History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892, Part 2

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason
Number of Pages: 1170

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These were the owners of the whole township of Dartmouth in the year 1652. There were, however, a number of settlers in the township prior to that date. The town of Dartmouth was incorporated in 1664, and sent its first representative, John Russell, to the General Court at Plymouth.

John Cooke, a prominent figure in the early history of Dartmouth, was one of the boys of the Pilgrim Colony, and came to this country with his father, Francis Cooke, in the Mayflower, in 1620. He was a Baptist preacher and was the only one of the original grantees who became a resident in the town. He represented the town at Plym- outh Court for six years, was authorized to make contracts of mar- riage, to administer oaths and perform other legal duties, that made him one of the important men of the town. His home was located in

1 Gooseberry Neck (Point Prill.)

DESTRUCTION OF DARTMOUTH.

Oxford Village, Fairhaven, and its ruins formed the meeting place for Church's soldiers in the prosecution of King Philip's war. Cooke's garrison, of which I shall speak later, was named for him. He died in 1694, and was buried on Burial Hill, Oxford Point, Fairhaven.

In 1675 the township of Dartmouth was destroyed by the Indians, its inhabitants put to merciless torture and many of them slaughtered in cold blood, while their houses were burned and their farms pillaged. Those who escaped fled to the garrisons for protection and safety. This grave condition of affairs was recognized by the Plymouth Court, and the following order was passed October 14, 1675 :

" This Court taking into their serious consideration the tremendous dispensations of God toward the people of Dartmouth in suffering the barbarous heathen to spoil and destroy most of their habitations, the enemy being greatly advantaged thereunto by the unsettled way of living, do therefore order that in the rebuilding and resettling thereof, that they so order it as to live compact together, at least in each village as they may be in a capacity both to defend themselves from the assault of an enemy, and the better to attend the public worship of God and the ministry of the word of God, whose careless- ness to obtain and to attend unto we fear may have been a provocation of God thus to chastise their contempt of his gospel, which we earnestly desire the people of that place may seriously consider of, lay to heart, and be humbled for, with a solicitous endeavor after a reformation thereof, by a vigorous putting forth to obtain an able, faithful dis- penser of the word of God amongst them, and to encourage them therein, the neglect whereof this Court, as they may and must, God willing, they will not permit for the future." -- Book 5th, Court Orders, page 102.

The demoralization of the township was so complete that for a num - ber of years taxes were suspended and the unfortunate people relieved of many burdens. With the death of King Philip terminated the diffi- culties with the Indians in this vicinity, the courage of the people began to kindle and the town again took new life.

To comprehend the train of events that culminated in such fearful disasters to the early town's, and especially to Dartmouth, it is impor- tant to investigate the relations of the colonists with the Indians from the earliest period. The difficulties that beset the Pilgrims in their earliest history were manifold in character and perplexing in the highest de- gree. Fleeing from persecution and outrage in the old world, they met at the very threshold of the new, experiences fraught with suffering, privation, want and death. They found themselves in a land not their own; with little or no knowledge of its people ; with no organization

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

save that of the compact made on the Mayflower ; and with the broad ocean between them and the strong arm of civil and judicial govern- ment. The severity of the climate, the hardness of the soil, and the terrible uncertainties of the future, the successions of sickness and dis- aster, the oppression of isolation, and the distance from their former homes and scenes made the stoutest heart tremble with evil forebod- ings. To all this was added a problem that required nearly a century for its solution, and which continues even to the present time in a meas- ure unsolved-a problem loaded with disgrace and injustice meted out to the native of the forest.

In 1614, six years before the arrival of the Pilgrims, the master of a ship belonging to Capt. John Smith's expedition had come to "fit for Spain with the dried fish," and added to the cargo " four and twenty poore salvages," whom they carried to Malaga, where they undertook to sell them into slavery. Many of these were rescued from an untimely fate by Spanish friars, who gave them instruction, treated them as brothers, and taught them in their religious faith. Again, just before the Pil- grims set up their colony at Plymouth, an English captain had enticed a company of Indians on board his vessel and shot them down in cold blood. Regardless of the fact that the early Jesuits had received from the Indians only the kindest treatment, and that Hudson and Champlain were similarly received in the early years of the seventeenth century, the latter opened fire upon the natives near the lake that bears his name and was, according to his journal, " highly pleased at the astonishment and fear created among the few Indians who appeared to him by the sound of the guns and the sudden death of some of their number." Similar treatment was accorded the natives in other parts of the New World ; and the tale might be indefinitely continued.

It is not to be wondered at that three months elapsed after their ar- rival before the Pilgrims saw the faces of the natives of the soil, and when the Indians told their stories of outrage the reasons were clearly apparent why they had delayed so long in communicating with the whites. " For," says Governor Bradford, " by all which it may appear how far these people were from peace and with what danger this plan- tation is begun."

Prejudged from the very beginning, the early settlers were destined

Henry Saber

CAUSE OF THE INDIAN OUTBREAK.

to suffer untold violence and horrible torture from the Indians ; but their own acts of injustice, their occupation and possession of the land that had been the home and hunting-ground of the natives, went far to intensify the troublesome condition of affairs. From 1623 to 1675 there was a succession of disturbances between the colonists and the Indians. Without doubt the encroachments on their lands, the enmity springing out of the attempt of the English to settle the disputes of the Indians, the frequent acts of injustice and wrong by the white men -all these causes and more, assisted in bringing on the clash of arms. It must be remembered that while the tomahawk, the scalping-knife, and the bow and arrow were the cardinal weapons of the Indians, they had early learned how to use the gun and were well supplied with firearms at the time.

The immediate cause of the outbreak that brought such disaster to Dartmouth was the murder of Sassamon, a friendly Indian, who, being in King Philip's confidence, had visited Plymouth and revealed to the authorities Philip's hostile intentions. He learned that for a considera- ble period King Philip had been maturing plans for a general destruc- tion of the English settlements. His revelations were at first received with incredulity by the authorities, as matters had for some time been of a peaceful character. They, however, decided to investigate, and in a few days sent for King Philip to appear at Plymouth. This summons not being responded to, it was learned that Sassamon had been mur- dered and his body thrown under the ice into the pond at Middlebor- ough. The suspected Indians were arrested, tried before an English jury and condemned.1 Two days before their execution, April 8, 1675, war dances were held by the Indians (Sagonites) ; and the day after, the squaw sachem, Weetamoo, met Captain Church on Rhode Island and told him that Philip intended to begin a war on the English settle- ments, and had already granted authority to his people to kill the cat- tle of the settlers.2

1 Josiah Winslow states that these Indians acknowledged the fairness of their trial, and one of them confessed the crime .- Mass. Hist. Coli., 1, 428.

2 "Philip, better known as Metacomet, was king of the Pokanokets, a tribe occupying that tract of country about Bristol and Mount Hope, and extending to Little Compton. When our Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth in 1620 the good Massasoit was king, he who greeted them with a cor- dial welcome, and with whom friendly relations were maintained during his life. He was suc-

2.4

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

These events were full of significance, and foreshadowed the attacks upon the settlements. The soldiery of the Plymouth and Massachu- setts Bay colonies were being marshaled to resist the savages, but this could not stay the terrible tragedies that ensued. Philip, with his 500 warriors (Pokanokets) and supported by 800 Narragansett Indians, was soon on the war path. Hostilities began on the 29th of June, 1675 (N. S.), with the burning of two houses at Swansea, and then followed in quick succession the attacks upon Middleborough, Taunton, Reho- both, Dartmouth, and other towns. Many of the inhabitants were put to death, while others suffered " exquisite torments and inhumane bar- barities." Farms and plantations were destroyed and cattle killed or brutally mutilated. Many of the townships were destroyed and among them that of Dartmouth. Drake says: "They burnt nearly thirty houses in Dartmouth (a place in New Plymouth Colony), killing many people after a most barbarous manner, as skinning them all over alive, some only their heads, cutting off their hands and feet ; but any woman they took alive they defiled, afterward putting her to death by some of these or the like ways."

Increase Mather's account states : "Dartmouth did they burn with fire and barbarously murdered both men and women; stripping the slain, whether men or women, and leaving them in the open field as naked as in the day wherein they were born. Such, also, is their inhu- manity as that they flay off the skin from their faces and heads of those they get into their hands, and go away with the hairy scalp of their enemies."

The scattered condition of the inhabitants of Dartmouth made them an easy prey, and their sufferings were extreme. Those who escaped the tomahawk and scalping knife fled to the garrisons for safety and protection There were three of these, one on the north bank of the Apponagansett River, another near the shore just north of the present site of the Riverside cemetery in Fairhaven, and the third was on

ceeded by Alexander, the eldest of his two sons. Plottings against the English commenced during his brief reign, and culminated in open war when Philip came into power. The immediate cause of the outbreak was the hanging of three Indians for the murder of John Sassamon, who had been secretary and chief counselor of King Philip, and had become a professed convert of the Indian apostle, John Elliot. Through him the English obtained much information of King Philip's plots, which so enraged him that he sought Sassamon's death, whom he considered a rebel and traitor."-Drake.

LOCATION OF GARRISONS.

Palmer's Island. The defenders of these garrisons were few in number, but every man was a soldier, and with matchlock, sword, and hatchet. defended his loved ones from the enemy.

The garrison on the north bank of the Apponagansett was known as Russell's garrison, and was situated about a mile from the mouth of the river on the land now (1892) owned by Captain Charles Gifford. The cellars are still as clearly defined as when visited by Drake in 1827. The space indicates that the house was about twenty feet square, with an ell on the south about ten feet square Years ago there were walls of rude masonry about four feet high, with an exit on the northeast corner, leading to a brook near by On the opposite side of the river, and a little to the southward, is Heath's Neck, where were located an Indian fort and settlement.

The Cooke garrison was situated at Oxford Village in Fairhaven, on land now owned by John M. Howland. Its exact location is on the north side of Coggeshall street, six hundred feet from Main street, and on the northwest corner of what is known to- day as the Garrison Lot. A short distance to the southwest is a bountiful spring of water that, no doubt, supplied the inhabitants of the garrison. Thirty years ago the entire field was graded and the excavation filled up. At that time the walls were in good preservation, and from the cellar many valuable relics were taken that are still in possession of the Howland family. Among them were three pewter spoons with iron handles, a number of arrow heads, flint stones from which it is evident that arrow heads had been chipped ; several stone tomahawks, a cylindrical block of stone ten inches long that was probably used in crushing corn, a small deer horn, a boar tusk, fish hook, stone chisel, and, what is more curious than all, an iron key eight inches long, rude in construction and corroded with rust.

About five hundred feet from this garrison, and near the shore, was an Indian settlement and burying ground, the latter a mound seventeen feet high. Forty five years ago a number of skeletons were here unearthed. Among them was one in sitting posture, with elbows on the knees, wampum wound about the wrists, and a brass kettle over the head. The western view from the garrison lot is one of surpassing beauty.

A quarter of a mile northeast of the garrison lot, near the junction 4

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

of Main street and the back road (the original highway leading into the village of Fairhaven), was located the house of John Cooke, before men- tioned, one of the original settlers of Dartmouth, and from whom the garrison or block-house took its name. It was destroyed by the In- dians, and the "ruins of Cooke's house " are mentioned as the meeting place for the English soldiers.

Close to the water's edge, on the south side of Oxford Point, is a bury ing ground that, with the adjoining land, was given by William Wood for this purpose. Following is an extract from the original will :

" And whereas, the bodies of some persons that were of good account in their day were buried on the little hummock or island in the meadow at the foot of my homestead commonly called 'Burial Hill' and I, not being willing that their graves be any way defaced, do therefore in this, my will, hereby give the said hummock or island to or for a burying place forever, and for no other use to be made of it, for all persons to bury their dead that have a mind to; that my two sons, Zeruiah Wood and John Wood their and their heirs after them, shall think it suitable to be buried there, to whom I leave the care thereof."

This will was approved and allowed, July 6, 1778. In this burying ground John Cooke was buried. He was a prominent figure in every- thing pertaining to the early settlement of Dartmouth, and was himself the owner of three thirty- fourths of the township. He died in 1695.'

Another and the third garrison was Palmer's Island, its natural ad- vantages making it a convenient place of refuge. It was to this island that Captain Benjamin Church sent Little Eyes and his family, who had deserted their own tribe (the Sagonites), choosing to make friends with the English. When they came to this vicinity they were met by Church, who was preparing for an expedition east of the river. " Mov- ing to the riverside they found an old canoe, with which the captain ordered Little Eyes and his company to be carried over to an island, and lest the English should light on them and kill them, he would leave his cousin Lightfoot (whom the English knew to be their friend)

! " Francis Cooke had expended a considerable estate in promoting the colony. He died in 1663, aged about eighty-one years. His son John, " a boy in the Mayflower," was ten times a deputy from Plymouth and many years a deacon, but in the Quaker troubles was excommunicated. John was a pioneer in the Lakeville region, and in 1676 joined in resettling Dartmouth. He then con- nected himself with Obadiah Holmes's Baptist Church in Newport, and is said to have preached in Dartmouth. He was living in 1694 when he was the only surviving male passenger by the May- flower."-Goodwin's Pilgrim Republic.

BLOCK-HOUSES.

to be his guard. Little Eyes expressed himself very thankful to the captain." 1

On the west side of the Sconticut Neck road, only a few hundred fect from the Mattapoisett thoroughfare, was a block-house that was used by the inhabitants in that section during the troubles with the Indians. Its exact location is shown on a map owned by Hon. Thomas M. Stet- son, a copy of which hangs in our Free Public Library. The reader may find the exact location of this block- house, and also the dotted line of the "Forest path" from Russell's garrison to the head of Clarke's Cove and on through New Bedford, clearly establishing the claim that Captain Church, with his soldiers and Indian captives, marched over this route (now County street) on his return to Plymouth. It was near this block-house that Thomas Pope built a log house soon after he came to this section in 1653. On Sconticut Neck he had a grist-mill and estab- lished a good trade with the Indians, bringing his goods from Boston. Grist-mills were built in the colonies as early as 1653, and the miller was an important man to the natives. Without doubt Mr. Pope caused this block-house to be built. He established friendly intercourse with the Indians, but was in constant fear of violence. Many visitors, and sometimes large parties, came from the north (Middleborough) for fish- ing or frolic, or perchance a pow-wow, and when they had " fire- water " with them, an element of strife was not unfrequently developed. Among the early Indian visitors was a small boy who was admired and petted by Mr. Pope's family, and, in return, this boy on three several occasions came stealthily to inform them of a contemplated pow wow, and told them to be on their guard against possible danger. On the third visit he wished to remain. He was suspected of tale-bearing and dared not return to his people. He was educated by the family and subsequently became " Justice Obadiah," and the judicial head to whom was referred for settlement by the Indians all commercial differences. "One of the descendants of this Judge Obadiah, I recollect, was a neatly dressed and very aged Indian woman who, about 1806-07-08, came annually for a day's visit to my father's house [Seth Pope]. She was in the household of a wealthy family of Friends at New Bedford, by the name of Tallman." 2

1 Church's History. 2 Joshua L. Pope's manuscript.

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

Connected with the story of the destruction of Dartmouth by the Indians, is an event that in the light of modern civilization seems too shocking to be true ; yet the pages of history record that at the cessa- tion of hostilities, a company of Indians had surrendered themselves as prisoners to Captain Eels, of Russell's garrison. He, with Ralph Earl, had made them promises which the Indians accepted in good faith, and they were encamped near the garrison when the Plymouth soldiers, under the command of the famous Indian fighter, Captain Benjamin Church, arrived. They had been ordered to the relief of the beleaguered inhabitants by the Plymouth authorities. In spite of the united pro- tests of Captain Church and those in authority at the garrison, who felt bound in honor to keep their promises to their Indian prisoners, the Indians were carried to Plymouth, and after a so- called trial were con- demned and sold into slavery. What a strange procession was that which on that eventful day marched from Russell's garrison through what is now our city of New Bedford, on its way to Acushnet, and thence on to Plymouth. For the forest path from the garrison led to the head of Clark's Cove, and thence by the line of County street. One hundred and sixty Indian captives, guarded by Plymouth soldiers, who were the representatives of those who had fled from British op- pression to our New England shores, marched through this road into slavery. A century later, another martial host of 4,000 British soldiers, armed with all the terrible enginery of war, advanced triumphant through the helpless township and over the same thoroughfare.

At Plymouth Captain Church gave up his captives to the authorities. They, with others, and among them King Philip's wife and little son, 178 in all, were sold as slaves and transported to Spain. Says Drake : " Do we wonder that King Philip was ready to die; that his heart was ready to break when his wife, Wootonakanuska, and their little son fell into the hands of the authorities at Plymouth? They still lived and this most harrowed his soul. Lived for what ?- to serve as slaves in an un- known land. Could it be otherwise than that madness should seize upon him and torment him in every place ?" In Edward Everett's ad- dress at Bloody Brook, 1835, he says : " And what was the fate of Phil- ip's wife and son? This is a tale for husbands and wives, for parents and children. Young men and women, you cannot understand it.

-James Amold

TREACHERY TO THE INDIANS.

What was the fate of Philip's wife and child ? She is a woman, he is a lad. They did not surely hang him. No, that would have been mercy. The boy is the grandson of good old Massasoit, the first and best friend the English ever had in New England. Perhaps, now Philip is slain and his warriors scattered to the four winds, they will allow his wife and son to go back, the widow and orphan, to finish their days and sorrows in their native wilderness. They are sold into slavery. West India slavery ! An Indian princess and her child. Sold from the cool breezes of Mount Hope, from the wild freedom of a New England for- est, to gasp under the lash, beneath the blazing sun of the tropics. Bitter as death; aye, bitter as hell. Is there anything animated that would not struggle against this?"

According to Belknap, some of those Indians who were thus seized and sold, afterward made their way home, and found opportunity to satisfy their revenge during the war with the French and Indians, known as King William's war.

" After this, Dartmouth distress required snccor, a great part of the town being laid desolate and many of the inhabitants killed. The most of Plymouth's forces were or- dered thither, and coming to Russell's garrison they met with a number of the enemy that had surrendered themselves prisoners on terms promised by Captain Eels of the garrison, and Ralph Earl, who persuaded them (by a friendly Indian he had employed) to come in. And had their promise to the Indians been kept and the Indians fairly treated, it is probable that most, if not all, the Indians in these parts had followed the example of those who had now surrendered themselves, which would have been a good step towards finishing the war. Bat, in spite of all that Captain Eels, Church, or Earl could say, argue, plead, or beg, somebody else that had more power in their hands improved it, and without regard to the promise made the Indians on their surrender- ing themselves, they were carried away to Plymouth, there sold and transported out of the country, being about eight score persons. An action so hateful to Mr. Church that he opposed it to the loss of the good will and respect of those that were before his good friends."-Drake.

In another foot-note Drake says :

.. I can find no mention of these two gentlemen (Messrs. Eels and Earl) in any of the histories. But their names are sufficiently immortalized by their conduct in oppos- ing the diabolical acts of the government for selling prisoners as slaves. It is possible that they might decline serving any more in the war after being so much abused, and hence were not noticed by the historians, who also passed over this black page of onr history as lightly as possible."

In a field directly east of the residence of Joseph H. Burgess, in Ox-

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

ford village, are the ruins of an ancient building, the Annis house, that was built by Thomas Taber, son-in-law of John Cooke, and dating back to the period when Dartmouth was restored from its destruction by the Indians.

Dartmouth was not called upon for soldiers by the Plymouth authori- ties during King Philip's war, because of the maintenance of the garri- sons by the settlers, and for several years after peace had been declared the town was exempted from taxation because of the great sufferings and loss of property by the inhabitants. The court of Plymouth passed an order October 14, 1678, commanding the people to build compactly, especially in each village, for mutual protection and defense from the attacks of the enemy.

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History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892, Part 2

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason
Number of Pages: 1170