Mother Solomon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait taken c. 1880 | |
| Born | Margaret Grey Eyes November 1816 Owl Creek, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | August 18, 1890 (aged 73) Wyandot County, Ohio, U.S. |
| Resting place | Wyandot Mission Church, Upper Sandusky, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation | Nanny |
| Spouses | David Young
(m. 1833; d. 1851)John Solomon
(m. 1860; d. 1876) |
| Children | 8 |
| Signature | |
 | |
Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon (November 1816 – August 18, 1890), better known as Mother Solomon, was a Wyandot nanny.
Born along Owl Creek, Ohio, Solomon's father took her to Indigenous sites as a child. After moving to the Big Spring Reservation in 1822, she learned housekeeping and English at a mission school and began attending the Wyandot Mission Church. She remained at the school as a young woman and married a classmate in 1833. They had five children, two of whom died. The Indian Removal Act forced Wyandots to move to Kansas in 1843, where many died of illness. Solomon recuperated with her family and had a few more children, though by 1860, her husband and remaining children had died. She sought to protect the Huron Indian Cemetery, their burial place. In Kansas, oxen, pigs, and horses were stolen from her.
Solomon became homesick after marrying the sheriff John Solomon. Alongside her nephew, the Solomons relocated around Upper Sandusky, Ohio, in 1865. When John died in 1876, Margaret began babysitting children. Throughout the village, she garnered the nickname "Mother Solomon", promoted Wyandot culture, and advocated for the restoration of the run-down mission church. During its rededication in 1889, she sang a Wyandot translation of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". Many attendees admired her stage presence. Solomon became weaker in her final years and died in 1890. She was a popular local figure, and the Wyandot County Museum has since displayed her belongings.