USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > The History of Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, 1836 > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
"Thus sir, you have a sad account of the continuance of God's displeasure against us : yet still I desire steadfastly to look unto him, who is not only able but willing to save all such as are fit for his salvation. It is a day of the wicked's tryumph, but the sure word of God tells us his tryumphing is brief. O that we may not lengthen it out by our sins. The Lord help us to joyne issue in our prayers, instantly and earnestly, for the healing and helping of our Land. Our Extremity is God's opportunity.
" Thus with our dearest respects to you and Mrs. Cotton, and such sorrowful friends as are with you, I remain
" Your ever assured friend,
NOAH NEWMAN."
Note in the lower margin, probably in the handwriting of Mr. Cotton.
" From Mr. Newman, March 27, 1676. Newman, Shove, Walley, Maj. Bradford, Capt. Oliver, Keith, Fr. Mather, Math. Mather, Sister Mather, Seaborn, Cotton, Walker, Moody, Mrs. Newman. Read."
* John Fits, Jr. and John Miller, Jr. belonged to Rehoboth, and also Thomas Man. What is torn off had on it, probably, the name of one from Eastham, and the word Rehoboth. It will be seen that besides what is torn off, there are five names that follow Eastham.
93
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
It has been stated by several writers, that the celebrated Narraganset chief, Canonchet, was present, and commanded the Indians in this battle .* But if the testimony of Hubbard, who is generally considered as standard authority, be correct, this is a mistake, and Canonchet did not arrive in the neighbourhood of Pierce's Fight till several days after it occurred. For Hubbard [p. 127] in a paragraph, bearing date " the first week in April, 1676," mentions Canonchet as setting out, "with but thirty men (the rest declining it) to fetch seed-corn from Seaconk, the next town to Mount Hope, leaving a body of men, not fewer than fifteen hundred, to follow him, or meet him about Seaconk the week after." On the succeeding page, the same author, speaking of the capture of Canonchet, which occurred the first week in April, says that at the time of his surprisal by the Eng- lish, he was " diverting himself with the recital of Capt. Pierce's slaughter, surprised by his men a few days before." There is some discrepancy in these two statements ; for, from the former, it would seem that neither Canonchet nor his men left the region of the Connecticut till the first week in April ; but as this date is placed at the beginning of the paragraph in which the capture of that chief is related, it may be designed to fix rather the date of that event, than the time when he left the Connecticut : this, from the loose manner in which Hubbard frequently throws in his dates, is perhaps, the more probable. From the latter quotation, we have good ground for supposing that, though Canonchet might have been in the vicinity, yet he was not present at the battle; for it seems that he " was divert- ing himself with a recital of Capt. Pierce's slaughter, surprised by his men a few days before." Had he witnessed the battle, he would hardly have needed " a recital" of it ; or had he com- manded, the historian would not probably have used the ex- pression " surprised by his men."
Mr. Drake, in his "Book of the Indians," [b. iii. c. 3, p. 42-3] says that Canonchet "came down from the country upon the Connecticut river early in March," and states also that he commanded at Pierce's Fight. The renowned accuracy of Mr. Drake, as an antiquarian, almost precludes the idea of question- ing his authority : that he had sufficient for the assertion is hardly to be doubted, though he has not referred us to the
* Deane's Hist. of Scituate, p. 121-2. Daggett's Hist. of Attleborough, p. 49. Drake's Book of the Indians, b. iii. c. 3, p. 43, 3d ed. Boston, 1834.
94
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
source whence he derived it. These authorities are cited, and these statements quoted to direct the attention of those more skilled in antiquarian lore, to this point.
NINE MEN'S MISERY. This name is given to a spot in Cumberland, R. I., where nine men were slain by the Indians, on the same day with Pierce's Fight. This place is in what is call- ed "Camp Swamp,"* about half a mile from the house of the late Elisha Waterman, Esq. There are two or three traditions respecting this event ; one of which is thus stated by Daggett, [Hist. of Attleborough. p. 52-3.] " A company of nine men were in advance of, or had strayed from, their party for some pur- pose, when they discovered a number of Indians near this spot, whom they immediately pursued and attacked, but a large number of the enemy rushed out of the swamp and surrounded them. The whites, placing their backs to a large rock near by, fought with desperation till every one of them was killed on the spot. The rest of their party, who were in hearing of their guns, hastened to their succour, but arrived too late to render them any assistance. Their bodies were buried on the spot, which is now designated by a large pile of stones." Another tradition says, that these nine inen were part of a company that marched from Providence to aid Capt. Pierce, in compliance with a message sent by him to that town, at the commencement of the engagement ; but that they did not reach the spot till after the battle; and that these nine, being in advance of the rest of the company, were surprised and slain by the Indians in the manner above related. The third tradition respecting this event, and the one which seems the most probable, and the best supported by circumstances, is, that these nine men were a rem- nant of Pierce's brave band, who were taken prisoners by the Indians, and reserved for torture. They were carried to a sort of peninsula of upland, nearly surrounded by "Camp Swamp," and seated upon a rock in a kind of natural amphithe- atre, formed by the elevated ground around it. The savages commenced the war-dance around them, and were preparing to torture them ; but, disagreeing about the manner of torture, they fell into a quarrel among themselves, in which some of the Indians despatched the prisoners with the tomahawk. This story is said to have been related to the English by an Indian
* This swamp is said to have derived its name from the Indians having fre- quently made it a place of retreat during Philip's war.
95
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
who was soon after this taken prisoner. The Indians, having scalped them, left their bodies upon the rock where they had słain them, and here they remained unburied till they were dis- covered by the English some weeks after. They were then buried, all in one grave, on the higher ground, fifteen or twenty rods from the rock on which they were slain. A heap of small stones, in the shape of the earth on a newly made grave, still marks the spot where they lie. Around where they fell, and where they are buried, there is a forest of considerable extent.
Daggett is the only writer who bas related this occurrence at "Nine Men's Misery." He was unable to fix the date, but says, " there is some reason for believing that it was at or about the time of Pierce's Fight." I have been able to assure myself, on good grounds, that this date is correct. A part of these bones, about the time of the American Revolution, were disin- terred by some physicians from Providence. One of the men was ascertained to be a Bucklin of Rehoboth, from his very large frame, and from a set of double teeth all around. In the town record of deaths and burials, the names of four individuals are recorded, as " slain on the 26th of March, 1676," viz : John Reed, Jr. John Fitch, Jr. Benjamin Buckland, and Jolin Mil- ler, Jr. Between the first two of these names and the last two are inserted the names of seven other persons, bearing a later date ; which leads me to infer that John Read, Jr. and John Fitch, Jr. were found with the main body of the slain of Pierce's army, and that Benjamin Buckland and John Miller, Jr. were found among the nine, at " Nine Men's Misery," and interred at a later period than the other two.
March the 28th, 1676, two days after Pierce's Fight, a party of the Indians, crossing the river, laid the town in aslies, burn- ing forty houses and thirty barns .* These houses were around the " Ring of the Town," now called "Seekonk Common." Only two houses were left standing,-the garrison-house, which stood on the spot where the house of Phanuel Bishop now stands, and another house on the south end of the common, which was preserved by black sticks having been arranged around it so as to give it, at a distance, the appearance of being strongly guarded. The houses were set on fire, as tradition in- forms us, early in the evening, and when the sun arose the next morning, it beheld only a line of smoking ruins.
* Hubbard's Narrative, p. 125.
96
HISTORY OF REHOBOTII.
The town records give the name of only one person slain by the Indians at this time : " Robert Beers slain ye 28 March, 1676." He was an Irishman, and a brick-maker by trade. It is said that he was a religious, but eccentric and superstitious, man ; and, that on the approach of the Indians, he refused to go into the garrison-house, but sat down in his own house with his bible in his hand, believing that while he continued reading it, nothing could harm him. He was shot through the window, and fell with his bible in his hand.
The following mention of the burning of the town by the Indians, on the 28th of March, is made in a letter, written, at that time, by the Council of war at Plymouth, to Governour Lev- erett, of Massachusetts Colony. The copy, found among the Winslow papers. has no date, but from the contents it is inferred that it was written on the 31st of March, 1676 :* "Another messenger, with sad tidings, at the heals of the other, from Re- hoboth ; that town in flames, 28 instant, soon after daylight, the enemy having fetch't away sundry cattle the day before and lay all night in their hearing, burnt 60 houses and barns, ap- peared very numerous, and continued lurking thereabout after it."
The following anecdote is related of a chair, now in the pos- session of Capt. Caleb Abell of Seekonk, which has been in the possession of that family since the burning of the town by the Indians, and is dignified with the appellation of " King Philip's Chair." The Indians set fire to the house of Preser- ved Abell, where Capt. Caleb Abell, one of his descendants, now resides, about dark, and seated themselves around the fire to enjoy the conflagration ; and one of the Indians brought out of the house this chair, which is a large, heavy armed chair, for the chief (which is said to have been Philip,) to sit in. On leaving this house and adjourning to another, an Indian threw a fire- brand into the chair, which consumed the bottom, but left the huge frame, with only scorching the parts to which the bottom was attached. These parts bear evident marks of fire, having been burned in, in some places, nearly half an inch. It is said that, while he was on good terms with the English, Philip was in the habit of frequently visiting this family ; and that this chair, which was the " big armed chair of the house," was always brought forth, as a mark of distinction, for his seat. This is all
* See Morton's Memorial, ed. by Judge Davis, p. 438, Appendix.
97
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
tradition, but it is currently believed, and the existence of the chair and its appearance, give it title to credence.
The next event of importance, with regard to the Indians, which is connected with the history of this town, is the capture of the haughty and warlike sachem of the Narragansetts, Canonchet, alias Nanuntenoo. He was the chief sachen of the Narragansetts, and son of Miantonnomoh, and, according to Hubbard, was " heir to all his father's pride and insolency, as well as of his malice against the English." During " the first week in April, 1676,"* he left the region of the Connecticut, with only thirty men, " the rest declining it, to fetchi seed-corn. from Seaconk, the next town to Mount Hope, leaving a body of men, not fewer than fifteen hundred, to follow him, or meet him about Seaconk the week after." From this statement, it would seem that both Canonchet and his men were on the Connecticut river till the first week in April ; but we know that Capt. Pierce was " surprised by his men" (i. e. Canonchet's), on the 26th of March preceding. From a remark in the letter, mentioned on the preceding page, contained in the Appendix of Morton's Me- morial, by Davis, it appears that Philip, instead of Canonchet, marched with some hundreds into the vicinity of Seekonk or thereabouts, at the date of Pierce's Fight : "There seems reason to judge, that the body of the enemy is thereabouts, by the number of them seen about Narragansett, and the cer- tain intelligence given by some of our soldiers, (that escaped from the slaughter made on Capt. Pierce and his men) of their hearing the noise and crying of women and children, a good space distant from the fight, and the intelligence of one of ours, from Rhode Island, on Tuesday last, that Governour Andrewst advised the Governour there by letter, that by English and In- dian information, he understood, Philip, with some hundreds, were gone down to those parts, and, as he supposed, might be thereabout, by that time his advice might come thither." This letter was probably written on the 31st of March, which was Friday ; and the " Tuesday," mentioned, was the 28th. This is evident from Pierce's Fight having occurred on the 26th, which was the Sabbath. If the assertion, quoted from the let- ter of the Plymouth Council of war, be correct, there is much
* Hubbard, p. 127. From Hubbard, I have derived most of what is here related of Canonchet.
t Sir Edmund Andros, then Governour of New York.
13
98
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
reason for supposing, that, if any distinguished chief was pres- ent at Pierce's Fight, it was more probably Philip than Canon- chet, and that Canonchet did not leave Connecticut till the first week in April, as stated by Hubbard.
April 9th,* 1676, Canonchet was found on the Pawtucket, or Blackstone river, not far from the village of Pawtucket; but whether in the town of Pawtucket or Cumberland, I am unable to determine, though the spot where Blackstone resided, in Cumberland, seems to me to answer best the description of the spot where he is said to have been surprised. The following is the principal part of Hubbard's account of his capture. "Capt. George Dennison, of Stonington, and Captain Avery, of New-London, having raised forty-seven English, the most part volunteers, with eighty Indians, twenty of which were Nar- ragansetts belonging to Ninigret, commanded by one Catapazet ; the rest Pequods, under Casasinamon, and Mohegins under Oneco, son to Uncas, being now abroad upon their third expe- dition, which they began March 27, 1676, and ended on the 10th of April following. They met with a stout Indian of the enemy's whom they presently slew, and two old squaws, that confessed Nanuntenoo, alias Canonchet, was not far off; which welcome news put new life into the wearied soldiers, that had travelled hard many days, and met with no booty till now ; especially when it was confirmed by intelligence the same in- stant, brought in by their scouts, that they met with new tracks, which brought them in view of some wigwams, not far from Pautuket, by some called Blackstone's river, in one of which the said sachem was at that moment diverting himself with the recital of Capt. Pierce's slaughter, surprised by his men a few days before. But the alarm of the English, at that time heard by himself, put by that discouse, appalled by the suddenness thereof, as if he had been informed by secret item from heaven, that now his own turn was come. So, as having but seven men about him, he sent two of them to the top of the hill,t to see what the matter was; but they, affrighted with the near ap-
* Manuscript letter of the Rev. John Cotton, of Plymouth, dated " Plimouth, April 17, 1676," found in the Lib. of the Mass. Hist. Soc. Boston. This let- ter will be given entire at the close of this sketch of the capture of Canon- chet.
t This " hill," I am constrained to think, was the " study hill " of Black- stone, and the " fair champaigna " over which the English were advancing, " Blackstone's meadow," as there is no other place near, that answers so well the description. Sce description of study hill, page 6.
99
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
proach of the English, at that time with great speed mounting over a fair champagna on the other side of the hill, ran by, as if they wanted time to tell what they saw. Presently he sent a third, who did the like; then sending two more on the same errand, one of these last, endued with more courage, or a better sense of his duty, informed him in great haste that all the Eng- lish army was upon him. Whereupon, having no time to con- sult, and but little to attempt an escape, and no means to defend himself, he began to dodge with his pursuers, running round the hill on the contrary side. But as he was running so hastily by, Catapazat, with twenty of his followers, and a few of the English, lightest of foot, guessed by the swiftness of his motion, that he fled as if an enemy, which made them immediately take the chace after him, as for their lives. He that was the swifter pursuer, put him so hard to it, that he cast off first his blanket, then his silver laced coat (given him at Boston, as a pledge of their friendship, upon the renewal of his league in October before) and belt of peag, which made Catapazat conclude it was the right bird, which made them pursue as eagerly as the other fled : so as they forced him to take to the water, through which, as he over hastily plunged, his foot slipping upon a stone, it made him fall into the water so deep, as it wet his gun ; upon which accident, he confessed soon after, that his heart and his bowels turned within him, so as he became as a rotten stick, void of strength ; insomuch as one Monopoide, a Pequod, swiftest of foot, laid hold of him within thirty rod of the river side, with- out his making any resistance, though he was a very proper man, of goodly stature, and great courage of mind, as well as strength of body. One of the first English that came up with him, was Robert Stanton, a young man that scarce had reached the twenty-second year of his age, yet adventuring to ask him a question or two, to whom this manly sachem, looking with a little neglect upon his youthful face, replied in broken English, " You much child, no understand matters of war ; let your brother or your chief come, him I will answer; " and was as good as his word ; acting herein, as if, by a Pythagorean me- tempsychosis, some old Roman ghost had possessed the body of this western pagan ; and, like Attilius Regulus, he would not. accept of his own life, when it was tendered him, upon that (in his account) low condition of compliance with the English, re- fusing to send an old counsellor of his to make any motion that way, saying he knew the Indians would not yield ; but more
100
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
probably he was not willing they should, choosing rather to sac- rifice his own, and his people's lives to his private humour of revenge, than timely to provide for his own, and their safe- ty, by entertaining the counsels of a peace, so necessary for the general good of all." [Hubbard, pp. 127, 128, 129.]
He was afterwards carried: to . Stonington, Ct. When up- braided with his breach of faith to the English, and with having said that " he would not deliver up a Wampanoag, or the paring of a Wampanoag's nail," and "that he would burn the Eng- lish alive in their houses," he replied that " others were as for- ward for the war as himself, and that he desired to hear no more thereof." When told, his sentence was to die, he said " he liked it well, that he should die before his heart was soft, or he had spoken any thing unworthy of himself." He was shot at Stonington, under the eye of Denison, and the friendly Indians were his executioners.
The author of the anonymous " Letters to London," cited at page 76, says, speaking of the capture of Canonehet, that " Myantonomy's carriage was strangely proud and lofty after he was taken ; being examined why he did foment that war which would certainly be the destruction of him and all the heathen Indians in the country, &c. He would make no other reply to any interrogatories, but this ; that he was born a prince, and if princes came to speak with him he would answer; but none present being such, he thought himself obliged, in honour, to hold his tongue, and not hold discourse with such persons below his birth and quality. He told them he wished rather to die than to continue under confinement ; that all he desired was not to be tormented, but presently put to death, which he requested might be done by young Uncas that aided us, as acknowledging him his fellow prince ; yet withal threatened, he had 2000 men would revenge his death severely. Wherefore our forces, fear- ing an escape, put the stoutest men to the sword, but preserved Myantonomy till they returned to Stonington ; where our Indian friends and most of the English soldiers, declaring to the com- manders their fear, that the English should upon condition re- lease him, and that then he would (though the English might have peace with bim) be very pernicious to those Indians that now assisted us. The said Indians, (on these considerations and the mischief and murthers he hath done during this war,) permitted to put him to death; and that all might share in the glory of destroying so great a prince, and come under the obli-
101
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
gation of fidelity, each to other, the Pequods shot him, the Mo- hegins cut off his head and quartered his body, and the Ninni- crofts men made the fire and burned his quarters ; and, as a token of love and fidelity to the English, presented his head to the council at Hartford." [p. 9.]
The following letter, written by Mr. Cotton of Plymouth, eight days after the capture of Canonchet, in which mention is made of that event, and also of the slaughter of Capt. Pierce, and the sufferings of the town by the Indians, deserves to be inserted here; and, as it has never before been published, I shall give it entire, though some paragraphs have no connexion with the history of the town.
"PLIMOUTH, April 19, 1676. "Worthy Sir :
With refference to the transactions of the last weeke I am exceedingly afflicted to think, that wee should so reele and stag- ger in our counsels as drunken men, and that soe pretious a peo- ple as Rehoboth should be soe forsaken by us, for our own self- ish interests. If I were in your study alone, I would tell you how much blemish some have gotten for being so backward to maintaine a garrison at Rehoboth. This morning the Gov'r (being much encouraged by Capt. Bradford and the treasurer thereunto,) hath sent 2 men post to Rehoboth, to signify that if they will come off, an army from us shall guard them; but if they will stay, and judge it necessary for their safety, they shall have from us 40 or 50 men to keepe garrison with them, etc. And truly sir, if your southerne men sliall faile in this, it will be just matter of reproach to them: however, it is resolved helpe shall be sent them, if they accept it. Good news in letters from Stonington to Boston. On Lord's day, Apr. 9, some Connecticut forces, Capt. George Denison being chiefe, tooke and killed 42 Indians, of which Quanonshet was one, who was taken in that coat he received at Boston. His head is sent to Hartford, his body is burnt; then also was killed one hostage that run from Hartford, and some chief counsellors ; also 38 sachems and 3 Capts. were taken and killed neere Patuxet [Pawtucket]. There was also a fight Apr. 2, by those forces with the Narragansets ; the issue of that I have not a particular account of. Apr. 12, one woman and 2 children were killed at Wooburne. At Boston the votes for nominations of magistrates, for divers old ones run very low. Capt. Gookins hath 446,
102
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
which is but 5 more than Major Savage hath, who is the last in the nomination of the 18: Mr. Dudley hath 651. An Indian at Boston, who was improved as a messenger to the enemy, being returned, affirms that Capt. Pierce and his killed scores of the Indians that Sabbath day. I must now conclude this letter, having sundry things to transcribe for you, which just now I rec'd from Boston. Our church hath set apart this fol- lowing Wednesday for Humiliation and pr. I am much straitned for time, but my respect to you obliges me to transcribe the en- closed.
" I rest, &c. &c. "JOHN COTTON."
The " enclosed " were various particulars relative to the war. The original of this letter is in the library of the Mass. Hist. Society.
The next notice of the Indians, relative to Rehoboth, found in history, is, that " in the road to Rehoboth, [in their march from Wrentham], they assaulted one Woodcock's house, killed one man, and one of his sons, wounded another, and burned his son's house."* The following particulars of this event are given by Daggett in his History of Attleborough [p. 47] : his authority for these facts, he states, is mostly tradition.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.