USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Deerfield > History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: the times when the people by whom it was settled, unsettled and resettled, vol 1 > Part 34
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339
THE LEDGER LABORS UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
ble retinue." Nathaniel Brooks, a Deerfield captive, was added somewhere on the route. It was now a time of active hostilities, and this embassy though ever so wise and pru- dent, ran great risks. They might at any time be fired upon from some cover before their flag of truce was seen or their character discovered.
They set out April 17th, and arrived at Quebec May 9th without molestation. In a dispatch to Dudley of June 20th, Sheldon says they found the city in a fever of excitement, over news of an expedition fitting out in New England against Canada, and active in preparations to repel it. Their presence was unwelcome and the "Ledger" found a less courteous reception than on his former visits. He was not imprisoned, but was kept under strict surveillance and not allowed to go home lest he report the condition of their de- fences and military preparations. After about six weeks at Quebec, he was sent up to Montreal. Col. Schuyler writing to Col. Partridge, Aug. 11th, 1707, tells him that his Indian spies, just returned, report that "they see Deacon Sheldon at Montreal, who walked the streets, but was told he was de- tained, and had not the liberty to go home." We find no details of the negotiations for prisoners, for which there could have been but scant opportunity, in this crisis. With- in three weeks after Sheldon's arrival an English army had made an attack on Port Royal. The event of the campaign being determined, the embassy was allowed to depart.
On the 11th of August, Sheldon, bearing dispatches of August 16th, [N. S.,] from Vaudreuil to Dudley, set out from Chambly. He was escorted by five French soldiers under Capt. de Chambly, a brother of Hertel de Rouville. They arrived at Albany August 24th, whence Sheldon wrote the Council a letter, received September 2d, in which he says, "Col. Schuyler had obliged him, with the six Frenchmen, to attend the Lord Cornbury, at New York." This was no hardship for the Frenchmen ; and it gave them greater facil- ities for carrying out their secret instructions. Vaudreuil gave a detailed account of this mission in his dispatches to the home government. In reply, Ponchartrain, the war min- ister, says :--
His Majesty approves of your haven spoken as you have done to the man named Schalden, [Sheldon] whom that Governor [ Dudley]
340
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713.
sent to you overland in quest of the English prisoners at Quebec, and even had you imprisoned him, and those of his suite, it would have been no great harm. You did well to send these prisoners to Orange, under the charge of an officer, and a detachment of soldiers, and to recommend that officer to inform himself of what was passing at Orange, and in countries in that direction, in possession of the Eng- lish.
Leaving New York, Sheldon's party traveled eastward, by Saybrook, New London and Seeconk, reaching Boston Sep- tember Sth, when Sheldon delivered his dispatches to the Governor, and gave the Council a verbal account of his mis- sion. He soon after went home. In October, he was sent again to Boston as an agent for the town. On the 30th, he presented to the General Court the following petition and bill of expenses :--
To his Excellency & Honors-
The Petition of John Shelden Humbly Sheweth :
That your petitioner, accompanied by Edward Allin & Edmund Rice and Nathaniel Brooks were ordered by your Ex'cy to undertake a Journey to Canada in order to recover the English Captives there. In obedience whereunto yr Petitioner, with the persons aforesd, be- gan their Journey on the 17th day of April last, and Proceeded to Canada, when your Petitioner faithfully & diligently pursued the sd Designe to the utmost of his power, & so far succeeded therein, as to bring home with him seven captives, and Returned home again on the 18th of Sept., In which journey yr Petition', with the aforsd Per- sons, endured much fatigue & hardship & passed through great Dan- ger, & by their absence from their Businesse Sustained considerable Damage;
Your Petr therefore, Humbly Praies yr Excellency & Hons to Con- sider the Premises, & order such Compensation & Allowance to him & those that accompanied him, in the sd service, as in your Wisdom & Justice shall be thought meet.
And your Pet'r as in Duty bound, shall ever Pray.
Boston, Oct. 30, 1707.
JOHN SHELDON.
An Accompt of the Sums of Disbursements of John Shelden in his Journey to Canada, in the Service of the Massachusetts Bay, from Aprill 17th to the 18th of Sep. 1707, viz, with 3 men travelling with him:
livres. sous.
Viz't from May 9th to June 25th, expended for our Diet and Wash- ing,
I74 I3
To expenses for Diet & washing from June 24 10 Aug. 9, 1.42 I3
To expenses for a pr of shoes for Edw. Allin,
6
More for said Allin for tobaccoe,
5 7
More for sd Rice for Tobaccoe,
4
I
Expences for Nathanial Brooks for a pr shoes,
6
More for tobaccoe,
2
15
To an Indian to guide us into the way when bewildered, 6
Ex for Edm. Rice for a pr shoes, 6
341
SHELDON'S PETITION AND GRANT.
livres. sous.
Pd to ferryman to going to Oso fort to se the captives.
Pd to the Barber for trimming,
14
Pd for Diet for Henry Segur, captive, 41
More paid for sd Segur for stockins & shoes,
9 IO
Pd to a man for fetching sd Segur from the Indian town to Mont Roy'l,
3
Pd for a Bottle Brandy for the voyage,
IO
S
IO
443
I6
£.
s. d.
To further expences at Albany in coming home for ye ffrenchmens' Diete, 00 16 IO
To Diet for myself,
2
6
for provision and drink for our voyage from York to Seabrook,
12 6
pd for our ffreight,
S 0
pd to ye fferryman at Seabrook, 00
2
0
pd for quarters at Stoningtown,
2
IO
pd for Shoeing horses,
2
S
pd for quarters at Seaconk & horse hire,
IO
6
pd Pocket expenses, 3 00 00
-
-
5 19 2
pd out of his own particuler stock, viz, To money paid for hire of a man & horse to bring a Captive woman from Albany to Wood- bury, I 19
and to money paid for provision for the Captives,
IO 6
-
2 9 6
To pa for the Redemption of a molatto Captive, taken from Exeter 40 pieces of Ss, Sd, at 17d weight which he is to pay me.
This petition was endorsed on the back :-
In the House of Representatives :
Nov. 1, 1707, In ans, to the Pet. on the other side-
Resolved that the Pet'rs Acc. herewith Presented, viz., Seven Hundred Livres amounting to fifty-eight Pounds sixteen shillings & eight pence allowed out of the Province Treasury.
And for his time & Service in the affair within mentioned, the sum of fifty pounds, of which he is paid thirteen Pounds twelve shil's by a Muletto. And to each the three persons that went with him sev- enteen Pounds apiece. JOHN BURRILL, Speaker.
A few days later, the following petition was laid before the General Court :-
To his Excellency Joseph Dudley, Esq., Captaine, Generall & Governor in Chiefe in & over the Province of ye Massachusetts Bay & New Hampshire in New England, the Honrable Council and Rep- resentatives in Gen'll corte assembled this 18th day of November, 1707 :-
The Petition of John Shelding of Derefeild, Humbly Sheweth, that whereas I have been a great sufferer in the Common Calamities that hath befallen us at Derefeild, greatly impaireing my estate & family, so that I have been Much Unsettled, & the Rather because so many
I
1
pd for a man & horse to N London,
Pd for a Deerskin for shoes & 3 pr Indian shoes,
342
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713.
of or neighbors & of my own children were carried away into Captiv- ity, occationing my self to take three journeys to Canada, to obtain and be helpfull in their Release & Returning home againe, which hath been a Verry Difficult and Hazzardous Undertakeing, which I doubt not but this Hon'ble Corte is very Senceable of. Upon the Considerations aforesd, I am imboldened to ask a Gratuity by Grant- ing me a tract of some of the country's Land undisposed of, within or Nere the County of West Hampshire, in some conveynient place where I can finde it, to ye quantity of five hundred Acres or there- abouts, and the Corte shall Judge Most Meet & Conveynient for me, & least prejudiciall to any other Grant. The Consideration of, & allowance to me as above will very much oblidge Your Humble Ser- vant as in duty Bound for yo'r Excellency & Hon'rs ever to pray. JOHN SHELDON.
"In consideration of his good services," 300 acres were granted the petitioner Nov. 26th, 1707.
The names of the captives brought home by Mr. Sheldon on this ill-timed mission are unknown, save as gathered from the foregoing petition and bill. Nathaniel Brooks was from Deerfield. His two children were left behind; their mother had been killed on the march. Henry Seger was son of Henry of Newtown. Of the Woodbury woman and the mulat- to nothing further appears.
Such facts as have been found relating to the captives from Deerfield who remained in Canada, will be given as a contribution to their history. The list made up by Stephen Williams about 1730, and printed in Prince's edition of the " Redeemed Captive," may be referred to in this connection.
The Carter Children. There is a family tradition that Sam- uel Carter was drowned while crossing a river in Canada and that he was previously engaged to be married to a Deerfield captive. On the death of their father at Norwalk, Conn., in 1728, he left by will estate worth £500 to John, and £100 to Mercy, on condition they would come to Connecticut and re- main ten years. It appears by this will, and by a letter from their brother Ebenezer, the residuary legatee, to his brother John, now preserved in the Carter family, that both John and Mercy were married and had children in Canada.
When Col. Stoddard and John Williams were in Canada in 1714, as commissioners empowered to recover captives, John Carter agreed to go home with them; but his attachment to the country was so strong that he changed his mind, and they were obliged to leave him.
343
CONCERNING CANADA CAPTIVES.
The following papers show that some of this family long years after came to New England to visit their relatives :-
ALBANY, July 6, 1736.
LIFT. EBENEZER CARTER :- This is to let you know that your brother John Carter is come from Canada, in Albany *
* and ** the people in Albany did advice him to go alone afoot to Norwalck *
* We advice him to go with this man William Hobis (?) for he promise to take your brother along to Norwalck, for Reason we was afraid your brother should Lost himself before he comes to you, for he no not the Road. I desire you to Satisfy Hobis (?) when he has delivered your Brother. * * Do your best Indeavours to make him sta by you, and to bring him to Repentance. Love your Brother, for love is of God. We wiss you well.
And Remain your Humble Servant, ROBERT WENDELL. AHASUERAS WENDELL.
Remember my Love to my wife and shildren and parens and all friends.
The bearers hereof, two of the sons of Mercy Carter, an English woman taken captive at Deerfield, Anno. 1703, and since married to a Cagnawaga Indian being desirous to travel to Norwalk in the Col- ony of Connecticut to visit the Relations of their mother there, this is to desire such persons in said Colony as may see them on their way thither, to direct them in their road, and afford them Necessary and proper Support; and if any Expect to be paid therefor, to bring in their account to us the Subscribers. WILLIAM PITKIN.
Albany, July the 5th, 1751. JOHN CHESTER.
After the close of the old French War, John Carter again appears in his native land. Capt. Ephraim Williams writes from Fort Massachusetts to Lieutenant Governor Phipps, Sept. 3d, 1751, saying :-
Last night came to the Fort 2 Frenchmen & I English captive whose name is John Carter; he was taken when Deerfield was de- stroyed; he is now married in Canada & has a family there. The Frenchmen's mother is an English captive, taken at the same time. She was old Mr. Thomas French's daughter. They had a pass from the Governor of Canada, and are going to see their relatives as they say, but if the truth were known, I believe they are sent for spies.
Three of Mr. French's daughters remained in Canada. It is not known which of them is referred to above.
Abigail Denio .- She was a daughter of John Stebbins, twenty-six days married to James Denio, or Denieur, one of the " three Frenchmen "of Stephen Williams's list, when cap- tured. Their son Aaron when about ten years old came down with a party of Indians to visit his kin. His grand- father persuaded him to stay, and when the Indians were ready to return, Aaron could not be found. He became a
344
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713.
noted tavern keeper in Greenfield, was prominent in public affairs, and a soldier in later wars.
Mary Field, Jr .- She was six years old when taken. She was adopted by a squaw and named Walahowey. She mar- ried an Indian, and both came down to visit her relatives. Nothing could induce her to remain, although it is said her husband was willing. She told her brother Pedajah, she would contrive his capture, that he might have the benefit of the Popish religion and a life in Canada. Pedajah believed the attempt was once made, and only frustrated by a skillful device which enabled him to escape from the scene of dan- ger.
Mary Harris .-- Robert Eastman, captured at Oswego in 1756, and taken to Canada, says "When at Cahnawaga, I lodged with the French captain's mother, (an English woman named Mary Harris, taken captive when a child from Deer- field, in New England), who told me she was my grandmoth- er and was kind."
In the New England Historical and Genealogical Register is the following query :--
In the early days of Ohio, 'White Woman's Creek' was a branch of Muskingum, and a town on it was called 'White Woman's.' Gist, in his journal, under date January, 1751, says: This white woman was taken away from New England, when she was not above ten years old, by the French and Indians. She is now upwards of fifty, has an Indian husband and several children. Her name is Mary Harris. Can any one tell whence she was taken or anything about her? C. C. Baldwin, Cleveland, Ohio.
Capt. Joseph Kellogg writes from Suffield, Conn., Dec. 3d, 1744, that,-
Two young men, Mary Harris' children, have been with me twice, which have lodged at my house. One of them is a very Intelligable man about thirty years of age, and from them endeavoured to criti- cally examine them about the affairs of Canada.
Kellogg was a fellow captive of Mary Harris.
The woman in each of these papers appears to be Mary Harris, the Deerfield captive. All agree substantially as to her age, but at present it seems impossible to reconcile these conflicting accounts, and no attempt at an explanation will be made. I have always thought her a child when taken, but have been unable to learn her parentage or previous his- tory.
345
THE MYSTERY OF ABIGAIL NIMS.
Joanna Kellogg was eleven years old when taken. She married a chief of the Caghnawaga tribe. Many years after she was induced to visit New England, when every induce- ment was offered, and artifice and strategem used to prevent her return ; but all in vain. She died in her chosen home to all intents a veritable savage.
Abigail Nims, aged three when captured. There was a mystery hanging over her life never fully cleared up. It is not certainly known that she was ever heard from by her friends. In her father's will, a provision was made for her in case of her return. There is no indication that the estate was ever called for by her. If the story, of which a glimpse is given in the Massachusetts Council Records, really relates to Abigail, as seems probable from the evidence, it is a tale which, in its suggestions and possibilities, is brimful of sad- ness and pathos. All that is known bearing on the matter is given below.
At a meeting of the Council, July 31st, 1714, a letter from Col. Partridge, dated July 28th, was laid before it :-
Giving an account of an outrage in the County of Hampshire, re- lating to a girl brought thither by a Macqua, and offered for sale; supposed to be an English captive carryed from Deerfield, it appear- ing so, by her own relation, and divers circumstances concurring. Advised that a letter be written to the Commissioners of Indian af- fairs at Albany to acquaint them thereof, that a strict examination and inquiry be made therinto, & that Capt. John Sheldon be desired to undertake the journey to Albany with said letter, and assist in said enquiry. And a letter was accordingly digested, signed and ex- pressed to Col. Partridge, with a letter from Gov. Saltonstal, to Capt. Sheldon to undertake said Journey. Further advised, that a copy of this sª letter be sent to Gen. Nicholson at Pisquataqua, & that he be desired also to write to the Commissioners about this affair.
"Ensign Sheldon," now a captain, and living at Hartford, accepted the mission, and went to Albany with his son. On his return he reported its results to the Council, which took the following action on the case :-
In Council, Aug. 22, 1714. Upon reading a letter from the Com- missioners of the Indian affairs at Albany, by Capt. John Sheldon, messenger thither to make inquiries concerning a young Maid or Girle, brought thither into Westfield by a Macqua and offered for sale, very probably, supposed to be English, & daughter of one [God- frey] Nims, late of Deerfield, and carried away captive, the Com- misioners insisting upon it that she is an Indian.
Ordered, that Samuel Partridge, Esq., treat with the Macqua, her
346
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713.
pretended master, & agree with him on the reasonablest terms he can for her release, & then to dispose her to some good family near the sea side, without charge for the present, to prevent her fears; unless Capt. Sheldon will be prevailed with to take her home with him.
Paid John Sheldon for journey to Boston from Northampton, and back to Albany, and back, with his son, £17, 16s, 7d, for time and expenses.
In Council, Sept. 20, 1714. Ordered, that the sum of £25 be paid to Elewacamb, the Albany Indian now attending with letters and papers from thence, who claims the English girl in the hands of the English, and her Relations at Deerfield, and that a warrant be made to the Treasurer accordingly. Also that a coat and shirt be given s' Indian.
So it seems that Partridge was successful in his mission, and delivered the girl at Deerfield, before the above date. Here the curtain dropped. After this, not the slightest trace of Abigail Nims was found.
The Commissioners at Albany believed she was an Indi- an. But it would appear that the Council of Massachusetts, Col. Partridge and Capt. Sheldon, as well as her "relations in Deerfield," believed she was the Abigail Nims she claimed to be. Which was right? What became of her? Did she, chafing under the ecclesiastical rigor of New England disci- pline, go back to the easy-going forms of Catholicism in Can- ada? Was she enticed away by some Canadian priest, anx- ious for her soul's salvation ? Did she receive reproof rather than pitiful care, on her awkwardness in household work? Did she rebel against regular labor in any form? Did she find civilized life uncongenial and irksome, and pining for the primitive freedom of savage customs, steal away into the wilderness for relief ?
In the list of captives by Stephen Williams, a fellow cap- tive, Abigail Nims, is marked as one who never came back from Canada. Was the pretended Abigail, spurious ?- an Indian girl, in a conspiracy with Elewacamb, to obtain ran- som money and to run away at her leisure? Did she remain until the return of Ebenezer Nims and wife? They re- mained in captivity until Sept. 1, 1714, when they sailed from Canada for home. They must have been able to distinguish an English from an Indian girl. Did they detect the cheat, and send her packing? All speculations are idle. No voice comes in answer to all this questioning. This romance and
347
EUNICE WILLIAMS BECOMES A SAVAGE.
mystery remain, and probably must remain, a sad, unsolved problem of border history .*
Thankful Stebbins, aged twelve. Hoyt, in Antiquarian Re- searches, says :-
A gentleman who recently resided in Montreal stated, that at the lake of the Two Mountains, near the mouth of Grand river, he saw a French girl who informed him that her grandmother was Thankful Stebbing, who was one of the captives taken from Deerfield in 1704.
Her father, John Stebbins, who died in 1723, made provis_ ion in his will for five children then in Canada, provided they returned and remained in New England. Samuel alone re- turned. Their ages ranged from four to seventeen.
Elisabeth (Price) Stevens .- She was wife of " Andrew Stev- ens ye Indian." She married in Montreal, Feb. 3d, 1706, Jean Fourneau, a Frenchman, and never came back.
Eunice Williams, daughter of Rev. John Williams, aged seven .- A full and interesting account of this case can be found in a paper read by Miss C. Alice Baker before the Po- cumtuck Valley Memorial Association in 1871. She re- mained with the Indians until she became practically one of them. Nothing could induce her captors to give her up, ei- ther to the English or French. "De Vaudreuil," says Mr. Williams, her father, "labored much for her redemption. He offered an hundred pieces of eight for her and was refused. His lady went over and begged her from them, but all in vain." How shall we account for the tenacity with which the fickle, money-loving savages clung to this child? It was said they "would as soon part with their hearts," as with her. Could it have been from personal attachment? Was it not rather through the influence of the Jesuits, plotting a grand triumph over Mr. Williams? Prolonged and earnest efforts were made for her recovery; but when in 1713 she married Amrusus, a Caghnawaga Indian, they were almost as hope-
* Thanks to the untiring research of C. Alice Baker, the life of Abigail Nims in Canada has been recently traced. She was baptized June 15th, 1704, [N. S.] by the name of Mary Elizabeth. She lived with Ganastarsi, a squaw, who gave her the name of To-wat-a-go-wach. July 29th, 1715, [N. S.], nine months after her supposed appearance in Deerfield, Abigail was married at the Indian fort to Josiah Rising, a fellow Deerfield captive. They settled at the Lake of the Two Mountains, on a farm still held by their descendants. Here Abigail died Feb. 19th, 1748, [N. S.] leaving eight children. The oldest son became a priest ; the youngest daughter, Lady Superior of the Community of the Congregation. A tree transplanted from the home of Abigail and Josiah is now growing near Memorial Hall, on land that was the home lot of Abigail's father.
348
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR-1702-1713.
less. In 1740, she was prevailed upon to visit her brother Stephen at Longmeadow, with her husband, on the guarantee that she should not be detained. They came to New Eng- land again the next year, with two children, and stayed sev- eral months, visiting her relatives; a third time in October, 1743, and once again later. The General Court granted the family a large tract of land on condition they would remain, but to no purpose ; she, fearing it would endanger her soul. The only other reason ever given, so far as it appears, was, that her father had married a second wife.
The papers below show the wide-spread interest in Eunice and some of the efforts for her recovery :-
Peter Schuyler to Gov. Dudley :-
May it please your Excellency
Your Excellencys Letters of ye 6th & loth Currant for Expresse have Received togather with five letters for Mons' Vaudreuil govr of Canida which have deliverd to ye french officer Dayeville who goes from hence y" [19] Instant & have taken his Receipt for three Let- ters as you Designed which is here Inclosed as to what your Excel- lency mentions Relating to Mr Williams his doghter, the squaw nor she is not come her yet nor have I heard anything of her Coming altho I shall be very glad to see them and do assure your Excellency If they come together or be it ye squaw alone I shall use all possible meanes to get the child exchanged Either as your Excellency pro- poses or what other way the Squaw will be most willing to Comply with In the meantime shall Inform my Selfe by all opportunities whether the said Squaw & Child be coming here or if they be any- where near by. Your Excellency may depend that whatever I can do for ye obtaining of ye sd Child shall at no time be wanting. So shall take leave to subscribe my Selfe
Your Excellencys Most humble & obedient
Servant P SCHUYLER
Albany Dec 19(?) 1712
John Schuyler to Gov. Dudley :-
May it Please Yor Excellency
I thought it my duty imediately (wthout any further Omis- sion) to signify to yor Excellency my return from Mount Real to Al- bany upon ye 15th of this Instant June with Mons Bolock [ Hertel de Beaulac. C. A. Baker ] and three more and nine prisonirs a list of yr Names is herein enclosed: I sett them forward for New engld wth Sam11 Ashly and Daniell Bagg upon ye roth Instant I have not here- in incerted the charges; By reason I cann make up the Accts till ye Officers return to Canada; I have likewise enclosd for Yor Excellency my Memoriall that touches the concern of ye Revd Mr Williams ye Minister at Dearfeild for his Daughter My indefatigueable Pains
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