Private John Chewen*

Private John Chewen (unknown- 1812) was of Indigenous heritage. Prior to his military service during the War for Independence little is known about Minuteman John Chowen. In various documents his last name is recorded alternately as Chorus, Cheuin, Choar, Chore and Chowen. Records indicate that he marched on the alarm of 19 April 1775 to Lexington and Concord under the command of Captain Benjamin Houghton in Colonel John Whitcomb’s Regiment out of Lancaster.

Chewen signed up for eight months service on 26 April 1775 in Capt. Benjamin Hastings Company and Colonel Asa Whitcomb’s Regiment. In January 1776, The Essex Gazette reported that he had deserted. The printed wanted description read in part

“Deserted from Prospect Hill, late of Bolton, in the county of Worcester… John Chewen of Capt. Hill’s company in Col. Phinney’s regiment… John Chewen is a molatto, but calls himself Indian, about 5 feet 5 inches high, had on a dark coloured- coat, and a pair of breeches, something lighter, has a wife at Holden, a proper Indian squaw, he loves a good deal of rum.”

Eventually, he transferred into the Continental Army for a term of three years, in the company of Captain Moses Brewer in Colonel Samuel Brewer’s regiment. In July of 1780, John Chewen served in Captain Joshua Fisk’s Company, Colonel Perry’s Regiment, mustering out of Natick.

John Chewen’s movements throughout his life point to habitation in what scholar Thomas Doughton calls a “regional Indian Community.” His life stands in contrast to the often-repeated notion that local Indigenous people were vanishing, or had vanished. In 1777, John Chewen married Hannah Speen, daughter of Lydia Speen. They had at least three children together: Lydia, John, and Ambrose. He applied for a Revolutionary War Pension, but the application was unsuccessful. John Chewen died in 1821.

Note: More often than not, service, vital, and/or other historical records were created and kept by men of English and European backgrounds. They employed a wide range of descriptive terms, such as "mulatto," negro," and "dark complexion." These terms cannot fully capture any soldier's identity, but they do offer clues. In some cases, the surname of a soldier of color connects him to a Natick family that is well documented. Often, these soldiers are Indigenous men. The biographies in this project make it possible to say more not only about a soldier's identity or background, but also about the life he led in Natick and beyond.