Ahaton, William, - 1717

William Ahaton, alias Quaanan, was one of the sons of the Punkapoag leader Ahaton.  He served as a teacher and preacher at the Indian Praying village at Punkapoag (1674-1717).  He was imprisoned at Deer Island at the start of King Philip’s War but released to become one of Major Thomas Savage’s guides.  After the war, Ahaton continued as the leader of the Punkapaog by successfully negotiating for the release from captivity of several of his tribal family and by monitoring land sales of tribal land.  He was survived by a son Amos.  Alonzo Lewis, The History of Lynn: Including Nahant, 2nd ed.  (Boston: Samuel N. Dickinson, 1844), 52-53.  John T. Hassam, Suffolk Deeds, Liber XII (Boston: Rockwell and Churchill: 1902), lvii.  Sidney Perley, The Indian Land Titles of Essex County, Massachusetts (Salem, MA: Essex Book and Print Club, 1912), 51.