Shattock, Tobias

first name (variants): Toby
last name (variants): Shattuck; Shaddock; Shadick; Shaddick
Birth: 1742 in Charlestown, RI
Death: May 6, 1768 in Edinburgh, Scotland
Affiliation

Narragansett; Moor's Indian Charity School

Education

Deake's Charlestown School; Moor's Indian Charity School (1767)

Faith

Separatist Congregationalist

Nationality

Narragansett

Occupation

Narragansett council member

Residence(s)
  • Charlestown, RI (from 1742 to 1766-12-16)
  • Lebanon, CT (from 1766-12-16)
  • Edinburgh, Scotland (from 1768-04-15 to 1768-05-06)
Events

January 1768: Tobias set out for London with his brother John Shattock Jr to plead the Narragansetts' case in their land crisis. Both fell ill with smallpox shortly after arriving in Edinburgh; John survived, but Tobias died.

Marital status

Married with a child. They stayed at Moor's for a time while Tobias was there.

Biography

Tobias Shattock was a Narragansett leader who briefly attended Moor's Indian Charity School. He died in Edinburgh while trying to protect Narragansett land interests. Like many Moor's students, Tobias was from a powerful family: he and his brother John were the sons of John Shattock Sr., a Narragansett lay minister. Tobias and John received their basic education from Edward Deake at Charlestown and then attended Moor's from December 1766 to the fall of 1767. By all accounts, Tobias was an especially promising student. Both Tobias and John left Moor's to try to defend Narragansett land claims. The Narragansett sachems had run up massive debt over the course of the 18th century, and were trying to sell Narragansett land to the colony of Rhode Island to settle them. Much of the Narragansett Tribe opposed this course of action. Tobias and John Jr. took the lead in the Tribe's efforts to recruit powerful allies for their cause. Tobias appealed to Sir William Johnson and Andrew Oliver, who were able to secure a temporary halt on land sales. Then, with the support of Wheelock, Whitefield, and Sir William Johnson, the brothers set out to plead their case before the Privy Council in London in January 1768. They arrived in Edinburgh on April 15, 1768, where Tobias died of smallpox on May 6. John continued on to London, but was unsuccessful in his appeal. He returned to the colonies where he died in 1770.

Sources

Fisher, Linford. The Indian Great Awakening: Religion and the Shaping of Native Cultures in Early America. New York: Oxford University Press 2012. Love, Deloss. Samson Occom and the Christian Indians of New England. Pilgrim Press 1899. McCallum, James. The Letters of Eleazar Wheelock’s Indians. Dartmouth College Press 1932.