Mason Family Papers: The Digital Edition

George Mason I used his prominence in the community, his role in public servant positions, and leadership in the militia to cause harm to Native communities in Northern Virginia, along the Potomac.  One act in particular was the spark to ignite Bacon’s Rebellion, a violent clash in Virginia that left many dead and had ramifications for decades.[1]  The following three incidents shed light on the way Mason I lied for his own benefit, took revenge on Native people in violent ways that violated intra-colonial polices, caused suffering among the Doeg, and sought to dispossess Native people of their land.

Mason I’s relationship with Native people first entered the record in 1662 when the House Of Burgesses suspended Mason I of all civil and military positions.  Mason I, along with Giles Brent Sr., Col. Gerrard Fowke, and Mr. John Lord, framed Potowmeck Indian chief, Wahanganoche, for murder.  Brent and Fowke issued illegal warrants and imprisoned and bound Wahanganoche as they illegally charged him with treason and murder.  They also went against colonial laws ensuring safe conduct and protection of Native-Settler interactions. All paid fines to both Wahanganoche and the public.  Mason I paid Wahanganoche “one hundred armes length of roanokae” and 2,000 pounds of tobacco to the public for their deceit.  He could not take military office until he cleared his charges and paid his fines.[2]  Within a short time, Mason I returned to his civil and military positions.[3]  Fowke obtained Potomac Indian lands in 1664 and more land was recognized in 1679, clearly showing that the men sought to disrupt the Potomac Indians structure for their own gain, namely in land acquisition.  Mason I also shows his disdain for the law of the land when it suited his needs, an issue that would later cause Mason I to throw the region into war.

Mason I and the Annihilation of a Doeg Family and the Spark that Ignited Bacon’s Rebellion

In July of 1675, Thomas Mathew, an English Virginian colonizer, did not give payment to the Doeg for economic transactions made between the two, and the Doeg stole hogs from Mathewss for compensation and killed his herdsman.[4]  In a skirmish related to the hog incident Mathew’s son was killed as the English Virginians pursued the Doeg across the Potomac, battling each other on the river.  The Doeg lost men in the pursuit.[5]  The Doeg returned to Virginia to take revenge on Mathews and killed two of Mathew’s servants and one of his sons.[6]

Later, Mason I and Brent Jr. gathered militia men and crossed the Potomac into Maryland, outside of their colonial jurisdiction where they did not have permission to engage in acts of war.[7]  Furthermore, the Governor of Maryland stated that they were “at a time in Peace” with the Native people on the Maryland side of the Potomac.[8] Brent Jr. called out to the Doeg in their language, asking to have a council about the issue regarding Thomas Mathew.[9]  It should be remembered that the Brent’s land abutted Doeg land in Maryland and he was half Piscataway; Brent Jr. was close enough to their culture to speak their language and have an understanding of Doeg culture.  Brent Jr. did not enter the village to speak with the Doeg; instead he attacked the village.  A fight ensued where Brent Jr. killed the chief and ten other Doeg, and took the chief’s eight year old boy hostage. 

Not far from where Brent Jr. attacked the Doeg, Mason I attacked another village he thought was a Doeg village, but turned out to be Susquehannock Indians who were wrongfully killed by Mason’s militia.  One Susquehannock person tugged on Mason I’s arm saying, “Susquehannock! Netoughs (Friends)!”[10]  By that time it was too late.  Brent Jr. annihilated a family.  Mason I started a conflict as his mistake upset the delicate balance that existed between Native peoples and English colonizers in Virginia and Maryland.  Brent Jr. and Mason I violated intra-colonial laws and used state-sponsored violence, through the use of the militia, to attack the Doeg.[11]

Mason I and the Doeg Chief’s Son

Mason I’s took the chief’s son to his house where his wife tended to the boy.  The boy laid in a catatonic state for ten days.[12]  Mason I, his wife, and Brent Jr. suggested the boy was bewitched, as they believed Native people practiced witchcraft.  Today we would recognize that the boy suffered from trauma after witnessing the events that destroyed his family. Brent Jr. and Mason I decided to baptize the boy, without receiving consent from the boy or the family, by a clerk Mr. Dobson, who legally could baptize people into the Church of England.[13]  Shortly after the ceremony, the boy regained consciousness and was sent back to his tribe, although we do not know the details of his return.[14]  This is an example of how colonial thought about Native culture viewed them as heathens and practitioners of witchcraft and baptized Native children without permission.  It also shows the trauma which Native people experienced, and the denial of that trauma by colonizers.

The Susquehannock led a number of attacks to avenge the deaths that Mason I caused, but the number of English colonizers killed was far less than the number of Native people killed.[15]  As more Native attacks raged through the colonies, settlers frustrated by their own ability to obtain land allowed their own hunger for Native land to lead to widespread war.  The consequences of these killings led to Bacon’s Rebellion.  Brent Jr. would go on to fight in Bacon’s Rebellion, until Bacon turned on the government of Virginia, while Mason I chose to obey Governor Berkely’s orders not to fight in the rebellion.[16]  However, Mason I hired “certaine Indians” to kill or capture Native people they both viewed as enemies.[17]  While the Maryland government complained of the actions of Mason I and Brent Jr., neither faced consequences for their actions.

As for the Doeg boy, he would be held again by the Mason family later in his life.