Editing Samson Occom

{{Short description|Mohegan Presbyterian cleric}}
[[File:Samson Occom by Jonathan Spilsbury, after Mason Chamberlin, 1768, mezzotint on paper, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 71 15Occom1L-000001.jpg |thumb|The Reverend Samson Occom]]

'''Samson Occom''' (1723 – July 14, 1792; also misspelled as '''Occum''' and '''Alcom'''<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.mohegan.nsn.us/Heritage/SamsonOccum.aspx |title = Samson Occum| publisher = The Mohegan Tribe | accessdate = December 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126115008/http://www.mohegan.nsn.us/Heritage/SamsonOccum.aspx |archive-date=2015-01-26}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CuASAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 | title = The Dartmouth | year = 1869 | volume = 3}}.</ref>{{Efn | Although the manuscripts show many spellings such Ockam, Alcom, Aukum, Aucum, Occum, and Aucom, he himself wrote it Samson Occom.{{Sfn | Love | 1899 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=vG7oOpm6TSsC&pg=PA21 21]}}}}) was a member of the [[Mohegan]] nation, from near [[New London, Connecticut]], who became a [[Presbyterian]] cleric. Occom was the second Native American to publish his writings in English (after son-in-law Joseph Johnson (Mohegan/Brothertown) whose letter to Moses Paul, published April 1772, preceded Occom's by 6 months), the first Native American to write down [[A Short Narrative of My Life|his autobiography]], and also helped found several settlements, including what ultimately became known as the [[Brothertown Indians]]. Together with the missionary [[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]], Occom became one of the foremost missionaries who cross-fertilised Native American communities with Christianized European culture.

==Early life and education==
Born to Joshua Tomacham and his wife Sarah, Occom is believed to be a descendant of [[Uncas]],<ref>Indian Margaret Connell Szasz, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kFkOxBRc6NwC&pg=PA192 ''Education in the American Colonies, 1607-1783'']</ref> the notable Mohegan chief. According to his autobiography, at the age of 16 or 17, Occom heard the teachings of Christian evangelical preachers in the [[First Great Awakening|Great Awakening]]. He began to study theology at the "Lattin School" of Congregational minister [[Eleazar Wheelock]] in 1743<ref>{{cite book | last = Calloway | first = Colin Gordon | authorlink = Colin G. Calloway  | title = The Indian History of an American Institution: Native Americans and Dartmouth | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CNLMam3j_48C&pg=PA4 | accessdate = 28 October 2012 | date = May 11, 2010 | publisher = Dartmouth College Press | location = [[Lebanon, New Hampshire]] | isbn = 978-1584658443 | page = 4}}</ref> and stayed for four years until leaving to begin his own career. In addition to improving his English, Occom learned to read and speak [[Latin]], Greek, and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. As a young man, the only book he owned was the Bible. From 1747 until 1749, Occom worked under and studied with the Reverend Solomon Williams in [[New London, Connecticut]].

==Career==
[[File:SamsonOccom.png|thumb|[[Nathaniel Smibert]], ''Samson Occom'' (c. 1750).]]
Occom became a teacher, preacher, and judge among the [[Montaukett]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Montaukett Indians of Eastern Long Island|author=Strong, John A.|date=2006|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=0815630956|oclc=166322287}}</ref> Native Americans in [[Montauk, New York|Montauk]], eastern [[Long Island]], and married Mary Fowler, a Montaukett woman.<ref name= Brooks /> Occom helped some of the [[Pequots|Pequot]] peoples he worked with assimilate and adopt European-style houses, dress and culture.

He was officially [[Ordination|ordained]] a minister on August 30, 1759, by the [[Presbyterian polity|presbytery]] of [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk]].<ref name= Brooks /> Occom was never paid the same salary as white preachers, although promised he would be. [[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge|The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge]] also gave Occom a stipend for some time, but he lived in deep poverty for much of his life.

In 1761 and 1763, Occom traveled to the [[Iroquois|Six Nations of the Iroquois]] in [[upstate New York]] to preach. Winning few converts, he returned to teach at [[Mohegan, Connecticut]], near [[New London, Connecticut|New London]].<ref>Love, William DeLoss Samson, [https://archive.org/stream/samsonoccomchris00love#page/100/mode/1up ''Samson Occom and the Christian Indians of New England''], [[Chicago]]: Pilgrim Press: 1899, p. 100</ref> Occom mediated the conflicts between the colonists and the Native Americans because he was very familiar with colonist culture and through Occom's missionary work he was recognized as a leader that strengthened Native American relations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=WIGGINTON|first=CAROLINE|date=2008|title=Extending Root and Branch: Community Regeneration in the Petitions of Samson Occom|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20737442|journal=Studies in American Indian Literatures|volume=20|issue=4|pages=24–55|doi=10.1353/ail.0.0046 |jstor=20737442 |s2cid=159522131 |issn=0730-3238|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

[[Eleazar Wheelock|Wheelock]] had meanwhile established an Indian [[charity school]] in [[Lebanon, Connecticut]], in 1754 with a legacy from Joshua Moor (among others). Upon Occom's return to Mohegan,  Wheelock persuaded his former pupil to travel to England to raise money for the school. Occom sailed from Boston December 23, 1765, and did not return until May 20, 1768. He preached his way across Britain from February 16, 1766, to July 22, 1767, delivering between 300 and 400 sermons, drawing large crowds wherever he went, and raising over £12,000 for Wheelock's project. [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]] donated 200 pounds, and [[William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth|William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth]], subscribed 50 [[Guinea (coin)|guineas]]. However, Occom on his return learned that Wheelock had failed to care for Occom's wife and children while he was away. Furthermore, Wheelock moved to [[New Hampshire]] and used the funds raised to establish [[Dartmouth College]] (named after the English earl) for the education of the sons of American colonists, rather than Native Americans as had originally been promised to Occom. Even 200 years later, the college had graduated less than 20 Native American students.<ref name="TD101119">{{cite news |author1=Grace Lee |title=Native American education at Dartmouth develops over time |url=https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2019/10/native-american-education-at-dartmouth-develops-over-time |access-date=August 27, 2021 |work=The Dartmouth |issue=Homecoming edition |date=October 11, 2019 |quote=During the first 200 years of the College’s existence, a total of 19 Native American students graduated from Dartmouth}}</ref>

In 1764, Occom opposed the sale of tribal lands and was involved in the “Mason Controversy,” a long lasting dispute over land between the colonists and the Mohegans. The Mohegans formed an alliance with the Mason family to plead a case for the governor of Connecticut to give back the lands to the Mohegans. When Occom came back to Mohegans, he expressed his support for the Mason family and the Mohegans which caused the missionaries to make threats like taking away his preacher's license and to stop financing his missionary work. The colonists also started to spread bad rumors about Occom, especially about how he was an alcoholic and how he converted to Christianity just for show.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Peyer|first=Bernd|date=1982|title=Samson Occom: Mohegan Missionary and Writer of the 18th Century|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1183629|journal=American Indian Quarterly|volume=6|issue=3/4|pages=208–217|doi=10.2307/1183629|jstor=1183629 |issn=0095-182X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In a 1769 letter, Wheelock wrote to Occom about a rumor about Occom being an alcoholic. The rumor hurt Occom's reputation after Occom's success in fundraising money in England. Wheelock suggested that Occom truly does not care for Christianity.  The stereotype of the drunk Indian was put onto Occom and undermined his missionary work. Wheelock benefited from the defamation of Occom as Wheelock got back his authority. Wheelock's letter further put forth the concept of fake conversion onto Occom and that Occom was not to be trusted as a preacher.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Elliott|first=Michael|date=1994|title="This Indian Bait": Samson Occom and the Voice of Liminality|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25056982|journal=Early American Literature|volume=29|issue=3|pages=233–253|jstor=25056982 |issn=0012-8163}}</ref>

[[Image:BarberJohnWarnerSamsonOccamHouse.jpg|thumb|left|150px|''Occom's Mohegan home'', by [[John Warner Barber|John W. Barber]]]]
In 1768, Occom wrote ''[[A Short Narrative of My Life]]'', a ten-page [[manuscript]] now held in Dartmouth College's archive collection; however, it was not published until 1982.<ref>{{Citation | title = The Norton Anthology American Literature | volume = A | page = 446}}</ref> The document expands upon a single-page biography that Occom wrote before his preaching tour of England and Scotland.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://algonkianchurchhistory.blogspot.com/2008/11/occoms-short-narrative-of-my-life.html| title=Occom's 'Short Narrative of My Life'| work=Algonkian Church History| date=November 22, 2008| last=Siemers| first=Jeff| accessdate=December 24, 2015}}</ref> Occom also published ''Sermon at the Execution of Moses Paul'' and ''A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs'' in 1774. All of these documents provide a very different perspective on the relations between colonists and Native Americans from [[Mary Rowlandson]]'s narrative of her captivity in similar areas a century earlier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/mary.html |title=Mary Rowlandson |accessdate=2012-02-27 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131024901/http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/mary.html |archivedate=2012-01-31 }}</ref>

==Ministry and later life==
Upon his return from England, Occom lived with his Mohegan people. After Wheelock's betrayal, Occom together with son-in-law Joseph Johnson, brothers-in-law David and Jacob Fowler, and others, worked to organize the Christian (or “praying”) Indians of [[New England]] and [[Long Island]] into a new tribe in Upstate New York.  On October 4, 1774, the Oneida ceded land to the East Coast Indians and by 1775, the initial group had begun to migrate.  Burnt out at the outset of the Revolution, many went to Massachusetts to live among the Stockbridge until their return in 1785.  Occom, his son-in-law Joseph Johnson (who had been a messenger for General [[George Washington]] during the American Revolution), and his [[Montaukett|Montauk]] brother-in-law David Fowler led the people back to rebuild their settlement (near what is now [[Waterville, New York]]) called [[Brothertown Indians|Brothertown]].

The Oneida also invited other Christian Indians to live with them, namely the [[Mahican|Stockbridge Mohican]] from land claimed by western [[Massachusetts]] and two [[Lenape]] groups from the southern [[New Jersey]] area. The Mohicans founded what they called New Stockbridge in New York, near [[Oneida Lake]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mohican-nsn.gov/Departments/Library-Museum/Mohican_History/origin-and-early.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912122346/http://mohican-nsn.gov/Departments/Library-Museum/Mohican_History/origin-and-early.htm|url-status=dead|title=''Origin & Early Mohican History'', Stockbridge-Munsee Community|archivedate=September 12, 2009}}</ref> Occom not only assured that these villages received official [[Town privileges|civil charters]] in 1787, but also evicted white settlers from Brothertown on April 12, 1792.<ref name=Brooks>Brooks, Joanna, [https://books.google.com/books?id=R9ELRhEdupMC&pg=PR25 ''The Collected Writings of Samson Occom''], 2006: Oxford University Press</ref>

Occom died on July 14, 1792, in New Stockbridge. He is said to be buried just off Bogusville Hill Road outside of [[Deansboro, New York]].

==Legacy==
[[File:Memorial to Samson Occom.jpg|thumb|340x340px|Memorial to Samson Occom, Moor's Charity School, Columbia, CT]]After Occom's death, during the 1820s, many [[Brothertown Indians]] and some Oneida accepted payment from New York State for their land and were [[Indian removal|removed]] to what is now known as the town of [[Brothertown, Wisconsin|Brothertown]] in [[Calumet County, Wisconsin|Calumet County]], [[Wisconsin]]. In the modern era, the Brothertown Indians petitioned the federal government for recognition as a tribe, but were denied and have appealed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brothertown Indian Nation - Recognition Restoration|url=http://brothertownindians.org/government/recognition-restoration/|website=brothertownindians.org|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Petitioner #067: Brothertown Indian Nation {{!}} Indian Affairs|url=https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/ofa/067-brothe-wi|website=www.bia.gov|date=11 December 2012 |access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref>

{{libship honor|name=Samson Occom|type=his}}

Several locations around [[Dartmouth College]] in [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], are named after Occom, including Occom Pond and Occom Ridge on the college campus's northern edge, at {{Coord|43.71099|-72.28783|display=inline}}. The Native American Studies program has a Samson Occom [[professor]]ship.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://native-american.dartmouth.edu/people/n-bruce-duthu| title=N. Bruce Duthu| work=Program in Native American Studies| date=2 April 2013| publisher=Dartmouth College| accessdate=December 24, 2015}}</ref> The Occom Commons community space is part of Goldstein Hall in the recently opened McLaughlin Residential Cluster. [[Eastern Connecticut State University]] in [[Willimantic, Connecticut]], also named a residence hall for upperclassmen after Occom.

The [[Neighborhoods of Norwich, Connecticut|Norwich, Connecticut neighborhood of Occum]] is named for Samson Occom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/local/2021/12/27/how-did-norwich-ct-villages-taftville-bean-hill-occum-get-their-names-history/6507091001/|title=How did the villages of Norwich get their names?|website=Norwich Bulletin}}</ref>

The Brothertown Indians celebrate Samson Occom Day as an official Tribal holiday every July 14.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://brothertownindians.org/image/cache/OccomDayRes.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018132654/http://brothertownindians.org/image/cache/OccomDayRes.pdf |archive-date=2020-10-18 |title=Resolution Declaring the Annual Observance of July 14th as Samson Occom Day |publisher=Brothertown Indian Nation |website=borthertownindians.org}}</ref>

On April 27, 2019, the Native American Alumni Association of Dartmouth College erected a memorial on the site of Moor's Charity School in Columbia, CT, "commemorating and honoring Samson Occom for his contributions to the education of Native Americans and the founding of Dartmouth College."

==Works of Samson Occom==
* ''A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs'', New London, Connecticut: Press of Thomas and Samual Green, 1774.
*''A Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, An Indian Who Was Executed at New Haven on the 2nd of September 1772 for the Murder of Mr. Moses Cook, late of Waterbury, on the 7th of December 1771'', [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]]: Press of Thomas and Samual Green, 1772.
*"A Short Narrative of My Life". ''The Elders Wrote: An Anthology of Early Prose by North American Indians 1768-1931''. Ed. Bernd Peyer. [[Berlin]]: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1982 [1762], 12–18. (This work has recently been published in ''The Norton Anthology of American Literature''.)
*''Journals, 1754 and 1786(?)'', Unpublished manuscript in collection of [[New London County, Connecticut|New London County]] Historical Society.
*''Herbs and Roots'', Unpublished manuscript in collection of New London County Historical Society.
*''The Collected Writings of Samson Occom, Mohegan''. Ed. Joanna Brooks. New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 2006.

==See also==
{{Portal|Saints}}
*[[Native American temperance activists]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist |30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vG7oOpm6TSsC | last = Love | first = William DeLoss Samson | title = Occom and the Christian Indians of New England | place = Chicago | publisher = Pilgrim Press | year = 1899| isbn = 9780815604365 }}.
* Brooks, Joanna, ed. ''The Collected Writings of Samson Occom, Mohegan: Leadership and Literature in Eighteenth-Century Native America''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

==External links==
* [http://www.mpm.edu/wirp/ICW-157.html Indian Country Wisconsin: Brothertown History]
* [http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/eighteenth/occommohegan_sa.html Another Short Biography]
* [http://www.chs.org/library/ead/htm_faids/occos1792.htm Papers at Connecticut Historical Society]
* [http://www.midyork.org/Waterville/samson.htm  The Betrayal of Samson Occom]
* [https://archive.today/20080407201012/http://chi.gospelcom.net/DAILYF/2002/08/daily-08-30-2002.shtml Ordination of Samson Occom]
* [http://www.mohegan.nsn.us/heritage/SamsonOccum.aspx The Mohegan Tribe: Heritage: Samson Occum]
* [http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A83 Native American Authors: Samson Occom]
* [[s:The Old New York Frontier - 2.5|Francis Whiting Halsey, ''The Old New York Frontier'', Part 2, Chapter 5: New Men at Oghwaga]]
* Sherman, William Thomas, [https://archive.org/details/SamsonOccom "Rev. Samson Occom: A Voice for the Native Americans"]
* [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~occom/ Occom Circle Project] – documents by and about Occom housed at Dartmouth College

{{Dartmouth College}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Occom, Samson}}
[[Category:1723 births]]
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[[Category:18th-century American male writers]]
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[[Category:18th-century Native American people]]
[[Category:18th-century Presbyterian ministers]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]
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[[Category:People from Brothertown, Wisconsin]]
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[[Category:People from Montville, Connecticut]]
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[[Category:Presbyterian writers]]
[[Category:Religious figures of the indigenous peoples of North America]]