USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Deerfield > Brief sketch of the first settlement of Deerfield, Mass. : together with a few of the events which took place there in early times > Part 1
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74.402 37h 778956
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01145 5307
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BRIEF SKETCH
OF THE 1st
FIRST SETTLEMENT OF
DEERFIELD, MASS.
Together with a few of the events which took place there in early times.
BY ONE OF THE DESCENDANTS OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF THE TOWN.
Elihu Horst
GREENFIELD. JAMES P. FOGG .. .. PRINTER.
1833
5273
1778956
1:
F
844805 . 4
Hoyt, Elihu; 1771-1833.
A brief sketch of the first settlement of Deerfield, Mass. Together with a few of the events which og took place there in early times. By one of the descendants of the first settlers of the town. Greenfield, J. P. Fogg, printer 1833. m. p., 188 -? ] iv, :51-18 p. 163cm.
Preface signed : E. II.
Facsimile reprint, supposed to have been made by George M. Elliott, o Lowell, Mass., about 1880.
SHELF CARD
1. Deerfield, Mass .- Hist. I. Title.
1-16807 Revised
Library of Congress
F74.D4116 P 14052
PREFACE.
THE writer of the following sketch is desirous of preserving to posterity some account of the in- cidents which relate to the early settlement of the town, with a view of handing it down to poster- ity ; believing that it will gratify the feelings of those who are descendants of the early settlers of the place; - to them it may be a source of sat- isfaction to learn what privations and sufferings their ancestors endured. To those who are not immediate descendants from the sufferers, it may be some gratification to read of the exploits, the sufferings, the hairbreadth escapes which were the lot of those who first ventured to take a stand on the borders between civilized man, and the savage state.
A writer on this subject, a half a century ago, makes the following remarks : - " I have often heard it lamented" says he, "that no more care was taken in the first settlement of this country, to preserve the memory of the early transactions
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of our forefathers, of the many hardships and difficulties they endured in this wilderness, of the perils and dangers they endured, of the signal deliverances granted to them, and of the distin- guished blessings conferred upon them, both of a 'spiritual and a temporal nature."*
It has now become a matter of much interest to the Antiquarian, to learn what were the per- ils endured by the first settlers, the time and place of some of the principal incidents, which without some record, would soon be lost. One object is to mark out the places where, and note the time when, such incidents occurred; together with as many facts relating thereto as can now be collected to substantiate them. Time has ob- literated many of the facts, - death has removed nearly all the ancient men, who once could have entertained us with much interesting information on those topics. It is hoped that the time spent in collecting the facts for this little work, may not be wholly lost, but that it may serve to grati- fy the curiosity of some at least, into whose hands it may chance to fall.
DEERFIELD, 1833. E. H.
*Rev. Mr. Breck's century sermon delivered at Springfield, Oct. 16, 1775.
.
FIRST SETTLEMENT
OF
DEERFIELD.
IN the year 1669, during the adminis- tration of Governor Bellingham, the government of Massachusetts Bay, made a grant of 8000 acres of land to the town of Dedham in, the County of Norfolk ; this tract was located, and is a part of the territory which was in 1673, incor- porated by the general Court, into a town by the name of Deerfield, situated in that part of the state which was af- terwards erected into the County of Hampshire, (since into the County of Franklin.) The Indian name of Deer- field, was Pocomtuck. The first meet- ing of the proprietors of Dedham grant was held at Dedham, March 1st, 1670, at which time, measures were taken to lay out the town plat at Pocomtuck -
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soon after a settlement was commenced there, (probably, in 1671,) a few houses were built on the main street, and the settlers continued to live in peace with their Indian neighbors, until the break- ing out of King Phillips' war (so called) in 1675. In September of that year the place was attacked and one of the settlers slain ; - they were again assailed by the · Indians the same month while going to attend public worship on Sunday, fortu- nately no lives were lost. There being at this time a considerable quantity of grain at Deerfield, it was deemed pru- dent to remove it to some place of safe- ty ; accordingly Captain Lathrop with about 80 men, marched from Hadley, (about 15 miles south of Deerfield) ac- companied by a suitable number of teams, for the purpose of moving the grain to that place; when on his return from Deerfield, September 18th, 1675, about four and a half miles south of the village, at a place now called Bloody- Brook, he was suddenly assailed by a large body of Indians, lying in ambush,
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who were said to be commanded by King Phillip in person ; the attack was sudden and furious. Capt. Lathrop and seventy three of his men fell in the ac- tion, the teams were destroyed and most of the teamsters slain. Captain Mosely who was stationed at the village of Deerfield, heard the firing, and immedi- ately marched with his company, to the relief of Capt. Lathrop, but he arrived on the battle ground too late, Lathrop with nearly all his men were slain. Capt. Mosely found himself obliged to engage the whole Indian force several hours. When Major Treat very opportunely coming from a scout up the river hearing the firing and marched to his relief with a force of about one hundred men, con- sisting of English, Pequod and Mohegan Indians, with their united force they de- feated the enemy and drove them off the ground ; Maj. Treat and Capt. Mosely then marched to the village of Deerfield and encamped ; the next day they return- ed to the battle ground to bury the dead. In the mean time a body of the same In-
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dians appeared before the village and threatening an attack, holding up to view the scalps, and the bloody gar- ments which they had taken from Capt. Lathrop and his men, but at length they withdrew. There were about ninety men killed in Lathrop's defeat including teamsters ; and it is said that the Indian loss amounted to ninety-six, during the day.
. Soon after this bloody catastrophe the garrison was withdrawn to Hadley, and the people left the town, which was de- stroyed by the Indians.
At the winter session of the General Court 1677, the following order was passed : viz.
" Ordered that a garrison be sent to Deerfield, and that the inhabitants pre- pair to rebuild the town in a compact order, and that the inhabitants repair their this winter, that twenty soldiers be sent their."
It appears that an attempt was made to carry this order into effect, the set- tlers repaired to Deerfield, and made an
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effort to rebuild the town, but soon sev- eral of the inhabitants were slain by the Indians, and the town was again aban- doned to the enemy ; but in the Spring of 1682, the settlers again returned and commenced rebuilding the place and for several years lived unmolested.
In 1693, the Indians again commenc- ed their depredations on the inhabitants and continued to harrass them until 1704. At this period an expedition was fitted out by the Governor of Canada, (Vaudrieul) from Montreal, for the ex- press purpose of making an attack on Deerfield, consisting of 200 French and 142 Indians, commanded by Major Har- tell de Rouville, a French Partizen offi- cer of note, they marched from Canada · in the winter, and arrived and attacked the town February 29, 1704, a little be- fore day light in the morning, they en- tered the fort on the snow, it being then four feet deep and sufficiently hard, (with a crust) to bear them up; they came over the palisadoes, and immedi- ately divided themselves into parties and
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assailed the houses in various parts of the fort, at the same instant. This was the first intimation that the inhabitants had of their approach, there was a few soldiers stationed here, but as there was no apprehension of an attack during the winter season, the guards were in the habit. of retiring to rest sometime before midnight, so when the assault was made all were in profound sleep. The as- tonished inhabitants arose .from their beds to defend themselves against the musket, the tomahawk, and the scalping knife; " at fearful odds," the struggle was soon over ; the enemy succeeded in taking all that part of the village which was situated within the principal fort, except one house, which was bravely defended, but that was afterwards burn- ed. The population at this time amount- ed to about 280, of which there were killed by the enemy 47, and made pris- oners, 112, nineteen of whom were slain on their way to Canada, principally on account of being unable to bear the fa- tigues and hardships of the journey, in-
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cluding two who starved to death : viz. David Hoyt and Jacob Hix. Of those who were carried to Canada 28 never returned ; 62 were redeemed and returned after an absence of two and a half years. The descendants of some of those who remained and settled among the enemy, after several years, and dur- ing peace came to visit their relatives ; among them was Eunice, a daughter of 'the Rev. Mr. John Williams who with all his family (except his son Eleazer, ) were either killed or carried into captivity this daughter was but about six years old when she was taken; she lived among the Indians until she was grown to a state of womanhood, when she was married to a native Indian, and reared up a family of children, who took the name of the mother, (Williams.) - She became firmly attached to the Indi- an habits, and modes of living, and also to the Romish religion, her friends made an effort to pursuade her to remain with them when at Deerfield, but all in vain ; She could not be induced to give up her
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Indian habits, she utterly refused to sleep on a bed, but choose to camp down up- on the floor with her blanket. One of her descendants was educated in New England and has been a preacher of the gospel, somewhere on the borders of Lake Michigan, he bears the name of Eleazer Williams, his father is an Indian and lives at St. Rigis in Canada. During the attack on the town the enemy set fire to, and destroyed all the village within the fort, except the house men- tioned above, the house that is now standing (1833) and a small log church. As fast as they took prisoners they con- fined them in the church, or in the house now standing, and this is believed to be the reason why those buildings were not burned. It is said that the last men- tioned house was set on fire by the ene- my when they left the town, but the people who had escaped captivity came in soon and extinguished the fire before it had made much progress; at this time, this was a frontier town there be- ing no other settlement between it and
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St. Johns' in Canada, (nearly 300 miles.) The house now owned and accupied by Elihu Hoyt, was at that time owned and occupied by Capt. John Sheldon, he was absent, but the principal part of his family were either killed or taken ; his wife was killed by a musket ball, fired through a hole cut in the front door; by the tomahawk, (marks of which are now to be seen) the place where the ball pas- sed into the wall is still to be seen, as are several other ball holes, which were fired through the front window into the walls of the same room. It is said that the Indians dashed out the brains of two children who were taken in this house, upon the flag stones, which still remain at the front door. There were many peo- ple in the house at the time, as it was the custom for all the inhabitants to re- tire to the forts at night for safety. The enemy did not force their way into the house through the front door, but effect- ed their entrance by a back passage which had been left open by a lad who had escaped from the house during the
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assault. What is meant by the princi- pal fort here spoken of, is all that part of the village contained within the pick- ets, or palisadoes. The principal fort extended around a tract of the village containing probably fifteen or twenty acres, and included, as near as can be now ascertained, ten or twelve dwell- ings, besides out buildings. The houses were some of them built in form of a block-house with port holes, to fire down on an enemy ; their walls filled in with brick, making them proof against musk- etry, as may be seen by the house now standing, besides, there were mounds (so-called) built of hewn timbers and were ball proof ; they were intended to be occupied for places of defence in case of an attack, but they were of no use in the present instance for instead of occupying the block-houses, the few troops here and the inhabitants were oc- cupying their beds, instead of being on the watch, they were all asleep until they were roused from their slumbers by the
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savage yells of the enemy at their doors.
There was one small fort about sixty . rods south of the principal one, which was not taken by the enemy ; it is said they did not make a very powerful at- tack upon it, they had probably full em- ploy in the great fort, for the time they had allotted to themselves to finish their work, they commenced their retreat by sun an hour high on the morning of the assault, their departure was most likely hastened from an apprehension that they might be visited by a force from the towns down the river, where there were troops stationed, particularly at Hadley and Northampton.
Could the Inhabitants have been ap- prised of the approach of the enemy, sufficient time to have prepared for de- fence, very little doubt exists that the fort might have been defended, and the people delivered from the bloody trage- dy which followed, for it is well authen- ticated that they had exhausted their stock of provision, and were well nigh
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a state of starvation, and there were some symptoms of mutiny among them, had they have failed of success in their assault, and met with a defeat, they must have been compelled to lay down their arms and surrender at discression, for they were 300 miles from their sup- plies, and they could not have subsisted their army by hunting or fishing at this season of the year ; but by the fatal se- curity felt by the inhabitants ; the enemy succeeded in taking the fort, massacre- ing one portion of the people and carry- ing nearly all the remainder into capti- vity.
A son of Capt. Sheldon with his wife lodged in the chamber directly over the room in which Mrs. Sheldon, (the moth- er) was killed, on the alarm they leaped out of the window, at the east end of the house, by the fall she so injured her an- cle as to be unable to escape, being sen- sible that they should both fall into the hands of the enemy, she pursuaded her husband to leave her to her fate, and se- cure his own safety by flight, or they
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would be both made prisoners with little chance of having their lives spared ; he with much reluctance left her, and es- caped from the savage enemy, and won- derful to relate, she was taken, and not- withstanding her lameness, was carried to Canada where she remained a prison- er about two and a half years, when she returned from captivity and lived with her husband and reared up a fam'- ily.
During the time the prisoners were confined in the house, one of them by the name of Bridgman, secreted him- self under a quantity of bark in the gar- ret, but his enemy soon sought him out ; the Indian who discovered him called to his companions, and they came up and marched him down stairs forthwith ; soon after, they proceeded to the cellar in search of plunder, where Bridgman had again concealed himself behind the cellar door, and he remained there un- til all the Indians had passed him on their way up stairs, he came to the con- clusion to follow them, lest he should
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meet with harsh treatment if found a second time concealed ; he rejoined them at the head of the stairs without having been missed. When the enemy were preparing to march, the prisoners were brought out pinioned, preparatory to moving off; while waiting orders a young Indian came to Bridgman and took him by the hand, and with his knife deliberately cut around his fore- finger and twisted it off, and went his way. Whether this cruel transaction was to punish him for having concealed himself, or to try the young savage's skill in the use of the knife, or for some other purpose is unknown. Bridgman felt a disposition to retaliate on the spot, and abide the consequences; but his hands being confined, he was under necessity of submitting to this savage insult. Soon after this they commenced their march. Bridgman began to loiter in the rear, and before they had proceeded far, he turned from them and made an effort to regain the town, and he succeeded in effecting his object, but he was severely
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wounded by a shot from the enemy, while ascending the hill a short distance from the fort.
When the enemy commenced their retreat from the fort, all those capable of bearing arms, who had escaped the fate of their neighbors, mustered out, aided by a few who had arrived from Hadley and elsewhere, pursued and overtook the enemy in the meadow about one mile from the village, where they engaged them for a considerable length of time, and it is said that our people fought bravely, notwithstanding they were greatly outnumbered, and at one period of the battle they pushed the enemy so hard that their commander was apprehensive of a defeat; he sent an Indian runner with orders to the guard who had the charge of the prison- ers to put them all to death ; but before the runner had proceeded far, a lucky ball put an end to his mission.
The Indians soon after prevailed, and our people were compelled to re- treat. The savage order was not renew-
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ed, and the prisoners escaped death for this time. They had been sent forward under a guard, and were bound to the trees until the action was over, and the army came up, from whence they were marched forward about four or five miles, where they encamped for the night. Here "they dug away the snow and made some wigwams, cut down some small branches of the spruce tree to lie down on, and gave the prisoners some what to eat." During the night one of the captives by the name of Alexander es- caped. In the morning Rev. Mr. Wil- liams was called for, and ordered by the commander, "to tell the captives, that if any more made their escape, they would burn the rest of the prisoners." The loss of the enemy in the meadow fight was thirty-six, and they had eleven killed in the assault on the fort. The loss of the English in the meadow was nine, and they also lost about forty-seven killed in the attack on the town.
During the engagement in the fort one house (situated a few rods from the
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house now standing,) was bravely de- fended by seven men, and they maintain- ed the defence against the whole French and Indian force during the time they remained. Great efforts were made by the enemy to carry the house by strata- gem, or to set fire to it. They procured an ox sled, and loaded it with straw, and set it on fire, and forced it against the house ; but the brave men within sallied forth and extinguished the flames ; and at length succeeded in driving the enemy from the house. While these men were thus engaged, their wives were employed in the cellar, casting balls to supply their husbands with the means of defending their families and their homes. One of those brave men lost his life by a shot from the enemy by imprudently exposing himself at the win- dow after they commenced their retreat ; another of them fell while engaged fight- ing the enemy in the meadow battle.
While the inhabitants were thus en- gaged with the Indians in the meadow, the fire rekindled in the house which
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had been so bravely defended, and it was consumed.
The people of Deerfield did not de- sert the town, but maintained themselves there through the Indian wars, but they were frequently harrassed by them until the conquest of Canada in 1760. Dur- ing this period many lives were lost, after which they had no more visits from the Indians, except a few straggling ones in time of peace.
Among the trophies which the enemy carried away, was a small bell, which they took from the log Church; it is said they transported it on a sledge un- til they arrived on the borders of Lake Champlain, where they buried it, and let it remain there until the opening of the Spring, when they returned, took it up and transported it to the village of St. Regis, and placed it in the Catholic Church, where it has remained ever since.
There is a tradition that this bell was first purchased in France by the Romish Priest, belonging to St Regis, and that
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the Indians, by his direction furnished sufficient amount of furs to pay the cost and charges, and it was expressly in- tended for their Church; that the ves- sel on board which it was sent out, was captured by an English cruiser and brought into Salem, where the ship and cargo were sold for the benefit of the captors. The bell was bought at auc- tion by some one, and sold to the people of Deerfield, and put up in their church for the use of the parish. Tradition says further, that when the people of St. Regis learned the fate of their bell, there was great lamentation among them, not so much for the loss of it, but because it had fallen into the hands of heretics ; and their .Rev. Teacher gave them to understand that it must be rescued out of the hands of these unbelievers in the true faith, at all hazards, and persuaded them to offer their services to join an expedition against Deerfield, for the pur- pose of recovering the bell out of un- holy hands ; hence they say was the origin of the expedition, but it is believ-
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ed some more definite account of this transaction would have been transmitted to us than we now find, if these facts were so. We see no account in the history of those times relating to this event, we are therefore disposed to be- lieve that it is at least problematical.
Soon after the destruction of the town Capt. Sheldon conveyed his house and homelot to his son Ebenezer Sheldon, and removed to Hartford in Connecti- cut, the place of his nativity.
In the year 1744, Ebenezer Sheldon sold this Homestead to Jonathan Hoyt, who, at his decease devised the same to his son David Hoyt, and he gave it by will to his son, the present owner. It is now (1833) eighty nine years since the place was purchased by the Grandfather of the present owner. The precise time when this house was built is not now known, but it is believed that it was not far from the time that the in- habitants returned to rebuild the town in 1682, certainly between that period and the time of the attack in 1704.
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David Hoyt, Great Grandfather to the present owner of the house was ta- ken by the enemy at the time, together with his wife and four children ; he starved to death while in the hands of the Indians, at, or near, what is now Newbury, in Vermont. One daughter was slain on the way to Canada; one son never returned from captivity, but he remained with the Indians until his death, at what period it is not known. One son and one daughter were redeem- ed, and returned to their native town, after an absence of two years and a half; his son Jonathan, (the one men- tioned above) was about 16 years of age when he was taken by the Indians, and he lived with them two and a half years at a place called Lorete, a few miles from Quebec, upon the river St. Charles ; he could speak their language fluently until his death, which was in the ninety second year of his age. After he had a family and was settled in Deer- field, his old Indian master came from Canada to make him a friendly visit,
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he was well received, and treated kindly. When he left, they took an affectionate leave of each other expecting to meet here no more. The Government of Mas- sachusetts employed an agent to redeem such as had been carried into captivity by the Indians. In 1706, Major Dudley, son to the Governor of Massachusetts, was residing at Quebec in that capacity, by whom Jonathan Hoyt was redeemed from his master in the following manner : The Indians were in the habit of raising and bringing to market, garden sauce &c. One day Major Dudley saw young Hoyt in the street, he said to him, are you not an English boy ? he answered yes ; do you not wish to go home and see your friends ? I do, was his answer ; where is your master ? said the gentle- man ; somewhere in the city said the boy ; bring him to me said he; the lad now tripped over the ground with a light heart, in pursuit of his master, who soon came. The agent said to the Indian, I will give you this for the boy, holding out to him twenty dollars ; the tempta-
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tion was too great to be rsisted; the bargain was made, the money handed over, and the Indian went away well sat- isfied. The gentleman immediately sent the boy on board a ship then lying in the river for the reception of the ran- somed prisoners. The agent was aware that when the Indian had leisure to re- flect he would return and make a pro- position to give up the money and take his boy again; he was not mistaken in his conjecture ; he soon came back and desired to give up the money for the boy ; he was told he could not have him, he was out of his reach ; the Indian went away lamenting that he had part- ed with his favorite captive boy, for a few dumb dollars, that would neither hunt nor fish. By this means the cap- tive was restored to his home and his friends; the ship sailed from Quebec to Boston, from whence the captives were sent to their respective places of destin- ation, rejoicing once more to meet and enjoy their friends, and to be free from bondage. 1
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