Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England

Richard Spotted Rabbit Massey

387 Richard Spotted Rabbit Massey (1934–2012) Richard Massey served on the Nipmuc Nation Tribal Council from 1997 to 1999. He also presided over the New England Native American Institute, based in Worcester, Massachusetts, and advised the Worcester Historical Museum on its representations of Nipmuc people and history. In addition, he was the elder advisor for Project Mishoon, a Nipmuc underwater archaeology project. He wrote his own tribute to Hepsibeth Crosman Hemenway, who was his fourth great-grandmother. Hepsibeth Bowman Crosman Hemenway, 1763–1847 As a descendant of Hepsibeth I was told many stories about all of my Indian ancestors by my beloved Indian grandmother. The history of Native Americans is sad for all the Indian Nations. The Native people of southern New England have suffered for 300 years. Many were sold into slavery, and the male population was decimated by wars. Hepsibeth was a descendant of Samuel Bowman, who was one of the proprietors of the town of Natick. This town was an attempt . . . to Christianize Indians into being more like their English neighbors. There were several of these villages in Massachusetts and Connecticut, but Natick was the first. Shortly after King Philip’s War, and due in part to racial strife with surrounding towns, the Bowmans returned to their original homeland of Worcester. Hepsibeth is referred to in early newspaper articles as an Indian maiden from Packachoag Hill. She was half white, on her father’s side. It was illegal for Indians to marry white people in Massachusetts and Hepsibeth is recorded on early town documents as Hepsibeth Bowman, daughter of Lydia Bowman. In 1789 Hepsibeth married Jeffrey Hemenway, a mulatto who had a distinguished Revolutionary War record. She was 26 and he was 53. I am related to their daughter Lydia. One of my favorite stories of Hepsibeth is how on the first Independence Day she roasted a pig on the common and fed the people of Worcester. She was also well known for her wedding cakes. ...