History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 186

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1714

USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 186
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 186

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).

" From Capt. Gerrish's Garrison at Cochechae 5th July 1689. " May it please yor Honrs,

" On Wensday evening Majr. Appleton wth Between 40 aad 50 meo (most of Ipswich) Arrived here Accompaned wth Majr. Pike and yes- terday morning wth wt additional force we could make, miarcht into the woods upon the track of the enemy abt. 12 miles to make what Discovery they could, but returned in ye Evening without any further Discovery Save ye dead body of one of the captive mien they carried hence, nor since or last has any of the enemy been seen hereabont, the fear we shall not kang be quiet but doubtless the main body are wth drawn to a considerable distance.

" We cannot but gratefully acknowledge yor hours Favoar in taking such care for or releif and Assistance, & are bold heartily to pray the contianance of the Same wth out wch we cannot possibly Subsist, in or last wee linmbly offerd or opinion of the necessity of a small pty of men whereby or people may be enabled to prserve their selves and cattle & the sd. Souldiers ready upon any assault here or elsewhere to march to their assistance, wch wee are Commonly too late for. Wee have obtained of majr. Appleton with his compa. (who wd not stay wth ont him) to continue wth us at prsent (the rest being Volunteers wd he under no comand & Soe are all wth drawn) & must beg apon bis removal another Supply else sd people will be utterly discoutg'd & necessitated to quitt their Stations at last, for or acighbre hereabt can yeild us noe assist- ance expecting daily ye Enemies assault on ym. soe are standing on their own Guard. We beg Pdon for this trouble .& remain

" Much Honrd, yor most humble Servts

"WM. VAUGHAN,

" RICHO. WALDRON."

The preceding letter is in Waldron's handwriting. The following was from Maj. Appleton, commander of the soldiers sent to the relief of the Cochecho :

"CocHECHO 14th July 1689.

| " Much Honrd

" I have yors of 1Ith Inst. wherein you are pleased to Aduise (L'pou my renionall) to leave the imprest men here under ye conduct of Lift Greenleaf[,] now you may please to know yt of Imprest meu here are

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HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

only 10 from Salem & 6 from Rowley wch with the 20 that came last make but 56 and Mr Greenleaf not being here know not his inclination to this affair & should I leave those 36 they are so ung[ov ]ernable would Doe but little Sernice, for Newbery men here are none those that came were Voleuters and, forthwth more Willingly returned home. So that I humbly propose in order to securing the people that are here left to preseruiog the place that no addition of (34?) mien to these 36 with a Discreet Conduct may suffice at prsent for this place, wch I beg yor Hours to Considr and fauor me with an answer forth with for besides the Afflicting Providence of God Upon my family befor I came from hence in bereaning me of two children, I have Just now adnice of the death of a third together with the indisposition of my wife & the Exter- ordinary illness of another of my children all which necessitates my hasting home, however I am so Disposed to the Defence of the Countery and the Prseruation of this place in order to it yt am very unwilling to giue ye people of this place any Discoragment by my remouall till 1 have yor Iloors Answer, hereto wch I humbly pray you to hasten with all expedition and if you se cause to send yor possetine order for the stay of these men of Salem & Rowley that were Imprest men, who are full of epectation of returning home with me. As to the enemy we have had no appearance of any Considerable number, but sundery Skulking rougues are Daily Seen both here[,] at Kittery & Oyster river or employment here hath been to range the Woods an to guard & assist the people in getting in their corn which we are still Daily Psuing

" this with my Humble sernce is all at Psent

"from your Humble serut, "SAMIL APPLETON."

Several years passed away before Cochecho recov- ered its former vigor. The inhabitants, indeed, prin- ' at Cochecho. Sieur llertel, a French officer of energy, cipally returned to their houses or rebuilt them, but the loss of so many persons was a severe blow to its prosperity. Before 1700, however, it had assumed its former importance, and though occasionally harassed by the enemy it was never again the subject of so destructive an attack.

The first Indian war in New Hampshire did not end with the destruction of Cochecho in the summer of 1689; it continued five years longer. Yet though that first severe blow upon the frontier made the inhabitants tremulously sensitive to rumors and in- dications of trouble, from that time Cochecho was comparatively unharmed. Other parts of this and the neighboring towns were not so fortunate.

Thus after the massacre at Cochecho not all of the Indians immediately left for Canada, whither a part went with the captives. Shortly after, as the follow- ing letter shows, they were at Oyster River, then a part of Dover.

" Hampton, July 30, 1689.

" Major Pike Sir Thes are to informe you that this last night There came news to me ffrom Exeter that one of Philip Cromwells Sons came yesterday from oyster River where were 20 Endiens Seen and seneral Housee Burning. Abont 20 English I-hued out to beat them off a many guns were herd goo off but he coming away while it was a duing we hane not as yett any account of what harme is ther done and we thank you for your care about our - Although no help conld be pro- cured there is but a few could be procured with us the notice was 80 sunddaine but thos that are gon went yesterday when it was almost night they were willing to stay no longer. When I have account father from Oyeter Rivor I will send it to you not Ele at present

"from your friend

"SAMUELL SHERBURNE."

The result of this attack we are unable to learn. Belknap does not allude to it at all, and the Massa- chusetts State Papers, in which the letter is filed, present no additional information.

Belknap tells us, however, of an affair of the suc- |

ceeding August. Indians, watching in the woods about Oyster River, noticed how many men belonged to the garrison of James Huckins; they counted eighteen. Seeing them all go out to work one morn- ing, they got between them and the garrison and killed all of them but one. In the house were two boys, some women, and children; it was attacked, but the boys defended it manfully until it was set on fire, when, on promises of safety to all, they surrendered. Three or four of the children, however, were killed, and the others of the party carried off. One of the boys es- caped the next day and told the story. He, or some other of the children, became himselfan Indian-fighter, and was father to a son who, a soldier, died in the army of the old French war.

Upon the other side of Cochecho, also, there was trouble. A united campaign for the first time was entered upon. Three parties of French and Indians were detached from Canada by Count de Frontenac ; the one burned Schenectady, the second surprised Salmon Falls, the third destroyed Casco.

At Salmon Falls the attack was as unexpected as

led through the forests and amidst snows a company of fifty-two men from Trois Rivières, there being among them Wahwa, better known as Hoophood, a noted warrior, commanding twenty-five Indians. They reached Salmon Falls March 18, 1690, and at daybreak attacked the garrisons from three directions. The surprised people made a vigorous resistance, but when thirty of their bravest were killed, including nearly every man, the fifty-four remaining, nearly all women and children, surrendered. The enemy burned twenty structures, including houses, barns, and mills (Charlevoix says twenty-seven), destroying many cat- tle in the barns, committed depredations as far as Quamphegan, and retreated. A hundred men were hastily collected from the neighboring towns and pursued them. Hertel, encumbered with captives, expected to be overtaken; he posted himself there- fore beyond a narrow bridge on Wooster's River, in Berwick. The pursuers arrived and attacked him, but after two hours of warm fighting, extending into the darkness of the night, they found themselves un- able to force his position and retired, taking with them one prisoner, a Frenchman. Hertel sent the captives, with part of his force, to Canada; himself continuing a campaign resulting in similar success at the burning of Casco.

From their date the following letters possess a pe- culiar interest. They correct one or two slight errors in publi-hed history : -

" PORTSMO March 18 : 1689-90. " 10 a clock.

" Much Honrd

" Wee are Just now informed that ye Indian Enemy this morning Attacqned Salmon falls and have surprised all the families above the fort wch are about 10 or 12, & have also taken possession of the fort & of Loves house where several families lived.

" Wm. Plaisted who gives this information made his Escape from Capt. Wincols house wch was twice assaulted by ye Enemy but they were

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heaten off by six or seven English men whome he left in possession of sd house when he came away from thence to give this advice & pray for reelife he saw not above twenty Indians ; we have already sent away from the banke between twenty and thirty men, & have sent to our other Towns for further releife; we now here see the smoaks rise so yt they are burning all before them : We humbly pray a thorough & serious Consideration of the condition of this pt of ye Country, and yt such measures may be forthwith taken as in yr Hours wisdome shall be thought most Conducive to the preservation thereof : this is the whole of wt information we can at present give. as soon as we have A further accot you may expect to hear further from

" Much Honrd yor Huoible servts " WM VAUGHAN " RICHD MARTYN."

" PORTSMO 19 March 1689-90.

" Much Honrd

" Yesterday we gave accot of ye dreadful destruction of Salmon ffalle the particnlers whereof pleas to take as folloeth.

" The enemy made their ooset between break of the day & sun rise when most were a bed & no watch kept neither in fort nor house they presently took possession of ye fort to prevent any uf ns doing it & so carried all before them by Surprise, none of our men being able to get together into a body to oppose them, so that in the place were kild & taken between ffourscore and 100 persons, of wch between twenty and Thirty able men, the fort and upwards of twenty houses burnt, most of the Cattle burnt in the houses or otherwise kil'd which were very con- Biderable. from thence the enemy proceeded to Quamphegau where lived onely Thomas Ilomes who upon the Alarm retired from his house to a small Garrison built near his Saw mill wheither also some of Salmon falls yt made their escape fled, about 30 of the Enemies surrounded Holmes bonse but met with noe opposition then till fourteen men of nus came up from ye lower part of ye Town & undiseryed by ye Enemy, made a shot upon yt party of Indians at Holmes house, sundry of ym standing before the door, at wch shot they say three Enemy fell, ye rest run into the house & broke through ye backside thereof, & being more numerons than ours forced our men to retire, some of them got safe home & five Escaped to Holmes Garrison, only one of ours wounded in the Encounter, then the Enemy burnt Holmes house & proceeded about a mile lower down & burnt the ministrs house with two more & As- suulted Spencers Garrison but were repel'd & su retired. James Plaisted who was taken ut Salmon falls was sent by Hopehood (Commander in chief of the Indians) with a Flag of Truce in Tho. Holmes for ye surren- iler of his Garrison promising liberty to depart upon his sve doing, but Plaisted returned not was ye Garrisou surrendered.

" The sd Plaisted who was in ye Enemies hand many hours Informis yt he saw of ye Enemy one hundred and fifty men well accoutred & Guesse them to be abont one-half ffrench, upon their taking possession of ye ffort he said that ten of them ffrench & Indians miade A dance wch Hopehood told him were all officers. he also told him of his Brother Gooden who lived in Loves house was going to be try'd for his life by A Councill of Warr, for yt in their taking Loves house ye ad Gooden had kil'il one ffrench & mortally wounded another, & further that there was Eight french ships designed for Pascutaqua River to destroy ye same :

" The Alarmı being given to all adjacent Towus in order to their reliefe we sent about thirty men from this Town, as many went from Dover, & A party from York together wth wt could be got from their own Town, but before they coul unite their force it was neare night & then they marcht with about 100 men under Comand of Capt. Jo Hamond Comandr of ye uper part of Kittery. the scouts yt went before just as they came wth in sight of salmon falls Discovered one of ye Enemy who was bind- ing up his pack & staying behind his Company fell into our hand which proved to bce a ffrenchman whose Examination in short we here wth send you & to-morrow morning intend to send the person toward you by land noue hy Water being just ready to goe : our fforces proceeded in pursuit of ye Enemy & about 2 miles above ye ffort of Salmon falls at the faither house np in the woods there discovered them about ye setting of ye suun. our men presently fell upon them & they as resolutely op- posed them, in short the fight lasted as long as they could see friends from Enemies, in which we left three men, one of York, another of Co- checo kild upon ye place & 6 or seven wounded some is feared mortally wt damage we did the Enemy we cant at present say: This is all ye accot we can at present give. to-morrow intend you shall hear again from us. we Intrem subscribe ourselves

Ilonrd Sre " Yor humble Servis : " WM. VAUGHAN " RICHO MARTYN."

"PORTSMO : 19th March 1689-90

" Upon Examination of the frenchman taken at Salmon ffalls he said

" Their Company that Attaq'd Salmon ffalle consisted of sixty men 30 French and 30 Fodians who came from Canady the beginning of ffeubr from a Town called thirty Rivera lying above Cabeck, that they have not been near any English Plantation since they came out till now but waited alwnt twenty or thirty miles off severall days for a party of 20 or 30 Indians who promised to meet & Joyn wth them but came not, that they have lived wholly npon hunting, yt they came by ordr of the ffrench Govr at Canada & that both ffrench and Indians are in pay at ten Livers p month. The said Govr is Count Fontenack yt arrived from ffrance last yeare in A man of warr with severall merchant Ships wch went away again in Sber. only two ships remain in Canada of Twenty five Guns a piece. That two parties of ffrench & Indians of three hundred men in a Company came out about the same time they came, but whether they were design'd he saith he knows not. That he knows nothing of the Mischiefe done near Albany, that they intended to carry their cap- tives to Canada & there sell them, yt their design was not against this place when they firet came forth but principally against Monsiur Tyng & the place where he lived but he saith the Indians who were their principle pilots did often Vary in their Opinions about wt place to fall upon. cant understand wheither it were Mr Tyng of Merrimack River or Casco Bay. That they saw no Considerable Company of Indians in their March only a few in some places hunting, that they brought out wth them two pounds of powder & sixty bullets a piece, that their are sundry English Captives at Canada but he saw only three two girls and a hoy, that the ffrench are able to raise four or five thousand men in Canada able to bear arms, & yt they have Thirty two Companies of fifty men in a company in constant pay. that the ffreoch Capts name of this Company is Monsiur Aretall: his son being his Lient."

These communications were forwarded to Boston.

Attacks, but less appalling, followed the disastrous blows upon Salmon Falls and Casco. By the destrue- tion of the latter the inhabitants of Maine were driven back to Wells. The Indians followed them. Some writer says that in the same month (May) a party under Hoophood attacked the inhabitants of Fox Point, in Newington, then of Dover, they burned several houses, killed about fourteen people, and carried away six captives; that pursuers recovered some of the captives, and wounded Iloophood. But the researches of the late Charles W. Tuttle convince us that this has no foundation whatever. But, to the great joy of the whites, Hoophood was soon mistaken by his allies for an Iroquois and killed.

On the 4th of July eight persons swimming at Lamprey River were killed and a boy captured. In the fight the enemy attacked Capt. Hilton's garrison at Exeter, but with no success, save to kill a few whites. The day following is more memorable.

The provincial authority at Portsmouth had deter- mined to send an expedition into the forest against the Indians. Capt. Wiswall was designated for this service. It being advisable to join another captain with him, members volunteered, of whom Capt. Floyd was selected by lot. A hundred men rendezvoused at Dover, and started westward. On Sunday morning, 6th of July, the advanced seonts reported an Indian trail. They followed it and overtook the enemy on the borders of Wheelwright's Pond; an engagement followed, in which each man fought for himself, in the Indian custom. After hours of fighting, Wiswall, Flagg, his lieutenant, Walker, his sergeant, and twelve others having fallen, and the bulk of the remainder being rather exhausted by the heat of the summer

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HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

day, Floyd retreated, the Indians, however, doing the same. Floyd was blamed afterwards, but clearly without cause. This was in the then limits of Dover.

Few attacks were made in this vicinity for two years following; for the Indians in a conference at Sagadahock made a truce which continued until June, 1691, a month longer, strange to say, than the time agreed upon; then Wells was attacked, but unsue- cessfully ; two men were killed at Exeter, and in September twenty-one persons were killed or cap- tured at Rye. But a new and more energetic plan of guarding the frontiers by the constant ranging of sufficiently strong scouting parties from one post to another being adopted, the only incidents which took . some houses with palisades as garrison-houses which place during the succeeding winter were that a party which fired upon a young man in the woods of Co- checho was followed and all excepting one man slain ; that Tobias Hanson was killed at Dover, May 10, 1693; and that mischief was perpetrated upon "one poor family which they took at Oyster River."

Further quiet was obtained also by a treaty of peace concluded at Pemaquid, Ang. 11, 1693, signed by thirteen Indian chiefs, four other Indians, and three English interpreters. The Indians then acknowl- edged their subjection to the English crown, prom- ised to abandon the French alliance, to return their captives, to forbear the gratification of private re- venge, and, withi sad mockery, to keep a perpetual peace. To Dover, with the rest of the province, this treaty gave a happy breathing-time; their continued alertness, the wasting of their property, the inability of cultivating their lands, and the destruction of their men had wellnigh exhausted and dispirited the people.

The peace was short; French cunning found a new element by which to excite Indian hate. Religious fanaticism was added by the labors of tireless French missionaries, and through this Sieur de Villieu, com- mander upon the Penobscot in 1694, broke the treaty. The first blow fell upon Oyster River, then part of Dover, now Durham. The history of this attack be- longs more particularly under " Durbam," and we add here only the names of sufferers, with a few notes of reference. The journal of Rev. John Pike, minister of Dover at that time, says,-

" July 18 .- The Indians fell suddenly & unexpect- edly upon Oyster River abont break of Day. Took 3 Garrisons (being deserted or not defended), killed & Carried away 94 persons, & burnt 13 houses-this was the fr act of hostility Committed by ym after ye peace Concluded at Pemmaqd."

Extended account is in Belknap, p. 138. The origi- nal manuscript statement to which he refers in note, p. 141, is preserved. See also Shea's Charlevoix, iv. 256. Shea refers also to the relation of French commander, 2 Canada Doc. vii. Papers in the Mass. Archives, vol. iii. pp, 480-3, are: Thomas Packer, at Portsmouth, July 18, to Governor Usher, at Newcastle, with brief statement : Governor Usher, same day, nine o'clock A.M., to Governor Phips, inclosing preceding, and

asking help; reply of Governor Phips, July 19; Gov- ernor Usher to Governor Phips, July 21, indorsed with action in sending troops; Secretary Redford, at Portsmouth, officially, to Governor Phips, with par- ticulars. Also, vol. viii. pp. 40-41, depositions of Ann Jenkins and Thomasine Drew, printed in N. E. Hist. and Gen. Reg., vol. xviii. See also Proceedings of Coun- cil, " N. H. Prov. Papers," ii. 124, et ultra. Pike says " 3 garrisons" were taken ; Belknap says five ; Charle- voix says "here there were two forts" carried by at- tack. The discrepancy is but nominal. There were but two garrison-houses carried by assault, the other three taken being deserted ; and Belknap reckons

Pike does not. Charlevoix makes the absurd state- mentthat "two hundred and thirty English perished." The part of the town attacked did not have that amount of population, while seven of the twelve gar- risons were successfully defended. Villieu claims to have killed 104 persons, and captured 27. As to the enemy's force, the letter of Redford estimates it at : " not less than three hundred ;" and Charlevoix says "two hundred and fifty Indians from," etc., joined by "the Abenaquis of the elder Father Bigot's mis- sion." Redford's letter says that " Donie, who signed the peace, was there,"-Robin Donie, signer of the peace at Pemaquid. From the Durham manuscript and other sources some names are attainable. Killed : John Dean ; "old Mr. Huckins;" a woman named Chesley, "and several others of the same name;" Robert Watson and family, "except his wife,"-yet I think that one son escaped ; Ensign John Davis, his wife, and "several" children; Sarah (Davis) Smith (widow of James) and two sons; a Clark; a Gelli- son ; Charles Adams and a son ; Samuel Adams and wife; Edward Leathers' wife; a woman named Jack- son ; Zachariah Edgerly (son of Thomas) ; a child of Thomas Edgerly, Jr .; Francis Drew, his wife, and his son Benjamin ; a Jenkins, his grandmother, and his child. Of the captives : Two daughters of Ensign John Davis, one of whom returned, the other re- mained in a nunnery ; some of the family of Charles Adams, Jr., certainly his daughter Ursula, baptized in Canada, April 6, 1697 ; Mrs. Amblar; some chil- dren of Thomas Edgerly, Jr .; Thomas Edgerly, Sr., a daughter, and his son Joseph ; Thomas Drew and wife, both of whom returned ; Ann, wife of Jenkins above, and three children (see her deposition in Mass. Archives, vol. viii. p. 46; and probably Joseph Wat- son, who was rebaptized in Canada, April 28, 1697. In list of sixteen "Captives Recd Aboard the Province Gal- ley," Jan. 17, 1698-99 (Mass. Archives, vol. Ixx. p. 398), are Elizabeth Egerly, Susanna Egerly, and John Derry, all of Oyster River ; and of those remaining in captivity, Juda Emerson, of Oyster River, and Peter Denbow. Woodman's garrison, successfully defended, is still standing, having been carefully preserved. The late John S. Woodman, professor in Dartmouth I College, had seen the bullet-holes when the old tim-

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bers were uncovered during the repairs of the build- ing.

Letters written on the morning of the attack are here given :

" Portsmo July 18th [1694].

" Just now arrived a post from Oyster River. The Indians have de- stroyed the place killed & burned all they could Nere - have Es- caped and are too badly wounded doe not Know but they be all over onr ffrontiers wait yr Honors Motion

" THO PACKER."

" 9 in ye Morning New Castle July 18th : 1694 " May please yor Exy :

"Just now have Received the Enclosed acco. our prouince all in arms desire your Exy forthwith to [send] one or Two hundred men with Arms & Aminution for the defence of the place and to parsne the enimie: we fear Seauerall other or Towns in the province are besett.

= - - burnt from ye head of oyster River to ye mouth of it on both sides tho : Edgerly & his son wounded making their Escape and judge the wholl place is Cut off.

" Nott doubting of Yor Ready Assistance I subscribe " Yor Esq's Humbl Sernat

" JOAN USHER."

---

" [To Geo. Phipps.]

" May it Pleas yor Excell. [rec. 21 July 1694.]

"Since the Lft Governrs of 18th inst ; anoth is Come to our hand. the Indians verie Numerous. Not less than three hundred. Donie who signed the Peace was there, a Woman who was Donie's Servant made her Eescape, by reason of his being drunck Saith Donie did tell her that thay did Expect 600 Indians more, that the Mangwaits were joyned wth them, and judge Some Southern Indians were there. There is two Fryars among the Indians who after Victory Said Mass twice, the In- dians did Spred 6 or 7 miles, and engaged all at once. Oyster River in a manner Ruined, only abt 20 bonses left, the rest layd waste, unless we have a Supply of men from yourself Oyster River must be deserted. If Oyster River be deserted, the Eninne will have an inlett in to the whole Countrey. for the Majests Service & Security of the Countrey desire you would forthwith Supply us with one hundred men with amunition & Provision to be Posted for Preservation of these Out places. we are dispatching Some Soulders into our Outward Garrison according to the ability of this Province upon the Alarms with all expedition. We dis- patched from the Severall Towns one third of the Militia in this Prov- ince for Releafe of Oyster River, but before they came there the Enimie was drawn off and could not be met with ; its Judged Eighty psons Killd & taken abundance of Cattle Killd. last Night three Indians Seen Severall Guns fired. Judg the Enimie is still bordering upon ns, but we want assistance to persne them, the Enimie being so numerons ; Desire that Orders may be given to Justices and all Constables for the dispatch of Expresses: Not doubting of yor Rediness to assist us, we being ready to afforde our assistance according to our ability ; to your parts case the Enimie should invade yours. Wee Crane your answer by this -ess.

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 186

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1714

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1714