Is there a category for Native Americans in Massachusetts when tribe is unknown? pre-1800s.

Question

I'm not seeing one in the Category search, but would love to include Sarah Comsett of Norwell, MA (previously known as South Scituate.) Unknown tribe. Born in the 18th century.

Comments

There are no sources on this profile. What are the sources that support her identity as a Native American?

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I may have found a source:

Plymouth County, MA: Plymouth Court Records, 1686-1859: vol 7, p 297 Undated but entries before and after are 1754 and 1753 respectively: 

22. Henry Merritt, Gent. (Scituate) v. William Southworth (Scituate Housewright) and Rachell his wife by atty. James Otis Jr., Gent. Trespass on the Case, for L500 damages for falsely accusing pltf "of the Attrocious Crimes of Adultry or Incontinency." Pltf. said that William "had a Discourse with One Abiezer Turner of said Scituate of and concerning Three Bastard children, that One Sarah Comsett, an Indian woman of said Scituate, had before that time born of her Body, and he the said William, then and there Fallsely and Malitiously Spoke asserted, and with a loud Voice published and pronounced to and in the hearing of the said Abiezer Turner ... That the three white Children which Sarah Comsett has had was Captain Henry Merritt's (meaning the Plaintiff) Meaning that he had had Carnall Copulation with said Sarah Three times at least." Pltf said that Rachell said the same thing to Abigail Newell and at various times to "Divers of our Good Subjects." Defts. pleaded in abatement, (1) that the writ alleged no damages; (2)  "that the said words are not Actionable": (3) that "the said Declaration is too loose, in that it is not Sufficiantly alledged what words the Defendants uttered"; and (4) "the first Inuendo in the Declaration is too loose and Uncertain to make the words Actionable." Overruled. Defts. then pleaded not guilty. Jury verdict for pltf., L20 and costs, taxed at L6.16s.2d. Appealed by pltf., with James Otis Eq. (Barnstable) and Timothy Ruggles Esq. (Hardwick) sureties, and by deft., with James Otis Jr., Gent., (Boston) and David Little Jr, Gent. (Scituate).*

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Scituate vital records:

Births, p. 93:

COMSIT, Zilpha, "indian girl," bp. May 25, 1764. C.R.I.

Marriages, p 73:

COMPSIT, Dinah [int. Diner Comset], Indian, and Issachar [dup. and int. Issacher] Cato "a free Negro," Jan 3, 1771

COMSET, Joshua and Mary Newel, int Apr. 15, 1775

-, Pero and Lucretia Lamb, int. Feb. 21, 1767

-, Sarah and Nero Rider of Hingham, int. Oct. 27, 1770.

(No Comset deaths in Scituate VR).

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going back to the lawsuit by Henry Merritt against William Southworth and his wife Rachel... I went looking in the Scituate vital records for a Henry Merritt (var spellings) having children in this time frame. No obvious married Henry Merritt recorded as having children in the 1750s. Nor could I find the birth of a Henry Merritt right age to be copulating with Sarah Comsett in the 1750s unless he was a far older man (which is possible). There was a Henry, son of John, b May 1699.

http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Plymouth/Scituate/Images/Scituate_B255.shtml

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Correction, there was a Henery Merrit Jr. who married Margrett Dwelly 13 Apr 1726. http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Plymouth/Scituate/Images/Scituate_M203.shtml

I just didn't find children being born to them (under Births), but here under Deaths are possible children of the above couple:

* Deborah Merrit, d. Henery Jr., [d] Mar. 28, 1731 (likely twin dau of Henery Jr and [an earlier wife Hannah?] b 3 May 1721)

* Henery, so. Henery Jr., [d] Oct 27, 1730 (likely son of Henery and earlier wife Hannah, b 19 Aug 1728)

* Ruth, d. Henery Jr, [d] May 16, 1731 (likely son of Henery and earlier wife Hannah b 18 Mar 1730)

Doesn't make sense. Who is Hannah? But this is now getting too far afield.

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There was also a Hannah Comsett attested in Roxbury, MA where she died in 1751, at the age of sixty; she was born at Scituate. Very possibly she was the mother or grandmother of the aforementioned Sarah Comsett. See Colin Gordon Callaway's 'After King Philip's War: Presence and Persistence in Indian New England' (1997), p. 152.

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'History of Scituate, Massachusetts: From Its First Settlement to 1831' by Samuel Deane (1831) claims that one Comsitt was a Mattakeeset Indian who died in the Revolutionary War. As this book was written so close to the actual happening, I'm inclined to believe it. It seems plausible that Hannah, Sarah, and their descendants are relatives of this Comsitt and took his name as their surname.

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There were two male Comsets in the Scituate vital records who could have been this male who died in the Rev War-- Joshua or Pero.

That a contemporaneous record identifies a Comset from the same town with a specific tribe offers a strong clue. Still not a confirmation for Sarah's tribe affiliation but certainly a possibility.

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Thank you, Jillaine! I was still working through sourcing since the Find a Grave comments gave no source but the descendent history had the tell-tales that it was a legitimate claim. Was hoping to do some of this work this weekend, but delighted to see that you've dug in already! Catching up now ...

Rose - so there's no category for Native Americans whose tribe remains unidentified? Seems like it would be worth it to at least have an unidentified tribe Native American option for interactions with early colonizers. Maybe in another 20-30 years genetic testing could help identify some via descendents and it'd be nice to have an easy way to identify that new round of research ...

(sidenote: I'm still super new on WikiTree and trying to figure out the WikiTree communication systems; is there anyway to @ people here or am I doing the best version of that by addressing people by name? Thanks!)

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Right now they are redoing the native american categories, so you would have to wait.

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In the meantime, I've added the Native American project sticker.

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This facebook page suggests that Dinah Comsett (daughter of Sarah?) was indeed a Mattakeeset.

https://www.facebook.com/Mattakesettribalgov/

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I am really new to Wikitree. I came across this post and it caught my eye since I am related to Sarah Comsett.  .She is my 6th great grandmother.  How does work and how do I find the Native American categories?

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I am new to Wikitree and this Post caught my eye.  Sarah Comsett was my 6th g. grandmother.  Dinah was her daughter and in Dinah's Find a Grave, it states that her mother Sarah was a Massachusetts Indian.  How do I find more information on Native American's in Wikitree?  As I said I am very new and would be interested to see if Wikitree has more info than Ancestry.

Thank You

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Take a look at the answer to this question:

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/98177/is-there-a-category-for-native-americans

Answer 1

Might they have been Wampanoag's?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scituate,_Massachusetts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampanoag

Comments

There appears to be more evidence that she was Mattakeeset.

Answer 2

If you don't know her tribe, don't just put her in one until you know. You might never know. Henry could have met her any where or she could have traveled from somewhere else or have been traded from another tribe further west and sorta was low woman on the totem pole so to speak and Henry looked to be a way out :)