Mason Family Papers: The Digital Edition

In December 1691, “the King of the Doegs” (who by most scholars believe is the boy who was taken to Mason’s house after Mason killed his family) was captured, by Mason II’s Potomac Rangers, along with five other Native men for killing a mare belonging to Robert Brent’s brother.[1]  Mason II held him and his friends as prisoners for 106 days.[2]  From testimony, it seems that the group relied on the Doeg as their leader.[3]  The Doeg Chief’s son relayed his life story after being captured by Brent Jr. and Mason I in 1675.  His tale is an example of many experiences Native people faced with European colonization.  About a year after his capture, he became a prisoner of “the Senecar Indians from the Nanjatica Indians” and had lived with the Iroquois until 1690 when he moved to Maryland with the Mattawomans.  He then moved to Virginia to try to return to the Nanzaticos (Rice, Nature, pg. 163).    The Doeg man was said to speak Piscataway and some English, though it is likely he also spoke Seneca having lived with them for many years.[4]  He may have lived with other Native people in two houses with their families and may have tried to live with the Piscataway.[5] 

He was released to return to the Nanzaticos as they agreed to pay his fine and guarantee his future “fidelity.”[6]  This man’s story shows colonial violence, family loss and trauma, imprisonment, migration, and adoption by other Native tribes.  By the early 18^th century, the Doeg no longer appear in colonial records and seem to have seized to exist as an independent people.

Mason II would go on to continue monitoring the frontier and involving himself in Indian affairs.  He acquired land on Doeg’s Neck and later willed the former land of the Doeg to his son, George Mason III.

In December 1691, “the King of the Doegs” (who by most scholars believe is the boy who was taken to Mason’s house after Mason killed his family) was captured, by Mason II’s Potomac Rangers, along with five other Native men for killing a mare belonging to Robert Brent’s brother.^[1]  Mason II held him and his friends as prisoners for 106 days.^[2]  From testimony, it seems that the group relied on the Doeg as their leader.^[3]  The Doeg Chief’s son relayed his life story after being captured by Brent Jr. and Mason I in 1675.  His tale is an example of many experiences Native people faced with European colonization.  About a year after his capture, he became a prisoner of “the Senecar Indians from the Nanjatica Indians” and had lived with the Iroquois until 1690 when he moved to Maryland with the Mattawomans.  He then moved to Virginia to try to return to the Nanzaticos (Rice, Nature, pg. 163).    The Doeg man was said to speak Piscataway and some English, though it is likely he also spoke Seneca having lived with them for many years.^[4]  He may have lived with other Native people in two houses with their families and may have tried to live with the Piscataway.^[5] 

He was released to return to the Nanzaticos as they agreed to pay his fine and guarantee his future “fidelity.”^[6]  We do not know what happened to the Doeg Boy, but we do know what happened to the Nanzaticos.  In 1704, frustrated by continued encroachment on their land by Virginian English and the colonial government’s refusal to help them, some Nanzaticos attacked a family and was punished by death for murder.  Many other Nanzaticos found themselves sold into slavery.[7]  Was the Doeg Boy part of this history?  If he was, he faced another forced relocation and upheaval in his life.  This man’s story shows colonial violence, family loss and trauma, imprisonment, migration, and adoption by other Native tribes.  By the early 18^th century, the Doeg no longer appear in colonial records and seem to have seized to exist as an independent people.

The Mason Family, on the other hand, continued to rise in prominence.  George Mason IV became an influential statesman who helped craft the U.S. Constitution and supported the continued practice of slavery.  The Mason Family lived in Doeg’s Neck for almost two centuries, evening renaming the land Mason Neck.  While the Mason family’s prominence declined after their support of the Confederacy in the Civil War, the Doeg’s land continues to carry the name of the family who acts of war and actions aided in the dispossession of the Doeg and ultimately the destruction of the tribe.  The name Mason Neck continues to erasure of the Doeg and their history and legacy.