Spencer Chamberlain had blue eyes and therefore, we know that his mother carried the blue-eye allele in her DNA. This is a clue that she may have been a member of the Penobscot tribe.

The mother of Spencer Chamberlain was named Winona, an Algonquin name which means “nourisher”¹ In the Dakota tribe it means “the first female child.” I particularly like the Algonquin definition of the word winona, “a beautiful place in the forest.” I read this many years ago, but can’t find the source today. Anyway, the important thing is that her name comes from the Algonquin language and therefore she is most likely from an Algonquin speaking tribe.

I believe Winona was at least 31 years old when Spencer was born. Her husband John was about 47. It was 1786 and the Revolutionary War had recently ended. This story is my best guess about Winona, her tribe and family, and how she might have became acquainted with John Chamberlain. To make an educated guess, it was necessary to understand the situation of the various Indian tribes of New England during that time in history.

Spencer Chamberlain had blue eyes and therefore, we know that his mother Winona carried the blue-eye allele in her DNA. This is a clue that she may have been a member of the Penobscot tribe.

 The Blue-eyed Chief Orono of the Penobscot.

Winona is my fourth great grandmother. Though we know very little about her, some interesting circumstantial evidence suggests that the Penobscots of Maine might be her family. One reason this tribe is interesting is because it documents the existence of the blue-eyed allele for several generations. In addition, they were one of only a few Indian tribes that were allies of the Americans during the Revolutionary war.

The Penobscots, along with the Abenakis and other tribes, were part of the Wabinaki Confederation. Chief Joseph Orono served as chief of the Penobscot Tribe from about 1774 until his death in 1801. He was known as the “Blue-eyed Chief”²

It is believed that Orono’s mother was the daughter of Jean-Vincent, who became the third baron of Saint-Castin, and his Indian wife Molly Mathilde. In Orono’s own account, his father was a Frenchman and his mother half French and half Indian.³ This must be true for it accounts for his blue eyes as the recessive blue-eye allele must come from both his mother and his father.

History of the New England Indians, 1604-1692

1604 Samuel de Champlain and Pierre De Monts built Fort St. John at the mouth of the St. Croix River and began fur trading with the Penobscots and Maliset Indians.

1607 French fur traders established a trading post at a better location, Port Royal, Acadia. The Penobscots prospered from this location and formed an Alliance with the French. With European goods received from trade they began to dominate other tribes. This caused a renewal of hostilities with the Micmac across the bay which escalated into the eight year Tarrateen War.⁴

1610-13 French Jesuit missionaries arrived at Port Royal and began working with the Micmac. Catholic priests built a mission for the Penobscots at Pentagoet, Acadia. English raiders from Jamestown destroyed it later that year.⁴

1614 Captain James Smith met the Abenaki when he explored and mapped the east coast of northern New England.⁴

1615 Micmac warriors swept down the Maine coast with a wave of destruction all the way to Massachusetts. They captured the Penobscot Chief Bashba and won the war.⁴

1616-19 Terrible epidemics of unknown diseases hit the Indians killing about 75% of their population.⁴

1621 The Abanakl were familiar enough with the English that Samoset, a sachem from Maine on a hunting trip, walked into Plymouth colony and greeted them in perfect English “Hello Englishmen”.⁴

1622 The Pennecooks of southern and central New Hampshire were decimated by the epidemics, threatened by the Mohawk to the west and didn’t trust the Abinaki in Maine.⁴

1624-28 The Sokoki (western Abinaki) of western Massachusetts had for a long time hostilities with the Iroquois. They therefore helped the Mahican in their war with the Mohawk, (the Mohawk were the eastern most Iroqouis tribe). The Mohawk won and drove the Mahican east of the Hudson River and then attacked the Pennecook. For this reason, the Pennecook made a fragile alliance with the English. This alliance was a great concern to the Abanaki. The English were also nervous about it because the Powhatan almost wiped out the Virginia settlement in 1622.⁴

1628 An English fleet destroyed a French fleet unloading supplies at Port Royal and burned the French settlement. They then moved north to the Saint Lawrence and captured Quebec. Britain now held all of Canada.⁴

1629 The Mohawks attacked the Sokoki who then turned to both French and English for help. However, they were ignored for neither wanted to offend the powerful Iroquois. The Sokoki might have been destroyed, but the Mohawk were drawn into another war in the Saint-Lawrence Valley with the Algonkin and Montagnais.⁴

1632 By the treaty of St. Germain en Laye, Britain returned Canada to France. They immediately destroyed a trading post that had been built by Boston fur traders to trade with the Abinakis. The French warned English fur traders to keep their activities south of the Kennebec River. The English, in turn, ordered French traders from Arcaidia to stay north of the Saint Croix. Therefore, few French or English fur traders were willing to visit the Abinaki who lived in the disputed territory.⁴

1633-34 A devastating smallpox epidemic hit the New England tribes and spread north to the Abenaki and then west to the Iroquois.

1637 By this time the Abinakis had received fire arms, probably from Boston traders.

1638 The English established a post on the Merrimack River to trade with the Pennecooks. The Abenaki had to travel a great distance to trade with the Europeans. For French trade, they had to cross territory controlled by the Montagnais who were often hostile or charged tolls for passage.⁴

1642  The Sokoki, Mohawk and Mahican (formerly enemies), formed an uneasy alliance against their common enemy the Montagnais. This fight continued for several years. The war between the Sokoki and the Montagnais renewed French interest in the Abenaki.⁴

1646-48 The French Jesuits were unsuccessful in brokering peace between their Montagnais allies and the Sokokis, but they were able to make several short visits to the Kennebec and the Penobscot. However, while the battles between the Sokokis and Montagnais continued, the new French alliances caused war to break out between the eastern Abinaki and the Mohawks.⁴

1649 The Iroquois overran and destroyed the Huron who were the French’s most important ally and trading partner. This put the very survival of the French at risk forcing them to seek every possible ally against the Iroquois.⁴

1650 The alliance between the Mohawk and the Sokokis collapsed and the Mohawks attacked the Sokokis and the Pocumtuc. The French encouraged the alliance between the Sokoki, Pocumtuc, Pennecook and Mahican. They then in desperation sent a Montagnais chief and Jesuit to Boston to seek support against the Mohawk. The English puritans saw the threat but could not, as a matter of principle, form an alliance with the Catholic French.⁴

1651 The French alone supported the alliance against the Mohawk and began supplying the Sokoki, and eastern Abinaki with arms and amunition.⁴

1653 The Iroquois were undeterred by the alliance and attacked the western villages of the Sokoki. However, another war with the Susquehannock in Pennsylvania caused Iroquois to suspend their attacks on the Sokoki.⁴

1654 The British captured Port Royal which stopped French aid for the Abinaki.⁴

1655 The Mohawk stopped warring with the Susquehannock and turned their fury to their east. This forced the Mahicans to withdraw from the alliance leaving only the Sokoki, Pennecook and Pocumtuc to face the Mohawk.

1660 The Mohawk resumed attacks on the eastern Abinaki in Maine because they were allies of the Montagnais.⁴

1662 The Penobscot, who were also allies of the Montagnais, were attacked by the Mohawk.⁴

1665 The Regiment de Carigan-Salieres, a force of 1200 men, was sent to New France by Louis XIV, king of France, to protect the settlers and other French interests against the Iroqouis. Jean-Vincent, the 13 years old son of the baron de Saint-Castin was a menber of this group.⁴

1666 The French Soldiers attacked Mohawk villages and by the Spring of that year the Mohawk were asking the English for help.⁴

1670 Jean-Vincent de Abbadie moved in with the Indians and became a part of the Penobscot society.⁴

1676 The eastern Indians and the English settlers in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts became involved in the King Phillips war. The Penobscots were the first to seek peace and offered to enter into an alliance with the English.  Articles were drawn up at Boston on 6 November 1676, and the peace was ratified by Chief Madockawando.⁵

1678 A treaty was made at Casco whereby the English were permitted to return to their farms on the condition of paying rent to the Indians. It was relatively peaceful for about ten years.⁵

1686 Sir Edmund Andros was sent by King James to serve as Governor of the “Dominion of New England”,  which included the jurisdiction of all the New England colonies.¹³ The colonists considered him both arrogant and arbitrary. By sending Andros to serve as Governor, King James hoped to stop the colonial drive for independence, enforce religious conformity and stop the French from arming the Indians⁶

April 1688 Gov. Edmund Andros arrived among the Penobscot in a frigate and plundered Jean-Vincent’s home and village, Pentagoet, on Penobscot Bay, (now Castine, Maine). The Indian chiefs had been well armed by Jean-Vincent during their fight with the Iroqouis, but now they prepared for a new war.⁷

Jan 25, 1692 Chief Madockawando led 150 Penobscot warriors in an attack on the village of York, Maine. He had tried hard to remain peaceful throughout the King Phillips war. However, when his sister died in the English attacks on Fort Pentagoet, he and the Penobscots joined the conflict.⁷ Though several attempts at peace were made, the Penobscot and the Wabinaki Confederation, remained fierce enemies of the English throughout the French and Indian Wars.

Jean Vincent, Molly Mathilde and Penobscot Chief Madockawando

Jean Vincent de Abbadie was born in 1652,  Escout Bearn, southern France, in view of the Pyrenees Mountains. He was the second son of the French Baron of St. Castin. Since his older brother was destined to inherit the title and estate of his father, he joined the army of King Louis the XIV. His birth and education qualified him to became an ensign. In 1665 his regiment was ordered to go to Quebec where the Iroquois Indians were wreaking havoc.  In 1666, they protected the French colonists and helped quell the Iroquois.⁸

In 1670, Jean-Vincent moved to Pentagouet, Acadia (now Castine, Maine), on the Penobscot River.  There he lived among the Indians, became fluent in the Penobscot language and adopted their mode of dress. His experience in the use of fire arms and education in military tactics gave them an advantage over their enemies.⁷

He engaged in trade and became friends with the great Penobscot chief Madockawando. He also acted as his miltary advisor. Finding  favor with the chief, he chose, or was given, his daughter Pidianskie in marriage.⁸ Their relationship, and the marriage, helped solidify the alliance between the French and Penobscot in the region.⁷

Madockawando was born about 1627. He married a chief’s daughter from the Kennebec River Valley and together had many children. They lived at Pentagouet east of, and near the mouth of the Penobscot River.  He became chief of the Penobscot sometime before 1669.²

Madockawando’s daughter, Pidianiske was born about 1665. She converted to Catholicism and took the Christian name Molly Mathilde. Jean Vincent and Molly had five children born between 1684 and 1692. Jean sent their children to French schools in Quebec so they could obtain a formal education. It was heart breaking for Molly to see them go.⁹

In 1694, Jean-Vincent’s brother died in France and he became the third baron of Saint-Castin. However, it was not a good time to return to France to claim his inheritance. He was busy working as a military adviser to the Penobscots and accumulating a fortune trading beaver pelts and Moose skins. Chief Madockawando died in 1698 leaving the French baron as chief of the Penobscots.⁸

In 1701 their nine-year-old son and youngest child, Jean Pierre, died at school. Molly  grieved greatly for her son. She now struggled between two worlds. She had married for the security of her people and had accepted the ways of the white man. Now, she wondered if her son was in the Hunting Ground of her people or in the Christian heaven.⁹

That same year, peace was achieved with the Iroquois and Jean-Vincent left his family and sailed across the Atlantic to defend his inheritance. Their oldest child Bernard Anselme remained at school in Quebec, however, the three youngest children returned home to live with their mother.⁹

Jean-Vincente had claim to the title and property, but his sister and brother-in-law intended to keep St. Castin for themselves. He endured a strenuous, six year, legal battle. In 1707, Jean finally won the estate and title of baron of St. Castin but died shortly after. Molly’s son Bernard Anselme, who was in France at that time, sent his mother the sad news.⁹

The children of Jean Vincent and Molly Mathilde

In 1707 two French cousins married the two daughters of Jean and Molly. They were the grandsons of Cluade de la Tour, a French entrepreneur and military commander in Acadia. Therese, age 20, married Phillip Mius, lord of Pomocoup who owned an estate on the south coast of Acadia (now Nova Scotia). Anastasia, age 15, wed Alexandre le Borge, lord of Port Royal, Acadia.⁹

Molly’s younger son,  Joseph became a French military officer and Wabinaki Chief who fought for the rights of his people in the Wabinaki home land.⁹

In 1713, Barnard Anselme returned to France where his estate and title was again being contested.  They accused him of being an illegitimate child. With missionary certificates and other evidence, he easily proved his case and became the fourth Baron of St.-Castin.⁹

The two families of Jean Vincent de Abbadie

Jean-Vincent had two wives, both were likely the daughters of Chief Madockawando. Misoukdkosie was born about 1652 and may have been Pidianiske’s older sister. She took on the Christian name Melchilde de Nicosquoue.  She gave birth to ten of his children from sometime before 1678 to 1696.^8,10

Of course, the Catholic Church sanctioned only one of these marriages. In the last quarter of 1684 at Pentagouet, Father Jacques Bigot, the Jesuit missionary to the Abenakis, married the couple. Their son, Bernard Anselme was born soon after. The Catholic marriage of his parents, thereby qualified Barnard to inherit his father’s title and estate. It is not surprising that both families claim Bernard Anselme as their own. When he died in 1721 his oldest of three daughters inherited the title and estate.

The Penobscot tribe during the Revolutionary War

The Thomas Chamberlain family lived in Westmoreland, NH after the war. However, very few Indians lived in New Hampshire by the late 1700s. Most of the Pennacooks had moved north and were absorbed into the Anenaki tribes of Vermont, Maine or the Western Abenaki of Quebec.¹¹  Like other tribes, the Abenaki population was in decline, but after 1676 they absorbed thousands of refugees from southern New England displaced by settlement and war. As a result, descendants of almost every southern New England Algonquin (Pennacook, Narragansett, Pocumtuc, and Nipmuc) can still be found among the Abenaki and Sokoki (western Abenaki). After another century of war and disease, there were less than 1,000 Abenaki and about 500 Penobscot remaining after the American Revolution.²

Tomasus, who was head-chief of the Penobscot until 1759, was succeeded by Osson, who was then succeeded by Orono about 1774.¹² These chiefs were advocates of peace until war was declared against them by the English colonists in 1754.²

Chief Orono was a Catholic. He and his wife (a full blooded Indian) had two children. His son was accidently shot in 1774 when he was 25 years old. His daughter married Captain Nicolar.¹² They apparently had at least two children.²

Orono loved freedom and was sympathetic to the American cause in the Revolutionary War. In a speech in 1775 Orono, referring to the Americans, said:

“Our white brothers tell us that they came to our land to enjoy liberty and life. But their king is coming to bind them in chains and to kill them. We must fight him.  We will stand on the same ground with our brother.”²

The Penobscot tribe acknowleged the independence of the United States and eventually some fought on the side of the Americans.  Lieutenant Joseph Orono, served under the command of Captain John Preble as he led his braves in the field of battle.¹²

Did the Penobscot Chief Joseph Orono really live to age 113?

My short answer to this question is NO.

It has been widely reported and even “hotly debated” that Chief Joseph Orono lived to be between 110 and 113.² The extensive and passionate research of the life of Molly Mathilde by author Bunny McBride in her book Women of the Dawn, and the principles of fundamental genetics proves this is very unlikely.

I believe this was a misconception that originated because Jean-Vincent and Molly Mathilde had a son named Joseph who became a Wabinaki Chief. He may have been born in 1688 or 1691. However, this could not be the same person as the blue eyed Chief Joseph Orono who had to inherit a blue-eye allele from both his mother and his father.

Orono himself claimed that his father was a Frenchman and his mother half French and half Indian.³ The two daughters of Molly Mathilde would both fit that description. Therese and Anastasia both married French men and either might be the mother of Orono. Both couples were married in 1707. Therefore, Chief Joseph Orono was probably born in 1708, or later, and likely was no older than 93 when he died in 1801.

Spencer Chamberlain’s Maine connection

Spencer seemed to be much more familiar with his family roots in Maine than his more prominent family connections from Massachusetts. Even as late as 1835, when he lived in Glover, Vermont, he was aware of the family’s activities in regard to the naming of Chamberlain Lake and development of Chamberlain farm in Maine.

There is no record of John Chamberlain nor his brothers Josiah and Joshua in Westmoreland during the war. We do not know where John was living at that time. However, the fact that the Americans made contact with the Penobscots during and after the Revolutionary war makes John meeting Winona of the Penobscot tribe plausible. If it is true, Winona’s blue-eye allele almost certainly would connect her within three or four generations to Jean-Vincent D’Abbadie baron of Saint-Castin and one of his wives, (possibly both wives) and their father Chief Madockawando.

John’s brother, Job Chamberlain lived in Orrington, Maine in 1810. The census showed him living there with his wife and a male age 16-25. If this male was Job’s son, he would be Spencer’s cousin and close to Spencer’s age. Job and his family lived in Westmoreland at the same time that Spencer and Winona lived there.

In 1820, Job lived in Brewer, Maine where he died in 1825. Josiah Chamberlain, (apparently a grandson of Josiah, the brother of John), with his household of 10, also lived in Brewer in 1820.

Spencer apparently had contact with these relatives. It is possible that they told Spencer about Chamberlain Lake and Chamberlain farm. One of this group may be the one who went north in about 1825 to cut out Chamberlain farm and put Chamberlain Lake on the 1835 Map. 

Brewer and Orrington, Maine are located side-by side on the east shore of the Penobscot river. Orono, Maine (named after Chief Joseph Orono) is located to the north. Castine, Maine (named after Jean-Vincent Abbadie, baron of Saint-Castin) is located to the south.

Was the choice of Job Chamberlain and Josiah Chamberlain to live in the center of the Penobscots just a coincidence? Or, is there some family connection to this location? No one knows.

To be continued….

 The Unusual Household of Increase Chamberlain, Jr., Was Winona living in this household? 

If you got this far, please click Goodbye or Table of Contents. This will simply tell me that someone looked at this post. Thank you! Dennis Chamberlain

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the written content of this site without express and written permission from the author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that credit is given to Dennis D. Chamberlain and direction to  www.thechamberlainstory.com.

References:

1- babynames.merchat.com.
2- https://www.penobscotculture.com/
3- Williamson, Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll, 3d s., ix, 83, 1846
4- History, http://www.tolatsga.org/aben.html
5- http://www.penobscotculture.com/index.php?
6- History of the United States of America by Henry William Elson, The MacMillan Company, New York, 1904. Chapter VIII p. 162-165. Transcribed by Kathy Leigh.
7- https://www.geni.com/people/Madockawando-chef-des-Penawapskewis/
8- Castine, Family Descendants in Australia, Http://castineaust.wixsite.com/castine/baron
9- McBride, Bunny, Women of the Dawn, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999, pp 7-37
10- Pidianske and Pipiwamiska, https://michelinewalker.com/2015/09/11/jean-vincent-dabbadie-baron-de-saint-castin/
11- www.dickshovel.com/penn.html
12- Orono- Catholic Indian Chief, https://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/orono.htm
13- Sir Edmund Andros, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edmund-Andros