USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Historical sketch of Groton, Massachusetts. 1655-1890 > Part 5
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
It was on Thursday, July 9, 1724, that John Ames was shot by an Indian, one of a small party that attacked his garrison in the northwesterly part of the
59
GROTON.
town. Ames lived on the north side of the Nashua River, a short distance below the Hollingsworth paper-mills. He is said to be the last person killed by an Indian within the township. The Indian him- self was immediately afterward shot by Jacob Ames, one of John's sons. The Boston Gazette, July 13, 1724, thus refers to the event :
" A man was kill'd last Week at Groton, by the Indians, and 't is sup- pos'd one Indian was kill'd by one of our Men in the Garrison ; the In- dians left their Packs, 5 in number, which were taken and secur'd by the English."
In the Gazette of July 27th it is said that "An Indian Scalp was brought to Town last Week from Groton."
The New England Courant, July 13, 1724, reports that " Last Week the Indians kill'd a Man at Groton, and had one of their own Men very much wounded." The same newspaper, in its issue of July 27th, says that " The Scalp of an Indian lately kill'd at Gro- ton is brought to Town."
Jacob Ames' petition for an "Allowance" or boun- ty, for killing the savage, is found in the printed Journal of the House of Representatives, November 20, 1724.
In the summer of 1722 the Provincial governments of Massachusetts and New Hampshire offered a bounty of a hundred pounds for every Indian's scalp that should be taken and shown to the proper authorities. This legislation incited volunteers to scour the wilder - ness for the purpose of hunting the savages, and with this motive Captain John Lovewell, of Dunstable, organized a company which soon became famous.
The story of Lovewell's Fight was for a long time
60
GROTON.
repeatedly told in this neighborhood, and there is scarcely a person who has not from early infancy heard the particulars of that eventful conflict. It was in the spring of 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 Pequawket, now within the limits of Fryeburg, Maine, and known as Lovewell's Pond. Of this little Spartan band, seven belonged in this town; and one of them, John Chamberlain by name, distinguished himself by killing the Indian leader.
The fullest account of the Fight is found in a pamphlet entitled, " Lovewell Lamented, or, A SERMON occasion'd by the Fall of the Brave Capt. John Lovewell and Several of his Valiant COM- PANY, in the late Heroic Action at Piggwacket Pro- noune'd at Bradford, May 16, 1725 By Thomas Symmes, V.D.M." (Boston, 1725.) The sermon con- tains an historical preface, duly attested by three of the company, which gives many particulars of this ill-fated expedition. It includes a list of the men who took part in the fight, with the names of the killed and wounded. According to this list, the following Groton men were members of Lovewell's company and present during the action : John Jefts, Daniel Woods, Thomas Woods, John Chamberlain, Elias Barron, John Gilson [Isaac Lakin ?], Joseph Gil- son ; of whom Thomas Woods, Daniel Woods and John Jefts were killed in the fight, and Elias Bar- ron, John Chamberlain and John Gilson [Isaac Lakin ?], wounded. It is stated by Mr. Symmes, in his preface, that Barron subsequently " strayed from
61
GROTON.
the rest, and got over Ossipy River, by the side of which his Gun Case was found, & he has ner been heard of since." (Page viii.) Joseph Gilson was the only one of this quota who escaped injury.
The first edition of the sermon was pub- lished on July 1st, and exhausted in a very few days. A second edition was issued about the middle of July, with a title-page somewhat changed from the original one, as follows : " Historical Memoirs Of the Late Fight at Piggwacket, with a SERMON Occa- sion'd by the Fall of the Brave Capt John Lovewell And Several of his Valiant Company; in the late Heroic Action there. Pronounc'd at Bradford, May 16, 1725 By THOMAS SYMMES, V.D.M. The Sec- ond Edition Corrected." (Boston, 1725.) In this edition the running title of "An Historical PREFACE" is changed to " Memoirs of the Fight at Piggwacket." A few corrections are made; in the list both of the soldiers and of the wounded, the name of Isaac Lakin is given in the place of John Gilson's.
Captain Lovewell, the commander of the company, was a brave officer and a noted man. He was at this time in the prime of life, and ambitious to distinguish himself. He had previously led two successful expe- ditions against the Indians, and his very name in- spired confidence. Only a few weeks before, his sec- ond expedition had returned to Dover, New Hamp- shire, where he made a triumphal entry at the head of his company. They bore ten Indian scalps stretched on hoops, and were received with great joy and excitement; thence they proceeded to Boston,
62
GROTON.
where they were paid a large bounty by the govern- . ment. The following Groton men were members of the company which went on this second expedition : Jacob Ames, Ephraim Farnsworth, Reuben Farns- worth, Benjamin Parker, Samuel Shattuck, Samuel Tarbell and Henry Willard. Throughout New Eng- and, Lovewell's daring was made the subject of talk, and the public looked to him as a natural leader in border warfare.
With the small force now at his command, the heroic captain pressed forward to meet the enemy, and in a few days reached the borders of Saco Pond, since known as Lovewell's Pond, southeast of the present village of Fryeburg, Maine. On the morn- ing of Saturday, May 8th, while engaged at prayers they heard a gun, and shortly afterward discovered an Indian on a point of land which ran into the pond. They were distrustful of an ambush, and a consultation was held in order to see whether they should advance or retreat. Their decision was to pro- ceed at all hazards. They said: "We came out to meet the Enemy ; we have all along prayed GOD we might find 'em ; and we had rather trust Providence with our Lives, yea Dy for our Country, than try to Return without seeing them, if we may, and be called Cowards for our Pains." After this answer, Lovewell ordered his men to move forward cautiously ; and they soon reached a place where they halted and took off their packs, and piled them up together. Leaving these behind without a guard, and advancing a short distance, they came upon the Indian whom they had previously descried. He was returning to his com-
·
63
GROTON.
panions with some game that he had killed. Several guns were instantly discharged at him, when he in turn fired and wounded Captain Lovewell and another man; after which he was killed and scalped. The company then turned back, and with their wounded leader repaired to the place where they had left their packs. In the meanwhile Paugus, the far-famed chief of the Pequawkets, at the head of eighty war- riors on their way home from a marauding expedi- tion, had discovered the pile of packs, and, counting them, had learned the number of the English. Find- ing that the force was much less than his own, Paugus placed his men in ambush and awaited the return of Lovewell. When the company came up for their packs, the Indians with hideous yells rushed forth suddenly from their hiding-places and began to fire. The brave captain ordered his men to return it, which was done with terrible effect. Lovewell himself fell at the first shot, and eight of his men soon shared the same fate. Ensign Wyman, of Woburn, then as- sumed the command, and, perceiving that the Indians were trying to surround them, ordered a retreat to the pond, where he took his stand. A ledge of rocks pro- jecting into the water on one side of him, and a deep brook on the other, made a position favorable for de- fence. The fighting continued, and during the day the savages vainly endeavored to compel the valiant band to surrender; but they would not listen to the proposition. Paugus was slain in the action by John Chamberlain, of Groton. After the death of their chief the Indians became somewhat disheartened, and for a time withdrew from the skirmish. Later in
64
GROTON.
the day the combat was resumed, when, it is supposed, the enemy received reinforcements, but with no deci- sive result. As night approached they again with - drew, and left this little forlorn band masters of the field.
About midnight the survivors, with the excep- tion of three men mortally wounded and unable to travel, fell back and directed their course to the fort, where they expected to find their former companions ; but in this hope they were sadly disappointed. It seems that, at the beginning of the fight, a member of the company, escaping, made his way to the fort, and reported that Lovewell and his men were all cut to pieces, which he may have believed. Disappointed at finding the fort abandoned, the survivors of this memorable command made their way back to the set- tlements as best they could, coming in at different places along the frontier line.
The name of Lovewell at once became famous, and the story of the expedition was told in every house- hold, and even in the pulpit. It was made the subject of ballads, which were sung at family firesides, and excited the popular heart with the memory of the brave and adventurous leader. Peace soon followed the action at Pequawket, and deep and sincere was the public feeling at its restoration.
John Chamberlain, the surviving hero of Lovewell's Fight, was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Cham- berlain, of Chelmsford, where he was born March 29, 1692. The father was a carpenter and miller, who afterwards removed to Groton, and lived about a quarter of a mile northerly of Wattle's Pond, on the
GROTON. 65
left-hand side of the road to Hollis. He is supposed to have died about the year 1709. After the fight the son was known as "Paugus John," and bore that name through life. He owned a mill, situated near Brown Loaf, on a small stream formed by the con- fluence of Martin's Pond Brook and another, now called Paugus Brook.
His death took place about the year 1756, though no record of it is found. The appraisal of his estate was made on March 31, 1756, according to papers on file in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cam- bridge.
If ever young Paugus came to Groton in order to avenge his father's death, and it seems probable from tradition that he did, it was undoubtedly at this place, Furthermore, there is a deep hole in Paugus Brook. known since the last century as Paugus Hole, where- in it is said that Chamberlain sunk the body of the Indian, after he had killed him. A small elm stands on the south bank of the brook, very near the place.
Many other tales about the Indians have come down by tradition, and some of them are probably true. The following story, told me by the late Charles Woolley, refers to Isaac Lakin, one of Lovewell's men :
Lakin lived in a Jog-house near the Nashua River, in the north part of the town. The house had no glass windows, but had shutters instead, and a door that swung on wooden hinges. One day an Indian was seen lurking about the house, and hiding behind the stumps, apparently bent on mischief. Lakin seized his gun, and, standing at a crack in the 5
66
GROTON.
shutters, told his wife to swing the door so that it would creak on its hinges. Hearing the noise, and seeing the door open, the Indian sprang from behind a stump, and started for the house, when Lakin fired and shot him dead. Seeing no sign of other Indians, after dark he dug a hole and buried him.
In the year 1744 war was again declared between England and France, called by the English colonists King George's War. Civilization had now pushed the belt of frontier towns far into the wilderness ; and Groton was no longer exposed to the assaults of the Indians, though at times threatened with danger. Her sons and soldiers, however, were still found during this period, on the outer rim of settlements, whenever and wherever their services were needed, either to extend the borders or to defend them. A military organization was kept up in the town, ready for emergencies here or elsewhere in the neighbor- hood.
The first settlement of Charlestown, N. H .- then known as No. 4,-was made in the year 1740, by three brothers, Samuel, David, and Stephen Farnsworth, natives of Groton ; and they were soon followed by Isaac Parker and his sons, and Obadiah Sawtell, also of this town. The Farnsworths were leading men at Charlestown, and they distinguished themselves on several occasions in fights with the Indians. Samuel Farnsworth, the eldest brother, was killed in a skirmish, May 2, 1746. David was taken prisoner by a party of French Indians, April 20, 1757, and carried to Canada. He managed to escape, and reached home not a long time probably after his cap-
67
GROTON.
ture. Stephen, the youngest brother, had also his bitter experience with the enemy. He was captured April 19, 1746, and taken to Montreal, where he re- mained seventeen long months before he was ex- changed. His health was so broken down by the hardships of his captivity that he never fully regained it. He died September 6, 1771, leaving behind the reputation of a brave man and a good citizen.
Ebenezer Farnsworth, a native of Groton and a kinsman of the three brothers just mentioned, was captured August 30, 1754, by the St. Francis Indians, at Charlestown. He was carried to Montreal and held a prisoner during three years. His ransom was paid in the summer of 1755, but he was not then set at liberty. Mrs. Susanna Johnson and her sister, Miriam Willard, were taken at the same time. They were both daughters of Moses Willard, who had formerly lived in the south part of this town. A full account of the affair is given in " A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson," published at Walpole, New Hamp- shire, in 1796. Two years later, on June 18, 1756, Moses Willard, the father, was killed by the Indians, at Charlestown; and in the same attack his son, Moses, Jr., had a narrow escape from death by the hands of the savages, being severely wounded at the time.
Lieutenant Isaac Parker was taken by the In- dians at the same time with Stephen Farnsworth, and remained in captivity until the following winter, when he was returned to Boston under a flag of truce.
The Sawtell family is also largely represented in
68
GROTON.
Charlestown, where the name is now spelled Sartwell. It is a numerous family in that town, and they sprang from the early settler, Obadiah, who went from Groton. He, too, had a sad experience in savage warfare, and once was captured by the Indians. He was taken by them on May 24, 1746, and remained a prisoner until August 20, 1747. He finally met his death at their hands on June 17, 1749, being attacked while ploughing in his corn-field, unsuspicious of any danger.
Charles Holden, Isaac Holden and Seth Walker, natives of Groton, were early settlers and proprietors of Charlestown. Moses Wheeler was another pioneer and a distinguished soldier, taking part in some of the fiercest encounters of the French and Indian War. He was a large man and noted for his strength. He was called by the Indians "the strong man." Moses Willard, Isaac Farwell and Micha Fuller, other settlers, were also from this town. Eleazer Priest, son of Joseph Priest, of Groton, and a soldier, was captured by the Indians, on March 15, 1748, at Charlestown, and died at Louisburg, Nova Scotia, in September of that year, while on his way home.
The earliest minister of Groton was the Reverend John Miller, who graduated at Gonvil and Caius Col- lege, Cambridge, England, in the year 1627, and came to this country in 1637. For a short time he lived in Roxbury, where he was one of the elders in Eliot's church. From the year 1639 to 1641, and perhaps later, he was settled in the ministry at Rowley as as- sistant to the Reverend Ezekiel Rogers; and during this period he filled the office of town clerk. He was
69
GROTON.
made a freeman of Massachusetts on May 22, 1639. In the autumn of 1641 he was waited on by messengers from Woburn, who desired his services for their church ; but they found " Mr. Roggers loth to part with him."
Johnson, in his " Wonder-Working Providence of Sion's Saviour, in New England," refers to him both in prose and verse. The following is a specimen of the poetry :-
" With courage bold Miller through Seas doth venter, To Toyl it out in the great Western wast, Thy stature low one object high doth center ; Higher than Heaven thy faith on Christ is plac't : " -Chap. XI., p. 131.
From Rowley Mr. Miller removed to Yarmouth, where he was settled as a preacher, though the date of his removal to that town is not recorded. Nor is it known exactly when he came to Groton, but probably at some time during 1662, as in that year the town voted to build a house for the minister. On March 18, 1663, a vote was passed asking him " to continue still with vs for our further edificat[ion]," which shows that he was preaching at that date; but in three short months his labors ceased and he went to take his reward. In the first return of deaths, made by the town clerk of Groton to the recorder of the county, it says :-
" Mr. Jnº. Miller, minister of Gods holy word died. June 12th 1663."
The second minister of Groton was the Reverend Samuel Willard, a son of Major Simon and Mary (Sharpe) Willard, and born at Concord, on January 31, 1639-40. He graduated at Harvard College in
70
GROTON.
the class of 1659, and was the only member who took his second degree. He began to preach at Gro- ton probably late in the year 1662, or early in 1663. In the latter year, on the 21st of June, it was voted " that Mr. Willard if he accept of it shall be their minester as long as he liues we Mr. Willard ac -. cepts Except a manifest providenc of God apears to take him off."
Mr. Willard was a scholar and writer of consider- able note in his day, and even now would be con- sidered such. But little is known of his early history ; and no church-record during his ministry at Groton is extant. Coming here in the vigor of young man- hood, 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 influence in this neighborhood. It is probable that his early ex- periences on the outer rim of civilization fitted him for the places of honor and dignity that he was subse- quently called upon to fill. A few weeks after his settlement he married Abigail, a daughter of John Sherman, minister of Watertown; and, after her death, he married, as his second wife, Eunice, daughter of Edward Tyng. He had a large family of children, 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 sermons entitled, "Useful Instructions for a pro- fessing People in Times of great Security and Degen- eracy : delivered in several Sermons on Solemn Occasions."
71
GROTON.
It consists of three sermons, of which one was preached on the occasion of a case of witchcraft which occurred in Groton. 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 es- pecial 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 Inhabitants 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 history, 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 ser- mons furnish nothing more.
After the town was burned by the Indians in the spring of 1676 and the settlement deserted, Mr. Wil- lard became the pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, where he died on September 12, 1707.
The third minister was the Reverend Gershom Ho- bart, a son of the Reverend Peter Hobart, of Hing- ham, and a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1667. In the early spring of 1678, just two years after the attack on the town, the old settlers returned to their former houses ; and Mr. Hobart accompanied them, or soon followed. He was not ordained, how- ever, until November 26, 1679; and soon afterward troubles between the people and the preacher began
72
GROTON.
to spring up. There was the usual controversy about the site of the new meeting-house, which is not pecu- liar to this town or to that period, but is common to- day here and elsewhere ; and there was a dispute over the minister's salary. Mr. Hobart's pastorate was anything but happy and harmonious, and he appears to have left Groton about 1690. The records of this period are very meagre, but contain brief allusions to his absence. During the next two years there was no settled minister of the town, though the inhabit- ants were not without stated preaching. The Reverend John Hancock filled the pulpit for several months and received a call to become the minister, which was declined. He was the grandfather of John Han- cock, Governor of the Commonwealth and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The fourth minister was the Reverend Samuel Car- ter, who came on an invitation given by the town, on October 21, 1692. It is evident, from the scanty records, that he accepted the call and remained with his peo- ple until the time of his death, which took place in the autumn of 1693. According to papers on file in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge, ad- ministration on his estate was granted on October 30th of that year. Mr. Carter was the eldest son of Thomas Carter, first minister of Woburn, and born on August 8, 1640. He graduated at Harvard Col- lege in the class of 1660, and, before coming to Gro- ton, had been preaching at Lancaster for a consider- able length of time. He was followed in time by Gershom Hobart, who became the fifth minister as well as the third, in the order of settlement. Mr.
73
GROTON.
Hobart came back to his former parish in the autumn of 1693, but it is not now known how the reconcilia- tion was brought about between him and the town, as the church records of that period are lost ; perhaps t was throu gh an ecclesiastical council. He contin- ued to preach here until about the end of the year 1704, when he gave up his charge. His dwelling stood on the site of the present Baptist meeting- house, and, at one time during the Indian wars, was used as a garrison-house. On July 27, 1694, it was captured by the savages, when one of Mr. Hobart's children was killed, and another, Gershom, Jr., a lad eight or ten years old, was carried off a prisoner and held in captivity during nearly a year. Mr. Ho- bart, the father, died at Groton on December 19, 1705.
During the year 1705 the pulpit appears to have been filled by John Odly, as the records have it, and probably the same as John Odlin, a native of Boston and a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1702. On July 3, 1705, he received a call to be the "town's minister and the church's officer," which was not ac- cepted.
The fifth minister was the Reverend Dudley Brad- street, a son of Dudley Bradstreet, of Andover, and a grandson of Governor Simon Bradstreet. He was born at Andover on April 27, 1678, and a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1698. He was the first master of the grammar school in his native town, where he was teaching as early as the year 1704, and perhaps earlier.
It is highly probable that he was connected with
74
GROTON.
this school when he received his invitation to come to Groton. On May 4, 1704, he was married to Mary Wainwright, and they had three sons, and perhaps other children. Mr. Bradstreet was preaching here as early as March, 1706, but was not ordained until November 27th of that year. Under a vote of May 8, 1706, a house " of 38 foot long and 18 foot wide " was built for the minister, which is still standing, and in a state of good preservation. It is situated on the east side of Hollis Street, and the present measure- ments conform very nearly to the dimensions given in the records.
In the summer of 1712 Mr. Bradstreet was dismissed from his charge in this town, presumably for his Episcopal tendencies ; and soon afterward he went to England to apply for orders in the Anglican Church. It appears from a copy of the original docu- ment in Latin, made in a manuscript volume, (page 90), by President John Leverett now deposited among the archives of Harvard University in the College Library, that he was ordained a deacon by the Bishop of London, on April 18, 1714, and a priest one week later, on April 25th. He died of small-pox during the next month, only two or three weeks after receiving priestly orders; and tidings of his death reached this country in the following summer.
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.