EIGHTH GENERATION
158. prob. Billy Green
159. prob. Nancy Jemison
Hiohatoo |
318. Hiohatoo/ Hiokadowa ("Big Lance") Seneca /Gardow, Sachem
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319. Mary Jemison /Dehgewanus ("Two Falling Voices")
Mary Jemison Age 90 |
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(F)
(F) (polygamous)
b. ABT 1774 of NY
"Descendants of Thomas Jemison" lists a Lydia Jamison (1855-), a daughter of (319[1]b[1]2[3]C) James and Jemima Jamison, who married a man surnamed General and bore him 13 children -- one of whom was named Alexander. A Lydia General, Cayuga widow, did live at Tuscarora, Brant, Ont. 1901/11 (Pagan, b. Apr. 1843) with son Alexander (b. Sep. 1891); but her brother was Jonathan Simon (b. 1823), so she was prob. not a Jamison -- except, perhaps, by adoption or as a granddaughter. Her birthdate was past the normal childbearing years for Jemima.
After her abduction, Mary Jemison was taken to a village on the Ohio River, where she was adopted by a Seneca family. The main part of that family lived in the Genesee Valley of NY, to which she travelled with two adoptive brothers, with her infant son on her back. Her first husband returned to the Ohio to hunt, planning to join his wife in NY; but he became ill and died in Ohio.
"(319[1]) Sheninjee was a noble man; large in stature; elegant in his appearance; generous in his conduct; courageous in war; a friend to peace, and a great lover of justice... and, strange as it may seem, I loved him! To me he was ever kind in sickness, and always treated me with gentleness; in fact, he was an agreeable husband, and a comfortable companion."
"[(318) Hiohatoo] was a man of tender feelings to his friends, ready and willing to assist them in distress, yet, as a warrior, his cruelties to his enemies perhaps were unparalleled, and will not admit a word of palliation... He could inflict the most excruciating tortures upon his enemies, and prided himself upon his fortitude, in having performed the most barbarous ceremonies and tortures, without the least degree of pity or remorse.
"After the conclusion of the French War, our tribe had nothing to trouble it till the commencement of the Revolution... During that period, they... pertinaciously observed the religious rites of their progenitors, by attinding with the most scrupulous exactness and great degree of enthusiasm to the sacrifices, at particular times, to appease the anger of the evil deity, or to excite the commisseration and friendship of the Great Good Spirit, whom they adored with reverence, as the author, governor, supporter and disposer of every good thing of which they participated.
"The moral character of the Indians was... uncontaminated. Their fidelity was perfect... they despised deception and falsehood; and chastity was held in high veneration... They were temperate in their desires, moderate in their passions, and candid and honorable..."
"In an expedition that went out against Cherry Valley and the neighboring settlements, Captain David, a Mohawk Indian, was first, and Hiokatoo the second in command. The force consisted of several hundred Indians, who were determined on mischief, and the destruction of the whites. A continued series of wantonness and barbarity characterized their career, for they plundered and burnt every thing that came in their way, and killed a number of persons, among whom were several infants, whom Hiokatoo butchered or dashed upon the stones with his own hands. Besides the instances which have been mentioned, he was in a number of parties during the Revolutionary War, where he ever acted a conspicuous part."
-- http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/bl_nlmj11.htm
"Mary Jemison must have been small in stature; she had a very white skin, yellow or golden hair and blue eyes. Her face was somewhat bronzed by long exposure; but I noticed that at the back of her neck her hair was a bright color and curly, and her skin very white. Her hands and feet were small, her features were regular and pleasing in expression."
-- Mrs. Abner Wright, p. 212 of Seaver, Everett, "The Life of Mary Jemison, The White Woman of the Genesee", Twentieth Edition
Mrs. Wright was called upon by Mary as her death approached, and Mary expressed her remorse that she had forgotten the prayer that her mother had taught her as a girl, and that now, she thought, she could no longer talk to God. Mrs. Wright then read the Lord's Prayer to her. Then, almost convulsed with weeping, at length Mary said, `That is the prayer my mother taught me and which I have forgotten so many years.'
"...she had the shape, form, figure of an active, lively little old woman, seventy-five or eighty years of age, about four and a half feet in height, exhibiting the remains of a fair complexion and regular features that had been in youth extremely beautiful. The cheek bones were not prominent, nor was the chin, and the nose was not large; buty, considering her age, all these features were quite symmetrical. The head was of medium size, covered with gray hair smoothed backward; the neck was not long, but in due proportion to the size of her head and body; the shoulders were rounded and stooping forward or bent... The eyesight had become dim, but the featured had not become wrinkled as much as might have been expected...
"The `White Woman' was quite intelligent, sociable, and communicative, but grave and serious after the manner of the Indians..."
William B. Munson, M.D., op cit p. 217
Mr. Munson stated that when Mary moved from the Genesee country to Buffalo Creek, she was helped by her daughter Polly. (159) Nancy and her family were not mentioned.
Hiohatoo (l); my father (r)
I was going to post a "historical incident" involving Hiokatoo, which I remembered having read on the Internet. To my dismay, I found that the incident was in the form of historical fiction -- a genre in which my ancestor is romanticized as some sort of "noble savage". It's all interesting reading; but I prefer the facts.
= siblings
SENECA & JEMISON LINES continued
