USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 18
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The effect of the work carried on at Nonantum was contagious. The Indians at Concord, the original home of Waban, resolved to attempt something of the same sort. When the Concord chief
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
was asked why he wished to have his town so near to the English, since there was more room at a distance from them, he replied that he knew, "if the Indians dwelt far from the English, they would not so much care to pray, nor be so ready to hear the word of God ; but would be, all one, Indians still; but, dwelling near the English, he hoped it might be otherwise with them then."
The gospel wrought a wonderful change in the people. Mr. Shepard remarks that "most of the Indians set up prayer in their families morning and evening, and before and after meals, and seemed in earnest in these devotions." Another writer says, " With more affection they crave God's blessing upon a little parched corn, than many of us do upon our greatest plenty and abundance." He was much impressed, in the fall of 1647, in see- ing one of the Indians " call his children to him from their gather- ing of corn in the field, and crave a blessing with much affection, having but a homely dinner to eat." And subsequently, after the funeral of an Indian child, the company retired a little from the grave and assembled under a tree in the woods, and desired one of their own number to pray with them. "He did express such zeal in prayer, with such variety of gracious expressions, and abundance of tears, both of himself and most of the company, that the wood rang again with their sighs and tears."
The gospel among the Indians yielded its appropriate fruit. It gave them peace and joy in life, and hope in death. We read of the death of Wampas, who was one of the first "praying Indians" to pass away. He said to Mr. Eliot, who stood by his side, but a little time before he died: "Now I die, I strongly entreat you to entreat Elder Heath and the rest which have our children, that they may be taught to know God, so that they may teach their countrymen, because such an example would do great good among them. I now shall die, but Jesus Christ calls you that live to go to Natick, that there you may make a church." And the last words of Wampas were, "O Lord, give me Jesus Christ ; " and he died, with his hands uplifted in the attitude of prayer.
" The success and setlement of Nonantum," says Dr. Homer, " encouraged further attempts of Mr. Eliot to extend the knowledge of the gospel to the aboriginals of other places. He accordingly visited and preached to the Indi- ans at Watertown, Dorchester Mills, Concord and as far as Pentucket Falls on Merrimac River. He also extended his efforts to the natives of the col- ony of New Plymouth, though their chief sachem and his son discountenanced his attempts. These exertions laid a happy foundation for the civilizing and
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ELIOT AND THE INDIANS.
Christianizing of 5,000 out of 20,000 Indians, belonging to the twenty differ- ent tribes then in New England."
In 1657, at the solicitation of Mr. Eliot, the town of Dorchester granted to the Indians residing among them 6,000 acres of land at Punkapoag, and about that time they were removed thither. Such is the testimony of Hon. Charles Endicott, in his Centennial Oration at Canton, Mass.
The Indians were never gathered into a church at Nonantum,- the ministers regarding it better, seeing that they had been so recently reclaimed from heathenism, - that they should remain in the state of catechumens. The proximity of the English, as the superior race, was unfavorable to the character, happiness and development of the Indians. Their territory was too limited, and it was deemed expedient to found a new town, a little removed from the white settlers.
The township of Natick, " the place of hills," was granted to the Indian converts in 1650, at the urgent request of Mr. Eliot, by the inhabitants of Dedham, with the sanction of the General Court. The Indians gave to the Dedham people the township of Deerfield in exchange. The original grant contained about six thousand acres.
In Bacon's History of Natick we find the following record :
In the year 1651, the town of Natick was first settled. It consisted of three long streets, two on the north and one on the south side of the river, with a bridge eighty feet long and eight feet high, and stone foundations, the whole being built by the Indians themselves. To each house situated on these streets was attached a piece of land. The houses were in the Indian style. One house, larger and more commodious than the rest, was built in the English style. One apartment of it was used as a school-room on week-days, and as a place of worship on the Sabbath. The upper room was a kind of wardrobe, where the Indians hung up their skins and other valuables. In the corner of this room was partitioned off an apartment for Mr. Eliot .* This building was the first meeting-house in Natick.
The founding of the new town, the day of fasting and prayer held September 24, 1651, the simplicity of the Indian, who would
*The room for Mr. Eliot, partitioned off in the end of the Indian meeting-house, forcibly reminds us of the methods of modern missionaries, who, in their visits to remote out-stations, are ordinarily accommodated precisely in the same manner in an apartment divided from the zayat or chapel, where they meet their congregations. The work of missions is one in all ages ; and the difficulties and self-denials incurred and the means of meeting them have not been essentially changed by the progress of two centuries. The fellowship of suffering and of expedients will make the heart of the missionary of 1646 and of 1846 pulsate with a feeling of kinship in trial, toil and aim, as well as the kinship of success and glory.
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not take a pipe of tobacco on that solemn day until he had asked Mr. Eliot if it was proper ;- and the covenant of the rulers and people, in which they engaged to be the people of God, are all matters of deep interest. In the afternoon of the day, as night drew on, Mr. Eliot addressed the assembly from Deuteronomy XXIXth, which relates how the Israelites entered into covenant with Jehovah. Then their own covenant was recited as follows : " We are the sons of Adam. We and our forefathers have a long time been lost in our sins ; but now the mercy of the Lord beginneth to find us out again. Therefore, the grace of Christ help- ing us, we do give ourselves and our children to God, to be his people. He shall rule us in all our affairs ; not only in our religion and the affairs of the church, but also in all our works and affairs in this world. God shall rule over us. The Lord is our judge ; the Lord is our lawgiver ; the Lord is our king ; he will save us. The wisdom which God has taught us in his book, that shall guide us and direct us in the way. O Jehovah, teach us wisdom to find out thy wisdom in thy Scriptures. Let the grace of Christ help us, because Christ is the wisdom of God. Send thy Spirit into our hearts, and let it teach us. Lord, take us to be thy people, and let us take thee to be our God."
To this covenant, the rulers first, and then all the people gave their assent. Next, a collection was taken for the poor, and by dark night, the work was finished. Mr. Eliot calls this 24th day of Sep- tember "the blessed day, wherein these poor souls solemnly became the people of the Lord." This day has a peculiar interest ; for these proceedings constituted the first public and formal act of civil government among the Indians of North America.
After the founding of the town the next object of Mr. Eliot's interest was to organize a church, a consummation to which he looked forward with great desire. In reference to this project, a whole day, October 13, 1652, was given to the confessions of faith of those who proposed to enter into covenant relations. But it was the work of more than a day, and after all, so careful and scrupu- lous were the ministers that none but " living stones " should be in- corporated into the spiritual building, that the work was delayed for a season. In the meantime a war broke out between England and Holland. It was reported and believed that some of the praying Indians had joined a conspiracy to destroy the English. The move- ment to form a church was still further suspended, and the consum-
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mation was reached at last in 1660. Waban, Eliot's first convert, assisted in gathering the church and society at Natick, of which he was chosen chief ruler during life.
His son, Thomas Waban, received a tolerable education, and was for many years town clerk of Natick. His name frequently appears in Indian deeds, granting rights to the English, which he acquired rather indefinitely from his father, and, like many others, as an associate of the praying Indians.
Waban was very influential in Natick, and was appointed a ruler of fifty in their civil administration. He died there in 1674, aged 70, testifying with his latest breath his obligation to that grace which had brought to him and to his countrymen the light of the gospel. He manifested joy in the hope of heaven, and the prospect of meeting departed believers. He charged his children and friends to repent of sin and believe in Christ, in whom he trusted. He approved himself as a zealous and faithful ruler, and a sincere Christian.
The influence of the missionary efforts among the Nonantum Indians had a much wider sweep than might have been deemed probable, in view of the smallness and obscurity of the tribe. The work of Eliot in Newton and Natick bore fruit on the other side of the globe. Dr. Leusden wrote to Cotton Mather that the example of New England had awakened the Dutch to attempt the evangel- ization of the heathen in Ceylon and their other East Indian pos- sessions, and that multitudes there had been converted to Christi- anity.
In South Natick is a small lot near Eliot Street, on which is a fire- proof building for a free library, and the Historical and Natural His- tory Society. All its surroundings are of unusual historic interest. From this spot, across the Charles River, the first foot bridge was built by the Indians under the supervision of the apostle Eliot, leading to many of the homes of the tribe as far south as Pegan Hill, in Dover, on and near which many traces of their habitations yet remain. Some of them have been marked, until within a few years, by evidence of taste in the culture of roses and fruits. Northerly, and adjoining, was the burial ground of the tribe.
Here one headstone yet remains perfect, sacred to the memory of Daniel Takawambait, the Indian pastor, who died September 17, 1716. Here too, in later years, a monument was erected to the memory of the apostle Eliot, enclosed by an iron fence, and sur- rounded by a grove.
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
The tomb in which Mr. Eliot sleeps is in the cemetery, at the corner of Washington and Eustis Streets, one of the oldest ceme- teries in New England, the first interment in it having taken place in 1633. Mrs. Eliot, the apostle's wife, was the first tenant of this tomb. It was about three feet high, built of brick, and covered by a large sandstone without inscription. The structure after a time fell into a ruinous condition, and the parish committee replaced the brick portion by substantial blocks of sandstone, and inscribed on one side in large letters, "The Parish Tomb." In 1858, a slab of white marble was placed on the base of sandstone, inscribed with the names of the first six pastors of Roxbury.
A subscription was commenced in 1850 for the purpose of plac- ing a cenotaph to his memory in the Forest Hills Cemetery, Rox- bury ; but the matter was never consummated. A beautiful natural elevation, however, bears his name, and will keep it in fresh and perpetual remembrance.
Mr. Eliot's house in Roxbury stood just in the rear of the Peo- ple's Bank building. It was of two stories and had a gambrel roof. The porch, or main entrance, was in the centre. Eliot's estate, embracing two acres and a half, was a long, narrow strip, fronting on Washington Street, one hundred and forty-five feet, and his orchard extended back to the training field of seven acres, just beyond Winslow Street ; he was bounded north by Rev. Mr. Walter, south by the highway to Dorchester (Dudley Street). The town part of Warren Street, laid out since, divides the lot of Mr. Eliot. After Eliot the next occupant was Deacon Samuel Williams.
In 1657 an Indian town was formed at Natick ; in 1660 the Ind- "ian church was imbodied. The New Testament was printed and issued in September 1661, and the whole Bible in 1663 ; a second edi- tion of the Bible was printed in 1685. In 1670 there were two teach- ers, John and Anthony, and between forty and fifty communicants ; in 1753 there were twenty-five families, besides several individuals ; in 1763, thirty-seven Indians only ; but probably the wandering Indians were not included in this statement. In 1797 the number of " clear blooded " Indians in Natick, and belonging to it, was estimated to be "near twenty." In 1843, there was only one person known to be living, in whose veins Nonantum blood flowed.
CHAPTER XIV.
NEWTON AND THE INDIAN WARS.
IN a former chapter (see pp. 93, 94) the brave acts of Capt. Prentice, in his engagements with the Indians, have been detailed.
Other names appear, in the records of Newton, of citizens who were heroes in the Indian wars. In November, 1675, Peter Hanchett, Joshua Woods, Samuel Hides and Jonathan Bush, all residing on the south side of the river, were impressed into the military ranks, to serve in the war against King Philip. Edward Jackson, son of Deacon John Jackson, was a soldier in Philip's war, and was slain by the Indians in their attack on Medfield, February 21, 1676, aged 25. "In the spring of 1690, depreda- tions were perpetrated by the French and Indians in the eastern part of Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. In the begin- ning of May, about five hundred French and Indians were discov- ered around Casco (Portland). Casco was attacked, and Major Davis carried captive to Canada. Captain Noah Wiswall, Lieuten- ant Gershom Flagg and Ensign Edward Walker, with a company of infantry, marched for the defence of Casco. They arrived at Portsmouth July 4th, where a court was called, and it was agreed to send Captain Williams to scour the woods as far as Casco, with one other captain and four sergeants. Several captains desired to go with Captain Wiswall, and they cast lots to know who should go, and the lot fell to Captain Floyd. Lieutenant Davis, with twenty-two men from Wells, joined them. They took up their march from Cocheco into the woods. On the sixth of July, Capt. Wiswall sent out his scouts early in the morning, found the trail of the enemy, and overtook them at Wheelwright's Pond, and a bloody engagement followed. Captain Wiswall, Lieutenant Flagg and Sergeant Walker, and fifteen men were slain, and others wounded. Captain Floyd continued the fight for several hours, till his tired and wounded men drew off, and he soon followed them. 187
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
" There is a tradition that Captain Noah Wiswall had a son John, who belonged to his company, and fell with him in that action."
Nathaniel Healy and Ebenezer Seger were killed by the Indians at Groton, in the battle of July 21, 1706.
The following petitions and action of the General Court are here in place :
To his Excellency the Governour and the Honorable Councill, and to the Representatives, the humble Petition of Henry Seager, of Newton,
Sheweth,-
That your Petitioner had, The Summer before Last, Two Sons prest out into the Countrey's Service at Groton, And were, whilst in the Service, by tlie Providence of God, one of them Killed by the Enemy, the other Taken Cap- tive; So that they both of them Lost their Arms which I think were Justly valuable at five pounds, half a pound of Powder, twenty bullets, and a Snapsack.
Your Petitioner therefore humbly prays that he may be Considered herein out of the Countrey Treasure as shall be the Good Pleasure.
As the Petitioner shall ever Pray, etc.
HENRY H. SEAGER, his X mark.
In answer to the Petition on the other side,-
Resolved, That the sum of forty shillings be Allowed and Paid out of the public Treasury to Henry Seager, the Petitioner.
It would appear from this last petition that it was one of the Seager brothers who was taken prisoner.
Two items found in the State Archives, Vol. 71, have reference to this affair, and shed light on the spirit of the times. They are the petitions of Nathaniel Healy and Henry Seager to the House of Representatives for remuneration for the guns lost in the encounter, and the action taken by the Legislature.
To his Excellency Joseph Dudley, Esq., Captain Generall and Governour in Chief in and Over hier Majesties Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and the Honorable, the Councill and Representatives in General Court Assem- bled :-
The Humble Petition of Nathaniel Healy of Newtown, in said Province.
May it please your Excellency. Your Humble Petitioner, having at his own proper Cost Armed his Son Nathaniel Healy into her Majesties Service under the Command of Captain Josiah Parker,-At Groton on the 21st day of July 1706, Your Petitioner's said Son was slain, and his Gun Carried away by the Enemy who Waylaid him and Others, as they were going to Meeting On the Sabbath day.
Your Petitioner humbly Prays that he may be Supplied with another Gun
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THE INDIAN WARS.
at the Province Charge for Another of his Sons, Or be Otherwise allowed as Your Excellency shall think meet.
And Your Petitioner, as in duty bound, Shall ever pray, etc.
NATHANIEL HEALY.
In the House of Representatives. June 5th 1707. Read.
Resolved, that the Sum of Twenty Shillings be Allowed and Paid out of the public Treasury to Nathaniel Healy the Petitioner in full for the Gun above mentioned.
JOHN BURRILL, Speaker. JAMES ADDINGTON, Secretary.
John Gibson was killed by the Indians at Casco Bay Fort, November 26, 1711. Ephraim Davenport was stationed some time at Bethel, Maine, with a volunteer company, to protect the inhabi- tants from Indian outrages, for which service he received a pension. Nathaniel Seger, born in Newton, in January, 1755, went to Sud- bury, Canada, now Bethel, Maine, on the Androscoggin River, worked there during the summer, then returned to Newton in the autumn and remained during the winter. In the opening scenes of the revolution in April, 1775, he enlisted as a soldier for eight months in Captain Nathaniel Fuller's company. He was in the service in the continental army, by successive enlistments, two years and nine months. In the spring of 1779, he went again to Sudbury (Bethel), accompanied by Jonathan Bartlett, of Newton. They took with them implements for the manufacture of sugar. The next spring he was joined by Thaddeus Bartlett, of Newton, and a boy named Aaron Barton. They employed themselves in making sugar, clearing the land and planting. The Indians appeared friendly, and they lived with them on amicable terms. There were no roads, no neighbors near, and but few families in the place. In 1781 there were ten families in the town. But the Indians at first grew surly and morose, and at length assumed an appearance of hostility. August 26, 1781, six Indians from Canada, armed with guns, tomahawks and scalping knives, took Nathaniel Seger, Ben- jamin Clark, Lieutenant Jonathan Clark, of Newton, and Captain Eleazer Twitchell, prisoners, bound them, and plundered their dwellings. Then, loading them with heavy packs of this spoil, they ordered their prisoners to march with their hands bound. They pro- ceeded to a place called Peabody's Patent, since Gilead, took James Pettengill prisoner, and ordered him to march to Canada ; but as he was without shoes and could not travel, they murdered
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
him. They pursued their way through Shelburn, N. H., crossed the Androscoggin, plundered a house, shot one man and took an- other prisoner, and from that point allowed Lieut. Jonathan Clark to go back. Thence they pursued their way to Canada, and reached Lake Umbagog on the fifth day after they were taken pris- oners. In Canada the prisoners were taken to an Indian village, where seventy Indian warriors were assembled, who rejoiced greatly over the prisoners, scalps and plunder. They were here treated with great indignity. The red-skins cut off the hair of Benjamin Clark, painted him, and put one of their dresses on him, and then gave him his liberty among them. They were afterwards taken to Montreal, where they suffered incredible hardships for forty days, and were then sent forty-five miles farther up the river, and de- tained until the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. The object of the Indians seems to have been to deliver them up as prisoners of war to the British authorities, or perhaps to secure a reward for their persons. And they acted out the cruelty of their savage natures in the severities which they visited gratuitously upon them. The men were finally taken to Quebec, and after a detention of fifteen months, full of hardships and suffering, being set at liberty, they sailed for Boston, and landed at Dorchester Point, and before they slept reached Newton, much to the astonishment and joy of their friends, who had not heard a word from them since their capture in Bethel.
Benjamin Clark, the fellow-townsman and fellow-prisoner of Na- thaniel Seger, was the son of Norman Clark and Hannah Bird, his wife, grandson of William Clark and Hannah Kee, and great grandson of John Clark and Elizabeth Norman, who were among the early settlers of Newton. Lieut. Jonathan Clark, of Bethel, who was made prisoner by the Indians, but released after three days, was from Newton also. His father was William Clark, jr. He was born in March, 1747, and being twelve years older than Benjamin, probably the Indians regarded him as too weak to en- dure the hardships of such a march, and therefore set him at liberty.
Jonathan, Thaddeus, Enoch, Moses, Stephen and Peregrine Bartlett, brothers, and sons of Ebenezer Bartlett, of Newton, grandsons of Joseph Bartlett, jr., and great grandsons of Joseph Bartlett, sen., an early settler of Newton, all went to Bethel, - the first two with Seger, and the rest soon afterwards.
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THE INDIAN WARS.
It was natural to expect that men of so brave a mould should be led by sympathy with their brethren to aid them against the inva- sions of hostile Indians. Their own experience with the natives, it is true, had been only of the peaceful kind. Notwithstanding, the citizens of Newton thought it expedient to establish garrison houses for their protection, in case of a hostile invasion. Happily, however, the Nonantums within their own boundaries had been early brought under the power of the gospel through the labors of Mr. Eliot, and transformed by the power of that gospel from a tribe of ignorant and barbarous savages to a Christian people. But other Indian tribes were less favored than they, and less docile and tract- able. Many of them were wild, mischievous, cruel and implacable: And they were jealous of the incursions of the white settlers. They saw with an evil eye and a malicious heart their game con- sumed by a foreign population ; their hunting grounds abridged and destroyed ; their privileges circumscribed ; doubtless, often, their natural rights trampled upon, and their glimmering ideas of religion pronounced superstition and idolatry. Resolved to drive out this new and unwelcome enemy, they conspired to burn the homes they had built, to break up and sweep away their settlements, to carry their wives and children into captivity, and to murder and scalp their men.
But the English settlers deemed that "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." They scorned the red man's exclusive claim to these broad acres and living streams, to the woods and the hills, the corn-lands and the waterfalls. The fierce antagonism of the races was at once developed. The weaker were in due time compelled to yield to the stronger, till they had no longer a place in their ancient inheritance. But long and bitter was the struggle, and all the skill and strategy of the whites were brought into requi- sition, before the question was settled that the white race must rule and the red race must succumb. Long did the Indians hang on the borders of civilization, and watch for opportunities to annoy, to carry away, or to kill their enemies. But with a determined zeal the men of Newton left their sparse settlements in the wilderness, committing their wives and children to the God of battles. They endured bravely the hardships incident to travelling through path- less woods, with little food except the game they brought down with their guns or caught with their fishing nets. They outwitted by their superior intelligence their wily enemies ; and helping one
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
another through the great emergencies, now at Casco (Portland), now at Bethel, in Maine; now in New Hampshire and now in Massachusetts ; and, anon, amid the fastnesses of Mount Hope, in Rhode Island, they left no unconquered foe to plot against them ; no red-skinned savage, to light up the heavens with their burning dwellings by night ; no barbarous invaders, to murder or carry into captivity their wives and children. With a natural regard for their own brethren, their kindred in hardship and trials, as well as in nationality and blood, they rested not till they had chased the sav- ages out of their wilderness and out of life, and thus secured a permanent peace.
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