Alexander Quapish

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Dedham, Massachusetts(?)

Date of Birth:

Circa 1741

Place of Death:

Needham, Massachusetts

Date of Death:

March 23, 1776

The following is from the 2004 National Park Service study Patriots of Color researched and prepared by George Quintal:

Alexander Quapish was born circa 1741.^I

He enlisted from Dedham (MA) on 8 May 1775 into the company commanded by Capt. Daniel Whiting, in Col. Jonathan Brewer’s regiment.^II On 3 July 1775, he was selected to serve on the main guard under Lt. Col. Loammi Baldwin.^III His name appears on both the August and October rolls of the company. An order for a bounty coat was dated Prospect Hill on 22 December 1775.^IV

He died in Needham (MA) on 23 March 1776, being the 'last of the Aborigines in Dedham.'^V The details of his last days are described in a July 1776 petition to the Massachusetts General Court by Michael Bacon:

That one Alexander Quapish a Poor Indian Belonging to this State who was taken Sick in the Army Near Cambridge and was Dismissed Came to the House of your Petitioner in Said Needham in a Suffering Condition on the 15^th Day of November 1775 and Remained there Sick untill the 23^rd Day of March 1776 and then Died, and your Petitioner was at Great Trouble & Charge in Boarding Nursing, and Burying Said Indian.

'This petition was endorsed by three selectmen, and accompanied by a bill of £6, 8s. of which eight shillings were for a coffin, and three shillings for "Diging his Grave."'^VI

He filed intentions to marry on 27 October 1767 in Dedham to Sarah David. The filing describes him as an 'Indian man of Yarmouth,' while she is described as an 'Indian Woman of Dedham.'^VII 'She died in 1774 and was buried in the old Indian burial place at the foot of Wigwam hill being the last person buried there.'^VIII

Footnotes:

1. Birth date backwardly-computed, based on average age of marriage of 26 (per study of compiler).
2. Secretary of Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908), 12:886,listed as ‘Quapish.’ Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
3. Ibid, listed as ‘Quapesh.’
4. Ibid, under ‘Quapish.’
5. Smith, Frank. A History of Dedham, Massachusetts (1936), 303.
6. Clarke, George, Kuhn, A.M. L.L.B. History of Needham Massachusetts 1711-1911 … (1912), 559; referencing Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, MA, 214:57.
7. Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns, Dedham, Marriages, 307.
8. Smith, Frank. A History of Dedham, Massachusetts (1936), 303.

Learn more about Quintal's study.