Shawmut, according to 19th-century scholarship, is a term derived from the
Algonquian word Mashauwomuk referring to the region of present-day
Boston, Massachusetts.[1] It appears in a number of present-day placenames.
Origin of the word
It appears in print very early in the history of
New England; records from 1630 note that
William Blaxton was "dwelling on the other side of
Charles River, alone, at a place by the Indians called Shawmutt".[1]
The meaning of Shawmut is uncertain. Most explanations refer to either the
salt water surrounding the peninsula, from which come explanations like "canoe landing place" or "place to ferry across", or to the
springs of
fresh water found within, a major inducement for the settlement of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony at that site.
Examples of the placename
This word appears in several place-names, not all of which can be traced with certainty to the Mashauwomukplace name.
Shawmut Peninsula is the promontory on which Boston is built. Due to land reclamation efforts throughout the 19th century, the peninsula is now over twice its original size.
Shawmut Bank was established in Boston in 1836 and its logo, the stylized bust of
SachemObbatinewat, became widely recognizable in
Greater Boston over the next century and a half. In 1988 the bank's parent, Shawmut Corporation, merged with Hartford National Corporation, owner of Connecticut National Bank and the
Provident Institution for Savings, to form Shawmut National Corporation. The name and logo were retired in 1995 as a result of the merger of Shawmut National Corporation and
Fleet Financial Group.[3]
Shawmut Capital Partners, an independent, stand-alone venture capital firm formed in 1998 by a former Chairman of
Fleet Financial Group, now holds the rights to the Shawmut name and the logo of Chief Obbatinewat.[3]
Shawmut, Maine is a village located in the town of
Fairfield, Maine. It was so named because the Shawmut Manufacturing Company, which ran a de-barking operation was chiefly financed by the Shawmut Bank of Boston, Massachusetts.
Shawmut Dam on the
Kennebec River on Maine was built by the Shawmut Manufacturing Company in 1914. As there are abandoned
railroad tracks nearby, the Shawmut Manufacturing Company may be a link between Shawmut Bank and the other railroad-related uses of the Shawmut name.[4]