USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Historical address, bi-centennial and centennial, delivered at Groton, Massachusetts, July 4, 1876, by request of the citizens > Part 2
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" Your servant to comand in any service to my power " JAMES PARKER Capt " from Groten August 25 75" * Massachusetts Archives, LXVII. 244.
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A few days before the date of this letter, Captain Samuel Moseley writes * from "Nashoway Allias Lankaster : 16th Augst 1675," that, in accordance with instructions from Major-General Dennison, he had sent "12 men to Groat- ton."
In those days, there was no physician in town to offer his professional skill to the government in their time of need ; and it was necessary to impress into the public service a surgeon, as well as a horse and accoutrements, as we find from the following order * addressed
" TO THE CONSTABLE OF BOSTON.
" These Require you in his Majtys name forthwith to Impresse Mr Wm Hankins Chirurgeon : Imediately to prepare himself wth materials as Chirurgeon & to dispatch to Marlboro. to Cap' Mosely & attend his motion & souldiers at Groaten. or elsewhere: for wch End you are also to Impresse an able horse & furniture for him to Goe : wth the Post
" Dated at Boston 17 August 1675 making Return hereof to the Secrety
By ye Council " EDW. RAWSON Secrety "
And the constable made the indorsement on the order that Dr. Hawkins was duly warned.
At this time, King Philip's War had begun, and open hostilities had alarmed the inhabitants of this place. The Council passed an order,. Sept. 8, 1675, that Cornet Thomas Brattle and Lieutenant Thomas Henchman should take fifty men, of which thirty were to come from Norfolk and twenty from Middlesex, and place them in the garrisons of Dunstable, Groton, and Lancaster, in such proportions as they should deem expedient. They were to place them "under the command of the chiefe military officers of each towne : giveing those officers direction : to joyne & lyst other meet persons of their owne companyes with them, &
* Massachusetts Archives, LXVII. 239, 241, 252.
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order them every day to surround the townes yey are to se- cure ; & if they can to carry doggs with y" to search for & discover any enimy that may aproch nere such towne & at night to repaire unto such corps du gaurd, as are appointed to them for the security of the sd place."
About this time, the question of withdrawing a considera- ble force from the garrisons seems to have been considered ; but a protest against such action was drawn up and signed by Simon Willard and three others, who were probably the officers in command. From the representation they made, it is not likely that any troops were taken away.3
In the autumn (October 27) of this year, the town was assessed SIT Ios. as her rate to carry on the war; and, when paid in money, one-quarter to be abated.
The coming winter must have been a hard one for the colonists, not only here but throughout New England. The Indians had burned some towns and threatened others, and it was a season of distrust and despair. The time was rap- idly approaching for this town to suffer, and soon the stroke came. They would have been more than human if they had not felt despondent at the hard fate that had now be- fallen them. They had seen their houses and barns burned, and all the results of their labor and thrift destroyed in a day. The little meeting-house, rudely constructed but no less dear to them, was now a heap of ashes. To-day its very site is unknown. Some words of consolation, and exhortation to trust in the providence of God, fell from the lips of their good pastor, Mr. Willard, as they looked tearfully on their ruined homes. He had been their guide and teacher during thirteen years ; and much that is inter- esting is known concerning him.
Samuel Willard was born, Jan. 31, 1639-40, at Concord, Massachusetts. He was the son of Major Simon Willard, at one time an inhabitant of this town, and graduated at Harvard College in the year 1659; being the only member of the class who took his second degree. He came here to succeed Mr. John Miller, the first minister of the town, who died, June 12, 1663. Mr. Willard began to preach probably
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late in the year 1662, or early in 1663. In the latter year, on the twenty-first of some month, -conjectured to be June, the words of the records being so worn as to be illegible, - it was "voted that Mr. Willard, if he will accept, shall be their minister as long as he lives." Against this action there were five dissentient votes, which number constituted probably one-quarter of all the voters; and they certainly were among the principal and most influential inhabitants of the town. Mr. Willard must have been a man of a good deal of character to have been settled in spite of this opposi- tion, and he seems to have lived it down very successfully. His relations with the people were always harmonious ; and his salary was gradually increased until it was double the original amount. The first year of his ministry, it was fixed at forty pounds ; the second year, at fifty pounds ; the third and several successive years, at sixty pounds ; and finally at eighty, part of it being in country pay. This was the old expression for paying in produce. And when the salary was voted, Oct. 14, 1672, it was reckoned at five shillings a bushel for wheat; four shillings for rye, barley, and peas ; with pork and beef at three pence a pound ; "and all such as cannot pay his third part of his pay in English corn and provisions, they shall pay in Indian corn at two shillings per bushel ; and the remainder of his pay in Indian corn at three shillings a bushel : his firewood also above his eighty pounds. And farther these persons here set down [Ser- . geant Parker and eleven others] do promise and engage to get Mr. Willard's hay, mowing and making and fetching home for eight shillings per load, at a seasonable time, viz., in the middle of July."
Mr. Willard was a scholar and writer of considerable note in his day, and even now would be considered such. But little is known of his early history; and no church-record during his ministry in Groton is extant. Coming here in the vigor of young manhood, at the age of twenty-three, - if we may judge him from the high position he afterward attained, - it is fair to assume that he exerted a strong influi- ence in this neighborhood. It is probable that his early
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experiences here fitted him for the places of honor and dig- nity that he was subsequently called upon to fill. A few weeks after his settlement, he married Abigail Sherman. a grand-daughter of Thomas Darcy, Earl of Rivers ; and, after her death, he married, as his second wife, Eunice, daughter of Edward Tyng. He had a large family of chil -. dren, of whom five were born in this town. One of his great-grandsons, Robert Treat Paine, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
In the year 1673, Mr. Willard published a volume of ser- mons entitled, " Useful Instructions for a professing People in Times of great Security and Degeneracy : delivered in sev- eral Sermons on Solemn Occasions."
It consists of three sermons, of which one was preached on the occasion of a case of witchcraft that I shall mention shortly. It is evident, from a reference in the sermon, that the fame or notoriety of the case had spread far from this town. Mr. Willard says: "There is a voice in it to the whole Land, but in a more especial manner to poor Groton ; it is not a Judgement afar off, but it is near us, yea among us."
The book is inscribed, "To his Beloved Friends the Inhab- itants of Groton." Like all the publications of that time, it is purely theological, and contains nothing now of particular interest. If he had given us even a few lines of town his- tory, it would be almost invaluable. We look in vain through its pages for any thing that throws light on the manners and customs of the early settlers. We do find, however, the modes and habits of thought that were prevalent in those days; and with these we must be content, for the sermons furnish nothing more.
In the year 1671, there occurred here a case of so-called witchcraft, and to this Mr. Willard gave much time and at- tention. He wrote a very long letter . to Cotton Mather, giving the minutest details in regard to it, and Dr. Mather
* Mr. Willard's letter is printed in full in the " Collections of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society," volume vit., fourth series, page 555.
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refers to the case in his "Magnalia Christi Americana " (Book vi., chapter 7, page 67). The victim of the witch- craft was one Elizabeth Knap, who had the long train of symptoms which then were usually ascribed to the personal influence of the Evil One, but which nowadays would con- stitute a well-marked case of hysteria. From an expression in Mr. Willard's letter, we learn that the girl went to school in his house, from which fact we infer that the minister of the town was also the teacher of the children. At one time his residence was used as a meeting-house, and now as a school- house. Its exact locality is not known to us, though it was in the present Main Street. From another expression in the letter, we learn there was " a great meadow neere the house," which could be seen from one of the windows in a lower room.
The assault by the Indians on the town was followed by the breaking up of the place and the scattering of the inhabi- tants. Mr. Willard never returned to his pastorate. Soon afterward he was installed over the Old South Church in Boston, as the colleague of the Reverend Thomas Thacher. In the year 1701, he was chosen Vice-president of Harvard College, which office he filled till his death, at the same time performing the duties of minister of the Old South. His connection with the College was really that of President, although he was called the Vice-president. The distinction was nominal rather than real. The President was obliged by the Constitution to live at Cambridge, and this he was unwilling to do ; so he acted as such without the title.
As minister of the Old South, Mr. Willard baptized Ben- jamin Franklin. The young philosopher was born in Milk Street, directly opposite the church, whither he was taken to receive the sacrament of baptism while yet his earthly pilgrimage was limited to a few hours of time.
Mr. Willard's health began to fail, as he approached his three score years and ten, the period of life allotted by the Psalmist, and he presided for the last time at the College Commencement, in July, 1707. In August, the Governor and Council were notified that he was not capable of doing
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the work at Cambridge for another year. He died, Septem- ber 12, 1707.
Dr. Pemberton, in his funeral sermon, says of him that, " His Master committed to his Pastoral Care a Flock in a more obscure part of this Wilderness. But so great a Light was soon observed thro' the whole Land. And his Lord did not design to bury him in obscurity, but to place him in a more eminent station which he was qualified for."
Several printed accounts of King Philip's War appeared very soon after it was ended ; and these furnish nearly all that is known in regard to it. In those days, there was no special correspondent on the spot to get the news ; and, as the facilities for intercommunication were limited, these ac- counts differ somewhat in the details, but, taken as a whole, they are sufficiently accurate.
The loss of life or limb sustained by the English at this attack on Groton, fortunately, was not great. So far as is now known, only one person was killed and two wounded. It is recorded, however, that John Morse was carried off: but he did not remain a prisoner for a long time. Within a few months of his capture, he was ransomed by Mr. John Hubbard, of Boston, who paid about five pounds for his release. This sum was soon afterward reimbursed to Mr. Hubbard by a vote of the Council .!
These contemporaneous accounts of the assault5 on the town are all short, with the exception of Hubbard's ; and. I purpose to give them, in the words of the writers, for what they are worth. The first is from " A Brief History of the Warr with the Indians in Newe-England," by Increase Mather, published in the year 1676. This account - prob- ably the earliest in print - is as follows : -
" March roth. Mischief was done, and several lives cut off by the Indians this day, at Groton and at Sudbury. An humbling Provi- dence, inasmuch as many Churches were this day Fasting and Praying." (Page 23.)
" March 13. The Indians assaulted Groton, and left but few houses standing. So that this day also another Candlestick was removed out of its place. One of the first houses that the Enemy
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destroyed in this place was the House of God, h.e. which was built, and set apart for the celebration of the publick Worship of God.
" When they had done that, they scoffed and blasphemed, and came to Mr. Willard (the worthy Pastor of the Church there) his house (which being Fortified, they attempted not to destroy it) and tauntingly, said, What will you do for a house to pray in now we have burnt your Meeting-house? Thus hath the Enemy done wickedly in the Sanctuary, they have burnt up the Synagogues of God in the Land ; they have cast fire into the Sanctuary ; they have cast down the dwelling place of his name to the Ground. O God, how long shall the Adversary reproach? shall the Enemy Blas- pheme thy Name for ever ? why withdrawest thou thine hand, even thy right hand ? pluck it out of thy bosome." (Page 24.)
Several accounts of the war appeared in London in 1676, only a few months after the destruction of this town. They were written in New England, and sent to Old England, where they were at once published in thin pamphlets. The authors of them are now unknown ; but they undoubtedly gathered their materials from hearsay. At that time, Indian affairs in New England attracted a good deal of attention in the mother country. One of these pamphlets is entitled, " A True Account of the most Considerable Occurrences that have hapned in the Warre between the English and the Indians in New England," "as it hath been communicated by Let- ters to a Friend in London."
This account says that, -
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" On the 13th of March, before our Forces could return towards our Parts, the Indians sent a strong party, and assaulted the Town of Growton, about forty miles North-west from Boston, and burn'd all the deserted Houses ; the Garrison'd Houses, which were about ten, all escaped but one, which they carryed, but not the English in it; for there was but one slain and two wounded." (Page 2.)
Another account, entitled, " A New and Further Narration of the State of New England, being a continued account of the Bloudy Indian-war," gives the following version : -
" The 14th of March the savage Enemy set upon a Considerable Town called Groughton, and burnt Major Wilberds House first
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(who with his family removed to Charls Town) and afterwards destroyed sixty Five dwelling-houses more there, leaving but six houses standing in the whole Town, which they likewise furiously attempted to set on fire ; But being fortified with Arms and Men as Garrisons, they with their shot, killed several of the enemy, and prevented so much of their designe ; Nor do we hear that any per- son on our side was here either slain or taken captive." (Page 4.)
A few pages further on, it says that "Grantham and Vash- away all ruined but one house or two." (Page 14.) Few persons would recognize this town under the disguise of Grantham.
Another one of these London pamphlets, bearing the title of " News from New England," says, -
" The 7th of March following these blood Indians march't to a considerable Town called Croaton, where first they set Fire to Major Willard's House, and afterwards burnt 65 more, there being Seaventy two Houses at first, so that there was left standing but six Houses of the whole Town." (Page 4.)
After these attacks, the town was deserted, and the inhab- itants scattered in different directions among their friends and kindred. The war was soon ended; though it was nearly three years before the early pioneers ventured back to their old homes, around which still clustered many tender associations as well-'s sad recollections. It is recorded that other families came back with them. They returned, however, to meet hardships that would have overcome ordinary men. Several town-meetings were held to consider their present needs ; and it was voted at one of them to petition the General Court that they be relieved temporarily from country charges.6 The petition sets forth that, under Divine Providence, they had been great sufferers in the late war with the heathenish enemy ; that they had been subjected to grievous losses and privations ; but, at the same time, they expressed gratitude to their Heavenly Father that they had the liberty and oppor- tunity to return. They saw with the eye of faith the hand of God in all their trials. This consolation alone supported them, for they knew that with Him on their side their troub- les would disappear, and all would yet be well. In their letters and petitions, their humble faith in the providence of
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God is conspicuous. It furnishes the key-note to many of their actions that would otherwise seem unaccountable. In judging them, we should take the standard of their times and not that of our day. The scales should be carefully ad- justed to the habits of that period when there were no public amusements, no popular reading in the shape of books and newspapers, and but little relaxation from toil.
In those early days, there was no variety store, or trader's shop, as now, where people could collect to while away long evenings, and to interchange opinions. The roads were so rough as to be passable only with rude carts, and carriages were a luxury unknown. The men rode to church on horseback, with their wives seated behind them on pillions. The woman made sure of her position by holding on to the man with her right arm. This mode of travel is supposed not to have been unpopular with the young folks.
At a very early period, the road to the Bay, as it was called, - that is, to Boston, - was by the circuitous route through Chelmsford and Billerica, where there was a bridge, built by several towns, - of which Groton was one, - and supported jointly by them for many years. In the year 1699, the towns of Groton, Chelmsford, and Billerica were engaged in a controversy * about the proportion of expense which each one should bear in building the bridge. The General Court settled the dispute by ordering this town to pay twenty-four pounds and ten shillings as her share in full, with no future liabilities.
. The lives of our forefathers were one ceaseless struggle for existence ; and there was no time or opportunity to culti- vate those graces which we now consider so essential. If they were stern and austere, at the same time they were virtuous and conscientious. Religion with them was a liv- ing, ever-present power ; and in that channel went out all those energies which with us find outlet in many different directions. These considerations should modity the opin- ions commonly held in regard to the Puritan fathers. The women then were content with domestic duties, and did not seek to take part in public affairs. It is wonderful that no
* Massachusetts Archives, CASI. ()
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murmur has come down to us expressive of the tyranny of man in withholding from them the rights which are now loudly claimed.
After King Philip's War, the Colonists were at peace with the Indians, but it was a suspicious kind of peace." It re- quired watching and a show of strength to keep it: there was no good-will between the native race and the white intruders.
Captain Francis Nicholson, writing from Boston to Lon- don, Aug. 31, 1688, speaks of the feeling here at that time. He says : * -
" Att night [August 19] I came to Dunstable (about 30 miles from hence) from thence I sent two English men and an Indian to Penecooke about sixty miles up the river Merymeck ; the men told me they should be 3 dayes in doeing of it; soe next day I went through Groton and Lancaster, where the people were very much afraid (being out towns) butt I told them as I did other places, that they should nott be soe much cast down, for that they had the happinesse of being subjects of a victorious King, who could protect them from all their enemies."
The military company of the town was still kept up, and known as the Foot Company; and, during a part of the year 1689, was supported by some cavalry, under the com- mand of Captain Jacob Moore. James Parker, Sen., was appointed the Captain of it; Jonas Prescott, the Lieutenant ; and John Lakin, the Ensign : and these appointments were all confirmed by the Governor and Council, at a convention held in Boston, July 13, 1689.t A month later ( August 10), Captain. Parker was ordered to supply Hezekiah Usher's garrison at Nononiciacus with "three men of the men sent up thither or of the Town's people, for ye defence of y' Gar- rison being of publique concernment." Groton was one of the four towns that were designated, August 29, as the headquarters of the forces detached for the public service against the common enemy ; Casco, Newichewanick ( Ber- wick ), and Haverhill being the others. And we find, soon
* Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, 11. 551.
t Massachusetts Archives, LXXXI. 24.
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after, an order to send "to the head Quarter at Groton for supply of the Garrison there one Thousand weight of Bread, one barrell of Salt, one barrell of powder three hundred weight of Shott, and three hundred fflints, Six quire of Paper." Eleven troopers were sent hither, September 17, under Cornet John Chubbuck, to relieve Corporal White, who was succeeded by John Pratt. The commissary of the post at this time was Jonathan Remington, who seems to have had but little duty to perform. Shortly afterward, the order came from the Governor and Council to discharge him, as well as Captain Moore and his company of cavalry,' from the public service."
"Jn" Paige of Groten" t went in the expedition to Canada, in the year 1690, under Major Wade ; was wounded in the left arm, and did not entirely recover for two years. His surgeon's bill, amounting to four pounds, was paid out of the public treasury.
These facts show that the early settlers were not leading a life of peace at this time. The orders and counter-orders to even the small garrison tell too well that danger was threat- ening. The inhabitants had already experienced the cruelty of savage warfare, and knew it to their horror. For some years they had been on the constant alert, and held their lives in their hands. King William's War was now begun. The second attack on the town came in the summer of 1694, and the accounts of it I prefer to give in the words of con- temporaneous writers. Sometimes there are discrepancies in such accounts; but, as a whole, they constitute the best authority.9
Cotton Mather, in his " Magnalia," thus refers to it : -
" Nor did the Storm go over so : Some Drops of it fell upon the Town of Groton, a Town that lay, one would think, far enough off the Place where was the last Scene of the Tragedy.
" On July 27. [1694] about break of Day Groton felt some sur- prizing Blows from the Indian Hatchets. They began their Attacks at the House of one Lieutenant Lakin, in the Out-shirts of the Town ; but met with a Repulse there, and lost one of their
* Massachusetts Archives, LXXXI. 40, 60, 67, 71, 73. 74, 81. 135.
t Massachusetts Archives, xxxVI. 62.
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Crew. Nevertheless, in other Parts of that Plantation, (where the good People had been so tired out as to lay down their Military Watch) there were more than Twenty Persons killed, and more than a Dozen carried away. Mr. Gershom Hobart, the Minister of the Place, with part of his Family, was Remarkably preserved from falling into their Hands, when they made themselves the Masters of his House ; though they Took Two of his Children, whereof the one was Killed, and the other some time after happily Rescued out of his Captivity." (Book vii. page S6.)
Charlevoix, a French missionary in Canada, gives from his own standpoint another version,' as follows : -
" The Abenaqui chief was Taxous, already celebrated for many exploits, and commendable attachment to our interests. This brave man, not satisfied with what he had just so valiantly achieved, chose forty of his most active men, and, after three days' march, by making a long circuit, arrived at the foot of a fort [at Groton ] near Boston, and attacked it in broad day. The English made a better defence than they did at Pescadone [Piscataqua]. Taxous had two of his nephews killed by his side, and himself received more than a dozen musket-balls in his clothes ; but he at last carried the place, and then continued his ravages to the very doors of the capital."
The loss of life from this attack was considerably greater than when the town was destroyed and deserted in the year 1676. There were twenty-two persons killed and thirteen captured. The settlement was now more scattered than it was then, and its defence more difficult. For this reason more persons were killed and taken prisoners than when the place was assaulted eighteen years previously. It is said that the scalps of the unfortunate victims were given to Count de Frontenac, Governor of Canada. Among those killed were William Longley, his wife, and four or tive of their children ; his eldest one, Lydia, a daughter of twenty, and a son named John, were taken prisoners. These two of his family escaped the fury of the savages and were spared. Lydia's name is found in a list of prisoners who were held in Canada, March 5, 1710-11. Within a few years past. a Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian families has been pub- lished, from which additional facts are gathered concerning
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