USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > Early Rehoboth, documented historical studies of families and events in this Plymouth colony township, Volume III > Part 8
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).
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"So the English wear afraid and Philip was afraid, and both increased in Arems. But for four Yeares Time, Reports and Iealosys of War had bin veri frequent, yt we did not think yt now a War was breaking forth; but about a Week before it did, we had Case to think it wold. Then to indever to prevent it, we sent a Man to Philip, yt if he wold cum to the Fery we wold cum over to speke with him. About four Miles we had to cum; thither our Messenger cum to them; they not aware of it behaved themselves as furious, but sudingly apeased when they understood who he was and what he came for, he called his Counsell and agreed to cum to us; came himself unarmed, and about 40 of his Men armed. Then 5 of us went over, 3 wear Magistrates. We sate veri friendly together", etc. [A Relation of the Indian Warr, by Mr Easton of Rhoad Island, 1675-J. Munsell, Albany, N. Y. (1858)].
William Sabin, the Rehoboth miller, was a veteran Plymouth Court grand juryman, having served in that capacity for many years. He was foreman of the jury that brought in the verdict of guilty against the three Indians for the murder of John Sassamon which resulted in two being hanged on 8 June 1675. This hanging precipitated the opening of King Philip's War, which sixteen days later burst forth in all its horrors with the Indian massacre of the English at Swansea.
t Perhaps Deacon Walker's "Asawome" was the departed original owner of Assawomsett pond where John Sassamon was found under the ice. The Assawamset tribe of Indians occupied an extensive territory in which were located the present towns of Lakeville and Middleborough. The sachem's residence was in Assawamset Neck lying between Assawamset and Long Ponds.
On 29 Oct. 1668, Pamontaquask, alias the Pond Sachem, being weak in body, made his last will and testament bequeathing all his lands at Assawamsett or elsewhere, to his [ ] Tuspaquin, alias the Black Sachem for life and after his decease to Soquontamouk, alias William his son. Five Indians present witnessed the will including Pelex, alias Nanauatauate, son-in-law to John Sassamon [Plym- outh Colony Records, vol. XII, p. 229]. "Old Watuspaquin" and his son "Will Watuspaquin" deeded to Felix (Nanauatauate), 11 Mar. 1673, 5812 acres of land at Assowamsett [Ibid., vol. XII, p. 230].
In March 1673, "old Watuspaquin" joined by his son "William Tuspaquin" made John Sassa- mon a gift of a 27 acre home lot at Assowamsett Neck [Ibid., vol. XII, p. 230]. John Sassamon gave this land to his son-in-law Felix in marriage with his daughter Bettey as appears in "a line or two rudely written by John Sassamons owne hand and witnessed only by old Watuspaquin" [Ibid., vol. XII, p. 230].
On 23 Dec. 1673, "old Watuspaquin" and "William Watuspaquin" gave a free grant or gift of land to a woman called Assowetough a tract of land called Nahteawanet the bounds of that neck is by the little swamp place called Mashquomoh to a pond called Sasonkususet to a great pond called Chupipoggut. "This we have given unto Assowetough with the consent of all the chief men of Assowamset that she might enjoy it peacefully without mollestation neither by us nor by ours or under us after us. But she shall have it forever especially her eldest daughter". Witnesses: the marks of Tobias, alias Poggapanosso [probably the Tobias hung for the murder of John Sassamon], old Thomas, Pohonohoo, and Kankunuki [Ibid., vol. XII, p. 235]. Assowetough, alias Betty do freely give and bequeath, 14 May 1696, the above tract of land unto my daughter Mercy & to her heirs forever. The X mark of Betty alias Assowetough [Ibid., vol. XII, p. 235].
Before Governor Winslow, 5 Mar. 1678/9, it was ordered by the court that all such lands as were formerly John Sassamon's in our colony shall be settled on Felix, his son-in-law, as his own proper right to him his heirs and assigns forever [Ibid., vol. XII, p. 230].
Tuspaquin, alias Watuspaquin, alias the Black Sachem, and his son William, alias Watuspaquin, made many land conveyances among which were sales to Edward Grey and Josiah Winslow, 30 June 1672; to Benjamin Church of Duxbury, house carpenter, and John Tomson of Barnstable, lands in Middleborough, 3 July 1673; and to John Tompson and Constant Southworth, 14 May 1675.
45
Deacon Philip Walker, Poet
Hee yt has hops to chang such bruts is out he hangs but Juils in a Swinish Snout
Incarnat divels sent from the infernall Lake * Like helish monsters make our harts to ake Thes are the Satirs make Jeneral devistation With Such like roges mayntaynd by Corporation :
But If the incom of the profit went not mor to privat Intrest & intent to gayn a proffit by Such Larg donations Specttators Sone would See great olterations
When thes donations first promoted were Charity & reson woud our greatest Care ffor owr own christian ffamilys & race to bred them up in knowlidg parts & grace
[A]nd it were well If it converted weare to Such a way Comitted to the Care of sum by oath yt thay might ffaithful bee Not only ffamd For good by Charitee as other plases wher wee find thay bee give oath & bond ffor ther ffidelitee t
ffor ast has bin tas dun no good to none but to owr enimys and to ther ffrinds alone Pamperd them up with arts & parts & pour To rayn on us this dredffull bludy Shouer
[14] But blud ffor blud Shal bee ther portion Just If by Indulganc som dont betray our trust by keping rogs & Serpants in our brest & so betray & ruin all the rest which if thay doea ye wish & harty pray thay may goea goake # with them the self same way
ffame has repeated news now goeas Thers ffalen many of our ffoose tis sayd the Sothern § forses stout Mongst many hav kild a rogea oth rout Miontonimo || that gresi lout
* By thel"infernall Lake" he probably meant Assawomsett Pond where John Sassamon was found under the ice. Deacon Walker is also comparing the brutal and wanton nature of the Indians with that of the satyrs in Greek Mythology, who were "woodland deities having goat-like ears, pug noses, short tails, and budding horns, and were of a wanton nature and very lascivious".
t At this point Deacon Walker had written thirteen of his seventeen and one-half pages of manu- script, and we now seem to have enough data to determine, without much question of doubt, the date on which this work was written. The first poem in the manuscript is on Pierce's Fight, and as this took place on 26 Mar. 1676, he probably commenced writing the manuscript shortly after that date.
In the three foregoing stanzas Deacon Walker is much worried about the honest and equitable distribution of the donations of corn and wheat promised to relieve the near famine condition at Rehoboth. On the 4th or 5th of May 1676, John Kingsley of Rehoboth wrote (ante, p. 20) the minister at Hartford saying that "famine stares us in the face" and requests that Rehoboth be sent supplies of corn or meal, further commenting that "if any will send meal pray let Deacon Walker distribute it. I know no man like minded".
As a result of this letter, Connecticut collected 600 bushels of wheat to be sent to Boston and Seekonk (Rehoboth), and on 30 May 1676 recommended (ante, p. 23) that "Deacon Walker of Seaconk receive and distribute what shall be sent to Seaconck". From this record it is apparent that after 30 May 1676 there was no further need for Deacon Walker to worry himself about the honesty and fairness of the grain distribution, for he was to be the sole distributor. Therefore, his manuscript was evidently written between 26 March and 30 May 1676.
# Goake is possibly the Scottish word gowk, meaning a "fool or simpleton" - a term of contempt. § The day after Pierce's Fight at Rehoboth, four Connecticut volunteer companies began their march into the enemy's country. Among the Captains of these companies the most conspicuous was George Denison of Southerton.
"On 11 Apr. 1676 Captain Denison with an 100 English volunteers . . and as many Indians
1
46
Early Rehoboth
with Life has Lost his Apish Coate* & by a hack thay cut his throate his buffel headt on powlt thay raysd ffor all Such news the lord bee praysd
Hast Lost thy hed & pibald Coate thou now shalt sing a nother noate weel pack the up & wee will make thees gay as any ratl Snake
Thou now mongst rablment of divels yt hast been cas of many Evils must yell & cry & ly nerdy Gnash knaw & ffry Eternaly
The Impious actts off thes Infernal bests actted abroad & in ther helish nests would Swell a volum to a magnitud one hidious actt ner us I hear Includ
A Serious modist well disposid woman Well Spoak of all and Ill bespok of no man yt oft relevd a Sordid Cruil brute yt like a beger to hir oft mad Sught yt m[ ] [line not completed] -
[15] That many years had kept this Roage alive & in a siknes had the best Contrivd to doea what in hir lay the best & all ffor ffoode & maters mettiphisckall§
. . ranging the Narraganset country, near Potuxit [Pawtucket], they fall upon a party of the enemy commanded by that famous but very bloody and cruel Sachem, Quonon shot, otherwise Myantonomy who the English formerly presented with a rich Lace Coat . . [The Boston merchant's letter to London, 22 July 1676, signed "N.S.", Drake's Old Indian Chronicle (1836), p. 91].
A This was Nanuntenoo, a son of Miantunnomoh and chief sachem of all the Narragansetts. The first name by which he was known to the English was Canonchet. He was also sometimes called Miantunnomoh, after his father. He is said to have commanded the Indians at Pierce's Fight. He and some 42 Indians were killed or captured in April 1676 by the Connecticut troops and under the watchful eye of Capt. George Denison, Canonchet was taken to Stonington, Conn., "and that all might share in the glory of destroying so great a prince, and come under the obligation of fidelity, each to the other, the Pequods shot him, the Mohegins cut off his head and quartered his body, and the Ninnicrosts men made the fire and burned his quarters, and, as a token of their love and fidelity to the English, presented his head to the council of Hartford" [The Boston merchant's letter to London, Drake's Old Indian Chronicle (1836), p. 92].
*"His Apish Coate" means that he was aping the English by wearing the gorgeous Lace Coat presented him by Governor John Leverett when, at Boston on 18 Oct. 1675, "Quananchetts, sachem, in behalf of himself, Cananacus, the old Queen, and Pomham", signed an agreement to deliver to the Governor and Council at Boston, on or before 28 Oct. 1675, all the hostile Indians that had fled to Narragansett. This agreement was witnessed by Richard Smith of Narragansett, James Browne of Swansey, Samuel Gorton, Jr., of Warwick, and an Indian Interpreter [Acts of the Commissioners of the United Colonies, vol. II, pp. 360-1]. Quananchetts failed to carry out the agreement.
John Cotton, writing from Plymouth 19 Apr. 1676, says: "On Lord's day, Apr. 9, some Connecti- cut forces, Capt. George Denison being chiefe, took and killed 42 Indians, of which Quanonshet was one, who was taken in that coat he received at Boston . . . " [Original letter, Bliss' History of Rehoboth, pp. 101-2].
+ Buffle-head is a North American duck having the feathers of the head elongated, with plumage black above and white below [Funk & Wagnalls College Dictionary (1946), p. 161].
At Swansea on 24 June 1675 the Indians adopted the practice of cutting off the heads of the slain English and putting them on poles stuck in the ground. Thereafter the English mounted the head of every dead sachem on a pole. The English first started the practice in 1671.
§ Metaphysical-Beyond or above the physical or experiential; transcendental. Dealing with abstractions; apart from or opposed to, the practical. Designating certain poets of the 17th cen- tury, notably Cowley and Donne, whose verses were characterized by metaphysical conceits and extravagant imagery, intended to demonstrate the learning of the authors; term originating with Dr. Samuel Johnson. Fantastic; fanciful; imaginary. Supernatural or preternatural [Funk & Wagnalls College Standard Dictionary (1941), p. 721].
47
Deacon Philip Walker, Poet
Yit when surprisd upon ye Saboth day With Strechtout hands did Suplicate & pray This Impious best to stay his fatall Stroke a Littl time yt She might god Invoke
Tis lik ffor pardon ffor Sinn in Christ hir Savour this Cruil Roage dispacht & would not leave hir dasht out hir brayns as he had dun befor hir Sucking Infant tumbling in its gore firing the house & killing Seven more*
* The five preceding stanzas tell of a heretofore unknown Indian atrocity at the outbreak of King Philip's War, committed near the Rehoboth line in Swansea on 24 June 1675. This incident is not mentioned in any of the early records or contemporary histories.
Deacon Walker in his simple lines of poetry pictures the savage, ferocious, and diabolical cruelty of an Indian to a kindly young married woman who had fed and nursed him in his sickness, and who on the day of the Indian uprising asked in payment for all this kindness only that he stay his toma- hawk for a moment so that she might make her peace with God. Ignoring her plea, he killed the suckling babe at her breast, dashed out her brains, set fire to the house, and murdered seven more persons.
This young woman was a Rehoboth girl, Rachel3 Bliss, born there 1 Dec. 1651, daughter of Jonathan2 and Miriam (Harmon) Bliss. When twenty-three years of age she married in Reho- both, 28 Oct. 1674, Thomas? Mann, a third rank Swansea Baptist, born in Scituate, Plymouth Colony, 15 Aug. 1650, son of Richard1 and Rebecca Mann. (Cf. Early Rehoboth, vol. I, pp. 36, 38, 39, 42, 43, 56, 63; vol. II, pp. 40, 45, 54, 55, 144.)
Thomas? Mann was severely wounded in Capt. Michael Pierce's Fight in Rehoboth on 26 Mar. 1676 and was one of the only three English survivors. He was a long time recovering from his wounds, the seriousness of which may be judged by the bill of £12 to the Town of Rehoboth for his care and subsistence, exceeding by many times the cost of any other wounded soldier.
There can be no doubt that the mother and her "sucking infant" mentioned by Deacon Walker can be no other than Rachel Mann and her unnamed daughter, recorded in Rehoboth as having both been buried on - June 1676. This is the only Rehoboth or Swansea record during King Philip's War where a mother and child are both buried the same day. The burial entry "- June 1676" in the Rehoboth records is clearly an error and should read "24 June 1675". There is no record of as many as seven persons being killed by the Indians at either Swansea, or Rehoboth, on any day in June 1676. In Rehoboth there are only three burials recorded for June 1676, and there are no Plymouth Colony 1676 returns for Swansea.
As required by law, William Carpenter, Town Clerk, made a return to the Plymouth Court of the marriages, births, and burials in Rehoboth for the years 1675 and 1676 [Plymouth Colony Rec- ords, vol. VIII, pp. 62-4]. This return lists eight burials in 1675 and thirty-seven in 1676, a total of forty-five. The entries are haphazard and not in consecutive order by months. The burial of "Rachel Man, the wife of Thomas Man, in June 1676" is preceded by four November entries and followed by entries in July, May, August, and June. Twenty-two entries later, on the next page, appears "Thomas Mans child buried in June 1676", preceded by entries dated in September, May, and March and followed by entries of March and February. In the Rehoboth Town Records the entry "Thomas Mans child" reads "
, daughter of Thomas Mann".
This disorder of records apparently bothered the town clerk, for in his 1680 return he makes the following comment: "Lett none maruell att the promiscuous and disorderly setting downe of the names of such as are or may be married, or doe or may be born, or may dye; for they are sett as they were brought to mee, as disorderly as they are sett downe. If the Courts order had bin minded respecting this matter, they had bine otherwise placed then they are".
If any more evidence is necessary to prove that Rachel Mann died in 1675 and not in 1676 as re- corded in the Rehoboth records, we find it in the second marriage of her husband Thomas Mann, who married at Rehoboth on 3 July 1676 Mary2 Wheaton, born at Rehoboth 4 Nov. 1656, daughter of Robert1 and Alice? (Bowen) Wheaton. If his first wife died in June 1676 as the Rehoboth record reads, then he, a childless widower, would have had to marry a second wife in about ten days after the murder of his first wife and infant child, which, to say the least, is not at all probable.
"Surprised on the Sabath day" is a bit of poetical license on the part of Deacon Walker. The massacre at Swansea took place on Thursday 24 June 1675, on which day the inhabitants gathered at the church where they met "in the way of Humiliation". The Sundays for the month of June 1675 were the 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th, on none of which days are any Swansea deaths recorded. The calendar for the year 1675 is the same as that for the year 1943.
Deacon Walker's statement that at the time the Indians killed the mother and infant they also killed seven others and set fire to the house is partly corroborated by William Hubbard, who writing at approximately the same time said: "On the 24th of June 1675 was the Alarm of War first sounded in Plimouth Colony when eight or nine of the English were slain in and about Swanzy: They first made a Shot at a Company of English as they returned from the Assembly where they had met in way of Humiliation that Day, whereby they killed one and wounded others: and then likewise at the same time they slew two Men on the High-way, sent to call a Surgeon and barbariously the same Day murdered six men in and about a Dwelling-house in another Part of the Town: All of which Outrages
48
Early Rehoboth
Thay glide a way Like Serpants on a rock or Ship in Thetes watry Segrene bed before perssuers Sceas a gun or knock upon ther ugly Scerpant wrethen hed
With sly departur after Such a Stroke Without reveng doeath Equaly provoke Owr Bleding harts for owr most derist ffrinds To think what god in Such a Scurg Intends
Wee rang may in our northern Climats Could Unsheltered may heaven Canope behould & rays Som Stars yt in our hemispher Which in owr Latitude wee See not here
Whearby wee Lern Astroligi mor like Then artt of mars or Stratigams to fight owr best bred Souldiars & Artilires in Stid of drilling regiments may* trees
[16] Rang in Battalia & Sound a charg to ym Beat a retreat & so Cum home agen Tent artts of disiplin acomplish can Surpris ther rear ther wing or van
No ffigur fform or batlment ther Amboscades Sly prevent a bace Sly Ill contrived rout yt art nor manhud cant find out
If Zurkssest with his great Armad or Scanderbagt yt Castrion princ or Ziscos§ troopt might hear pirado but Like the ffrankes might son goea henc
If warlik greeks yt rang batalias first or hardy germans of the froson Zone the ffaythles Turks would wish themselves acurst great Tamnerlin|| might fight himself alone
& Elikssander [ thou to mars trew born:/ Whos multituds soupt Meedyanders dry thayd Shak ther tressis turn tany back in scorn quockwish say thay & so away thay fly
were committed so suddenly, that the English had no time to make any Resistance" [Hubbard's Narrative (Drake Ed. 1865), vol. I, p. 65].
On 24 June 1675, the following nine burials are recorded at Swansea: Gershom Cobb, Joseph Lewis, John Salisbury, John Jones, John Fall, Nehemiah Allen, Robert Jones, William Lohun, and William Salisbury. William Hamon was buried 29 June 1675 [Plymouth Colony Records, vol. VIII, p. 61]. This list contains the names of the seven men that Deacon Walker said were killed by the Indians at the house which they burned after killing Rachel Mann and her infant daughter. Rachel Mann's mother was a Harmon, and it may be that William Hamon was a relative. Further research might establish the location of the particular house where this massacre took place.
As required by law, Nicholas Tanner, Town Clerk, made a return on 4 Mar. 1675 to the Plymouth Court of the marriages, births, and burials for Swansea "which were this year" [Plymouth Colony Records, vol. VIII, p. 61]. The burials number fourteen of which nine are men buried on 24 June 1675, and one, William Hamon, buried on 29 June 1675. The first burial recorded is that of De- liverance Peck, wife of Nathaniel Peck, 30 Apr. 1675. The other thirteen burials are those of men. * To observe May-day-May pole.
t Probably Xerxes (519 ?- 465 B.C.) A Persian king (486-465); grandson of Cyrus the Great; de- feated by the Greeks at Salamis.
Į Scanderbeg, George Castriot (1403-1468). An Albanian chief, the national hero of Albania; maintained Albanian independence against Turkey.
§ Ziska (1360 ?- 1424). A Bohemian general; leader of the Hussites.
|| Tamerlane (1336-1405). A Tatar conqueror of Asia.
T Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.), King of Macedon; conqueror of Asia.
49
Deacon Philip Walker, Poet
Lets search & try let us not bee begild ffor presant Judgment shouls our Camp8 defild Lett no man plead ym ffreer than another to such Id Say a Pharicy8 thy Brother
Lets search ye Cort ye Cuntri toun & Sitty the Tribe the house the person find tis pity to mis the knowledg of the thing or things ffor which gods angry & his Judgment brings
Lets serch owr selves Each man his Secrit hart And Search the templ in Each privat partt
[17] Thay yt offended are when thay doea make du aplicatione & in dugin take At what is sayd in thes asertions trew That he may See yt8 half an Ey to vew
Let him fforbeare to mind such things yt can ffor my Inditers no State Religon* man no no his genos runs a nother way Whille hee has hartt to think or mouth to pray
To his most glorious all hartt scerching god to mind his dispensations ffeare his rod
So Let it bee thou Independant being Great god allmighty Infinight all seing behoulding all things nought is hid from thee Lett no man swell or kik or wink at whot is her inscertid omited or forgott
or like the Comons of the Rushians Say Non should but kings & prests & prelats pray that is a Rudimentt yts termd to bee by Lerned Pall but Begerlle
So blest be god & all the hevenly host Sinc Christs asention yt the holy ghost has reposest his own regenorat harts Lightnd by grace expeld the thikist darks
Casd by yt vale that Sinn & Sateayn Cast & yit thers much yt through Coruptions last
doging and Cloging all owr sinful naturs both good & bad all though refined Creturs but bering witnis gaynst owr selves Adoring owr god of grace in humbl wise Imploring
* State Religion means the Congregational denomination, as that was the "State" religion of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and no man could become a freeman unless he was a member of the Congregational Church. This requirement was not so strict in Plymouth Colony, although the Congregational was the recognized official church.
Deacon Walker was an ardent follower of Rev. Samuel Newman and his son Rev. Noah Newman. From the death of Samuel Newman in 1663 to the organization of the Town of Swansea on 5 Mar. 1667/8, the Rehoboth Congregational Church was split apart by dissension, with the Baptists in control. In 1668 the Baptists left Rehoboth and under the religious leadership of John Myles founded Swansea. (Cf. Early Rehoboth, vol. I, pp. 25-46.) Rev. Noah Newman became pastor of the Rehoboth church, and in the spring of 1670 Philip Walker became junior deacon of the Church, serving with the senior deacon, Thomas Cooper.
That Deacon Philip Walker was a liberal, broad-minded man is proved by the fact that after Swansea was destroyed by the Indians, he fed for one month a John Myles, probably the minister, head of the Swansea Baptist Church, and the man who was large responsible for the dissensions in the Rehoboth Congregational Church. (Cf. Early Rehoboth, vol. II, p. 45.)
50
Early Rehoboth
In Christ that hee by Imputation may by his ffree grace our darling Soule Convay to that Eletiam* Paradise may rayse [ ? line cut off from bottom of page]
[18] To serve the times or Clos with a traditione is horid Sin & wors then Superstitione but gospel truth in gospel tims to Imbrace it renders men how Ere Estemd has grace
Not say as other Men becas thay say it it may undo thee & thi Soul betray it yt is a Evil termd in wright to bee by Lernid Palle blind zeal Hipocrisce
Such Christians made by Sathans act not grace Shall have ther portions with the hethens race
Lord god of sperits trew grace of thee wee beg therfor from thee the only ffountayn hed wee have all good returning back agen Boath glory honer prays for them Amen:/
ffinis by a frind to his Cuntry & ffrinds
P. Walker
[Four more lines, cancelled and illegible]
An interesting picture of the Philip Walker house is shown oppo- site page 26. This illustration is from a heretofore unpublished photograph owned by Miss Faith Shedd, the present occupant and owner of the house. This original photograph, taken about 1860, or a little earlier, is on glass, 414 inches high by 534 inches long, the back protected by a coating of black paint. The photograph is bordered by an engraved scalloped copper mat, the whole enclosed in a plain daguerreotype style embossed copper frame.
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