Home — Liberty of Conscience: The Founding of Maryland — Library — Mary Kittamaquund

A historical marker in Stafford, Virginia honors Mary Kittamaquund. No image of Mary Kittamaquund from her lifetime survives.

Mary Kittamaquund

A girl was born in 1633 to the brother of the Piscataway tayac, Wannas¹. We do not know her Native name. The girl’s father, Kittamaquund, became the tayac in 1636². Kittamaquund and his wife were baptized as Catholics in 1640. He was given the first name Charles and his wife the name Mary. Sometime later that year or the next, Kittamaquund sent his daughter to live in Saint Mary’s City, the capital of the Maryland colony. She was placed in the care of Leonard Calvert, the governor of Maryland, and Margaret Brent, a wealthy unmarried woman³. In 1642 she was baptized and also given the name Mary⁴. Because the governor was often away, Mary Kittamaquund was mostly cared for by Margaret Brent and her sister Mary Brent, who was also unmarried.

At this time in Maryland, sometimes children were sent between Native and English communities. The exchanges were thought to help build relationships between the two groups. Additionally, these children were expected to learn languages and cultures in order to help in future diplomacy⁵. Sometime around late 1644, Margaret Brent agreed to the marriage of young Mary Kittamaquund to her brother Giles Brent⁶. Some historians have suggested that Margaret and Giles believed the marriage could be a powerful alliance against related enemies and eventually help the Maryland colony gain control of Piscataway lands⁷.

Mary Kittamaquund and Giles Brent had at least three children. Political problems forced Giles, along with Mary, to move to Virginia sometime after 1647. Margaret and Mary Brent also moved there⁸. There is no record of Mary Kittamaquund’s death, but most historians think she died not too long before Giles remarried in 1654⁹.