USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Historical address, bi-centennial and centennial, delivered at Groton, Massachusetts, July 4, 1876, by request of the citizens > Part 3
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
. History of New France. IV. 257, She's edition.
31
her. This book (page 9) gives her name as Lydia Made- leine Longley, and says that she was the daughter of William and Deliverance [Crisp] Longley, of Groton, where she was born, April 12, 1674. In another place ( page 396), she is spoken of as Sister St. Madeleine. She was captured by the Abenaquis, a tribe of Indians who inhabited the territory now included in the State of Maine. She was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, April 24, 1696, and lived at the Congregation of Notre Dame, in Montreal. She was buried, July 20, 1755.
Iler middle name, Madeleine, was doubtless given her when she joined the Roman Church. It is possible that she may have lived for a time among the Indians, as many of the prisoners taken at the same assault were held by them.
John Longley was twelve years old when he was captured. He was carried away, and remained with the Indians for more than four years, - a part of the time being spent in Canada, and the remainder in Maine. At length he was ransomed, but he had become so accustomed to savage life that he left it with great reluctance ; and those who brought him away were obliged to use force to accomplish their purpose. He was afterward a useful inhabitant of the town. holding many offices of trust and responsibility. 1.
It is recorded that two children of Alexander Rouse, a near neighbor of William Longley, were also killed in the assault of 1694.
Among the English captives redeemed by Mathew Cary, from Quebec, October, 1695, was Thomas Drew, of Groton, and he probably was taken at this same assauh.' There was one "Tamasin Ronce of Grotten" received, Jan. 17. 1698-9, on board the " Province Gally " at Casco Bay ; and she probably was one of Alexander Rouse's family. She had. doubtless, been a prisoner for four years and a half, - the same length of time as John Longley's captivity. There are many instances of children who were kept for a long time by their captors. We can now hardly realize the bitter anguish felt by the parents over the loss of their little darlings. Bring the case home, and think for a moment, what your feelings
. Massachusetts Archives, XXXVIII. A 2.
ДИВО 1611
32
would be, if that curly-headed boy or smiling girl was snatched from your sight at a moment's notice, and carried off by the wild men of the woods for an uncertain fate. The kidnapping of one little boy in a distant city in our times has caused the hearts of all the mothers in the land to thrill with horror as they heard of the atrocious deed, and to throb in sympathy with the bereaved parents.
In the year 1694, an Act was passed by the General Court, which prohibited the desertion of frontier towns by the in- habitants, unless permission was first granted by the Governor and Council. There were eleven such towns, and Groton was one of them. The law required the inhabitants of these out-towns, who owned land or houses, to take out a special license, on pain of forfeiting their property, before they could quit their homes and live elsewhere. It was thought that the interests of the Crown would be prejudiced, and encour- agement given to the enemy, if any of these posts were deserted, or were exposed by lessening their strength. Many towns were threatened by the Indians about this time, and a few were attacked. It is recorded that some of the settlers here left the town, and there was probably a move- ment among the inhabitants in other places, to do the same. This fact, undoubtedly, occasioned the enactment.
Any thing relating to the brave men who suffered in the Indian wars is now of interest to us, and I offer no apology for giving incidents that may to some persons seem trivial.
Cotton Mather mentions, in his "Magnalia," some in- stances of " mortal wounds upon the English not proving mortal," and gives the case of an inhabitant of this town, who was in the garrison at Exeter, New Hampshire, when that place was assaulted, July 4, 1690. He says that, -
" It is true, that one Simon Stone being here Wounded with Shot in Nine several places lay for Dead (as it was time !) among the Dead. The Indians coming to Strip him, attempted with Two several Blows of an Hatchet at his Neck to cut off Head, which Blows added you may be sure, more Enormous Wounds unto those Port-holes of Death, at which the Life of the Poor
-
33
Man was already running out as fast as it could. Being charged hard by Lieutenant Bancroft they left the Man without Scalping him ; and the English now coming to Bury the Dead, one of the Soldiers perceived this poor Man to fetch a Gasp ; whereupon an Irish Fellow then present, advised 'em to give him another Dab with an Hatchet, and so Bury him with the rest. The English detesting this Barbarous Advice, lifted up the Wounded Man, and poured a little Fair Water into his Mouth at which he Coughed ; then they poured a little Strong Water after it, at which he opened his Eyes. The Irish Fellow was ordered now to hale a Canoo ashore to carry the Wounded Men up the River unto a Chirurgcon ; and as Teague was foolishly pulling the Canoo ashore with the Cock of his Gun, while he held the Muzzle in his Hand, his Gun went off and broke his Arm, whereof the remains a Cripple to this Day: But Simon Stone was thoroughly Cured, and is at this Day a very Lusty Man ; and as he was Born with Tivo Thumbs on one Hand, his Neighbours have thought him to have at least as many Heurts as Thumbs !" (Book vii. page 74.)
Many families trace back their line of descent to this same Simon Stone, who was so hard to kill, and to whom, fortu- nately, the finishing " Dab with an Hatchet" was not given. Josiah Parker, of Cambridge, petitions the Governor and General Court, May 31, 1699, setting forth the fact that his brother, James Parker, Jr., and his wife were both killed, and several of their children taken prisoners by the Indians, in their assault on the town, in 1694. One of these children, Phinehas by name, was redeemed after four years of cap- tivity at the eastward, by the master of a vessel, who paid six pounds for him. The uncle of the boy represents in the petition that he himself had reimbursed the master, and now wished that this sum be allowed him from the public treasury, which request was duly granted. This poor little orphan boy was only seven years old when carried off by the sav- ages, and the petition relates that he was lame in one of his legs, brought on by the cruelty of his captors. 11
It was probably during the attack of 1694, that Enoch Lawrence was wounded. He represented in a petition * to the Governor and Council, that he was a very poor man by reason 1
* Massachusetts Archives, LXX. 583.
5
-
.
34
of wounds in his hands received during a fight with the Indi- ans in the former war, which almost wholly disabled him from earning a livelihood for himself and family. In conse- quence of these representations, the House of Representatives allowed him, October 17, 1702, exemption from taxes, and an annual pension of three pounds during life.
Governor William Stoughton issued a proclamation, ' Jan- uary 21, 1695, and refers to the " tragical outrages and bar- berous murders " at Oyster River (now Durham, N. H. ) and Groton. He says that several of the prisoners taken at these places "are now detained by the said Indians at Amaras- coggin and other adjoining places."
Cotton Mather says that one man was killed here in 1697, and another, with two children, carried into captivity. The prisoner was Stephen Holden, who was captured, with his two oldest sons, John, and Stephen, Jr. John was released in January, 1699, at which time the father and the other boy were yet remaining in the hands of the savages. It was not long, however, before they too were freed ; for, in the follow- ing June, the House of Representatives voted three pounds and twelve shillings for the expenses that had been incurred in bringing them back.12
After these attacks, there was a short respite, which con- tinued till 1704, when the frontier towns were again exposed to savage warfare ; and this town suffered with the others.
Samuel Penhallow, in " A History of the Wars of New England," published in 1726, thus refers to the attack on this place, in August, 1704 : -
The Indians " afterwards fell on Lancaster, and Groton, where they did some Spoil, but not what they expected, for that these Towns were seasonably strengthened. . . .
" And yet a little while after they fell on Groaton, and Nasho- way [ Lancaster ], where they kill'd Lieut. Wyler [ Wilder] and sev- eral more." (Page 2.4.)
A party of Indians, about thirty in number, made their appearance in town, and killed a man on the night of Octo-
* Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York, IN. 613, 614.
-
abnuove lo BEI moil
1774385
35
ber 25, 1704. Pursuit was at once made for them, but it was unsuccessful. 13
It is not surprising that the inhabitants, upon the renewal of hostilities, were obliged to ask for help from the General Court. They had already suffered much in life and property, and were little able to bear new burdens. They represented to the Governor that they had been greatly impoverished by their losses of horses and cattle, of corn and hay, and that they were scarcely able to hold out much longer ; but the crowning calamity of all was the illness of the minister, Mr. Hobart, which prevented him from preaching. Their means were so limited, that they could not support him and supply his place besides .. They were obliged to earn their living at the peril of their lives ; and some were thinking of leaving the town. They spent so much time in watching and guard- ing, that they seemed to be soldiers rather than farmers. Under these discouraging circumstances, they asked for help, and were allowed out of the public treasury twenty pounds, to assist them in procuring another minister, besides ten pounds to be divided among those who were the greatest sufferers in the late attack upon them.H
Two years later, another assault was made on the town, though with little damage. I again quote from Penhallow : "[July 21, 1706.] Several Strokes were afterwards made on Chelmsford, Sudbury and Groton, where three Soldiers as they were going to publick Worship, were way-laid by a Small Party, . who kill'd two, and made the other a Prisoner." ( Page 36.)
A few additional particulars of these " strokes" are found in the Reverend John Pike's "Journal," under this entry : *
"July 21, 1706. Sab : 2 souldiers slain & one carried away by the enemy at Groton. They were all new-Cambridge [Newton] men, & were returned to their Post from one Bloods house, who had invited ym to Dinner."
The Reverend Mr. Homer, in his " History of Newton;" gives the names of these men as John Myrick, Nathaniel Healy, and Ebenezer Seger, and says they were all three * Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1875-76, page 143.
36
killed by the Indians. This statement is not quite accurate, as John Myrick was alive after this date. Only two were killed.
Penhallow gives several instances of extreme cruelty to the prisoners on the part of the savages, and mentions the follow- ing case of a man who was captured in this town : -
" A third was of Samuel Butterfield, who being sent to Groton as a Soldier, was with others attackt, as they were gathering in the. Harvest ; his bravery was such, that he kill'd one and wounded an- other, but being overpower'd by strength, was fore'd to submit ; and it hapned that the slain Indian was a Sagamore, and of great dexterity in War, which caused matter of Lamentation, and entag'd them to such degree that they vow'd the utmost revenge ; Some were for whipping him to Death ; others for burning him alive; but differing in their Sentiments, they submitted the Issue to the Squaw Widow, concluding she would determine something very dreadful, but when the matter was opened, and the Fact consid- cred, her Spirits were so moderate as to make no other reply, than, "Fortune L'guare. Upon which some were uneasy ; to whom she answered, If by killing him, you can bring my Husband to life again, I beg you to study what Death you please ; but if not let him be my Servant; which he accordingly was, during his Captivity, and had favour shewn him." (Pages 38, 39.)
Butterfield remained a captive for more than a year. It is not known how he obtained his release. We find his peti- tion, * dated April 10, 1706, to the General Court, which sets forth the fact that he was an inhabitant of Chelmsford, anth was sent by Captain Jerathmel Bowers to Groton. to help Colonel Taylor, in August, 1704, when the enemy came upon the place. He was ordered, with some others, to guard a man at work in the field, when the Indians attacked them, killed one, and captured another besides himself. Butterfield represents, in the petition, that he " made all the restance possible, killed one, and knockt down two more after they had seized him, for which yor. Petitioner was cruelly used by them afterwards & threatened to be burnt, several times."
* Massachusetts Archives, LXXI. 195.
37
He says that he "was very well accoutred in all respects when he was taken, and then was stript of all and was be- tween fourteen and fifteen months a Captive expos'd to great hardships, and has sustained great Loss and damage." In consideration of his loss and service, he was allowed the sum of ten pounds out of the public treasury.
A man was killed here, June 12, 1707. His name was Brown, and he is spoken of in Pike's "Journal" as Mr. Bradstreet's man.
In a list of prisoners in the hands of the French and In- dians at Canada, " March 5, 1710-11, we find the names of "Zech : Tarbal, John Tarbal, Sarah Tarbal, Matt. Farns- worth [and] Lydia Longley," though there is nothing in the record to show when they were captured. With the excep- tion of Lydia Longley, they were probably taken between 1704 and 1708. It is known that the two Tarbell boys re- mained with the Indians and became naturalized, if I may use the expression. They were afterward made chiefs at Caughnawaga and St. Regis, villages in Canada. Nearly forty years after their capture, Governor Hutchinson met them in New York State, and refers to them thus : -
" I saw at Albany two or three men, in the year 17441, who came in with the Indians to trade, and who had been taken at Groton in this, that is called Queen Ann's war. One of them -- Tabell, was said to be one of the wealthiest of the Cagnawaga tribe. He made a visit in his Indian dress and with his Indian complexion (for by means of grease and paints but little difference could be discerned) to his relations at Groton, but had no inclination to remain there." - Hutchinson's . History of Massachusetts," 11. 139.
This is another account : -
"It is related that, about a century and a half ago, while a couple of boys and a girl were playing in a barn at Groton, Mas- sachusetts, some Indians suddenly appeared, seized the boys and fled, carrying them to the village of Caughnawaga, nine miles above Montreal. They grew up with Indian habits, manners, and language, being finally adopted as members of the tube; and married Indian brides selected from the daughters of the principal chiefs." -" The Galaxy," for January, 1870, page 124.
. Massachusetts Archives, LANI. 765.
10
38
The people must have lived in constant dread of the Indians during most of Queen Anne's war. Sometimes an outlying farmhouse was attacked and burned, some of the inmates killed and others carried away in captivity ; some- times the farmer was shot down while at labor in the field, or while going or coming. This was the fate of Jolin Shat- tuck and his son, John, a young man about twenty years of age, who were killed May 8, 1709.
At another time, the date of which is not recorded, the house of John Shepley was burned, and himself and all his family were massacred, except his young son, John. There may have been some special spite against him, because some years before he had killed an Indian ; for which act he received from the General Court a bounty of four pounds.55 This boy, John, the savages carried away with them and held as captive during several years. But as is often said, where there is great loss, there is some little gain. The knowledge which he obtained of their language and customs while a prisoner was of much use to him in dealing with them in after-life. Tradition relates that, when buying furs and skins of the Indians, he used to put his foot in one scale of the balance instead of a pound weight. He is the direct ancestor of the Honorable Ether Shepley, for- merly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Maine, and of General George F. Shepley, now a Justice of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit of the United States. .
Near the end of Queen Anne's war, we find a list of eighteen garrisons in this town containing, in all, fifty-eight families, or three hundred and seventy-eight souls. Of these, seventeen were soldiers in the public service. 1
The military company at this post, in the summer of 1724. was made up of soldiers from different towns in this part of the State, and was commanded by Lieutenant Jabez Fair- banks. Some of them were detailed as guards to protect the more exposed garrisons, and others were Scouting in the neighborhood. They were so scattered that the command- ing officer found it difficult to drill them as a company. Fortunately, however, they were not engaged in much fight-
+
gnninh Ensibnl
39
ing, though the enemy had been lurking in the neighbor- hood, and threatening the town. Penhallow, in speaking of the Indians at this time, says that, -
" The next damage they did, was at Groton, but were so closely pursued, that they left several of their Packs behind." (Page 102.)
Thirteen of Lieutenant Fairbanks's company belonged here, and represented some of the most influential families in the place. 17
Governor Saltonstall, of Connecticut, writes . from New London, under date of July 23, 1724. that the friendly Indians of that neighborhood seem inclined to hunt for scalps about Monadnock and the farther side of Dunstable and Groton. This was owing to an offer made about this time by the governments of Massachusetts and New Hamp- shire, of a bounty of a hundred pounds for every Indian's scalp that should be taken and shown to the proper authori- ties. This expedient stimulated vohinteers to scour the wilderness for the purpose of hunting Indians, and Captain John Lovewell, of Dunstable, organized a company, which soon became famous.
The story of Lovewell's fight was for a long time told in every household in this neighborhood, and there is scarcely a person who has not heard from early infancy the particu- lars of that eventful conflict. It was in the spring of the year 1725, that Captain Lovewell, with thirty-four men. fought a famous Indian chief, named Paugus, at the head of about eighty savages, near the shores of a pond in Pequaw- ket. Of this little Spartan band, seven belonged in this town ; and one of them, John Chamberlain by name, distin- guished himself by killing the Indian leader. It is fit that a reference to this fight should be made, on this occasion, though time does not allow me to dwell upon it.,
The town, now no longer on the frontiers, was again threatened with danger near the end of King George's war. A company of thirty-two men, under the command of Cap-
* Massachusetts Archives, LHI. 23.
Das .bood
519rl
T
40
tain Thomas Tarbell, scouted in this vicinity for six days in July, 1748, but they do not appear to have discovered the enemy. A few days afterward, another company of thirty- six men was sent on a similar expedition, but with no better success.18 In the rolls of these two companies we find many names that have been prominent in the annals of the town from its very beginning. Among them are the Prescotts, the Ameses, the Bancrofts, the Shepleys, the Parkers, a son of Parson Bradstreet, and a grandson of Parson Hobart.
The military service of Groton men was not confined to this neighborhood. Daniel Farmer, a Groton soldier, was taken prisoner, July 14, 1748, in a skirmish with the Indians, near Fort Dummer." He was carried to Canada and kept till the following October, when he was allowed to return home.
Fort Dummer was situated on the west bank of the Con- necticut River, in the present town of Brattleborough, Vt. Two of its early commanders had been connected with Groton by the ties of kindred. Colonel Josiah Willard. in command of the fort for many years, was a grandson of Parson Willard; and he was succeeded in command by Lieutenant Dudley Bradstreet, a son of Parson Bradstreet, and a native of this place.
Ebenezer Farnsworth, born in Groton, was captured Aug. 30, 1754, by the St. Francis Indians, at Charlestown, N. Il. t Hle was taken to Montreal and held a prisoner during three years. His ransom was paid in the summer of 1755, but lie was not then set at liberty. Mrs. Johnson and her sister, Miriam Willard, were captured at the same time. They were both daughters of Moses Willard, who had formerly lived in the south part of this town.
During the French and Indian War, the territory of Aca- dia, or Nova Scotia, fell under British authority ; and the conquest was followed by a terrible act of cruelty and vio- lence. The simple Acadians, unsuspicious of the designs of the English leaders, were assembled in their churches, in
* Hall's History of Eastern Vermont, page 50.
+ A Narrative of the Captivity of Mist Johnson, pp. 51, 9%.
1
anmoil'T nin!
'41
obedience to military proclamation, and thence, without being allowed to return to their homes, were driven at the point of the bayonet on board ships, to be scattered over all the English colonies in America. This was done with so little regard to humanity that, in many instances, wives were sep- arated from husbands, and children from parents, never to see one another again. Many an Evangeline waited in vain expectation of being re-united to her Gabriel, thus torn away from her. Two of these French families, ten persons in all, were sent to Groton, where one of the mothers died, not many months after her arrival, perhaps, from the rude trans- planting. A few years later, a French family - perhaps one of these two - is mentioned as living here; but the household had become divided, some of the little children being sent to the neighboring towns. Our pity for these unfortunate people will be stronger when we reflect that they were miserably poor, among a race who spoke a strange language, followed other customs, and abominated their religion. Under these circumstances, their homesickness must indeed have been bitter ; but we have reason to believe that they were treated with tender care by the people here. We are glad to learn from the records that they were fur- nished with medical attendance, and articles necessary for their bodily comfort.
It was during this war that Jacob Ames was shot by an Indian, on the west side of the Nashua River, below the site of the paper-mill lately burned. He was the last man killed by an Indian within the township. The Indian himself was immediately afterward shot by one of Ames's sons.
Another struggle was now impending, severer than any the Colonists had been engaged in. Almost immediately after the French and Indian War, the odious Stamp Act was passed, which did much to hasten public opinion toward the Revolution.
I hold in my hand a stamp issued under the authority of this Act. On a public occasion, many years ago, Mr. Ev- erett said, in speaking of a similar one, that "this bit of dingy blue paper, stamped with the two-and-sixpence ster-
6
Dilim of sonsibado
G
42
ling, created the United States of America, and cost Great Britain the brightest jewel in her crown."
The Stamp Act was followed by the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Boston Port Bill, - all too familiar to be particularized. These acts excited through- out the land a deep feeling for the capital of New England. The eyes of all the colonies were now turned toward Boston, and she received the hearty sympathy of the whole country. The sentiments of the people of this town are shown in the following letter * from the Town Clerk : -
"GROTON, June 28th, 1774.
"GENTLEMEN, - The inhabitants of the Town of Groton, in general, are deeply affected with a sense of our public calamities, and more especially the distresses of our brethren in the Capital of the Province, as we esteem the act of blocking up the harbor of Boston replete with injustice and cruelty, and evidently designed to compel the inhabitants thereof to submission of taxes imposed upon them without their consent, and threatens the total destruc- tion of the liberties of all British America. We ardently desire a happy union with Great Britain and the Colonies, and shall gladly adopt every measure consistent with the dignity and safety of British subjects for that purpose.
" In full confidence that the inhabitants of the Town of Boston will, in general, exhibit examples of patience, fortitude and per- severance, while they are called to endure this oppression for the preservation of the liberties of their country, and in token of our willingness to afford all suitable relief to them in our power, a number of the inhabitants of this Town have subscribed, and this day sent forty bushels of grain, part rye and part Indian corn, to be delivered to the Overseers of the Poor of said Town of Boston, not doubting but the same will be suitably applied for that pur- pose ; and we earnestly desire you will use your utmost endeavor to prevent and avoid all mobs, riots, and tumults, and the insulting of private persons and property. And while the farmers are cheer- fully resigning part of their substance for your relief, we trust the merchants will not oppress them by raising upon the goods which they have now on hand and heretofore purchased. And may God prosper every undertaking which tends to the salvation of the people.
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.