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Mother Solomon

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Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon (November 1816 – August 18, 1890), better known as Mother Solomon, was a Wyandot nanny. She was born along Owl Creek, Ohio, and her father took her to Indigenous sites as a child. After moving to the Big Spring Reservation in 1822, she learned housekeeping and English at a mission school and began attending the Wyandot Mission Church. She remained at the school as a young woman and married a classmate in 1833. They had five children, two of whom died. The Indian Removal Act forced Wyandots to move to Kansas in 1843, where many died of illness. Solomon recuperated with her family and had a few more children, though by 1860, her husband and remaining children had died. She sought to protect the Huron Indian Cemetery, their burial place. In Kansas, oxen, pigs, and horses were stolen from her.

Mother Solomon
A portrait of an elderly woman with short hair worn back wearing a buttoned dress with a collaret.
Born
Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon

November 1816 (1816-11)
Owl Creek, Ohio, U.S.
DiedAugust 18, 1890(1890-08-18) (aged 73)
Wyandot County, Ohio, U.S.
Resting placeWyandot Mission Church, Upper Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.
OccupationNanny
Spouses
David Young
​
​
(m. 1833; d. 1851)​
John Solomon
​
​
(m. 1860; d. 1876)​
Children8
Signature
"Margaret, S." printed in cursive.

Margaret became homesick after marrying the sheriff John Solomon. Alongside her nephew, the Solomons relocated around Upper Sandusky, Ohio, in 1865. When John died in 1876, Margaret began babysitting children. Throughout the village, she garnered the nickname "Mother Solomon", promoted Wyandot culture, and advocated for the restoration of the run-down mission church. During its rededication in 1889, she sang a Wyandot translation of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". Many attendees admired her stage presence. Solomon became weaker in her final years and died in 1890. Her popularity has been analyzed, and the Wyandot County Museum has since displayed her belongings.

Early life and education

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Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon was born in November 1816 along Owl Creek, likely in Marion County, Ohio.[1][a] She was the oldest of at least four siblings and two half-siblings.[3][5] Her father was the Wyandot chief John "Squire" Grey Eyes,[b] and her mother was named Eliza.[2][4] Following tradition, Eliza pierced Solomon's ears a few days after birth and inserted chicken feathers to maintain the holes, anticipating that Solomon would wear jewelry.[1] Solomon did not receive her given name, of Christian origin, until the Green Corn Feast held in August 1817.[6][7]

At age four, Solomon and Squire traveled 50 miles by horse to Hancock County. During their hunting trip there, they camped at Fort Findlay in a blockhouse built for President William Henry Harrison.[8] That year, Squire also brought her to the Olentangy Indian Caverns. She was too afraid to explore them, but found importance in visiting such sites where her ancestors had held meetings or hid from enemies.[9] Solomon and her family worked as hunters and traders along village footpaths, and they moved into a small cabin on the Big Spring Reservation in 1822.[3][9] Solomon recited traditional Wyandot language teachings to her dolls at home and began playing make-believe with them.[10][11] Eliza taught her horticulture and weeding in their garden,[12] and Solomon's uncle, chief Warpole, often visited their home to tell stories. Solomon sat with her siblings one day and heard him recount their origins as the Petun, a Canadian people known for growing tobacco. He then spoke of customs like the war dance, the Green Corn Feast, and lacrosse.[13][14]

 
The Wyandot Mission Church illustrated in 1846

Methodist missionaries were prominent in the reserve and converted many Wyandots; Squire was among a group of chiefs that requested the Methodist Episcopal Church to build a mission school in neighboring Upper Sandusky.[15] Upon its opening in 1821, Solomon was one of the first students to be enrolled.[16] She and the other schoolgirls learned to cook, sew, assemble fibers for knitting, and housekeep.[17] The missionary John Stewart, with whom she became friends, taught her to read and write English,[18] and the missionary Harriet Stubbs taught her hymns.[19] Missionaries often visited Squire at home, and Solomon enjoyed preaching and singing with them.[20] She began attending the nearby Wyandot Mission Church at age eight and eventually befriended each of its pastors.[21][22]

As a young woman, Solomon remained at the school to help its children, and David Young, a Wyandot friend and classmate, invited her on a canoe ride along the Sandusky River. She received Eliza's permission to go on the date and, afterward, began spending more time with Young.[23] On February 4, 1833, the couple were married in the mission church by the priest Thomas Simms.[24] They moved into a log cabin Young had built over the river.[25] Solomon and Young had five children in Ohio.[26]

Wyandot removal to Kansas

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President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act, calling for Indigenous communities to move west of the Mississippi River, passed in 1830.[27] Treaty commissioners in the region, spurred on by the federal government, began pressuring Wyandots to leave, and nearby Lenapes and Shawnees signed their own removal treaties. However, Wyandot scouting parties out west in 1831 and 1834 rejected their proposed land tracts.[28] Tensions peaked in the fall of 1841 when two white men murdered the head chief Summundewat, which left Solomon uncertain of her community's future.[29][30] Squire was against removing and only conceded when a Wyandot council voted two-thirds in favor. After securing 25,000 acres within Kansas City, Kansas, the Wyandots reluctantly signed a removal treaty in March 1842.[31]

On July 12, 1843, Solomon gathered alongside hundreds at the Wyandot Mission Church. They grieved, spread flowers across the adjacent cemetery, and heard Squire give a farewell speech in the Wyandot language.[32][33] Solomon hugged Mrs. Parker, a white neighbor, and David Young shook hands with his white friends.[34] Two of their children had died and were buried in the mission church cemetery,[35] but they remained with a son and two daughters. Their youngest daughter rode in a cradleboard upon Solomon's back.[34] Around 664 Wyandots arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, after a week of travel by wagon, horse, and foot. They were harassed by whiskey traders before boarding two steamships, and in Kansas, a territorial dispute forced many to camp in flooded lowlands. Eye inflammation, measles, and severe diarrhea were widespread, and 18% of the removed Wyandots had died by 1844.[36]

In Kansas, Young began work as a ferryman while Solomon tried to recuperate with her family.[37] In the spring, she began an apple tree orchard and a garden.[38] Solomon had a few more children,[37] totaling three boys and five girls. None of her new or remaining children lived past adolescence.[3] Her two-year-old son died in 1848, and another son died to fever a year later. She had only three living daughters by 1851. That year, Young died to tuberculosis, and in 1852, another daughter died. By the end of the decade, Solomon had buried her entire family in the Huron Indian Cemetery, which had replaced the mission school and church as a Wyandot fixture.[37][39] Forced enfranchisement threatened her community's legal status, so she continuously tried to show that the cemetery was important.[40]

 
John Solomon c. 1870

A gray horse, bay horse, and brown mare, worth $195 combined,[c] were stolen from Solomon in September 1848, which she attributed to emigrants traveling the Oregon Trail. Further thefts occurred that fall to 30 of her pigs, worth $90 in total.[d] Possessions totaling $580,[e] including oxen and horses, were stolen from her between 1855 and 1859. In one case, a housekeeper named James Cook reportedly fled after stealing $225 worth of gold coins from a trunk owned by her brother.[f] Solomon's friend Catherine Johnson corroborated each theft committed against her in Kansas.[42] Still, in 1860, Margaret became livelier when she married the Wyandot sheriff John Solomon.[43][44][g] He was similarly a widower.[43]

Return to Ohio

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Margaret was struck by homesickness after marrying John.[22][45] She convinced John and her nephew, Jimmy Guyami, to return to Ohio with her.[22] Her and John's two-acre land tract on the south end of Tauromee Street was to be put up for auction in October 1862.[46] The three returned to Upper Sandusky 22 years after removal in 1865.[43] They settled around the city in the cabin David Young had built.[22][47] Much of the earlier village had deteriorated. The community council house burned down in 1851, and the roof and walls of the mission church had begun to collapse.[43][48] Still, a few earlier houses remained,[45] and upon arrival, Margaret reunited with Mrs. Parker, who still lived in a brick home with her family. Margaret and John began attending church services at the Belle Vernon schoolhouse, and they followed the church when it moved into its own building.[49] John also began work as a tailor.[22] The Parker Covered Bridge was built beside the Parkers in 1873, and Margaret and John often walked across it to shop in Upper Sandusky.[50]

John died on December 14, 1876, widowing Margaret a second time.[3][51] Now 60, she found pleasure in babysitting the neighborhood children, and she often sought to help struggling families.[22][45] She also became a surrogate mother.[22] The historian Kathryn Magee Labelle described her childcare as "tireless [and] daily",[52] and the village nicknamed her "Mother Solomon" out of respect.[22] Solomon promoted Wyandot culture throughout the village and demonstrated the Wyandot language in community gatherings and public presentations. She taught children about the interactions between their ancestors and Wyandots by repeating stories her elders had told.[48] The Hocking Sentinel described her storytelling as "full of interest and romance". A writer for the newspaper claimed to have visited Solomon often and stated that she spoke for hours about early Wyandot history and her childhood.[53] In 1881, Solomon took a train to and from Kansas to visit her relatives, who had sent many invitations. Guyami looked after her chickens and cows while she was away.[3][54] In 1883, she gave away paintings of the chiefs Mononcue and Between-the-Logs and allowed them to be reproduced.[55]

 
Solomon in 1887

Solomon implored the village to restore and continue operating the run-down mission church. She argued that this would preserve part of the historical record of Wyandots in Ohio. In 1888, having set aside a $2,000 budget, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church began repairs.[11] Upon completion, on September 21, 1889, the Central Ohio Conference held a rededication ceremony.[11][56] Guyami was among the estimated 3,000 attendees that afternoon.[56][57] General William H. Gibson was among the ministers who gave speeches,[58] and Elnathan C. Gavitt, the only former missionary in attendance, spoke fondly about his time there.[59] Solomon was the only Wyandot removed in 1843 to attend.[11][58] At the age of 72, she sang a Wyandot translation of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing", a hymn she had learned there.[35] The Urbana Daily Citizen's J. W. Henley called her an "object of great interest".[56] The Western Christian Advocate agreed and described her as "strong and well preserved".[59] Many attendees found beauty in her native language,[35] and The Bryan-College Station Eagle thought she sang in a "sweet, clear voice".[57] As the participants of the service circulated and shook hands, the Western Christian Advocate concluded: "Mother Solomon, and many others, became very happy, and rejoiced, and shouted the praises of God."[59]

In her final years, Solomon sensed she was weakening.[22] When the Sandusky River flooded her cabin, a townsman named Joseph Parker would row over and retrieve her from the upstairs window.[60] N. B. C. Love, an organizer of the mission church's rededication,[58] reported in 1889: "Native to this soil, she expects before many years to lie down in it, as in the arms of a loving mother, while with the Christian's hope she sings of 'The Land That Is Fairer than Day,' where she expects to meet the loved ones of her people."[61] By July 1890, Solomon agreed to move into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Hayman.[22] There, she signed a document objecting to the removal of remains in the Huron Indian Cemetery.[40]

Death and legacy

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Solomon died on August 18, 1890.[22][62] She was among the last Wyandots living in Wyandot County.[55] Her funeral was held at the Wyandot Mission Church two days later.[22][62] Despite a downpour that morning, a large crowd gathered with people from across the county. The pastor G. Lease led the service and called her a noble woman.[62][63] Solomon was buried in the cemetery behind the church and was reburied beside John Solomon in the 1940s.[64] Her death was widely reported in local newspapers, and these stories emphasized her father's role as chief, her removal to Kansas and return to Ohio, and her work as a nanny. The historian Kathryn Magee Labelle referred to the coverage as a "momentary acknowledgement of [Wyandot] resilience in Ohio". Though, many stories falsely called Solomon "the last of the Wyandots", which she attributed to the prominent Vanishing Indian stereotype and an attempt at erasing Wyandots from Ohio.[62]

Solomon has since been deemed a popular Ohian figure. According to the archivist Thelma R. Marsh, she was "almost a legend" when she died.[2][65] Many adults attested to being raised by her, as late as the 1950s, and some deemed it an honor.[45][66] Labelle wrote that her attainment of the honorific "Mother", as opposed to the lesser "Sister" or "Auntie", indicated success in her work. She ascribed Solomon to a Midwestern, 19th-century wave of mothers who sought to mediate between settler and Indigenous groups.[52]

In February 1931, the Wyandot County Museum displayed a century-old chair built by Solomon composed of a woven shagbark hickory seat and no nails.[67] They dedicated a glass case to her in May 1971 with her glasses, smoking pipe, beaded purse, candle molds, woven basket, and portrait.[68] An exception to the limited studies on Solomon is Marsh's 1984 children's book Daughter of Grey Eyes: The Story of Mother Solomon. It spans 60 pages and draws from archival material, journal articles, and family interviews.[2] On the morning of August 12, 1990, Marsh led a service at the mission church commemorating the centennial of Solomon's funeral.[69] She died and was buried there two years later. In October 2016, the church held an event celebrating the bicentennial of missionaries in Ohio, and Solomon's life was recounted during a tour of the cemetery attended by 192.[70] The McCutchen Overland Inn Museum displayed her saddle in the Anderson General Store in May 2021.[71]

Notes

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  1. ^ Variations on her surname include "Greyeyes" and "Grey-Eyes",[2] sometimes with the spelling "Gray".[3] Thelma R. Marsh, The Cincinnati Enquirer, and Ronald I. Marvin Jr. cite November 26, 27, and 29, respectively, as her birthdate.[1][3][4] The Cincinnati Enquirer cites Wayne County as her birthplace.[3]
  2. ^ Kathryn Magee Labelle cites "Lewis" as his given name.[2]
  3. ^ Equivalent to $4,700 in 2023.[41]
  4. ^ Equivalent to $2,200 in 2023.[41]
  5. ^ Equivalent to $14,000 in 2023.[41]
  6. ^ Equivalent to $5,400 in 2023.[41]
  7. ^ The Cincinnati Enquirer and Ronald I. Marvin Jr. cite 1858 as the year of marriage.[3][22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Marsh 1984, p. 1.
  2. ^ a b c d e Labelle 2021, p. 53.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Mother Solomon. Last of the Wyandot Indian Tribe in This State". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 29, 1889. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Marvin Jr. 2015, p. 38.
  5. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 53–54.
  6. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 2–3.
  7. ^ Wood, Lucy (June 14, 1987). "Wyandott Mission Retains Sacred Air". The Marion Star. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 3, 5.
  9. ^ a b Labelle 2021, p. 55.
  10. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 7–8.
  11. ^ a b c d Labelle 2021, p. 63.
  12. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 9.
  13. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 11–13.
  14. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 53, 62–63.
  15. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 55–56.
  16. ^ Marvin Jr. 2015, pp. 37–38.
  17. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 21.
  18. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 17.
  19. ^ Stevenson, R. T. (January 12, 1916). "Centennial of the Wyandot Mission: 1816-1916". Western Christian Advocate. p. 6 – via NewspaperArchive.
  20. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 20.
  21. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 23.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Marvin Jr. 2015, p. 39.
  23. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 25–26.
  24. ^ Labelle 2021, p. 54.
  25. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 26.
  26. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 29, 35.
  27. ^ Labelle 2021, p. 51.
  28. ^ Littlefield Jr. & Parins 2011, pp. 273–274.
  29. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 28–29.
  30. ^ Labelle 2021, p. 59.
  31. ^ Labelle 2021, p. 58.
  32. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 33.
  33. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 52, 59.
  34. ^ a b Marsh 1984, p. 35.
  35. ^ a b c Labelle 2021, p. 64.
  36. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 59–61.
  37. ^ a b c Labelle 2021, p. 61.
  38. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 37–38.
  39. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 39–40.
  40. ^ a b Labelle 2021, pp. 90–91.
  41. ^ a b c d 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  42. ^ Report of the Commissioners Appointed in Accordance with the Senate Amendment of the 13th Article of the Treaty of 23d of February, 1867, Embracing the Claims of the Wyandott Indians. Index to the Senate Executive Documents for the Second Session of the Forty-First Congress of the United States of America. 1869–'70. (Report). Vol. 2. United States Government Printing Office. 1870. pp. 12–13.
  43. ^ a b c d Marsh 1984, p. 41.
  44. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 52, 64.
  45. ^ a b c d Labelle 2021, p. 62.
  46. ^ Wood, Luther H. (May 25, 1862). "Sheriff's Sale". The Olathe News. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  47. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 41–43.
  48. ^ a b Labelle 2021, pp. 62–63.
  49. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 42.
  50. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 43.
  51. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 44.
  52. ^ a b Labelle 2021, p. 52.
  53. ^ "The Last of the Wyandottes". The Hocking Sentinel. September 4, 1890. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  54. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 45–46.
  55. ^ a b Schlup, Emil (April 1906). "The Wyandot Mission". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications. 15: 169, 177. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  56. ^ a b c Henley, J. W. (September 25, 1889). "Rev. J. W. Henley Describes the City and the M. E. Conference Recently Held There". Urbana Daily Citizen. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  57. ^ a b "Famous Old Church". Bryan-College Station Eagle. June 11, 1897. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  58. ^ a b c King, I. F. (October 1901). "Introduction of Methodism in Ohio". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications. 10: 203. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  59. ^ a b c B., T. N. (October 2, 1889). "Re-dedication of the Wyandot Mission Church". Western Christian Advocate. p. 4 – via NewspaperArchive.
  60. ^ Marsh 1984, p. 46.
  61. ^ Love, N. B. C. (March 5, 1889). "The Exodus of the Wyandots". Telegraph-Forum. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  62. ^ a b c d Labelle 2021, p. 65.
  63. ^ "Last of the Wyandots". Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. August 20, 1890. p. 2 – via NewspaperArchive.
  64. ^ Marsh 1984, pp. 50, 55.
  65. ^ "Wyandotte Indian Tribe Gets Paid for ¼ of Ohio". Dayton Daily News. February 17, 1985. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  66. ^ Croneis, James F.; et al. (September 6, 1991). "A Short History of the Indians of Crawford and Wyandot Counties (Part 23)". Telegraph-Forum. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  67. ^ "Indian Chair 100-Years Old". East Liverpool Review. February 12, 1931. p. 8 – via NewspaperArchive.
  68. ^ Mathern, Jeanette (May 19, 1971). "Museum Inspires Recollections of Yesterday". Carey Progressor. p. 1 – via NewspaperArchive.
  69. ^ "Mother Solomon Funeral to Be Remembered Sunday". Telegraph-Forum. August 11, 1990. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  70. ^ Labelle 2021, pp. 53, 66–67.
  71. ^ Wolf, Jeannie Wiley (July 13, 2021). "Overland Inn Museum Reopens Century-Old General Store". The Courier. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.

Bibliography

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