USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 77
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"Les Hundred." He gave tbe name to the plain and a meadow south of Fox Hill, and extending as far as the Church Farm.
1 Colonial Records. Vol. iv, part i, p. 269.
2 Colonial Records. Vol. iv, part i, p. 302.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
A month later Parker had sold the land to William Brenton, a Boston merchant and leading business man, who soon after removed to Rhode Island, and was Governor of that Colony in 1666-68, and died in 1674.
In 1661 the town received another grant of 4000 acres, which was sold to Parker and Danforth. The proceeds were applied to the completion of the mecting- house, to Mr. Whiting's salary and to the purchase of the Weld farm west of Concord River.1
The progress of population was not rapid. Begin- ning in 1652, probably with three or four families-in' 1659 the number had reached twenty-five. Four years later the minister's rate implies that nearly fifty were in town, but for the twelve years following the in- crease was small.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
BILLERICA -(Continued).
THE INDIANS AND INDIAN WARS.
THE relations of Billerica with the Indians were intimate and important. The Shawshin territory was a favorite resort of the red men. The Paw- tucket tribe occupied the vicinity of the mouth of the Concord River, on both sides of it, as their headquarters. From this place they went forth; to this they returned; here they planted their corn. Wamesit, or Weymesit, was originally the name of the eastern angle, between the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, around Fort Hill and the mod- ern " Belvidere " of Lowell. Here many, if not the majority, of the Indians lived, giving ancient Billeri- ca a large Indian population, though the town never probably exercised civil jurisdiction over them. This Indian settlement confronted the fathers of Billerica as they looked northward. Their road down the Con- cord River was the road to Wamesit.
This Indian reservation, specifically granted by the General Court, was surveyed and described by Dan- forth in 1664, April, as follows : 2
" . . There is laid out unto the Indians, who are the inhabitants of Waymesick, fiue hundred acres of land on the east side of Concord Riuer and joyning to the sajd riuer and to Merremack Riuer ; it runnes upon Concord Riuer about one mile & three quarters, which reacheth to Bacon Brooke, & bounded by the sajd brooke on the south fower score peole ; it runnes from the mouth of the Concord Ryuer doune Merre- macke Riuer two hundred & fifty poole, where it is bounded by a red oake marked; from thence it runnes according to the bound marke trees wtb two angles, unto Bacon Brooke ; all which doe more plainly appeare by plott of it under written. This fiue hundred acres is part of that three thousand woh was layd out to Mrs. Winthrop formerly, only in the returne of sajd three thousand there is mention made of one hundred acres allowed in that farme, in refference to land the Indians had im-
prooved wthin the bounds of it. This worke was done by the Comittee appointed to ye same by this Generall Court
"SYMON WILLARD,
" JOHN PARKER,
"JONATHAN DANFORTH, Surveyor."
In place of this four hundred acres taken out of Mrs. Winthrop's farm, her heirs were granted six hundred acres elsewhere. The mouth of Bacon Brook, which bounded this Indian plantation southerly, is a few rods south of the Salem Railroad bridge. The present boundary of Lowell on the east of Concord River falls a little below the lines of the Indian sur- vey. There is no evidence that these Pawtucket In- dians were ever troublesome or unfriendly neighbors. In common with other tribes, their numbers had been greatly reduced by a desolating pestilence not long before the period of the English colonization ; and the wise and Christian missionary labors of Eliot and Gookin among them did not fail to bear important fruit. Had the Indian policy of the coun- try been moulded in later years by the same spirit of benevolence and justice, the nation would have been saved much disaster, expense and reproach.
John Eliot, pastor of Roxbury, 1632-90, began to devote himself to labors among the Indians about the time that the Shawshin settlement became a practical question. Beginning at Nonantum and Natick, the success of his efforts encouraged their extension, and he soon sought out these Wamesit Indians. Passaconaway, the aged sachem, became friendly, if not Christian, and, in 1660, in a fare- well speech to his children and people, he " warned them to take heed how they quarrelled with their English neighbors, for though they might do them some damage, yet it would prove the means of their own destruction." His death did not follow immedi- ately, for, in 1662, he asked and received from the General Court a grant of land "about Naticot, above Mr. Brenton's lands, where it is free, a mile & a halfe on either side Merremacke River in breadth & three miles on either side in length." "Mr. Brenton's lands," here mentioned, were the early grant of eight thousand acres to Pillerica, which the town had sold to that gentleman, and this grant to the sachem was beyond the Souhegan, near Manchester.
In 1670 Wannalancet had succeeded his father as sachem, also inheriting his peaceful spirit. He yielded to Eliot's faithful persuasions and avowed himself a Christian, 1674, May 5th. The account giv- en by Captain Daniel Gookin of Wamesit and its population and the conversion of this chief is inter- esting.3
The picture of this faithful magistrate and friend of the Indians, accompanied by his "brother " Eliot, on his annual visit to Wamesit, dispensing justice and the Gospel to the red men there, is full of suggestions, and the conversion of Wannalancet might furnish a
1 For fuller details of these and other land grants and transactions, see the present writer's " History of Billerica," passim.
2 Colonial Records. Vol. iv, part ii, p. 108.
3 Massachusetts Historical Collections. First series. Vol. i, p. 186.
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painter with an attractive subject. Its interest to Billerica would be increased by the presence in it of Mr. Daniel, an "English gentleman," who for ten years resided here with his "noble" wife, and then returned to England.
Wannalancet is credited with building the fort from which "Fort Hill " takes its name; and traditions which seem trustworthy fix the site of the log chapel, in which Mr. Eliot preached to the Indians, very near the fine edifice of the Eliot Church.
In the summer of 1675, when the alarm and peril of King Philip's War assailed the Colony, these In- dians retired to the wilderness at Penacook (Con- cord, New Hampshire,) to avoid being involved. Still, they were suspected, and in September a com- pany of 100 men was sent to ascertain the position of Wannalancet in regard to the war. On their ap- proach the Indians concealed themselves in the woods, and their deserted wigwams were wantonly bnrned. But, though thus sorely tempted to join Philip in retaliation, the sachem did not forget his father's counsel, and restrained his young warriors, who were eager to attack the whites. He soon after went far- ther, to the head-waters of the Connecticut, and there spent the winter. The next year the Indians were allured to Dover and unjustly imprisoned ; but they were soon set at liberty and returned to their Merri- mack home. After the conclusion of the war the sachem visited the Reverend Mr. Fiske, of Chelms- ford. To his question, whether Chelmsford had suf- fered much, the clergyman replied that they had not, and devoutly thanked God. "Me next," said Wan- nalancet, implying that he had restrained the Indians under his control. Billerica perhaps owed her secur- ity during those dark days to the same friendly sachem.
But the Indian occupation of Billerica was not con- fined to Wamesit. The frequency with which their arrow-points and other articles are found, shows how numerous they once were. Graves and the site of a wigwam are still shown north of Jaquith Brook, near Concord River; and the north shore of Nutting's Pond was so distinctively theirs as to be sold by them in 1665. The hill north of this pond was known as Indian Hill. In May, 1665, the town granted to Henry Jefts "four acres of land, lying at the Indian Hill on the north of ye Indian field at Nuttins pond."
Danforth records the death of his Indian servant, John Warrick, 1686; and, in 1681, James Speen, In- dian, receives "eight pounds due to ye Indians for four wolves heads," and other records occur of the came sort. These dusky forms must have been fre- quently seen in the early homes of Billerica. Did their coming excite fear or confidence, repugnance or pleasure ? Whatever it was, the sensation was a fa- miliar one. And, however they had learned to trust their Wamesit neighbors, as they observed the labors of the saintly Eliot among them and the fruit they bore, the fathers could never be long forgetful of the
darker fringe of savage humanity beyond, the work- ing of whose policy or passion might at almost any moment involve them in peril or ruin. This danger hung over the pioneers of Billerica for more than fifty years, and their slumbers were likely to be broken by a war-whoop. In our estimate of their faith and courage in planting the town, this fact should be remembered.
The earliest indication of this danger afforded by the Records occurs in "1667, 9m, 11. At a meeting of the selectmen. It is agreed concerning fortifica- tion in this Town, That ther shall be a house built of stone & brick wth a chimney at ye west end of it, ye dementions of ye house to bee twenty-six foote in length, twenty-two foot wide from outside to outside, with a doore three foot wide on ye south side, near ye west end, & two windows, one at ye east end & ye other on ye south side, being each window three foot wide & two foot & a half in height, all in ye clear ; ye walls of ye house shalbe nine foote in height from ye floore to ye under side of ye plate; also, a floore, lying one foot below ye plate, with crosse runners, ye long girt lying cross ye house ; also, ther shalbe iron barres in each window & one window at ye gable end on ye east ; ye roofe of ye house to be sawne stuffe, covered with bords, chamfered & after shingled. And for ye effecting of ye premises, we do agree that hands shall forthwith be employed to digge clay and stones, & ye rest of ye work to be carried on with as much convenient speed as may be, according to ye order of ye gen11 Court.
The order of the General Court was passed in May, 1667, requiring every town to erect, " either inclosing the meeting-house, or in some other convenient place, a fortification, or fort, of stone, brick, timber, or earth, as the place maybe most capable, of such di- mensions as may best suit their ability, where women, children & the aged maybe secured in case of sudden danger, whereby the souldjers maybe more free to oppose an enemy."
But this fortification never was built, whether be- cause the tax was too great, or the alarm less, we can only conjecture; but this description is interesting in depicting the house the fathers would have built for such a purpose.
Eight years passed, and the peril came in earnest, the most critical hour, perhaps, in the history of New England. The Indians, alarmed at the growing num - bers and strength of the settlements, and incited by resentment for fancied and, perhaps, some real inju- ries, rose in a determined effort to exterminate the colonists. Philip, chief of the Pokanokets, was the leader, enlisting the Narragansetts and as many others of the natives as he was able. They fell upon Swanzey, and soon after Brookfield suffered. Deer- field was burned and Hadley attacked. Springfield, Northfield, Lancaster, Medfield, Weymouth, Groton and Marlborough were successively the victims of savage assaults ; and where the next blow might fall
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
was an ever-present dread in every hamlet and home. Hlad the Wamesit Indians joined in the fray, Biller- ica would probably have been among the first to suf- fer. The town, and perhaps the Colony owed its sal- vation to their friendly neutrality. Eliot and Gookin liad such reward as they did not forcsee for their ben- evolent labors. Other reward they had, too, in the suspicion and bitter denunciation of many of the people, because they would not turn away from the friendly Indians, when the popular feeling included all red men in a common conspiracy and malignity.
The alarm came unexpectedly upon the town. On the 3d of May the selectmen "order the constables watch to cease this present sumer unless greater need appear." The need did appear, and the succeeding pages of the record suggest how great and urgent the emergency was. Some items must be quoted :
"13. 6m. 75. At a publick Towne Meeting.
"The Towne, considering the providence of God at the prsent calling us to lay aside our ordinary occations in providing for our creatures and to take special care for the prserving of our lives and the lives of our wives and children, the enemy being near and the warnings hy gods provi- dence upon our neighbors being very solemne and awfull, do therefore order & and agree joyntly to prepare a place of safety for womeu and children. and that all persons and teams shall attend ye said worke untill it be finished; and account of ye wholl charge being kept, it shalbe equally divided upon the inhabitants with other Towne charges. Also tbey appoint Serjnt ffoster, Serjnt Tompson, Sam" Manning & Jon- athan Danforth to be overseers of ye same."
"8. 8m. 75. At a meeting of ye selectmen & comittee of millitia.
" In pursuance of an order from the Hond Councill, sent unto them by warrant from ye worshell Simon Willard Esquir, Sergnt Major, in ref- erence to the gathering the inhabitants of the towne into severall garri- sous according to their best capacity.
" Imprs. They bave ordered sergut Hill's house to be a garrison for that end of yo towne, taking to it Nathaniel & Jonathan Hill, Tho : Dutton Junt, Lt. Wm. ffrench, Willm Chamberline Sent, & Isaac Cham- berline, & two soldiers ; nine soldiers & five houses.
"4. They order to the Reverend Mr. Samuel Whiting, his house Thomas Dutton Sent & his son John, Daniel Shed Sent & his son John Shed, Jobn Durrant, John Rogers Sent & his three sons, John Thomas & Nathaniel Rogers, and two soldiers ; eleven soldiers & six families ; & this to bee ye malne garrison & ye last refuge in case of extremity.
"7. Whereas severall at ye north end of ye towne have already de- parted their own Habitations & several of ym vnwilling to returne to ym againe at ye present, Hence tbey order them to be entertained in ye body of ye towne.
.
"9. They order that yo psons ordered to each garrison shall dispose of their corne (acording to ye order of ye Councill) neer unto their owne garrisons, unless they can els where better secure the same.
" 10. They order that every pson aforesd shall equally contribute in labour or otherwise to fortify each house of garrison to which they are appointed and seasonably to attend ye same, acording to ye Councill's or- der, both psons & teames to attend ye same as in ye order of highway worke is required untill ye worke be done. Only in case Mr. Daniel and Mr. Laine fortify themselves (they being very far from neighbours) they shall then be freed from fortifying ye garrisons to which they are ap- pointed. And are also impowered to keape a watch at their owne and to examine pons as other watches may do.
"11. They order that the Comitee of millitia & selectmeu, each person that do pertaine to any garrison, shall order & regulate ye worke of ye same as overseers, & Sergnt Kidder Is appointed overseer of Mr. Whit- ing's garrison, Josepli Tompson of Thomas Pattin's, & Jonathan Dan- forth of James Paterson's garrison, & that any three of yo sd Comitee & selectmen may determine what shalbe done in reference to the fortify- Ing each garrison & to determine any difference that may arise respect- ing yo same.
"12. They order that all brush & underwood near ye aforesaid garri-
sons shal be cutt up and cleared away, according to the Council's order, each person to attend ye same both for time & place as they shall have after order. Alse they order each Inhabitant to attend thelr several watches, as formerly, untill further order."
" 14. 8m. 1675. At a meeting of ye Hond major Willard, The Select men, & Committee of militia. These severall orders were read before y. Honrd Major aforesa, considered and allowed by him, & ye inhabitants enjoyned to attend ye same.
.
.
"Also, it is ordered that the severall soldiers sent hither to garrison shall assist in fortifying ye severall houses to which they are appointed, as also to clear away such hrush as is near sucb houses appointed for garrison, as they sball be ordered from time to time.
" Also, it is ordered that no listed soldier of the Troop, or of ye foot company, shall remove their habitations & abode out of the town with- out liberty first had & obtained from the Major of ye regiment or Comit- tee of millitia & selectmen of the town, on ye peril of such a fine as shalbe imposed on them by such authority as shall have power to deter- mine ye same.
"Neither shall any soldier aforest absent himself out of the towne about any private occations of his owne without leave ffrst had and ob- tained from ye master of the garison to which they belong, vnder the penalty of five shillings p day for every such defect, to be levied by yo Clark of ye band, as other fines for defect in training days are levied.
"And further, it is ordered, in case of an alarme every soldier shall repair to ye garrison vnto which he is appointed.
"And in case any garison house be set upon by ye enemje, Then ye garrisons next to them shall send reliefe to them as they are capable, not leaving their owne garrisien without competent security for the time.
" And in case of need, the women & children shall be conveyed to ye maine garison, if it may bee with safety, that so there maybe the better supply in case of need, the cheife officer to order and regulate the same, where there may be time so to do.
.
" Also, it is ordered, that every pson that shall shoot off a gun, small or great, without leave from a comander or in case of offence or defence against an enemie, shall pay as a fine two shillings & six pence, or set off so much of their wages if they be garison nien.
" Also, Job Laine was allowed to fortify his owne house, and to have two soldiers for garrison men to defend his house, in case ye country could spare them.
" All this is allowed & confirmed by me, "SI : WILLARD, Serg .- Major."
It does not need a lively imagination, reading be- tween the lines of this record, to depict something of the tumult, hardship and peril through which Bil- lerica was passing. Families fled from their homes to the garrison-houses, or the greater security of the lower towns. The labors of the field gave place to fortifying, scouting and watching. The corn must be removed to safer receptacles. They organize a military company with Jonathan Danforth, lieutenant, and James Kid- der, ensign. Some of their own brave sons enlist in the service of the Colony and march to peril and death. Timothy Farley was killed at Quaboag, August 2d, in the assault on Lieutenant Wheeler's company, and John French carried through life the effect of the wounds received there. And two mothers approaching their confinement sought com- fort and safety in Charlestown-the wives of John Marshall and of the pastor ; nor is it too much to infer that the anxiety and hardship they had suffered may explain the death, in a few days, of the sons born to them there.
Forty-eight families are enumerated in the list of assignments to the garrison-houses. Rev. Samuel Whiting's house, the main garrison, was north of
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Charnstaffe Lane and just west of the brook. How much labor was spent in fortifying we may gather some idea by gleaning from the record the fact that the work done on this house, under the charge of Peter Bracket, employed thirty men, with several cat- tle, a little more than two days each, and the amount credited was eight pounds, six shillings and nine pence. But the blow so long dreaded and guarded against did not fall, and the town was mercifully spared more than its common share in the burdens and losses of Philip's War. That share was suffi- ciently trying, and bore heavily upon the inhabitants.
It is suggested by items like these: Samuel Whi- ting is enrolled among the troopers; Job Lane is impressed, and Daniel Rogers, from December to February, 1675. And when, fifty years after, Massa- chusetts rewarded the soldiers in this war somewhat tardily by land-grants, the following Billerica men or their heirs shared in these "Narragansett " grants, proving that they had been in the service: Samuel Hunt, John Needham, James Patterson, Nathaniel Rogers, John Shed, John Sheldon, John Stearns, Joseph Tompson.
The position of the Christian Indians at Wamesit and other " praying towns " was one of especial em- barrassment and hardship during these dark days. Gookin was their candid judge, as well as their true friend, and his estimate of their attitude was amply vindicated by later developments.1 They were hon- estly friendly, and desired to act on the former ad- vice of Passaconaway. Gookin wished that advan- tage be taken of this fact, and that their forts at Fort Hill and elsewhere should be manned by a few Eng- lish soldiers, who could direct and use the activity of tbe Indians in the public defence. But the excited imaginations of the English, generally, could appre- ciate no distinction of friendly and hostile Indians, and every red man was a foe to be dreaded and dis- trusted, if not shot at sight; and Captain Gookin's wise plan of defence stood no chance of being accept- ed. Tbe hostile Indians, of course, sought every op- portunity, and found many, to foment this jealousy, if they could not win the Christian Indians to their side.
Wannalancet, the Wamesit sachem, had retired, at the beginning of the war, to the vicinity of Pena- cook (Concord), and subsequently to the region of the upper Connecticut, resisting overtures from the English to induce him to return. . A portion of the tribe remained at Pawtucket. James Richardson, of Cheimsford, was for a time in charge of them ; and a barn or haystack belonging to him was burned by skulking hostile Indians, as were two or three houses in the same town. The unfortunate Wamesits were falsely charged with these acts; and a party of four- teen Chelmsford men, under pretence of scouting for
Philip's forces, went out to assail them.2 Calling the unsuspecting Indians from their wigwams, two of the party fired. Five women and children were wounded and one boy was killed. The others were restrained from their murderous purpose," and the outrage was severely condemned by the better part of the English. The murderers were tried; but the juries, swayed by the popular feeling, would not con- vict them. The Indians saw that however friendly they might be, their lives were in peril, and fled to the woods for safety. The Council sent Lieutenant Henchman to persuade them to return, but at first without avail. After three weeks of great suffering for want of food, most of them, however, did return. The Council directed Major Henchman to treat them kindly, and sent Rev. John Eliot, with Majors Gookin and Willard, to encourage them and try to persuade the Chelmsford people to treat them better.
It is not easy to determine the order of events, and the following incidents were probably concurrent with or prior to some of those above-mentioned. The Court, as well as the Chelmsford men, under- took to punish the Wamesits for wrongs of which not they but others were guilty. They were summoned and brought down to Boston, convicted on no good evidence, of the Chelmsford fires, and for a time im- prisoned. Most of them were soon liberated and sent home under conduct of Lieutenant Richardson. But a military company was encountered at Woburn on their way, and one of the soldiers, against orders, fired and killed a young brave. The murderer was acquitted by a jury. The Indians, alarmed by these repeated wrongs, again fled. They left behind six or seven persons too old or invalid to accompany them, and the wigwam in which these unfortunates were left was set on fire by inhuman white men and con- sumed with all its inmates. The wretched remnant of the Wamesits, convinced at last that there was no peace for them in their Pawtucket homes, finally joined their chief in the depths of the forest, and did not return until the war was over.
It would not be strange if, in retaliation for their wrongs, some of the Wamesits were responsible, as was charged, for later assaults. Mr. Hubbard, in his "Indian Wars," records the burning of a house in Andover, and wounding of one Roger Marks, and adds : "Two more houses about Shawshen, beyond the said Andover, were burned about March 10; also they killed a young man of the said Town, April 8, the son of George Abbot. And another son of his was carried away the same day, who yet was returned some few months after almost pined to Death with Hunger." Mr. Abbot lived on the Shawshin, in the west part of Andover, and the inference which has been drawn from Hubbard's language, that the houses " about Shawshen " which were burned were in Bil- lerica, has no good foundation and is improbable.
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