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 9
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 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
The relations of the English and Nipmucks had been nominally friendly from the first. But the two races had no common sympathies and had never mingled as equals. The industrial possibilities of the savage had been much in- creased by contact with civilization. With English weapons and implements, game was more easily procured, wigwams and canoes more easily made, and land more profitably cul- tivated. The barter of fur, venison and corn, for blankets and articles of metal, was of great advantage to the Indians, but the restraint put upon them when they gave their alle- giance to the English was irksome. It was galling to these children of nature to be hedged in by forms and subjected to rules. The contempt of the whites made them conscious of be- ing an inferior race, and they responded with envy and hatred.
Fearing an outbreak at Mount Hope, the Governor of Massachusetts, on the 13th of June, 1675, sent two messen- gers to compose the troubles, if possible. On the same day an embassy was sent to the Nipmucks, at Wennimisset, near Brookfield. Here, after three days' negotiation, the Sachems and rulers signed an agreement not to favor Philip or break the peace. It is probable the wise old men made this treaty in good faith, but that they were unable to restrain the young braves, whose discontent, with the natural love of war and desire for plunder, led them on regardless of consequences.
When news of the outbreak at Swansea reached Uncas, he at once sent six messengers to Boston offering his services in the war, while he made the same offer in person to the au- thorities of Connecticut. His envoys reached Boston, July 9th, and about the 11th Governor Leverett sent Ephraim Curtice of Sudbury,* who had an Indian trading post at Quin-
*Ancestor of our distinguished Statesman, George W. Curtis.
S3
CURTICE ENVOY TO THE NIPMUCKS.
sigamug, to escort them through the Nipmuck country, as their nearest way home. Curtice had also a charge to find out the temper of the Nipmucks towards the English. At Natick he was joined by three friendly Indians. On reaching the In- dian fort at Okomakomesset he heard news that would have stopped a less resolute man. It was that Matoonas, Sachem of Pakachaug and a dependent of Philip, was ranging the country with fifty men accoutered for war; that this party had already robbed his own house at Quinsigamug, and some of his goods were shown him to prove it. He was assured of certain death if he met Matoonas, or any of the Nipmucks. Cur- tice, however, pushed on to Marlboro, where he was furnished with an escort of ten troopers and one more Indian. Leav- ing Marlboro the party passed through the Indian towns of Hassanamisco, Munchaug, Chabanagonkamug, Manamexit, Senexit, and near to Wabaquasset, where the Mohegans con- sidered themselves safe. These towns were all deserted. Curtice had traversed the very heart of the Nipmuck country without seeing a single Indian. He afterwards found them collected at Wennimisset, in a strong position, on an island of four acres, formed by the Menameseek river and the Wen- nimisset brook, and encompassed by a deep morass .* Though met by abuse and threats of death, Curtice at length reached the island by the only practicable pass. Here he had a conference with the Sachems Mattamuck or Mawtamp, Konkawasco, Willemather, Ushutugun or Sagamore Sam, Kekond, and "twelve Grandees." The chief Sachem was Mattamuck. The conference was friendly, the Indians rep- resenting that they had fled from their home for fear of the English, but, says Curtice, " I left them well appeased." He made a report of this expedition at Boston, July 16, 1675.
Within two or three days Curtice was again dispatched to Wennimisset with a letter from the Governor and Council to the Nipmuck Sachems, containing assurances of their good will. The envoy was well received and had a satisfactory conference with Sagamore Sam, Willemather, Apequanas or Sagamore John, and Kekond, to whom the letter was read, "which they seemed to accept of very well," and promised that some of the chiefs would go to Boston to speak with the
*For a description of this Camp see Temple's History of Brookfield.
S4
PHILIP'S WAR.
Great Sachem in four or five days. When Curtice inquired why he met such abuse when last there, he was answered that Black James, the Constable of Chabanagonkamug, had told them "the English would kill them all because they were not praying Indians." Whether this was Black James's way of making converts, or a blind on the part of the wily Nipmueks, may never be known; but it is certain that at that very moment, though unknown to Curtice, an emissary of Philip was in their camp, distributing spoils taken from the English. On the 24th, Curtice again reported in Boston.
July 26th, Oneko, oldest son of Uncas, with two younger brothers and fifty Mohegan warriors, reached Boston and re- ported for duty. The younger brothers were kept as hos- tages and the rest hurried off towards Pocasset, the seat of war. On reaching Rehoboth they heard of the escape of Philip from Pocasset Neck, and joined a party of men from adjoining towns, who were about to follow his trail. Philip was overtaken by this force, thirty of his men were killed and much plunder taken. The next day the Mohegans joined Capt. Daniel Henchman, who was also in pursuit of the fugitives. But they were not again overtaken, and the chase ended at Wabaquasset.
HUTCHINSON AMBUSHED AND BROOKFIELD BURNED.
The Governor and Council, having no news from the chiefs at Wennimisset according to promise, and not being satisfied of the good faith of the Indians there, on the 28th of July, appointed Capt. Edward Hutchinson, a Commis- sioner, to go and find out the real condition of affairs among them. He was to demand that Matoonas and his band, and any other hostile Indians there, should be given up. Curtice went as guide, and Capt. Thomas Wheeler, with twenty troopers, as escort. The party reached Brookfield at noon, on the first day of August. Curtice was now sent a third time, with one companion, to Wennimisset, which lay about eight miles northwest, to arrange for a meeting with Capt. Hutchinson. As in previous visits, he found the old men disposed (or pretending to be) for peace, while the young men were insolent and full of the spirit of war. At length an agreement was made that the Indians should meet the Commissioner the next morning, on a plain near the head of
SẼ
THE TRAGEDY AT BROOKFIELD.
Wickabaug pond about three miles from Brookfield, to ne- gotiate a treaty of peace and amity. Accordingly, Monday, Aug. 2d, Hutchinson, not without some misgivings, with his whole party, including Joseph and Sampson, sons of old Robin Petuhanit, and George Menicho, three Natick Indians, and John Ayers, William Prichard and Richard Coy, three of the leading men of Brookfield, marched to the appointed place. Not an Indian was there to meet them.
After consultation, and upon the representations of the Brookfield men, who strongly endorsed the integrity of the Indians, but against the remonstrance of the Naticks, Capt. Hutchinson continued his march four or five miles farther towards the Nipmuck camp, until he reached a narrow defile where the treacherous Indians lay in ambush. While advanc- ing in single file, with a deep morass on one side and steep hill on the other, they were fired upon. The Brookfield men paid for their confidence with their lives. Five other men were killed and five wounded-Capt. Hutchinson and two others mortally, and Capt. Wheeler dangerously. Meni- cho was captured. The survivors fought their way out as best they could, and being guided in a by-way by Joseph and Sampson the Naticks, found their way back to the town.
The alarmed inhabitants hurriedly gathered into John Ayers's tavern, the largest and strongest house in the village. Hasty attempts were made to fortify this with such logs as they could find for the outside, and feather beds hung over the windows and on the walls, inside. In the panic the gar- rison was scantily provided with provisions and other neces- saries for so large a number. Fourteen men and fifty women and children of the inhabitants were crowded together there.
In about two hours the savages arrived. After pillaging and burning the deserted houses, they made a furious attack on the tavern, "sending their shot amongst us like hail through the walls, and shouting as though they would swal- low us up alive." The command had devolved upon Simon Davis of Concord, who, with his twenty-six men, made a brave defense. Many ingenious attempts were made to burn the house, and it was twice set on fire. "Wild fire in cotton, and linen rags with brimstone in them," were tied to ar- rows, set on fire and shot upon the roof. All these efforts were continued, and successfully resisted, until the night of
S6
PHILIP'S WAR.
Aug. 4th, when a final attempt was to be made to burn the building. So intent were the savages on this project that their guard was relaxed, and the air was so filled with yells of fiendish exultation at the prospect of the bloody feast so soon in store for them, that Maj. Simon Willard, with ninety- four men, rode within gunshot of the garrison before they were discovered. The Indians soon raised the siege, and before daybreak they set fire to the meetinghouse, which they had fortified for their own protection, and disappeared into the wilderness.
This rescue was seasonable. The besieged could hardly have withstood the assault about to be made. In the morn- ing it was found that two formidable inventions for firing the house were nearly completed. A barrel with a pole stuck through holes in each head for an axletree formed the front ; to the projecting ends of this axletree long poles were fastened ; to these more long poles were spliced, one after another, running back like thills to a wagon, till they extend- ed about fourteen rods. Under each splice a pair of the set- tlers' cart wheels had been placed. A platform over the barrel was piled high with combustibles. These poles could be spliced to any extent, and the machine pushed against the house in the darkness with impunity. Plenty of fire arrows were found, with which to ignite the combustibles at the proper moment. These operations had been retarded by a shower, but the ultimate success of the scheme, if left un- interrupted, can hardly be doubtful. The assailants were about five hundred, while the strength and the ammunition of the brave defenders, now reduced to twenty men, were alike nearly exhausted. A horrible death stared them in the face. At the beginning of the siege twenty-six fighting men, with fifty women and children, were crowded into the house with five wounded men to care for, to which four more were soon added. At its close this number was lessened by one-Cur- tice sent out for aid-and by five men killed or wounded ; and increased by the birth of two pairs of twins.
What imagination can compass the manifold wretchedness of the besieged during those three sultry August days? The stifling fumes of the burning gunpowder in the shut up rooms, aggravating the sufferings and hastening the death of the wounded-the incessant strain of watching the burn-
S7
WAR CAPTAINS TAKE THE FIELD.
ing arrows and avoiding the flying bullets-the horrid yells of the savages-the birth of the children in this pandemonium -with the growing consciousness that the end was nigh, in a horrible death !
The attack on Brookfield by the Nipmucks put a new as- pect on the affairs of New England. For the first time a general rising of the Indians was seriously feared. Troops were at once put in motion from the east and west towards the scene of the disaster. Capt. Thomas Lothrop of Beverly and Capt. Richard Beers of Watertown joined Maj. Willard there with full companies, Aug. 7th.
Maj. Pynchon heard the news at Springfield, from some travelers, Aug. 4th. In great alarm he posted a messenger that night to Hartford, asking aid to secure Springfield and suecor Brookfield. The War Council met at Hartford at one o'clock in the morning, Aug. 5th, and dispatched Capt. Thomas Watts, with forty dragoons and thirty Indians to Pynchon, "for the securitie of those towns, and to pass to Quabaug, if there be reason ;" and on the 6th the Council raised two hundred and thirty dragoons, to be ready to march at an hour's notice. Aug. 7th, Maj. Pynchon, having satis- fied himself of the fidelity of the River Indians, joining to the Connecticut forces, Lieut. William Cooper, with twenty-seven dragoons and ten Indians, sent the whole to Brookfield, where they formed a junetion with Maj. Willard's command, the same day. Aug. Sth, the whole force, now about three hundred and fifty men, marched to Wennimisset, but the Indians were not to be found. The river troops searched the woods ten miles farther north, but found no trace of the enemy. Maj. Willard, fearing they had moved westward towards the river towns, decided to send a force thither.
Wednesday, Aug. 4th, before word had reached Boston of the outbreak at Brookfield, Capt. Samuel Moseley was dis- patched with supplies to Capt. Henchman and orders to join him in the pursuit of Philip. On the 7th, however, he met Henchman on his return from Wabaquasset, and the united forces marched to Mendon, and thence to Marlboro. Here they parted, on the 8th : Henchman went to Boston for fur- ther orders, while Moseley pushed on with both companies for the new seat of war, reporting to Maj. Willard at Brook- field, Aug. 9th. He found Lothrop and Beers under march-
SS
PHILIP'S WAR.
ing orders for the Connecticut river. Taking Moseley's sur- geon, William Locke, Lothrop moved off for Hadley, and Watts for Springfield. Word of the latter's arrival reached Hartford on the evening of the ioth. The Council met at Io p. m., and sent their Marshal to visit their Indians, "to enquire after their welfare," to see that "they receive no affront from the English," to thank them for their fidelity, and "give everyone of them a dram." Besides these Indians who went up with Watts, Attawamhood had led thirty Mo- hegans to Springfield the day before. Watts and the Indians remained under the direction of Pynchon. Lothrop, after a short delay at Hadley to rest and refit his men, took the woods again for Brookfield.
Aug. 14, Maj. Willard directed another expedition to the north and west. Lothrop, Beers and Moseley marched to- gether as far as Wennimisset. The first two, destined for Hadley, moved westward. Moseley went some eight miles farther north and then returned to Brookfield. The next day he was sent against a party of hostiles above Chelms- ford, and reached Lancaster, en route, at 7 o'clock p. m., whence he sent dispatches to the Governor.
Pynchon, the commander on the river, feeling the respon- sibility too heavy for him, sent to the Council at Hartford, Aug. 12th, that he "was alone and wanted advice." Maj. John Talcott, with an escort of ten dragoons, was sent to his assistance, with a recommendation to Pynchon to send an agent to Albany, "if it be safe," to secure the aid of the Mohawks, if the enemy went that way. Thus carly did these astute inen foresee the policy of Philip. Gov. Andros was at Albany when Pynchon's messenger arrived, and at once engaged the Mohawks not to join the war, or entertain the hostiles. Aug. 24th he wrote Pynchon to that effect.
Headquarters were established at Hadley, a town well sitt- ated for a defensible post. Pynchon's forces had been active from the first in scouring the woods in search of the enemy. The Indians living near Hatfield and Northampton had vol- unteered in the same service. Attawamhood soon discovered that they "made fools of the English," and plainly told Pynchon that nothing could be accomplished while they were with the English in any pursuit; that by their shouts
·
89
TREACHERY OF THE POCUMTUCKS.
they gave notice to the enemy of the approach of the Eng- lish, that they "might look to themselves."
On the arrival of Lothrop and Beers at Hadley, about the 16th, the whole force took the field for an extended scout. Capt. Watts went up on the west side of the Connecticut and the Bay troops on the east. Watts returned to Hadley, Aug. 22d, leaving ten of his men in the garrison at Deerfield, and twenty men were sent to secure Northfield. Lothrop and Beers ranged northward, and eastward again to Brookfield. On the 23d they were both back at Hadley, and doubtless Maj. Willard went with them, to consult with Maj. Pynchon. During all this marching and countermarching not a single hostile Indian was seen. The only visible result was the burning of seventy deserted wigwams; but the whereabouts of the enemy was unknown. In the following letter to the Council at Hartford Pynchon sums up the state of affairs :-
Spr. Aug. 22: 75.
Capt. John Allyn. Sr, In ye night a Post was sent me from Had- ley, that or forces are returned; Capt. Wats thither, and the Bay forces to Qvabaug. Nothing done but about 50 Wigwams they found empty wch they haue burnt. They write from Hadley they expect nothing but ye enymy to insult & fall vpon ye remote Townes; that they are in great feares; a guard of 20 left at Squakheak is too week: some of yor soldiers left at Pocomtuck, Capt. Wats speaks of calling off, weh trobles ym grtly: Suspect or Indians yt went out to be fearefull or false or both : say yt ye sheepe at Squakeake are driven away sence ye soldiers were there: suspect ye enymy to be betweene Hadley & Sqvakeak, at Paqvayag, about 10 miles from ye Grt River -I am sending to Capt. Wats to stay wth his forces there: I would gladly you would allow it & give further order about it; as yt they make no discovery for ye enemy at ye place forenamed. The In- dians you formerly writ off comeing in to Vncas it must be serious- ly considered whether none that are murderers of ye English be among them & such must be deliv'd vp. I pray God direct you & vs & be o' salvation. Comunicate advice & concill as you may judge needfull. They much desire ye prsence of some principall man at Hadley to direct, as need reqrs, & to expidite affairs. Yours in ye L'd Jesus
JOHN PYNCHON.
Momonto thinks ye Indian enymy may be in a swamp called Mo- mattanick about 3 mile off Paqvayag, between Hadly and Sqvakeak : it is a pitty but they should disrested; & yor Indians will be ye most likely to doe something. I pray give further orders about Capt. Wats & if Magor Talcot might be wth ym I hope it w'ld turne to good.
[Directed, ] These For Mr. John Allyn, at Hartford. Hast, Post Hast.
90
PHILIP'S WAR.
Escaping the pursuit of Henchman and Oneko, Philip, as we have seen, with about forty followers, reached the swamp near Wennimisset, on the 5th of August, taking refuge with the hostile Nipmucks. If he became their leader his first act was to infeet them with the fear which had winged his flight from Pocasset Neck. Whoever led, the whole crew hurried away to hiding places, probably in great swamps lying in the eastern part of Franklin county. In a retrograde movement of this character Philip doubtless showed skill and activity as a leader, for he was a cautious and cunning man. When the provision plundered at Brookfield was ex- hausted the enemy drove off sheep from the Northfield com- mons. Their spies, no doubt, watched every movement of the English, that they might be able to strike the most effect- ive blow.
FIGHT AT WEQUAMPS.
Aug. 24, 1675, a Council of War was convened at Hadley to investigate the conduct of a motley collection of Pocumtucks. Naunawtucks and vagabond stranger Indians, occupying a fort on the west bank of the Connecticut river between North- ampton and Hadley. Grave suspicions were entertained of their fidelity. On the first alarm they professed friendship and gave up their arms. When Capt. Watts came up a few days later they offered their aid against any hostile Indians, and their guns were returned to them for this service. Abundant evidence was given to the Council of friendly feeling and in- tercourse between these Indians and the Nipmueks, and after hearing the objections of the Indians it was decided to de- mand their arms again. The Sachem who was present said on leaving that he would bring in his own, and try to per- stade the rest to do the same. A messenger was sent to the fort in the afternoon, who was put off with evasive answers. When he went again in the evening, according to appoint- ment, he was rudely insulted. Lothrop now determined to take their arms by force, and sent orders to the forces at Northampton to march at midnight quietly up near the fort, while he and Beers would eross the river above and come down upon it. According to this plan the two detachments met at the fort about daylight. The occupants had fled, leaving nothing but the dead body of an old Sachem who
91
FIRST ARMED CONFLICT IN THE VALLEY.
was killed for refusing to join in their flight to the enemy. Probably he was one of the ready-made Sachems, forced up- on them by the English : if so he paid for his gratitude with his life.
Sending home a part of his force to guard the towns, Lo- throp, with Beers and about one hundred men, made a rapid pursuit on the trail towards Deerfield. "Intending to parley with them," no precautions were taken against a surprise. No one seems to have dreamed that the Indians would pre- sume to meet them with arms. On the other hand, the In- dians were ready for war; they expected this pursuit, and prepared for it. Loaded with all their worldly goods, en- cumbered with their women and children, it was evident they must soon be overtaken. A favorable place was select- cd near the "Pocumtuck path," about eighty rods south of Wequamps, and here they lay in ambush, awaiting their pursuers. So little had the English learned by the experi- ence of Capt. Hutchinson, at Brookfield, that they marched heedlessly into the trap. Their first notice of danger was the discharge of some forty muskets upon their ranks from the swamp on their right. Part of the English rushed down into the thicket, where a sharp fight from behind cover, Indian fashion, was kept up for three hours, when the In- dians fled. Lothrop lost six men on the ground, one of whom "was shot in the back by our own men," and three others died of their wounds. They were Azariah Dickinson of Hadley, Samuel Mason of Northampton, Richard Fellows and James Levens of Hatfield, John Plumer of Newbury, Edward Jackson of Cambridge, Joseph Persons of Lynn, Matthew Scales of Rowley and William Cluff of Charlestown. John Parke of Watertown-afterwards of Newton-was shot in the elbow .* A squaw captured within two weeks said that the Indians lost twenty-six men in the action. Puck- quahow, an active Nipmuck of Wennimisset, and in the Hutchinson ambush, was in this fight. He probably insti- gated the revolt and planned the ambush, so fatal to the English.
*In a petition to the General Court, March 15, 1677, Parke says he was "un- der the chirurgeon's hand about half a year"-that the shot so shattered the elbow that the bones came out. Ile was allowed, for loss of time, doctor's bill and "vituals " £9. Twenty-five years later he was allowed £2 10 s. per annum.
92
PHILIP'S WAR.
This was the first armed conflict between Englishmen and Indians in the Connecticut valley, and it gave a new mean- ing to the onset at Brookfield. It was now seen that a gen- eral war of races had begun, which must result in the exter- mination of one or the other.
The Council of Connecticut was opposed to the policy of disarming the Indians in the fort at Hatfield, and on the 25th of August, while the fight at Wequamps was still going on, was engaged in preparing a letter of remonstrance to Maj. Pyn- chon. Later in the day, the fact of the fight being known, George Graves, with twenty dragoons, was dispatched to Northampton. The next day the Council ordered the Hart- ford county dragoons to be in readiness to march on an hour's notice, and appointed a fast for "each County for all their towns the 4th day of the weeke monthly, till farther order, to begin in New Haven county Septr the first next."
Aug. 27th, the Council had word that the Wabaquasset Indians had captured "about 111 of Philip's men, women & children." They were probably on their way to join Philip in the Nipmuck country. On the 28th, the Council, still ad- hering to the policy of trusting the neighboring Indians, wrote to Pynchon advising him not to disarm those about Springfield. Aug. 31st Talcott was again sent up to advise with Pynchon, and Maj. Robert Treat, with a regiment of dragoons, marched for Northampton ; but he was recalled the next day, by an alarm near Hartford.
Deerfield had at this time about one hundred and twenty- five inhabitants, with twenty-five or thirty men. The houses were scattered nearly the whole length of the present street. Three of these, as a measure of precaution, had been forti- fied with palisades. The ten men left by Capt. Watts were still here. No direct evidence has been found as to the situation of these forts, as they were called ; but it would be safe to assume that one was on Meetinghouse Hill, at the house of Quintin Stockwell, where the minister boarded. The Catlin lot, where Sergeant Plympton then lived, was probably the south one, and the north fort may have been on the home lot of Mrs. C. E. B. Allen, then owned by James Tuffts.
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.