Browse Items (36 total)

  • Collection: Molly Ockett Exhibit images

1989 Mollyockett Day program

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A modern consequence of Molly Ockett's longstanding fame has been the use of her name in connection with several area businesses, institutions, and events. Other Abenaki of Molly Ockett's time, including Metallak and Sabattis, have had their names…

"Molly Ockett's Cave"

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Among the many geographic locations in this region associated with Molly Ockett that can be visited today is "Molly Ockett's Cave" in Fryeburg. Located at the base of a rocky outcrop known as Jockey Cap, this stone shelter is situated a short…

Molly Ockett gravestone

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In 1867, the women of the Congregational Church at Andover, Maine, raised money to erect a gravestone over Molly Ockett's last resting place in that town's Woodlawn Cemetery. Inscribed to the memory of the "last of the Pequakets," the marble tablet…

Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True

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For many years headmaster at Gould Academy in Bethel, Dr. Nathaniel T. True (1812-1887) was an antiquarian, newspaper editor, and amateur scientist keenly interested in the language and customs of the Abenaki. Dr. True contributed numerous articles…

Molly Ockett map

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Map of Molly Ockett's range within the Abenaki homeland. Traveling on foot or by canoe, Molly Ockett journeyed far and wide throughout much of northern New England and southern Québec during her lifetime.

Dr. Moses Mason House, circa 1905

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During the last few years of her life, Molly Ockett was an occasional visitor to the Bethel home of Dr. Moses Mason and his wife, Agnes M. Straw. Their Federal style house, begun in 1813, is shown here in a circa 1905 photograph. The Mason House is…

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Hannibal Hamlin

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The most famous story connected with Molly Ockett's healing powers has to do with her cure of the infant Hannibal Hamlin, who was born at Paris Hill, Maine, on August 27, 1809, and who later became Lincoln's first vice-president. During the winter…

Merrill House

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In July of 1790, Molly Ockett served as midwife at the delivery of Susan Merrill, the first white child born in Andover, Maine. The child's parents, Ezekiel and Sarah Merrill, settled in Andover in 1789 and constructed a small log shelter on the…

Andover view

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According to an 1861 letter written by Silvanus Poor of Andover, Maine, to Dr. Nathaniel T. True of Bethel, Molly Ockett was living at the forks of the Ellis River in Andover with "old Phillip's (an Indian) family," when Ezekiel Merrill, that town's…

Rumford Upper Falls

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Grateful to Molly Ockett for saving his life and aware of her unhappiness living in Boston, Colonel Clark built her a wigwam near the "Great Falls" at Rumford, some twenty miles downriver from Bethel. This tremendous cataract, shown here in a late…

Early view of Boston

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Around 1800-1805, Molly Ockett is said to have resided for a year in Boston with the family of a Colonel Clark, whose life she reportedly had saved in 1781. Though she probably had visited the city in her youth, Molly Ockett yearned for the North…

Indian Raid 1931

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In August 1931, the people of Bethel celebrated the 150th anniversary of New England's Last Indian Raid with a parade, speeches, a special edition of the local paper, and a "pageant" meant to recreate that long-ago skirmish. The grand climax of this…

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Segar narrative

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One of the most interesting documents relating to Anglo-Indian relations during the Revolutionary War is the "captivity narrative" of the early Bethel settler Nathaniel Segar, published in 1825. It was at the time of the Last Indian Raid in New…

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Indian Raid map

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This map pinpoints sites connected with New England's Last Indian Raid of August 2-3, 1781: (1) Indians venture south from Umbagog Lake; (2) Barker homestead on Sunday River attacked; (3) Captives taken at Clark house in Bethel; (4) Gilead settler…

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Henry Tufts book

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One of the earliest and most detailed accounts of Molly Ockett's life comes from a book about Henry Tufts (1748-1831), a shady character who lived among the Abenaki of western Maine between the spring of 1772 and the spring of 1775, a three-year…

Bloodroot

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Molly Ockett's intimate understanding of the natural environment and her use of herbal remedies to cure many of the afflictions of both Indians and white settlers earned her the respect and gratitude of those around her. Henry Tufts called her "the…

Molly Ockett birchbark box

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This small birchbark box with cover, decorated with dyed porcupine quills, was made by Molly Ockett for the family of Israel Kimball (1769-1829) of Middle Intervale (Bethel) and is now in the collection of the Bethel Historical Society; a larger box…

Molly Ockett in Canoe

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One of Molly Ockett's outstanding traits was her ability to move easily in and out of the white communities. In her lifetime, she saw her native world devastated—her people killed, their land taken, and their resources depleted or destroyed—and yet…

Trap in Tree

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Molly Ockett had a reputation, especially among the white settlers, as a talented storyteller. Because of her ability to relate stories of the past in great detail, her listeners became convinced that she was present during the events she described.…

Bag of Corn

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Molly Ockett's generous nature is well documented by Henry Tufts, who met her in the 1770s. In his autobiography, published in 1807, Tufts records an instance of her generosity to a white man from Pigwacket (Fryeburg), who found himself without food…

Statue at Odanak

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Molly Ockett's religious faith and moral character were much admired by her white friends, and were often commented upon in their recollections. For example, Silvanus Poor of Andover wrote, "When she was traveling and felt in a pious mood, she…

Molly Ockett's daughter's baptismal record

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Molly Ockett's residence in Canada following Rogers' 1759 raid on Odanak may have been quite lengthy, as the baptism of her first living child, Marie Marguerite Joseph ("Molly Susup"), took place at the mission church at Odanak on May 31, 1764. The…

Molly Ockett with cap

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Molly Ockett was described by her contemporaries as an impressive woman, a woman possessed of "a large frame and features" and an erect carriage, even in old age. When allusion was made to this latter trait, Molly Ockett would remark, "We read,…

Indian teepee

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Despite her familiarity with the ways of the white settlers, Molly Ockett practiced an Indian style of living during her travels throughout the area, including trips to northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Canada. Stopping at favorite campsites and…

Hanover intervale

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The first white settlers to venture into this region discovered something the Abenaki had known for generations: the level "intervales" alongside the Androscoggin and other rivers contained amazingly fertile soils that were ideal for raising a…