1829 Certificate of the Statesmen and Overseers of the

1829 Certificate of the Statesmen and Overseers of the Poor Describing Narrangansett Indian "Sarah"

Manuscript document, 1p, 8 x 13 in., Bellingham [MA]. June 4, 1829.

"We the Subscribers, Selectmen and Overseers of the poor in the Town of Bellingham in the County of Norfolk do hereby notify that there is in our Town of Bellingham an Indian woman by the name of Sarah Arinlus (?)...who is poor and now sick and stands in need of releaf [sic] ....," who is not an inhabitant of any town that they can discern. "The said Sarah is a descendant from the Narraganset tribe of Indians ...and has lived with a man by the name James Arinlus who was a Blackman and a Descendant of the Natick tribe of Indians who was a Revolutionary Pensioner, now deceased and it appears that they were never Married though lived together and have lived in diferent [sic] Towns in said Commonwealth [i.e. Massachusetts] for thirty five years or more. They came into the Town of Bellingham a few year since,...it is thought she will not live long, being about seventy years of age, ..." She had not established residency in any of the towns she had lived in, or so it appeared.

The selectmen did not make any specific recommendations, beyond "needing relief," but simply report the facts as they have been able to determine them. Signed by three Selectmen and "Overseers of the Poor," Stephen Metcalf, John Bates and John C. Scammell.
Condition Report: Folds as expected, docket on verso. Tiny holes at intersections of folds. Ink a bit light but still readable.