Mashalisk

Mashalisk was a Pocumtuck woman who lived on the east side of Pemawatchuwatunck (the Pocumtuck Range), near the Connecticut River in present-day Deerfield, Massachusetts.  In 1672 and 1674, she put her mark on a deed that gave to English settlers land on both sides of the Connecticut River, in the present-day towns of Deerfield, Leverett, Montague, Sunderland, and Wendell.  Although it was probably a difficult decision to sign the deed, it was necessary to pay off her family’s debts for wampum, coats, and sundry items, and her son’s offenses in the English court at Springfield.

Deed of Pacomtuck land granted by Mashalisk to John Pynchon. View this item in the Online Collection.

Details

Date1591–1676
PlaceDeerfield, Massachusetts
TopicNative American
EraEarly Indigenous and European contact, 1565–1619
Colonial settlement, 1620–1762