REVOLUTIONARY WAR ERA ORDER FUNDING THE DOWRY OF A NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN

Autograph document signed by William Pitkin, to John Lawrence, as  Treasurer of Connecticut. Hartford, Connecticut, 3 November 1779. Manuscript addendum to verso. Killingsly, 10 November 1779. 2 pages, 8 1/8 x 4 5/8 in. Docketed to verso. 

An interesting document, written during the American Revolution, authorizing the use of public funds to reimburse several men who supported and provided a dowry for an “Indian squaw.”

The document reads in full: “Pay out of the public treasury to the selectmen of Killingly the sum of one hundred two pounds, twelve shillings, and ten pence for supporting and dowering an Indian squaw, which account was examined and allowed in Court.”

The area around Killingly, Connecticut, lay within the traditional territory of the Pequot and Mohegan peoples, and was also near the lands of the Narragansett to the east and the Nipmuck to the north. During the Revolution, the Mohegan were allied with the American Patriots, with more than thirty documented Mohegan soldiers serving in the conflict. Although the document provides limited context, it is possible that the woman referenced was connected to one of these men and was subsequently supported at public expense by the State of Connecticut.

[Native Americans, Native American History, American Indian, Indian History] [American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]