Category

Montowampate (James) 
Sagamore of Saugus

James, Sagamore of Saugus, [then part of Lynn,] whose native name was Montowampate, was brother of John, Sagamore of Winnisimmet. He died in 1633, of the small pox, "with most of his people. It is said that these two promised, if ever they recovered, to live with the English, and serve their God." The histories of those times give a melancholy picture of the distresses caused by the small pox among the "wretched natives." "There are," says Mather, "some old planters surviving to this day, who helped to bury the dead Indians; even whole families of them all dead at once. In one of the wigwams they found a poor infant [still] at the breast of the dead mother." The same author observes that before the disease began, the Indians had begun to quarrel with the English about the bounds of their lands, "but God ended the controversy by sending the small pox among the Indians at Saugus, who were before that time exceedingly numerous."

— Indian Biography, by Samuel G. Drake, 1832, (edited)

Montowampate, Sachem of the Saugus Indians, lived on Sagamore Hill, near the eastern end of the beach. He was a son of Nanepashemet, and had jurisdiction of Lynn and Marblehead. He died in 1633. He was called by the [English] people, James; and he had a sister who was called Abigail. The word Sagamore, or more properly, Sagamo, is only another pronunciation of Sachem, a word meaning strength, and applied by the [Native Americans], as a title to their chiefs. Sagamore Hill therefore, is the same as Sachemauog Hill, or the Hill of Kings.

— History of Lynn, Alonza Lewis, by Alonzo Lewis, 1829

Historical Location:

Old Sagamore Hill 
Broad and Chestnut Streets, Lynn, MA 01902

   
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