USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Greenfield > History of Greenfield : shire town of Franklin county, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 6
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[1676
THE WELLS NARRATIVE CONTINUED
down to sleep; and when asleep, he dreamt yt his grandfather came to him & told him he was lost, but yt he must go down yt river till he came to ye end of ye mountain & then turn away upon ye plain, (he was now about 12 miles from Deer- field) & yt was ye way home. When he awoke in ye morn- ing, (having been refresht by his sleep & his bleeding being stopd), he found he had some strength & found yt wth ye help of his gun for a staff he cd go after a fashion ; when ye sun arose he found himself lost, (tho before he thot ye direction in ye dream was quite wrong) but upon considering ye rising of ye sun, &c, he resolved to go according to ye direction of ye dream, (he had now got 6 miles furthur from home than ye place was where they did their exploit upon ye enemy) & pick- ing up his powder horn & bullets he girt up himself & set forward down ye river & found yt at length he came to ye end of ye mountain & to a plain (as in his dream, which before he knew nothing of, for he was never above ye place called Hat- field Clay Gully before this expedition, & when he went up 'twasnt as before observd, & he was now many miles from any place where ye army came).
He travelled upon ye plain till he came to a foot path wch led up to ye road he went out in, where he cd see ye tracks of ye horses. He travelled by leaning upon his gun as a staff, & so he came down to Dd river, but did not know how to get over. He met wth much difficulty, for ye stream card his lame leg acrost ye other leg ; but at length by putting the muzzell of his gun into ye water, (for he was loth to wet the lock), he got over, but filled the muzzell of his gun with gravel & sand. Being much spent when he got up ye bank, he laid down under a walnut bush & fell asleep, & whn he awoke an Indian was coming over the river in a cano to him coming ashore to him-near-his distress was great ; he could not run from his enemy & was quite incapacitated from fighting, (his gun being full of sand & gravell,) but he presented his gun, and when the Indian discovered him, he jumped out of his cano, (leav-
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THE WELLS' NARRATIVE CONTINUED
1676]
ing his own gun wch was in ye head of ye cano), & made his escape & went & told ye Indians yt ye English army was come. again for he had seen one of ye scouts .*
"Mr. W. suspecting the indians wd come to search for him, went away into a swamp (yt was hard by) and finding two great trees yt had been left by ye flood lying at a little distance from each other & covered over with rubbish, he crept in betwixt them & within a little while heard a running to & fro in ye swamp, but saw nothing; within a little while all was still, and he ventured to proceed on his journey.t
"In Deerfield Meadows he found some horses' bones, from which he got away some small matter ; found two rotted beans in ye meadows where ye indians had thrashd yr beans, & two blew birds eggs, wch was all ye provision he had till he got home. He got up to Dfd town plat before dark, Saturday, but ye town was burned before & no inhabitants, so he kept along. His method of travelling was to go a little ways & then lye down to rest & was wont to fall asleep, but in ye nt twice he mistook himself when he awoke, & went back again till coming to some remarkable places, he was convinced of his mistake & so turned abt again & at length he took this method, to lay ye muzzell of his gun towards his course, but losing so much, he was discouraged & laid himself down once & again, expecting to dye ; but after some recruit was encour- aged to set forward again, but meeting with these difficulties
* The indians afterward gave out that a Narragansett indian was going up the river after eals, that he saw ye track of a man in ye path yt went up ye bank & was going to see, & saw a man on ye bank & jumped out of ye canoo, & went and told ye in- dians ye English army were coming again; yt he had seen one of ye scouts ; upon wch yy went to ye place, but not seeing anything, yy concluded he was afrightd ground- lessly, for ye Narragansetts, ye sd, were no better than squaws, &c., and so yy made no strict search.
t Sheldon gives credence to a tradition of the family, that there were trees so lodged that they lay side by side, one end upon the river bank and the other lying in the river, that the lower ends were covered with brush and the river wash, and that Wells ducked his head under the first log coming up between them, under the brush, thus leaving no track.
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THE WELLS NARRATIVE CONCLUDED
[1676
he spent ye whole nt in getting to muddy brook (or some call it, bloody brook) ; here he buried a man's head in ye path, yt was drawn out of ye grave by some vermin, wth clefts of wood, &c., & upon ye road to H'f'd was (like Samson after the slaughter of ye Philistines) distressed for want of drink, & many times ready to faint, yet got no water till he came to Clay Gully, but divers times he was refresht by holding his head over candle wood knots yt were on fire, ye woods being then on fire on ye plains, & got to Hatfield between meetings on Sabbath day. He lay lame under Dr. Locke for some time, & was under Mrs. Allen & Mr. Buckley four years & 2 months (in all) & never had anything allowed him for time or smart, tho yy pd ye surgeon ; & he lay at one time half a year in one spot on a bed, without being turned once, or once taken out; often dispared of his life ; all his skin came off his back by lying in one posture."
The Indians have given the following account to Jonathan Wells, Esq., viz .: That the Monday after the fight 8 Eng- lishmen that were lost came to them and offered to submit themselves to them, if they would not put them to death, but whether they promissed them quarter or not, they took them, and burnt them ; the method of burning them was to cover them with thatch and put fire to it, and set them a running ; and when one coat of thatch was burnt up, they would put on another & the Barbarous creatures that have given this account of their inhumanity, have in a scoffing manner added, that the Englishmen would cry out as they were burning, " Oh dear ! Oh dear !" The indians themselves account it very unmanly to moan or make ado under the torments and cruelties of their enemies who put them to Death.
The Wonderful Experience of The preservation of Mr. Atherton, chaplain of the expedition, as related Rev. Hope Atherton. by him, was so remarkable that it was by many disbelieved, and it was thought that the hardships he underwent had clouded his intellect ; so in order that all
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REVEREND HOPE ATHERTON'S STORY
1676]
might understand, on Sunday, May 28, 1676, after his sermon he read the following statement.
" Hope Atherton desires this congregation and all people that shall hear the Lord's dealings with him to praise and give thanks to God for a series of remarkable deliverances wrought for him. The passages of divine providence (being considered together) make up a complete temporal salvation. I have passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death and both the rod and staff of God delivered me. A particular relation of extreme sufferings that I have undergone, & signal escapes that the Lord hath made way for, I make openly, that glory may be given to him for his works that have been wonderful in themselves and marvelous in mine eyes ; & will be so in the eyes of all whose hearts are prepared to believe what I shall relate. On the morning (May 19, 1676) that followed the night in which I went out against the enemy with others, I was in eminent danger through an instrument of death ; a gun was discharged gainst me at a small distance, the Lord di- verted the bullet so that no harm was done me. When I was separated from the army, none pursued after me, as if God had given the heathen a charge, saying let him alone he shall have his life for a prey. The night following I wandered up and down among the dwelling places of our enemies ; but none of them espied me. Sleep fell upon their eyes, and slum- bering upon their eyelids. Their dogs moved not their tongues. The next day I was encompassed with enemies, un- to whom I tendered myself a captive. The providence of God seemed to require me so to do. No way appeared to es- cape, and I had been a long time without food. They ac- cepted not the tender which I made, when I spake, they an- swered not, when I moved toward them they moved away from me. I expected they would have laid hands upon me, but they did not. Understanding that this seems strange and in- credible unto some, I have considered whether I was not de- ceived ; and after consideration of all things I cannot find
4
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REVEREND HOPE ATHERTON'S STORY
[1676
sufficient grounds to alter my thought. If any have reason to judge otherwise than myself, who am less than the least in the kingdom of God, I desire them to intimate what their reason is. When I have mused, that which hath cast my thoughts according to the report I first made, is, that it tends to the glory of God, in no small measure ; if it were so as I believe it was, that I was encompassed with cruel and unmerciful en- emies ; & they were restrained by the hand of God from do- ing the least injury to me. This evidenceth that the Most High ruleth in the Kingdom of men, & doeth whatever pleaseth him amongst them. Enemies cannot do what they will, but are subservient to over ruling providence of God. God al- ways can and sometimes doth set bounds to the wrath of man. On the same day, which was the last day of the week, not long before the sun did set, I declared with submission that I would go to the Indian habitations. I spoke such language as I thought they understood. Accordingly I endeavored; but God, whose thoughts were higher than my thoughts, prevented me ; by his good providence I was carried beside the path I in- tended to walk in & brought to the sides of the great river, which was a good guide unto me. The most observable pas- sage of providence was on the Sabbath day morning. Having entered upon a plain, I saw two or three spies, who I (at first) thought they had a glance upon me. Wherefore I turned aside and laid down. They climbed up into a tree to spie. Then my soul secretly begged of God, that he would put it into their hearts to go away. I waited patiently and it was not long ere they went away. Then I took that course which I thought best according to the wisdom God had given me. Two things I must not pass over that are matter of thanks- giving unto God : the first is, that when my strength was far spent, I passed through deep waters and they overflowed me not, according to those gracious words of Isa. 43, 2 ; the sec- ond is, that I subsisted the space of three days & part of a fourth without ordinary food. I thought upon those words
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REVEREND HOPE ATHERTON'S STORY CONCLUDED
1676]
' Man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that pro- ceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.'
" I think not to much to say, that should you & I be silent & not set forth the praises of God thro' Jesus Christ, that the stones and beams of our houses would sing hallelujah. I am not conscious to myself that I have exceeded in speech. If I have spoken beyond what is convenient, I know it not. I leave these lines as an orphan, and shall rejoice to hear that it finds foster Father's & Mothers.' However it fare amongst men, yet if it find acceptance with God thro' Christ Jesus, I shall have cause to be abundantly satisfied. God's providence hath been so wonderful towards me, not because I have more wisdom than others (Dan'l 2, 30) nor because I am more righteous than others ; but because it so pleased God. Hat- field, May 24th, 1676."
H. A.
Mr. Atherton died June 4, 1677, from the effect of his exposure and nervous exhaustion. His only son, Joseph, was a settler in Deerfield, and the progenitor of all the Green- field and Gill Athertons.
Martha Harrison statement. The complaint of Martha Harrison, which was substantiated by testimony before the Commissioners of Hadley, June 22, 1676, exhibits some in- cidents of this disorderly flight.
Martha Harrison, of Hadley, widow, makes complaint against John Belcher of Braintre, a soldier in Capt. Turner's company, for being the culpable occasion of the death of her husband, Isaac Harrison, a wounded man, riding upon his own horse, who fell from his horse, being faint, and this John Belcher, who was behind him, rode from him with Harrison's horse, though he entreated him. not to leave him, but for God's sake to let him ride with him. Stephen Belden of Hatfield testified that he, riding behind Jonathan Wells, saw Isaac Harrison on the ground rising up and heard him call to the man on his horse, 3 or 4 rods before, to take him up, say-
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MARTHA HARRISON'S COMPLAINT
[1676
ing he could ride now ; the man rode away, and both Jona- than Wells and I called him to go back, and he would not. This was when we were returning from the fight at the falls. (Judd's Hadley, p. 172.)
There is no record of Belcher's being punished. Many lost their horses. Mather says the soldiers were more num- erous than the Indians who pursued them.
Three Indians, Quinnapin, Wennaquabin and Necopeak, were executed at Newport, R. I., August 26, 1676. Wenna- quabin was a Narragansett sachem and said that he was at the Falls fight, and " lost his gun and swam over the river to save his life." Necopeak, also a Narragansett, was there and said that he " ran away by reason that the shot came as thick as rain ; . . . that he saw Capt. Turner, and that he was shot through the thigh, and that he knew that it was him for the said Turner said that was his name." Sheldon's History.
CHAPTER VII
ATTACK ON HATFIELD
" Affliction is not sent in vain From that good God who chastens whom he loves."
O N the 22d, three days after the fight, at Peskeompscut scouts reported camp fires upon the battlefield, near the falls, showing that the Indians had not abandoned the fisheries and on the 30th about two hundred and fifty In- dians attacked Hatfield village while the men were busy in the fields. Twenty-five brave men took boats from Hadley and crossed the river in the face of the enemy. Five of the relief party were slain, when near the palisades, and twenty-five of the enemy. The Indians succeeded in burning most of the buildings situated outside the fortifications. Two hundred and fifty mounted men and two hundred friendly Indians arrived at Hadley, June 8th, and on the 12th the Indians, not knowing of these reinforcements, made a vigorous attack on Hadley, with the evident intention of destroying property outside the fortified part of the town. The English loss was small, and the Indians afterward admitted a loss of thirty fight- ing men, and said that while their warriors were attacking Hadley, the Mohawks fell upon their camp and did great slaughter among their women and children. Judd says this story of the attack by the Mohawks is false.
This was the last attack upon any town in the Connecticut valley, during Philip's war. On the 16th of June large bodies of troops moved up the river on both sides, but found no Indians. They scouted as far up as Squakeag, but discov- ered no trace of the enemy. On the 28th a party of thirty
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THE POCUMTUCKS ABANDON THE VALLEY
[1676
went to the falls and burned a hundred wigwams on Smead's island, also an Indian fort and thirty canoes, and destroyed large quantities of fish which the Indians had buried in their underground caches.
The Indians, hunted from place to place, were dispersed, and many fled to the Hudson River. A large party was fol- lowed to the Housatonic, and more than half their fighting men killed or taken prisoners.
The scene of warfare was removed to the eastern towns, and Captain Benjamin Church and his men made life a burden to the scattered Nipmucks and Narragansetts, who were hunted from swamp to swamp, and many killed or taken prisoners. August 12, 1676, near Mt. Hope, Philip met his death at the hands of one of his own people. The savages had sur- rendered their arms and submitted to the English, or they had fled to the Mohicans or to the eastward, and the war was con- sidered at an end ; but hostilities still continued in Maine.
" Buried was the bloody hatchet ; Buried was the dreadful war chief ; Buried were all war-like weapons, And the war-cry was forgotten; Then was peace among the nations."
A year after the supposed termination of the war (Septem- ber 19, 1677) a party of Indians attacked the people of Hat- field living outside the stockade, and burned seven buildings, killing nine settlers and wounding four more, and made their escape with seventeen captives. Coming to Deerfield they killed one person and took four more prisoners. About twenty miles above Northfield these Indians built a house and remained there about three weeks. Some of the party went to Wachusett and returned with some seventy-five or eighty women and children. This party took with them Benoni Stebbins, who made his escape, and coming home to Deer- field reported that only twenty-seven Indians were in the party who made the attack on Hatfield. The prisoners they had
55
BLOODY WORK AT HATFIELD
1677]
secured were taken to Canada, being the first captives to traverse that dreary wilderness lying between the Connecticut and Lake Champlain, which was to be the scene of so much suffering to New England captives in subsequent years .* Among those killed in the attack on Hatfield were Sergeant Isaac Graves and his brother John, the latter being the father of that Daniel Graves who was killed at Country Farms, (Greenfield) August 23, 1756.
Among those captured at Hatfield were the wife and three daughters of Benjamin Waite, and the wife and two daughters of Stephen Jennings. At Deerfield John Root was taken and killed ; Sergeant John Plympton was taken to Canada, where he was burned at the stake ; Quintin Stockwell (redeemed) ; Benoni Stebbins (escaped) ; and Samuel, a young son of Philip Russell (redeemed). Two babes were born in Canada, Mrs. Waite's (named Canada), became the grandmother of the late Oliver Smith. Mrs. Jennings' babe was named Cap- tivity, and became the wife of Abijah Bartlett, of Brookfield.
" Old Ben Waite " and Stephen Jennings were men of action, and they immediately determined to follow the captives to Canada and secure their release. Armed with a com- mission from the provincial government they left Hatfield, October 24, for Albany, by way of Westfield.
They arrived at Albany in due season and immediately pre- sented their papers to Captain Salisbury the commandant of that post, who gave evidences of opposition to their scheme of visiting Canada. He ordered them to call upon him again be- fore they started on their journey, but they, fearing hindrance, proceeded at once to Schenectady, and hired an Indian guide. There they were arrested and returned to Albany, and were detained as prisoners by Salisbury until he had opportunity to send them to the Governor and Council in New York.
* Jaques Cartier discovered the great river August 10, 1535-the day of the martyr St. Lawrence. When he asked the name of the villages along the shores, his two native guides said "Canada !" the Mohawk word for " village."
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THE FIRST SEARCH FOR CAPTIVES
[1677,1678
After an examination before the Governor and his Council, the acting governor gave them permission to proceed upon their journey and sent them back to Albany. It was the 10th of December before these brave men were fully prepared to com- mit themselves to the unknown wilderness lying between Al- bany and the Canadian frontier. They were the pioneers over that way which during the next eighty years was almost con- tinuously marked with the blood of New England men.
"Oh, what a warning for a thoughtless man, Could field or grove, could any spot on earth, Show to his eye an image of the pangs Which it hath witnessed-render back an echo Of the sad steps by which it hath been trod." -Wordsworth.
A Mohawk Indian took them to Lake George, which was not frozen, and finding an old canoe which they repaired, guided by a rough map made by the friendly Indian, they set forth alone upon their perilous journey. They suffered for want of food, and from the wintry winds of the open sea but obtained some relief by finding a few biscuit, and a bottle of brandy in a deserted cabin. Stopping at an Indian camp, just before reaching the Sorel river, they luckily found Jennings' wife ; the joy of this meeting may be more easily imagined then ex- pressed in words. At Sorel and the immediate vicinity they found all the other captives then living, and waiting only long enough to assure them all of their early redemption, they pushed on to Quebec. Frontenac had recently received some kindly attention from the English and was in a mood to render all possible assistance to Waite and Jennings in their humane mission, and aided in collecting and ransoming the captives, for which was paid the sum of two hundred pounds. The Governor sent with them a guard of French soldiers under charge of four officers of his own household, and they leisurely took up their return by way of the lakes, arriving at Albany, May 22, 1678. A messenger was at once despatched to Hat- field, bearing the following touching letters from Stockwell and Waite :
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RETURN OF THE CAPTIVES
1678]
" ALBANY, May 22, 1678.
LOVING WIFE : Having now opportunity to remember my kind love to thee and our child and the rest of our friends, though we met with great afflictions and trouble since I see thee last, yet here is now opportunity of joy and thanksgiving to God, that we are now pretty well and in a hopeful way to see the faces of one another, before we take our final farewell of this present world. God hath raised up friends amongst our ene- mies, and there is but three of us dead of all those that were taken away. So I conclude, being in haste and rest.
Your most affectionate husband till death makes a separa- tion.
QUINTIN STOCKWELL.' *
"TO MY LOVING FRIENDS AND KINDRED AT HATFIELD :
These few lines are to let you understand that we are arrived at Albany with the captives and we now stand in need of as- sistance, for my charges are very great and heavy, and there- fore any that have any love to our condition, let it move them to come and help us in this strait. Three of the captives are murdered : old Goodman Plympton, Samuel Foote's daughter and Samuel Russell : All the rest are alive and well and now at Albany. I pray you hasten the matter, for it requireth great haste. Stay not the Sabbath, nor the shoeing of horses. We shall endeavor to meet you at Canterhook it may be at Housatonock. We must come very softly because of our
*When the settlement at Deerfield was broken up in 1676, the minister, Samuel Mather, was boarding with Quintin Stockwell, and for the unsettled board bill, a grant to him of twenty acres of land was made at Green river. Disgusted with frontier life he retired to Suffield, Conn., where he died January 22, 1714. Benjamin Waite, the great Indian fighter, was killed at the Meadow fight, after the sacking of Deerfield, February 29, 1703-4. Stephen Jennings (or his son Stephen, born June 16, 1680) was slain by Indians July 20, 1710.
Stockwell's twenty acres allowed him for his ten pounds, due for board of Mr. Mather, was " bounded northerly on ye hill on ye north side of ye brook yt comes out of ye great ash swamp; easterly upon ye hill on ye east side of Green river and westerly on the west swamp & so to run southerly to make up ye quantity of twenty acres."
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RESETTLEMENT OF DEERFIELD
[1678
wives and children. I pray you hasten then. Stay not night nor day for the matter requireth haste. Bring provisions with you for us.
Your loving kinsman,
BENJAMIN WAITE.
" At Albany written from mine own hand as I have been af- fected to yours all that were fatherless, be affected to me now, and hasten and stay not, and ease me of my charges. You shall not need to be afraid of any enemies."
Copies of these letters were sent to the Governer and Coun- cil, who recommended a day of fasting and " that on that day the ministers and congregations manifest their charity and that for the quickening of the work Benjamin's letter be publicly read that day in all the churches." The responses were very generous, and the ransom money was quickly raised.
When "at the end of their journey, Benjamin Waite and Stephen Jennings, each holding in his arms a baby daughter born in captivity, rode into Hatfield street at the head of that strange procession, the thankfulness and joy of the people was beyond expression.
It does not at any time appear that the people who were com- pelled to abandon Deerfield in 1675, gave up the hope of re- turning to make that place their permanent home. No sub- mission had been made in form by the Indians, but a few returned to their old haunts, and others applied to know upon what terms they might return. Resettlement was delayed because a good part of the best land was owned by people who would never settle at Deerfield, and by heirs of former settlers ; and a petition was sent to the Court for relief, but the Court referred the petitioners to the owners of the land, not being able to control the private interests of the land- owners. The Mohawks also, under plea of distressing the enemy, had become impudent and overbearing, killing some friendly Indians, and destroying the stock and crops of ex-
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