THIRTEENTH GENERATION
4616. Capt. Thomas Roode/ le Rude
 |
 
4618. poss. Uncas /Onkos, Sachem of Mohegan
SRC: History of Norwich, Connecticut: From its possesion by the Indians to the year 1866, by Frances Manwaring Caulkins, 1866, pp 30, 32 |
 |
4619. daughter of Sassacus
|
7 Sep. 1672 Norwich, New London, CT
d/o Tho & Marie Marvin"(2308) Thomas Rood was actually married to (2309) Sarah. The only indication of relation to the Leffingwells that I have thus far found is a mention in a compendium of court documents that his son Samuel who was a minor at the time of his father's hanging was appointed "his uncle [(4617ii[1]) Lieut. Thomas] Leffingwell" as guardian. I was recently told that Thomas Rood's wife is shown as Sarah Leffingwell WHITE in the book "The Rood/Roode/Rude Genealogy" by Mona Rood, but haven't had a chance to look it up yet and don't know where the information was found. I am wondering if Sarah['s] grandfather and mother were Leffingwells while her father might have been a White. Something to think about."
-- http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?sarah,rood::leffingwell::117.html c/o Louis Storms stonebrookcottage@prodigy.net
"Thomas Rood (b.1626; son of (4612) Thomas Rood/Rudde and (4613) Elizabeth Greene) was an attorney and a resident of Norwich, CT. He was on excellent terms with the Indians and his early land acquisitions were from Sachem Squanto. He married Sarah (Leffingwell) White, whom some believe to be the daughter of Uncas, a Mehegan sachem."
-- http://www.daynesfamilytree.com/separatingfactfromfiction.htm
"`Trumbull, in his "History of Connecticut,' says:
"'Uncas, with a small band of Mohegan Indians, was encamped on a point of land projecting into the river, and there closely besieged by their most inveterate foes, the Narragansetts. Finding himself in danger of being cut off by the enemy, he managed to send to his friends, the English colony at Saybrook, the news of his extremity, with perhaps some appeal for help. Upon this intelligence, one Thomas Leffingwell, an ensign at Saybrook, an enterprising, bold man, loaded a canoe with beef, corn and pease, and, under cover of the night paddled from Saybrook into the Thames, and had the address to get the whole into the fort. The enemy soon perceiving that Uncas was relieved, raised the siege. For this service Uncas gave Leffingwell a deed of a great part, if not the whole of the town of Norwich. In June, 1659, Uncas, with his two sons, Owaneco and Attawanhood, by a more formal and authentic deed, made over unto said Leffingwell, John Mason, Esq., the Rev. James Fitch, and others, consisting of thirty-five proprietors, the whole lownship of Norwich, which is about nine miles square.'"
-- DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS EFFINGWELL http://www.angelfire.com/ny/chickened/leffingwellfamily.html
"THOMAS LEFFINGWELL ...In his testimony before the Court of Commissioners at Stonington in 1705 he says he was acquainted with Uncas in the year 1637, and was knowing to the assistance rendered by the sachem to the English, then and ever after during his life. According to his age, as given in depositions, he must have been born about the year 1622, therefore at the time of the Pequot war not more than fifteen or sixteen years of age."
-- HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY OF ITS PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN. COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF D. HAMILTON HURD; J. W. LEWIS & CO., PHILADELPHIA, 1882; PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHIA [transcribed by Janece Streig]; HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY OF ITS PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN. COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF D. HAMILTON HURD; J. W. LEWIS & CO., PHILADELPHIA, 1882; PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHIA; [transcribed by Janece Streig]; CHAPTER XX. NORWICH. Pages 253-273 --http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jdevlin/town_hist/nl-chap20.htm
Compiler's note: I hold with the folks who say Lieut. Leffingwell married Sachem Uncas's daughter. Moreover, since Thomas Rood's son was raised by "Uncle" Thomas Leffingwell, and there is no clear evidence that Rood's wife was a Leffingwell, it is reasonable to surmize that Rood's wife and Leffingwell's wife were sisters.
Some notes on the life and character of Uncas and his peers:
|
Norwich is in the midst of the ancient Mohegan country, and Mohegan was its Indian name. Uncas was the chief of the tribe when the English first settled at Hartford, and built a fort at Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut River. He formed a treaty of amity with the whites... Wawekus Hill, now in the center of Norwich, was a famous observatory for his warriors, for eastward of them were the powerful Narragansets, sworn enemies of the Mohegans, and governed by the brave Miantonomoh, also a friend of the white men. In the spring of 1643 the flame of war was lighted between these powerful tribes, and Miantonomoh led his warriors to an invasion of the Mohegan country. His plans were secretly laid, and he hoped to take Uncas by surprise. For this purpose six hundred of his bravest warriors were led stealthily, by night marches, toward the head waters of the Pequot. At dawn, one morning, they were discovered at the Shetucket Fords, near the mouth of the Quinebaug, by some of the vigilant Mohegan scouts upon the Wawekus. From the rocky nooks near the falls of the Yantic, a canoe, bearing a messenger with the intelligence, shot down the Thames to Shantock Point, where Uncas was strongly fortified. With three or four hundred of his best warriors, [Uncas] marched to meet Miantonomoh. They confronted at the Great Plains, a mile and a half below Norwich, on the west side of the Thames. A fierce conflict ensued. The advantage gained by Uncas by strategy was maintained, and the Narragansets were put to flight, closely pursued by the Mohegans. Through tangled woods and over rocky ledges, across the Yantic, and over the high plain of Norwich toward the Shetucket Fords, the pursued and pursuers swept like a blast. Two swift-footed Mohegans pursued Miantonomoh with unwearied pertinacity, and finally outstripped him, he being encumbered with a heavy corselet. They impeded his progress, but did not attempt to seize him, that honor being reserved for their chief. As soon as Uncas touched Miantonomoh, the latter halted and sat down in silence... Uncas... sent him to Hartford, and surrendered him into the custody of the English, agreeing to be governed in his future conduct toward his prisoner by their advice. Miantonomoh was imprisoned until September, when the commissioners of the United Colonies, at their meeting in Boston, after debating the question whether it would be lawful to take the life of Miantonomoh, referred his case to an ecclesiastical tribunal, composed of five of the principal ministers of the colonies. Their decision was in favor of handing him over to Uncas for execution, without torture, within the dominions of that sachem. Delighted with the verdict of his Christian allies, the equally savage Mohegan, with a few trusty followers, conducted Miantonomoh to the spot where he was captured, and, while marching unsuspicious of present danger, a brother of Uncas, at a sign from that chief, buried his hatchet in the head of the royal prisoner. Uncas cut a piece of flesh from the shoulder of the slain captive and ate it, saying, "It is very sweet; it makes my heart strong." The Narragansets, burning with revenge, and led by Pessacus, a brother of Miantonomoh, invaded the Mohegan country in the spring of 1645. Plantations were laid waste, and Uncas, with his principal warriors, was driven into his strong fortress at Shantock. There he was closely besieged, but found means to send a messenger to Captain Mason... at Saybrook. As in duty bound, that officer sent succor to his ally... Thomas Leffingwell, a young man of undaunted courage, paddled a canoe up the Pequot at night, laden with many hundred weight of beef, corn, pease, &c., and deposited them safely within the fort at Shantock. This timely relief was made known to the besiegers by hoisting a piece of beef upon a pole above the ramparts of the fort. Unable to break down the fortress, the Narragansets raised the siege and returned to their own country. This invasion was repeated, and with almost fatal effect to Uncas. The English saved him, and, finally, after nearly twenty years of strife, the hatchet was buried between these tribes. ...Uncas remained a firm friend to the whites until his death, which occurred soon after the close of King Philip’s War, probably in 1683. He died at Mohegan (Norwich), and was interred in the burial-ground of his family, situated upon the high plain just above the falls of the Yantic. The royal cemetery has been inclosed, and a granite monument erected therein to the memory of the celebrated sachem. -- Lossing, Benson J., "Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution" Vol. I ch. xxvi (1850) c/o http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/Chap26.html
|
Benson mentioned the "royal cemetery", the "burial-ground of (Uncas)'s family". If this is the "Sachem Burial Ground" where Thomas Rood and his wife Sarah are supposedly buried, this might support the assumption that Sarah was indeed a daughter or close relative of Uncas -- and by extension, that Thomas Leffingwell's wife was her sister. There are few markers in that cemetery, though, I am told; and so far as I know, Sarah's burying place has not yet been firmly established. If anyone can help me on this point, please do.
9232. Johannes Rudde
"Although born into the Pequot tribe, an American Indian sachem named Uncas (1588?-1683) became leader of the Mohegan tribe. He rebelled against Chief Sassacus (1560?-1637), his father-in-law, and with his followers formed the separate Mohegan branch. Uncas aided the English colonists in the Pequot War of 1637 and fought a series of wars with the Narragansett Indians, whom he defeated in 1643. In 1661, however, he made war on an ally of the English, Chief Massasoit and his Wampanoag tribe, and the English intervened and forced Uncas to relinquish his captives and plunder. Upon the outbreak of King Philip's War in 1675, he was required to turn over his sons as hostages to the English in assurance of his neutrality. A character named Uncas was immortalized in literature in The Last of the Mohicans (1826) by the American writer James Fenimore Cooper.
"Uncas was born a Pequot Indian. He called himself "Pequiem" which I have also seen spelled "Poquaiom"... He broke away from the Pequot tribe due to political disagreements within the tribe at how to handle the new English arrivals . He formed his own tribe, and named them Mohegan (Wolf People). When the English questioned his loyalty ,in July 1638 on a visit to Boston, he was quoted as saying:
"'This heart is not mine: it is yours. I have no men: they are all yours. Command me any hard thing to do and I will do it. I will never believe any Indian's word against the English. If any Indian shall kill an Englishman, I will put him to death be he never so dear to me.'
"Thus, insuring his tribes survival at the cost of aligning with the colonist.
"I have not listed his wifes in any order nor do I know if these are his only primary "wifes" or women he had children with.. I would also like to note that I have names of other descendants of Uncas through the centuries. It was common for the tribal Sachem's immediate family, especially sons (who were considered potential chiefs) to be documented historically in data. I just can not identify the specific parentage of some of the individuals. So I have tried to doucument only those of Uncas's family members whose parentage is documented /confirmed...
"Historically at the time, marriage was used to bond political and family ties. Itwould have been important for Uncas to have many wifes, probably daughters of men who decided to follow/join so that the children would further bind the families together. It is documented that in his last days, when he could not even walk, Uncas asked his men to carry him to the banks of the Thames river . Although severely infirmed, he still monitored the commerce on the river and made informed decisions about his nation's future. *From Mohegan Tribe Site
"Uncas was well qualified for a ruler both in mind and person. He possessed a fine figure, over six feet in height, a commanding voice, and a noble bearing. He was mild yet dignified in his manners."
-- http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2713628&id=I23879
INDEX
9238.Sassacus, Sachem of the Pequots
[b. ABT 1571/72]
REF: http://www.nativeamericanmohegans.com/uncas.htm
= siblings
Return to Generation Four
