{"id":98560,"date":"2024-04-09T08:25:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T12:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=98560"},"modified":"2024-04-25T15:15:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T19:15:33","slug":"abraham-quary-the-last-male-wampanoag-indian-on-nantucket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/abraham-quary-the-last-male-wampanoag-indian-on-nantucket.html","title":{"rendered":"Abraham Quary, the Last Male Wampanoag Indian on Nantucket"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shows portraits and belongings of Abraham Quary (1768-1854), the last male Wampanoag Indian who lived on the island of Nantucket.<\/em> Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of the many precious relics housed at the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA), none has created more intrigue and fascination than ones associated with Abraham \u201cAbram\u201d Quary<\/a> (1768-1854), the last male Wampanoag Indian who lived on the island of Nantucket.<\/p>\n

Jerom Thompson sketched Abraham\u2019s portrait at Nantucket in 1834.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: Abraham Quary, by Jerom Thompson, 1834. Credit: New York Public Library, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thompson\u2019s sketch was titled \u201cThe Last Indian of the Nantucket Tribe,\u201d and until his death on 25 November 1854, most people believed Abraham was the last of his people. However, it turned out that a female Wampanoag Indian, Dorcas Esop Honorable (c. 1770-1855), who died a few months after Abraham, was truly the last of her tribe on Nantucket.<\/p>\n

Mrs. William Russell Sturgis of Mashpee, Massachusetts, recalled visiting Abram at Nantucket with her father Solomon Attaquin<\/a> (members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe) when she was about 15 years of age. She was 93 when she told the story and said: \u201cQuary was very Indian in appearance, wore long hair, and could speak Indian.\u201d (Indian Notes and Monographs, Vol. 44, p.113)<\/p>\n

Nathaniel Philbrick and others have celebrated Abram in their work. He was a man who was respected by all who encountered him. I have compiled many of the publications and historical background on Abram, which can be viewed at Americana-Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I found an obituary for Abram in the Nantucket newspaper archives.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Nantucket Weekly Mirror (Nantucket, Massachusetts), 2 December 1854, page 2. Credit: Nantucket Historical Association<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Abram\u2019s obituary refers to \u201ca fine portrait of him, taken by Mrs. Dassal [Dassel] a few years since.\u201d Herminia Borchard Dassel went to Abram\u2019s home and painted several portraits of him in 1851. Some of her work was completed in the studio of George Gardner Fish. Abram died just three years later, in 1854.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: Abraham Quary, by Herminia Borchard Dassel, 1851. Credit: Nantucket Historical Association.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the relics housed at the Nantucket Historical Association is a blue-painted butter churn used by Abram.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:<\/a>
Photos: two views of the butter churn used by Abraham Quary. \u201cOwned by Mrs. J. J. Fish\u201d is written on the bottom. Credit: Nantucket Historical Association.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the Nantucket Historical Association was formed at the home of Mrs. Elizabeth Starbuck in 1854, this churn was among the early objects placed in the collection. It was gifted by NHA founding councilor Mrs. George Gardner Fish, born Judith Jones Derrick to Thomas Derrick and Anna Glazier Chase and the wife of George G. Fish, son of Phineas Fish and Phebe Gardner.<\/p>\n

A basket with a pencil notation on the bottom, \u201cAb. \/ Quary \/ 1851 \/ his \/ basket,\u201d is also housed at the NHA.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: a basket owned by Abraham Quary. Gift of Harry B. Turner. Credit: Nantucket Historical Association.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Benjamin Franklin Folger, Abram was the son of Sarah Quary, who was the daughter of Joseph Quary, a leader among his people. At an early age Abram was placed in the home of Stephen Chase and became a whaler like many Nantucket natives.<\/p>\n

Later Abram sold herbs and berries, but his most noted trade was basket making, a skill he acquired from his mother.<\/p>\n

In 2005 artist scrimshander Charles Manghis captured Abram\u2019s image on a whale tooth based on a famous portrait of him.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:<\/a>
Photos: portrait of Abraham Quary (left) engraved on a whale tooth by scrimshander Charles Manghis (right). Credit: Nantucket Historical Association.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another interesting likeness of Abram in the NHA collection is a wooden relief carving. This gem is the work of wood carver Aletha Macy<\/a>, a direct descendant of Nantucket settler Thomas Macy.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: rectangular relief carving with half-body view of Abraham Quary on wooden frame, by Aletha Macy. Eleanor Ham Collection. Credit: Nantucket Historical Association.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to an announcement, \u201cCarving of Abram Quary Given Atheneum,\u201d published in the Inquirer and Mirror<\/em>, Macy\u2019s carving of Abram was done in 1951 and represents more than 700 hours of painstaking work. It was presented to the Nantucket Atheneum Library by Mrs. George Lister Carlisle Jr.<\/p>\n

Macy, fascinated by Abram as she brought him to life on the rock maple board, had dug into old island archives for any details on her subject.<\/p>\n

To conclude, here is the most famous portrayal of Abram that graced many postcards over the years, a painting of Abram Quary sitting barefoot next to a fireplace and basket of flowers. It is said the home of Abram was on the land once owned by Hezikiah Swain. The original portrait is at the Nantucket Atheneum.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: Abraham Quary at home. Credit: Nantucket Historical Association.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to sources, when Abram was at home and in the proper mood, he would raise a flag near his dwelling to show that guests were welcome. A visit with this man must have been a true honor.<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 a close-up of the portrait of Abraham Quary by Jerom Thompson, 1834. Credit: New York Public Library, New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melissa Davenport Berry shows portraits and belongings of Abraham Quary (1768-1854), the last male Wampanoag Indian on the island of Nantucket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":98573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12247],"tags":[58813,1624,21465,10860],"class_list":["post-98560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-native-american-history-genealogy","tag-abraham-quary","tag-nantucket","tag-native-american-history-and-genealogy","tag-wampanoag-indians"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/illustration-0409-2024-featured-graphic-abraham-quary.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98560"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98785,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98560\/revisions\/98785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}