History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 121

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 121

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The Indians soon acquired from the English the love of strong drink, which is sure to lead to disputes and quarrels. The earliest documents at the State House, relating to Groton and the savages, give an account of a drunken brawl which ended in murder. The affair took place in the Merrimack Valley, and several men of this town were summoned to appear as witnesses at the investigation before the General Court in Boston. In the spring of 1668 Captain Richard Waldron built a trucking or trading-house at Penacock (now Concord), New Hampshire, where a few weeks later one Thomas Dickinson was murdered by an Indian while under the influence of liquor. The homicide created great excitement, and it has been supposed to have delayed the permanent settle- ment of the place for many years. A warrant was issued directing the constable of Groton to summon John Page, Thomas Tarbell, Jr., Joseph Blood and Robert Parish, all of this town, before the General Court in order to give their testimony, which they did under oath. It appeared by the evidence that there had been a drunken row, and that Dickinson was killed by an Indian, who acknowledged the crime and expressed great sorrow for it, but pleaded drunken- ness in extenuation of the deed. The culprit was tried at once by a council of the Indians, who sen- tenced him to be shot, which was done the next day. It is interesting now to note the high temperance stand taken, more than two hundred years ago, by the

1 Archeologia Americana, II. 471.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Chief Tohaunto, which places him abreast of the most earnest opposers of the rum traffic at the present timc.

During a series of years before Philip's War the Indians had been supplied with arms and ammuni- tion, though this was contrary to the laws of the Colo- nies. The French in Canada and the Dutch in New York had carried on considerable traffic with the na- tives in these contraband articles ; and occasionally some avaricious settler would barter with them, giv- ing powder and shot in exchange. The possession of firearms made the Indians bold and insolent, and the tendency of events was toward open hostilities. This tendency was strengthened by a feeling of suspi- cion on the part of the colonists, and by one of jealousy on the part of the savages. Distrust always grows out of suspicion, and the fears of the settlers began to be excited when they thought of their ex- posed situation. Under these circumstances, it was wise to prepare for all emergencies ; and at an carly day a military company was organized in this town. The following entry is made in the manuscript records of the General Court during the session beginning May 6, 1673:

" James Parker of Groaten hauing had the care of the military Com- pany there for seuerall yeares. is Appointed & ordered to be their leiften- nant & Wm Larkin to be ensigne to the sajd Company tbere." 1

The two officers of this organization were each pro- moted one grade during the next autumn, which would indicate that the company was filling up in numbers. At the session of the General Court begin- ning October 15, 1673, the record reads :

" The military Company of Groaten being destitut of military ofcers The Court Judgeth it meet to choose & Appoint James Parker to be their captane Wm Lakin to be leiftennant & Natbaniel Lawrence to be their ensigne.2

Before this time there had been in Middlesex County a company of troopers, or cavalry, made up of men living in the frontier towns, of which Groton was one-as mentioned in the General Court Records of October, 1669.

One of the prominent men in the history of the Colony at this period was Major Simon Willard. A native of England, he came to Massachusetts in the year 1634. He had lived at Concord, Lancaster and Groton, and in all these places exerted a wide influ- ence. He had filled various civil offices, and in his day was a noted military man. His farm was sit- uated at Nonacoicus, now included within the limits of Ayer ; and his dwelling-house was the first build- ing burned at the attack on Groton, March 13, 1676. During several months previously he had been en- gaged with his men in scouting along the line of frontier scttlements and protecting the inhabitants. At this assault Major Willard came with a company of cavalry to the relief of the town, though he did not

reach the place in time to be of service in its defence. He died at Charlestown, on April 24, 1676, a very few weeks after this town was abandoned. Benjamin Thompson, the earliest native American poct, pays the following tribute to liis character, in a little pamphlet published during Philip's War, and entitled "New England's Tears." It is certainly rude in ex- pression, and probably just in its conception, but not accurate as to the date of his death :

"About this Time Died Major Willard Esq .; who had continued one of our Senators many years, and Head of the Massachuset Bands. In 23 April 1676.

"EPITAPHIUM.

" Great. Good, and Just, Valiant, and Wise, New Englands Common Sacrifice : The Prince of War, the Bond of Love,

A True Heroick Martial Dove : Pardon I croud his Parts so close Which all the World in measure knows, We enny Death, and well we may, Who keeps him under Lock and Key."

Nearly one-and-twenty years had passed since the little settlement in the wilderness was begun, and Groton was fast approaching its majority. The new town had enjoyed a moderate share of prosperity, and was slowly working out its destiny. The founders werc poor in this world's goods, but rich in faith and courage. They had now tasted the hardships of frontier life, but not as yet felt the horrors of savage warfare. The distant thunders of a threatening storm were beginning to be heard, and the occasional flashes put the early settlers on their guard. Philip's War had broken out during the summer of 1675, and the outlying settlements were exposed to new dangers. The inhabitants of this town took such precautions as seemed needful, and trusted in Providence for the rest. They were just beginning to prepare for the work of another season, when a small band of prowl- ing Indians alarmed the town by pillaging eight or nine houses and driving off some cattle. This oc- curred on March 2, 1676, and was a sufficient warn- ing, probably, to send the inhabitants to the garrison- houses, whither they were wont to flee in time of danger. These places of refuge were usually houses surrounded by a strong wall of stone or timber, built up as high as the eaves, with a gateway, and port- holes for the use of musketry.

In Groton there were five such garrison-houses, and under their protection many a sleepless, anxious night was passed by the inmates. Four of these houses were very near each other, and the fifth was nearly a mile away. The sites of some of them are well known. One was Mr. Willard's house, which stood near the High School; another was Captain Parker's house, which stood just north of the Town Hall ; and a third was John Nutting's house, on the other side of James's Brook. The fourth was proba- bly north of John Nutting's, but perhaps south of Mr. Willard's. There is a tradition that one stood near the house formerly owned and occupied by the late Eber Woods, which would make the fifth

1 (General Court Records, IV. 718.)

2 (General Court Records, IV. 726.)

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garrison-house " near a mile distant from the rest." Richard Sawtell, the first town-clerk, was living on this site at that time, and his house would have been a convenient rallying-point for his neighbors. With- out doubt he was the Richard Sawtell who served in Major Appleton's company during Philip's War.

It is recorded in the inventory of his estate, on file in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge, that Timothy Cooper, of Groton, was "Sleine by the Indeins the Second day of march, 1675-6." Cooper was an Englishman by birth, and lived, probably, somewhere between the Baptist meeting-house and the beginning of Farmers' Row. It is not known that there was other loss of life at this time, but the affair was serious enough to alarm the inhabitants. They sought refuge immediately in the garrison-houses, as the Indians were lurking in the vicinity. Ou March 9th the savages again threatened the beleaguered town, and by a cunningly contrived ambush, man- aged to entrap four men at work, of whom one was killed and one captured, while the other two escaped. This second assault must have produced great alarm and consteruation among the people of the town. The final and main attack, however, came on the 13th, when the enemy appeared in full body,-thought to be not less than four hundred in number. The inhabitants at this time all were gathered into the several garrisons for protection. During the previous night the savages scattered throughout the neighbor- hood, and the first volley of shot on the morning of the 13th was a signal for the general burning of the town; and in this conflagration the first meeting- house of Groton was destroyed, together with about forty dwelling-houses. This building, erected at the cost of many and great privations, was the pride of the inhabitants. With its thatched roof, it must have burned quickly ; and in a very short time nothing was left but a heap of smoking embers. Although it had never been formally dedicated to religious worship, it had been consecrated in spirit to the service of God by the prayers of the minister and the devotion of the congregation. In this assault John Nutting's garri- son was taken by stratagem. The men defending it had been drawn out by two Indians, apparently alone, when the savages in ambush arose and killed one of the men, probably John Nutting himself, and wounded three others. At the same time the garrison- house, now defenceless, was attacked in the rear and the palisades pulled down, allowing the enemy to take possession. The women and children, compris- ing those of five families, escaped to Captain Parker's house, situated between James's Brook and the site of the Town-House.

There is a family tradition, worthy of credence, that John Nutting was killed while defending his log- house fort during Philip's War. His wife's name appears a few months later in the Woburn town- records as " Widow Nutting," which is confirmatory of the tradition.

Several printed accounts of Philip's War appeared very soon after it was ended, and these furnish all that is known in regard to it. At that time there was no special correspondent on the spot to get the news ; and, as the means for communication were limited, these narratives differ somewhat in the details, but they agree substantially in their general statements.

With the exception of Hubbard's Narrative, the contemporary accounts of this assault on the town are all short ; and I give them in the words of the writers, for what they are worth. The first is from " A Brief History of the Warr with the Indians in Newe England," by Increase Mather, published in the year 1676. This account, one of the earliest in priut, is as follows :

" March the 1Cth. Mischief was done, and several lives cut off by the Indians this day, at Groton and at Sudbury. An humbling Providence, inasmuch as many Churches were this day Fasting and Praying. (Page 23.)

" March 13. The Indians assaulted Groton, and left hut few houses standing. So that this day also another Caudlestick was removed out of its place. One of the first houses that the enemy destroyed in this place, was the House of God, h. e. which was built, and set apart for the celebration of the publick Worship of God.

" When they had done that, they scoffed and blasphemed, and came to Mr. Willard (the worthy Pastor of the Church there) his house (which being Fortified, they attempted not to destroy it) and tauntingly, said, What will you do for a house to pray in now we have burnt your Meeting- house? Thus hath the enemy done wickedly in the Sanctuary, they have burnt up the Synagogues of God in the Land ; they have cast fire into the Sanctuary ; they have cast down the dwelling place of his name to the Ground. O God, how long sholl the Adversary approach ? shall the Enemy Blospheme thy Nome for ever ? why withdrawest thou thine hond, even thy right hand ? pluck it out of thy bosome." (Page 24.)

Several accounts of the war appeared in London in 1676, only a few months after the destruction of this town. They were written in New England, and sent to Old England, where they were at once published in thin pamplets. The authors of them are now unknown, but undoubtedly they gathered their materials from hearsay. At that time Indian affairs in New England attracted a good deal of at- tention in the mother country. One of these pamphlets is entitled : " A True Account of the most, Consider- able Occurrences that have hapned in the Warre between the English and the Indiaus in New Eng- land, as it hath been communicated by Letters to a Friend in London." This narrative says :

"On the 13th of March, before our Forces could return towards our Parts, the Indians sent a strong party, and assaulted the Town of Growton, ahout forty miles North-west from Boston, and burn'd all the deserted Houses ; the Garrison'd Houses, which were about ten, all escaped but one, which they carryed, but not the English in it; for there was hut one slain and two wounded." (Page 2.)

Another account, entitled : " A New and Further Narration of the State of New England, being a con- tinued account of the Bloudy Indian-war," gives the following version :

"The 14th of March the savage Enemy set upon a Considerable Town calied Groughton, and burnt Major Wilberds House first (who with his family removed to Charls Town) and afterwards destroyed sixty Five dwelling-houses more there, leaving but six houses standing in the whole Town, which they likewise furiously attempted to set on fire ;

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

But boing fortified with Arms and Mon as Garisons, thoy with their Blot, killed soveral of the Enemy, and provented so much of their designe ; Nor do we hear that any person on our side was here elther Blain or takon captive." (l'ago 4.)

A few pages further on it says : "Grantham and Nashaway all ruincd but one house or two." (Page 14.) Few persons would recognize this town under the disguise of Grantham.

A third one of these London pamphlets, bearing the title of " News from New England," says :

" The 7th of March following these bloody Indians march't to a con- siderable Town called Croaton where they first sot firo to Major Willards houso, and afterwards burnt 65 more, there being Seaventy two houses at first so that there was left standing hut six houses of tho whole Town." (Page 4.)

The details of the burning of the town are found in " A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New England," written by the Reverend William Hubbard, and printed in the year 1677. It is the fullest history of the events relating to Groton ap- pearing near the time; and very likely many of the faets were obtained from the Reverend Mr. Willard. The account is not as clear as might be desired, and contains some glaring discrepancies, but it is too long to be quoted here.

The Indians were a cowardly set and never at- taeked in open field. They never charged on works in regular column, but depended rather on eraft or canning to defeat their adversary. The red hell- hounds-as they were sometimes called by our pious forefathers-were always ready to attack women and children, but afraid to meet men. The main body of the savages passed the night following the final at- tack in "an adjacent valley," which cannot now be easily identified, but some of them lodged in the gar- rison-house, which they had taken ; and the next morning, after firing two or three volleys at Captain Parker's house, they departed. They carried off a prisoner,-John Morse, the town elerk,-who was ransomed a short time afterward. The following reference to him in an undated letter, written by the Rev. Thomas Cobbet to the Rev. Increase Mather, shows very nearly the time of his release :

" May ye 12th [1676] Good wife Dinens [Divoll] and Good wife Ketle vpon ransom paid, came into concord. & vpon like ransom presently [a]fter John Moss of Groton & lieftenant Carlors [Kerley's] Daughter of Lancaster were set at liberty & 9 more wtout ransom." (Mather Manuscripts in the Prince Collection, at the Boston Public Library, I. 76.)

The ransom for John Morse was paid by John Hubbard, of Boston, and amounted to "about five pounds." Morse's petition to the Council, to have Hubbard reimbursed, is found among the Massachu- setts Archives (LXIX. 48).

Fortunately the loss of life or limb on the part of the inhabitants of the town was small, and it is not known that more than three persons were killed- of whom one was Timothy Cooper, and another, with- out doubt, John Nutting-and threc wounded; two were made prisoners, of whom one cseaped from the

savages and reached Lancaster, and the other, John Morse, was ransomed.

The lot of these carly settlers was indeed hard and bitter; thicy had scen their houses destroycd and their cattle killed, leaving them nothing to live on. Their alternative now was to abandon the plantation, which they did with much sadness and sorrow. The settle- ment was broken up, and the inhabitants scattered in different directions among their friends and kindred. Iu the spring of 1678, after an absence of two years, they returned and established anew the little town on the frontier.

In the autumn of 1879 the town of Groton erected a monument to commemorate the site of the meeting- house which was burned during this assault. It bears the following inscription :

" NEAR THIS SPOT STOOD THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE OF GROTON BUILT IN 1666

AND BURNT BY THE INDIANS 13 MARCH 1676 "

The monument, in connection with two others relating to the history of the town, was dedicated with appropriate exercises in the Town Hall on Feb. 20, 1880, when an address was delivered by Dr. Sam- uel A. Green, which was subsequently printed.

After Philip's War the colonists were at peace with the Indians, but it was a suspicious kind of peace. It required watching and a show of strength to keep it; there was no good-will between the na- tive race and the white intruders. The savages at best made bad neighbors ; they were treacherous and addicted to drink. The following entries in the town records show that they were a shiftless and drunken set :

" Jnneuary 31 1681 It [was] agred upon by the select men That the Indanes shall be warned out of the Toune forth with and if the shall neiglect the warning and if any of them he taken drounke or iu drinke or with drinke Then these parsons ar to he sezed and hrout he foure the select men either by constahle or hy any other parson and be poun- esed accordin as the law doth direct and the Informar shall be sattised for his paines"

" March 28 1682 two Indian squaws being apprehended In drinke & with drinke hrought to ye select men one squaw Nehatchechin swaw heing dronncke was sentanced to receive & did receive ten stripes the other John Nasquuns sway was sentanced to pay 3s 4d cash and loose her two quart bottle and the Liquour iu it awarded to Sargnt Laken who seized them."

During this period the Indians began again to be troublesome, and for the next fifteen or twenty years continued their occasional depredations by murdering the inhabitants, burning their houses, destroying their crops or killing their cattle. Into these garrison-houses the neighboring families gath- ered at night, where they were guarded by armed nien who warned the inmates of any approach of danger.

At times troops were stationed here by the Colonial authorities for the protection of the town ; aud the orders and counter orders to the small garrisou show too well that danger was threatening. In the meau- while King William's War was going on ; and the

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enemy had material and sympathetic aid from the French in Canada. The second attack on the town came in the summer of 1694, and the accounts of it I prefer to give in the words of contemporary writers. Sometimes there are discrepancies, but, in the main, such narratives are trustworthy.

The attack was made on Friday, July 27th, and Cot- ton Mather, in his " Magnalia," thus refers to it :

" Nor did the Storm go over so : Some Drops of it fell upon the Town of Groton, a Town that lay, one would think, far enough off the Place where was the last Scene of the Tragedy.

" On July 27. [1694,] ahout break of Day Groton felt some surprising Blows from the Indian Hatchets. They hegan their Attacks at the House of one Lientenant Lakin, in the Out-skirts of the Town ; but met with a Repulse there, and lost one of their Crew. Nevertheless, in other Parts of that Plantation (when the good People had been so tired ont as to lay down their Military Watch) there were more than Twenty Persons killed, and more than a Dozen carried away. Mr. Gershon Ho- bart, the Minister of the Place, with part of his Family, was Remark- ably preserved from falling into their Hands, when they made them- selves the Masters of his House ; though they Took Two of his Chil- dren, whereof the one was Killed, and the other some time after hap- pily Rescned out of his Captivity." (Book VII. page 86.)

Governor Hutchinson, in his "History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay," published during the following century, writes :

" Having crossed Merrimack, on the 27th of July [1694] they fell npon Groton, abont 40 miles from Boston. They were repulsed at Lakin's garrison house, but fell upon other houses, where the people were off their guard, and killed and carried away from the vicinity about forty persons. Toxus's two nephews were killed hy his side, and he had a dozen hullets through his blanket, according to Charlevoix, who adds that he carried the fort or garrison and then went to make spoil at the gates of Boston ; in both which facts the French account is erroneous." (II. 82.)

In the assault of July, 1694, the loss on the part of the inhabitants was considerably greater than when the town was destroyed in the attack of 1676. It is said that the scalps of the unfortunate victims were given to the Count de Frontenac, Governor of Can- ada. A large majority, and perhaps all, of the pris- oners taken at this time were children. The Indians had learned that captives had a market value; and children, when carried off, could be more easily guarded than adults. It was more profitable for the savages to exchange prisoners for a ransom, or sell them to the French, than it was to kill them. It is now too late to give the names of all the sufferers, but a few facts in regard to them may be gathered from fragmentary sources. The families that suffered the severest lived, for the most part, in the same gen- eral neighborhood, which was near the siteof the first meeting-house. Lieut. William Lakin's house, where the fight began, was situated in the vicinity of Chicopee Row.

The following list of casualties, necessarily incom- plete and in part conjectural, is given as an approxi- mation to the loss sustained by the town :

Killed.

Captured.

John Longley's family

Per. Mr. Hobart's "

John Shepley's 66

4 ?

James Parker, Jr.'s "

3 ?

Alexander Bouse's "

Mr. Gershom Hobart, the minister, whose house was captured in this assault, lived where the Baptist meeting-house now stands. One of his boys was killed, and another, Gershom, Jr., was carried off. There is a tradition extant that a third child was con- cealed under a tub in the cellar, and thus saved from the fury of the savages. Judge Sewall writes in his diary, under the date of May 1, 1695 :

"Mr. Hoharts son Gershom is well at a new Fort a days Journey ahove Nerigawag [Norridgewock], Masters name is Nassacombewit, a good Master, and Mistress. Master is chief Captain, now Bambazeen is absent."

(" Massachusetts Historical Collections," V. Fifth series, 403, 404.)

According to a letter written by the Reverend John Cotton to his wife at Plymouth, and dated "Election-night, Boston " (May 29, 1695), he was res- cued from captivity during that month. The inscrip- tion on the Shepley monument says that "the Indi- ans massacred all the Sheples in Groton save a John Sheple 16 years old who the[y] carried captive to Canada and kept him 4 years, after which he returned to Groton and from him descended all the Sheples or Shepleys in this Vicinity ;" but there is no record to show how many there were in this family. Mr. Butler, in his History (page 97), makes substantially the same statement, but does not mention any num- ber. In my list it is placed at five, which is conjec- tural ; of this number probably four were slain. Shepley lived near where the Martin's Pond Road starts off from the North Common. The knowledge which the boy John obtained of their language and customs, while a prisoner among the Indians, was of much use to him in after-life. Tradition says that, when buying furs and skins of them, he used to put his foot in one scale of the balance instead of a pound weight. In the summer of 1704, while he and thir- teen other men were reaping in a field at Groton, they were attacked by a party of about twenty Indians. After much skirmishing Shepley and one of his com- rades, Butterfield by name, succeeded in killing one of the assailants, for which act they were each granted four pounds by the Provincial authorities. He was the direct ancestor of the late Honorable Ether Shepley, of Portland, formerly chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Maine, and his son, the late Gen. George Foster Shep- ley, formerly a justice of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit of the United States. John's petition to the General Court, asking that an allowance be made for this service, and giv- ing the particulars of the attack, is found among the Massachusetts Archives (XXX, 496, 497) at the State- House.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 121

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226