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 39
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The only known Deerfield captives brought home in Dud- ley's vessel were Ebenezer Nims and his wife Sarah (Hoyt). They brought away, after fierce opposition by the Indians of Lorette where they lived, their only child, a boy of eighteen months, named for his father. The babe had been baptized by a priest, but in 1737 he was baptized anew by the then minister of Deerfield, Jonathan Ashley, who on that occasion preached two sermons "showing that ye chh of rome is ye mother of harlots spoken of by Saint John & that none of her administrations can be valid." Martin Kellogg came home by land bringing his brother Joseph and perhaps other Deerfield captives.
It was while the Commissioners were in Canada that Ele- wacamb brought Abigail Nims-or her countefeit-to our frontier, as before related. Probably he feared being obliged to give her up to the English without ransom, in accordance with De Vaudreuil's first declaration, and so fled with her to a more profitable field. [See ante, page 345.]
The Kelloggs were taken into the service of the govern- ment on regular pay, and employed as messengers, interpret- er and spies. Their sister, redeemed later, was also em- ployed as interpreter. In 1715 Martin Kellogg relates in a petition to the General Court, the "hardships of a long cap- tivity, from which by a dangerous adventure he escaped & has since been in the service," and the Court voted him ten pounds " in consideration of his uncommon bravery and suf- fering in the public service." Twenty-five pounds had been allowed him in 1712, "to repay his ransom money, expenses and loss of arms."
February 25th, 1717 or 18, Joseph Kellogg, representing to the General Court that he has " several near relatives [two sisters] now in the hands of the French and Indians who
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CONFLICTING CLAIMS IN ACADIA.
have professed the Catholic religion & that he has considera- ble encouragement to undertake a journey thither to per- suade them to return to their country and religion," was giv- en leave by the Council to go to them, with an assurance of a good reward if he succeed. Joseph's efforts were in vain at this time, but his sister Rebecca was brought back by him in 1728.
In addition to the information obtained by the messengers to Canada as to the condition of affairs there, the scattered tribes were also watched. In March, 1716, Lieut. Joseph Clesson led a scouting party to the north and east frontiers. He was absent three weeks. April 17th, Capt. Thomas Bak- er left here on a five weeks' scout towards Canada. The pay of Clesson's party was £35, 4s, 8d; of Baker's £44, 1IS, 6 d.
CLOUDS ON THE EASTERN FRONTIER.
In the Treaty of Utrecht, " Acadia " was ceded to the Eng- lish; but its bounds were undefined. By virtue of this treaty, the English claimed the territory along the coast of Maine from the Kennebec to the St. Johns, as against the French ; and as against the Abenakis, under deeds given by their sachems many years before. Both French and Indians disputed this claim. When the English began to build on the lands in question, a party of Abenakis went to Canada, and in an interview with the Governor, explained the situa- tion, and asked him if he would help them,-
In case of a rupture, as they had assisted him at the expense of their blood, on every occasion he had required them. The general assured them that he should never fail them in time of need. But what assistance, Father, will you give us? they asked. My children, answered M. de Vaudreuil, I shall secretly send you some hatchets, some powder and lead. Is this the way, then, the Indians retorted,
that a Father aids his children? and was it thus we assisted you? A Father, they added, when he sees a son engaged with an enemy stronger than he, comes forward, extricates his son, and tells the en- emy that it is with him he has to do. Well, replied M. de Vaudreuil, I will engage the other Indian tribes to furnish you aid. At these words the deputies retorted with an ironical laugh. Know that we all who inhabit this vast continent, will, whenever we please, as long as we exist, unite to expel all foreigners from it, be they who they may. This declaration much surprised the general, who, to mollify them, protested that rather than abandon them to the mercy of the English, he would himself march to their aid. [Memoir sent from Canada to France in 1720.1
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INTERVAL OF UNQUIET PEACE.
The Abenakis were too shrewd to give credit to this forced declaration, and, on their return, spread dissatisfac- tion through their country.
The Intendant of Canada wishes "some hair-brained fel- low of the Abenakis might make some attack on the English that would light up a war" without French agency, but, he adds, "What will become of ourselves if these Indians be worsted, and the English become masters of their villages, some of which are in our midst?" Great alarm was felt in Canada on rumors that the Iroquois and the Abenakis were about to become friends: "From which nothing can come but the ruin of the colony," is the word sent to France by the Governor.
The problem of De Vaudreuil was to prevent this union, keep control of the Abenakis, and foment a war between the latter and the English ; aiding them so far as he could with- out breaking the peace between France and England.
Louis XV. writes De Vaudreuil in May, 1719, that he must " prevent the English from settling on these lands either by means of the Indians, or in any other way that would not, however, bring about any cause of rupture with England."
This was the condition of affairs when the newly-arrived Governor of Massachusetts, Samuel Shute, held a conference with the Eastern Indians on Arrowsick Island, August 9th, 17.17, and arranged by treaty a settlement of all the disputes.
The policy of the French required that this friendly con- clusion should be disturbed, and the Jesuits were successful- ly employed to that end. Divisions were created among the Indians ; aggressions and reprisals followed. Sebastian Rasle, a Jesuit missionary at Narantsouak, or Norridgewock, was the center of this influence. In 1720, the Sagamore of Nor- ridgewoek died, and through the action of the old men, Oui- koniroumenet, who was for keeping faith with the English, was chosen his successor. By his party an agreement was made with Governor Shute, May 18th, 1721, that the Indians would pay the English all damages; and hostages were sent to Boston to secure payment, and peace. Another meeting was arranged at which it was hoped all the Indians would bind themselves to a peaceful policy. This, Father Rasle de- termined to prevent. The very same day this agreement was made Father Rasle dispatched a letter to De Vaudreuil,
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THE FRENCH AT ARROWSICK ISLAND.
acquainting him with this new turn of affairs. The Govern- or replied, June 4th, [O. S.,] that the condition of things re- ported about the Abenakis would,-
Subject them to the English if the utmost care should not be im- mediately taken to prevent so great a misfortune. * *
* With- out a moment's delay I set out in order to apply myself to the busi- ness at Montreal, and then to St. Francis and Becancour, where I prevailed with the Indians of those villages to vigorously support their brethren of Norridgewock. [ De Vaudreuil, relating this affair to the King, writes, ] If the Indians of this village should confer alone with the English, those that had remained firm until then, might permit themselves to be gained over by their offers; it became nec- essary that the well-intentioned Indians should be most numerous at the conference.
Accordingly, he sent seven canoes of Indians from Cana- da. Father La Chasse, Superior of the Jesuits, was sent at the same time, to visit the other tribes of the Eastern In- dians, to induce them to attend the proposed conference. At the desire of the Canada Indians, after some scruples, he al- so sent M. de Croisil, a French officer of the line. These emissaries easily accomplished their object, the more so as Gov. Shute, in consequence of opposition by the House of Representatives had not yet been able to carry out his agree- ment with the Abenakis to set up truck houses among them.
July 17th, 1721, [O. S.,] La Chasse, Rasle and De Croisil, with 250 Indians armed and painted, appeared under French col- ors, at Arrowsick Island, the place appointed for the second conference. Gov. Shute having been informed of the progress of affairs, did not think it worth while to keep the appoint- ment. After remaining on the Island about seven weeks, the Indians called together the leading settlers on the disputed territory, laid down 200 beavers to pay for cattle killed, de- manded the four hostages given by Ouikoniroumenet, and told the settlers they must leave their lands. These demands were put in writing and read by one of the Jesuits. They were then left to be sent to Gov. Shute, with a demand for a reply in three weeks. An answer was sent, calling the Abenakis traitors, and demanding the surrender of Father Rasle, who was regarded as the author of the revolt and the letter. The direct agency of De Vaudreuil was not then known or sus- pected.
In December, 1721, a force was sent to capture the Jesuit and some of the principal men at Norridgewock. They
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INTERVAL OF UNQUIET PEACE.
reached the place January 4th, 1722. Father Rasle received sufficient notice to fly to the woods and so escaped. His books and papers were found and brought off.
In June following, the Abenakis captured a number of English at different places, burned Brunswick, and continued their depredations under the direction of Father Rasle. He as their religious teacher had acquired almost unbounded influence over them, and his political and religious zeal com- bined to inflame the Abenakis against English and Protest- ant aggression.
During all this excitement on the Maine coast, diplomatic correspondence was continued between Gov. Shute and De Vaudreuil, messengers going and coming by the way of Alba- ny and the lake. Joseph Kellogg and Thomas Baker were employed in this service. Christina, wife of Capt. Baker, accompanied her husband on one trip in 1722. Her expenses were paid by the Council, but no indications of the object of the journey are found. Probably it was an attempt to recov- er her children, whom she was forced to leave when she came back with Stoddard and Williams in 1714. If so, she was unsuccessful, for they lived and died in Canada.
CHAPTER XIII.
FATHER RASLE'S WAR.
Under the condition of affairs related in the last chapter there could be no settlement of the dispute except by the arbitrament of the sword; and July 25th, 1722, Gov. Shute formally declared war against the Eastern Indians. He sent three hundred men to the scene of the conflict. De Vau- dreuil sent one hundred and sixty Indians from Canada, and the whole frontier was soon ablaze, and many were killed or captured on both sides. Col. Samuel Partridge of Hatfield, then seventy-six years old, was military commander in the Connecticut Valley, with John Stoddard of Northampton as his lieutenant. A company of ninety-two men under Capt. Samuel Barnard of Deerfield, and Lieutenant Joseph Kel- logg, was raised for the protection of our town and North- field. During the summer several houses at both places were made defensible, being surrounded by palisades ; scouts constantly ranged the woods; watching and warding in the towns was unremitting; but no enemy appeared on our fron- tiers this year.
By the papers of Father Rasle, it had been seen how the Abenakis were backed by De Vaudreuil, and it was feared he would induce the Caghnawaga, St. Francis and other In- dians to join in the war, and come down upon the valley towns. Special efforts were made through agents sent them, to keep them neutral.
Conference at Albany, May, 1723. Massachusetts and New York were alive to the consequences of a general combination of the tribes in favor of the Abenakis, and both united to pre- vent it. A sketch of some of the measures taken to avoid a general war will throw light on the obscure subject of the dealings of Englishmen and Indians at this period. It will be seen that in diplomatic transactions the native was quite a match for the white man. Their forms and ceremonies cov- ered deep and far-seeing wisdom. At a Council held at Fort
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FATHER RASLE'S WAR.
George, Feb. 20th, 1722-3, a letter of Feb. 4th from Governor Dummer was read, thanks were given to Governor Burnett for the interest shown by his letter of Jan. 28th, and the re- quest made that the Indians be directed to assemble at Alba- ny, May 25th, to meet the Commissioners appointed to treat with the Six Nations within his government. Enclosed were instructions to the Commissioners, William Tailor, Spencer Phipps and John Stoddard, which he thinks conformable to "your letter to Gov. Shute & a vote of your Council."
The Commissioners were instructed to remind the Six Na- tions of " an absolute promise " their delegates made at Bos- ton to "call off the Merrimack & Scatacook Indians from confederating with the Eastern Indians," and of their giv- ing reasons to expect that the Six Nations would " make war against the East Indians;" to tell them a large bounty is of- fered for scalps, and that cach party of ten shall have two Englishmen go out with them.
May 23d the Massachusetts agents appeared before the "New York Commissioners for Indian Affairs" at Albany and presented their credentials. They reported that "Col. Peter Schuyler the President answered & assured us that they would not be wanting to give us all the assistance which was consented to by the rest of the gentlemen, But the Sec- retary stood up and said 'as far as was consistent with his Excellency Governor Burnets Instructions,'" and that we must tell Gov. Burnett what we were going to say to the Six Nations. Our Agents then invited the Indian Commissioners to go to their lodgings and "take a glass of wine with 11S which they accepted." So ends the first day.
May 28th. This day was spent by the Agents and Indians in making presents and flattering speeches to each other.
May 29th. The Indians say "the Present was not common, but that it was extraordinary." They give thanks for it not on account of its real value but for "your sincerity "-but- they are not yet ready for a talk.
May 30th. They, like adept diplomates, make a long and diffuse talk meaning nothing.
The Commissioners declare the cause of the war with the " Abnequois" which, as was well understood was a question of the ownership of certain territory. They refer to the deeds from the Abenakis " which your delegates saw." The
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INDIAN DIPLOMACY.
Indians are urged to take up arms against the hostile In- dians. "We bring you the hatchet," and we will give you a hundred dollars for every scalp of a male over twelve years old, fifty dollars for prisoners, and for "all others killed in fight fifty dollars ;" and, if they come into this little arrange- ment will fit them out, mend their guns, hatchets, kettles, &c.
May 31st. This day the Indians say this is a great matter and they must deliberate upon it until to-morrow evening.
"June Ist, the Scatacooks and River Indians [Mahicans] came to us according to appointment." There was much formal palaver on both sides, and mutual presents, the Com- missioners repeated to them the substance of their speeches to the Six Nations, in urging them to espouse the cause of the English. But that they were not expected to take up arms unless their " fathers" did, in that case they were to join in the war. The presents were "divided between the tribes in our presence."
In their answer the Indians say you call us "brethren " we wish you to call us children and we will call you father as we do the Five Nations. If they go to the war, we shall fol- low. "Fathers, " they say, "we were the first Inhabitants of the Country, and some time after the Arrival of the English, they and we made a covenant which hath never been broken and hope it will endure to future generations." This decla- ration might apply to the Mahicans whom the Dutch discov- erers found on the Hudson, but not to the Scatacooks. This tribe was founded by refugees from New England after Phil- ip's War.
June 3. After four days' deliberation the Six Nations make answer to the propositions of May 30th. In long, ram- bling talks they vaunt their power over the other Indians, and their friendship for the English. They say we sent dele- gates to the Eastern parts, and found the place empty ; on their return we sent a message to the three tribes of East In- dians in Canada to take away the hatchet against the Eng- lish, and they delivered it up, and by their messengers cast it at our feet. We will wait and see what comes of this meas- tire. If you will call a Peace Conference in Boston, we will go and meet the East Indians there, and will try all we can to quiet "our children " in your presence ; meanwhile, we will send another delegation to the East Indians.
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FATHER RASLE'S WAR.
June 4th the indignant Commissioners, in reply, ask a re- consideration of this action. They have nothing to do with "Peace." They want the Six Nations to give hard blows in- stead of hard words to "your children," the East Indians.
The reply was that hard words will do. We spoke soft before, now we will go to Boston with your hatchet and the one they sent us. Then we will dig a hole before you and them, and bury these hatchets forever, and tell them if they smite you, they smite us. That will settle the case. We will be surety for them.
The Indians have here gained a point in delaying the mat- ter, and will find new excuses for inaction when necessary.
The disappointed Agents make the best they can of the situation, and tell the Indians they will be welcome at Boston to meet the East Indians. They will pay all expenses and make " suitable provisions for your return to your castle."
The messengers selected to visit the East Indians ask that they may be admitted to some post to meet them under a flag of truce.
So ended the ten days' Conference, a high jollification to the Indians and a heavy bill of expense to the English.
Meanwhile preparations for defense went on. May 14th, Partridge writes William Dummer, now Governor of the col- ony, "The river is pretty well secured by the forts and men at Northfield and Deerfield, yet Sunderland, Hatfield and Hadley, Northampton, Westfield, and Brookfield and Rut- land, are too much exposed to invasion from the East and
West. X- *
* These towns can't stand the strain upon them to watch and ward, scout and fort without pay, while their spring work is pressing to be done, they can't get a liv- ing." A quarrel of some years' standing between the Execu- tive and House of Representatives had blocked the necessa- ry legislation to make appropriations and raise money enough to garrison these exposed towns.
The Schuylers of New York had long been, and long con- tinued to be, staunch friends of the English of New England.
The following tells its own story :-
Gentlemen this Encloses a vote of the Gen !! Assembly of this Province desiring that one of you Gentlemen as will best suit with your convenience will please to favor us with a visit that we may confer with you upon the Present Scituation of our Capital affairs re-
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DISASTROUS RAID OF GRAY LOCK.
specting the Maquois & the Eastern Indians which will also Oblige Gentlemen Yr Most Humble Sert
Wm DUMMER
Boston Aug: 13, 1723.
To the Honble Coll: Peter, & Coll John Skyler
No Indians appeared in the valley until Aug. 13th, when a party of five killed Thomas Holton and Theophilus Merriman at Northfield. The leader was the notorious Gray Lock, a chieftain of one of the Pocumtuck confederate clans, driven off in Philip's War. He had been a noted warrior in Queen Anne's War, was well acquainted with the country, the peo- ple and their habits, and his advanced age did not prevent his being an active and dangerous enemy. Turning east- ward, the same party surprised Dea. Joseph Stevens and his four sons while at work in the field at Rutland. Two of the boys were killed and two captured. Two of the Indians, after an attempt to surprise Mr. Davis and son, who were haying not far off, accidentally met in the road Rev. Joseph Willard. He was armed and shot one of them, and wounded the other; while in a struggle with the latter, the rest of the party came up and Willard was killed. Mr. Willard, former- ly the minister of Sunderland, was now the minister elect for Rutland. The slain Indian was a Huron chief of Lorette. One of the boys captured was the famed Capt. Phineas Ste- vens, of the later wars.
Aug. 17th, Gov. Dummer wrote Col. Partridge :-
Sir These are to direct you forthwith to impress 18 able bodied ef- fective men well armed out of the Regiment under your Command to be employed as Scouts for the several Towns of Brookfield Sun- derland Deerfield & Northfield the first & last to have five men apiece, the other two four men in each, to range the woods on the skirts of Several Towns for their Defence & when the Towns have a sufficient number of men & it be most acceptable to the Inhabitants you may raise those Men out of those towns otherwise not.
Appoint a suitable Person to be one of the twelve (sic) as an officer to command the scouts of Sunderland Deerfield & Northfield & one Substantial Person to direct the other four (sic) at Brookfield. Give a strict Charge to the Officer That he keep the scouts in Constant & regular duty and that they Meet together as often as may be Con- venient.
Boston Aug 17, 1723
Capt. Joseph Kellogg was kept at Albany to act with Col. John Schuyler in watching the movements of the Indians.
They write Gov. Dummer, Aug. 4th, 1725 : * * * "Gov.
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FATHER RASLE'S WAR.
Longuile's son has been among the Ownuntaugas & that the Onitas had [been ?] to Onuntawga to hear what he has to say & no doubt he is employed by Gov' de Nonville to practice wth these nations to defeat the present purpose of the In- dians." Hearing that a messenger from the Eastern Indians was among the Mohawks, they sent a man to find out what sort of a reception the envoy met with. He reported that the " Abanakke messenger met with a rough answer and was told they must meet them in Boston & there heare what was to be said to em;" they add "one of the Onitas said the Sa- chems from Ownuntawge were soon coming along."
Conference in Boston. Aug. 22d, a delegation of the Six Na- tions met the General Court in the Court House. Gov. Dum- mer made them a formal address of welcome, and hoped they were comfortably quartered in Boston. In their reply they speak of the bad news they have heard of the attack at Rut- land, and say " we mourn and lament after the way of our country and wipe away your tears." They express themselves satisfied with their reception, but wish to delay further pro- ceedings until the arrival of Col. Schuyler. Aug. 28th, Schuy- ler having arrived, the Governor, Council and General Court met the Indians in the Council Chamber. It must have been an interesting and impressive scene. Men were not chosen to office in those days for their skill in manipulating caucuses and conventions. Men of character were there, the pick of the colony, with grave countenance and dignified bearing which harmonized with the velvet and gold and lace of their costumes. The Indians also were doubtless dressed in their best ; their gayest feathers, their scarlet-hued blankets, their bright beaded moccasins and hair-fringed leggings made a fitting element in the picturesque whole. Of equal interest was the grave ceremony to follow.
The red man is generally spoken of as the child of free- dom ; but no galley slave was more firmly bound to his task than was the North American Indian by the customs and traditions of his tribe. He had no will of his own. His cos- tume, his habits, his conduct in war or peace, were all marked out for him by inexorable law. In his occasional torture of prisoners and other barbarities he only followed customs handed down from more barbarous ancestors. Contact with civilization made not a whit of change in his mode of con-
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ENGLISH CONFORM TO INDIAN CEREMONIALS.
ducting public business. At the Court of the " Grande Mon- arche " Louis XIV., etiquette was not more strictly enforced than with the tribes in their conferences and treaties with the whites. The latter were obliged to conform as best they could to the ceremonial forms of the savage. Governors and Embassadors gravely smoked the Pipe of Peace around the Council fire; lifted or buried the hatchet, brightened the Covenant chain, sent or received the wampum belts, and gave the inevitable present, for no promise was sacred and no treaty binding which was not ratified by an exchange of gifts. Although Schuyler was a friend and counselor of the Indians he was not their spokesman. After the usual open- ing address, an Indian orator, probably Kajarsanhondare, of the Five Nations, took the floor. Then followed the childish ceremony of mourning for the dead. The "minister" was Joseph Willard, pastor elect at Rutland, who had been killed by a party under Gray Lock shortly before.
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