Shackshoone: a Mysterious Native-American in 17th-century England

The presence of Native-Americans in Europe, as a result of European contact, is of course a well attested fact of history. From the time of Columbus forward, many went as guests, some as slaves, and others resided on the European continent as servants throughout the days of early exploration in the Western Hemisphere as well as during the period of Colonial-American history.

Huron chieftain Donaconna, of present-day Quebec, journeyed with Jacques Cartier back to France in the early 16th century, where he enjoyed the privileges of a guest, receiving a 'pension' and residence at the expense of the French Crown, spreading tales of the mythical or legendary land of Saquenay, which prompted many French explorations into the Canadian wilderness. He would die in France of disease in 1539.

An opposite course of action was taken by the Governor of 'New France,' Jaques Rene...de Denonville, during the late 1680's, when he forcibly shipped some fifty Iroquois chieftains to the French city of Marseilles, where they were used as 'galley slaves.'

Within the English seaboard colonies, many American Indians had periodically been kidnapped or chose to visit Britain over the years, and often aided the settlers in their conflicts with the various tribes they encountered. Two such Indians were Wanchese & Manteo, both brought back to England by Captains Philip Amadas & Arthur Barlowe, for the benefit of the would-be English colonizer, Sir Walter Raleigh, after their visit on July 13, 1584 to North Carolina, near Roanoke Island.

The famed 'Indian Princess,' Pocahontas or 'Lady Rebecca,' after converting to Christianity and marrying the Englishman, John Rolfe, would journey to England in 1616, even to the Royal Court of King James the First, along with a number of her relatives and people. Tomocomo accompanied Pocahontas at the request of her father Powhatan who gave him a notched-stick to count the number of Englishmen he would encounter in London! Tomocomo would return to the New World, but Pocahontas contracted smallpox and was buried at Gravesend in Britain, far from her native homeland in Virginia.

The famed 'Savior' of the Pilgrims & the Plymouth Colony in 1620, that of Squanto or Tisquantum, a Pawtuxet Indian (who had been kidnapped by an English scoundrel and taken along with 23 other Indians to Malaga, Spain to be sold as slaves years before), luckily arrived eventually in England, where he was taught the English language, and after many years absence from America, was, according to Governor William Bradford, 'Providentally' returned to his native Massachusetts only a few weeks prior to the coming of the Mayflower and its colonists.

It was a Pamunkey Indian servant named Chanco, who saved countless English lives, by warning his white master of the upcoming Indian attack on March 22, 1622 in Virginia, which nevertheless resulted in the deaths of some five hundred settlers, a massacre led by Opechancanough, uncle to Pocahontas and brother to her father, Powhatan.

After 'King Philip's War' (1675-76) in New England, many Pequot Indians would be enslaved and sent to the West Indies, and even a few were sold initially into slavery in North Africa, while as late as 1730, seven Cherokees visited England and met with King George II, one being the famous chieftain, Attakullaculla, better known as the 'Little Carpenter.'

Just exactly how many Native-Americans actually visited, lived and died in England or Europe as a whole, will no doubt never be completely known, but out of this number, one peculiar individual stands out in the limited narrative recording his residence in the British Isles.

In an early issue of the London Gazette, Issue 2337, for Monday April 9th to Thursday, April 12th, 1688, comes this strange advertisement, on p.2, col.2:

One John Newmoone, alias Shackshoone, an Indian of an unusual Shape, having a Child growing out of his Side, low of Stature, and swarthy of Complexion, belonging to Sir Thomas Grantham, Knight, on Friday the 6th Instant, run away from his House at Sudbury in Middlesex, taking with him several things of value, designing to go beyond the Seas.

Whoever can discover or seize him, and give Notice to Sir Thomas Grantham aforesaid, or to Mr. Bartholomew Parr, Woollen draper in the Armitage, shall have 5 {pounds} Reward, and all Charges.

Who exactly John Newmoone or Shackshoone was has not been determined, though his name certainly 'sounds' Algonquian in nature, a tribal or linguistic group, which by 1688, the English had had much contact and relations with for many years on the Eastern seaboard. Perhaps some obscure record exists in England relative to his arrival, departure or eventual fate, though the author of this blog has to date found no such data other than the above, in either British or American Colonial records. Also, a man with such a peculiar physical malady would have definitely draw attention, and thus generated records, on both sides of the Atlantic.

His master, Sir Thomas Grantham, later knighted by King Charles II, came to the Americas on at least three occasions during the 17th-century, the most famous being to Virginia during 'Bacon's Rebellion,' of 1676. His rare autobiography, or; An Historical Account of Some Memorable Actions, Particularly in Virginia... (London: J. Roberts., 1716), says nothing about any 'Indian' which he may have brought back with him to England, after these voyages, though the Calendar of State Papers: Colonial Series, America & West Indies: 1677-1680, does state for May of 1679, that Captain Grantham, "lately returned from York River, Virginia," reported "great incursions of Indians about the Rappahannock; alarm of a summer attack so great that people were leaving their plantations for a safer part of the country."

It is certainly conceivable that Capt Grantham took an America Indian back with him from Virginia to England, since many rebellious tribal peoples in Virginia, would at times be enslaved within the colony or were sent off to plantations in the West Indies, but one individual may have easily been given to Capt Grantham by Governor William Berkeley of the Virginia colony, in gratitude for his aid during that troublesome time.

Grantham in 1676, was in command of the Concord, a 32-gunned ship which "took an important part in pacifying the colony during the insurrection of Nathaniel Bacon..," as recorded in a sketch of Grantham, found in the 1890 edition of the Dictionary of National Biography. After his return to England, he later purchased the 'manor of Kempton' at Sudbury, and was dead by 1618.

Perhaps a reader can shed light on the mysterious origins, history and eventual fate of the above John Newmoone, alias Shackshoone, an account which is only one of many unsolved mysteries contained within the massive collections here at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

'Hanging by a Thread' or 'Between a Rock & a Hard Place!'

There are many sayings still current in modern English, in reference to being in an unwanted position or predicament, such as the following: 'stuck between a rock & a hard place; hanging by a thread; between the Devil and the deep blue sea; or 'the wolf is at the door,' the latter usually mentioned in reference to someone's dire economic conditions.

However, from frontier times to the modern era, there have been individuals who have found themselves in actual 'life-threatening' situations, yet through sheer courage, fortitude, and will-power, have failed to surrender themselves to depression, fear or hopelessness. Their perseverance through trials & tribulations are a testimony to us all, of the strength of the human spirit and the existence of an awe-inspiring 'will-to-survive.'

A recent example of the above is the true story of Aron Ralston, who in April of 2003, was forced to sever his own right arm with a pocket knife, in order to save his life, after being pinned down by a boulder, having little water, for some five days in a canyon in southern Utah. His courageous autobiography is aptly entitled, Between a Rock & a Hard Place, published just a few years ago.

Aron Ralston is by no means the only individual to find himself in such a life-threatening situation. In 1911, Daniel Snyder, revealed his possession of 'true grit,' when "he was caught beneath a fallen tree" in New York. A woodsmen by profession, Snyder's leg was being "crushed by the weight of tons of wood" and was literally hanging "by shreds" while "rapidly bleeding to death." He "crawled to his ax, severed the limb with it, ripped off his shirt, and checked the flow of blood by binding it tightly about the stump," and lay back awaiting the arrival of help which eventually came, requiring surgeons to 'per-fect' his "crude amputation by removing another portion of the crushed limb." (see, "Ax Surgery Saves Life," The Philadelphia Record, March 3rd, 1911, p.1, col.2).

An earlier and fantastic account of self-survival, also occurred in New York state in May of 1817, as recorded in many publications of the day. Mr. Artemus Shattuck (1795-1878), a native of Colchester, Connecticut (but living at the time in the small village of Wrights Corners, in Wyoming County), would endure an ordeal near Middlebury (same county) that few would wish to replicate.

While cutting wood in the forest, Mr. Shattuck's foot became entangled within the crack of a log "that had been partially split open," after a tree fell where he stood. He was consequently "raised several feet from the ground and suspended with his head downwards; and in such a position that he could not touch the ground..." His axe was out of reach and he was thus unable "to extricate himself." As one would assume, he immediately called for aid repeatedly, but no one could hear his repeated pleas for assistance.

Put yourself in Artemus Shattuck's position: He was hanging upside down; his foot "remained clenched in the cleft of the tree," while his voice was now gone from his constant yelling for help. To add 'insult to injury,' his head was aching from being suspended in such a precarious position; while the weather was very cold and he was also far removed "from any human being." What could he do under such circumstances? Death seemed to be the only 'escape route' left to him.

However, Mr. Shattuck came upon an idea, one that might save his life, or be responsible for his demise. He took from his pocket, "an old Barlow knife, and first cut off the leg of his boot and stocking," then tied a piece of fabric around his ankle as tightly as he could, in order to stop "the current of blood." Then, "with his knife, he unjointed his own ankle, and left his foot cut and separated from his leg in the cleft of the tree."

Falling to the ground, he next bound up his 'stump' with a napkin found in his dinner-basket,"made a crutch of a crooked stick," and started for home, for the most part crawling upon his hands and knees through the snow covered forest. Surprisingly, he made it to the house, fainted from loss of blood and exertion, but was found by family members and resuscitated, only to have a surgeon, Dr. John Cotes of Batavia, amputate his limb completely.

Remarkably, Artemus Shattuck survived his ordeal, an experience which truly affected his demeanor and outlook on life in general, and so turned his mind towards the ministry, rather than farming & forestry as had been his former occupation. He soon emigrated to North Carolina where he joined the Baptist Church, where by 1835 he was the minister of the 'Frienship & Mechanic's Hill Church' in Moore County of that Southern state. Later he would migrate to Mississippi, where trajedy would strike once again, with the death of his wife and youngest child, causing him to remove back to North Carolina.

By 1852 Artemus Shattuck would become the pastor of the 'Eight Mile Creek' church in Mobile, Alabama, and later a minister at Villanow, in Walker County, Georgia, where he would die at Lafayette, on August 23, 1878.

An interesting side-note to this story, concerns the reports of his dismembered 'foot,' and his repeated feeling of a 'ghost-limb,' something now documented within the medical field in regard to amputee victims. A story contained in the 'Presbyterian,' a Philadelphia publication of 1850-51,' carried an article entitled, "A Curious Fact," wherein witnesses claimed Shattuck asked for his foot to be retrieved. after which he was said to have felt the "coldness of the foot, and ...heat of the water" in which it was placed.

As has been stated repeatedly within this blog, there are numerous subjects, topics, human interest stories, etc., of every kind, certainly enough to 'whet the appetite' of both scholar & lay person, to be found in the vast & diverse collections, of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

(For a few sources on Artemus Shattuck & his experience, see: J. H. French, Gazetteer of the State of New York, 7th Edition (1860): 714; Lemuel Shattuck, Memorials of The Descendants of William Shattuck (Boston: Dutton & Wentworth., 1855): 286-288; Andrew W. Young, History of the Town of Warsaw, New York (Buffalo, NY: Sage, Sons & Co., 1869): 53-55)