Thank you to all veterans (past, present, and future) who step up and work to make our world a better place. Thank you also to their families who sacrifice so much.
If you were asked to form a mental picture of American soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, World War I or II, the Civil War, or the Revolutionary War, would any of your mental images include Native Americans? If not, all of them should. Native Americans have fought for their country in every single war the US has waged. In fact, Native Americans currently have the highest rate of representation (19%) amongst all ethnicities active in the Armed Forces since 9/11 (veteranaid.org). The Brothertown Indians are no exception and have sent soldiers to fight in every US war.
Following are the names of some of the Brothertown Indians who have served their country:
The Revolutionary War (1775-1783)*:
John Adams
Samuel Adams
Solomon Adams
Timothy Brushel
Andrew Curricomb
Christopher Harry
Joseph Johnson
Daniel Mossuck
James Niles
Thomas Occoom
David Occom
Thomas Patchauker
John Paul
Abraham Simons
Emanual Simons
James Simons
John Skeesuck
Benjamin Toucee
Roger Wauby
The Civil War (1861 – 1865)**:
Arthur Adams
George Baker
George Baldwin
Cyrenus Bostwick
Franklin Bostwick
Henry W.F. Bostwick
George W. Brushel
Samuel Brushel
Erwin C. Bulman
Grisel Bulman
Moses J. Coffeen
Charles Coleman
Thomas M. Commuck
Worthington Commuck
Albert D. Cottrell
John B. Coyhis
Zac Coyhis
Hoel R. Crowell
John Morris DeGroat
Asa D. Dick
Benjamin Dick
Charles W. Dick
David Dick
Edgar Morris Dick
Franklin M. Dick
Hubbard Dick
Jacob Dick
John W. Dick
Lucius C. Dick
Orlando D. Dick
Samuel H. Dick
Merrill Fiddler
Israel Fowler
James D. Fowler
Layton Fowler
Lyman Palmer Fowler
Orin Gridley Fowler
William Fowler
Alexander Hammar
George Hammar
Hamilton Hammar
Henry Hammar
Jarus Hammar
John Hammar
John Hammar
John C. Hammar
James A Hart
Orville Amon Hart
Daniel E. Jacques
Ansel J. Johnson
George A. Johnson
Henry Johnson
Henry C. Johnson
Isaac Johnson
Joseph M. Johnson
Lewis Johnson
Loren Murry Johnson
Melville Johnson
Nathaniel H. Johnson
Orlando F. Johnson
Orin Johnson
Oscar Johnson
Ovondo F. Johnson
William H. Johnson
Melvill Johnson
Thomas G. Keeville
George Kindness
James H. Kindness
Lewis Kindness
Orlander Kindness
Solomon Niles
David Occom-Paul
Benjamin Palmer
Rhodolphus Paul
John Pendelton
Melancthon Peters
William Peters
Henry Potter
William H. Reed
Aaron Roberts
George F. Sampson
James J. Sampson
Joel J. Sampson
Julius J. Sampson
Elisha N. Schooner
Luther O. Schooner
John Sears
David Shelley
Henry F. Shelley
John Shelley
Lewis A. Shelley
Simon Shelley, Jr.
Simon Shelley, Sr.
John Simons
John Skeesuck
James Madison Skeesuck
Rufus Skeesuck
Simon Skeesuck
Solomon Skeesuck
Sylvester Skeesuck
Thomas Tokus
Henry Tousey
Aaron Wauby
Lewis F. Wauby
Charles Welch
Cyrus Welch
Hira Welch
Horace Welch
Leroy Welch
Lewis Welch
Erastus Welch, Jr.
Erastus W. Welch
Syranious Welch
Syreannous Welch
William Welch, Jr.
Eli Wiggins
Hiram Wiggins
Ira D. Wiggins
Leander Wiggins
Martin Wiggins
Son Wiggins
Romance Wyatt
“We Keep a Fire For the Dead”
We keep a fire for the dead whose spirits walk before us
Who, shoes exchanged for eagle’s wings, now sing angelic chorus
Though they no longer walk the land in Brothertown today
Our hearts remain forevermore where’er our brethren lay
~A Brothertown Citizen
*http://brothertownindians.org/image/cache/The_Revolutionary_War_-_WS.pdf; accessed 11/11/19.
**http://brothertownindians.org/image/cache/The_Civil_War_Brothertown_-_WS.pdf; accessed 11/11/19.
The Life of the Brothertown Indians 