King Nummy (also Nummie and Thomas Nummie) was a chief of the Kechemeche, a subdivision of the

Lenni Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historical territory included present-day northeastern Del ...

that lived in modern Southern New Jersey, and at the time part of the English

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherla ...

. He was the last relevant leader of the group; by the time of Nummy's death, the Kechemeche had largely either migrated westward, integrated into colonial society, operated as independents, or perished.

Biography

Nummy's life is not well documented; what little is known about him is what was written about him by the colonial settlers of

New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, rather than the Lenape themselves. The closest chroniclers were

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

missionaries to the Lenape. What is documented is that Nummy acted as a peace broker and trader, a contact between the European settlers and the Lenape. Some sources indicate he was a chief of all the Unalachtigo branch of the Lenape rather than merely of the Kechemeche, although European settlers routinely overestimated the sway of leaders willing to work with them in American Indian - colonist relations, so this belief may not have been well-grounded. Nummy presented a "Cape May Diamond" to Christopher Leaming as a token of friendship. Nummy also sold a whale to Evan Davis in 1685. Nummy had a sister, Snowflower, and according to some traditions, she married an English missionary named Benijah Thompson. It is not known where Nummy died. Most legends believe that he stayed in Southern New Jersey rather than head west as many other Lenape did, though. He is thought to have stayed to care for the children of his sister after she died of illness. According to one tradition, he may have been buried on Nummy Island, a small island between North Wildwood and

Stone Harbor Stone Harbor is a borough in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough, and all of Cape May County, is part of the South Jersey region of the state and of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the ...

in the Jenkins Sound, near

Hereford Inlet Hereford Inlet is an inlet in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, adjacent to North Wildwood, New Jersey. Geography Hereford Inlet separates Seven Mile Island from Five Mile Beach. It was described in 1834 as, Hereford Inlet was descr ...

. At least one author, Charles Tomlin writing in 1913, considers this alleged burial location unlikely, however.Cape May Spray
Tomlin, Charles.

Legacy

Several areas in New Jersey are named after Nummy, largely in modern Middle Township: Nummy Island (see above), Nummy Lake in

Belleplain State Forest Belleplain State Forest is a New Jersey State Forest in northern Cape May County and eastern Cumberland County. It has many young pine, oak and Atlantic white cedar trees, having better soil than the northern Pine Barrens. It was established ...

, a place called Nummytown, a trail into Wildwood called King Nummy Trail or simply the Indian Trail, and Nummy Campground.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nummy, King Lenape people People from colonial New Jersey 1600s births 1700s deaths