Hirsch, Betsy, 1823 -

Betsy Hirsch was born circa 1823, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Hirsch.  As a Mashpee resident Betsy Hirsch was a signatory, at the age of 11, to a January 1834 Mashpee petition written by William Apes.   Hirsch's name was added to that of 288 other Mashpee residents and community members raising a number of longstanding grievances against the overseers and the Congregational missionary to the tribe.  

Nearly a decade and a half later, she, along with her parents and siblings, Betsy was enumerated in a commissioners' report to the Massachusetts Legislature concerning the condition of the Herring Pond community, to which she must have also had an association.

In 1859, Betsy Hirsch had married George W. DeGrass and was residing with the Christiantown community on Martha's Vineyard.  She retained her rights, however, to 47 acres of land held in severalty at Herring Pond.

Petition of the Mashpee Indians to the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1834.01.29.00; Bird Report, 1849; Earle Report, 1861