USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > West Brookfield > Quabaug, 1660-1910 : an account of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebration held at West Brookfield, Mass., September 21, 1910 ; > Part 4
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All of the committee thus appointed were residents of the settlement, with the exception of Captain John Pynchon of Springfield, who was usually known by his later titles of
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major and colonel. He was the first patron and protector of the town. Without his aid undoubtedly it would have perished. As the leaders of the community in subsequent generations were among his descendants, a few words con- cerning him and his family seem not to be out of place. He was born in Springfield, England, in 1621, the son of the founder of the city in Massachusetts, the name of which in 1640 was changed from Agawam to Springfield as a com- pliment to William Pynchon, who in accordance with the wishes of its inhabitants was appointed by the General Court its magistrate with full judicial powers. The latter is famous in the history of Massachusetts, not only for his fair- ness and diplomacy in negotiations with the Indians, but also for the liberality of his theology. In 1650, he published in London a book entitled "The Meritorious Price of our Re- demption, " which was so opposed to New England Calvinism that it received the compliment of being burned by the public executioner on Boston Common. He wrote other books in a similar vein, one of which also advocated a liberal obser- vance of Sunday. He had too much influence to be molested by the divines, although it was probably by reason of his antagonism to them that he moved from Boston to the Con- necticut River in 1636 and that in 1652 he returned to Eng- land, leaving in the colony his son John and his son-in-law Elizur Holyoke. In the following year, they and Samuel Chapin were appointed by the General Court, magistrates in charge of the government of Springfield. Colonel John Pynchon also succeeded his father in the confidence of the Indians, whom he managed with great diplomacy. He was known as "The worshipful Colonel Pynchon," and founded on land bought from the natives Northampton, Hadley, Deerfield, Northfield and Westfield. In 1660, he built the first brick building in Springfield, which was in existence as late as 1831. It was bullet proof, and during King Philip's War saved the inhabitants from massacre by the Indians. He was assistant to the governor of the province and member
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of his council for almost thirty years, holding the latter office until his death in 1703.
According to the book kept by Pynchon as recorder, of which a few attested extracts still remain, homesteads were allotted upon Foster's Hill and allotments also made of up- land meadow and plain. A large common of undivided land was used for wood and pasturage. A flour mill was built by him on the east branch of the brook entering the head of Weakaug pond. There was some sort of a meeting house where John Younglove preached until the first settlement was destroyed. The most important industry of the new settlement was the tavern kept by Sargeant Ayres for the use of travelers.
On October 10th, 1673, the inhabitants petitioned "that this much Honnord Corte would be pleased to grant "us the Priviledge & libertyes of a Township whereby we "may be the better inabled to carry on our owne matters "wthout too much distraction. And yo" Petition's shall "ever pray for yo" prosperity If Yo" Honnors please let "ye Name of ye Place be Brookfeild."
Mayor Pynchon also wrote: "I have long desyred to "be discharged from being one of the Committee for "Qvabaug: in regard to my many occasions & remote- "ness having bin little serviceable to ym: I doe vtterly "decline ye worke, & desire their motion for being allowed "a Towne may be accepted & granted by ye Honored "Court, hoping it may p've beneficial to them and the "Publike. "
"In ans" to ye peticon of the Inhabitants of Quabaug "The Court Judgeth it meet to grant their request i. e. "the liberty and priviledge of a Township and that the "name thereof be Brookfeild Provided they Divide not the "whole land of the Towneship till they be forty or fivety "familyes, in the meane tjme that their Dividings one to "another exceed not two hundred acres apeece to any "present Inhabitant."
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The county records show signs of the spread of civiliza- tion and increase of prosperity. In 1675, Brookfield was taxed £5-0-6 and upon this was a credit of £5 for killing ten wolves. On March 30th of the same year, "Thomas Wilson "of Brookfield was presented by the grand jury for cursing "Samuel Warner of the same town. And the town of "Brookfield was presented for defect in the bridge over "the swamp at Richard Coy's Son; and for the want of "a common pound."
These indictments were never tried. The work of the first settlers was soon destroyed. In that year began King Philip's war. So friendly had been the relations between the Quabaugs and the inhabitants of Brookfield that the latter believed those Indians would give Philip no assistance. The Quabaugs planted their cornfields as usual and their chief disclaimed in writing any intention to help that king. Two reports, however, made by Ephraim Curtis of Sudbury, showed that there was danger of a disturbance among them, and for that reason Captains Edward Hodgkinson and Thomas Wheeler of Concord and Curtis as guide and inter- preter, were sent with a party of about twenty horsemen to demand an account of the Nipmuck Indians of certain grievances: "so desiring the Lord's presence with you & in "prosecution of this affayre if you should meet with any "Indians that stand in opposition to you or declare ym- "selves to be yor enemies then you are ordered to ingage "with them if you see reason for it & endeavr to reduce ym "by force of Arms." The Indians promised to meet the troop for negotiations upon a plain within three miles of Brookfield on August 2nd. Three men of Brookfield accom- panied the soldiers to the appointed place, but the Indians did not appear there. By the advice of the Brookfield men, who had such confidence in the peaceful intentions of the Quabaugs that they came unarmed, the colonists proceeded to a swamp where they heard that the Indians were. The place has been identified by antiquarians as a ravine near
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Meminimissimet meadow and the line between New Brain- tree and Brookfield upon the old Pepper farm, not far from the corner of the Boston and Worcester road, which, within the memory of a recent generation, was known as "Death Valley." The way was so bad that the English could only march in single file between a rocky hill on the right and a thick swamp in which there were about two hundred Indians; some in the morass, the rest in the brush upon the hill. The soldiers had not proceeded more than seventy rods when they were surprised by volleys of musketry from both sides of them. More than a third of their number, eight including Sargeant Ayres, Sargeant Pritchard and Corporal Coy, the inhabitants of Brookfield, were killed. Five more were wounded. One of their Indian guides was captured. The escape of the rest was due to the fidelity and sagacity of the other two guides, who took them back to Brookfield on a by-trail avoiding the woods, with the warning that the road by which they came would be lined with sharpshooters, in accordance with the Indian art of war. This was the first victory by the Indians over white soldiers in New England and greatly encouraged them in the war. The refugees, who carried the wounded with them on their horses, and the rest of the inhabitants, gathered in the tavern of Sargeant Ayres. There, in no more than four rooms, protected only by wooden walls fortified with nothing but feather beds and a few logs, eighty-two men, women and children withstood a siege by several hundred Indians for three days. The horrors they underwent, it is impossible adequately to describe, or, in the conditions under which we live, fully to appreciate. It was in the heat of the dog days. They were closely packed to- gether with little ventilation except the holes made by the bullets that were fired through the house. Without medical aid or sanitary conveniences, seven wounded men, two on the point of death, were nursed, and two women delivered from the pangs of labor. Food was scanty. The water needed to slake their thirst had to be used to put out the repeated fires
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set in the roof and walls by burning rags soaked with brim- stone and shot with arrows, by balls of "wildfire," by stacks of their own flax and hay piled against the house and burned, a fire cart and by two fire wagons with shafts extending fourteen rods in length built by the Indians. A fresh supply could only be obtained from a well in the yard, to reach which exposed a man to more danger than was risked by the three followers of David who brought him water from the well outside the gate of Bethlehem. "Abroad in the yard, one "Thomas Wilson of that town, being sent to fetch water "for our help in further need, (that which we had being "spent in putting out the fire) was shot by the enemy in "the upper jaw and neck, the anguish of which wound was "such at the first that he cried out with a great noise, by "reason whereof the Indians hearing him rejoiced, and "triumphed at it; but his wound was healed in a short time, "praised be God. There was but one man wounded "within the house, viz :- the said Henry Young, who "looking out of the garret window that evening, was mor- "tally wounded by a shot, of which wound he died within "two days after. There was the same day another man "slain, but not in the house; a son of Serjeant Pritchard's "adventuring out of the house wherein we were, to his "father's house not far from it, to fetch more goods out of "it, was caught by these cruel enemies as they were com- "ing towards us, who cut off his head, kicking it about "like a football, and then putting it upon a pole, they set "it up before the door of his father's house in our sight. "The night following the said blow, they did roar against "us like so many wild bulls, sending in their shot amongst "us till towards the moon rising, which was about three of "the clock; at which time they attempted to fire our "house."
The belief, that they were God's chosen people and that He would suspend the laws of nature by special providences in their defense then, as it always has among adherents to
Town House BROOKFIELD, CENTRAL STREET LOOKING EAST
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that faith, gave great courage to the garrison. A summer rain which they believed to be a token of divine favor helped quench the flames. When some were obliged to venture out to stop a fire, Simon Davis, one of three in charge as substitutes for the two wounded captains, encouraged them as well as those firing upon the Indians from within by shout- ing "'God is with us, and fights for us, and will deliver us "out of the hands of these heathen'; which expressions the "Indians hearing, they shouted and scoffed, saying: 'now "we see how your God delivers you, or will deliver you,' "sending in many shots whilst our men were putting out "the fire. But the Lord of Hosts wrought very graciously "for us, in preserving our bodies both within and without "the house from their shot, and our house from being "consumed by fire, we had but two men wounded in that "attempt of theirs, but we apprehended that we killed "divers of our enemies. The next day being August 3d, "they continued shooting and shouting, and proceeded "in their former wickedness, blaspheming the name of "the Lord and reproaching us, his afflicted servants, scof- "fing at our prayers as they were sending in their shot "upon all quarters of the house and many of them went "to the town's meeting house (which was within twenty "rods of the house in which we were) who mocked saying, "come and pray and sing psalms, and in contempt made "an hideous noise somewhat resembling singing. But "we, to our power, did endeavour our defence, sending our "shot amongst them, the Lord giving us courage to resist "them and preserving us from the destruction they sought "to bring upon us." This reads like a passage from the Book of Samuel. Can it be that, when the pious Captain Wheeler wrote the narrative a few months later, after his recovery from his wound, his memory was affected by his daily reading of the Scriptures?
On August 4th, the Indians were driven off by Major Willard with a troup of forty-seven white men and five
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Indians. They, while on a march to repel an attack threat- ened further west, heard at Marlboro the news of the danger at Brookfield, which had come from travellers who had seen the flames or heard the shots. The rescue arrived an hour after dark while the Indians were engaged upon their fire engines. When Willard forced his way to the house there was danger of a fight between his men and those rescued, since, in the darkness, each thought the other party was composed of Indians, he not knowing that any white men had escaped. And they were on the point of firing upon each other until the major gave a command in English. Captain Wheeler then ordered the trumpet to be sounded and all fired in the direction of the enemy. The cattle had followed Major Willard's horsemen to the house and in the darkness made their number seem much larger. This fright- ened the savages, who fled after they had set fire to the only remaining houses and barns, except the tavern.
The first settlement was ended. The survivors of the original inhabitants moved with the little property that they had left; mostly back to the towns from which they came; in a few cases to other parts of the colony, where they were for some time the objects of public and private charity. "The English were not in a capacity to look after Their "dead but those dead bodies were left as meat to the Fowls "of heaven, and their flesh unto the Beasts of the earth,
"and there was none to bury them." After this abandon- ment the tavern was burned by the Indians, of whom some had lurked about the ruins and wounded one of the men looking for horses.
But the outpost was of too great value to be permanently abandoned. The trail between the bay and the great river must be protected. It was also important that travellers should have a resting place where they could obtain refresh- ment. Although for a short time the garrison was broken up by the recall of Major Willard, a few months later it was re-established in temporary quarters; but only one of the
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old families, that of Sergeant Ayres, ever returned. The fields lay waste for nearly ten years. Gradually, however, a few young men from the neighboring towns and soldiers who had seen the advantages of the situation while in garri- son or on the march, began to form another settlement.
In 1686, James Ford, a soldier, petitioned the General Court "to appoint and impower some prudent and able "persons as a Committee to admit Inhabitants, and order "the Affaires of the place, in forming ye Towne, granting "Lotts, & directing & ordering all matters of a prudential "Nature till such time the Place be settled, and a compe- "tent number of Inhabitants & persons of discretion to "order the affaires thereof." His preamble said: that the ancient inhabitants had wholly deserted Brookfield but that "some are already seated and others would be willing "to settle the said place againe were there some encourage- "ment from the Hon 1 Council, and some to guide & order
"the prudential Affaires for such a Plantation." He sug- gested as members of a committee, the names of four of the former settlers, including Pastor Younglove. But the au- thorities in Boston did not have confidence in their discre- tion. On November 9th, the Council appointed Major John Pynchon and five other citizens of Springfield "a Com- "mittee for the settling of the town of Quabaug, & the "Petition of the said Town is granted, and the aforenamed "Gentlemen are to receive the claimes of the old Inhabi- "tants, grant Lotts to others, & give necessary orders for
"the more orderly settlement of the said Towne." Under Pynchon's care, the settlement was again placed where it remained until his death in 1703, when his son John, who was also a colonel and a judge, succeeded him. It remained in charge of a committee for twenty-two years. During that time its chief importance was for the purposes of a garrison. The land grants were conditioned upon the settlement and the continuance of the grantees there for specified periods. The inhabitants were in great distress from attacks by the
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Indians, the continued terror that these inspired and the difficulty in supporting themselves. In August, 1688, the news of the murder by Indians, some of them Quabaugs, of three men, two women and a girl of fifteen at Northfield, so terrified the Brookfield settlers that they prepared to abandon the place. They were prevented by Major Pynch- on, who sent six soldiers "ordering and requiring their con- "tinuance, only I sent to fetch off such women as desired
"to come away." His account book shows that, at differ- ent times, he sent them provisions and guns as well as rein- forcements, and that in September of the same year he sent men who were occupied about five days in building a forti- fication containing barracks sufficient to house all the in- habitants in case of danger and surrounded by a stock- ade. This saved many lives. In 1693, a band of about forty Indians from Canada or Northern New York lay in ambush for six days at a distance from this fort and then suddenly attacked three of the outlying families. They killed Thomas Lawrence, Joseph Mason with his eldest boy and Joseph Woolcot's wife and two daughters. Woolcot's family had accompanied him to his work, since the women feared to be alone. They found, when they returned for dinner, that the Indians had been in the house and had stolen his gun and other property. Shortly afterwards, they saw, at some distance, a savage approaching. Joseph immediately sent his wife and girls to hide in the bushes. Then taking his little son under one arm and his broad axe in the other, he went out with his dog against the enemy. The dog's attack was so fierce that the Indian was obliged to shoot at him. Woolcot then put the child down and chased the Pagan, who loaded while running, until he heard the bullet roll down the gun. He then turned back, snatched his child and escaped to the swamps, where he was concealed until able to make his way to the fort and warn the garrison which consisted of only five men. His wife lost control of her nerves and shrieked from her hiding place until she was caught, and
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with her daughters killed by the same Indian. The Mason family were attacked at dinner. After the man and boy were killed, the woman and an infant, together with Daniel Lawrence, a youth of eighteen, were carried off by the In- dians, who, after a journey of about ten miles, found the baby an encumbrance and knocked it on the head. John Lawrence meanwhile had applied to Major Pynchon for help. The major, himself then too old for active service, sent to aid the garrison Captain Colton at the head of a troup of thirty horsemen, which, on its way, was enlarged by vol- unteers. The Captain left sixteen to protect the town and on July 29th, two days after the attack, at the head of forty- two, started in pursuit. They followed the tracks of the savages through the long grass, finding the body of the baby and horses killed during the flight. On that day the troopers covered about thirty-seven miles and reached the place where the enemy had lodged the second night finding the camp fires still burning. The ground beyond was impassable for horses because of swamps, rocks and brush. Captain Colton with twenty-three picked men, leaving the rest behind, "lightening themselves of their coats and without Victuals
"hastened away that if possible they might come upon the
"Indians before-or discover them in the-Night;" but after a march of about eight miles he was forced by the dark- ness to camp without food or protection against the damp. At dawn, he continued his pursuit about a mile and a half, when, about sunrise, he discovered the enemy in a thick wood, hearing them laughing while not more than three or four rods away. With the ten in his van, he surrounded the enemy, four times their number, hiding his troopers behind bushes which they cut. The ten then fired upon forty armed savages; and the remaining thirteen, hearing the volley, charged and also fired at such as they could see. The Indians ran leaving their two captives with their ammunition, most of their guns, tomahawks and cutlasses. About seven savages were killed. Others were wounded, but escaped.
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None of the rescued was injured. What act of heroism has excelled the courage shown by Captain Colton and his followers in this pursuit?
The settlers asked the advice of Major Pynchon whether they should remain or abandon their homes. He persuaded them to stay and obtained a reinforcement by the addition of eight or ten soldiers to the garrison. In the following year, John Lawrence, whose family had suffered in the pre- vious attack, with Samuel Owen, was killed by Indians while in the woods searching for a man who was missing. During Queen Anne's war, in 1708, when John Woolcott, a boy of about twelve, was riding in search of cows, the Indians fired at him and took him prisoner. There were then, besides Gilbert's Fort, several fortified houses in Brookfield: one, known as Jenning's Garrison, on Foster's Hill, near the site of the Ayres Tavern; another, Bannister Garrison, on the old road between what is now the village of South Brookfield and the Woolcott House. Marks' Garrison had also been built near the southwest end of Wickaboag pond on a knoll below the Quabaug River. Goss Garrison stood west of Wickaboag pond near the house once occupied by Isaac Gleason and later by Charles H. Fairbanks. All these seem to have been constructed between 1704 and 1706. They were merely bullet proof houses with heavy wooden frames, linings of logs or planks and occasionally a few bricks, heavy plank doors and window shutters that could be closed from within. When those in Jenning's Garrison heard the shots at the boy, they concluded that Bannister's Garrison was attacked and six men went out for assistance; but were way- laid by the Indians. There was no safety in retreat. Abijah Bartlett, who took to his heels, was shot dead. The other five, strengthened by the current belief that an Indian could not look an Englishman in the face and take a right aim, stood their ground; presenting their pieces, without firing, whenever they saw a heathen. The savages kept shooting and wounded three. They were saved by the approach of
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a large dog, attracted by the noise, which he thought indi- cated a hunt. One, to encourage his friends and frighten the Indians, called out: "Captain Williams is come to help us. See his dog." This frightened away the enemy, who had a wholesome respect for Williams and believed that he had brought reinforcements. The Woolcott boy was carried back with them to Canada, where he remained six or seven years, learned the Indian language and was so satisfied with his treatment that, after the peace, he was for some time unwilling to return. During the same war, in 1706, the widow McIntosh, together with Judah Trumble of Suffield, was shot and killed while she was milking. Thomas Battis was killed near the site of Belcher Town. And in August, 1709, John Clary of Brookfield and Robert Grainger of Suffield were killed by Indians while walking along the Brookfield road.
You are all familiar with the massacre of the six men who were making hay in the meadow on July 22nd, 1710. The story of one of them, John White, whom they had taken prisoner and who was shot while trying to escape, has been described in verse by the graceful pen of Miss Frances Bart- lett. This was the last calamity of war that befell the town. The discipline which the inhabitants received during those times that tried their souls and the traditions of the courage which they then displayed, moulded the character of the succeeding generations, so that the men of Brookfield have always been not only willing but able to render their country great service in every later war. Let us honor the men who, during those troublous times, protected the path between the river and the bay.
But let us give greater honor to the women of Brookfield. They underwent severer hardship and did more work than the men. They discharged their household tasks. They attended to the dairy, the weeding and other incidental labors of the farm, which are more fatiguing than the plow; without the excitement of the trap, fishing and the hunt.
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For many years, they nursed the sick without the aid of a physician. They had no time for nervous prostration, nor to be troubled by the question whether their characters were thoroughly understood by their husbands. They bore and reared large families of children, whose ministrations were the comfort of their old age. One, who was alive when the haymakers were killed, survived until after the Revolution to the age of ninety-one. She had then two hundred and thirty-two living descendants: children, grandchildren, great- grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and great-great- great-grandchildren, all of whom down to the fifth generation arose and called her blessed. The Brookfield women in- curred the same dangers as the men, with equal or greater fortitude. One was killed by Indians while attending to the COWS. When the savages threatened the feebly fortified house where the wife of Joseph Marks was alone, she donned her husband's great coat, wig and hat and with his gun patrolled the roof, calling. "All's well, all's well," until she saved the building with the town's ammunition and supplies by frightening them away in the belief that the garrison was there.
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