Wequash Cooke (also known as: Wequash Cook or Weekwash or Weekwosh or Wequashcuk) (died 1642) was allegedly one of the earliest
Native American converts to
Protestant Christianity
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, and as a
sagamore he played an important role in the 1637
Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragans ...
in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
.
Early life
Wequash lived in Pasquishunk near the mouth of the
Connecticut River and was the eldest son of
Wepitanock Wepitanock (also known as Momojosbuck or Wettamozo or Aquawoce) (died after 1651) was an Eastern Niantic chief sachem.
Wepitanock was likely Canonicus' nephew and was the older brother of Ninigret with whom he shared power. His sister was Queen Qu ...
, the sachem of the
Niantic people
The Niantic (Nehântick or Nehantucket in their own language) were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking American Indians who lived in the area of Connecticut and Rhode Island during the early colonial period. They were divided into eastern and wester ...
and many historians presume that Wequash's mother was a
Pequot
The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or th ...
because she was described as a "stranger" and not Niantic. Wequash was also a nephew of Chief
Ninigret
Ninigret (also known as Juanemo according to Roger Williams) (c. 1610 This source confirms 1662 as the date of his land sales.-1677 This source suggests a date of 1667 for his land sales and a 1647 war against the Mohegans.) was a sachem of the ea ...
. In 1637 Wequash and
Uncas
Uncas () was a ''sachem'' of the Mohegans who made the Mohegans the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut, through his alliance with the New England colonists against other Indian tribes.
Early life and family
Uncas was born n ...
united with the
colonists of New England under Captain
John Mason to fight the Pequots and witnessed the destruction of the tribe's fort by Connecticut militia and Indian allies during the
Mystic massacre
The Mystic massacrealso known as the Pequot massacre and the Battle of Mystic Forttook place on May 26, 1637 during the Pequot War, when Connecticut colonizers under Captain John Mason and their Narragansett and Mohegan allies set fire to th ...
in
Mystic, Connecticut
Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton, Connecticut, Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States.
Historically, Mystic was a significant Connecticut seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in ...
. After the War, Wequash married many of the powerful Pequot women in an attempt to solidify his power. Wequash later deeded the land for the settlement of
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the Connecticut seacoast. The population was 22,073 at the 2020 census.
History
Guilfo ...
to
Henry Whitfield in 1641 in a deed in which "Weeksosh of Pasquishunk" deeded land "given him by Sachem Squaw of Quillipiag."
Conversion and death
After the Pequot War, as local historians observed, that Wequash was filled with "respect for English power" and "it awakened a spirit of inquiry in regard to the Englishmen's God, which led him finally to a hearty and influential reception of Christianity". After this experience, Wequash returned to local Native Americans as a
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
preaching about Christ for which he was persecuted by them. Wequash's tombstone in
Lyme, Connecticut
Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The population was 2,352 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lyme i ...
refers to him as New England's first Indian convert.
Many Puritans in Massachusetts such as Governor
John Winthrop
John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...
wrote about Wequash's conversion as the first Native American conversion to Christianity, and ''
New England's First Fruits
''New England's First Fruits'' was a book published in London in 1643 about the early evangelization efforts by the Puritans in colonial New England in defense of criticisms from England that little evangelism was being pursued in New England. It ...
'' was published in 1643 describing Wequash's experience. This was later used to justify the Massachusetts Bay Colony's existence as a mission in evangelizing to Native Americans. In ''
A Key Into the Language of America''
Roger Williams
Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...
spoke more skeptically of Wequash's conversion and described how on his deathbed Wequash thanked Williams for explaining Christianity to him at his home in Providence, but Williams still had concerns about whether Wequash had truly been converted. Wequash died in 1642 in the home of Colonel George Fenwick, co-founder of the
Saybrook Colony
The Saybrook Colony was an English colony established in late 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in present-day Old Saybrook, Connecticut by John Winthrop, the Younger, son of John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. ...
, and there were suspicions that Wequash had been poisoned for his relationship with the English. He was "buried in the Christian Indian burying ground on the west side of the bay near the mount of the Niantic river." Prior to his death Wequash requested that his son Wequash be raised by the English settlers, and his son, Wenamoag, went to live with Colonel
George Fenwick
Sir George Fenwick (2 February 1847 – 23 September 1929) was a New Zealand newspaper proprietor and editor. He is best known for his time as manager and editor of the '' Otago Daily Times'', during which time he supported the campaign initiate ...
in the Saybrook Fort, but it is unknown what happened to him after Fenwick's wife died and Fenwick returned to England in 1645. Wequash's younger brother,
Harman Garrett
Harman Garrett (c. 1610 – c. 1678) (also known as Cashawashett or Wequashcook II or Herman Garrett or Harmon Garrett) was a Niantic sachem and then governor of the Eastern Pequots slightly east of the Pawcatuck River in what is now Westerly, Rh ...
(Cashawashett), took the name "Wequash Cooke II" for a period after Wequash's death and attempted to assume his leadership role.
[Katherine Dimancescu, ''Denizens: A Narrative of Captain George Denison and His New England ...'' (2018), p. 124
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0989616983]
References
;Citations
;Sources
*
See also
*
Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragans ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Wequash
17th-century births
1642 deaths
Native American leaders
17th-century Native Americans
Niantic people
Pequot War
Native American people from Connecticut
People of colonial Connecticut