History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 11

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 896

USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II > Part 11

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Peter Plympton, son of John, born 1652; was a soldier under Capt. Mosely, in 1675; came back after the war, and lived on the lot owned by his father, which he sold, in 1705, to John Wells. It was subsequently owned by the Catlins, and is the lot occupied by the heirs of loel Wells. Ile removed to Marlboro' about 1705, where he died in 1717.

Jonathan Plympton, son of John, born 1657; was the vic- tim of this family offered up at Bloody Brook with Lothrop.

Quintus Stockwell was of Dedham, 1664, but not a propri- etor in the grant. He probably settled on No. 31, drawn by Robert Ilinsdale, as he sold that lot to Thomas French when he left the town, in 1694. It is the lot now occupied by the orthodox parsonage. Stockwell, like Sergt. Plympton, con- tident that the Indian troubles were over, had come back, in 1677, to rebuild his home, and with him shared an Judian captivity, but not his horrible death. He returned from cap- tivity, and published an interesting account of his sufferings and experiences. He removed to Branford, Conu., and later to Suffield, where he died, in 1715.

Nathaniel Sutlieff, of Medfield, 1668-71. lle bought of Joshua Fisher, of Dedham, six cow- and one sheep-commons, in February, 1672, and doubtless located on that right. The lot is now known as the Col. Asa Stebbins place. He married, in 1665, Hannah, a daughter of Sergt. John Plympton. He was lost with Capt. Turner, in 1676, leaving children who settled in Durham, Coun.

William Smead, son of Widow Judith, of Dorchester ; was of Northampton, 1660. In 1674 he bought the house-lot No. 25 of the Dedham proprietor, Thomas Fuller, on which he was settled after and probably before Philip's war, where he died before 1704. He married, 1658, Elizabeth Lawrence, who was killed Feb. 29, 1704. He left a large family, and all of the name carly in the country were his descendants.

William Smead, Jr., born 1660; was killed with Lothrop. James Tuffts, son of Peter, of Charlestown. He owned lot No. 37, drawn hy Mrs. Bunker ; this was bought of his heirs, in 1687, by Simon Beaman. Here was the site of the first known school-house. It is now 'owned by Mrs. Catherine E. B. Allen,

Daniel Weld, of Medfield, 1672, brother of " Mr. Thomas Weld, of Roxbury." He married, 1664, Mary, daughter of . Robert llinsdale. His location was about where the Barnard house now stands. He returned at the permanent settlement, and died here in 1699.

Richard Weller, of Windsor, 1640; was of Farrington be- fore 1659; of Northampton, 1662; and here, 1672. After the war he came back, and died 1690. He married, in 1640, Anna Wilson ; and in 1662 married Elizabeth Abel, at North- ampton.

John Weller, son of Richard, born 1645; came with his father to Pocomptuck; escaped the dangers of Philip's war, and returned at the new settlement, and died 1685 or 1686.

llis wife was Mary Alvord, of Northampton, who bore him seven children, the youngest five years old at his death.

Thomas Weller, son of Richard, born 1653; was probably killed with Lothrop.

Rev. Samuel Mather, who was here before Philip's war, will be noticed elsewhere.

PHILIP'S WAR.

As we have said, the news of the outbreak at Swansea caused no alarm here. The Pocomptucks, scattered over the valley as far as the Connecticut line, were on friendly terms with the English. Their intercourse was intimate and kindly, although they never mingled as equals or had sympathies in common. The inferior race were fully aware of this fact, but realized that contact with the whites had been of great ad- vantage to them by imparting some of the arts of civiliza- tion. The iron age had succeeded the long age of stone, and increased their industrial power tenfold. Firearms had en- abled them to procure food and furs for traffic with greater ease, and this traffic afforded them comforts before unknown. This tribe looked to the English for protection against the fierce Mohawks, and crowded about the settlements to that end.

It is true that the laws of the colony were irksome to the lords of the forest. It was galling to these sons of freedom to be hedged about by forms or bonds to which they could not give an understanding assent. The unscrupulous pioneer- trader sold them fire-water, and cheated them when under its influence. The white man's cattle trampled down their corn, and reparation was tardy. These things, rankling in their bosoms, came uppermost when artful emissaries of Philip ap- peared with presents of wampum and goods pillaged from the English, exciting their natural love of revenge and their cupidity. It is not surprising that these children of nature joined that wily chieftain to gratify these feelings.

On the appearance of Philip in the Nipmuck country, and the burning of Brookfield, Aug. 2, 1675, the alarm became general in the Connecticut Valley, but no suspicion was felt of the fidelity of the river Indians, and they were even em- ployed as soldiers against the hostile Nipmucks. Here, how- ever, their treachery was exposed by the Mohicans in the same service, and became so apparent that an attempt was made to disarm a motley collection gathered in a fort at Nono- tuck. These, taking the alarm, fled northward, pursued by Capts. Beers and Lothrop, with 100 soldiers. Still intending a parley with the fugitives, the troops marched with little or no precaution, and when they had reached a point about eighty rods south of Wequamps were suddenly fired upon by the savages from an ambush in the swamp on their right. The English, covering themselves with trees, Indian fashion, fought for three hours, when the enemy retreated. Seven whites were killed,-one shot in the back by his fellows,-and two were mortally wounded. The Indians reported a loss of twenty->ix. This affair was on the 26th of August, and the first conflict in arms between the English and Indians in the Connecticut Valley.

The settlers at Pocomptuck became fully alive to the fact that the horrors of an Indian war were now upon them. Active preparations were made for defense. Troops from Connecti- cut were sent here, and three of the strongest houses were garrisoned. The locations of these garrisons can only be guessed, but it will be safe to conclude that one of them was on Meeting-house Hill, at the house of Quintus Stockwell, where the young minister, Mr. Mather, boarded, and the others north and south of this.

These precautions were taken none too soon. Nothing had been heard of the Indians after the Wequamps fight, until September Ist, when they made an attack on Pocomptuck. A surprise was intended, but the lurking foe was discovered by James Eggleston, a Connecticut soldier, who was looking after his horse in the woods. He was shot down and the

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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

alarm given. The inhabitants rushed to the nearest forts, and, although with some narrow escapes, all reached their shelter. Here they were safe, the assailants, after two of their men were struck, being careful to keep ont of gunshot. The garrisons not being strong enough to sally out and drive them away, the settlers had the mortification of seeing the enemy burn and destroy all they could with safety. This was the first attack by the red man on any English town in the Conncetient Valley, and it caused great consternation. News of the affair reached Hadley while the inhabitants were assem- bled in the meeting-house observing a fast. Mather says they were driven from the sanctuary "by a sudden and violent alarm, which routed them the whole day after." This brief remark of the historian is the slender foundation on which was built the famous story of the attack on Hadley, Septem- ber Ist, when Gen. Goffe appeared as the guardian angel of the town.

The Indians who made this attack were Pocomptucks, with possibly a few emissaries from the hostile tribes east of the Connecticut. September 2d, Northfield was attacked ; on the 4th, Capt. Beers ambushed and slain; and on the 6th the re- maining inhabitants were brought off hy Maj. Treat, of Con- necticut.

Pocomptuck was now the frontier, and Capt. Appleton was sent to reinforce the garrison. From its peculiar location it was much exposed to depredation. The keen eyes of Indian spies could see, from the hills to the east and west, every move- ment in the valley. Not a messenger could come or go, not a party enter the meadow to secure the crops, not a movement between the forts, but the lurking enemy were fully apprised of.

Observing on the morning of Sunday, September 12th, that the soldiers collected in the Stockwell fort for public worship, a plan was laid to take advantage of the afternoon service, and a party was posted in a swamp just north of Stockwell's to waylay the north garrison. Accordingly, as twenty-two men from the north fort were passing, they were fired upon from the swamp. All reached the fort, however, in safety, except Samuel Harrington, who was shot in the neck. Turn- ing toward the north fort, the enemy captured Nathaniel Corn- bury, who had been left as a sentinel, and was trying to reach his companions. Ile was never heard from afterward. As soon as Capt. Appleton could rally his forces he drove off the assailants, but not until the north fort had been plundered and set on fire, and much stock killed or stolen. Still hanging round the village, they burned two more houses, and carried horse-loads of meat to their rendezvous at Pine Hill. Capt. Appleton was not strong enough to guard the village at all points and march also into the meadows. On Monday volun- teer citizens and soldiers from Northampton and Hadley came up to relieve the beleaguered settlement. This reinforcement was doubtless reported by the spies ; for when the united force marched to Pine IIill, Tuesday morning, the 14th, the Indians had Hled.

Capt. Mosely, with a company of Bay forces, arrived at Hadley the same day, and marched to Pocomptuck the 15th or 16th As yet we find no signs of an intention to desert the plantation. Maj. Treat, with a considerable Connecticut force, coming at this time to the headquarters at Hadley, the stock of provisions there was found inadequate to the demand. At Pocomptuek a large quantity of wheat-Hubbard says 3000 bushels-was standing in stack, which had so far escaped de- struction, and Capt. Lothrop determined to secure a part of it for supplying the troops at Hadley, and ordered it to be threshed out, and on the 16th or 17th marched with his own company to escort the train to headquarters, Pocomptuck teams being employed for transportation.

LOTHROP'S MASSACRE.

Early in the morning, on the 18th of September, 1675,-a day memorable in our annals,-Capt. Lothrop with his " choice

company of young men, the very flower of the county of Es- sex," followed by a slow train of ox-carts, moved out of the south end of the town street, two miles across South Meadows, through the bars and up Long Hill, to the wooded plain stretehing away to Hatfield meadows. The carts were loaded with bags of wheat, and upon some were feather-beds and other light household stuff. These may have been taken by Joshua Carter for his widowed sister, Sarah Field, planning an asylum for herself and helpless children in her father's house in Northampton. Onward across the plain marched the proud escort, confident that their numbers saved them from all danger of attack. Capt. Lothrop took no precaution against a surprise, not even throwing out vanguard or flankers. Not a movement of the English troops for the last three days had escaped the observation of the enemy, and this very company had been marked for a prize. Philip with his Wampanongs, and the Nipmuck bands under Sagamore Sam, Mantaup, One- Eyed John, Matoonas, Panquahow, and other minor sachems, had crossed the Connecticut to cut it off on the return to Had- ley. Keen eyes had seen the preparations for the march at Pocomptuek ; swift feet had carried the news to the chieftains below, who at this moment were issuing their last orders to their warriors lying in the fatal ambuscade at Bloody Brook, into which Lothrop was marching in hapless security. From the top of Long HIill the track lay through a dense forest for a mile and a half, when it approached a narrow, swampy thicket on the left flank, trending southward, through which, sluggishly crept a nameless brook. Skirting this swamp another mile, a point was reached where it narrowed and turned to the right. Here the road crossed it diagonally, leaving the marsh on the right. The soldiers had passed the brook, and halted while the teams should drag their heavy loads through the mire. Meanwhile, the silent morass on either flank was covered with the bodies of grim warriors, lying prone upon the ground, their scarlet plumes and crimson paint undistinguishable from the Frost-king's tints on leaf and vine. Breathless and still, they waited the signal. The critical moment arrived. The wild war-whoop rang in the cars of the astonished English ; every bush and every tuft of grass in the peaceful-looking morass became a living flame. The flower of Essex withered before it, and the nameless stream was bap- tized with blood.

Mosely, who had remained with the inhabitants, had heard the firing, and, hastening to the rescue, found the savages strip- ping the slain and plundering the carts. Exulting in their success, contiding in their numbers, the Indians dared him to the combat, shouting " Come on, Mosely, come on ! You seek Indians, you want Indians; here's Indians enough for you !" Although eight or ten to one, the gallant captain at once rushed on. Keeping his men in a compaet body, he charged back and forth through the swarming legions, cutting down all within range of his fire, and fought them in this manner four or five hours, defying all attempts to surround him, but with- out being able to drive the enemy from the ground. Ex- hausted by his efforts and encumbered by his wounded, Capt. Mosely was about to retire from the field, when, "just in the niek of time," Maj. Treat, with 100 Connecticut men and 50 Mohicans, under their young chief Attawamhood, arrived .on the ground, and the combat was soon ended. Mosely lost three killed and several wounded. The united force marched to Pocomptuek for the night, carrying their wounded and leav- ing the dead as they fell. Mather says, " This was a black and fatal day, wherein there was eight persons made widows and six-and-twenty children made orphans, all in one little plan- tation." This was the heavy news which these worn soldiers brought to the stricken inhabitants. The next day, Sunday, Treat and Mosely returned and buried the dead, "about 60," says Mather, "in one dreadful grave ;" "64 in all," says a letter from the Massachusetts council, three days after the event. Rev. John Russell, of Hadley, fixes the number of

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"killed at 71. The following list, copied from Mr. Russell's MS. letter in the State archives, contains the names of all that are known to have fallen. I have arranged the list alphabetically, and added the residence whenever able to ascer- tain it :

Capt. Thomas Lothrop, Beverly. Sergt. Thomas Smith, Newbury. Sergt. Samuel Stevens, Newbury. Alexander, Thomas, Salem. Allen, John, Deerfiell. Alley, Solomon, Lynn. Balch, Joseph, Beverly. Barnard, JJohn, Deer field. Bartham, Philip, Deerfield. Bayley, Thomas, New London. Bennet, John, Manchester. Buckley, Thomas. Salem. Button, Daniel, Haverhill. Carter, Joshua, Deerfield. Clarke, Adam, Salem. Cole, George, Lynn. Dodge, Josiah, Beverly. Duy, Win., Salen. Crumpton, Sanmel, Salem. Farah, Ephraim, Salem. Farwell, Benjamin, Lynn. Friende, Francis, Salem. Gillet, Joseph, Deerfield. Ilarriman, John, Rowley. Hinsdale, Barnabas, Deerfield. Hinsdale, John, Deerfield. Iliusdale, Robert, Deerfieldl. Ilinsdale, Samnel, Deerfield. Hobbs, John, Ipswich.

Hobbs, Thomas, Ipswich.

Homes, Robert, Newbury. Hudson, Samnel, Marlboro'. Kilbourne, Jacob, Rowley. Kimball, Caleb, Ipswich. King, Joseph, Salem. Lambert, Richard, Salem. Litheate, John, Haverhill. Maning, Thomas, Ipswich. Marshall, Eliakim, Bostan. Mentor, Thomas, Ipswich. Merrick, John, Manchester. Mudge, James, Malden. Osyer, Abel, Salem. Plumb, John, Salem. Plimpton, John, Deerfield.

Roper, Benjamin, Dorchester. Ropes, George, Salem. Sawier, Ezekiel, Salem. Smeade, William, Deerfieldl. Stevens, Samuel, Ipswich. Trask, Elward, Beverly. Tuffts, James, Deerfield. Wainscott, Jacob, Ipswich. Weller, Thomas, Deerfiel.l. Wellman, Stephen, Lynn. Whiteridge, Samuel, Ipswich. Williams, Zebediah, Deerfield. Wilson, Robert, Salem.

Woodbury, Peter, Beverly (59).

Peter Barron, John Oates, and one other of Mosely's men were killed, and John Stevens, of Newbury, and several others wounded. Of Lothrop's company, Henry Bodwell, of New- bury ; Robert Dutch, of Ipswich ; Richard Russ, of Wey- mouth; John Tappan, of Newbury, were wounded. John Stebbins, of Muddy River, is the only one of this company known to have escaped unharmed.

While Treat and Mosely were rendering the last offices to their dead comrades at Bloody Brook, a body of Indians ap- peared here, threatening the small garrison of 22 men with an assault. The officer in command made a deceptive show of force, and sounded his trumpet as if to call more troops. Their spies having relaxed their vigilance, the enemy were ignorant of the condition of affairs, and so the people were saved from an otherwise certain destruction. About Septem- ber 21st the troops had orders to abandon the town and bring off the inhabitants. These were scattered in the towns below, and the Pocomptuck valley was restored to the wilderness.

Here Philip established his headquarters, and, sending out small parties, harassed the towns below. Two men were killed at Northampton, September 28th ; Springfield was nearly de- stroyed, October 5th, and on the 19th he beset Hatfield, but was beaten off after burning a few buildings and killing 7 or 8 men ; October 27th there were 7 killed at Westfield, and 3 at Northampton a day or two after. With these depredations the campaign for the season closed.

Early in the winter, Philip and his immediate followers, with the Pocomptucks, visited the Mohicans, and intrigued in vain with the Mohawks to engage in the war. In the spring the baffled diplomat met the Nipmucks at Squakheag, and on the 14th of March sent a large force to attack Northampton, with the expectation of finding it an easy prey.

Capt. Turner at Peskcompskut .- The plan of the confederate chieftains was to destroy all the English towns in the valley, that they might plant and fish in safety, and their wives and children here find shelter while the war was pushed at the east. With their partial success, only Pocomptnek and Squak- heag could be so occupied. In these meadows large areas were planted with corn and beans; a great number of the natives were engaged in taking shad and salmon at Peskcomp-

skut (Turner's Falls) for the summer supply, and the savages were now rioting in plenty and faucied security. Escaped prisoners revealing this state of affairs, the English determined to attack them before the close of the fishing season, when it was supposed they would scatter and begin their murderous campaign for the summer. Accordingly, by the decision of a council of war at Hadley, a force was assembled at Hatfield for that purpose, consisting of about 75 garrison soldiers, under Lieut. Josiah Fay, of Boston, with about 80 men of the neigh- boring towns, under Capt. Samuel Holyoke, of Springfield, Lieut. John Lyman, of Northampton, and Sergts. John Dick- inson and Joseph Kellogg, of Hadley, with Rev. Hope Ather- ton as chaplain; the whole under Capt. William Turner, of Boston. This force, about 150 mounted men and a few foot- men, with Benjamin Wait and Experience Hinsdale as guides, on the 17th of May, at dusk, began a memorable march. Up the Pocomptuck path to Wequamps; through the woods to Bloody Brook, passing in pitchy darkness, with bated breath and clinched musket, the grave of Capt. Lothrop and his men ; guided by Hinsdale through the mire which the blood of his father and their brothers had softened eight months before; up the narrow road down which Lathrop had marched to the fatal snare; through the desolate street of Pocomptuck, with ranks closed, that the horses might not stumble into the dark cellars of the burned houses, seen fitfully by the lightning's flash ; across the North Meadows, where the heroie life of the other guide was soon to be fitly rounded out; fording the Po- comptuck just below the mouth of Sheldon's Brook; up the steep hill to Petty's Plain ; along the Indian path under Shel- burne Mountain for two miles; thence easterly across Green River, at the mouth of Ash Swamp Brook ; skirting the great swamp,-the company reached the vicinity of the falls before the break of day. Dismounting his wet and tired men, Capt. Turner led them across Fall River, over an abrupt ridge, and just at dawn was ready to fall upon the sleeping camp at the head of the falls.

It had been a night of festivity with the Indians. They had " made themselves merry with new milk and roast beef," the product of a late raid on Hatfield. A party had been en- gaged on a fishing frolic, spearing salmon in the river by torchlight. Driven in by a heavy shower, they, with the others, were now in a profound slumber, with no watch set. From this stupid security they were aroused by the roar of Capt. Turner's muskets, many of which were fired into the very wigwams. The survivors rushed out erying, " Mohawks! Mohawks !" thinking their old enemy was upon them, and fled in a panie toward the river. Many were cut down upon the bank. Many, jumping into their canoes, pushed off into the swift water without paddles ; in other canoes the paddlers were shot, so that nearly the whole fleet was swept over the cataract to sure destruction. A few of the most stalwart escaped by swimming to the opposite bank. Wenaquahin, a Narragansett chief, was of this number. A slight defense only was made, and but one of the assailants wounded ; another, being mistaken for an Indian as he was coming out of a wigwam in a dim light, was shot by his friends. The end, however, was not yet. After burning the wigwams, destroying two forges, and throwing " pigs of lead" into the river, Capt. Turner began to collect his command for a return.

Meanwhile, the alarm had spread among the Indians, and from over the river, from an island below the falls, from camps up the stream, the infuriated hordes swarmed in a dark fringe on flanks and rear. A report spread that Philip, with 1000 warriors, was coming from Squakheag, and a panic ensued among the exhausted men. The officers lost the command, and the retreat became a rout. Small parties sepa- rating from the main body were cut off; Holyoke, bravely defending the rear, narrowly escaped the clutches of the pur- suers, his horse being shot under him. Turner was less for- tunate: in crossing Green River he was shot, and fell alive

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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

into the hands of the Indians. The flying troops were followed across the Poeomptuck and as far as the Bars. The loss on reaching Hatfield was found to be 2 men mortally wounded and 45 missing ; G stragglers subsequently came in. The total loss was the commander and 40 men. The interesting experi- ences of the chaplain and the boy-bero, Jonathan Wells, two of those who came in alone, must be looked for in a more ex- tended work.

The following is the list of killed as far as ascertained :

Capt. William Turner, Boston ; William Allis, Jr., Hat- field ; James Bennet, Northampton ; George Buckley, James Burton, John Church, Hatfield ; Jabez Dunkin, Worcester ; John Foster, Joseph Fowler, Peter Gerring, Samuel Gillet, Hatfield ; Isaac Harrison, Hadley ; Experience Hinsdale, Deerfield ; William Howard, John Langbury, Northampton ; Thomas Lyon, Fairfield, Conn. ; John Miller, Northampton ; Samuel Rainsford, Thomas Roberts, Northampton ; Nathaniel Sutlieff, Deerfield ; John Walker, John Whitteridge. Capt. Holyoke and John Munn each died "of a surfeit got at the Falls fight," some time after.

No intelligent estimate can be made of the number of In- dians in this affair, and no certainty exists as to the loss ; per- haps 300, including women and children, is a near estimate. Here Philip lost many of his best warriors, Wampanoags and Narragansetts, and here the power of the Pocomptucks was broken. As a tribe they never again appear in history. The remnant found refuge with the Mohicans or in Canada.

The plans of Philip and the Nipmuck sachems, of holding this as a place of refuge for non-combatants and depot of sup- plies, having failed, after an abortive attack on Hadley, May 30th, open dissensions arose among the confederates, and the discordant mass made its way in detached parties aimlessly to the eastward,-the Nipmucks to their strongholds about Wa- chuset, and Philip, with Quinapin and Weetemo, who con- tinued faithful, moving toward Plymouth County. Hostilities in the valley were at an end. With the death of Philip, August 12, 1676, and the capture soon after of Anawan, his great chief, " Philip's war" ended.

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History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 11

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 896

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 896