Samson Occom was born in 1723 into the Pequot nation near New London, Connecticut to Joshua Tomacham and Sarah, reputed to be a direct descendant of the famous Mohegan chief, Uncas. In 1740, at the age of sixteen, he was exposed to the teachings of Christian evangelical preachers in the Great Awakening and converted to Christianity soon after. He began to study theology with Eleazar Wheelock in 1743 and stayed with him for four years until leaving to begin his own missionary career. He preached to Native American tribes in New London and Montauk, Long Island where he married a Montauk. It was also in Long Island where he was officially ordained a Presbyterian minister on August 30, 1759 by the presbytery of Suffolk. Unfortunately, Occom was never paid the same salary as white preachers, and he lived in deep poverty for much of his life.
In 1701, he went on a mission to the Oneida Indians sponsored by a society in Scotland. He left for England in 1766 in order to raise money for Wheelock's Charity School with his traveling companion Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker . Occom preached his way across the country from February 16, 1766, to July 22, 1767. He delivered in total between three and four hundred sermons and drawing large crowds wherever he went. At the end of his tour, he had raised over twelve thousand pounds for Wheelock's project. King George III himself donated 200 pounds, and William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth subscribed 50 guineas. Occom and Wheelock remained close until, while Occom was away raising funds, Wheelock neglected to care for Occom's family. Occom also took issue with the fact that Wheelock put the funds into what would come to be Dartmouth College, turning focus from the Indian students originally targeted.
Upon his return from England, Occom lived in Mohegan, then moved in 1786 with some New England and Long Island Indians to the Brotherton tract in Oneida county, New York. He then lived among the Stockbridge Indians, from whom he received a small piece of land. In 1768, Occom wrote the 10-page A Short Narrative of My Life, which was kept in Dartmouth College's archive collection until publication in 1982. He also published Sermon at the Execution of Moses Paul and A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1774. He was the first Native American to publish in English.
He died on July 14, 1792 in New Stockbridge , New York.
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