History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
the more freely (as he says) have leisure to pray to God. He abstains from meat on the days in which it is forbidden by the Christian laws; and men that are heretics who do otherwise, or are of that name, he thinks ought to be called bad Christians. . . . But the greatest hope is, that when the family of the king is purified by baptism, the conversion of the whole empire will speedily take place."
The writer then proceeds to describe the execution of an Indian convicted of the murder of an Englishman. The culprit was converted to Christianity before his death, which he met with fortitude, and his remains were buried with the solemn rites of the Catholic Church. The writer adds, —
" No one, however, was more vehemently moved at the sight of the dying neophyte than the Tayac, who afterwards earnestly insisted that he too should receive the gift of baptism. The thing being considered in council, it appeared that it would be for the greater glory of God if it be deferred a little until it could be performed with splendid display, in the greatest solemnity, and in the sight of his countrymen; his wife also, and his children, coming to a participation of his joy and gladness. The king, at length, won over by the attentions of the Catholics, and greatly delighted with their prolonged hospitality, returned home, the same Father White being his attendant, whither as soon as he came he gave command to his people to prepare the church by next Pentecost, the time appointed for the next baptism. On that day, at Kittamaquindi, the Governor and other distinguished men of the colony contemplated honoring by their presence, and by whatever other means they can, the Christian sacraments and the second better birth of the Tayac, a merciful God causing this thing to turn out to the good of all, — to his glory, to our reward, and to the salvation of the whole tribe,"
The Tayac mentioned in the last letter as king or emperor of Piscataway was also called Chitomacon, or Chitomachen. The latter appears to have been his proper name, and Tayac an appellation expressing his rank or dignity. He had been represented as a chief of great power, exercising authority over several of the neighboring tribes. His capital, called Kittamaquindi, was at or near the present village of Piscataway, about fifteen miles from Washington City.
The annual letter of 1640 gives an account of the baptism and marriage of this barbaric prince. So important was the event considered, that we find Governor Calvert and others of the principal men in the colony making a journey into the wilderness to be present at it. As an incident in history it may be placed beside the baptism of Pocahontas, which has so often inspired the artist's pencil. As that ceremony secured for Virginia the friendship of the great chief Powhatan, so the baptism of the Tayac gained for the infant colony of Maryland the good will and alliance of the most powerful of the neighboring chieftains, without whose friendship its existence would probably have been seriously imperiled. The letter
" In this mission this year have been four priests and one coadjutor. We stated last year what hope we had conceived of converting the Tayac, or the emperor of what they call Pascatoe. From that time, such is the kindness of God, the event has not disappointed the expectation, for he has joined our faith, some others also being brought over with him, and on the 5th of July, 1640, when he was sufficiently instructed in the mysteries of the faith, in a solemn manner he received the sacramental waters in a little chapel, which, for that purpose and for divine worship, he had erected out of bark, after the manner of the Indians. At the same time the queen, with an infant at the breast, and others of the principal men, whom he especially admitted to his councils, together with his little son, were regenerated in the baptismal font. To the emperor, who was called Chitomachen before, was given the name of Charles; to his wife, that of Mary. The others, in receiving the Christian faith, had Christian names allotted to them. The Governor was present at the ceremony, together with his secretary and many others; nor was anything wanting in display which our means could supply.
" In the afternoon the king and queen were united in matrimony in the Christian manner; then the great holy cross was erected, in carrying which to its destined place the king, Governor, secretary, and others lent their shoulders and hands; two of us in the meantime chanting before them the litany in honor of the Blessed Virgin."
Id the mean time the Susquehannough Indians continued their depredations, for the records exhibit for many years lamentable accounts of the murders, house-burnings, and robberies committed by them upon the inhabitants of the territory now embraced in Montgomery, Ann Arundel, Prince George's, Baltimore, Harford, Cecil, and Kent Counties. In 1662 the colonists were at peace with the Susquehannoughs, but both of these were at war with the Senecas, who were devastating the few scattered settlements of the English along the western tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.
In the spring of 1662 they penetrated as far south as the head of South River, which seems to have alarmed the Council, for they ordered all the powder and shot to be seized for the use of the colony, and that scouts should be sent to the head-waters of all rivers emptying into the head of the bay, with orders to arrest or kill all Indians found there. The troubles with the Senecas grew worse, and on July 4, 1663, the Council was informed by the inhabitants of Baltimore County at the head of the bay that the Indians had recently murdered two of the settlers, and another near Patapsco River, with two youths whom it was believed they had either killed or carried off. For nearly twelve years a fierce war was kept up between the Susquehannoughs and Senecas, success being mostly on the side of the former tribe; but a more formidable enemy than even the Senecas had by this time invaded them, — the smallpox, which first appeared among them in 1661, and whose ravages became terrible. In 1673 they only numbered about three hundred warriors, while ten years before they had been able to muster seven hundred; and probably the mortality was even greater among the women and children.
When the Hurons, who were of Iroquois stock, were finally overthrown, the survivors fled for refuge to the Andastes, or Susquehannoughs, from whom they had before received promises of assistance. The protection thus afforded seems to have been resented by the Iroquois Confederacy, or Five Nations, and war being declared between them and the Susquehannoughs in 1662, the warriors of the latter tribe carried such devastation into the land of the Senecas (one of the Five Nations) that these were forced to seek the aid of the French. The Dutch writers, under date of 1661-62, relate that the Susquehannoughs, or Minquas, though they had suffered severely from the smallpox, had engaged in a war with the Senecas, and that " in May, 1663, an army of sixteen hundred Senecas marched against the Minquas and laid siege to a little fort defended by a hundred men, who, armed with firearms and even cannon, relying, too, on speedy aid from their countrymen, and from the Marylanders, with whom they had really made peace, defended themselves vigorously, and at last compelled the Senecas to raise the siege." The war between the Andastes and Iroquois continued for many years, with almost constant victory for the former. But disease accomplished what the Five Nations could not, and the reduced tribe was finally defeated, the Relation of 1676-77 speaking of the Andastes as utterly exterminated after a resistance of twenty years. That Maryland took part in the final defeat of this heroic nation is evident from the language of the Iroquois deputies at the treaty of Lancaster in 1711:. " We do not remember," they say, " that we have ever been employed by the Great King to conquer others; if it is so, it is beyond our memory. We do remember we were employed by Maryland to conquer the Conestogues (Susquehannoughs), and that the second time we were at war with them we carried them' off."
The Susquehannoughs having been reduced by disease and warfare to about three hundred warriors, in 1674 were terribly defeated by the Senecas, and driven from their homes at the head of the Chesapeake to the territory formerly occupied by the Piscataways, near the Maryland and Virginia boundary, the latter tribe having been removed by the Assembly to lands on the Potomac River, near the present site of Georgetown, afterwards in Frederick County. Here they established themselves in an old Indian fortification. Here the Senecas pursued them, and did some damage to the plantations on both sides of the river.
In the summer of 1675 a white man was found lying covered with wounds at the door of his house near Stafford, Va., and the corpse of a friendly Indian by his side. Before dying he declared that Indians had been the murderers. Col. Mason and Capt. Brent at once collected a party of militia, and followed the trail up the Potomac and across that river into Maryland.
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