USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Marlborough > History of the town of Marlborough, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1657 to 1861; with a brief sketch of the town of Northborough, a genealogy of the families in Marlborough to 1800 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52
71
mated at four thousand; of these, seven hundred warriors were killed, and three hundred more died of their wounds ; three hundred warriors were taken prisoners, and as many women and children. The rest, except such as were consumed in their wigwams, fled. The victory of the English was complete ; but it was purchased with blood. Six brave captains fell, eighty of their men were killed, or mortally wounded, and one hundred and fifty more were wounded and recovered.
But complete as this victory was, the daring spirit of Philip was not subdued. Scarcely had the troops from Massachu- setts, who had made this bold and successful incursion into his dominion, returned to Boston and been disbanded, before the enemy appeared in their very midst. With almost incredible celerity, he threw himself upon the border settlements, and one after another was wrapped in flames. Small predatory parties lurked about almost every settlement, cutting off a laborer here and there, burning solitary houses, and destroying or carrying the families into captivity.
But the war soon assumed a more formidable character. The Indians collected in large numbers, and fell upon the principal frontier towns ; and scarcely were the smouldering fires of one settlement extinguished, before the midnight gloom was lighted by the blaze of another. The troops which had driven Philip's forces from their stronghold in Rhode Island, on the 19th of December, had returned and were discharged about the first of February. On the 10th of that mouth, a party of Indians fell upon Lancaster, and burnt most of the houses that were not garrisoned ; and more than forty persons, an eighth of the whole population, were either killed on the spot, or carried into captivity ;- among the latter were Mrs. Rolandson, the wife of their worthy minister, and her children; and had it not been for the timely arrival of the gallant Captain Wadsworth, with his company from Marlborough, the remaining inhabitants would probably have experienced a dreadful death, or a lingering captivity.
The principal destruction at Lancaster was at the house of the minister. It was a garrisoned house, and was filled with soldiers and inhabitants, to the number of forty-two. The house was defended with determined bravery against a large force, for upwards of two hours, when the enemy succeeded in
72
setting it on fire. The inhabitants finding further resistance useless, were compelled to surrender, to avoid perishing in the flames. One man only escaped ; twelve were either put to death on the spot, or reserved for torture. Others were carried into captivity. Mrs. Rolandson was taken by a Narraganset Indian, and sold to Quamopin, a Sagamore who was connected with Philip by marriage ; their wives being sisters. Mrs. Rolandson was held in captivity several months, when she was redeemed by the Government for £20. When the attack was made upon Lancaster, Mr. Rolandson, with one of his principal parishioners, was at Boston, soliciting a military force to defend the place. To this circumstance he owed his escape, and prob- ably his life.
After the destruction of Lancaster, the Indians passed through Marlborough, where they committed some depredations, on the way to Medfield, which place they surprised, on the morning of the 21st of February. Though there were soldiers stationed there, so stealthy was the approach of the savages, that the troops afforded no protection. Entering the town under the cover of night, they dispersed themselves throughout the settle- ment, and at a concerted signal applied the torch to the dwell- ings a little before day-light ; and while the affrighted inhabi- tants were rushing from their burning habitations, they were fired upon by the Indians, who had secreted themselves near the respective houses. As soon as the alarm was given, and before the troops stationed there could be collected, the wily enemy had fled. About fifty houses were burned, and fifteen or sixteen persons were either killed or consumed in their dwellings.
Soon after this, small parties were seen prowling about Gro- ton. On the 2d and 9th of March, several depredations were committed in that town ; one man was killed, and another was carried into captivity. But on the 13th of that month, they approached the place in larger numbers, and by stratagem suc- ceeded in drawing the armed men from their garrisons, when they attacked them both in front and rear. The Indians got possession of some of their garrisons, so that the people saved themselves only by seeking shelter in others. About fifty houses were burnt, two or three of the inhabitants were killed, and the settlement broken up.
.
73
Under the guidance of their distinguished leader, the Indians appeared almost to possess the attribute of omnipresence ; for while they were threatening one settlement, and calling public attention in that direction, the incendiary torch was applied in another quarter. Thus the whole community was kept in a constant state of alarm. Scarcely had the smoke ceased to ascend from the burning dwellings of Groton, when a large body of Indians were found prowling in the woods between Marlborough and Brookfield. Troops were immediately dis- patched from the towns, when the Indians fell back towards the valley of the Connecticut ; and though they were vigorously pursued, the main body could not be brought to action. Dis- appointed in not being able to chastise the enemy, the troops returned to Marlborough, where they learned from a spy who was taken, that the Indians meditated an immediate attack upon that town. The soldiers remained a few days, but 110 enemy appearing, they concluded that the design, if ever enter- tained, had been abandoned ; consequently they returned to their homes, to the great regret of the inhabitants, who still believed that the report of the prisoner was well founded. In this impression they were right, as the sequel too plainly showed.
Within four days after the troops had been withdrawn, the arch enemy made his appearance. The 26th of March, 1676, being the day for public worship, arrived. "No rude alarm of raging foes " disturbed the quiet of that Sabbath morn- ing. The people assembled at the house where prayer was wont to be made, and a fervent petition had been offered for their safety and protection. A hymn of praise had been sung. Their spiritual leader, the Rev. Mr. Brimsmead, commenced his sermon, and was dispensing to them the word of life, when he was interrupted by the appalling cry -- " The Indians are upon us." The confusion and dismay which ensued, can be better imagined than described ! The assembly instantly broke up; and the people made for the neighboring garrison, where, with a single exception, they all arrived in safety, just in season to elude the savage foe. One of the worshipers,* (to his honor be it recorded,) less moved by fear than by humanity, seeing
Moses Newton, a son of Richard Newton, one of the thirteen original pro- prietors of the town.
74
an aged and infirm female who could not move rapidly from the scene of danger, resolved to rescue her from impending destruction, or perish in the attempt. In his noble effort he succeeded, and brought her safely to the garrison, though in so doing he received a ball in his elbow, from the effects of which he never fully recovered.
Being secured in the garrison, they were able to defend themselves, but could afford no protection to their property, much of which was destroyed, or carried away. Thirteen of their dwellings, and eleven barns, were laid in ashes; their fences thrown down ; their fruit-trees hacked and peeled ; their cattle killed or maimed ; so that their ravages were visible for many years. But what would be more distressing to our pious ancestors, than any other loss of mere property, was that of their meeting-house, and the house they had erected for their faithful minister-both of which shared in the general confla- gration. There is a common tradition, that the Indians set fire to Mr. Brimsmead's house, and that the flames communicated with the meeting-house which stood near by, and that that was the cause of its being burnt. This might have been the case ; but the Indians, engaged in a war of extermination, had no more regard for the white man's religion, than for the white man's life, which they were taking every measure to destroy. And it is possible, that the fact of this house being located upon the Indian planting field, which gave some offense to the Indians, might have been one cause of its destruction.
After the destruction of most of their dwellings, many of the inhabitants left the place, and repaired to Watertown, Concord, and other towns less exposed; as we shall have occasion to mention hereafter.
Subsequent to this attack upon Marlborough, the Indians, about three hundred strong, who undoubtedly felt that they were masters of this region of country, retired to the woods not far distant, and encamped for the night. Lieut. Jacobs, of the garrison at Marlborough, conceived the bold design of sur- prising them in their camp. Accordingly, on the night of the 27th, with a party of his men, and a portion of the citizens of the town, he attacked them when they were wrapped in pro- found slumber, and killed and wounded about forty, without sustaining any loss himself.
75
The Indians seem to have resolved that this midnight assassination should not go unrequited. On the 17th of April, the largest number of Indians which had appeared in this neighborhood, attacked Sudbury, and before resistance could be made, set fire to several buildings, which were consumed. The inhabitants however rallied, and made a bold stand, and were soon joined by some soldiers from Watertown, under the lead of Capt. Hugh Mason. The Indians retreated over the bridge towards Marlborough,* and did no more damage that day.
Capt. Wadsworth, a brave and experienced officer from Milton, who on a former occasion relieved Lancaster in the hour of her peril, marched with about fifty men from Boston, to strengthen the garrison at Marlborough ; and on his arrival there in the evening, he learned the fate of Sudbury. On his way to Marlborough he passed near where a portion of the Indians were concealed ; but they permitted him to move on, without showing themselves ; willing, no doubt, to be relieved from the presence of one they had so much reason to dread. When Capt. Wadsworth learned at Marlborough the particulars, as far as they were then known, of the attack that morning upon Sudbury, and that there was a party of Indians still lurking about the place, though he had marched all day and a part of the preceding night, he resolved to return to the relief of the place. Giving his men but a brief period for rest and refresh- ment, and leaving some of them, who were nearly exhausted by the severe hardships they had already endured, accompa- nied by Capt. Brocklebank, then in command at Marlborough, with a portion of his men he commenced his march for Sudbury. On the morning of the 18tht of April, when they
* The portion of Sudbury which was attacked, and where the houses were burnt, was east of the river, in what is now Wayland.
+ There is considerable discrepancy with reference to the date of the Sudbury Fight-some placing it on the 18th, and some on the 21st of April. Though no principle is involved, it is always desirable to be historically correct. There are very respectable authorities on each side. Those who contend for the 18th, allege that this is the date upon the Wadsworth Monument, at Sudbury, and that it follows the authority of President Wadsworth, of Harvard College, who was a son of Capt. Wadsworth, and who would be likely to have the best information on the subject, and the strongest inducement to state it correctly. Hubbard, the historian of the Indian wars, places it on the 18th. The Massa-
76
had arrived within about a mile and a half of the town, they came near where a body of about five hundred Indians had prepared an ambush behind the hills. From their hiding- place, they sent out a few of their party, who crossed the march of the English, and being discovered by them, affected to fly through fear, to decoy them into a pursuit. The strata- gem succeeded, and with great boldness the Indians began the
chusetts Council communicate the fact of the Sudbury Fight to the Plymouth Colony in writing, on the 21st ; and considering that the battle lasted several hours, and that the men who sought shelter in the mill were not relieved till the afternoon, and that the Indians were left in possession of the field during the day, it is highly improbable, it is said, that the Council should receive the news and communicate it to Plymouth on the day of the fight, the Indians being in possession of the intervening country.
Gov. Boutwell, in his Address at Sudbury, places it on the 18th, and says it could not have been as late as the 21st. Rev. Peter Hobart, of Hingham, has this entry in his journal : " April 18, 1676, Sudbury burnt, and Capt. Wads- worth and Capt. Brocklebank slain." Hutchinson, in his History, Vol. 1, p. 305, says : "April 20, 1676, news came to Boston of the loss of Capt. Wads- worth and fifty of his men, going to relieve Sudbury, attacked by the enemy." This statement is highly probable ; as the Indians were in Sudbury and vicinity in great force, they would naturally intercept the communication, so that the events of the 18th would not be likely to reach Boston before the 20th. Far- mer says: "Capt. Wadsworth, freeman, 1668, killed by the Indians, April 18, 1676." Judge Sewall's Almanack has it on the 18th. Willard fixes it on the 18th ; with which Ward concurs.
On the other hand, Savage, whose authority stands high, places it on the 21st. Drake, who has investigated the subject pretty fully, thinks it was on the 21st. And in support of this position, he cites Gookin, who says he was attending church at Charlestown, on Lecture-day, when the news arrived ; and Mr. Drake asserts that the Lecture-day was Friday, which that year would fall on the 21st. This, he thinks, is conclusive upon the subject. But as religious meetings were numerous in those days, the Lecture might have been on some other day, or some other meeting might have been confounded with the Lecture. Mather sets it down as the 21st. But the fact that he adds a tale of the sufferings of the captives taken by the Indians, which, if true, could not have been known at the time, shows that this entry must have been made sometime after the date; which does not strengthen his authority. The Roxbury Records, where several of the slain belonged, fix the battle on the 21st. Gage, in his History of Rowley, where Captain Brocklebank and others engaged in the battle resided, places it on the 21st. Judge Sewall, in his journal, places it on the 21st; and the Probate Records of Middlesex, which are very reliable, sets down the death of those who fell as occurring on the 21st. Those who advocate the latter date assert, with a good degree of probability, that Gookin's intimacy with the Praying Indians, enabled him to obtain, through them, the earliest intelligence from the interior, and that they could in four or five hours convey the news to Charlestown.
77
attack. For a time the English maintained good order, and having retreated to an adjacent hill, sustained the conflict for nearly four hours, with a loss of only four or five men. Mean- while the Indians had lost a great number, which so enraged them, that they resolved upon another stratagem. They im- mediately set fire to the woods to the windward of the English, which spread with great rapidity, owing to an exceedingly high wind, and the dryness of the grass and other combusti- bles. This stratagem succeeded better than the first ; for the first brought on an attack which had proved nearly fatal to the originators, but this was crowned with complete success. The fury of the flames drove the English from their advantageous position, which enabled the Indians, from their superior num- bers, to fall upon them with their tomahawks, and assault them on every side. In this way many were enabled to attack a single individual, and the vast superiority of numbers at length prevailed over courage and discipline. All the English but about twenty were killed, or fell into the hands of the enemy ; among the former were the two captains. Some of those who escaped, took shelter in a mill not far distant, and were saved by the timely arrival of Capt. Prentice, with about fifty horse, and Capt. Crowell, who fortunately was on his way from Brookfield with about thirty men. Both of these officers narrowly escaped the fate of the gallant Wadsworth and Brocklebank.
The number of the English killed in this bloody encounter is not certainly known. Different estimates have been made ; but it is probable that the true number was about thirty-a great slaughter, considering the number of men engaged. The loss of these men, with their gallant commanders, was severely felt by the Colony. " Wadsworth," says Hubbard, the his- torian of this war, " was a resolute, stout-hearted soldier, and Brocklebank was a choice-spirited man." While this and even greater praise is due to them, they probably suffered their zeal and courage to carry them too far, and to neglect that precau- tion which is all-important, in contending with such wily and treacherous enemies.
Capt. Samuel Wadsworth was the youngest son of Chris- topher Wadsworth, one of the early Plymouth Pilgrims, who settled in Duxbury with Miles Standish. Samuel Wadsworth
11
78
was born at Duxbury, about 1630, and was therefore forty-five or six years of age at the time of his death. He first appears at Milton on their Records in 1656, and was interested in the separation of that town from Dorchester, and in its incorpora- tion, in 1662. He was the first commander of a company of militia in Milton, filled important town and church offices, was a representative in the General Court, and was highly esteemed by his fellow-townsmen.
Capt. Samuel Brocklebank, of Rowley, was born in Eng- land, and was also about forty-six years of age at the time of his death. The loss of these brave men and so many of their gallant followers, spread grief and consternation through Marl- borough and the neighboring towns. So great was the dismay, that the settlement at Marlborough was substantially broken up, most of the families retiring to the older towns for safety, where they remained till the war was over-which practically terminated with the death of Philip, in August, 1676.
After this victory at Sudbury, the tide of war seemed to turn against the Indians. They dispersed through the Colony, and in May and June burnt a portion of Bridgewater and Plymouth, and visited again the valley of the Connecticut ; but the chas- tisement they received at Deerfield, and Hatfield, and Hadley, broke their courage, and many of them were ready to sue for peace. Philip, who had fled to the Mohawks, attempted to engage them in his interest ; but failing in that, he returned, and was lurking about Mount Hope. The troops of Massachu- setts and Plymouth kept a careful watch for him. At length Capt. Church, with about thirty of his own soldiers and twenty friendly Indians, surprised him in his quarters, killed about one hundred and thirty of his men, and took his wife and son prisoners. Philip himself just escaped with his life.
About ten days after, the persevering and determined Church had an opportunity to rid the country of this terrible enemy. Philip having put one of his warriors to death for advising him to make peace with the English, the brother of the slaughtered man, fearing the same fate, fled to the English, informed them of Philip's place of retirement, and offered to lead them to his camp. Capt. Church, who never suffered an opportunity to be lost, started early on the morning of the 12th of August, 1676, came to the swamp where the daring chief was encamped, and
79
before he was discovered, had placed a guard about it, so as to encompass it, except at one point. He then ordered Capt. Goulding to rush into the swamp at the point unguarded, and fall upon Philip in his camp, which was immediately done.
On discovering the approach of the English, Philip was the first to fly. Having but just awakened from sleep, and having on but a part of his clothes, he seized his gun and fled with precipitation, running directly to a thicket where Church had placed an Englishman and an Indian, to intercept his flight. On his near approach, the faithful guard arose from their secret covert. The Englishman presented his musket, but it missed fire ; the Indian, whose gun was loaded with two balls, sent one of them through Philip's heart. He fell in the mud and water, with his gun under him, and expired.
Alderman, the Indian who shot Philip, was a brother of the warrior he had put to death, and the one who had led Church to the place of Philip's concealment.
Agreeably to the spirit of the times, which we cannot at this day commend, Capt. Church ordered Philip to be beheaded and quartered. The Indian who executed this order pronounced a warrior's eulogy : " You have been one very great man. You have made many a man afraid of you. But big as you be, I will now chop you to pieces."
Thus fell a savage hero and patriot-of whose daring cour- age and transcendent abilities, our history furnishes melancholy evidence. With the fall of Philip, expired the hope of his tribe and the confidence of his confederates. The war was continued in the Province of Maine for some time, but in the Colony proper the people had rest.
It is impossible for us, at this day, fully to realize the situa- tion of the inhabitants of Marlborough at that eventful period. They were in a manner a frontier settlement. After the de- struction of Brookfield, there was no town west of them this side of Connecticut River ; and though the town was made a military post, and troops were quartered there to protect the inhabitants, and keep open a line of communication with Con- necticut River, such a post could do but little towards defend- ing the laborers in their fields, or the families scattered over the township. The midnight incursions of the wily foe, and their secret, stealthy march through the surrounding forests, rendered
80
the families nearly as insecure as though no troops were in the place. Their condition was truly deplorable. Exposed at all times to a sudden surprise, or a secret ambush, the laborer felt no security amid his toils, and his family, in his absence, were filled with apprehension that he might fall a prey to the merci- less enemy, or that they might be massacred in the absence of their protector. Thus a death with torture, or a hopeless cap- tivity, must have constantly haunted their imagination. At night many of them repaired to their garrisons, leaving their homes and whatever they contained an easy prey to the enemy. Their perilous condition is well described in a stanza of a fron- tier ballad :
"The hostile savage yells for prey Along the pathless wild ; The huntsman's track is watched by day, By night his sleep's beguiled. His blazing cottage lights the gloom, His infant shrieks the alarm ; His wife sinks lifeless in a swoon, Or bleeds within his arm."
The horrors and devastation of Philip's war have no parallel in our history. The Revolution was a struggle for freedom ; the contest with Philip was for existence. The war lasted only about fourteen months ; and yet the towns of Brookfield, Lancaster, Marlborough, Medfield, Sudbury, Groton, Deerfield, Hatfield, Hadley, Northfield, Springfield, Weymouth, Chelms- ford, Andover, Scituate, Bridgewater, Plymouth, and· several other places, were wholly or partially destroyed, and many of the inhabitants were massacred or carried into captivity. Dur- ing this short period, six hundred of our brave men, the flower and strength of the Colony, had fallen, and six hundred dwell- ing-houses were consumed. Every eleventh family was house- less, and every eleventh soldier had sunk to his grave.
The inhabitants suffered almost every privation. Nor were the sufferings confined to them. The gallant soldiers who took their lives in their hands to preserve the English settlement, endured incredible hardships from cold and hunger and fatigue ; and though subjected to tedious marches through trackless forests, and to a winter campaign amid drifts of snow, where they were exposed in their destitution to the midnight attack
81
and the secret ambush of an enemy practiced in every art of guile, and every species of torture, they bore their sufferings with unwavering fortitude, being determined to endure any hardship, and to brave any danger in the cause of their God and their country.
We have no means of knowing the number of Marlborough men who were engaged in this war, or who fell in the conflict. It being a frontier town, and greatly exposed, it is not probable that many of the citizens were called far from home, to en- counter the enemy. We have seen that a portion of the citi- zens joined Lieut. Jacobs in the bold attack upon the Indian encampment. The records of the town give the names of John Howe, Henry Axtel, and Eleazer Ward, who were slain by the Indians in Sudbury, in 1676. Whether they fell with the gallant Wadsworth, in what is known as the "Sudbury Fight," or were cut off by some small party of Indians, is uncertain. The circumstance that many of the inhabitants left the place after the breaking out of hostilities, would naturally account for the fact that but few of them were lost in the bloody conflict. There are some supposed instances, of individuals being killed or captured by the Indians; but the evidence of the fact is mostly traditionary. Hubbard, in his History of the War, informs us that on the 16th of November, 1675, Capt. Hench- man marched from Boston, and on the fourth day fell suddenly upon a party of Indians at Grafton, and "rescued the miller's boy taken the week before at Marlborough." He also speaks of the shepherd boy killed in Marlborough, the same year.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.