A rare Niantic Queen

Hornstein, Harold

Niantic Indians
Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut

scr-023-069

Scrapbook

8: Communication Artifact

Documentary Artifact

Indian and Colonial Scrapbook

Summarizes an interview from 1904 with Mercy Ann Nonesuch Matthews, thought to be the last living member of the Niantic tribe at that time. Her father was Joshua Nonesuch, who died just before she was born. She was indentured, at the age of seven, to Mrs. Ethelinda Griswold, "a widow of grace and culture." At age 18 her indenture was over. After working for families in Lyme she married Henry Mathews, a member of the Mohegan tribe. The couple had four children who did not identify with their native heritage. While there had been a reservation in Niantic, and there was income from bank stocks, because she married out of the tribe, she did not have access to either.

Mathews, Marcy Ann Nonesuch