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 8
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The question naturally arises, What course did the Marlbo- rough Indians pursue during this war? This subject is involved in some uncertainty. They were strongly suspected of being in secret league with Philip; and Capt. Mosely was sent by the Government to bring them to Boston. He arrived with his company at Marlborough, at night, and early the next morning, before the Indians had any suspicion of his design, surrounded their fort, seized their arms, and obliged them to surrender. They made no resistance ; and were taken into custody by the soldiers, their hands tied behind them, and connected by a cart rope, were driven to Boston in company with some of the Natick Indians; and from thence were hurried down to one of
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the Islands in the harbor, where it is said they suffered severe hardships.
Gookin, whose acquaintance with the "Praying Indians" made him a good judge, labors to show that this harsh treat- ment was unjustifiable ; and maintains that they were neutral in this war. But there is good reason to believe that some of them were treacherous. They did not take any open part in the contest, most of them remaining on their plantation. It is well known that the Springfield Indians, who professed to be friendly, aided in the attack upon Westfield, Hadley, and other places. This would naturally lead to a suspicion that others, professing fidelity, might also be false. It is also known that some of the Marlborough Indians were with the enemy in the western part of the State, immediately before their descent upon Lancaster ; and though they pretended that they had been " carried away by other Indians," and professed a willing- ness to return, it is highly probable that they at least, gave their red brethren all the information in their power concerning the condition of things in Marlborough, and other towns in the vicinity, if they did not join in the expedition. And this suspi- cion is strengthened by the well-known fact, that they were highly displeased with the Marlborough people for locating their meeting-house upon what they considered a part of their plantation. This may have been one cause of the burning of that house.
After the the war was over, some of the Marlborough Indians returned to their former place of abode; but their plantation was in a great measure broken up, and they were compelled to seek shelter as best they were able. A considerable portion of those who returned, after the close of the war, lived in the western part of the town, on the farm of Thomas Brigham, one of the early proprietors, and the ancestor of many of the Brighams of Marlborough and Westborough.
" Among those who returned," says Rev. Dr. Allen, " was David, alias David Munnanow, who joined Philip, and, as he afterwards confessed, assisted in the destruction of Medfield. This treacherous Indian had, it is said, a slit thumb, which circumstance led to his conviction. He had been absent from Marlborough several months, and after his return gave no ac- count of himself, whither he had been, or how he had employed
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himself in the mean time. At length, however, an inhabitant of Medfield, one whom Munnanow had wounded, being in Marlborough, immediately recognized him by his thumb, and charged him with his treachery. At first he denied the charge, but finding that the proof against him could not be evaded, he owned that he had been led away by Philip, and had assisted in the burning of Medfield. He was, however, suffered to live without molestation. His wigwam was on the borders of the pond near the public house long known as Williams's Tavern, where he lived with his family many years, and died in ex- treme old age."
Some of the remnant of these Indians remained in Marlbo- rough for some time, being a poor, dissolute race. They had a burying-ground in the south-westerly part of the town, where the last of them were interred. It has been regarded as sacred, no one being disposed to disturb the ashes of those whose ancestors were once the proud owners of the country we are now permitted to enjoy.
The war whose history we have thus briefly sketched, had inflicted a deep wound upon the Colony. The loss of so large a number of its effective men, greatly weakened its strength ; and the destruction of so many dwellings and other property, left the people impoverished. But the war, which was so severe to the Colony, was destruction to their enemies. The Indians not only lost a large number of their people, but by appealing to the arbitrament of the sword, they had by the laws, even of civilized warfare, put their whole possessions at hazard. The Colony could now lawfully claim the vacant lands from which the Indians had been driven. All the In- dians, except those who had remained friendly, had forfeited their lands, and most of them retired beyond the bounds of the Colony ; so that Philip's war, which greatly impeded the growth of the Colony at the time, opened its whole territory for settlement, and thus contributed in the end, to give a firmer footing to the English settlements.
It seems to be true of states, as of individuals, that affliction gives them character, by enlisting their energies and teaching them their dependence. And it is one mitigation of the horrors of war, that in many ways, unforeseen by mortals, God makes ' the wrath of man to praise him.' The history of the world
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presents us with many instances, in which the cause of civili- zation and improvement has been promoted by war. This is true of the destructive war of King Philip. The English, up to that time, had but a precarious foothold in New England. That bloody contest settled the question forever, and gave them the undisputed possession of this section of the country. No doubt the Colony grew and prospered more, for the suc- ceeding half century, than it would have done, if Philip and the Narragansets had remained in a state of uncertain peace.
The French wars were a great scourge to the Colonies, and yet they prepared the people for the Revolutionary struggle, and so were a means, in the Divine Hand, of training us for a higher destiny. And the Revolutionary war, with all its suffer- ing and exhaustion, was overruled by Infinite Wisdom for the happiness of this people, and for the more rapid spread of the principles of civil liberty among the nations of the earth. No philosopher of history will pretend, for a moment, that the cause of humanity and religion even, would have been pro- moted by our remaining Colonies of Great Britain. No doubt the prosperity of both nations has been facilitated by the sepa- ration.
And may we not hope that the present distracted state of this country may be a means of the advancement of the human race. Though it is a sad reflection, that brethren who have long dwelt together in unity should assume a hostile attitude to each other, and should take the field with all the terrible enginery of destruction, it may be that wise and even benev- olent ends will be accomplished by this awful scourge.
We have had, from the first, one degrading and disturbing element in the midst of us. The system of human slavery, repugnant alike to the spirit of our free institutions and to the laws of the Almighty, has ever been a stain upon our national character. Its corrupting influence has long been seen and felt by our wisest statesmen and purest patriots. Its existence was deplored by the fathers of the Republic, who took measures, as they supposed, for its gradual extinction. But the purchase of Louisiana, and the culture of cotton, gave a new impulse to the institution, and placed it upon a firmer basis than it had ever before enjoyed. In the meantime, the evil effects of the insti- tution were developing themselves in the arrogant and haughty
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demeanor of the slaveholders, who in fact claimed the right to rule the nation, as they did their slaves. And to strengthen themselves in their lordly demands, they succeeded, by the treachery of many northern men, in annexing a large portion of slave territory. for the avowed purpose of spreading that corrupt and corrupting institution. Strengthened by their suc- cess, they plunged the nation into an unnecessary and unjust war with Mexico, to further the policy of extending an inhuman institution, and enabling the slave States to hold the balance of power ; so that they might in future rule the nation, or in case of failure, sunder the Republic and set up for themselves.
The election of a President opposed to their policy, and the fact of the more rapid increase of population in the free States, showed the arrogant slaveholders that the sovereignty of the slave power was doomed. Falling back upon what they falsely call their " reserved rights," but in reality, their long-cherished and concerted system of treason, they threw off the mask, seized the property of the United States, and commenced an unnatural and unholy war upon the country from which they had derived all their blessings. No alternative was left to the free States but to submit to their lawless aggressions, or repel their wicked assaults. After a patient forbearance, which has no parallel in history, the Government at Washington took the firm resolve. A call was made upon the country to sustain the Constitution and the Laws. The effect was truly electrifying. Party animosities were forgotten, and the whole people in the free States rose as one man; and the only strife was, who should fly first to the standard of their common country.
The history of the world does not present a more sublime spectacle than this rising of the free States to sustain the blessed inheritance which has come down to ns from our fathers. They saw that the " irrepressible conflict " had been precipitated upon them, and they resolved to meet the issue. The fire of patriotism which had slumbered in the American bosom, was instantly kindled into a flame, and the northern heart beat high with the resolve, that the Union must be sus- tained at every hazard; and the lives and fortunes of the people were, without reserve, tendered to the Administration, with the solemnly implied injunction that the Rebellion must be put down, and the fruitful cause of this treason be restrained,
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suppressed, and finally eradicated from the land. Let this be done ; and however great may be the evils of the war, they will be more than balanced by wiping out this foul stain from our national escutcheon, by extirpating this cancer from the body politic, by removing from the land this withering curse, which paralyzes our industry, blights our prosperity, dries up the fountain of moral sentiment, and, like the poisonous sirocco of the desert, scatters disease and death, both physical and moral, throughout the fair Eden of our national inher- itance.
I
CHAPTER IV.
RE-SETTLEMENT OF MARLBOROUGH-INDIAN WARS, &c.
The Inhabitants return - Rebuild the Meeting- House - Ereet another - Deed from the Indians -Petition for the Indian Plantation -The Plantation purchased - Deed pronounced void by the General Court - List of Proprie- tors -They divide the Lands - The Land Mania general - The People ereet a New Meeting-House -Establish Schools -Show their Devotion to Civil Liberty - Elizabeth Howe taken captive- An Attempt to settle a Successor to Mr. Brimsmead - Rev. Mr. Breek settled - Queen Anne's War - Capture of the Rice Children - Of John Bigelow - Of Howe and Wilder - Of Miss Goodnow -Garrisons - Seating the Meeting-House - Westborough set off from Marlborough - Aleoeke's Farm and Indian l'lant- ation annexed - Southborough set off - Death and Character of Rev. Mr. Breck.
ON the breaking out of Philip's war in 1675, many of the inhabitants of Marlborough left the place, to seek shelter in more populous and less exposed towns. The absence of the settlers, and the destruction of their houses and other property by the Indians, had temporarily rendered the place nearly des- olate. But on the restoration of peace, the inhabitants returned to their former places of residence, and commenced, anew, the settlement of the town. In 1677, John Woods, constable, pre- ferred a petition to the General Court, setting forth that about twenty-seven families had already returned, and prayed that they might be permitted to call a town meeting for the man- agement of their affairs by the election of town officers, and thus renew their municipal organization, which had been inter- rupted for two years-which request was granted.
Among the first objects of their attention, after the choice of officers, was that of providing a place for public worship. They accordingly proceeded to erect a meeting-house, which,
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like the former, that was burnt by the Indians, was thatched with straw, or rather a kind of tall grass taken from a meadow, since called, from that circumstance, "Thatch Meadow." This house was located on the old spot, and being left in an unfinished state, lasted but a few years. In 1680, an unsuc- cessful attempt was made to enlarge it. At length, in 1688, a larger and more commodious house was erected, near the site of the former, which lasted one hundred and twenty years- having stood till the new meeting-houses were erected ; the one at Spring Hill, and the other at the West End, in 1806. The old meeting-house, in 1689, was valued at ten pounds, and the pulpit at four pounds, " which were improved in the new meet- ing-house, for carrying on the finishing of that."
Though the township was granted to the proprietors in 1656, by the General Court, which had, by previous treaty with the Indians, an undoubted right to convey the land, the Indians who remained in Marlborough, after the close of Philip's war, laid claim to the township, after the English had been in pos- session of it for nearly thirty years. The inhabitants of Marl- borough could have no doubt of the validity of their title ; yet, moved perhaps by sympathy for the remains of a once power- ful but now fallen tribe, and wishing, no doubt, to secure the friendship of this remnant for the future, they chose a committee to confer with them, and satisfy their demand, if it could rea- sonably be done. This committee consisted of Lieut. John Ruddocke, Abraham Williams, and Joseph Rice, assisted by Maj. Peter Bulkley and Capt. Thomas Hinckman ; and after several interviews with the Indians, they agreed to pay them thirty-one pounds, on condition that they execute a good and sufficient deed, relinquishing all right and title to the lands within the township granted by the General Court. This offer of compensation must have been regarded as a mere gratuity ; for it could not be considered as a legal claim.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of Marlborough, held April 21, 1684, the town unanimously accepted of the proposition, and voted to raise the sum of thirty-one pounds, to be collected and brought to the meeting-house on the 20th of May; which was accordingly done, and the deed signed by the Indians was presented to the town. This deed was given by the Indians of
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Natick and Wamesit, (now Lowell,) the Marlborough Indians being a part of the same tribe.
INDIAN DEED OF THE PLANTATION OF MARLBOROUGHI.
To all Christian people to whom these presents shall come, Greeting :
KNOW YEE, That we, the Indian inhabitants of the Plantations called Natick and Wamesit, in the Massachusetts Colonie in New England, viz. [the names of the grantees, as written below, with the omission of Andrew Philim or Pitimee, and John Wamesqut, and the addition of Edmund Asowanit, making the whole number 25,] for and in consideration of the sum of thirty-one pounds of lawful money of New England, which said sum, wee the said [here the names are repeated] do acknowledge ourselves to have received of Abraham Williams and Joseph Rice, both of the town of Marl- borough, in the County of Middlesex, in New England, who, in the said payment, not only for themselves, but also as agents in behalf of all the rest of their fellow purchasers, belonging to the said town of Marlborough, and of the said sum of thirty-one pounds, and every part and parcel thereof, wee the said, [names repeated,] for our- selves, and for our heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, do freely, clearly, and wholly exonerate, acquit and discharge the said Abraham Williams and Joseph Rice, and all their said fellow pur- chasers belonging to the said town of Marlborough, and every of them, and their heirs, executors, administrators, and every of them forever ; have given, granted, bargained, sold, and by these presents do give, grant, bargain, and sell and confirm unto the said Abraham Williams and Joseph Rice, and unto all their fellow purchasers, belonging to the said town of Marlborough, and unto all and every of their several heirs and assigns forever, all that tract of land, which is contained within the bounds of the Town, Township or Plantation, ealled Marlborough, aforesaid, as the said bounds were laid out, plotted, and represented by Mr. Samuel Andrews of Cam- bridge, unto the Court of the Massachusetts Colonie aforesaid, and by the Court accepted and recorded ; that is to say, all Uplands, Meadows, Swamps, Woods, Timber, Fountains, Brooks, Rivers, Ponds, and Herbage within said bounds of the said Town, Township or Plantation of Marlborough, together with all and singular the appurtenanees thereof, and all manner of profits, gains and advan- tages, arising upon or from, the said tract of land, which the said Abraham Williams or Joseph Rice, or all or any of their fellow pur- chasers, belonging to the said town of Marlborough, at any time
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formerly had or now have, or hereafter at any time may or shall have, (except a certain farm some years laid out to Mr. John Alcocke, deceased, which lyeth within the bounds of said town or township of Marlborough, and is by the said [names repeated] utterly and totally exempted and excluded from this present bargain.)
To have and to hold all the forementioned tracts of land [here the deseription is repeated] to their own proper use and improvement, as is above declared, (exeept the farm before excepted,) to them- selves, the said Abraham Williams and Joseph Rice, and to all their said fellow purchasers, belonging to the said Marlborough, and unto all and several their heirs, and assigns forever, in a good and sure estate of inheritance in fee simple, without any elaim or demand, any obstruction, eviction, expulsion or molestation whatsoever, from us the said, [names repeated,] or from the heirs, executors, adminis- trators or assigns of us the Indians, or either of us, or from any other person or persons whatsoever, acting by, from, or under us or them, or any of them, our said heirs, executors, administrators or assigns.
"Furthermore, wee the said [names repeated] do covenant and grant, with and to the said Abraham Williams and Joseph Rice, and all their said fellow purchasers, belonging to said Marlborough, that wee the abovenamed Indians have been until the conveyance and assurance made by these presents, the true and proper owners of all the said tract of land, lying within the bounds of the plantation or township of Marlborough, together with all and singular the appur- tenances thereof in our own right, and to our own use, in a good, absolute and firm estate of inheritance, and in fee simple, and have full power, and good right, and lawful authority to grant, bargain, sell, and convey, and assure, the tract of land, and every part and parcel thereof, with all and singular the appurtenances of the same, as is before in these presents mentioned : And wee the said [names repeated] do warrant and assure that all the tract of land and all and every the appurtenances thereof, by these presents alienated and sold, have been and are at this time of signing and sealing of this Deed of Sale, utterly and totally free and clear from any former bargains, sales, gifts, grants, leases, mortgages, judgments, exeeu- tions, extents, and incumbrances whatsoever ; and wee the said, [names repeated,] for ourselves and our heirs, executors, adminis- trators or assigns, do and shall, from time to time, and at all times hereafter (as occasion shall afford) confirm, defend, and make good,
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unto all intents and purposes, this whole bargain and sale aforesaid, and unto all and several their heirs and assigns forever.
IN WITNESS of all which premises, wee the said [names repeated] have hereunto set our hands and seals, this twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord Christ, one thousand six hundred eighty and four, Annoq. Regni Regis Caroli Secundi XXXVI.
ANDREW PILIM, (PITIMEE.) Attorney to Old F. Waban.
Signum. JOHN M NASQUANET.
Signum.
WILLIAM H WONONATOMOG.
Signum. JOHN # SPEEN.
Signum. LAWRENCE # NOWSAWANE.
Signum. JACOB A PONOPOHQUIN.
his mark. JEREMY H SOSOOHQUOH.
his mark.
SAMUEL WILLIAM. Signum. NATHANIEL # QUANKATOIN.
JAMES SPEEN.
Signum. JEHOJA N KIN. Signum. PETER N EPHRAIM. Attorney for John Awoosamug. Signum. JOIIN N AWOOSAMUG.
Signum. THOM. # DUBLET.
Signum. BENJAMIN B. BOHO.
Signum. JOIIN N WAMESQUT.
Signum. JOB # POHPONO. kis mark. BENJAMIN M TRAY.
Signed, Sealed, and delivered in presence of us witnesses :
his mark. SOSOWUN N NOO. Signum. JAMES # WISER. SIMON BETOGKOM.
SIMON CROSBY, JOIIN CURTIS, his mark. HENRY M RICE, JOHN MUGUS, DANIEL TAKAWOMPAIT, S Indians.
June 11th and 12th, 1684 .- At a Court held at Natiek, among the Indians, there appeared in Court and before me, all the sealers and subscribers to this Deed, being twenty-five [there are twenty-six signatures] persons in number, and freely acknowl- edged this writing to be their act and deed.
As attests, DANIEL GOOKIN, Sen'r, Assistant.
This Deed entered in the Register at Cambridge .- Lib. 9, page 293-299. 7.2. '85.
By THOMAS DANFORTH, R.
his mark. GREAT M JOHN.
THOMAS WABAN.
his mark.
ABRAHAM M SPEEN.
his mark. GREAT M JAMES.
Signum. JACOB # PETOWAT.
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It will be seen by the foregoing signatures, that six of the grantees, viz., Andrew Pitimee, James Speen, Simon Betogkom, Thomas Waban, and Benjamin B. Boho, wrote their names ; and that the same is true of the two Indian witnesses. This fact shows that, under the guardian care of Eliot and Gookin, the Indians had made some advances in learning and civiliza- tion. Daniel Takawompait was the pastor of the Indian Church at Natick, in 1698, ordained by the great Indian apostle, Eliot. He is said to have been a man of great knowledge. Thomas Waban was probably the son of Old Waban, the first Indian convert in the Colony, and who maintained through life a sober, Christian character, and died 1674, aged seventy years.
If a multiplicity of grantees, or a tedious verbosity of lan- guage can add strength to a title, the people of Marlborough must have held their lands by a sure tenure. In fact, the Indians had no title, either in law or equity, to this township, and the payment of the sum of thirty-one pounds, as we have already observed, was a mere gratuity, and must have been so considered at the time. We mention this to show that the people of Marlborough were, in this instance, very liberal towards this remnant of a feeble and perishing tribe. And we speak of it the more readily, because most of the same inhabitants, in another transaction with the Indians of that day, pursued a course of doubtful equity, and of an illegal character.
After the close of Philip's war, there was a strong desire man- ifested by the inhabitants of Marlborough and the vicinity, to possess the land included in the Indian Plantation. The Gen- eral Court, in laying ont that Plantation, plainly indicated that, from its position, it ought, whenever alienated, to belong to Marlborough. Hence the pre-emptive right to purchase was by the Court secured to them. But it appears that others, be- sides the inhabitants of Marlborough, coveted this plantation.
In May, 1677, Thomas Beaman, Josiah Sawyer, John Bow- ker, Josiah Howe, John Witherbee, Joseph Daby, Thomas Mar- tin, Samuel Stow, Samuel Winch, John Haynes, and Samuel Bush, inhabitants of Marlborough,* Lancaster and Sudbury, preferred a petition to the General Court, setting forth that the
* The names in Italics appear to have been citizens of Marlborough.
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Marlborough Indians, during the recent war, had been per- fidious, and had taken part with the enemy, and so had forfeited their title to the Plantation of Ockoocangansett ; and that they, the petitioners, had been in their country's service, and had hazarded their lives against the common enemy, and had suf- fered in their estates by having their habitations burnt, so that they were unable comfortably to provide for themselves and families ;- wherefore they " humbly pray that this Hon. Court would be pleased to grant unto these your petitioners, the said tract of land, or upon moderate terms, grant sale of said lands unto us, that with the blessing of God upon our labors, and your Honors' good will, we may be in good capacity to provide for ourselves and families; and your humble suppliants shall forever hold themselves obliged, and as in duty they ought, ever pray, and endeavor the good and welfare of this Common- wealth and this Honorable Court."
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