USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Whately > History of the town of Whately, Mass., including a narrative of leading events from the first planting of Hatfield, 1660-1871 : with family genealogies > Part 3
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66 4,"
" 18, " Muddy Brook, · 74 Total, . 145
"' 28, " Northampton, .
2
13 Oct. 5, at Springfield, 4
9 " 19, " Hatfield, . 10
2 " 27, " "Westfield, 3
8 " 29, " Northampton, 4
The number here given is probably too large by two. Of these, not less than forty-four were inhabitants of the county ; the rest were soldiers from other parts of the Colony.
* North of Brookfield, the snow was " mid-thigh " deep.
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From the testimony of a Christian Indian, employed as a spy, the River Indians had their main winter quarters on the west side of the Connecticut, above Northfield, -though a few wintered to the eastward of Albany. They returned to Hampshire County near the end of February.
When the fishing season arrived, they established themselves, as usual, about the Falls above Deerfield. They also planted large fields of corn, both at Northfield and Deerfield. This would go to show that they considered themselves still masters of the situation. And we can readily credit the testimony of Thomas Reed, an escaped captive, that " they are secure and scornful, boasting of great things they have done, and will do."
About the middle of April (1676), a party of these Deerfield Indians went down to Hatfield North Meadow, and drove off eighty head of horses and cattle. They kept these cattle for a time in the common field, previously well fenced by the settlers, at the Deerfield meadow,-where Reed saw them, and " found the bars put up to keep them in."
The report which this man Reed brought in of the defiant manner of the savages, and their quiet possession of the culti- vated fields of the expelled settlers, seems to have roused the spirit of the English, and induced them to take the offensive. " This being the state of things," writes Mr. Russell, " we think the Lord calls us to make some trial what may be done against them suddenly, without further delay ; and therefore the concur- ring resolution of men here seems to be to go out against them to-morrow at night so as to be with them, the Lord assisting, before break of day." This was written May 15th, and the determination was carried into effect the 18th, when about one hundred and fifty mounted men, chiefly from the river towns, with Benjamin Wait and Experience Hinsdale as guides, started from Hatfield, " to assail the Indians at the falls above Deerfield." The expedition was under command of Capt. William Turner. " They found the Indians all asleep, without having any scout abroad, so that our soldiers came and put their guns into their wigwams, before the Indians were aware of them, and did make a great and notable slaughter among them. Some got out of the wigwams and fought, and killed one of the English ; others did enter the river to swim over from the English, but many were
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shot dead in the waters, others wounded were therein drowned, many got into canoes to paddle away, but the paddles being shot, the canoes overset with all therein ; and the stream being violent and swift near the falls, most that fell overboard were carried upon the falls. Others of them, creeping for shelter under the banks of the great river, were espied by our men and killed with their swords."* The number of Indians slain-most of them women and children-was probably about one hundred and seventy-five, though the account at the time made it much larger.
But this first success in early morning, was, later in the day, changed into a most disastrous rout of the English. The Indians who were camped on the east bank and on Smead's Island, crossed the river and assailed our men in the rear, after they had begun their homeward march. At the same time, a report that King Philip with a thousand warriors was at hand, got started, and produced a panic. Our men got scattered ; Capt. Turner was shot as he was passing Green river ; many lost their way in the woods ; and though Capt. Holyoke, the second in command, conducted the retreat with great bravery and skill, he was followed by the victorious savages to the south end of Deerfield meadow. In all, thirty-eight of the English were killed, three of whom were Hatfield men, viz. : Samuel Gillet, John Church, and William Allis, Jr.
The battle was fought on Friday ; but some of the men who got lost, wandered about for two or three days. Jonathan Wells, who was wounded, after severe suffering and several narrow escapes, reached Hatfield on the Sabbath. Rev. Hope Atherton, of Hatfield, who accompanied the troops, " after sub- sisting," as he says, "the space of three days and part of another, without ordinary food," came into Hadley about noon on Monday.
This double defeat had its natural result. The English saw the need of a larger force, which could crush by its very weight ; and the Indians felt weakened by so great a loss, and contented themselves with securing a stock of provisions-partly by the fisheries, and partly by plunder.
Their first plundering expedition was against Hatfield, which was casiest of access from their camp above Deerfield. On the
* Ilistory of Iladley.
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30th of May, while most of the men were away at work in their planting field, a large body of Indians-numbering, by estima- tion, between two and three hundred-made a simultaneous attack on the line of palisadoed dwellings, on the herdsmen tend- ing the cattle, and on the men at work in the fields. Holding these last at bay, they fired twelve houses and barns, killed or drove away many of the cattle, and nearly all the sheep. Seeing the flames of the burning buildings, a company of twenty-five young men from Hadley crossed the river in face of a hot fire from the enemy, and by their daring bravery saved the town. This company lost five of their own number; but so far as appears, none of Hatfield were slain.
A large body of troops now concentrated in the valley. About four hundred and fifty came up from Connecticut, under Major Talcott. Capt. Henchman, with over three hundred and fifty men, arrived soon after from the Bay. These scoured the country, northward and eastward, and effectually scattered the enemy. In one expedition, they "burnt a hundred wigwams upon an island, ruined an Indian fort, spoiled an abundance of fish which they found in barns under ground, and destroyed thirty canoes."* Later, they destroyed all the standing corn, at Deerfield and Northfield.
Few Indians were seen in the county later than July. They were suffering from famine and disease ; and were hunted from place to place. Many were killed. Some of the women and children gave themselves up or were taken prisoners. The death of Philip, August 12th, appeared to put an end to the war. The main body drew off towards Albany, where they were harbored, and supplied with arms by the authorities acting under Andros.
The military operations of the preceding spring, as well as the danger imminent at that time, prevented the planting of the usual extent of ground. The North Meadow was not probably put in tillage at all this year, consequently the harvests were light.
HATFIELD'S GREAT CALAMITY. The spring of 1677 opened propitiously. Our people planted and tended their fields in peace ; and in summer gathered the hay from the intervals.
* Ilistory of Hadley.
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Their sense of security is shown by the fact that a number who were driven from Deerfield in the fall of '75, now returned there and commenced to rebuild their houses.
Though rendered cautious by experience, the settlers were somewhat hardened by danger. They had the courage, and some of the recklessness which is always engendered by constant alarms, and perils, and escapes, and scouting. "They went about their ordinary business with arms in their hands, and to their solemn assemblies as one goeth to the battle,"-but it was as much from habit as a sense of imminent danger. And as the fishing season went by, without the return of the Indians to their old haunts, and the period of full summer foliage of the trees- usually chosen because of the better facility for ambush and skulking-was past, they seem to have regarded themselves as safe for the year. No scouts were sent out, and no guards were maintained at home.
But Hatfield paid dearly for her fancied security. On the 19th of September-more than a year after the war was con- sidered closed-at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, while the principal part of the men were dispersed in the meadows, and unsuspicious of danger, a party of Indians suddenly assaulted the few men left at home-who just then were at work upon the frame of a house outside the palisades-killed three of them, and then fell upon the defenceless women and children. Before help could come, they fired seven houses, killed nine-making twelve in all-wounded four, took seventeen captives, and escaped to the cover of the woods !
The boldness and suddenness of the movement assured its suc- cess. The people seem to have been paralyzed by the shock, and made no earnest effort at rescue. Perhaps the fear lest the captives might be tomahawked, if pursuit was made, and the hope that they would be spared, if unmolested, may have had weight. The Indians went that day to Deerfield, where they killed one and captured four men, and halted for the night. They spent the second night at Northfield west meadow. They pro- ceeded further up the river, and camped on the east side, about twenty miles above Northfield, where they built a long wigwam, and remained about three weeks. About the middle of October, the party-augmented by about eighty women and children,
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taken in the neighborhood of Wachusett-moved off, crossing the country to Lake Champlain, and thence to Canada.
With perhaps an individual exception, these seventeen from Hatfield, and those taken at Deerfield, were the first captives from the valley that had to endure the sufferings and perils of a march through the then almost impassable wilderness. The captives taken in the two preceding years, with two exceptions, were either burnt at the stake or otherwise tortured to death !
Of those whose descendants settled Whately, Sergeant Isaac Graves, and John Graves were killed : Hannah, the wife of John Coleman, and her babe Berthia, were killed : another child wounded, and two taken captive ; Mary, the wife of Samuel Belling, was killed ; the wife and daughter of John Wells were wounded, and his daughter Elizabeth, aged two, was killed ; the wife of Obadiah Dickinson was wounded, himself and one child carried off: Abigail, daughter of John Allis, aged six : Martha, the wife of Benjamin Wait, and her three daughters ; Mary, the wife of Samuel Foote, her daughter Mary, aged three, and a young son, were carried into captivity.
Thus, in the three years of the war, twenty-seven of Hatfield were killed and nineteen made prisoners. In regard to both life and property, the loss of this town was greater in pro- portion to population than any of the surviving towns in the valley. "From one-third to one-half the houses were burnt, and the greater part of their kine, sheep, and horses killed or driven off."
The story of Benjamin Wait, whose house, situated on the west side of Hatfield street, just south of King's Hill, was burnt, and whose family were among the captives taken on the 19th of September, possesses both a local and a public interest : and as he was the ancestor of many of our families, it should have a place in these annals. At the time of our narrative, he is a young man of about thirty ; his family consisted of his wife Martha, and three little girls, Mary, aged six, Martha, four, and Sarah, two. Inured to woodcraft, and familiar with Indian cus- toms, it is not difficult to imagine what was his first impulse when he reached the ashes of his home, and learned the fate
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of his young wife and babes. But he had prudence as well as haste, and wisely, as the event proved, took counsel of his second thoughts.
But after enduring a month of suspense, Wait, and his friend Stephen Jennings -- whose family was also among the captives -determined to ascertain the fate of their friends, and redeem them, if found alive. With a commission from the Governor of Massachusetts, they set out from Hatfield, October 24, to go by way of Westfield to Albany,- then the only traveled route to Canada.
The authorities at Albany, who were on friendly terms with the French and their Indian allies, blocked their plans, and, after vexatious detentions, sent them, on a false pretence, to New York. At length, through the intercession of Capt. Brock- hurst, they were sent back to Albany with a pass. It was now the 19th of November ; and it was the 10th of December before they got on their way. A Frenchman whom they had hired to act as guide was bribed by the Dutch Governor, and deserted them ; and they were forced to engage a Mohawk Indian to con- duct them to Lake George. This savage, who proved true to them, fitted up a canoe, and made a drawing of the lakes by which they were to pass. "They were three days passing the first lakes, and then carrying their canoe two miles over a neck of land, they entered the great lake, which the second day, they hoping to trust to the ice, left their canoe ; but having traveled one day upon the iee they were forced to return back to fetch their canoe, and then went by water till they came to the land, being windbound six days in the interim : so as they made it about the first of January, having traveled three days without a bit of bread, or any other relief but some raccoon's flesh, which they had killed in an hollow tree.
" On the 6th of January they came to Chamblee, a small vil- lage of ten houses belonging to the French,-only by the way they met with a bag of biscuit and a bottle of brandy in an empty wigwam, with which they were not a little refreshed ; and in traveling towards Sorell, fifty miles distant from thenee, they came to a lodging of Indians, among whom they found the wife of Jennings."* They found the remainder of the captives at
* Hubbard's New England.
.
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Sorell, and to his great joy, Wait found a little daughter added to his family. He named her Canada .* Unable to secure all the captives without the assistance of the French authorities, they went down to Quebec. Here they were well entertained by the Governor, who granted their desire, and assigned them a guard of eleven soldiers for the journey to Albany. They left Quebec on the 19th of April, and Sorell on the 2d of May, having redeemed all the captives then living. They reached Albany on their return, May 22 ..
From Albany, a messenger was sent to Hatfield, with letters, telling of their success and need of assistance. But Wait's letter will tell its own story :--
ALBANY, MAY 23, 1678. To my loving Friends and Kindred at Hatfield, -
These few lines are to let you understand that we are arrived at Albany now with the captives, and we now stand in need of assistance, for my charges are very great and heavy ; and therefore any that have any love to our condition, let it move them to come and help us in this strait. Three of the captives are murdered, -old Goodman Plympton, Samuel Foot's daughter, Sammel Russell. All the rest are alive and well and now at Albany, namely, Obadiah Dickinson and his child, Mary Foot and her child, Hannah Jennings and 3 children, Abigail Allis, Abigail Bartholo- mew, Goodman Coleman's children, Samnel Kellogg, my wife and four children, and Quintin Stockwell. I pray yon hasten the matter, for it requireth great haste. Stay not for the Sabbath, nor shoeing of horses. We shall endeavor to meet you at Kanterhook ; it may be at Housatonock. We must come very softly because of our wives and children. I pray you, hasten them, stay not night nor day, for the matter requireth haste. Bring provisions with you for us.
Your loving kinsman,
BENJAMIN WAITE.
At Albany, written from mine own hand. As I have been affected to yours all that were fatherless, be affected to me now, and hasten the mat- ter and stay not, and ease me of my charges. You shall not need to be afraid of any enemies.
After stopping at Albany three days, they started, May 27, and walked twenty-two miles to Kinderhook, where they met
* Canada Wait m. Joseph Smith, son of the John Smith of Hadley who was słain in Hatfield Meadow, May 30, 1676; she was the grandmother of the late Oliver Smith.
x
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men and horses from Hatfield. They rode through the woods to Westfield, and all reached home safely after an absence of eight months. "The ransom of the captives cost above £200, which was gathered by contribution among the English."
Copies of this letter and one from Stockwell were carried to Medfield, and thence sent to the Governor and Council at Boston. On their receipt, the following official notice was issued : "Knowing that the labour, hazard, and charge of said Benjamin Wait and his associate have been great, we recommend their case with the captives for relief to the pions charity of the elders, ministers, and congregations of the several towns ; that on the fast day [previously appointed] they manifest their charity by contributing to the relief of said persons. And the ministers are desired to stir up the people thereunto. For quickening this work, we do hereby remit a copy of Benjamin Wait's letter to be read publickly, either before or upon that day : and what is freely given is to be remitted to Mr. Anthony Stoddard, Mr. John Joyliff, and Mr. John Richards, or either of them, who are appointed to deliver and distribute the same for the ends aforesaid." Signed, "Edw. Rawson, Sec'y."
Wait rebuilt his burnt house ; but it is not strange that he was a changed man. The next few years were years of peace. He reared a family of three hardy boys, in addition to the girls already named. When the news reached Hatfield of the French and Indian attack on Deerfield, Feb. 29, 1704,-though near sixty years old,-he was the first to start for her relief. He was killed by a musket ball in the meadow fight of that morning.
We cannot refrain from saying, All honor to the brave scout and Indian fighter ! His name is not often mentioned among the heroes of those wars : but among them all,-among those who did most for their country's welfare, and stood firmest in the hour of her early peril ; who dared, and suffered, and made no boasts, and claimed no official distinction ; who offered his life in sacrifice for those he loved,-among those whose heroic deeds have made this beautiful valley immortal, no name is brighter, and no one's memory is more worthy to be cherished than that of Benjamin Wait.
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Thus did our fathers receive early the baptism of blood, -by which they did enter into living covenant with Him whose was their "life, and breath, and all things"; whose Provi- dence was their strength and defence, and whose Grace was their Hope. And thus by a " fiery trial " were they fitted to give vital force to the life, and shape to the character, and firm foundation to the social and religions institutions which are our favored heritage to-day.
CHAPTER IV.
AN INTERIM OF PEACE, 1678-1700.
AMONG the names of interest, as connected with these annals, added to the list of settlers since our last enumeration, were those of Robert Bardwell, who is first introduced to the valley in a military capacity ; Thomas Crafts, a refugee from Deerfield, earlier from Roxbury ; Elcazer Frary of Medfield ; Benjamin Wait ; William Scott, probably from Waterbury or Farming- ton, Ct. ; Samuel Marsh, from Hartford ; Samuel Gillet, from Windsor ; John Wells, from Stratford, Ct. ; and Dr. Thomas Hastings, from Watertown.
The wastes of war had been great. With the loss of life and buildings, the neglect of the fields, and the derangement of trade, every thing had been set back. Farm employments had been so difficult and dangerous, that only the necessaries of life had been obtained,-no more had been attempted,-and the brush and wild grasses had made encroachments, and the fences were fallen down. In many respects it was like beginning anew. But though sorely crippled, the settlers seem not to have been disheartened. They set themselves in earnest to repair the waste, and re-establish their homes, and add to their com- forts and conveniences. Apple and quince trees were more commonly planted.
And now, for the first time, houses were built on the "IIill," west of Mill River.
A larger breadth of land was put in corn and wheat and flax ; barley for malting was more commonly raised. The destruction of their sheep had made a scarcity of wool ; and these agricul- tural products and malt were needed to meet the increased demand for taxes, and as a medium of exchange for some
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foreign luxuries, which now for the first time appear to have been introduced into this part of the valley.
War always loosens the restraints and vitiates the simpler tastes of home life. It engenders a heedless, arrogant spirit, destructive alike of habits of economy and regard for the rights and feelings of others, and brings into play the more selfish passions. Its maxim is, that " Might makes right," and hence too often, even in wars of necessity and defence, it comes to be an acknowledged principle, that the end sanctifies the means. With the return of peace, there usually comes a period of extravagance and lawlessness.
The quartering upon our people of so many officers and soldiers from the older settlements, many of them of the wealthier classes, had introduced new social ideas, and awak- ened a desire for dress, and the other accompaniments of rank. These military men were looked upon as their saviors ; and, of course, demanded their gratitude and kind consideration. They gladly shared with them their homes, and the best provisions their straitened circumstances permitted. A petition sent to the General Court by the friends of Rev. Mr. Russell of Hadley, whose house was the headquarters of the army, gives us some insight into this matter. They say, "The chief gentlemen improved in the affairs of the war were entertained there, which called for provisions answerable, and was of the best to be had ; that he had to draw divers barrels of ale, and much wine, and fruit suitable to the company ; and had no more credit for such company by the week or meal than other men [had] for ordinary entertainment." Perhaps all could not command for their guests such meats and drinks ; but there is no doubt that all furnished " the best to be had." Very naturally, these officers, especially the lower grades, who were brought more directly in contact with the people, instilled some of their own feelings and social theories into the minds of the young men and maidens. Very naturally, the latter wanted to appear well in the eyes of the former, and adopted some notions not exactly consistent with their present impoverished condition. Very naturally, they cov- eted the luxuries and copied the fashions prevalent at Boston and Hartford. Very naturally, linsey-woolsey had to give place to silks ; and laces and ornaments came to be regarded as essen-
-
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tial to fully set off natural charms,-to the great grief of staid old fathers and mothers, and the offence of the magistrates.
The laws of the Colony which regulated matters of dress, and ornament, and family expenses, and restrained excesses, have been much criticised, and often held up to ridicule, and sometimes adduced in proof of Puritan intolerance and narrow- mindedness. These early fathers certainly differed greatly in opinion from us. But they differed as greatly in condition ; per- haps, in their circumstances, they were as wise and tolerant as their children.
To show the grounds and reasons for their sumptuary laws, as understood by themselves, the act "against excesse in appar- rell," passed 14 October, 1651, is here copied in full :-
Although severall declarations and orders have bin made by this Courte against excesse in apparrell, both of men and weomen, which have not taken that effect as were to be desired, but, on the contrary, wee cannot but to our greife take notice that intollerable excesse and bravery hath crept in uppon us, and especially amongst people of mean condition, to the dishonnor of God, the scandall of our profession, the consumption of estates, and altogether unsuiteable to our povertie; and although we acknowledge it to be a matter of much difficultie, in regard to the blindnes of mens minds and the stubbornes of their willes, to sett downe exact rules to confine all sorts of persons, yett wee cannot but account it our duty to commend unto all sortes of persons the sober and moderate use of those blessings which, beyond expectation, the Lord hath bin pleased to affoard unto us in this wilderness, and also to declare our utter detestation and dislike that men or weomen of meane condition should take uppon them the garbe of gentlemen, by wearing gold or silver lace or buttons, or points at their knees, or to walk in greate bootes, or weomen of the same raneke to weare silke or tiffany hoodes or scarfes, which though allowable to persons of greater estates, or more liberall education, yett wee cannot but judge it intollerable in persons of such like condition :- itt is therefore ordered by this Courte, and the authority thereof, that no person within this jurisdiction, or any of their relations depending uppon them, whose visible estates, reall and personall, shall not exceede the true and indiffer- ent valew of two hundred pounds, shall wear any gold or silver lace, or gold and silver buttons,. or any bone lace above two shillings pr. yard, or silk hoods, or scarfes, uppon the penaltie of tenn shillings for every such offence, and every such delinquent to be presented by the graund jury.
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