1633-34 — Smallpox Epidemic, New England Natives, Plymouth Colonists, MA –>1000

Native Americans, New England:

—      >1000  Blanchard estimate.[1]

—        >950  Plymouth col. gov. William Bradford in: Peters. Smallpox…New World. 2005, p.27.

— Multitudes.   Kohn. Encyclopedia of Plague & Pestilence. 2001, p. 66.)

— Entire tribes. Krucik, George. “10 Worst Outbreaks in U.S. History.” Healthline, 1-22-2013.

 

Plymouth, MA Colony

— 20  123HelpMe.com. “Smallpox in New England.” Accessed 1-23-2013.

 

Narrative Information

 

123HelpMe.com. “Native Americans were completely susceptible to contracting the disease, but they weren’t the only victims. Twenty people died on the Mayflower as a result of smallpox. There was a smallpox outbreak in Plymouth Colony around 1633. Twenty people died including their only physician. This was the beginning of the colonial’s struggle with the disease.  Smallpox became distinguishable as the most destructive disease in New England in 1633. From this date forward, smallpox continued to plague New England.”  (123HelpMe.com. “Smallpox in New England.” Accessed 1-23-2013.)

 

Bradford: “This spring, also, those Indeans [sic] that lived aboute their trading house[2] there fell sick of the small poxe[3] and dyed most miserably; for a sorer disease cannot befall them; they fear it more then the plague; for usually they that have this disease have them in abundance, and for wante of bedding and linning and other helps, they fall into a lamentable condition, as they lye on their hard matts, the poxe breaking and mattering, and running one into another, their skin cleaving (by reason thereof) to the matts they lye on; when they turne them, a whole side will flea of at once {204} (as it were,) and they will be all of a gore blood, most fearfull to behold; and then being very sore, what with could and other distempers, they dye like rotten sheep. The condition of this people was so lamentable, and they fell downe so generally of this disease, as they were (in the end) not able to help on another; no, not to make a fire, nor to fetch a little water to drink, nor any to burie the dead; but would strive as long as they could, and when they could procure no other means to make fire, they would burn the woden trays and dishes they ate their meat in, and their very bows and arrows; and some would crawl out on all fours to get a little water, and some times dye by the way, and not be able to get in again. But those of the English house, (though at first they were afraid of the infection,) yet seeing their woeful and sad condition, and hearing their pitiful cries and lamentations, they had compassion of them, and dayly fetched them wood and water, and made them fires, got them victuals whilst they lived, and buried them when they dyed. For very few of them escaped, notwithstanding they did what they could for them, to the hazard of them selves. The cheefe Sachem him selfe now dyed, and almost all his friends and kinred. But by the marvelous goodness and providens of God not one of the English was so much as sick, or in the least measure tainted with this disease, though they dayly did these offices for them for many weeks together. And this mercie which they showed them was kindly taken, and thankfully acknowledged of all the Indeans that knew or heard of the same; and their m[aste]rs here did much commend and reward them for the same.”

(Bradford. Plimmoth Plantation, “1634,” pp. 193-195.)

 

Calloway: “A disease that may have been smallpox raged south of the Merrimack River in 1631, but it was slight compared to the massive epidemic that broke out in 1633. Smallpox swept along the St. Lawrence, down the Connecticut River, where it disrupted the developing fur trade, through New England and westward to Huron country, affecting almost all Indian groups in the Northeast. The death rate was appalling.

 

“Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony reported that one Indian village up the Connecticut River had suffered ‘such a mortalitie that of a 1000, above 900 and a half of them dyed, and many of them did rott above ground for want of a buriall.’ Dean Snow’s researches into the epidemic provide confirmation of a 95 percent depopulation.[4]

 

“This contagion was the first in a series of epidemics that affected the area between eastern Canada and the Great Lakes in the next decade.” (Calloway, Collin G. The Western Abenakis of Vermont, 1600-1800: War, Migration, and the Survival of an Indian People. 1994, p. 36.)

 

Crosby: “The first recorded epidemic of smallpox in British or French North America erupted among the Algonkins of Massachusetts in the early 1630s: ‘Whole towns of them were swept away, in some not so much as one soul escaping Destruction.’[5] William Bradford of Plymouth Plantation, a few miles south, provided a few more details on just how hard the Algonkins nearby were hit, and how the death rates could soar to such heights in these epidemics. Some of the victims, he wrote,

 

Fell down so generally of this disease as they were in the end not able to help one another, no not to make a fire nor fetch a little water to drink, nor any to bury the dead.  But would strive as long s they could, and when they could procure no other means to make fire, they would burn the wooden trays and dishes they ate their meat from, and their very bows and arrows.  And some would crawl out on all fours to get a little water, and sometimes die by the way and not be able to get in again.[6]

 

“The disease raged through New England, on west into the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes region, and from there no one knows how much farther.”  (Crosby, Alfred W. Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900. Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 202.)

 

Drake: “1633. Nov. – Chikataubut, sachem of Shawmut and its vicinity, dies of the small pox, as does also Montowampate, sachem of Saugus, and Monohaquaham of the same place.”  (Drake, Samuel G. Chronicles of the Indians of America, From its First Discovery to the Present Time. Boston: 1836.  In Drake, S. G. The Old Indian Chronicle; Being a Collection of Exceeding Rare Tracts Written and Published in the Time of King Philip’s War, by Persons Residing in the Country; to Which are Now Added Marginal Notes and Chronicles of the Indians From the discovery of America to the present time. Boston: Antiquarian Institute, 1836.)

 

Kohn: “Connecticut Smallpox Epidemic of 1634 Pestilence carried by Dutch traders to the Connecticut River Indians that precipitated a catastrophic epidemic — a sequence of outbreaks over a period of about seven years — among Indians along the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes and into eastern Canada. The Pequots (Mohawks of the Iroquois nation who had driven out the Mohicans) had invited both the English (Massachusetts Bay) and Dutch (New Netherlands) to the Connecticut river for trade….Although there are no comprehensive statistics, multitudes of Indians died. Individual, firsthand accounts reported that many more died than lived. According to William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Plantation, 95 out of every 100 Indians died in the Connecticut River valley outbreak, while the English escaped infection….Smallpox devastated populations never before exposed to the disease, killing up to 90 percent of those infected….”(Kohn. Encyclopedia of Plague & Pestilence. 2001, pp. 66-67.)

 

Krucik:  “1633-1634: Smallpox Epidemic in New England

 

“The first truly terrible disease outbreak came to America with the first Europeans. While smallpox has been around for thousands of years, European settlers first brought smallpox to North America in the 1600s. In 1633-1634, the disease swept through the Northeast, wiping out entire Native American tribes.”  (Krucik, George.  “10 Worst Outbreaks in U.S. History.” Healthline.com, 1-22-2013.)

 

Mashantucket Pequot Museum: “Deserted wigwams and abandoned villages dotted the landscape of southern New England in the early 17th century—a grim testament to the tragic effects of European colonization on Native society and culture…. Two major epidemics occurred in southern New England in the early 17th century. The first, possibly an outbreak of bubonic plague, took place during the years 1616 through 1619. The second and more widespread case was the smallpox epidemic of 1633 and 1634, which swept across the entire Northeast.

 

“Smallpox and the other diseases brought over by Europeans killed entire families, but the young were particularly vulnerable. The loss of so many children and young people made it difficult for the Pequot population to rebound even after the epidemics had run their course.

 

“Native population in New England plummeted by over 70% as a result of these epidemics, and some Native groups lost up to 95% of their members. Like other Native tribes in southern New England, the Pequots suffered extremely high mortality rates during this period, leaving behind a population in 1636 of an estimated 4,000 people—a small fraction of the tribe’s population prior to European contact….”  (Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. “The Impact of European Diseases.”)

 

Peters: “The relationship between the Native Americans and the English settlers was still uneasy in 1630.  Then, in 1633, a second smallpox epidemic struck Massachusetts. Many of the Native Americans who had survived the earlier epidemic died. Twenty Plymouth colonists also succumbed. Despite these twenty deaths, the 1633 epidemic was seen as a gift from God by some Puritans. One such Puritan was Increase Mather, an outspoken clergyman and one of the first presidents of Harvard College.  He wrote this of the outbreak:

 

The Indians began to be quarrelsome concerning the bounds of the land they had sold to the English; but God ended the controversy by sending the smallpox amongst the Indians at Saugust, who were before that time exceeding numerous. Whole towns of hem were swept away, in some of them not so much as one Soul escaping the destruction.

 

“Mather was not alone in his belief that smallpox was a beneficent act of God. Records remain of many European settlers praising God for the disease. By wiping out the Indians, smallpox helped the colonists help themselves to land and resources formerly controlled by unfriendly native people. The Europeans could and did colonize virtually unchallenged in some areas.

 

“Smallpox did not stay confined to the shores of Massachusetts. At the time of the 1633 epidemic, Dutch traders were on the Massachusetts coast looking to establish trade relations with the Native American tribes. The Dutch retreated inland when the epidemic struck. They carried smallpox along with them. Their journey took them through the Connecticut River valley. In the winter of 1633-1634, the disease attacked the Narraganset Indians as well as other tribes living along the Connecticut River.

 

“William Bradford, governor of he Plymouth colony, happened to be in the area when the epidemic hit.  He described what he saw during this outbreak:

 

They lye on their hard matts, ye poxe breaking and mattering, and running one into another, their skin cleaving (by reason thereof) to the matts they lye on; when they turn them, a whole side will flea off at once…and hey will be all of a gore blood, most fearful to behold.  And then being very sore, what with could {cold} and other distempers, they dye like rotten sheep.

 

“The death toll was horrific: “Of a 1000, above 900 and a halfe of them dyed.’ Bradford later wrote, ‘and many of hem did rot above ground for want of buriall. It didn’t take long for the disease to spread throughout and beyond the boundaries of New England.”  (Peters, Stephanie True. Epidemic! Smallpox in the New World. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 2005, 26-27.)

 

Sources

 

123HelpMe.com. “Smallpox in New England.” Accessed 1-23-2013 at: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=40835

 

Bradford, William. History of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647 (Vol. II of two volumes). Massachusetts Historical Society, 1912. Google digital preview from copy in Harvard College Library. Accessed 9-12-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books/about/History_of_Plymouth_Plantation_1620_1647.html?id=N6hVgkcv3dIC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Calloway, Collin G. The Western Abenakis of Vermont, 1600-1800: War, Migration, and the Survival of an Indian People.  University of Oklahoma Press, 1994. Google digitized. At:  http://books.google.com/books?id=EB2Q1un0tzkC&pg=PA261&lpg=PA261&dq=1616+epidemic&source=web&ots=vi_KAtJOp-&sig=YkgHh7Afx5agGNikrWN2s9GZGCY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA36,M1

 

Crosby, Alfred W. Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900. Cambridge University Press, 2004. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Phtqa_3tNykC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Drake, Samuel G.  Chronicles of the Indians of America, From its First Discovery to the Present Time. Boston: 1836.  In Drake, S. G. The Old Indian Chronicle; Being a Collection of Exceeding Rare Tracts Written and Published in the Time of King Philip’s War, by Persons Residing in the Country; to Which are Now Added Marginal Notes and Chronicles of the Indians From the discovery of America to the present time. Boston: Antiquarian Institute, 1836. Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=NUwMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Kohn, George Childs (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence From Ancient Times to the Present (Revised Edition). NY: Checkmark Books, 1995 and 2001.

 

Krucik, George. “10 Worst Outbreaks in U.S. History.” Healthline.com, 1-22-2013. Accessed 1-24-2013: http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/10-worst-disease-outbreaks#2

 

Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. “The Impact of European Diseases.”  Accessed 1-23-2013: http://www.pequotmuseum.org/SocietyCulture/TheImpactofDisease/

 

Peters, Stephanie True. Epidemic! Smallpox in the New World. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 2005. Partially Google digitized. Accessed 1-24-2013 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=v0zEiM_hijsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

[1] Over 1,000 is, we believe a conservative number.  Cited, below, is Plymouth Colony Governor Bradford to the effect that over 950 out of 1,000 Natives near the colony died of the disease.  In addition, we know that 20 Plymouth colonists died. Whole tribes are said to have been decimated or wiped out in New England.  Thus, it is plausible that well over one thousand died. It may well be the case that thousands died.

[2] Dutch trading house on Connecticut River in today’s Connecticut.

[3] Editor’s footnote 1: “The epidemic which had raged in November of the previous year passed from tribe to tribe, and spread over wide territory. Brébeuf, missionary among the Hurons in 1635, noted that almost no one who returned by canoe from trading was not afflicted with this contagion. ‘It has been so universal among the savages of our acquaintance that I do not know if one has escaped its attacks.’ He described the sickness as beginning with violent fever, which was followed by a sort of measles or smallpox ‘different, how ever, from that common in France, accompanied in several cases by blindness for some days, or by dimness of sight, and terminated at length by diarrhoea which has carried off many.’ Jesuit Relations (Thwaites), viii, 87, 89; Parkman, Jesuits in North America, 87.” Goes on to write, in next paragraph: “Roger Williams noted that the customary visit to the sick, ‘a poore empty visit and presence’ among the Indians, was omitted in infectious diseases; ‘and then all forsake them and flie, that I have often seene a poore House left alone in the wild Woods, all being fled, the living not able to bury the dead; so terrible is the apprehension of an infectious disease, that not only persons, but the Houses and the whole Towne takes flight.’ He recorded a word, ‘mamaskishaumitch,’ meaning the ‘last pox, that is, this visitation of 1633-34. Key into the Language of America (Narragansett Club), 210. Thomas Morton corroborates the desertion of the dying by the living. New English Canaan (Prince Society), 132. Winter, reported from Richmond Island, in August, 1634, ‘Theris a great many of the Indyans dead this yeare, both east and west from us, and a great many dyes still to the eastward from us.’ Trelawny Papers, 47.”

[4] Cited is:  Dean R. Snow and Kim M. Lamphear, “European Contact and Indian Depopulation in the Northeast:  The Timing of the First Epidemics.”  Ethnohistory, Vol. 35, Winter 1988, pp. 15-33.

[5] John Duffy. “Smallpox and the Indians in the American Colonies.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol. 25, Jul-Aug 1951, p. 327.

[6] William Bradford.  Of Plymouth Plantation, ed. Samuel Eliot Morison.  New York: Knopf, 1952, p. 271.