USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > Early Rehoboth, documented historical studies of families and events in this Plymouth colony township, Volume III > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
From Mr. Newman's letter and from the following record it is clear that the eccentric believer in the physical protection of a bible in hand was not Robert Beere who was slain by the Indians at Rehoboth on Tuesday March 28th, but was a man named Wright (possibly Henry) whom the Indians killed at Providence the following day-"ripped him open and put his Bible in his belly":
"On Tuesday following [28 Mar. 1676] the barbarous Infidels destroyed sixty and six Houses besides Barns and Buildings in Seaconicke; but we do not hear of any person there slain. On Wednesday [29 Mar. 1676] they stormed Providence and consumed the greater part of the Houses but without taking away the life of any person except one Wright of whom it is reported, That he was a man of singular and sordid humor; of great knowledge of the Scriptures but of no particular professed sect or persusion; one that derided Watches, Fortifications and all publick endevors and administrations for the common safety; Insomuch that after all alarms round about us he refused to bring in any of his Goods (which were of considerable value) or to shelter himself in any Garrison, but presumed he should be safe in his own house where the Enemy found and butchered him. It is further credibly related concerning him that he had a strange confidence or rather conceit that [7] whilst he held his Bible in his hand he looked upon himself as secure from all kinds of violence, and the Enemy finding him in that posture, deriding his groundless apprehension or folly therein, ripped him open and put his Bible in his belly" [New and Further Narrative of the State of New England, Being a Continued Account of the Bloody Indian War from March till August 1676, London 1676, pp. 6, 7-John Carter Brown Library]. In the Providence tax list for 3 June 1671 are eighty-eight male taxpayers among whom appear the names of Samuel Wright, 3s., and Henry Wright, 15s. [Early Providence Town Records, vol. XV, p. 135].
At Providence "7 Sept. 1676 was brd. Sam Wright and his son Henry Wright of a little more than a year old" [Ibid., vol. XV, p. 153].
In a list of papers delivered 4 June 1677 by Roger Williams, former town clerk, to John Whipple, Jr., chosen town clerk, was a will and inventory of Henry Wright [Ibid., vol. XV, p. 170].
18
Early Rehoboth
Whitman,* M' Williamst hearing of it Called to them & told them if they would parly he would parly wth them, wch they did & he had an hours dis- course wth 3 of them, they told him the Great God was againste us & wth them, & that English men were like Women & that there was fifteen hundred of them that had burnt our towne & was burning of theirs, he assured himselfe to be instrumentall to procure a treaty between them & ye English, they told him they would say more after a months time & another suggested that they intended to spend a month upon Plimouth Colony for the burning of that.
"Yesterday one of our Towne being abroad wth a teame alone was shot at but was not hrt his oxen one was kild & the other wounded, he carelessly went forth both alone 3 mile from ye towne & wthout any gun, I hope it will be a conviction to him & others of such pesumption-we are at pesent gen- erally visited wth a sudden & sore Cold, the Lord sanctify it to us & teach us to se how soone he Can take us into his owne hand, who are ready to thinke If we escape but the enemy we are out of ye reach of danger.
"Dear Sir Let us have ye benefit of yor prayers that we may be resined by our burning & that God would not cease afflicting us till he hath accom- plished his good pleasure upon us in making us a people to his praise,- Goodman Millst whose house barne & Tan house is burnt & some of his stocke lost, returnes you wh his wife many thanks for yor kind offer & know not but If oppertunity offer that one of their Sons about 14 or 15 years old might Come to you & be wh you it might do them a kindnes, & if you want a maid servant they have a daughter to dispose of. - Thanks be to God my family are Completely well recovering out of their Colds, my wife singularly well
* Valentine Whitman was an interpreter, well known to the Indians. On 13 Oct. 1660 he signed his name as a witness and interpreter to a deed of mortgage given by Ninegret and other Indians to Humphrey Atherton. At a town meeting held at Providence 5 June 1676, "before Thomas Fjelds howse vnder a Tree by ye Water side", town officers were chosen, among whom was Valentine Whitman for town treasurer. All the officers "Sollemnly engaged excepting James Olny (town sergant) & Val: Whitman". He was one of the twenty-seven men who "stajd & went not away". To these men went the proceeds from the sale of the Indian Captives.
At a town meeting held at the same place 14 Aug. 1676 "a list of 27 names of such as stajd & went not away, was presented, unto whome these Jndjans should be due, ye names were mr Roger Willjams, Nath: Waterman, Tho: Fenner, Henry Ashton, John Morey, Dan: Abbot, James Olney, Val: Whitman, Jo: Whiple Senr, John Angel, James Angel, Tho: Arnold, Rich: Pray, John Pray, Ephrim Pray, Abraham Man, Jos: Woodward, Tho: Field, Zach: Field, Ed: Bennet, Tho: Clements, Wm Lancaster, Wm Hopkins, Wm Hawkings, John Rodes, Sam: Winsor, Tho: Wallen". To this list should be added John Scott, shot by the Indians at Pawtucket Falls, and - Wright killed at Providence on 29 Mar. 1676. From this list it will be seen that about two-thirds of the male popula- tion of Providence fled to Rhode Island for the duration of the war.
It was voted that "if any of the other inhabitants wanted Indians they were to have them at the rate at which they were sold at Rhode Island or elswhere. Jt all vnder 5 years old shall serue vntill thirty; All aboue 5 vnder 10 shall serue till the 28 year of their Ag[ ]; All aboue 10 to 15 vntill ye 27 year of thejr age; All aboue 15 to 20 vntill ye 26th year; All from 20 to 30 shall serue 8 years; All aboue 30-7 years; or as they can be sold, If ye Jndjans can be gained from Rehoboth the product of them shall goe to the aboue named Company".
Indians were sold for a price as low as £1 each; one for seven bushels of Indian corn; one for £2 worth of cloth at 3s. 6d. per yard-the equal of about 1136 yds; two Indians for 80 pounds of wool; and John Nixen bought seven Indians for one suit of clothes, a remnant of linen cloth, two shirts, and a pair of drawers. [Early Providence Town Records, vol. XV, pp. 151-5.]
According to Staples, Annals of the Town of Providence (1843), p. 169, the "tree under which the town meeting was held was probably the old cycamore which formally stood on the east side of South Main Street, nearly opposite Crawford Street. It was cut down by the sidewalk commis- sioners about 1822; Thomas Field's house stood next to William Field's garrison-house".
Valentine Whitman, b. probably near 1627; d. in Providence 26 Jan. 1701; m. Mary -- , d. 31 May 1718. He was a surveyor, 1656; juryman, 1657-1661; commissioner, 1658; deputy, 1675, 1679, 1682, 1685, and 1686. He had nine children, the first, Mary, b. 16 Nov. 1652, and the ninth, Valentine, b. 25 Aug. 1668. For genealogy, see Austin's Gen. Dict. of R. I., p. 224.
t The fact that when the Indians burned Providence they asked to speak only to Valentine Whit- man, and Roger Williams hearing of it called to them and asked to parley is unknown to historians. Staples in his Annals of the Town of Providence (1843), p. 166, mistakenly gave the date of the burn- ing of Providence as 30 March instead of 29 March.
# This was probably John Myles, son of the Reverend John Myles, who had a son Nathaniel b. 26 Oct. 1671 and a son James b. 29 Apr. 1674. The family of the minister John Myles is the only one of that name known to have been in Swansea or Rehoboth at this time.
19
New Source Material for King Philip's War
Contented to stay in the place she is in & in no wise discouraged from a de- pendance upon God to carry us & ours thro such ensuing difficulties as seem to be before us. I account it a very great mercy & canot be sufficiently thank- full for it.
"Mr Mills* is gone to ye Ilandt & Mr Brownest family is there his pson hovers between ye Iland & Swanzey, many of the Inhabitants gone & others unsettled pray pesent mine & my wifes respects to Mrs Cotton & M! Bradford with excuse that I do not write being in such straties of time. I enjoy ever to hear of him. I am sorry there is so great a reflection upon authority in yr army's removing, § but I am discouraged the more as to our Condition, for my hearts desire & prayer to God is yt I may be aboue all disappointments of that nature, not so much as to be moved at them, & to looke at all in- sufficientcy & uncertainty is [ ] to be most like it selfe. The first day that any English blood was shed was a fast,11 & my subject was psal. 46. 10.
Bestill & know yt I am god : wch I desire ever to have in mind for my incourage- ment in the worst times-The good Lrd incourage & strengthen all our hearts in himselfe & make us perfect in every good word & worke, hitherto we have suffered little, I fear there are greater & sore evills behinde the Lrd fit us for them, & instruct us by them. Let me hear from you as oft as may be as you shall from me. Thus wth affectionate salutation Craving the Continuance of mutuall prayers I rest Sir
"Yor Assured fr[ ] Noah Newman
"I canot but condole yor & our losse
in the death of that good old [ ]ostes
ye Lrd sanctify such breaches to us. - "
[Indorsements on the letter]
"For. The Revd & much Respected Friend M! John Cotton Plimouth From M! Newman April 19:1676".
[Original Letter, American Antiquarian Society.]
* Mr. John Myles, pastor of the Baptist church at Swansea whose residence was used as a garrison- house during the war.
+ Rhode Island, where many took refuge during the war.
į Lieut. James2 Brown (John1) of Swansea who in 1665 succeeded his brother-in-law Capt. Thomas Willett as assistant at the Plymouth Colony Court where he served for thirteen years. He was prominent in the service of the Colony in the attempt to avert Philip's War. He m. Lydia,? dau. of John1 Howland, the Pilgrim, and d. in 1710 at the age of 87.
§ Mr. Newman was referring to the lack of assistance furnished by the Plymouth Colony Court for the protection of Rehoboth, which is mentioned in the following letter:
Plimouth, April 19, 1676 ..
Worthy Sir:
With refference to the transactions of the last weeke I am exceedingly afflicted to think, that wee should so reele and stagger in our counsels as drunken men, and that soe pretious a people as Rehoboth should be soe forsaken by us, for our own selfish interests. If I were in your study alone, I would tell you how much blemish some have gotten for being so backward to maintaine a garrison at Rehoboth. This morning the Gov'r (being much encouraged by Capt. Bradford and the treasurer thereunto,) hath sent 2 men post to Rehoboth, to signify that if they will come off, an army from us shall guard them; but if they will stay, and judge it necessary for their safety, they shall have from us 40 or 50 men to keepe garrison with them, etc. And truly sir, if your southerne men shall faile in this, it will be just matter of reproach to them: however, it is resolved helpe shall be sent them, if they accept it. Good news in letters from Stonington to Boston. On Lord's day, Apr. 9, some Connecticut forces, Capt. George Denison being chiefe, tooke and killed 42 Indians, of which Quanonshet was one, who was taken in that coat he received at Boston. His head is sent to Hartford, his body is burnt; then also was killed one hostage that run from Hartford, and some chief counsellors; also 38 sachems and 3 Capts. were taken and killed neere Patuxet [Pawtucket] . . . An Indian at Boston, who was improved as a messenger to the enemy, being returned, affirms that Capt. Pierce and his killed scores of the Indians that Sabbath day . . .
I rest, &c. &c. John Cotton.
[Original letter, Massachusetts Historical Society-Bliss' History of Rehoboth (1836), pp. 101-2.]
11 Mr. Newman's statement that "the first day any English blood was shed was a fast [day,
20
Early Rehoboth
The following is a pathetic letter written by John Kingsley, a sick old man whose house had been burned by the Indians and who had lost all the property he had in the world excepting one swine which somehow or other had escaped the attention of the Indians. In this letter he gave much detail about the burning of Rehoboth not found in any other contemporaneous record. He told of the Indians burning the mills and "breaking the grinding stones" (heretofore unknown), "digging out of the ground what the English had hid; burning cart wheels, cutting the hind quarters off cattle and leaving the rest, driving away our cattle, shipe, and horses":
"Ser, I sallvtue you with al that cal on the Lord Jesus, thayer Lord & oweres. I did despach a few lines to new noriage & so to you & the rest on your river, but fearing it should not com to your hand & those which it con- cernes, I nowe, in my sicknes that the Lord hath laid on vs as hee did on Iob. I am now in an fever or ague, yet I doe ivdg I folow Pale [judge I follow Paul], I can say truely that since ovr wares begun my flesh is so gon with feare, care & grife & now this sickenes, my skin is redey to cleave to my bones. Now being vnknowne to you beloe on the river, I say I am the 1 man & onely left1 of those that gathered the Church that is now in dorchester, yet of lat have lived at rehoboth or seconke & hath sufered deepe, with my neighbovres. now to tel you what wee have & how wee are like to sufer, my hart wil not hould to write & sheetes would [not] contayne. I am not able to beare the sad stories of ovr woeful days, when the lord made ovr wolfish heathen to be our Lordes, to fier 2 our towne, shout & holow, to cal to vs to com out of our garisones. Som did goe out alive, with sucsese; but had not ovr god re- strayned them, thay were enow to have swalowed vs all vp. thay burnt our miles, 3 brake the stones, ye, our grainding stones; & what was hid in the
Thursday 24 June 1675]" is an important heretofore unknown source record. In printed histories this date varies from Sunday 20 March to Friday 25 March.
Many historians, even at this late date, still use Ebenezer Hazard's Historical Collection, Consist- ing of State Papers, Other Documents, etc., 2 vols., published at Philadelphia in 1792, in the mistaken belief that this work is an authority. Even Palfrey in his excellent History of New England, printed in 1864, relied entirely too much on Hazard, for the latter's work was then seventy-two years old and in this time much new source material had come to light. One hundred and fifty-five years of antiquity has added no value to Hazard's work. On the contrary, it is today not a trustworthy reference book for the historian.
1 In the first gathering of the Dorchester church, 23 Aug. 1636, of which Mr. Richard Mather became minister, John Kingsley was the seventh signer [Dorchester Church Records], and the last surviving member of the seven signers. In the list of "ancient purchasers" at Taunton, with allowments of 12, 8, and 6 acres each, John Kingsley's name stands 20th on the list with a 12-acre lot and Mr. John Brown, later of Rehoboth, has lot number 46 [Baylies' Historical Memoir of New Plymouth, vol. I, pt. 1, p. 286].
" This was 28 Mar. 1676 when some 1,500 Indians surrounded the main Rehoboth settlement and burned practically all of the remaining buildings.
3 At the time of Philip's War there were two cornmills and a sawmill in Rehoboth, the new corn- mill located on Palmer's River and the original cornmill and a sawmill at the cove falls at the southeastern end of what is now Omega Pond, a few feet northwest of the present river bridge which is beside the brick-arch Railroad bridge (erected 1884) over Roger Williams Avenue. John Kingsley lived about two-hundred yards southeast of the falls corn and sawmills on the parcel of land between the river and what is now Roger Williams Avenue at a point about opposite the present Agawam Hunt clubhouse.
When John Kingsley died he was buried on his own land. In 1890 his gravestone was found near the spot where the Wachusett canoe house was later built. In 1946 a new concrete Roger Williams Avenue bridge was erected on the west side of the old wooden bridge and this portion of the highway relaid. The Wachusett canoe house was torn down and the western line of Roger Williams Avenue at the bridge approach now passes through the site of the old canoe house.
John Kingsley's gravestone was taken up and moved about one and a half miles northeast to the old Newman cemetery, where it was reset in the old part of the cemetery about twenty-three feet south of the Newman monument. It is a rough wedge-shaped stone nine inches square at the base and two feet high. Near the top four lines are roughly chiseled reading: "1678 JOHN KING SLEY". Near the top on the opposite side are the letters "AK". The cross line of the letter "A" is on the top instead of in the middle of the letter. The Rehoboth records read "John Kingsley,
21
New Source Material for King Philip's War
non Terence face couron if become bepower in your gunty vousnot pay you away from intagme if is beter to live by and
I'm nurse for it mes friif sowriting ty uncens was wollen Fog way e quinit gavemany wyzwan of so gutę notif fo zar ko
Eivis tu miclasse que factures un 8 pont anonimyerguen will on forme operating. if ling bem form of quar mindes to per wer Do not fre qumen unsit but onlything insixoneman of Payants & wil pay u miniture on my pauseden yaralananis.
but I from you comept que frage spray enes tent wing gier values grape might be appena ... Iopara if fais roman to longund of unuz feat Foraryod scent this it but in pontife cleans but y pony game. wishing min & may Eur ceund t forests forum formen & Jouent Buy-
waffen difertilit & from one mar fifo min
For fo toos put up to furs a waste of Power this e how all to ye your fan of you know Jeyes Denal who is que scopino Eva plat Baque Datowent of france Ofoniaym of add your
Trupe times
1616
if may beat serve as Reed wil haft mce wan Brand opinthis
A three-quarter size photostatic reproduction of a page of the letter written from Rehoboth on 4 or 5 May 1676 by John Kingsley, to his much honored friend the preacher of the gospel at Hartford, Connecticut.
The first record of John Kingsley is in 1636 when we find him one of seven to form the Dorchester Church of which Mr. Richard Mather became minister. Born in England, Kingsley was of the first generation of those to settle in New England.
In addition to its value to historians of Rehoboth and King Philip's War, his letter is an interesting specimen of sixteenth-century handwriting, much of which is found in those early records written by non-university men. The prob- able explanation for this is that the son was taught to write by the father. Proof of this is to be found in the case of the sons of Samuel Newman, whose handwriting is the seventeenth-century style of their father, who was educated at Oxford. John Kingsley and Samuel Newman were about the same age.
22
Early Rehoboth
erth they found, corne & fowles, kild catel & tooke the hind quarters & left the rest, yea, all that day that the Lord gave lisones [license], they burnt cartes wheles, drive away our catel, shipe, horses, in a word had not the Lord restrayned thay had not left won to have tould of our woful day. wee lost but on siley man 4 that day. Wee are shut vp in our garisones & dare not goe abroad far to our outlandes, without som strength. Som of our souldieres are removed, nobodey comes to say, how doe ye. counsel from Bost. & Plimoth was to stay, oneless all had gon that could & left the rest to perish, yet now every rod of ground neare garison is broaken vp & where house & barne stood now put in beanes & sqvashes but alase, what wil doe against famin.
"Now to leave all ovr danger, fear of sord, famen stares vs in the face. Now to my comfort I heare you have store of corn, ye, tho you doe not sow in some years. Now misery cales for mersey but I consave is distres. The truth is my hart wil not beare to write. Ah, the burden that I beare night & day, to see the blesed & loving God thus angrey, & wee have not a Profet to tel how longe, & to say this or these are new englandes sinn. For general sin cales vseley [usually] for generall plagve which is now Deare bretheren, there be power in your handes, doe not say, goe away com agayne. It is betur to die by sord then famen. Therefore I beg in my Lordes name, to send vs som meal; for if wee send it [to] road island there is won wolf 5 in the way, & hee wil have money, which won of 40 hath not it to pay, tho thay starve; yea 1sh for 1 bushel, caring & Bringing There is unother, that is the miller 8, & hee takes an 8 part O new ingle., when wilt thou leave opresing. it may be in som of your minde to say, why doe not the hed men write, but onely this ould pore man. I say onely, I wil lay a mantel of my shoulder & goe pakewardes.
"There is but too 7 that knowes of my writing, & the won descoriged me; but I know how ernest Pal beged prayeres that which hee cales grase might be expekted I pray if this com in to the hand of aney that fere god, doe not stifel it, but impart it to others, that those who have a wiling mind may hav a hand to save vs from famen. I doe not beg for money to bild houses. Oh noe, noe. if any wil send meale, pray let deacon Walker distribit & it. I knowe no man like minded.
"it would be a dishoner to such a people as you, to vse argements to stir you vp to such a worke. I leave this & you all to the good hand of god, throu Jesus Christ, who is the devine head of that blesed Covenent of Grace & fovntayn of all good. Bere with my writing, who came of my sicke bed to make an end of these lines.
"4 or 5 of 3 Mon. [May] 1676.
"John Kingsley
burd. 6 Jan. 1678" [1677/8] and "- wife of John Kingsley, bur'd 14 Jan. 1673" [1672/3]. Wil- liam Carpenter in his town clerk's return to the Plymouth Colony court records the wife's name as "Alice".
4 This was Robert Beeres who had ventured alone to go at some distance from the garrison-house (ante, p. 17).
5 We will probably never know the name of this profiteering Rhode Island man.
6 The Rehoboth miller was William Sabin whose mill had been burned by the Indians on 28 Mar. 1676, thirty-eight days before the date of this letter, so it is not clear how without a mill he could collect toll for grinding corn. Also, the legal toll for grinding was one quart per bushel, not two quarts. At the Plymouth Court 6 Mar. 1648/9, "William Sabin, the miller of Rehoboth, was presented for not returning mens corn unto them by two quarts in a bushel". He was acquitted [Plymouth Colony Records, vol. II, p. 140].
" The two men who knew he was writing this letter were probably Mr. Noah Newman, who may have been the one who did not approve of it, and Deacon Walker who later had charge of the Reho- both distribution of the Connecticut donation of corn meal. Three months later this letter produced results.
8 On 30 May 1676, the Connecticut authorities selected Deacon Walker to make the Rehoboth distribution of grain. Noah Newman, writing from Taunton to John Cotton at Plymouth on 3 Aug. 1676 says: "We have received from the westward [Connecticut] 140 & odd bushells of Indian 19 bush. of pease-40 of which went to Taunton. It hath been a great releife to us, the Lrd make us duly thankfull- The dole you speak of that is coming to me, I thankfully accept & Judge it will come the best to me from Boston. If you can procure it there & it would double accomdate me, if it were ground, we, having no mill" [Original letter, American Antiquarian Society].
23
New Source Material for King Philip's War
" If aney that here or reede wil trust mee won barel of indien meal & won of wheat, I do promies to pay, I or mine, when the Lord shall tvrn to his people with Justice
"if aney know or here that Enoes Kingsley 9 be alive, at northamton, lett know that I his father am a live tho no shelter for my gray head, onely with won swine God left when hee sent our enemyes to be ovr lordes, & Blesed be his holy name hee gave & hee tooke I prayed sevn yeares to be fited to sufer comon calamity so the thing I fearyd is com on mee; but alas I am redey to fant in the day of adversetey & show my strenght is smal".
[Directed.] "For his much honered frend the preacher 10 of the gospel at Hartford, Connecot, these, with speed, as consernes maney."
[Original letter, Conn. Archives, Series I, vol. I, Doc. 68.]
At a meeting of the Council at Hartford, 26 May 1676, Major Robert Treat, Esq., Deputy Governor, Capt. John Allyn, and Mr. John Wadsworth, it was voted :
"Whereas the Gen11 Court ordered that there should be 600 bushells of wheat raysed upon the county of Hartford, to be proportioned by the Authority of this county, upon the seuerall plantations, to be improved and baked into bread for the country's use, which is thus proportioned ;- upon Hartford, 174 bush .; Windsor, 152; Wethersfeild, 134; Farmington, 74; Midleton, 46; Hadum, 20 ;- which is to be raysed forthwth and brought to Hartford, to be ground into flour and baked pr the baker, all except Windsor proportion, which is to be baked there. The SecretTy to send out warrants to the respectiue townes, accordingly.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.