Secutor, Mary

first name (variants): Molly; Moley
last name (variants): Secuter; Secetor; Sequettass
Affiliation

Moor's Indian Charity School; Narragansett Tribe

Education

Moor's Indian Charity School

Nationality

Naragansett Tribe

Residence(s)
  • Lebanon, Connecticut (from 1763-12 to 1768-07)
Biography

Mary Secutor, the daughter of John Secutor, grew up on the Narragansett tribal lands. In December of 1763 she became one of the few women to study with Eleazar Wheelock at Moor's Indian Charity School. Upon her arrival she met Hezekiah Calvin and the two remained at school together for a year and a half before Hezekiah was sent to teach school to Mohawk children. Later Calvin requested Mary's father's permission for the two to marry. John did not give his consent and asked Wheelock to intervene. Despite this, the two became engaged. However, Mary and Hezekiah never married. Mary appears to have been a model student initially, but began to falter as time went on. In December of 1767 she confessed to sins, taking the name of God in vain, and lewd behavior in front of male members of the school while intoxicated. She pledged to cease this behavior, but in March of 1768 she confessed again to unseemly conduct while under the infulence of alcohol. In July of 1768 she wrote to Wheelock expressing that she did not feel worthy and no longer wished to attend the school, and asking his permission to leave.

Sources

McCallum, James Dow, ed. The Letters of Eleazar Wheelock's Indians. Hanover, New Hampshire: Dartmouth College Publications, 1939.; Szasz, Margaret Connell. Indian Education in the American Colonies, 1607-1783. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988. http://books.google.com/books?id=kFkOxBRc6NwC&pg=PA228&lpg=PA228&dq