USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > History of the town of Middleboro, Massachusetts > Part 7
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2 From Bennett's Memoranda. He is spoken of as from Middleboro.
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EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
1670]
thaniel Wilder, and had much land in Middleboro, being an owner in the Sixteen Shilling Purchase.
He married Joanna Thomas, May 7, 1680, and Mercy, widow of Jabez Fuller, as his second wife, in 1720. He died March 2, 1734, aged eighty-one years.
FRANCIS WALKER married Elizabeth, a daughter of George Soule. He is spoken of as living in Middleboro in 1668, but moved to Duxbury in 1672, returning later to occupy the land left to his wife by her father.1
HENRY WOOD. The first mention of Henry Wood is in September 16, 1641, when he, residing in Plymouth, purchased of John Dunham, the. younger, his house and land lying in Plymouth for seven pounds, but the time of his arrival and the time of his birth are unknown.
He married Abigail Jenney, a daughter of John Jenney, who at one time owned land in Lakenham, now Carver, April 28, 1644. At or about the time of his marriage, he moved to Yar- mouth, where his daughter Sarah and his son Samuel were born. He moved to Plymouth before 1649, where his other children were born, and to Middleboro about 1655.2
Tradition has placed the site of his residence as not far from that of the late General Abiel Washburn. He was not among the Twenty-six Purchasers, but received the share that was set out to John Shaw, a portion of which subdivision has always been in the possession of his descendants. He was an original proprietor in the Little Lotmen's Purchase.
He was propounded as a freeman in 1647, and admitted in 1648. Before the incorporation of Middleboro he was a member of the Grand Inquest in 1648, 1656, 1659, and 1668, and often served as a juror in different trials in the colonies. He was a surveyor of highways in Plymouth in 1655 and in 1659, and was one of the complainants to the General Court against the rates which had been established in Plymouth. In 1665 he
1 Savage, p. 392.
2 Middleboro was not set off from Plymouth until 1669.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
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had one share of the thirty acres of land on the westerly side of Nemasket River. He was one of the ancient freemen to whom land was granted in Taunton "which should be here- after purchased, which purchase should not be prejudicial to the Indians." He is mentioned as one of the freemen of Middleboro in 1670, with the mark "deceased " after his name. One of the records of Plymouth Colony refers to him as Henry Wood, alias Atwood. His name occurs as one of the com- mandant's council for the garrison in Middleboro, and evi- dently by a mistake, the name was continued on the list of those who took refuge within the fort upon the breaking out of the war. He died in 1670, and John Nelson, his son-in- law, and Samuel Wood, his son, were appointed administrators of his estate, October 29, 1670. His inventory, taken under the oath of Abigail Wood, his widow, by John Morton, Jona- than Dunham, Francis Coombs, and George Vaughan, amounted to sixty-three pounds, three shillings, and three pence, and is recorded in Plymouth Colony Records, vol. vi, p. 142.
March 4, 1673, four of his children, with his wife Abigail, were summoned into court to dispose of his lands that they might contribute to the support of the widow.
His children were : Samuel, John, David, Joseph, Benjamin, Abiel, James, Sarah, Abigail, Susanna, and Mary.
His sons were probably in the garrison house, although no mention is made of them, and they were not married until after the resettlement of the town. Abiel and Samuel were among the original members of the First Church.
JOHN or JONATHAN WOOD, a son of Henry Wood, was born January I, 1649-50, and died at John Nelson's in 1675. He always lived 1 in Middleboro, but his name is sometimes con- founded with Jonathan Wood, alias Atwood, of Plymouth. The Jonathan Wood of the Sixteen Shilling Purchase was undoubt- edly the son of Henry, and not the Jonathan Wood of Plym- outh. He made a noncupative will in April, 1673, and two or three days after, he gave the town right of way through his land.
1 Eddy Memoranda.
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EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
JOSEPH WOOD was a son of Henry Wood, who married Hester Walker in Taunton, January 1, 1679. Upon his death his son Josiah was given to Daniel Vaughan and wife to adopt: as their child. He was one of the proprietors of the Sixteen Shilling Purchase, and always lived in Middleboro.
SAMUEL WOOD was a son of Henry Wood, born May 21, 1647. He probably moved from Plymouth to Middleboro as a young man with his father, and lived with him as one of the first famk wood fen ! settlers of the town. He was a sur- veyor of highways in Middleboro in 1673, and held the office of constable in 1682 and selectman in 1684 and 1689 and at different times for fifteen years, and was one of the original members at the organization of the First Church, December 26, 1694. Upon the death of his father an agreement was made between him, his brother, and mother that he should have thirteen acres of upland, this being the place where his. father had lived, and a portion of the Tispequin purchase known as Wood's Purchase. He was an original owner in the Sixteen Shilling Purchase. He died February 3, 1718, aged seventy years. His wife's name was Rebecca Tupper. They were married probably before 1679, and she died February IO,. 1718, in the sixty-seventh year of her age. She united with the First Church March 27, 1716.
His children were Ephraim, born in January, 1679,1 who was. one of the deacons of the First Church, ordained July 25, 1725,. and who died July 9, 1744, in the sixty-fifth year of his age ; Samuel, Jr., who was born in 1684 and died before 1754, who well wood was also chosen a deacon of the First Church January 30, 1735 ; Rebecca, born 1682 ; Anne,. born 1687, and Jabez, born 1690.
ADAM WRIGHT was a son of Richard, who lived at one time: in that part of Plymouth afterwards Plympton. In a record 1 Eddy Memoranda.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
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of deeds in 1672, we find "George Vaughan of Middleboro sells to Adam Wright of the same place, blacksmith, land in the Major's Purchase at, or near, Namasheesett Ponds." His name occurs in list of the "Proprietors of the Charters of the township of Middlebery," June 12, 1677, as " Francis Cook now Adam Wright." He married Sarah, a daughter of John Soule of Duxbury, and for a second wife, Mehitable Barrows. He died in 1724, aged about eighty years.
FRANCIS BILLINGTON was a son of John Billington, who was a disreputable passenger of the Mayflower, the first settler of Plymouth publicly executed in October, 1630, for lying in wait and shooting a young man named John Newcomb. Francis was about fourteen years old when he BILLINGTON SEA landed at Plymouth with his parents, and was one of the two passengers of the Mayflower who settled in Middleboro. He is remembered as the discoverer of Billing- ton Sea in Plymouth, in 1621, although Goodwin thinks his fa- ther deserves that credit. While climbing a high tree, the week before, he had seen what appeared to him a great sea, and on that day, with the mate of the Mayflower, set out to examine his discovery. After travelling about three miles, they found two lakes, with a beautiful island in the centre of one, about which the early writers were lavish in their praise. He volunteered in the Pequot War, but was not called into active service. He was one of the twenty-six men who made the purchase of land from the Indians in 1662, as well as the Sixteen Shilling Purchase. He married, July, 1634, Christiana Penn Eaton, the widow of Francis Eaton. "They proved a thriftless pair and were forced to bind out most or all of their eight children." 1
1 Goodwin, Pilgrim Republic, p. 344.
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1670]
He died December 3, 1684, aged eighty years. His son, Isaac Billington, was one of the original members of the First Church, and died December II, 1709, aged sixty-six years.1
JOHN COBB, son of Henry, was in the fort at the breaking out of King Philip's War. He was born June 7, 1632. He moved from Barnstable to Plymouth, Taunton, and possibly to Middleboro, John Cob then to Scituate. He took the oath of fidelity in 1689. If he was not an actual resident of Middle- boro before the war, he probably dwelt here without changing his legal residence, as did a few of the early settlers, living on their lands within the borders of the town but not becoming citizens. The "History of the First Church" gives his name, among others, as being here at that time. He married Martha, a daughter of William Nelson, April 28, 1658.2
JOHN HOLMES was one of those in the garrison at the break- ing out of the Indian War, but it is impossible to tell at this time which of several who bear that name was one of the first settlers of Middleboro. There was a John Holmes in Plymouth in 1633, a freeman of that year and often a messenger to the General Court, and among the list of men who were able to bear arms in 1643. His son John, who had a grant of land in Duxbury in 1663, married Patience Faunce, November 20, 1661, and died in 1667. Their oldest son was born March 22, 1663, and settled in Middleboro, where he died in 1728, at the age of sixty-eight years. The early records show that he had children born in Middleboro in 1690. He probably lived in that portion of Middleboro which was set off in 1734, to form a portion of the town of Halifax. His son became an inhabitant of the town by the following vote passed on April 19, 1682 : -
" At a town meeting held at Isaac Howland's house, the town did jointly agree to receive John Holmes, Jr., to be an inhabitant amongst them."
1 Eddy Note-Book.
2 Barnstable Families, p. 171 ; History of the First Church of Middleboro, p. 4.
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WILLIAM NELSON, Jr., lived 1 and died in the house which stood near the old Sproat tavern at the Green, probably built and occupied a few years by his father. But little is known concerning him, and the only record extant 2 is, that on the 5th of July, 1671, he, with Adam Wright, was ordered by the General Court to pay ten shillings, and the Indian William, son of the black sachem, to pay twenty shillings, for the use of the colony, for taking a certain mare and marking and de- taining her to the damage of the owner. He was the father of Thomas Nelson, the first settler in Lakeville.
He married Ruth Foxel, daughter of Richard Foxel. The gravestones of William Nelson and Ruth, his wife, were recently found by his descendant, Dr. Abiel Nelson, in the cemetery at the Green, and contain the following inscriptions : " Here lies ye body of William Nelson aged seventy-three years, died March, ye 22nd, 1718;" and " Here lies ye body of Ruth Nelson aged eighty-six years, died September, ye 7th, 1723."
JABEZ WARREN was the grandson of Richard Warren of the Mayflower, one of the nineteen signers of the compact who survived the first winter. His son, Nathaniel, the father of Jabez Warren, was at one time the owner of lot number 5 in the Twenty-six Men's Purchase, which was occupied by Jabez and his brother Richard, who some time after the close of King Philip's War removed with his family from Plymouth to Nemasket. Jabez Warren, born in 1647, was probably a resi- dent of the town before the breaking out of the war, and was one of the land-owners who was in the fort at the time Mid- dleboro was threatened by Tispequin's forces.3 There is no further record concerning his life; it is said that he was drowned at sea April 17, 1701.
JOSEPH WARREN was one of the proprietors of the Little Lotmen's Purchase, also of the land purchased by Josiah
1 MS. Genealogy of Descendants of William Nelson, Sr.
2 Plymouth Colony Records, vol. v, p. 69.
3 Roebling, Richard Warren, Descendants, p. 12.
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1670] EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
Winslow and Edward Gray, called by the Indians "Wopa- nucket." In the apportionment of this land among the differ- ent owners he received two hundred acres, which he probably occupied, as at a meeting of the proprietors of the town on the 18th of May, 1675, he was appointed, with others, a committee " to devise measurements for the support of some one to teach the word of God, etc." 1
He was born at Plymouth in 1627, and died May 4, 1689. He was a prominent citizen of Plymouth and filled many offices, a member of the council of war of the colonies in 1675, and a representative to the General Court of 1681 to 1686. He was a man of enterprise, and an owner of large tracts of land in the different towns in the colony. His lands in Middleboro and Bridgewater were devised to his children, Joseph and Benja- min, and his three daughters. He married, in 1651, Priscilla, the daughter of Thomas Faunce, ruling elder of Plymouth. He was at one time called an " Ancient Freeman of Taunton." While he may have been a resident of Middleboro before the breaking out of the war, there is no record that he returned with the other residents at the time of the resettlement of the town in 1677-78.
DAVID WOOD was born October 17, 1651, and on March 5, 1684, he married Mary, widow of Francis Coombs. Their chil- dren were John, born 1686; David, born 1688 ; Jabez, born 1689.
1 See note in chapter on Church History.
THE STURTEVANT PLOUGH (Owned by Moses Sturtevant)
CHAPTER V
KING PHILIP'S WAR
ING Philip's War, which lasted but little more than a year and a half, in 1675 and 1676, was by far the most disastrous event in the early history of New Eng- KING PHILIP'S SAMP . BOWL land, and was attended with all of the horrors of sav- age barbarity. About six hundred of the white settlers perished, and their houses were in ruins. Many towns were utterly destroyed, and it is said that there was scarcely a family in the settlements but had lost one or more of its members. All of the dwelling-houses and outbuildings of Middleboro were burned. Although it was not the scene of many of the bloody atrocities which occurred in not a few of the towns in New England, the murder of an Indian by the name of John Sas- samon had much to do with the origin of the war, and here was the home of Philip's most powerful chieftain, Tispequin. A history of the part that Middleboro had in this fearful struggle would be incomplete without entering into some details of the origin of the war, and the more prominent events connected with it.
In 1660 Massasoit died, leaving two sons, Alexander and Philip, who had none of the regard for the English which their father had entertained. They evidently foresaw the results of the white man's civilization in extending their settlements, and that the time would not be far distant when the native rule would be destroyed and their tribes become extinct. Philip, the sachem, had acquired a fame far beyond his deserts. In 1675 his immediate tribe consisted of about three hundred men, wo- men, and children. His cunning and cruelty, his hatred of the whites, inspired in him a sagacity and ability unexpected in so mean a character. He succeeded by his intrigues in stimulat- ing the Indians in the adjacent tribes, but Palfrey says, "The
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KING PHILIP'S WAR
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public documents of that time do not indicate a belief on the part of the English of any such comprehensive and far-sighted scheme as in later times has been attributed to Philip. The natu- ral conclusion from their language is that his outbreak was re- garded as prompted by the vindictiveness and caprice of an unreasoning and cruel barbarian." On the other hand, we find authorities who speak of his talents as "of the highest order," of him as "a great warrior," etc. Goodwin 1 says, "Philip is not known to have taken part in any one of the fights of the war, nor even to have been in the immediate vicinity of any of them after the initial skirmish at Pocasset Swamp." But his traits of . character were such that he always had a very strong influence over the smaller tribes of his territory. They admired his bold- ness, and not a few sympathized with him in his ambition to expel the English from his borders, and to surpass the great chieftains who in power and authority had ruled over his terri- tory before the coming of the English. He had no sooner com- menced his reign than he began his scheming in the most se- cret manner with all of the sachems whom he could influence. With the characteristics of the savage, he frequently renewed the treaties which his father, the good Massasoit, had made at Plymouth, affecting the strongest friendship for the whites.
He so far ingratiated himself with all of the settlers of the colony that they believed in his sincerity, and doubted the reports of his intrigue which came to them from time to time through friendly Indians. He made complaints that the whites had injured his crops, but these were proved false. There were frequent meetings of Indians ; they began to repair their guns and sharpen their hatchets, all tending to arouse the suspicions of the colonists, until it was deemed necessary to call a council at Taunton. The governor and his deputies assembled to examine Philip's conduct. For a long time he would not come to the town as promised. When he came, it was with a large band of his warriors fully armed, but he would not go into the meeting-house where the council was held until it was agreed that his men should be on one side of the house and the men
1 Pilgrim Republic, P. 551.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
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who accompanied the deputies on the other. It was one of the most dramatic and interesting scenes which ever occurred in the colony. On one side was a large company of the whites, dressed in the garb of the period, with close-shaven heads and solemn countenances, fearless, and confident that their God who had so guided and shielded them in the years past would deliver them from the present dangers. On the other side of the meeting-house were the Indians, with their fierce, savage, angry looks, their tomahawks, bows, and arrows conspicuously displayed under the feathers and war paint with which they were decorated. They had belts of wampum and the skins of the bear or deer ornamented with glowing colors, indicat- . ing their readiness for the conflict. On examination, Philip strongly protested against having any designs upon the Eng- lish, but said that his warriors had been armed to prevent any hostile attacks of the Narragansetts, which had been often threatened. The delegates were enabled from testimony in their possession to deny this statement, and at the same time to show that he had endeavored to induce the Narragansetts to join him in his plans to attack the English. It was also proved that he had meditated an attack upon Taunton, which, at last, he was compelled to confess. The proofs of these charges astonished Philip, and the consequences which he feared might soon be visited upon him induced him again to deny them and to assert his innocence. As a guarantee of this, the delegation insisted that he should deliver up all of the arms in the hands of his warriors as an indemnity and security for the good faith he then professed. To this he consented with great reluctance, and gave up about seventy guns, with a promise that the others should be brought in. He, however, never complied with his promise, but the surrender of this number of guns, then scarce with the Indians, evidently so embarrassed him that he delayed carrying out his plans.
For the next two or three years Philip endeavored to cause other tribes to engage with him in the plot of utterly destroying the English in New England, but when the war finally broke out, in the year 1675, he was evidently not fully prepared for
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it, which undoubtedly in some measure contributed to his defeat and the complete overthrow of the Indian power. He had secured the Narragansetts and the Pequots, about four thousand warriors, and had fixed upon the spring of 1676 for a united attack upon all of the whites in the colonies. The murder of John Sassamon precipitated the war before his plans were mature.1
John Sassamon was a Punkapoag. Mr. Gookin calls him the first martyr of the christian Indians. Increase Mather says he was born in Dorchester, and his parents lived and died there. In his boyhood he was a very bright and intelli- gent lad, and as a child early became acquainted with John Eliot, the great Indian apostle, who exerted a most benign influence over him and was for many years his instructor. He accepted his religious teachings and was baptized by him, making public profession of his Christian faith, and was one of the most influential and gifted preachers among the Indians. Sassamon was taught to read and write the English language, and aided Mr. Eliot in the work of translating the Bible into the Indian tongue. He was a student at Harvard, and in his early manhood was a teacher of the Indians in Natick.
He had, in 1637, served with the English in the Pequot War. In 1664 Philip desired a teacher of reading, and Eliot sent his son and later Sassamon. His service in this capacity has led to much that is erroneous. Munroe called him Philip's " secre- tary," and says that as such he was entrusted with all Philip's plan. Goodwin says 2 there is no evidence to support this, nor is there any truth in the statement that Sassamon once abjured christianity and went to live in heathenism with Philip. He says : " He also ignores the fact that Sassamon owed Philip no allegiance, but that he did owe it to New Plymouth, and was by every sense of duty, legal as well as moral, bound to reveal any
1 Bancroft, History of the United States, Part II, chap. v, says : " There exists no evidence of a deliberate conspiracy on the part of all the tribes. The com- mencement of the war was accidental ; many of the Indians were in a maze, not knowing what to do and disposed to stand for the English ; sure proof of no ripened conspiracy."
2 Pilgrim Republic, p. 538.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
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plots coming to his knowledge." Whether he was secretary or not, he was authorized to write Philip's letters on public affairs.
After serving as a teacher to Philip, he returned to his 1 Natick home. Later, through Eliot's advice, he moved to Nemasket, and was there settled over the Indian church. He owned twenty-seven acres of land at Assawampsett, and to his daughter Betty the sachem gave fifty-eight and one half acres (called Squawbetty). In 1675 he learned of the great conspiracy against the English, and it seemed to him a chris- tian duty to the whites who had so befriended him to secretly inform the governor at Plymouth of what he suspected were the designs of the chieftain. At the same time he expressed to the governor his danger in giving this information, should it ever come to the knowledge of Philip. Concerning this several other Indians were examined, who denied all know- ledge of any such conspiracy and were dismissed, but the court at Plymouth generally believed that there were grounds for the statement that Sassamon had made. A week after this Sassamon disappeared, and general search was made, which resulted in finding his hat and coat upon the ice of Assawamp- sett Pond, and his body was soon after discovered under the ice. A Titicut Indian by the name of David noticed bruises upon his body, which led to the belief that he had been killed. He was, however, bur- ied by his friends A VIEW OF ASSAWAMPSETT POND, WHERE THE BODY OF SASSAMON WAS CONCEALED without further investigation into the circumstances of his death. A native by the name of Patuckson was a witness of this murder as he stood on King
1.
KING PHILIP'S LETTER TO GOVERNOR PRINCE, WRITTEN BY HIS SECRETARY, JOHN SASSAMON, IN 1663
philip would intreat that fauer of and axin of the magistrats if aney english or engians spak about aney land he preay you to give them no ansewer at all the last sumer he maid that promis with you that he would not sell no land in 7 years time for tha he would have no english trouble him before that time he has not forgot that you promis him
& just come asune as possible he can to speak with you and so grest your verey loveng frend philip
dewlling at mount hope nek
03W
philip wares mbreut that funer of and' owi of the mainstads if any english or engians Soak about aney band Replay you for give them no an server at all this last primer he maid that gromis with you that he would not fell no lang in I years final for the Removed have ne english trouble hun before that time he has not forget that you promis him
Imean time as posible he can to speak with you bueng amd sagreest your every to mapo kili
Jerolling at mounthope nek.
FACSIMILE OF KING PHILIP'S LETTER TO GOVERNOR PRINCE (Written by John Sassamon, as secretary ; copied from the original in Pilgrim Hall)
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KING PHILIP'S LOOKOUT
Philip's Lookout, and in the spring testified to it. An Indian, after meeting Sassamon on the ice as he was fishing in the pond, commenced a friendly conversation with him. He then attacked and killed him by a blow on the head, and with the assistance of two others put the body through a hole in the ice, but with the savage instinct, tried to evade suspicion by leaving his hat and coat to give the appearance of an accidental death.
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