Mawehu, Joseph (Chuse), 1710 - 1793
Joseph, also known as Chuse, Mawehu (bc. 1710-after 1792) was the son of Gideon and Tatapenoa (Martha) Mawehu and possibly a relation to Chusumack, a 17th Century Pootatuck leader. Gideon Mawehu indentured Joseph, as a child, to the Durand family of Derby Neck or Agur Tomlinson of Derby. After his marriage to Sarah, a Quinnipiac woman living at Farmington, the couple moved to the south part of Derby near Turkey Hill.
Around 1731, they later removed to Naugatuck (Seymour) and settled near the Great Falls on the Indian Field, land given to him by his father, Gideon. There he built a wigwam and raised a family of eight or ten children, three of which died in childhood. For forty or fifty years, Mawehu became the leader of a band of Paugussetts. By 1787, they began removing to Schaghticoke in Kent. Shortly after, he died at 80 years old. He was succeeded as leader by John Howd.
Sharpe, History of Seymour, 32-33. Orcutt, History of the Old Town of Derby, 448-9. Rudes, Holding the Ground along the Housatonic, 305
Alias(es)
Chuse
Born:
c. 1710Died:
c. 1793