USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 27
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 27
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1 See appendix, page 447, for explanation.
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HISTORY OF YORK
reported by surviving townsmen and others who visited the scene of carnage. The first account of the casualties was written by Capt. John Floyd, in command of the troops stationed at Portsmouth, who immediately went to the relief of York when the news of the attack reached him. He states: "When we came we found Capt. Alcock's & Lieut. Preble's Garisons both standing: the greatest part of the whole town was burnd & robd & the Heathen had killed & Caried Captive 140- 48 of which are killed & 3 or 4 wounded & the rest Caried away." (2 Maine Hist. Soc. v, 314-5.)
Francis Hook, Esquire, of Kittery, whose information must have been derived from survivors, in a letter to the Governor dated January 28 said: "In generall ther is 137 men, women and children kild and caryed away Captive; about 100 of them captivated & are gone Eastward."
Rev. John Pike of Dover in his contemporary journal states that "the Indians fell upon York- kild about 48 persons & carried captive 73." The diary of Lawrence Hammond, also contemporary, states that "there were 140 persons missing, about 40 found killed & buryed by Capt. Floyd." Cotton Mather, who of course got his in- formation in Boston by reports, states that "about 50 were killed." It will thus be seen that the local reports are fairly consistent as to the number killed. It would appear that Captain Floyd's report of forty-eight persons who were buried by him, as he was the first on the scene, is the nearest approach to the exact conditions, but it may be questioned whether so few hours after the event he could have visited the remote parts of the town to get a complete census of those killed.
Writing in 1792 on the centennial of the massacre, Judge Sewall said that "all the houses on the north side of the river were burnt & destroyed, except four garrisone houses, viz. Alcocks, Prebbles, Harmons and Nortons," (Gen. Reg. xxix, 108.) Captain Floyd wrote that "the houses are all burnd & rifled except half a dozen or there- about," and later in the same letter he adds: "there is about seventeen or eighteen houses burned." Floyd is probably nearer right in his detailed computation .*
* In a separate journal of these events, summarizing their proceedings, Cham- pigny wrote that they had "burned more than sixty houses." This is probably a clerical error for sixteen, or a deliberate misstatement.
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THE MASSACRE ON CANDLEMAS DAY
From contemporary documents of various classes and other circumstantial evidence the following list has been compiled by the author as representing the probable death list:
Adams, Philip Nathaniel
Milberry, Richard Moulton, Joseph
Alcock, Mrs. Elizabeth
Mrs. Hannah
Bane, Ebenezer James
Paine, Thomas Mrs. Parsons, John
Banks, Richard Job Bray, William
Pearce, John Mrs. Phoebe
Cook, John
Parker, John
Mrs. Elizabeth
Preble, John Nathaniel
Cooper, Philip Mrs. Anne
Pullman, Jasper Mrs.
Mrs. Elizabeth
Curtis, Thomas Dodivah
Ratcliffe, John Mrs. Sheeres, Jeremiah Mrs. Susanna
Dummer, Rev. Shubael
Hart, Thomas
Johnson, Edward Mrs. Priscilla Benjamin
Simpson, Henry Mrs. Abigail Twisden, John Mrs. Susanna
Masterson, Nathaniel Mrs. Elizabeth
Weare, Peter Young, Samuel
This list, which may be imperfect, falls short of the forty- eight buried by Captain Floyd, and the remaining number were probably young children whose names had never appeared on the existing town records. Of the captives a less complete list can be made up of such as are known as follows :
Alcock, Mrs. Elizabeth (Portsmouth)
Atkinson, Theodore (Portsmouth)
Atkinson, Mrs. Theodore (Portsmouth) Austin, Mary Adams, Magdalen (Hilton) Bane, Joseph Bragdon, Mrs. Sarah (Masterson) Cooper, Mary Clarke, Robert Dummer, Mrs. Lydia Dummer, - (boy) Freethy, James Heard, Ann
Moulton, Abel Moore, William
Moore, Mary Masterson, Abiel Milberry, Dorothy
Payne, Samuel Payne, Bethia Plaisted, Mrs. Mary (Rishworth)
Parker, Mary
Parker, Mehitable
Parsons, John
Parsons, Mercy Parsons, Ruth
Parsons, Rachel
Preble, Mrs. Priscilla
295
Card, John
HISTORY OF YORK
Preble, Obadiah Preble, Benjamin Sayward, Mary (child)
Sayward, Esther (child)
Simpson, Henry Tibbs (Tibbets?) Mary
Tucker, Francis (Portsmouth)
Young, Rowland
This list falls far short of the agreed number of cap- tives about eighty ("quatre vingts prisonniers" wrote Champigny), but the captivity of most of them was of short duration as will be explained. Some of the names are of transient persons, probably visitors or servants.
The Champigny account sets forth that, after the bloody shambles had been completed, "they were pursued by 300 Englishmen whom they discovered without being seen by them. Some were of the opinion to fight them but the booty and the prisoners caused them to give up the idea." There is no confirmation of this in our records .. Indeed, Captain Floyd states that on account of the depth of the snow they were not able to follow them.
If there could be anything to give a light touch to the horror of this gruesome story it is furnished by a tradi- tional account of the experiences of little Jeremiah Moul- ton, then about four years of age, youngest son of Joseph Moulton who lived at the northwest end of "Scituate Row." His father kept a tavern there and on the day of the massacre a party from Portsmouth, including Theo- dore Atkinson, Francis Tucker and Mrs. Elizabeth Alcock, were his guests. Jeremiah's father and mother were killed and scalped as he looked on at the shocking spectacle, and the Indians later herded him with those selected for captivity. The frightened and resentful boy showed his feelings by resisting to the limit of his childish strength, exhibiting so much youthful indignation at his detention that it amused the Indians greatly. They took this cue to tease him and encourage his struggles for liber- ation from his tormentors. Finally he took advantage of a relaxation of their watchfulness and ran as fast as his little legs could toddle through the deepening snows towards his burning home. The Indians, probably having some chival- rous admiration for his determined resistance, let him escape while they shouted after him and gave vent to shrieks of laughter at the humorous spectacle. It would be a fit subject for an artist to depict this scene with little Jeremiah, frightened out of his wits, running from his captors and the background of laughing savages applaud-
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THE MASSACRE ON CANDLEMAS DAY
ing his youthful spunk. The terror of that day's experi- ence remained an abiding memory during his impression- able youth, and as he grew to manhood the significance of it developed into a resolve that has been celebrated in song and story. The Abenaki Indians in later years had ample reason to remember this Jeremiah Moulton as the avenger of the murder of his parents, and the Biblical "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" was his Scriptural justification many times over.
As loot the Indians carried away several hundred- weight of powder and smashed all windows before firing the houses to obtain the lead in them, and secured such pewter and leaden vessels as could be fashioned into bul- lets. Nor did they forget to destroy in the holocaust all the breadstuffs they could discover in their hurried on- slaught, so that hunger might add to their sufferings. From the standpoint of efficiency it can be characterized as a successful attack on the enemy.
When all danger of an attack in reprisal had passed, Madockawando led his warriors eastward through Wells, and as they reached the vicinity of the garrison of Joseph Storer of that town they sent a flag of truce to inquire whether the English would wish to redeem any of their captives. "If so," they said, "their friends should come to Sagadahoc in a week or ten days." Storer asked if any could be redeemed immediately, to which they replied in the negative "as they were all gone as far as blew-poynt," now in Scarboro.
Meanwhile the tidings of the terrible blow that had befallen this town sent a shudder throughout New Eng- land, as the story was carried by post-riders from settle- ment to settlement. "'T was an amazing stroke that was given us," as Judge Samuel Sewall records in his "Letter Book" (i, 29). He was a cousin of Shubael Dummer, through his maternal side, and he adds that he had re- cently received a letter from him only six days before the massacre "full of love, the last words of which were, 'The Lord grant a gracious effect to the desires of the last Fast.'"" Similar reactions are recorded in the contemporary writings of public men. As soon as the proposal made by the Indians for a release of their captives reached Boston immediate action was taken by the provincial authorities. On February 5 Capt. John Alden and Capt. James Con-
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HISTORY OF YORK
verse were appointed as agents to secure "the redemption of our Captives" by negotiation with the Indians. Con- tributions of money were asked of the people, and ministers of churches were urged "to excite their people to put on bowells of Compassion and Christian Charity." Samuel Sewall and Jeremiah Dummer (brother of the murdered clergyman) were appointed a committee to receive and disburse such donations to the fund. Captain Converse visited York at once to gather the necessary information about the captives and to arrange for their return in such vessels as were available. The churches responded with commendable promptness. On February 7, Plymouth "made a very liberall Contribution," and Dorchester on the fourteenth made a donation of £18:18:7d for relief and redemption. These two instances are known from records. Undoubtedly others did likewise. In a letter dated London May 28, 1692, Francis Foxcroft wrote to Charles Lidget: "I am sorry to hear the desolation of Yorke," and speaks of the "strange waies of raising money as your enclosed print contains." From this it would appear that a printed appeal for charity or some form of relief was made, but if so there is no further evidence of it.
In the confusion of such a tragedy as the one just related it has not been possible to follow accurately the personal fortunes of each prisoner. Not half of them are known and some, undoubtedly, were ransomed at Sag- adahoc before the unredeemed victims were taken on the long march through the forests to Canada in the middle of winter. As soon as they arrived at their destination, per- haps Sillery, they were distributed, some to Quebec and Montreal to the French, while others were allocated to the custody of the Indians at Penacook. Numerous commis- sions were sent to negotiate with the French officials for their return through ransoms or by exchange of prisoners. In 1695 Capt. Matthew Carey brought back the following:
Robert Clark
Rachel Parsons Mrs. Mary (Rishworth) Plaisted
Mary Cooper
Mrs. Magdalen (Hilton) Adams
Henry Simpson
John Parsons
Mary Tibs
Rowland Young
In 1698 a second lot was brought back in the Province Galley, viz .:
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THE MASSACRE ON CANDLEMAS DAY
Bethia Paine Mehitable Parker Dorothy Milberry
Nothing further was done for a dozen years when, after negotiations, a list of captives remaining in Canada was obtained by the Massachusetts authorities, and the fol- lowing persons, belonging to York, were included in this comprehensive report:
Mary Austin James Freethy Anne Heard William More
Joseph Moulton
Benjamin Preble Obadiah Preble Mary Sayward
Esther Sayward Jabez Simpson
The following captives were stated to be in the hands of the Indians at Penacook:
Joseph Bane Sarah Bragdon Abial Masterson Mary Parker
Of these fourteen residents of this town four are known to have remained in Canada, where they had grown up and had lost the use of their native tongue, and were well treated by their French patrons.1 Of these the most noted examples are Mary and Esther Sayward. The others are Mary Austin and Anne Heard. Accounts of them will be found in the following chapter.
1 For most of these facts relative to the experiences of the York captives while in Canada, the author is indebted to Miss Emma L. Coleman, who collaborated with him in their identification when she was preparing her monumental work in two vol- umes, "New England Captives carried to Canada," published in 1925. These facts will be found scattered through this and the following chapter.
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CHAPTER XXVI
YORK BECOMES AN ARMED CAMP
The first and obvious measure for future protection was the dispatch of troops to the scene of the massacre to provide a defensive force in an emergency. The company under Capt. John Floyd, then on duty at Portsmouth, was the first to arrive and give courage to the demoralized survivors huddled in the two standing garrisons : Alcock's near Sentry Hill, and Preble's opposite the old cemetery. In a letter to the Governor and Council at Boston, two days after the attack, Captain Floyd gave these particu- lars of the situation at his first view:
Theur Case is doleful & miserable & calls for great compassion: If the place so much of it as is left be kept it must be by a speedy supply of men & provision: I have caused all the inhabitants to be in three garisons 2 at Yorke & the other at Scotland: I have left 12 men there: which is more then they can provide for one week: for there is a hundred souls in Captain Alcoks house that have their whole dependance upon him for bread & like wise at Lieut Prebles for the houses are all burnd & refled except half a duzen or therabout.
To this he added, "There is about seventeen or eighteen houses burnd." Champigny wrote "there were three gar- risons and a very large number of English peoples houses. All of these were burned." In a separate journal account he states that they "burned more than 60 houses." This must be an error for sixteen, as it is improbable that Floyd was so much in conflict, numerically, being an observer on the spot. Possibly Champigny included all kinds of build- ings, houses, barns, mills, small storehouses in his computa- tion, but it is not understood what "three garrisons" were destroyed. Writing in 1792 Judge David Sewall stated that "all the houses on the north side of the river were burnt and destroyed, except four garrisoned houses, viz: Alcock's, Preble's, Harmon's and Norton's" (Gen. Reg. xxix, 108). It is known that Parson Dummer's residence and the church escaped the torch.
During these developments on the English side the Indians were slowly and painfully driving their victims over the winter's snows, nearly a hundred miles through a trackless forest to the destination proposed for the parley.
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YORK BECOMES ARMED CAMP
On arrival at Sagadahoc the Indians made a final halt but not until " 5 or 6 were kill'd in their march, mostly children that were not able to travel & soe burthensome." Two of the captives were sent to Canada "to Satisfie the french with the truth of this exploit, they formerly not believing the Indians reports of what service they doe against us." There the victorious marauders waited with their human prey, carefully concealed a short distance away, for the appearance of friends seeking their ransom. After the arrival of these in a number of sloops and a parley with Madockawando, Edgeremet and Moxis - the leaders of the Abenakis - an agreement was reached to release them at so much per head "without respect to persons." When Tucker came away the freedom of thirty-six had been purchased, and it is only to be inferred that those who were not thus liberated were carried to the Indian villages because no friends appeared to redeem them. The fate of Mrs. Dummer and her son is specifically recorded by Champigny. Her young son was captured but, owing to her age, they spared her as she would be a burden on the march; "but she returned twice to ask for her son who was among the captives and they told her that as she wished it she should be added to the number. She had not much more than reached the Abenakis villages than she died of grief." Doubtless her son had been knocked in the head as unable to travel in the winter snows and, with the loss of her husband and only child as well as the exhaustion of travel and mental shock, the manner of her death can be easily understood. At the time of this tragic end of the entire Dummer family Francis Hooke of Kittery noted it as "the first minister kild in all our warrs throughout the country that I hav herd of." It is not known who of the captives from York were comprised in this number of thirty-six redeemed persons. Theodore Atkinson and wife and Francis Tucker are the only names known to us and they were from Portsmouth. It is singular that there is so little local tradition concerning this event, as far as the author has been able to investigate. As a general principle, the provincial authorities did not encourage the payment of ransoms for the release of prisoners taken by the Indians, but nevertheless they were constantly paid by private individuals who were anxious to secure the return of their relatives. This practice encouraged the Indians to make
301
HISTORY OF YORK
forays on the frontier settlements for the purpose of secur- ing children as prisoners and preying on the sentiment of parental affection to secure these diabolical rewards. Of the list of those captured at the massacre most of them were taken to Canada and the individual fate of each one is here set forth.
Adams, Magdalen. Daughter of Mainwaring and Mary (Moulton) Hilton and wife of Nathaniel Adams who was killed at the massacre. She was redeemed in 1695, and after her return married twice (1) Elias Weare; (2) John Webber. The author is one of her descendants.
Austin, Mary. She was daughter of Matthew and Mary (Littlefield) Austin, aged about five years when captured. She was sent to Montreal and doubtless put out to service in a French family. She was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith and on January 7, 1710 married Etienne Gibau of the parish of La Valterre, a carpenter. She became the mother of nine children and dying Octo- ber 3, 1755, was buried in the cemetery of Notre Dame of Montreal. She is recorded as Marie Elisabeth "Haus- tein," in the French records.
Bane, Joseph. He was son of Lewis and Mary (Mills) Bane and at the time of his capture was sixteen years old. He was taken by an Amaroscoggen Indian and lived with him seven years before he was redeemed. While living with the savages he learned their language, gained their friendship and became a valuable interpreter for the provincial authorities. The Indians always asked for him in that capacity whenever treaties were to be made be- tween themselves and the whites.
Bragdon, Mrs. Sarah. Wife of Capt. Arthur Bragdon and daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Cogswell) Masterson. She was assigned to the custody of an Indian minister (Prince Waxaway). She was a captive in 1699 but returned not long after.
Bragdon, Abial. She was the daughter of the above- named, and it is presumed was taken with her mother and returned at the same time.
Clarke, Robert. The identity of this boy has not been made; probably he was employed in some York family as a servant. He was living in Canada in 1695.
Cooper, Mary. She was daughter of Philip and Anne (Ingalls) Cooper, the Walloon. She was eleven years old
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YORK BECOMES ARMED CAMP
when captured and was taken to Quebec. She was bap- tized there in the French church 1693, but two years later was redeemed and returned presumably to York.
Freethy, James. He was probably son of James and Mary (Milberry) Freethy who lived in Scotland parish, but nothing further is known of him or his fate.
Heard, Ann. This girl is credited to York in the list of Canadian captives, but she was the daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Roberts) Heard of Dover, N. H. She may have been visiting York when captured or was in service in the town. Further particulars are not necessary for re- hearsal under these circumstances. She married in Canada.
Masterson, Abial. She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Cogswell) Masterson and was recorded in 1699 as "gon to Penacook." She had returned, however, before 1703 when she signed a deed with her sister Sarah.
Milberry, Dorothy. She was daughter of Henry Milberry and lived at the time of her capture on what is now known as the Norwood Farm. She was brought home in 1699 and married John Grant three years later.
Moore, William. He was son of William and Dorothy (Dixon) Moore who lived below Sentry Hill. Particulars of his captivity are wanting, but provisions for his share of his father's estate in 1694 were made for his benefit, if he should return to demand it. He was still in Canada in 17II and how much longer is unknown, or what became of him.
Moore, Mary. Sister of the above-named. She was provided for in her father's estate by money for her redemption, but there is no record that she returned.
Moulton, Abel. One of this name was a prisoner in Canada and under the name of " Able Morton" is recorded as drowned in 1699. He may have been son of Jeremiah and Mary (Young) Moulton, living at that time in Lower Town. If so, he was about fourteen years old when captured.
Parker, Mary. She was daughter of John and Sarah (Green) Parker, born in 1676, but it is not known whether she returned. In 1699 she was still in Canada.
Parker, Mehitable. She was younger sister of the pre- ceding, being less than eight years of age when captured. She was redeemed in 1699 and in 1707 became the wife of John Harmon.
Parsons, John. He was son of John and Elizabeth Parsons, born July 31, 1677. He was baptized in Quebec
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HISTORY OF YORK
in 1693 and may have remained in Canada as a convert. He had died before 1732 (York Deeds xv, 130).
Parsons, Mercy. She was sister of the above-named, but particulars of her age and fate are wanting.
Parsons, Ruth. Undoubtedly a sister of the above as her name appears in 1699 as one of the prisoners remaining in the hands of the French and Indians, although her name is not in the town records as one of the daughters of John Parsons.
Payne, Bethia. She was daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Milberry) Payne. She was brought home in 1699 and in 171I was still unmarried.
Payne, Samuel. He was brother of the above, but nothing further is known of him except that he was living in 1695.
Plaisted, Mrs. Mary (Rishworth). Wife of James, of Kittery, and daughter of Edward Rishworth. At the time of her capture she was living with him (as her fourth husband), and in her family were two elder Sayward chil- dren by a former marriage. She was only thirty-two years old at this date and resided on Cider Hill. She was taken to Montreal and baptized there December 8, 1693 under the names of Marie Madeline. Her godfather at this event was Monsieur Juchereau, Lieutenant-General of the
Kury Magdalen Playstad
SIGNATURE OF MRS. PLAISTED IN THE BAPTISMAL REGISTER, MONTREAL
"Royal bailiwick of Monreal" while his wife acted as god- mother. At that date she was living in the service of Madame Catherine Gauchet, widow of the predecessor of her godfather in the bailiwick. Cotton Mather relates, and family tradition confirms, that she had only three weeks prior to capture given birth to a son and he de- scribes her sufferings on the march because of her recent confinement, lack of food and the extremity of the weather. Constantly falling behind on account of weakness, the Indians attributed it to the burden of the child and they relieved her of this encumbrance by dashing the child's head against a rock and throwing it into the river. Then they told her she had no excuse to lag behind. She was redeemed in 1695 and probably outlived most of her com- panions in captivity, as in 1754 she was still on the tax list.
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YORK BECOMES ARMED CAMP
It is interesting to note that on October 6, 1696 she was presented by the Grand Jury "for not attending the public worship of God upon the Lords day." Her husband, James Plaisted, answered for her in Court the following April, and offered as an excuse that she was "Under some bodily infirmity hindering her appearance (and) for her offence was fined for the fees 4s: 6d and to be admonished (Deeds v, p. 2, fol. 94, 103). It would be illuminating to know whether her neglect to attend the religious services at the Puritan meeting house was due to "bodily infirm- ity," or to the fact that she could not forget that she had recently been baptized with her children in the Catholic faith three years before.
Preble, Obadiah. He was son of the aforementioned parents and was probably captured at the massacre as his name appears in 17II as a captive remaining in Canada. As far as known he never returned.
Preble, Benjamin. He was brother of the above and was probably captured at the massacre as his name appears in 17II as a captive remaining in Canada. As far as known he never returned.
Preble, Mrs. Priscilla (Main). Wife of Nathaniel Preble, who was killed at the massacre. From circum- stantial evidence she is tentatively listed with the cap- tives as she was absent when her husband's estate was settled that year. She was redeemed or allowed to return, as in 1695 she married Joseph Carroll in York.
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