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Revere’s first inhabitants were Native Americans who belonged to the Pawtucket tribe and were known to colonists as the Rumney Marsh Indians. The Rumney Marsh was named by the English after Romney Marsh in Kent, England. Nanepashemet, known to colonists as “Sagamore George,” was the leader, or Great Sachem of the Pawtucket Confederation of Abenaki People of Lynn (which at that time included present day Revere). Nanepashemet is thought to have sometimes lived near the Rumney Marsh. One branch of his family took “Rumney Marsh” as their surname.

In 1616, an epidemic, probably smallpox, swept the region, killing thousands in its wake. Nanepashemet retired to the Mystic River, in what is now Medford, but was found murdered in 1619 at his fort on the brow of Rock Hill overlooking the river. Three sons succeeded him in his reign. One of them, Wonohaquaham, also called “Sagamore John,” had jurisdiction over the Native Americans at Winnisemmit (later Chelsea) and Rumney Marsh.

In 1624, Samuel Maverick became the first colonist to settle in the area. He built his house at the site of the former Chelsea Naval Hospital (or Admiral’s Hill). On June 17, 1630, John Winthrop, the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company in New England joined him there for dinner.