A few other special Indians are referred to in Zaccheus Macy’s well-known letter, viz.: “Old Aesop,” the weaver, who was also a schoolmaster; “Old Saul,” “a stern-looking old man;” Richard Nominash and his brother Sampson and little Jethro, who are described as “very substantial and very trusty men;” Zacchary Hoite, a minister who told his hearers “they must do as he said, but not as he did!” There were also some members of the old Hoight and Jafet families, and Benjamin Tashama, an Indian of strong individuality, to whom I shall now refer in detail.
Benjamin Tashama, or Tashima, was, perhaps, the most noted Indian within the bounds of Autopscot. He was a grandson of Sachem Autopscot, and was distinguished as a good and worthy man, an esteemed preacher, and a successful schoolmaster. “A portion of the industrious life of Tashima,” says the author of “Miriam Coffin,” “had been devoted to study; and he had succeeded, with infinite labour, in adapting his literary acquirements to the language and capacity of his tribe. He had nourished the vain hope of preserving the nation without a cross in its blood, and the language of his people in its pristine purity. It was a magnificent conception! The design was worthy of the last, as he was the greatest, chief of his tribe. He was the last, because none succeeded him; he was the greatest, for he was the most benevolent.” While few details of his life are known it is attested that he latterly lived on the eastern boundary of Gibbs’ swamp, about forty rods northeast of the fifth milestone on the ’Sconset road. Here, some years ago, the cellar of his dwelling still remained, and the large stone which formed the entrance may now be seen in the rooms of the Nantucket Historical Association.
Here Tashama, often called “the last Sachem of Nantucket,” dwelt with his son Isaac and his daughter Sarah. Benjamin Tashama died in 1770. His brother, John Tashama, was alive in 1754, when he signed a petition to the court. John had one son, Abram, mentioned by John Coffin and Abishai Folger in a report dated May 25th, 1743.
Sarah Tashama married Isaac Earop, and on April 27th, 1776, a daughter was born to them. She was named Dorcas Honorable. When this child grew up she became a domestic in the family of Mr. John Cartwright, where she lived for many years, and she died in 1822.[19]
[19] For these facts I am indebted to a statement made by Mr. Franklin Folger in May, 1743. Vide “Inquirer and Mirror”, October 29, 1910.
She was a full-blooded Indian, and the very last of her race on Nantucket; and thus, little more than two centuries from the discovery of the island, passed away the only remaining one of the aboriginal people who had dominated it from time immemorial.
Abram Api Quady or Quary, a half-breed, who lived in a hut at Shimmo for many years, died in 1855 at the age of 83, respected by all who knew him. He was the son of the notorious Quibby, already referred to, and of Judith Quary—a half-breed fortune-teller well-known on the island at one time. Abram, for obvious reasons, chose to assume his mother’s name. A fine portrait in oil of this dignified old man may be seen in the Nantucket Atheneum.
It may seem strange that no burial place of the Indians has been discovered on the island of Nantucket, so far as I am aware. Skeletal remains and a few bones have been discovered at one time and another, and in various places, but I believe no regular place of Indian burial has ever been found. This may be thus accounted for, viz.:
Island Indians usually buried their dead contiguous to the coast-line, and the progressive erosion of the coast during two centuries may have possibly washed such remains into the ocean. This is merely a suggestion, and as I have but few proofs to offer, I am subject to correction. It is probable, however, that the Indians buried their dead in the neighborhood of Shawkemo, Pocomo, Folger’s Hill on the Polpis road, at Quaise, beyond the present water-works, and at or near Miacomet. It is recorded that there was a circular burying-ground for one of the tribes near the head-waters of Lake Miacomet, and that Benjamin Tashama was buried there.