USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Three historical addresses at Groton, Massachusetts > Part 8
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
I come now to the sad story of the Longley family, which is commemorated by one of the monuments dedicated to- day. William and Deliverance Longley were living, with their eight children, on a small farm perhaps a mile and a quarter from this hall, on the east side of the Hollis road. Their house was built of hewn logs, and was standing at the beginning of the present century. The old cellar, with its well-laid walls, was distinctly visible forty years ago, and traces of it could be seen even to the present time. On the fatal morning of July 27, 1694, the massacre of this family was committed. The savages appeared suddenly, coming from the other side of the Merrimack River, and began the attack at Lieutenant William Lakin's house, where they were repulsed with the loss of one of their number. They fol- lowed it up by assaulting other houses in the same neighbor- hood. They made quick work of it, and left the town as speedily as they came. With the exception of John Shep- ley's house, it is not known that they destroyed any of the buildings; but they pillaged them before they departed. They carried off thirteen prisoners, mostly children, who must have retarded their march. There is a tradition that early in the morning of the attack the Indians turned Long- ley's cattle out of the barn-yard into the corn-field, and then lay in ambush. The stratagem had the desired effect: Long- ley rushed out of the house, unarmed, in order to drive the cattle back, when he was murdered, and all his family either killed or captured. The bodies of the slain were buried in one grave a few rods northwest of the house. A small apple-
103
tree growing over the spot, and a stone lying even with the ground, for many years furnished the only clew to the final resting-place of this unfortunate family, but these have now disappeared.
William Longley was town-clerk in the year 1687, and also from 1692 till his death in 1694; and, only one week before he was killed, he had made entries in the town rec- ords. His father, William Longley, Sen., had also been town-clerk during the years 1666 and 1667, and died on November 29, 1680. The father was one of the earliest settlers of the town, as well as the owner of a thirty-acre right in the original Groton plantation. Lydia, John, and Betty were the names of the three children carried off by the savages, and taken to Canada. Lydia was sold to the French, and placed in the Congregation of Notre Dame, a convent in Montreal, where she embraced the Roman Cath- olic faith, and died on July 20, 1758, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. Betty died soon after her capture, from hunger and exposure; and John, the third child, remained with the savages for more than four years, when he was ransomed and brought away, much against his own will. At one time during his captivity he was on the verge of starving, when an Indian kindly gave him a dog's foot to gnaw, which for the time appeased his hunger. He was known among his captors as John Augary. After he came home, his sister Lydia wrote from Canada, urging him to abjure the Protestant religion; but he remained true to his early faith.
Their grandmother, the widow of Benjamin Crispe, made her will, April 13, 1698, which was admitted to probate on the 28th of the following December; and in it she remem- bered these absent children as follows : -
I give and bequeath Vnto my three Grand-Children yt are in Captivity if they returne Vizdt three books one of ym a bible another a Sermon booke treating of faith and the other a psalme · book.
The old lady herself certainly had read the "Sermon booke treating of faith," and it must have been to her a
104
great consolation in her trials. Fortunately for her own peace of mind she never knew that her grand-daughter had embraced the Roman Catholic faith. The knowledge of this fact would have been to her an affliction scarcely less than the massacre of her daughter's family.
John Longley returned about the time that his grand- mother died. The following paper signed by him is found among the Knox manuscripts, now in the possession of the New England Historic Genealogical Society : -
John Longley of Groton of about fifty four Years of age Testifyes & Saith That he was Taken Captive by the Indians at Groton in July 1694. and Lived in Captivity with them More than four Years; And the Two Last years and an half at Pe- nobscot as Servant to Madocawando of S! Panobscot And he was always Accounted as Chief or One of ye Chief Sachems or Captains among the Indians there and I have Often Seen the Indians Sitting in Council Where he always Sat as Chief : And Once in perticuler I Observed a present was made him of a Considerable Number of Skins of Considerable Vallue As an Acknowledment of his. Superiority.
Midds SS. Groton July 24th 1736.
JOHN LONGLEY
Deacon John Longley above named personally appearing Made Oath To ye Truth of the above written Testimony.
Before me Benja Prescott Just of peace
(Knox Manuscripts, Waldo Papers, L. 13.)
In the month of July, 1877, I was in Montreal, where I procured, through the kindness of the Mother Superior at the Congregation of Notre Dame, a copy of the record of Lydia's baptism, of which the following is a translation : -
On Tuesday, April 24, 1696, the ceremony of baptism was performed on an English girl, named Lydia Longley, who was born April 14, 1674, at Groton, a few miles from Boston in New England. She was the daughter of William Longley and De- liverance Crisp, both Protestants. She was captured in the month of July, 1694, by the Abenaqui Indians, and has lived for the past month in the house of the Sisters of the Congrega-
105
tion of Notre Dame. The godfather was M. Jacques Le Ber, merchant ; the godmother was Madame Marie Madeleine Du- pont, wife of M. de Maricourt, Ecuyer, Captain of a company of Marines : she named this English girl Lydia Madeleine
[Signed] LYDIA MADELEINE LONGLEY, MADELEINE DUPONT, LE BER, M. CAILLE, acting curate.
I now pass over the period of one generation, leaving be- hind Indian attacks and massacres, and approach a subject with pleasanter associations.
One day near the close of winter, in a house at the other end of the street, there was considerable commotion and excitement when the announcement was made that "it's a boy." It was in the family of Benjamin and Abigail (Oliver) Prescott, and it was on the 20th of February, 1726, according to the old style of reckoning. In due course of time the baby was christened William, and his earliest expe- riences, we may venture to say, were much like those of other little ones. Of course all the women and children in the neighborhood came in to see the young pilgrim, and pinched his nose and punched his cheeks to their hearts' content. He came of a sturdy stock, and his family name at that time was the most distinguished one in the annals of Groton.
Jonas, the progenitor, was the son of John and Mary ( Platts) Prescott, and was born at Lancaster, in June, 1648. He was a blacksmith by trade, and owned the mill in the south part of Groton, now within the limits of Harvard. It is said that a grant of land made by the town, about the year 1675, when it was much in need of a blacksmith, in- duced him to remove nearer to the village. He built a house and shop on the lot, which was situated on the easterly side of James's Brook, perhaps a third of a mile south of Lawrence Academy. He bought lands, until he became one of the largest owners of real estate in the town.
Jonas married, December 14, 1672, Mary, daughter of John and Mary (Draper) Loker, of Sudbury, and they had
14
106
four sons and eight daughters. Two of the sons died young; but all the other children lived to grow up and have families. The eight daughters, with one exception, married Groton men, and were blessed with a numerous off- spring. Jonas filled many important positions in the town, and represented it in the General Court during the years 1699 and 1705 ; he died on December 31, 1723, aged seventy- five years.
His youngest son, Benjamin, was a man of strong char- acter and commanding appearance; and, like his father, filled many places of usefulness. He was married on June II, 1718, to Abigail, daughter of the Honorable Thomas and Mary (Wilson) Oliver, of Cambridge; and they had three sons and four daughters. He lived near the old homestead, having built a house a little easterly of his father's, where he died on August 3, 1735, at the age of forty-two years, after a short illness caused by over-exertion while haying. His three sons were all remarkable men, and exerted much influence in shaping public affairs during an important period.
William, the second son of Benjamin, settled on a large estate owned by his father, in that part of Groton, now in- cluded in Pepperell, which lies near the State line. He was a lieutenant in the expedition sent in the year 1755 to re- move the French Neutrals from Nova Scotia, and a colonel of Minute Men enrolled in this neighborhood in 1774. As commander of the American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, his name will never be forgotten. In later years, at various times he filled the offices of town- clerk, selectman, and representative in the General Court. He was the father of William Prescott, the lawyer and jurist, and the grandfather of William Hickling Prescott, the distinguished historian. He died on October 13, 1795, aged sixty-nine years, and was buried at Pepperell; his widow died on October 21, 1821, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
In modern times certain captious critics have tried to deprive Colonel Prescott of the distinction of commanding
107
the American forces at Bunker Hill. They never would have attempted this act of injustice when the old hero was alive; for then he had too many soldiers who had fought under him, and had heard him giving orders on that event- ful day, to allow the fact to be disputed. It was the uni- versal testimony of all his military comrades, as I believe it will be of impartial history, that the commandership of that battle belongs to him. The circumstances surrounding the army at the beginning of the Revolution were such that there may have been but little formality in assigning a com- mand; but there is no evidence that Prescott received an order from any officer on that memorable field, while he himself acted under orders from General Ward.
Besides the three spots marked by the monuments dedi- cated to-day, there are other places in this town that might well be designated in a special manner; and I trust that the time is not far distant when they also shall have their commemorative stones.
The site of the second meeting-house, near the Chaplin school-house, is one of these places.
Another spot well deserving to be marked with a memo- rial stone is the place from which Sarah, John, and Zecha- riah Tarbell were carried off by the Indians, on June 20, 1707. They were children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Wood) Tarbell, who had a large family, and lived on Farmers' Row, near Mr. James Lawrence's house. Sarah was a girl thirteen years of age, John a lad of eleven years, and Zechariah only seven at the time when they were taken by the savages. They were near kindred of the Longley family, who had been massacred thirteen years before.
The story of their capture and captivity is a singular one, and sounds like a romance. They were picking cherries early one evening, - so tradition relates, - and were taken by the Indians before they had time to get down from the tree. It should be borne in mind that the date of capture, according to the new style of reckoning, was July 1, when cherries would be ripe enough to tempt the appetite of youth- ful climbers. These children were carried to Canada, where,
£
108
it would seem, they were treated kindly, as no inducement afterward was strong enough to make them return to their old home. The girl, Sarah, was sold to the French, and placed in a convent at Lachine, near Montreal; but what became of her subsequently I am unable to state.
Thomas Tarbell, the father of these children, made his will September 26, 1715, which was admitted to probate six weeks later. After making certain bequests to different members of his family, he says : -
all the rest & residue of my Reall Estate I give to be Equally divided between my three children, John, Zachery, & Sarah Tarbell, upon their return from Captivity, or In Proportion unto any of them that shall return, & the rest, or the parts be- longing to them that do not return, shall be Equally divided among the rest of my children.
In the summer of 1877 I visited Montreal, as I have be- fore mentioned, where I procured, through the kindness of the Mother Superior at the Congregation of Notre Dame, the record of Sarah's baptism, of which the following is a translation : -
On Monday, July 23, 1708, the ceremony of baptism was per- formed on Sarah Tarbell, who was born at Groton in New England, October 9, 1693. Her parents were Thomas Tarbell and Elizabeth Wood, both Protestants, and she was baptized by the minister shortly after her birth. Having been taken by the savages on Monday, June 20, 1707, she was brought to Canada ; she has since been sold, and has lived with the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, established at Lachine, where she abjured her religion on May 1. Her godfather was M. Jacques Urbain Robert de Lamorandière, Secretary of M. l'Intendant ; and her godmother was Madame Marguerite Bonat, wife of M. Etienne Pascaud, the deputy treasurer of the King in this country.
Her name Sarah has been changed to Marguerite.
[Signed] MGTE BONAT, PASCAUD, LAMORANDIERE, MERIEL, PRÊTRE,
109
The boys remained with their captors at Caughnawaga, an Indian village on the right bank of the St. Lawrence River, directly opposite to Lachine; and subsequently mar- ried squaws, and became chiefs of the tribe. Nothing fur- ther in regard to them is learned until April 20, 1739, when their case was brought before the Council and House of Representatives, in Boston. At this time Governor Belcher made a speech, in which he said that -
There are lately come from Canada some Persons that were taken by the Indians from Groton above thirty Years ago, who (its believed) may be induced to return into this Province, on your giving them some proper Encouragement: If this Matter might be effected, I should think it would be not only an Act of Compassion in order to release them from the Errors and Delusions of the Romish Faith; but their living among us might, in Time to come, be of great Advantage to the Province.
The matter was referred to a committee, but no definite result was reached. Nearly forty years after their capture, Governor Hutchinson met them in the State of New York, and, in his " History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay," refers to them thus : -
I saw at Albany two or three men, in the year 1744, who came in with the Indians to trade, and who had been taken at Groton in this, that is called Queen Ann's war. One of them - Tarbell, was said to be one of the wealthiest of the Cag- nawaga tribe. He made a visit in his Indian dress and with his Indian complexion (for by means of grease and paints but little difference could be discerned) to his relations at Groton, but had no inclination to remain there (ii. 139).
Some years after this time these two boys - now grown up to manhood, and occupying the position of chiefs - moved up the St. Lawrence River, accompanied by several others, all with their families, and established the village of St. Regis.
Many interesting facts in regard to these Tarbell brothers may be found in Dr. Franklin B. Hough's " History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, New York," published at
IIO
Albany, in the year 1853. St. Regis is pleasantly situated on the right bank of the St. Lawrence River, the boundary line separating the State of New York from Canada running through it. A part of the village comes within the limits of Franklin County; and Dr. Hough has gathered some of the traditions in regard to them still extant in that neighbor- hood. From the peculiar position of St. Regis, it was agreed, during the last war with England, that the Indians should remain neutral, though the agreement was often broken: In the summer of 1852 the tribe numbered about eleven hun- dred persons, of whom it is said that not one was of pure Indian origin.
In former years the St. Regis Indians had certain rights in a land reservation in the State of New York; and more than once treaties were made between the governor of the State and the chiefs of the tribe, among whom were de- scendants of these Tarbell boys. A treaty was signed on February 20, 1818, in behalf of the Indians, by Loran Tar- bell and Thomas Tarbell, and two other chiefs. Another treaty was signed on September 23, 1825, by eleven chiefs and trustees of the tribe, including Peter Tarbell, Thomas Tarbell, Mitchel Tarbell, Louis Tarbell, and Battice Tarbell. Some of these names, I am sure, will sound familiar to the older ones in this audience. It is very likely that Battice is the same as Sabattis, an Indian name, which is said to be a corruption of Saint Baptiste.
Dr. Hough writes about one of the earlier members of the family as follows : -
A half-breed Indian, who usually was known as PETER THE BIG SPEAK, was a son of Lesor Tarbell, one of the lads who had been stolen away from Groton by the Indians, and who subse- quently became one of the first settlers who preceded the found- ing of St. Regis.
He was a man of much address and ability as a speaker, and was selected as the mouthpiece of the tribe on the more impor- tant occasions that presented themselves (p. 182).
Dr. Hough is wrong when he says that Lesor was the name of one of the captured boys. It is perfectly well
III
known that their names were John and Zechariah, but it is not improbable that one of their sons was named Lesor. If this was the case, it was intended, doubtless, for Eleazer, the name of their youngest brother, who was less than two months old when they were carried off. It certainly would be a very touching tribute to their childish recollections that they should have remembered this little babe at home, and carried him in their thoughts for so many years.
In the year 1772 the Reverend Mr. Ripley and Lieutenant Taylor went on a mission to Canada, in order to induce some Indian children to join the Charity School at Hanover, New Hampshire. They returned September 21, bringing with them eight boys from Caughnawaga, and two from Lorette, a village near Quebec. Among these lads was a descend- ant of one of the Groton Tarbells. (A Continuation of the Narrative of the Indian Charity School, by Eleazer Wheelock, D.D., 1773, PP. 39, 40. )
A Frenchman, of the name of Fovel, visited St. Regis in the year 1826, and induced one of the Tarbell family, whose Indian name was Joseph Torakaron, to accompany him to Europe. Torakaron was to travel in the character of an Indian chief, and Fovel was to act as interpreter and agent. They sailed from New York, and, after reaching Paris, they obtained an interview with Charles X; and so favor- able was the impression produced on the mind of the king, that he presented them with three fine paintings, besides some money. Subsequently they went to Rome, where they were presented to the Pope, who gave them some books and plate for the service of the church. (Dr. Hough's History, &c., p. 166.)
In the summer of 1877 I visited St. Regis, where I met a grandson of one of the Tarbell boys who were carried off. He was more than eighty years old, could speak only the Indian language, and I had to communicate with him through an interpreter. In this way I learned that he was aware of the fact that his grandfather had been captured, when a boy, from a town near Boston, and that he had rela- tives still living there. What interested me exceedingly
II2
was the physical resemblance between him and some of his collateral kindred who lived and died at Squannacook, within my recollection. He was a man of ordinary size, with a sunburnt face and gray hair, though somewhat bald. There was but little appearance of Indian blood in his veins, and · he would have passed anywhere for a good-looking old man. He lived with one of his sons in a small house that was clapboarded and painted, - and one of the best in the village, - where, surrounded by his grandchildren, he was passing the declining years of his life in comfortable ease. I was interested to learn from the Reverend Francis Mar- coux, the parish priest, that the Tarbells were among the most prominent families of the settlement, where there are, perhaps, forty persons who bear the name. They keep up, in a great measure, the same given names that are common among their kindred in this neighborhood. The inhab- itants of St. Regis, for the most part, retain the English names of their fathers, and, besides, have Indian ones.
A third spot that might appropriately be marked by the town is the place where John Shattuck and his eldest son John, a young man in his nineteenth year, were murdered by the Indians, May 8, 1709. They were returning from the west side of the Nashua River, where Mr. Shattuck owned land, and were attacked just as they were crossing the Stony Fordway, below the dam, near the Hollingsworth Paper-mills, where they were killed. At the time of his death Mr. Shattuck, was one of the selectmen of the town. [A memorial stone with a suitable inscription was placed near the bridge in December, 1882.]
A remarkable fatality seems to have followed Mrs. Shat- tuck's kindred. Her husband and eldest son were killed by the Indians, as has just been mentioned. Her father, James Blood, was likewise killed, September 13, 1692. So also were her uncle, William Longley, his wife and five children, July 27, 1694; and three others of their children were car- ried away into captivity at the same time. A relative, James Parker, Jr., and his wife were killed in this assault, and their children taken prisoners. Her step-father, Enosh Law-
II3
rence, received a wound in an engagement with the Indians, probably in the same attack of July 27, 1694, which almost wholly prevented him from earning a livelihood for himself and family. The three Tarbell children, who were carried off to Canada by the Indians, June 20, 1707, were cousins of Mrs. Shattuck. John Ames, who was shot by the savages at the gate of his own garrison, July 9, 1724, was the father of Jacob, who married her niece, Ruth Shattuck. And lastly, her son-in-law, Isaac Lakin, the husband of her daughter Elizabeth, was wounded in Lovewell's fight at Pigwacket, May 8, 1725. These calamities covered a period of only one generation, extending from the year 1692 to 1725.
The task which you assigned me is now done; and I need not assure you that it has been a labor of love. I will end it by saying that the lesson of these monuments will be lost, if it does not teach us to study the example and to imitate the virtues of the founders of the town.
15
AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS JULY 12, 1905
ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE
Two HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN
TO THE MEMORY OF
The Carly Settlers of Groton TO WHOM IN MANY WAYS THE PRESENT INHABITANTS OWE SO MUCH THESE PAGES ARE INSCRIBED
HISTORICAL ADDRESS
ON this interesting occasion we all miss the presence of one whose form and figure were familiar to every man, woman, and child in town; and only a few months ago we were all looking forward to the time when he would take a promi- nent part in these exercises of to-day. Some of us remem- ber the Bi-centennial Celebration which took place a half- century ago, and a few of us now in this assembly were present at that gathering. We recall the grace and dignity with which he, as President of the day on that occasion, performed the duties of his office, both in the meeting- house where the historical address was given, and in the tent where the after-dinner speeches were made. Whenever or wherever his services were needed, whether in the councils of the State or the Nation, they were always cheerfully rendered; and in this quiet village his aid and advice, often sought by his townsfolk, were always freely given. In many walks of life, both lofty and lowly, his absence will be keenly felt; but here among his old-time neighbors more than elsewhere, the loss is a personal one, and comes home to us all. We miss him now at this time more than words can tell. When death strikes such a man, who has led a blameless life, and whose bodily frame has become en- feebled by the infirmities of age, his removal is not a cause for sorrow; but rather it is an occasion for devout grati- tude to Heaven and for heartfelt thanksgivings that he was spared to us during so many years. Life is at the longest only a short period of probation, and birth is but the begin- ning of death. The noble example of such a character is as lasting as the countless ages of time, and is never lost, for the continuity of life keeps up the thread of connection. He died at an advanced age in the fulness of all his mental and intellectual powers, which seemed to strengthen as the
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.