Author
Occom, Samson
Date28 June 1757 to 31 March 1761
ms number757378
abstractOccom details his travels throughout Long Island and New England, as
well as his ordination and the events leading up to it. He takes his son Aaron
to be
raised by Wheelock.
handwritingHandwriting is clear and legible. There are several
uncrossed t’s and crossed l's, which the transcriber has corrected.
paperSeveral small sheets folded into a booklet and bound with thread
or twine are in good condition, with light staining and wear.
inkDark-brown.
noteworthyWhen Occom mentions an “Indian Town,” or "Indian Place," he
is likely referring to Indian villages associated with each place that he
visits;
specifics are uncertain and so these places have been left untagged. On five
verso, the Latin exegesis translates to: "Whether a heathen/pagan who never
hears
the gospel, may obtain eternal salvation," or, in more colloquial Calvinist
terms,
"If a heathen never hears the gospel, can he be saved." An editor, likely
19th-century, has overwritten the journal in spots; these overwrites have
not been
transcribed.
EventsOccom’s Ordination, Occom’s Mission to the Montauketts
Tueſday June ye 28 AD: 1757
I Sot out from
Montauk for
N. England, in order to Paſs an Ex‐
amination there &c — And
wed‐neſday Morning I Sot out from
Eaſthampton, with the
Revd
Mr
Pomroy and
Woodbrige and
others, Down to Northweſt, &
about 12 o C. we went aboard of
Mr Dayton, and emediately
weighted Anchor, and Spread
^Sail^ to the Winds, and
^a^way towards
New-England Shores, and we
got to the
Mouth of
Seabrook
[illegible]
Harber about 9 at Night, and
for Fear of the Flats, we Dropt
Anchor at a Diſtance from Shore
and there taried all Night,
and in the Morning of the
29
30 Jue we a Roſs, and weighted
[illegible] Anchor, and
[illegible][guess: P]at to Shore, and
Mr
Pomroy and the two young
Women went a Shore, and I
Shifted aboard of another Boat
whoſe owner was one
Mr Horton who Came Down
fr the River
from up
Country, and was
removing With his Family
to
Stoningtown — And he Sot
me a Shore at
Black-Point —
and I
went to Indian Town —
and found My Friends generaly
well — and taried at my
Aunt
Juſtice's that Night —
Fryday Morning Junely ye
30th
^1st^ —
I Sout out
from
Nahantick, for
Mohegan and
got there at Night to
Mothers, and found all my
Relitives in good Health &c —
and there kept the Sabbath —
and
Monday July ye 4, I went
from
Mohegan
for
Lebanon
[illegible] and got
there to
Mr Wheelock's
Juſt before Sun Set, and was
very kindly Receiv'd, and found
them all in good Health — and
after a Little Converſation,
Mr Wheelock Concluded, and appoin
^ted^ the
12th
Inſt to be the Day of my
Examination, at his Houſe —
and Emediately Sent and gave
Notice, and Deſired the aſſistan
^ce^ in the Examination, of 5 Neigh‐
bouring Miniſters, viz,
Mr
Solo: Williams of
Lebanon
old Society
and
Mr
Benjn
Pomroy of
Hebron
and
Mr Nathan Strong of
New Coven‐try,
and
Mr Stephen White of
Wi^n^dham, and
Mr
Saml
Moſley of
Canada —
Tueſday July ye 12
Expected the Gentlemen to attend
the Examination, But we were
Diſapointed
^the Voice of one Crying^, — there
^was^ none Come,
But the
Revd
Mr
Pomroy, —
we Judg'd the Weather Hinder'd
them, it being wet Day, — and
Mr Wheelock and
Mr
Pomroy
Conſider'd the Matter, and Con‐
cluded to Send
[illegible] to the Miniſters
that Day — to Come together on
the next Day, which was the
13 of July, at the Houſe of the
the
Revd
Mr Williams, and
accordinly they Come together
about one o.C PM — and
there I Paſs'd an Examination
Before the
Revd
Me[illegible][guess: n]ſrs Solomon Williams
Eleazer Wheelock
Benjamin Pomroy
Nathan Strong and
Stephen White, — and they
^were^
^So far^
Satiſfied, as to Conclude to pro‐
ceed, to an
d ordination
hereaf‐
ter &c — And Juſt before Sun
Set I went Down towards
Mohe‐gan, and got So far as
Norwich
farms, and taried at the Houſe
of one
Deacon Huntington, a
—
Tavern keeper, —
Thirdſday July
ye
14th
I
^went^ on my Journey and
got to
Mohegan about 11. o'C
AM, and found my Relitives
well in
[illegible] General,
Monday July ye
18th
[illegible]
bout 1 in the after Noon we
went aboard again, and Sot
Sail, for
Fiſhe's Island and got
there Some time after Sun Set,
and
Tueſday July ye
19th we Sot
Sail very Early for
Long
Island and we tailed all the Day in
the
Sound, and Some time in
y
e Night we got Near by
Gardener's Island, and there we Dropt An‐
chor, and Taried all Night —
Wedneſday Morning July ye
20th
we
weighed Anchor and Hoiſted Sail
and Steered towards
NapeegHarber, and Reachd there abou
^t^ 10 in the Morning,
^there I went a Shore^ and then
I went by Land to
Montauk, and
I got home about 2 PM, and
found my Poor Family in
Comfort
able Circumſtances, — Praiſe be
to god for his Tender Mercies to us
ward —
Thirdſday May the [illegible] 10th
we
Sot out very Early in the Morning
for
Mohegan, and got there before
Sun Set, at my
Mother's,
Thirdſday May ye
17th
Return'd
to the
Island, and Stopt
att
Mohegan and kept the Sabath
there with Indians —
Monday May ye 21
we went
Down to
New-London, and tari‐
ed there that Night —
and
Tueſday May ye 22 we
went a Board of
Mr Gardeners Boat, of
Isle of
White, got
[illegible] to
to the
Island after Sun Set, and
we Taried there Two Nights —
Thirdſday May ye
17
we went
over to the
Fire Place, got
there
about 1 o'C in the after Noon,
from thence I went to Town, got
there about 3 in the after Noon
& I Deliver
Revd
Aſſociation's Letter to
Mr Buell
Fryday May ye
18
I went home
to
Montauk, Go
[illegible]t there about
Noon, and found my Poor Family
w
iell, and Moſt of Neighbours
Praiſe be to god there fore —
after this I heard the
Revd
Preſpetery on
long-Island
Receiv'd
the Letter, — and Apointed the
29 of Auguſt 1759 for my orderna‐
tion — and they Sent a Text to
me out of 72 Pſalm the 9
wverſe
^8^ they y
t Dwell in the Wilderneſs
Shall bow before him —
and alſo an Exegeſis — in theſe
words —
An Ethnicus qui Evan‐gelium Nunquam Audiat, Eter‐[illegible]nem Salutem otinere Poſit —
And the Apointed Time Being Come
I appear'd before the
Revd
Preſpetry at
Eaſthampton, and Paſs'd an
Examination —, and
Thirdſday
Augt
ye
30th in the after Noon the
Revd
Preſpetery Procee
[illegible]ded in Solemnity
of my ordernation, the
Revd
Mr
Buell of
Eaſthampton, made the
firſt Prayer, and Preach'd from
Gal. 1.16, and the
Revd
Mr Brown of
Bridghampton Deman-
ded my Pu
[illegible]plick
Aſſent to the
Chriſtian Doctrines and the Arti‐
cles of Faith, which I did — —
then Emediately Proceeded to y
e
Impoſition of the Hands — the
Revered
Mr Brown
Preſided,
made the ordernation Prayer;
the
Revd
M.r Barker of
South
Hole Gave the Right Hand
of Fellowſhip; and the
Revd
Mr Prime of
Huntington
Gave
the Charge and made the laſt
Prayer, thus the Solemnity End‐
ed.
Laus te Deum —
Montauk
Ocr
ye 8 AD: 1759
I Sot out from
Montauk for the
old Mans where the
Preſbytery was
to Set and
Mr Reeves was to be ord
ain'd, and got So far as
Sebaunuck and Preach'd there and taried all
Night among the Indians,
Tueſday
ocr
ye 9
I Sot out very Early on my
Journey, and got to the old mans
about O'C PM, and went Directly
to Meeting,
Mr Brown of
BridgHamp^n^
P 'd from Prov. 11.30, and Taried
one
Mr Miller's where the
Preſbytery
Sot —
Thirſday Morning the
Preſbyr
brock up, the Miniſters
Diſparſd a
bout 11 in the Morning, and I went
down to South, and got
to
Maſtick about 4 PM found the Indians
very Sickly, Preach'd to them at
Evening, they Seem'd to give very
good atention —
Fryday
Ocr
ye 12
I
Sot out from
Maſtick very Early in
the Mo
[illegible]rning, homeward, and got ſo
far as
Mr Browns at
BridgHamp^n^ and Tarried there all Night, — and
Saturday Ocr
ye 13 about 9 I Sot out
from thence, onward and got Home
little after Sun Set, and found
my Poor Family in Health
[illegible]
Praiſe be to God —
April ye 1 1760
went to
Smith town where the
Preſbytery was to Set, and
got So far as
Connoo Place
that Night, and
Tueſday April the 2
Sot out early
in the Mornig, and got to
Smith Town about 4 O.C
P M. and
Wedneſday the
Pre^s^
Sot at
Esqr Philip's, and
Thurſday about 3 O.C
in the
the
Preſbytery Broke up
and I imedately
Sot out
from thence to
Mr Reeve's at South and got there Juſt
about Day light in, and
was Kindly Receiv'd by
Mr Reeve, and
Fryday April the 4 I away from
thence homeward and got
So far
as
Mr Brown's at
Night and there I met with
Mr Horton and we taryed
there all Night
and
Saturday
April the 5 about 9 o. c in the morng
we took Leave of one anothe
^r^ and I Home about Son Set
and all well at Home —
April ye 26 AD: 1760
a Number of us went from
Montauk in our Whale Boat
for
New England, and got
over to
N London about
^3^ PM
and Stopt there till
Juſt
before Son Set and then
we Sot out from thence
for
Mohegan and
got there
about 9 at Night fou‐
nd my Relatives all well
Sabath April ye 27
kept the
Sabbath at
Mohegan with
the
Indians I Preach'd Both
Parts of the Day found nothing
Special among them —
Tueſday
Aprill
ye 29
we
Returnd to
Mohegan again
and got there
before Night
and Stay'd at
Mothers
y
t Night
Wedneſday April ye 30
about 9 in the Morning we
Sot out from thence towar
^ds^ home and got So far as
N London and there Stay'd at
Cap:t Shaw's
y
t Night
Thurſday
AprilMay ye 1
we
Sot away from
N London for
Home
and get no further
than Harbers Mouth and
Stay'd all Night at one
Mr Harris's
Coopper
Houſe,
and
Fryday May ye 2
we Sot
Sail very Early in the morng
from thence and got upon
Montauk Shore about 10
in the Morning and
found
all well &c —
June the 25
^may ye 18^ AD: 1760
w Monday may ye
25
Mr Brown
&
I went together weſtward, and we
we got to
Quaugg and Lodg'd
[illegible]at one
Mr Howell's that Night, and
Tueſday May ye
26 we Sot out from thence
on ward and got to
Smithtown at
Night and Lodg'd with one
Juſtice Phillips over the River,
Wedneſday may ye
27 we Sot away from thenc
^e^ about 9 in the Morning, and
got
to
Huntington about 1 in the after
Noon, and the People had gone to
meeting, and we went directly to meeting
and heard
Mr Reeve of South, — after
meeting we Return'd to
Mr Pri[illegible][guess: m]e's wher
^e^ the
Preſbytery Sat, and Examin'd two
young Men in order to ordination —
Nex day finiſh'd the examinations
with them, and then emediately went
to the Houſe of god and Proceeded to in
the Prelimminaries of
^the^
ordernation,
Mr Brown
Preach'd the ordernation
Sermon,
Mr Prime made the ordirna‐
t
[illegible][guess: e]on Prayer Dureing the impoſſion
of hands upon
Mr Barrat. and
Mr Brown made the Prayer dure‐
ing the Impoſiſtion of Hands upon
Mr Smith, and
Mr Prime gave y
e Right hand of Fellowſihp and y
e ca
[illegible][guess: r]ge, and
Mr Occom made
the Concluding Prayer
Fryday may ye 30 the
Preſby‐tery
Brok up about
^10^ in the morn
and the
Miniſters
Diſperſd
emme‐
diately, I Preach'd at
Huntington in the after Noon, and towards
Night I went to
oiſter Bay, —
Saturday may and Taried at
Widow Wicks, and
Saturday may the 31 I Preach'd at
oiſter-Bay, from 16. 13.
Sabbath June ye 1
I Preach'd there there again all Day from Eph 5.14 and Can.t 5.16.
M
Wedneſday June ye 4.
So
[illegible]tt out
from
Mr Tallmadges about 9 AM.
and went Down to South, and got
to
Mr Hedges's about 12 o.c. and
Ta
[illegible]ried there about one Hour and-
half, and then Sot away from thence
Eaſtward and got the Indian Place
Juſt before Sun Set, and had a
Short Diſcourſe with them in the
Evening,
Thurſday June ye 5
I
gave a word of exhortation to the
Indians, very Early in the morning
and
then took Leave of them, and
Journied
Eaſtward and got So
far as
South Hampton,
and there
Taried all Night with one
Mr Steph[illegible]en Foſter, and was very kind
ly Entertaind, —
Fryday Morning June 6.
was very Stormy Weather
and
[illegible]it was
[illegible]
Faſt Day with
the Southhamptoners, and I went
to meeting with the
[illegible]People in the
fore Noon, and heard
Mr White
Preach from Levit 26. 40.41.42
In the after Noon
ithe Storm mode‐
rated, and went on my Journey home
ward, went
^to^ See
[illegible]
Mr Pane and
Mr Brown by the way, and So Paſs on
and I got to
Eaſthampton
Juſt be‐
fore Sun Set met with
Mr Buell who had Juſt got home from the
Main, Brought a Tragical News
Concerning a
[illegible]Young Woman —
I Lodg'd at
Mr Buell's,
Satur‐day June ye 7
Sot away from
Eaſthampton for home, and got
to
Montauk about 3.o.c in the
After Noon, and found all well at
Home, &c —
Fryday
Sepr
ye
[illegible]5
Sabath Day Sepr
ye 7
we Met
g together again at
the Same Houſe, I Preachd to them
again,
[illegible]Monday Sepr
ye 8 we Sot out from thence Ho
ſme‐
ward, and I got to
Mr
Pomroy's at Night and I Taried there
but
David went to
Mr Wheelocks
whedneſday
Sepr
ye
10th
we Taried at
Mohegan
Thurſday we went to
New London, and
Fryday we Stay'd at
N. London.
Saturday we
went to
Nahantick and Stayday
there the Sabbath over, and
Monday Sepr
ye 15 we Spent the Day there
Tueſday we
Sot out for
Mohegan again, and got
there about 2 in the after Noon, and
wedneſday and
Thurſday we Spent at
Mohegan, and
Fryday
Sepr
ye 19 about 10 o.c we went a Board of
Mr Culver, and Sail'd Down to
N. London and a Number of us Lodg'd at
Cap Shaw's, and many that Come with us
were Bewitch'd with Strong Drink,
Saturday Sepr
ye 20
a few of us went
over to
Nahantick again, and got
there about Noon, to the Surprize
of my Friends, being unexpected there
found them all well — &c
Sabbath Day Sepr 21 we kept
the Sabbath there
MonlDay we wen
^t^ Ba
^c^k to
New London got the there
about 8 in the morning and Spent
the Day there, and Saw the exerſ
[illegible][guess: ie]s
of Joy in
New London on acount
of the Victory gain'd in
Canada over
the French, Taried at
Capt Shaw's that Night again,
Tueſday
Sepr
ye 23
we Sot out
from
NL for
Long-Island and Saild
[illegible]moſt all that
NDay and Night
Towards morning we got to
oiſter Po[illegible]nd, and Some of us
went a Shore
about went a Board again
and Saild for
Shelter Island b
^e^ing Wind Bound we Saild in
to
Shiller Island Harber,
at Night went to Houſe found
nothing but negroes and Indians
In it but they were
[illegible]Very kind
to
I [illegible] us. the Indians in y
e hearing I was on the
Island,
a number Cam
to gether to
hear the word of god, I gav
^e^ a Short Diſcourſe —
Thirdſday September ye 25
we got up every Early in
the Morning, and a Board
and Sot
Saile for
Montautk,
Arriv'd there Some
^time in ye^
time befor^e^ Night, found all our Friends
well, —
17:3
[illegible][guess: 1/3]
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