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User:Averageuntitleduser/Mother Solomon

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Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon
BornNovember 1816 (1816-11)
Owl Creek, Marion County, Ohio, U.S.
DiedAugust 18, 1890(1890-08-18) (aged 73)
Sandusky River, Ohio, U.S.
Resting placeWyandot Mission Church
Other namesMother Solomon
OccupationNanny
Spouses
David Young
​
​
(m. 1833; died 1851)​
John Solomon
​
(died 1876)​
Children8
Signature
"Margaret, S." printed in cursive.

Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon (November 1816 – August 18, 1890), better known as Mother Solomon, was a Wyandot nanny.

Early life, education, and family edit

Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon was born in November 1816 in Marion County, Ohio, along Owl Creek.[1][a] The oldest of at least four siblings and two half-siblings,[2][4] her father was the Wyandot chief John "Squire" Grey Eyes,[1][5][b] and her mother was named Eliza.[6] Following tradition, Eliza pierced Solomon's ears a few days after birth and inserted chicken feathers as they healed, anticipating the future jewelry she would wear. Solomon only received her given name at the Green Corn Feast held in August.[3] As a child, she sat with a group to hear her uncle, chief Warpole, recount the history of their "Grey Eyes" lineage. He spoke of customs like the war dance, Green Corn Feast, and lacrosse and highlighted the Wyandot's tobacco-growing origins in Canada.[7]

When Solomon was four, she and her father traveled 50 miles to Hancock County on a hunting trip. They camped one night at Fort Findlay in a blockhouse built by president William Henry Harrison.[3] That year, Squire also accompanied Solomon to the Olentangy Indian Caverns. She was too afraid to explore them, but realized the importance of visiting such sites where her ancestors had held meetings or hid from enemies. She and her family, busy hunting and trading along village footpaths,[8] moved to a small cabin in the Big Spring Reservation two years later.[2][8]

Methodist missionaries were prominent in the reserve and informed the theological practices of many Wyandots; Squire was among a group of chiefs that requested the Methodist Episcopal Church to build a mission school in neighbouring Upper Sandusky.[9] Upon its opening in 1821, Solomon was one of the first students to be enrolled.[1][3] She became the "little charge" of Harriet Stubbs, who taught her hymns,[10] and a pupil of John Stewart.[3] She learned to read and write English and, alongside the other schoolgirls, to cook, sew, assemble fibers for knitting, and housekeep.[2][5][11] Still, her family spoke Wyandot at home, where she recited traditional teachings to her dolls in the language.[12] Growing up, she continued to attend the school, all the while its number of facilities increased.[1][3][11]

A religious vigor was instilled within Solomon at school.[5] She began frequenting the services of the adjacent Wyandot Mission Church by age eight, eventually befriending each of its pastors.[1][3] Some of the Wyandots buried around the church were her converts, and she commited to sharing the gospel with her people.[5] A Wyandot peer, David Young, began dating her after receiving permission from Eliza,[3][13] and on February 4, 1833, the couple were married in the church by the priest Thomas Simms.[14]

Wyandot removal to Kansas edit

President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act, calling for Indigenous communities to move west of the Mississippi River, passed in 1830.[15] The Wyandots faced mounting pressure as treaty commissioners, spurred on by federal government, began enticing removal within the region, and nearby Lenapes and Shawnees signed their own removal treaties. However, Wyandot scouting parties out west in 1831 and 1834 rejected their proposed land tracts. Tensions peaked when,[16] in the fall of 1841, two white men murdered the head chief Summundewat, rendering Solomon uncertain as to her community's future.[3][17] She tried convincing her leaders to valedict their homeland;[18] her father, Squire Grey Eyes, only conceded when a Wyandot council voted two-thirds in favor of removal. Having secured 25,000 acres within Kansas City, Kansas, the Wyandots signed a removal treaty in March 1842.[19]

On July 9, 1843,[20] hundreds gathered at the Wyandot Mission Church, Solomon included, to "sob their last farewells", disperse flowers across the adjoining graveyard, and hear Squire's Wyandot language parting speech.[21][22] She and her husband, David Young, had two children of their own buried in the cemetery. After packing their bags, they embarked with their remaining children on July 12. About 664 Wyandots arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, after a week of travel by wagon, horse, and foot. Before boarding two steamships, they were harassed by whiskey traders. They learned that their land had been reneged upon setting foot in Kansas, forcing many to camp in the flooded lowlands. Blinding eye inflammation, measles, and severe diarrhea were widespread, and 18% of the initial Wyandot fleet had died by 1844.[23]

Having endured the traumatic journey, Young began work as a ferryman while Solomon tried to recuperate with her family. She had a few more children,[24] totaling to three boys and five girls, but alongside the remaining ones, these died in infancy.[2] Upon the death of her two-year-old son in 1848 and another son to fever a year later, she only had three living daughters by 1851. That year, Young contracted fatal tuberculosis, and in 1852, another daughter died. By the end of the decade, Solomon had buried her entire family side by side in the Huron Indian Cemetery, which, by then, had replaced the mission school and church as the community's bastion.[21][24]

 
John Solomon c. 1870

Further, a gray horse, bay horse, and brown mare, worth $195 combined,[c] were stolen from Solomon in September 1848, of which she attributed to Oregon emigrants. Further thefts occured that fall to 30 of her pigs, worth $90 in total.[d] A friend of hers, Catherine Johnson, corroborated that possessions totaling $580,[e] including oxen and horses, were stolen from her across 1855–1859. In one case, a housekeeper named James Cook fled after taking $225 of gold coin from a chest owned by her brother.[26][f] However, in 1858 or 1860, Solomon reportedly "found new happiness" when she married the Wyandot sheriff John Solomon. He was likewise a widow.[1][14][21]

Return to Ohio edit

Margaret was struck by homesickness after marrying John Solomon.[1][27] A longing formed for her old memories, as well as her children buried by the Wyandot Mission Church. This compelled her to address a letter to the government requesting permission to return to Ohio. After it was accepted,[18] she convinced John and her nephew, Jimmy Guyami, to join her.[1] In October 1862, her and John's two-acre land tract on the south end of Tauromee street was put up for auction,[28] and in 1865, the three travelled to Upper Sandusky.[1] Upon arrival, Margaret and John became members of the Belle Vernon United Brethren Church,[21] whose services were held in a schoolhouse. John also took up a job as a tailer.[1] New shops, hotels, and a large courthouse now stood downtown,[21] but they settled along the Big Spring Reservation in her prior small cabin, whereupon much of the village had deteriorated.[1][27] Notably, the village council house burned down in 1851, and the roof and walls of the mission church had begun to collapse. Still, its graveyard was steadily groomed, and a few former houses had remained.[27] Slightly west was the brick home of the Parker family. They were the namesake of the Parker Covered Bridge built in 1873, which Margaret and John frequently wandered across during their trips to Upper Sandusky.[21]

John died on December 14, 1876, leaving Margaret widowed a second time.[2][21] Now 60, she found pleasure in babysitting the neighbourhood children,[1] for which she often sought after struggling families.[27] She also became a surrogate mother.[1] As Margaret grew older, Guyami joined her in looking after the children.[21] The historian Kathryn Magee Labelle called her childcare tireless and daily.[29] As such, many residents later attested to being raised by her, deeming it an honor. The village, out of its respect for Margaret, gave her the nickname "Mother Solomon".[1][27] According to James F. Croneis of Telegraph-Forum, "as late as the 1950s a woman still said, 'Mother Solomon, the old Indian lady, took care of me when I was a baby.'"[21] Solomon used her good reputation to promote Wyandot culture and teachings amongst the village. She continued to speak the Wyandot language and demonstrated it during community gatherings and public presentations.[30] In 1883, she gave away paintings of the prominent chiefs Mononcue and Between-the-Logs, permitting them to be reproduced.[31] To remind children of the ties between their ancestors and contemporary Wyandots, Solomon repeated traditional stories told to her by elders.[30] The Hocking Sentinel described her storytelling as "full of interest and romance". They thought she displayed "a wonderful amount of intelligence" on the topic of the genealogy of her ancestors, whom she described as having lived by Lake Huron, being termed "Petun" by the French for their harvesting of tobacco, and being subject to attack by the Iroquois.[32]

 
Solomon in 1887

Solomon implored the village to restore and continue operating the run-down mission church. She argued that by doing so, a piece of the Ohian-Wyandot historical record would be preserved. In 1888, having set aside a $2,000 budget, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church began repairing it.[12] On September 21, 1889, upon completion, the Central Ohio Conference held a rededication ceremony.[12][33] There were an estimated 3,000 attendees that afternoon, Guyami included.[33][34] William H. Gibson was among the various ministers who gave speeches,[35] and Elnathan C. Gavitt, the only former missionary in attendance, spoke of the church's accomplishments.[36] Likewise, Solomon was the only departing Wyandot of 1843 to be present.[12][35] At the age of 72, she "delight[ed] the audience" with a Wyandot translation of a hymn she had learned there, titled "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing".[37] The Urbana Daily Citizen's J. W. Henley called her an "object of great interest",[33] and the Western Christian Advocate concurred.[36] She was described as "aged and venerable",[35] yet "strong and well preserved".[36] Many attendees admired the beauty of her native language,[37] and The Bryan-College Station Eagle wrote that she sang sweetly and clearly.[34] As the participants of the service circulated and shook hands, the Western Christian Advocate concluded: "Mother Solomon, and many others, became very happy, and rejoiced, and shouted the praises of God."[36]

In her final years, Solomon sensed that she was weakening.[1] When the elderly woman's cabin on the edge of the Sandusky River flooded, a townsman, Joseph Parker, would row over to retrieve her from the upstairs window.[21] N. B. C. Love, an organizer of the Wyandot Mission Church's rededication,[35] reported in 1889: "Native to this soil, she expects before many years to lie down in it, as in the arms of a loving mother, while with the Christian's hope she sings of 'The Land That Is Fairer than Day,' where she expects to meet the loved ones of her people."[38] By July 1890, she agreed to move into the home of Mrs. Jacob Hayman and her husband.[1]

Death and legacy edit

Solomon died on August 18, 1890. Her funeral was held in the Wyandot Mission Church two days later.[1][39] Despite a downpour that morning, a large crowd with "pioneers from all parts of the county" gathered to pay their respects. The service was led by the paster G. Lease, who spoke of her "nobleness and true womanhood".[39][40] Solomon was buried next to her husband David Young in the fenced cemetary behind the church.[1] Her death was widely reported in local newspapers, which emphasized her father as a noted chief, her removal to Kansas and return to Ohio, and her respected work as a nanny. The historian Kathryn Magee Labelle referred to this coverage as a "momentary acknowledgement of [Wyandot] resilience in Ohio". However, many stories misrepresented Solomon as "the last of the Wyandots", which she attributed to the prominent "Vanishing Indian" stereotype and an attempt at erasing Wyandots from Ohio.[39] Solomon has since been deemed a popular Ohian figure. According to the archivist Thelma R. Marsh,[6] she was "almost a legend" when she died.[41] Labelle wrote that her attainment of the honorific "Mother", as opposed to the lesser "Sister" or "Auntie", indicated that her work was successful. She ascribed Solomon to a Midwestern, 19th century wave of mothers who sought to mediate between settler and Indigenous groups.[29] Similarly, in the encyclopedia Women of Ohio, it is doubted that an Indigenous or White woman was more "admired and trusted" by either race than Solomon.[5]

In February 1931, a century-old chair built by Solomon, with a woven shagbark hickory seat and no nails, was displayed at the Wyandot County Museum.[42] There, a glass case was dedicated to her in May 1971 which exhibited her glasses, smoking pipe, beaded purse, candle molds, woven basket, and portrait.[43] An exception to the limited works about Solomon is Marsh's 1984 children's book Daughter of Grey Eyes: The Story of Mother Solomon. It spans 60 pages and draws from archival material, journal articles, and family interviews.[6] On the morning of August 12, 1990, Marsh led a service at the mission church commemorating the centennial of Solomon's funeral.[44] She died and was buried there two years later.[6] In October 2016, the church held a tour of the cemetary during an event celebrating the bicentennial of missionaries coming to Ohio. Solomon's story, among others, was recounted to the 192 people in attendance.[45] After the McCutchen Overland Inn Museum received Solomon's saddle from the Wyandot County Museum, they displayed it among the Anderson General Store in May 2021.[46]

Notes edit

  1. ^ James F. Croneis, The Cincinnati Enquirer, and Ronald I. Marvin Jr. cite her birthdate as November 26, 27, and 29, respectively.[1][2][3] The Cincinnati Enquirer cites her birthplace as Wayne County.[2]
  2. ^ Kathryn Magee Labelle cites his given name as "Lewis". Variations on the surname include "Greyeyes" and "Grey-Eyes",[6] sometimes with the spelling "Gray".[2]
  3. ^ Equivalent to $4,700 in 2023.[25]
  4. ^ Equivalent to $2,200 in 2023.[25]
  5. ^ Equivalent to $14,000 in 2023.[25]
  6. ^ Equivalent to $5,400 in 2023.[25]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Marvin Jr. 2015, p. 38.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Mother Solomon. Last of the Wyandot Indian Tribe in This State". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 29, 1889. p. 19. Archived from the original on April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Croneis, James F.; et al. (July 26, 1991). "A Short History of the Indians of Crawford and Wyandot Counties (Part 17)". Telegraph-Forum. p. 4. Archived from the original on April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 53–54.
  5. ^ a b c d e Neely 1939, p. 59.
  6. ^ a b c d e Labelle 2021, p. 53.
  7. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 53, 62–63.
  8. ^ a b Labelle 2021, p. 55.
  9. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 55–56.
  10. ^ Stevenson, R. T. (January 12, 1916). "Centennial of the Wyandot Mission: 1816-1916". Western Christian Advocate. p. 6. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  11. ^ a b Labelle 2021, p. 57.
  12. ^ a b c d Labelle 2021, p. 63.
  13. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 54, 57.
  14. ^ a b Labelle 2021, p. 54.
  15. ^ Labelle 2021, p. 51.
  16. ^ Littlefield Jr. & Parins 2011, pp. 273–274.
  17. ^ Labelle 2021, p. 59.
  18. ^ a b Neely 1939, p. 60.
  19. ^ Labelle 2021, p. 58.
  20. ^ Klopfenstein, Carl G. (April 1957). "The Removal of the Wyandots from Ohio". The Ohio Historical Quarterly. 66: 132–133. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Croneis, James F.; et al. (September 6, 1991). "A Short History of the Indians of Crawford and Wyandot Counties (Part 23)". Telegraph-Forum. p. 4. Archived from the original on April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 52, 59.
  23. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 59–61, 64.
  24. ^ a b Labelle 2021, p. 61.
  25. ^ a b c d 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  26. ^ Report of the Commissioners Appointed in Accordance with the Senate Amendment of the 13th Article of the Treaty of 23d of February, 1867, Embracing the Claims of the Wyandott Indians. Index to the Senate Executive Documents for the Second Session of the Forty-First Congress of the United States of America. 1869–'70. (Report). Vol. 2. United States Government Printing Office. 1870. pp. 12–13. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  27. ^ a b c d e Labelle 2021, p. 62. Cite error: The named reference "FOOTNOTELabelle202162" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  28. ^ Wood, Luther H. (May 25, 1862). "Sheriff's Sale". The Olathe News. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ a b Labelle 2021, p. 52.
  30. ^ a b Labelle 2021, pp. 62–63.
  31. ^ Schlup, Emil (April 1906). "The Wyandot Mission". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications. 15: 169, 177. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  32. ^ "The Last of the Wyandottes". The Hocking Sentinel. September 4, 1890. p. 2. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ a b c Henley, J. W. (September 25, 1889). "Rev. J. W. Henley Describes the City and the M. E. Conference Recently Held There". Urbana Daily Citizen. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ a b "Famous Old Church". Bryan-College Station Eagle. June 11, 1897. p. 2. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ a b c d King, I. F. (October 1901). "Introduction of Methodism in Ohio". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications. 10: 203. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  36. ^ a b c d B., T. N. (October 2, 1889). "Re-dedication of the Wyandot Mission Church". Western Christian Advocate. p. 4. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  37. ^ a b Labelle 2021, p. 64.
  38. ^ Love, N. B. C. (March 5, 1889). "The Exodus of the Wyandots". Telegraph-Forum. p. 4. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ a b c Labelle 2021, p. 65.
  40. ^ "Last of the Wyandots". Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. August 20, 1890. p. 2. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  41. ^ "Wyandotte Indian tribe gets paid for ¼ of Ohio". Dayton Daily News. February 17, 1985. p. 13. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ "Indian Chair 100-Years Old". East Liverpool Review. February 12, 1931. p. 8. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  43. ^ Mathern, Jeanette (May 19, 1971). "Museum Inspires Recollections of Yesterday". Carey Progressor. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  44. ^ "Mother Solomon Funeral To Be Remembered Sunday". Telegraph-Forum. August 11, 1990. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  45. ^ Labelle 2021, p. 66–67.
  46. ^ Wolf, Jeannie Wiley (July 13, 2021). "Overland Inn Museum Reopens Century-Old General Store". The Courier. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.

Bibliography edit

Further reading edit

  • Marsh, Thelma R. (1984). Daughter of Grey Eyes: The Story of Mother Solomon. OCLC 11815829.
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