoi. The name appears on Robertson’s lease and also later at Odanak. Morins (also spelled Morice, Maurice or Moritz.) 14 is another Abenaki family from Missisquoi, identified by contemporary descendants in Swanton as well as those at Odanak. Members of the Morins/Moritz family have some of the deepest roots at Missisquoi. A few are listed in the early 19th century Highgate census lists (see below). In the middle part of the 19th century marriages between Mary Maurice from Missisquoi and William Obumsawin of Grand Isle, and Mary’s sister Sophie to Theophile Panady Panadis at Odanak helped to facilitate travel and cooperation among Indians living in these three locations – Grand Isle, Odanak, and Missisquoi. 15

Footnote 14. Name changes in Abenaki genealogies are frequent and complicate the records. For a discussion of this problem, see Appendix D.
Footnote 15. The information regarding the Morice/Obumsawin/Panady marriages comes from Gordon Day, by way of his principal informant, Theophile Panady, grandson of Sophie and Theophile Panady. (Conversation between Gordon Day and John Moody.)

Page 65: The case of Peter Baraby is particularly interesting. In 1826, the St. Athanase register from Iberville, Quebec, Canada, just north of Lake Champlain, records the baptism of Martin, son of Pierre Barnaby (sic) and Brigette Guyette. In 1831 the same couple baptized Hubert, born in Vermont. In 1833, a daughter Rosalie is baptized at St. George d’Henryville, Quebec, Canada, also a short distance from Missisquoi Bay. In 1838 Peter Baraby and Begin Giot (sic) are listed as god parents for Narcissa Mitchell, father Marcheness Mitchell and mother Margaret Baraby. In 1839, Father O’Callaghan from Burlington, Chittenden County, Vermont baptized a Francis Peter; the father is listed [Page 66] this time as Barady Peter. In 1841, another son is baptized as Lewis Banady, the first time that it becomes evident that the name in question is a form of the Panadis/Benedict name associated with Missisquoi. The Baraby/Mitchell/Guyette connections are among many that form the basis of the contemporary community.
In 1857, in North Hero, Vermont, a Paridy Peter marries Matilda Dayia. His father is listed as Peter Paridy (John Moody, 1979: 52, 58). Not only does the case of Peter Baraby illustrate the difficulty of tracking Abenaki names through the records; it also illustrates the amount of movement that was still common for families at the time.

Page 72: The 1850 U.S. Census of Swanton, Vermont lists several families of known Abenaki descent, many of whom were living together slightly away from the central village in an area that came to be known as Back Bay (see May #5 detail). For many years it remained a poor, rundown area with shacks and a few log cabins; and descendants of the same families listed there in 1850 are residing there today. The following families are listed in the 1850 census:

John Lazare, 18, laborer, and Rosetta, 35, 7 children
Lewis Coulombe, 43, laborer, and Sophie, 40, 6 children
Regis Coulombe, 39, laborer, and Sophie, 37, 5 children
Antoine Coulombe, 45, laborer, and Sara, 3 children
Medor Pascner, 40, farm laborer, and Julia, 35, 5 children
John Freemore, 50, farm laborer, and Mary, 30, 6 children
Steven Popple, 42 basketmaker
George Belrose and family
Joseph Paul and family
Joseph Benway, 62, and Rhoda, 52, 4 children
Peter Baraby, 22, laborer
Marsh Shedwick, 24, farmer, and Rhoda, 19
Francis Lashway, 33, and Martha, 2 children
Paul Michael, 39, farm laborer, and Waitz, 38, 4 children
Peter Micha, 33, and Jane, 33

Page 73: Steven Popple, the basket maker, and Peter Baraby have been mentioned before, though the latter is probably the son named Paridy Peter who married Matilda Dayia in North Hero in 1857.

Page 77: William Moritz is part of the old Morins/Maurice family from Missisquoi. His great-grandson, Leonard “Blackie” Lampman is currently chief of the Abenaki Tribal Council. (See Family Chart 5). It is relevant to note that Chief Lampman’s parents were first cousins through their mothers, both daughters of William Moritz, one of several cousin marriages that have occurred among Abenaki families in the Swanton area, and another indication of the way that the community has been maintained. The practice, however, is less prevalent today than it was two or three generations ago. Much of the traditional lore of the Missisquoi region was passed down to “Blackie” by his grandmother, Josephine Moritz, an accomplished healer and another mainstay in the Back Bay community.”

Page 86: In the same way that the Gardners and Lapans became integrated into the Abenaki community during these years, so did other families. The Hakeys, Cotas, Phillips, Barrats, Demars, Maskells, Partlows, and others were woven into an expanding network of Abenaki relationship and custom that found its center in Swanton’s Back Bay, the Highgate woods, the Champlain Islands, and other locations long favored by the earliest Abenaki families in the region.

Page 219: Part VI ... FAMILY CHARTS

The family charts on the following pages are an attempt to depict the development of the local Abenaki community from the middle of the 19th century, when records are adequate for the task, to the present. They must not be viewed as complete genealogies. Not all the children from a particular marriage, nor all the known ancestors are included in these charts.

Rather, the charts show relationships among different families and need to be read horizontally in order to appreciate the expanding network and links formed by successive generations.

Each chart has four horizontals, or four generations, marked by Roman numerals.

Chart 1 is schematic and indicates the time periods for the other charts. Individuals found along a particular line are heads of households and raising children during that particular period. Living members on line IV are darkened in. (Many on IV are deceased.)

Each chart focuses on certain families and the links with a few other families, but the groupings in most cases are somewhat arbitrary. All of the families are connected, many of them for three generations.

Charts 2, 3 & 4 represent the growth of Swanton’s Back Bay Community from St. Francis, St. Laurent and Medor ancestors. The families along lines I and II of these charts represent the core of the old Back Bay as it developed in the 19th century.

Charts 2, 3 & 4 should be examined together as they represent one large kindred.

Chart 5-6 represents the development of another major kindred descended from the old Abenaki Morice/Moritz family and the Marten family (Montaigne-Watso?) and shows its ties with the St. Francis family and Gardner’s as well.

Chart 7 shows some of the relationships among the Gardner, Phillips, Lapan and Barrat families. The first three of these families were among those who adopted a more transitory life style during the 19th century, settling down into the Swanton-Highgate area sometime around World War I. The...

Page 220: ...Barratt family is recognized locally as an Indian family, but its ancestry is uncertain. It is possible that Barrat is a variation of Barady, and that Samuel Barrat was another of the Panadis family originally from Missisquoi.

Finally, Chart 8 is a representation of the cluster of Abenaki families that had settled into St. Albans Bay by 1840 and the eventual ties with other families in the Swanton, Highgate area.

Several different attempts have been made to represent the kinship connections among the Abenaki families in the St. Francis/Sokoki Band. None of them has been sufficient to show the complexity or number of relationships involved. One member expressed it best when in response to a question about how two families were related, answered, “Just put them all in a bag and shake them up good – then you would have it.”

These charts, if examined carefully, provide some indication of the many-sided relationships that exist, but they [the charts] simplify the picture considerably and distort as much as they reveal.