Browse Biographies

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Tooker, William Wallace, 1848 - 1917

Born in Sag Harbor, New York in 1848, William Wallace Tooker was the son of William and Virginia Tooker.  One biography of him says that he began collecting Native relics at the age of 5.  By 1895, Tooker had amassed nearly 15,00o items.Between 1888 and 1911, Tooker became well-known as a specialist in Coastal Algonquian culture, language, history, and place names, publishing twelve books, over fifty pamphlets, and over one hundred articles.
 

Uncas, Benjamin III, - 1769

Benjamin Uncas III (   -1769), leader of the faction of Mohegans settled at Ben's Town. His children were Ben, Ann, Abimilech, Josiah, and George.  Endorsed by the will of his father Ben Uncas II in 1745, his appointment as tribal sachem was so contentious that it took close to four years before there was general agreement among the Mohegans to allow Ben (III) to take office.

Uncas, Benjamin, 1647 - 1726

Major Benjamin Uncas (Ben Uncas I) was the youngest son of Uncas and the daughter of Poxon/Foxon, Uncas's chief councilor.  As a young man during King Philip's War, Ben was pledged a hostage in return for his father's good conduct.    He subsequently joined the Connecticut colonial militia as leader of Indian scouts, earning the nickname "Major Ben."  He served with Massachusetts forces during King William's war, and in 1711, with many of his fellow Mohegans, was part of Connecticut's ill-fated expedition against Canada.

Oskoosooduck, 1665 - 1752

Oskoosooduck was the daughter of Eastern Pequot sachem, Momoho.  Growing up in Quakataug in present day Stonington, CT, her childhood was marked by a number of illnesses, the most severe of which, in 1672, left her, as well as, her siblings and mother near death.  She regained her health and as a young woman married and became the fifth wife of Narragansett sachem Ninigret II, by whom she had two sons, Charles and George.