Mary Kittamaquund facts for kids

Mary Kittamaquund (born around 1634 – died around 1654) was the daughter of Kittamaquund, a powerful chief of the Piscataway people. She played an important role in helping English settlers and Native American tribes get along peacefully in the early days of the Maryland and Virginia Colonies.

Mary's Early Life

Mary's father, Chief Kittamaquund, became interested in the Catholic faith after a missionary named Reverend Andrew White helped heal his son in 1639. Two years later, Chief Kittamaquund sent his daughter, Mary, who was about seven years old, to live with Governor Leonard Calvert and Margaret Brent.

The chief wanted Mary to be educated by the English leaders. He hoped she could learn to communicate between the two cultures. He also wanted her to help get support from the English against other tribes that were unfriendly to the Piscataway.

Life in Maryland

Mary Kittamaquund's life was shaped by trade, the desire for land, and religious disagreements. These issues were also causing wars back in England.

In late 1644, when Governor Calvert was away, Margaret Brent allowed her brother, Giles Brent, to marry Mary. Mary was only about 10 or 11 years old at the time, and Giles was 38. Years later, a cousin of Governor Calvert, George Talbot, mentioned that Giles Brent claimed a lot of land in Maryland because he was married to the Piscataway chief's daughter.

While Governor Calvert was away, a difficult period began for the Maryland colony. In February 1645, a Protestant sea captain named Richard Ingle and his ally, William Claiborne, attacked and burned buildings in St. Mary's City, Maryland, the capital of the new colony. They also raided and burned homes on Kent Island. Ingle and Claiborne took several important people, including Giles Brent, as prisoners back to England.

Between 1646 and 1647, Governor Calvert's forces fought back and pushed out the attackers. However, Governor Calvert then became sick and died in June 1647. He named Margaret Brent as the person to handle his affairs. To pay the soldiers, she sold some of Calvert's cattle. When Governor Calvert's brother, Lord Baltimore, heard about this, he was upset, probably not fully understanding how much danger his colony had been in.

Around this time, Chief Kittamaquund died. Giles Brent, who had been freed and returned to Maryland, claimed all the Piscataway lands because he was Mary's husband. This went against the customs of the Piscataway tribe. It also conflicted with Lord Baltimore's original land grant, which had started the English colony.

Moving to Virginia

Despite these challenges, Giles and young Mary stayed together. In 1647, they moved to Chopawamsic Island in the Potomac River. The next year, they moved to the Colony of Virginia, in an area now called the Northern Neck. Giles started a trading post there, and later a large farm called Retirement. His sisters, Margaret and Mary, later joined them and lived at Giles' first Virginia farm, named Peace.

Mary's Family

Mary Kittamaquund was the daughter of Kittamaquund, who was the Paramount Chief of the Piscataway Tribes, and Mary Piscataway.

Records show that Mary and Giles Brent had children. Three children are mentioned in the wills of Giles Brent and his sister Margaret: Giles Jr., Mary Brent, and Richard Brent. Giles Jr. married his cousin, also named Mary Brent. Mary Brent (the daughter) married John Fitzherbert. Richard Brent died young. Historian Lois Green Carr noted that Mary and Giles may have had six children in total, including a daughter named Katherine.

What Happened to Mary?

It is not clear what happened to Mary Kittamaquund. There are no records about her death. In 1654, Giles Brent married another woman named Frances Whitegreave Harrison. This suggests that Mary either died young (which was common due to childbirth or illness), or she left Giles and returned to her Native American community, or Giles divorced her.

If Mary Kittamaquund returned to her tribe, she might have moved to Piscataway lands in Maryland. The Piscataway tribe traded throughout the Chesapeake Bay area, even though their population was greatly reduced by war and disease during this time.

The Brent Family in Virginia

Even though the English-born Brent sisters never married, the Brent family became the only openly Catholic family in Virginia for over a hundred years. Mary Kittamaquund was said to have lived with Giles's sisters, Mary and Margaret Brent.

The Brent men continued to be merchants and lawyers. They also owned farms and a stone quarry. George Brent (who died in 1694) was the only Catholic representative in the House of Burgesses (Virginia's assembly) in colonial times. In 1686, he and three partners received land where Catholics could legally practice their religion.

As anti-Catholic feelings grew in Virginia, the Brents held fewer government positions. However, their neighbors often protected them from laws that required anti-Catholic oaths. Around the time of the American Revolution, William Brent and Richard Brent married the sisters of John Carroll, who became the first Catholic bishop born in the United States. William and Richard Brent became important figures in the American Revolution.

A Changing Legacy

During the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, British raiders burned Brent family estates. This caused more damage to their properties than to their Protestant neighbors.

Later, the Virginia Brent family became strong supporters of slavery and the Confederacy. They developed a town called Brentsville, Virginia, in the 1820s. During the American Civil War, Union soldiers damaged the Brent family graveyard.

Honors

• In 2009, Virginia put up a historical marker to honor Mary Kittamaquund. It is located on Route 1, near the Aquia post office.
• Lake Kittamaqundi in Columbia, Maryland, is a reservoir named after Mary's father's tribe and also honors Mary, who is sometimes called a "princess."