Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry again features photos from the two federally recognized Wampanoag Tribes. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Today I continue to look at some of the history of the Wampanoag Tribes of Mashpee and Gay Head (Aquinnah) with some AI enhanced photo features gathered from newspaper clips and archives.

The Wampanoag, the “People of the First Light,” are comprised of two federally recognized tribes: the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe located in Mashpee, Massachusetts; and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) located on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Their people have inhabited this land for 12,000 years.

My first subjects are twin brothers David and George “Alfred” Lewis. Their photo was taken in 1938 for a Mashpee feature special entitled “Seeing New England: A Pilgrimage to Mashpee.”

David and George Alfred Lewis were born at Tewksbury State Infirmary on 24 October 1921 to Hilda Granby Lewis (1903-1939), according to birth records.

Hilda was a single woman when she gave birth. A marriage record dated February 1926 in Providence, Rhode Island, reveals Hilda married Herman Harold Orange, son of Frank Orange and Sarah (Thomas) Orange of Richmond, Virginia.

Below is a photo of the twins with their mother Hilda. One of them (on the right) is fully alert while the other is sleeping soundly.

Hilda was born in Mashpee to James Augustus Lewis and Dinah (Pocknett) Lewis. Dinah was the daughter of Grafton Pocknett and Sarah Babock (Amos) Pocknett. Below is a photo of Dinah and most likely one of her sisters.

By searching GenealogyBank’s U.S. Census Records page, I found the twins listed in the Mashpee 1930 census living with their great aunt Julia “Annie” (Lewis) Edwards and her husband Clarence Clement Edwards, brother of Cyrus Edwards, secretary of the Mashpee Tribe.

Below is a photo of Cyrus Edwards and other relatives who intermarried into many of the families.

In 1940 George “Alfred” Lewis is listed in the Mashpee census boarding with Hosea M. Pocknett and his wife Lucinda (Dunsten) Pocknett. He is 18 years old and works as a forester.

According to sources, the family name of Pocknett, Pognet, or Pocknet is probably the commonest one among Mashpee and Gay Head people. It is believed these are variations on the original name of Popmonet, or Popnonet, mentioned as one of the first converts to Christianity among the eastern Massachusetts tribes.

I am still researching the twins, and I have traced back some of their ancestors. Through their maternal line they descend from Rev. Joseph “Blind Joe” Amos (1806-1869), son of Jeremiah Amos and Ophelia (Babcock) Amos, and his wife Abigail (Wickham) Amos (1804-1853), daughter of Thadeus Wickham and Elizabeth Betsey (Isaac) Wickham.

Rev. Amos became blind at an early age and memorized the Bible. He went on to become the first ordained Mashpee Wampanoag Indian minister and was the founder and pastor of the Wampanoag Baptist congregation at Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard.

Rev. Amos was a great speaker and abolitionist. I found this newspaper announcement in the Nantucket Inquirer dated 5 July 1834.

The announcement:

The Rev. Joseph Amos will deliver a discourse on Slavery, at the African Baptist meeting-house, on Sunday evening next, at half past six o’clock. Those who may [feel] an interest, are invited to attend.

Per order of the board of the N. C. Anti-Slavery Society. E. J. Pompey, Sec.

Two other old family lines the twins descend from are the Keeter and the Wickam families.

A few weeks ago, I covered their ancestor Simon Keeter and his wife, Bethiah, found in the early ledgers of the Crocker family account book from Barnstable, Massachusetts. Their daughter Sarah Keeter married Elijah W. Pocknett. The Wickams will be a feature coming soon.

Most of these families are found in the 1776 census taken by Rev. Gideon Hawley. The names have been transcribed by Jacob Denney.

“New Bedford Communities of Whaling: People of Wampanoag, African, and Portuguese Island Descent, 1825-1925,” noted seven Mashpee Indians on the crew list of the New Bedford ship Good Return, whaling on the Brazil Banks. Others listed were Solomon Attaquin, Rowland T. Gardner, Aaron Keeter, James Mye, Nicholas Pocknet, Ebenezer Quepish, and Isaac Simons Jr.

One of the most celebrated of these mariners is Captain Solomon Attaquin (1810-1895), son of Ezra Attaquin and Sarah “Sally” (Jones) Attaquin.

Here is an early record on one of his many skilled professions.

This notice reads:

A sloop built by the Indians near [Mashpee], was launched a few days [since]. She is intended to trade with wood to Nantucket, and will be commanded by Captain Attaquin, an Indian.

A New York Herald newspaper article published in 1890 mentions some interesting tidbits on Solomon and his famous Hotel Attaquin, a favorite pleasure and hunting resort frequented by President Cleveland, Gov. Russell, Charles Jefferson, R. W. Gilder, and many other dignitaries. There was an official Daniel Webster room on site. Stay tuned for photos from this story.

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Note on the header image: Ousamequin, or “Massasoit” (Wampanoag term for “Great Sachem”) and Governor John Carver smoking a ceremonial pipe at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Credit: Sutro Library; Wikimedia Commons. [052825]

Related Articles:

• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 1)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 2)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 3)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 4)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 5)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 6)
• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 7)
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• Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 12)
• 1928 Great Wampanoag Powwow (part 1)
• 1928 Great Wampanoag Powwow (part 2)
• Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in the Crocker Ledger Book (part 1)
• Photos from the Past: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
• Photos from the Past: Wampanoag Tribes of Mashpee and Gay Head (Aquinnah) (part 1)