He is believed to have met and been mentored by the Christian missionary John Eliot during this period, and may have known and worked with him for as long as 40 years.
[5] Following the war, Sassamon began to teach Eliot the Indian language in exchange for learning English and the Christian way of life.
Praying towns were reserved for Native Americans who had converted to Christianity and were willing to live according to European-style customs in permanent agricultural settlements.
[8] He may have studied alongside young Puritan men such as Increase Mather, Samuel Bradstreet, and John Eliot, Jr.[9] In January 1675, Sassamon warned Josiah Winslow, the governor of the Plymouth Colony, about an impending Indian attack being planned by Metacomet (King Philip).
[12] Additional evidence came from the Christian convert Patuckson, who testified to having seen three of Metacomet's men kill Sassamon and put him in the icy pond.
[13][14][15] In June 1675, the Massachusetts General Court charged and tried three Wampanoag Indians for the murder of Sassamon: Tobias, Wampapaquan, and Mattashunnamo.
Possible reasons include revenge for his having told the colonists about war plans or disapproval of his conversion and efforts to evangelize to other natives.
[17] Behind the varying explanations, as the historian Jill Lepore writes, is Sassamon's position as "cultural mediator", a man who was considered "neither English nor Indian, but negotiated with both peoples.
To the Puritans, Sassamon had embodied the success of their conversion efforts and assimilation of Indians into colonial society.