USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Northfield > History of the town of Northfield, Massachusetts : for 150 years, with an account of the prior occupation of the territory by the Squakheags : and with family genealogies > Part 25
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I 8 0
John Avery - 5 } day's work hewing and framing and raifing,
2 15 0
Hezekiah Elmer - 2} day's work,
I 0 0
Benoni Wright - 1 day,
O 8
Ifaac Warner- 1 day, O 8
Aaron Burt -430 lbs. nails,. o 15 0
1
6 0
Nathaniel Dickinfon - 800 ft. of boards,.
2 18 0
Jofeph Petty Jr. - 415 ft. planks,
2 10 0
Jofeph Stebbins - 1 day,
O 8
Eben" Warner - 1 day,
O 8 0
Total,
£36 1 6
1
April 27. The legislature being about to adjourn for a month, Gov. Shirley sent in a message asking that, in case "advices of a rupture with France should arrive during the recess, and it be neces- sary to provide for the defence of the frontiers," he might have power to act at discretion ; and the same was granted. He received in- formation of the declaration of war, about May 21st or 22d, and immediately sent orders to Col. Stoddard, who notified the town officers of Northfield. And early in the morning May 24, a warrant
Jofeph Stebbins - 1 day hand and team,
1 8 0
Simeon Alexander - 3 } day's work,
.
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History of Northfield.
was issued by the selectmen of Northfield, calling a town meeting at 6 o'clock in the afternoon of said day (on 12 hours' notice) to de- termine 1. whether the town will come into some regular method for the defence of the town, by building forts and mounts. 2. To deter- mine what houses shall be so fortified. 3. To choose a committee to see to the carrying of said forts and mounts. The matter was re- ferred to a committee. And at a meeting held June 9, the town voted, To build four mounts at the following men's houses, viz. Capt. Zechariah Field's, Dea. Ebenezer Alexander's, Rev. Mr. Doolittle's, Nathaniel Dickinson's - said mounts to be 19 feet high, boarded up 12 feet, and lined with plank in the second story 7 feet ; the whole to be surrounded with a stockade. Voted, that the selectmen be authorized to employ some persons to apply to the General Court for soldiers to guard us, and money to pay for the forts.
Some of the framed houses built near this date, were brick lined ; some had the upper story projecting, with holes cut for firing down upon assailants. Dea. Alexander's, Zechariah Field's, and landlord Field's were brick lined ; Nathaniel Dickinson's had brick ends.
But the people did not wait for the formal action of the town. The mount at Dea. Alexander's was substantially finished before the first meeting : and May 25, Lt. Jona. Belding commenced sawing out mount timber ; and June 6, work was begun at Nathaniel Dickinson's, and the mount and fort finished June 26. The cost of materials was £334 8: cost of labor, £34 0 4.
The mount at Mr. Doolittle's cost £18 7 6. The cost of Mr. Doolittle's fort, and the mount and stockade at Zechariah Field's have not been ascertained. The four mounts were completed at once ; but the work at some of the stockades was delayed. An article in the town warrant the next March, was, " to choose a committee to finish Dea. Alexander's fort." This was the strongest and largest of the four defences, and was reckoned the most important.
May 31. The legislature met according to adjournment, and Gov. Shirley says in his message, " I have sometime since received advices that the war between Great Britain and ffrance which had been long expected, is now publickly declared on both sides." At the session, Sabbath June 2, voted, that 500 men be impressed out of the foot companies and ordered to march under such officers to such parts of the frontiers as may be deemed best, there to be placed in garrison, or employed in scouring the woods, as the circumstances require, to be furnished with provisions and ammunition for a term not ex- ceeding 3 weeks. Two hundred of these troops were sent to the western frontiers.
239
The Old French and Indian War.
June 11. Col. Stoddard directs Maj. Williams "to send 10 men more from his regiment for the protection of Northfield, to finish the detachment already begun."
June 13, the legislature ordered 500 more men to be raised for the defence of the frontiers, said levies "to be paid till the 15th day of October and no longer." But provision was made for the subsist- ence of only 200 of this last levy, and no more were mustered into service.
June 14, an order was passed by the legislature for building a line of fortifications between Colrain and the Dutch settlements in New York. In pursuance of this vote, three forts were constructed : one- and the strongest - at East Hoosuck (Adams), named Fort Massachu- setts ; one, named Fort Pelham on the high country in Rowe ; the other, named Fort Shirley, in Heath. In addition to these forts, which were built at the expense of the Province, several block-houses were erected at individual or town charge. Two such block-houses were built in Colrain, one in Fall-town, and one in Greenfield. These, like the forts at Northfield, were in part manned by soldiers in the public pay, and in part by the owners and inhabitants.
Forts Massachusetts, Dummer and No. 4, were the strong out- posts ; and Northfield was the strategic point of chief importance as a rallying centre for men and depot of stores, for the forts and men above. In June, Corp. Elias Alexander was transferred from Fort Dummer, and put in charge of the garrisons at Northfield. The rations allowed the troops on the frontiers at this date were : In gar- rison, Ilb. bread, } pint beans or peas, per day ; 2lbs. pork for 3 days ; I gall. molasses for 42 days. On the march, 1lb. bread, Ilb. pork, I gill of rum per day.
The season was consumed in these preparations, with no interrup- tions from the enemy.
Sabbath Oct. 13, the General Court passed an order, that the pay of men in the service be stopped on the 15th. " But inasmuch as it may be necessary for some marching scouts to be employed in the winter, ordered, that 12 men out of each of the 5 snow-shoe com- panies in the western parts, amounting to 60 in all, be detached and sent out under a captain commissioned for that purpose, to scout and range the woods for the four months next coming, their march to be from Contoocook on the Merrimack river to the westward as far as the Captain-General shall think best."
1745. The seige and capture of Louisburg, distinguished the spring of this year, and concentrated the energies of the government. Dea. Ebenezer Alexander was an officer in this expedition, " where he had
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History of Northfield.
the good fortune to take a French captive." He held a captain's commission, and appears to have been in command of a company raised in this vicinity.
Under the call for volunteers for frontier service, Hezekiah Strat- ton and another Northfield man enlisted. The following papers explain themselves :
" I am heartily glad that Ens. Stratton is enlifted : I look upon him as a fit man to have ye command of ye men pofted at Northfield, and appoint him to have ye charge of them and to appoint another under him in his abfence. I have ordered Corp. Alexander back to Fall-town by reafon his family is there. Fort Shirley July 17, 1745. EPHRAIM WILLIAMS.
" To Enfign Stratton, Sr: I defire you to fee that ye foldiers lodge at ye forts, and likewife defire you and the commanding officers [of militia] 10 con- fult in what manner is beft to guard ye people in their bufinefs, and conduct accordingly till further orders, who am y's to ferve. E. WILLIAMS.
" Enfign Stratton : If you have no man among you that is fit to head a fcout as Alexander, fend for him, for he fhall have corporal's pay whether he does any more than have a care of the fcout. He has been in ye fervice you know a great while. 1 know nothing but he has behaved well.
EPH" WILLIAMS."
No record of the scout that went out at this time under Corp. Alexander has been found. The bounty offered by the Massachu- setts government for Indian scalps this year, was 100 pounds new tenor.
Capt. Josiah Willard had 20 men at Fort Dummer - barely suffi- cient for guard duty and to keep open his line of communication. Col. Eben'. Hinsdell kept his own garrison; and Capt. Phinehas Stevens was at No. 4, without men.
The first mischief done in the valley in this war, was on the 5th of July, when a small party of Indians captured William Phipps as he was hoeing in his corn-field at the south-west corner of Great. Meadow (Putney). Two of them took him into the woods about half a mile, when one of the Indians went back for something which he had left, and Phipps, watching his chance struck down his keeper with his hoe ; and then with the disabled Indian's gun shot down the other as he came up the hill on his return. Phipps instantly started for the fort, but unfortunately was met by three others of the party, who seized, killed and scalped him. On the roth, the same or ano- ther party waylaid and scalped Dea. Josiah Fisher at Upper Ashuelot, as he was driving his cows to pasture.
On receipt of the news of these assaults, Capt. Ebenezer Alexan- der, who had enlisted a company under the governor's call, was
241
The Old French and Indian War.
ordered out, and kept in service scouting the woods and guarding the towns, from July 12 to Sept. 8. The company numbered 56 men ; mostly from the lower towns in Hampshire county. This was the time when Ensign Stratton was put in charge of the forts at North- field, and Corp. Alexander was sent out on a scout.
Oct. 11. About four score French and Indians assaulted the fort at the Great Meadow, and took captive Nehemiah How, and killed David Rugg, coming down the river in a canoe. How and Rugg were both residents at Putney. The former had been at work cut- ting wood 40 rods from the fort, and was on his way back when he was set upon and seized, and hurried off into a swamp, where he was pinioned. His captors were seen and fired upon from the fort ; one was killed, another mortally wounded, and a third who had hold of Mr. How had a bullet shot through his powder horn. The ward, who was on the look-out at the time told Dea. Wright, "he thought the number of the enemy that came in sight of the fort was about 50; when he first saw them there was 8 of them stript and without their guns, in pursuit of Mr. How. When he saw that they would catch him, he turned, and with his hands lifted up, resigned himself into their hands. The enemy were in the meadow scarce an hour, including the attack on the fort and killing the cattle." Little damage was done to the fort ; but all the cattle were killed ; the best parts of the flesh of some, and the hides of all were carried away by the retreating savages. Rugg and another (Thomas Baker) were met, coming down the river in a canoe. The former was shot and scalped ; the latter escaped. Mr. How was conducted by way of Lake George and Crown Point to Canada, and died at Quebec May 25, 1747. [See Genealogy.]
As soon as the assault was known at Northfield, Ens. Stratton with 10 men started for Fort Dummer. This was on Saturday. At ten o'clock that night, they were joined by 29 men from Deerfield. And Sabbath morning the party, including as many as could be spared from the garrison, set out from Fort Dummer, under cominand of Col. Willard, and reached the fort at Great Meadow at 2 o'clock. Learning what they could from the ward and soldiers there, they fol- lowed the enemy's track till near sunset, when they came to the point where the Indians scattered in different directions. Here they camped for the night. On Monday Col. Willard and his force started for No. 4; when within about 7 miles of this place they struck the tracks of Indians ; but the Indians themselves had disappeared. Rest-
1 Dea. Noah Wright's Journal : N. E. Hist. Gen. Register, 11, 207.
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History of Northfield.
ing at No. 4, on Tuesday the scout set out to return, by way of Upper Ashuelot, and reached Northfield on Wednesday.
Small bodies of soldiers were posted at the forts, and at some of the towns, through the winter. Maj. Edward Hartwell with his com- pany was ordered into garrison at Northfield, and remained until spring. 300 pairs of snow-shoes were sent to Hampshire Co. for use in scouting.
1746. Both the French and English governments laid plans for important campaigns this season. The English intended to invade Canada ; and the French designed to destroy the forts at East Hoosuck, No. 4, Upper Ashuelot, and Fort Dummer, which would lay open the more important frontier towns.
Capt. Phinehas Stevens was the first of our commanders astir. March 11, he set out with 49 men, as he says, " to save the fortress at No. 4 from falling into the enemy's hands, and arrived there in time." April 19, a party of French and Indians under Ens. De Ni- verville, who had been watching the town [No. 4,] waylaid a party of workmen who were going with a team of 4 oxen to the mill, which was at some distance from the garrison, killed the oxen, and carried the men, Capt. John Spafford, Lt. Isaac Parker and Stephen Farnsworth captives to Canada. They also burnt both the saw and grist-mills.
April 23. The General Court passed an order for raising from the several regiments of militia, 178 men to be sent to the western frontiers ; and 93 men more who were inhabitants of the western towns to be employed there, proportioned in the following manner : 4 at No. 4 ; 2 at Great Meadow (which shows that this settlement was not abandoned) ; 4 at Upper Ashuelot ; 4 at Lower Ashuelot ; 4 at Winchester ; 4 at Colrain ; 4 at Fall-town ; 6 at Northfield ; 6 at Deerfield ; etc., the said men to be employed in guarding and scouting in and near the towns to which they respectively belong ; pay and sub- sistence to continue till Nov. I, next. And for the encouragement of scouting and ranging parties, the following bounties were offered, viz. for male captives over 12 years old, 80 pounds ; under 12, 42 pounds, and the same for females of any age. For scalps of males over 12, 75 pounds ; under [2, 36 pounds 10 shillings 6 pence, and the same for scalps of females of any age. Also a bounty for enlistments of 25 shillings; and 25 shillings per month for pay and 25 shillings for billeting.
A previous order had been issued to Capt. Stevens to raise a com- pany of 60 men. And it was now voted, that 30 of these men should be posted at No: 4, there to do duty, while the other 30 marches
243
The Old French and Indian War.
into the enemy's country, and so they are to take turns to guard, and go to the places where the Indians dwell and hunt.
The same day that these orders were passed - April 23 - about 50 Indians came to Upper Ashuelot, intending to rush into the gar- rison just as the people should come out in the morning to go to their work ; but a man who had gone out early saw them and gave the alarm. They however shot down John Bullard, stabbed Daniel McKeeney's wife, took Nathan Blake, burnt 7 buildings and killed 23 head of cattle. Mrs. McKeeney had been milking her cow at the barn near by, and was returning with her pail, when an Indian rushed up and struck a long knife into her back ; but she continued her walk to near the gate of the fort, where she fell and expired.
Near this date, Joshua Holton of Northfield was sent to Boston to receive the money due the Northfield families for billeting Maj. Hartwell and his men the preceding winter. The money, £46 0 73, was paid to him ; and while on the home journey he was waylaid, April 26, by a party of Indians, on the road west of Lunenburg, who killed and scalped him, and made off with the money. On the peti- tion of Rev. Mr. Doolittle and others, in which the above facts are recited, the General Court ordered the sum to be made up to them.
An immense body of the enemy was now out, as is shown by the fact that nearly simultaneous attacks were made at widely scattered points. May 2, Seth Putnam was shot, at No. 4, about 60 rods from the fort. May 4, Upper Ashuelot was beset. May 6, Dea. Timothy Brown and Robert Moffatt were taken, at Lower Ashuelot. May 9, Fall-town was assaulted ; the same day two men were fired upon by Indians near Fort Massachusetts. May 10, they waylaid the road at Colrain, killed Matthew Clark, and wounded his wife and daughter.
On learning these facts, Gov. Shirley May 15, ordered three troops of horse sent up to the upper Connecticut valley. Capt. Daniel Paine of Dudley with his company passed through Northfield the 22d, and reached No. 4 the next day. On the morning of the 24th, twenty of his men went out to see the place where Seth Putnam was killed, and fell into an ambush. As a graphic picture of the affair and its consequents, the story as told by an actor, is here inserted :
" The petition of Ebenezer Bacon of Dudley, fheweth - That y' Petitioner was in the fervice of the Province at No. 4, in the month of May 1746, a quartermafter of a troop of Horfe under the command of Capt. Daniel Paine : That in a little time after the troop arrived there, a number of them were fo imprudent as to go out of the fort not properly armed, to view the fituation of the place, which y" petitioner obferved, and immediately followed themn well
244
History of Northfield.
armed. When ye Indians, greatly fuperior in numbers fired on ye men, and killed fome ; and y' petitioner has good reafon to think he not only killed a principal and foremost Indian, by means whereof he faved fome of the men's lives and ftopped the Indians purfuing them. That while y" petitioner was thus engaged, he received from an ambufcade of Indians a number of fhot, five of which are ftill remaining in him, and feveral went through the extreme parts of his body. Notwithftanding which he efcaped and got into the fort, where he ftayed about 5 or 6 weeks, and then with great difficulty got home ; and it was fo much longer before he was cured fo as to be able to do anything. That while he was at No. 4, it feems he was boarded and nurfed with one John Spafford who (now near nine years after he was wounded) has commenced an action againft him for forty fhillings lawful money therefor, as by ye writ and account appear - That y" petitioner has obtained a continuation of the action that he might bring the cafe before. y" Excellency and Honors - Prays for a fum fufficient to pay the demand above mentioned, together with the charge and trouble he was in traveling out and home near 100 miles to anfwer to faid action, and the charges for fupporting a number of perfons bringing y" peti- tioner to Northfield, and alfo the great expenfe he was at to get home."
The General Court ordered, "That the sum of £5 10 be paid to the petitioner to enable him to discharge the debt mentioned in the petition, and the charges arising on the sd action."
In the skirmish that ensued, the Indians were beaten off, leaving behind 13 blankets, 5 coats, I gun and some other things. Five Indians were killed. Aaron Lyon, Peter Perrin, Joseph Marcy of Capt. Paine's troop, Samuel Farnsworth, Elijah Allen belonging to the fort, were killed ; Obadiah Sartwell was taken prisoner.
A plan was projected at this time for the invasion of Canada by a large force. The records of the General Court show that, June 2, a committee was appointed " to provide supplies for the intended ex- pedition against Canada ;" and the governor issued a proclamation on the subject. Many young men and others enlisted, partly for the sake of the bounty, partly for the excitement of such an enterprise, and partly because they preferred service in the open field to the confined life of the garrison. But the plan miscarried. "Great numbers were kept in pay and idleness for more than a year, to the ruin of many of them, and the hurt of the country.""
June 3. The legislature voted that 207 men be raised and added to the 440 already posted on the western frontiers ; 46 of whom were to be posted on or near the Connecticut river above Northfield ; and 50 to be a company under proper officers, to range the woods with 50 large dogs. The company of Rangers was put in command of Capt.
"Doolittle's Narrative.
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The Old French and Indian War.
Eleazar Melvin of Concord, who was one of Capt. Lovewell's men in the fight with Paugus.
. After a short stay at No. 4, Capt. Paine was relieved by Capt. Josiah Brown and his troop from Sudbury and Framingham. Soon after reaching No. 4, Capt. Stevens and Capt. Brown with about 50 men started to go to the meadow to look after some horses, when by the action of the dogs, they had intimation of an ambush, which they shortly discovered near a causeway they were intending to cross. They were moving cautiously, when one of Capt. B's men caught sight of an Indian lying flat on the ground, and fired upon him, when the whole ambush arose and fired in return. "Our men were com- manded to stop there and fight them, which they did, and drove the Indians off from their ground, and got upon it and maintained it in spite of them. Ours received the loss of no men, but four or five were wounded. They sent a party of men to carry the wounded to the fort, and the rest maintained the fight and stood them manfully: After the fight was over they found where the Indians drew off several of their dead into a swamp. Capt. Stevens sent down a troop of men to guard Mr. Doolittle and Dr. Williams [of Deerfield] to cut off the arm of one of the soldiers that was sore wounded, broke as they supposed, that the end would not be healed without cutting off one of his arms. I have been told that our men recover so much plunder, guns, hatchets, spears, lines, and such like things as they sold for seventy or eighty pounds."' David Parker and Jedediah Winchell of Capt. Stevens's men were wounded, the latter mortally : Jona. Stanhope and Cornet Noah Eaton, both of Framingham, were wounded but recovered. This fight was on June 19. While Capt. Brown was stationed at No. 4, his horses were sent down and sub- sisted for a month at Northfield. In the absence of funds to pay for forage, sub-commissary Hinsdell had " to pledge his word" to the Northfield farmers, and both parties had sore trials of patience before the money came to pay the charges.
Having drawn our troops to the extreme northern border, the In- dians concentrated nearer Northfield. June 24, a party of them came to Bridgman's fort, and surprised some men who were at work in the meadow a little distance below the fort. They killed William Robbins and James Barker of Springfield ; wounded Michael Gilson and Patrick Ray, and took Daniel How Jr. and John Beaman, the latter a Northfield man. Beaman shot one of the Indians before he was taken.
I Dea. Noah Wright's Journal.
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History of Northfield.
The same day, as a scout of 12 men, under Capt. Timothy Carter, was resting at a place called Cold Spring, a little below Fort Dum- mer, a skulking party of Indians suddenly fell upon them, and cap- tured a part of their arms - though the men all escaped. James Mclellan, an apprentice to Willis Hall of Sutton, lost a gun valued at 15 pounds, and his coat and waistcoat which cost his master 10 pounds - so says his petition. July 3, a party of about 12 Indians ambushed Col. Hinsdell's lane below his mill. Col. Willard, with a team and guard of 20 men crossed over from Fort Dummer and went down to get a grist. By some means he detected the ambush ; but went directly to the mill and set it running, and then made a dash for the savages who were hid about 30 rods below. The Indians rose and fired and shot off two of Moses Wright's fingers ; but our men drove them from their cover, and took all their packs, which proved to be worth 40 pounds old tenor.
In July, Capt. Joseph How of Marlboro' with his troop, was sent up to relieve Capt. Brown. He had a company of 38 men, mostly be- longing to Marlboro' and Southboro.' But cavalry was not adapted for Indian warfare. The difficulty of getting forage, except by turning the horses upon the meadows where they could be shot or stampeded ; and the impossibility of preserving the order and silence necessary for scouting, were fatal objections to this arm of the service.
Aug. 3, while Capt. How was there, an army of French and In- dians came upon No. 4, and kept up the siege for two days. They killed 16 horses belonging to Capt. How's men,' and all the cattle owned by the settlers, burnt the mill (which had been rebuilt) and all the houses, save one that stood near the stockade. One man, Ebenezer Phillips, was killed. Having done this mischief the enemy withdrew at his leisure. As soon as the news of this disaster reached Boston, the governor issued orders to Capt. Ephraim Brown and Capt. Win- chester " to go with their troops of horse to No. 4, and carry as great a quantity of provisions as they conveniently can, and relieve the garrison, and hold the place ; and upon their return in the fall, they are to guard off as many of the women and children as may con- veniently leave the place." At the opening of winter, all but 6 men were dismissed ; and in January they deserted the fort.
Aug. 6, thirty Indians came to Winchester and waylaid the road over against Benjamin Melvin's house. Several of our men had business to pass by, not knowing of the ambush, and were fired upon. Joseph Rawson was killed and Amasa Wright wounded; the rest escaped to the fort, though the Indians fired thick after them. The
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