USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Keene > History of the town of Keene, from 1732, when the township was granted by Massachusetts, to 1874, when it became a city > Part 8
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Raids from the enemy were less frequent during the summer of 1747, probably for the reason that all the in- habitants had been driven from these upper towns, yet the settlers of the lower towns were never free from the dread of an attack from prowling savages. In this war the Indians killed fewer of those who fell into their hands than formerly. The bounties and redemption money paid for captives induced them to spare their lives.
"Roll of Capt. Josiah Willard jr's company at Ashue- lott, June 21, 1747, to Feb. 10, 1748.
Josiah Willard, captain. Asahel Graves
William Syms (Sims) lieutenant. Benoni Right (Wright) Elias Alexander, serg't. Hezekiah Elmer
Jeremiah Hall, * clerk. James Jewel
William Smeed, * corp. Jethro Wheeler
1 Capt. Willard was relieved in July, 1749, by Capt. John Catlin, was pro- moted to lieutenant colonel and succeeded his father, who died in 1750, in com- mand of Fort Dummer.
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THE OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
David Nyms* (Nims) centinel.
James Johnson
Samuel Hills
Joseph Alexander
Nathaniel Hills
Benj. Melvin
Nathan Fairbanks *
Jeremiah Hall jr .*
Thomas Cresson
Ebenezer Day *
Thomas Cresson jr.
Thomas Taylor
James Heaton
William Grimes
Samuel Heaton
Titus Belding."
William Heaton
(Massachusetts Archives.)
Those marked with a * were from Upper Ashuelot; Jo- seph Richardson, also from this place, joined the company afterwards and was killed in a fight with the Indians in 1748; Samuel Hall, Nathaniel Fairbanks and Peter "Ha- wood" (Hayward), afterwards citizens of Keene, joined the company later; and Daniel Maccany (McKeeny or Mc- Kenny), of Upper Ashuelot, joined Capt. Hobbs' com- pany at No. 4.
"It has already been mentioned, that Mr. Blake, when captured, was pinioned, and conducted by an Indian into the woods. After travelling about two miles, they came to a small stony brook.1 The Indian stooped to drink, and as Blake's hands were not confined, he thought he could easily take up a stone and beat out his brains. He silently prayed for direction; and his next thought was, that he should always regret that he had killed an Indian in that situation and he refrained.
"No particulars of his journey to Canada have been obtained, except that he passed by Charlestown. At Mon- treal, he, with another prisoner of the name of Warren, was compelled to run the gauntlet. Warren, receiving a . blow in the face, knocked down the Indian who gave it; upon which, he was assaulted by several, who beat him unmercifully, making him a cripple for life. Blake, exhibit- ing more patience and fortitude, received no considerable injury. He was then conducted to Quebec, and thence to an Indian village several miles North of that place, called Conissadawga. 2 He was a strong, athletic man, and pos- sessed many qualities which procured him the respect of the savages. He could run with great speed, and in all the trials to which he was put, and they were many and se- vere, he beat every antagonist.
1 " The farm of my grandfather, Henry Ellis, was the first on the right hand beyond the four corners on the Surry road, about half a mile beyond the stone bridge. About forty rods east of the buildings a good spring flows down to the river. There was where Nathan Blake had the chance to knock out the brains of the Indian, but prudently desisted."- Samuel P. Ellis, born and brought up on that farm.
2 In Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, "Conissadawga" occurs as the name of a Canadian tribe of Indians.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
"Not long after his arrival at the village, the tribe lost a chief by sickness. As soon as his decease was made known, the women, repaired to his wigwam, and with tears, sobs, and clamorous lamentations, mourned his death. The funeral ceremonies performed, the men sought Blake, "dressed him in the Indian costume, and invested him with all the authority and privileges of the deceased, as one of the chiefs of the tribe, and as husband of the widow. In the family to which he now stood in the rela- tion of father, there were, as he has often remarked, sev- eral daughters of uncommon beauty.
"Yet, notwithstanding this good fortune, he still had difficulties to encounter. The tribe was divided into two parties, his friends and his enemies. The former consisted of the great mass of the tribe, who respected him for qual- ities, to which, they had not equal pretensions; the latter, of those who were envious of his success, and had been worsted in their contests with him. These, to humble his pride, sent far into the northern wilderness, and procured a celebrated Indian runner, to run against him. At the time assigned, the whole tribe assembled to witness the race; and a Frenchman, from Quebec, happened to be present. Perceiving the excitement among them, he ad- vised Blake to permit himself to be beaten, intimating that fatal consequences might ensue, if he did not. The race . was run, and Blake, as advised by the Frenchman, per- mitted his antagonist to reach the goal, a moment before he did. He persisted, however, after his return from cap- tivity, in declaring that he might have beaten him if he had tried. The event of the race restored harmony to the tribe, and Blake was permitted to live in peace.
"But, remembering the family he had left, he felt anx- ious to return to his home. After much intercession, the tribe proposed, that, if he would build a house, like those of the English, he should be permitted to go to Quebec. Presuming, that, when there, he could more easily obtain his liberty, he gladly acceded to the proposition. With such tools as the Indians possessed, he prepared the necessary timber, splitting the boards from the tree, and soon com- pleted his task. He then went to Quebec, and gave himself up to the French. He had been there but a short time, when his Indian wife came in a canoe to reclaim him. He refused to return; but she soliciting and even demanding it, he declared to her, that, if he should be compelled to set out with her, he would overturn the canoe, and drown her; upon which, she concluded to return without him. In the fall, the French commandant gave Blake his elec- tion to pass the winter, as a laborer, with a farmer, in the
1
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THE OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
vicinity of Quebec, or be confined in the common gaol. He chose the latter, and had no reason to regret his choice, as he had a comfortable room, and sufficient rations assigned him. He remained in confinement until spring, when his liberation was procured in the manner which will now be related." (Annals, pages 23-4.)
On the 16th of October, Col. Josiah Willard, com- mander at Fort Dummer, Capt. Ebenezer Alexander1 of Northfield, and "Dr. Hall" (Jeremiah), of Upper Ashuelot, started from Fort Dummer to go to Northfield. Near the Winchester line, a little south of the Ashuelot river, they met some cattle running as if being driven off. Their suspicions were aroused, and Capt. Alexander rode on a little in advance to reconnoitre. Suddenly he came upon a man in French uniform, who dodged behind a tree, but at the same instant the captain fired and shot him in the breast. He fell, but immediately rose and came forward, asking in French for quarter. But none of the party un- derstood his language, and supposing him to be dying, and that the shot would bring all his party upon them, they took his papers from him, left him on the bank of the river and hurried on to Northfield.
Among the papers was his commission, (still in possession of Capt. Alexander's descendants) dated at Montreal, Sept. 27 (16, O. S.), 1747. This showed that he was a cadet from Canada in command of forty savages, sent out by Bouberthelat, commander at Montreal, to make war upon the English settlements. His name was Pierre Raimbault St. Blein. He was sometimes called Sieur Simblin. Hearing the shot, his party hastened to him and carried him a short distance, but believing, as did the other party, that their leader was dying, and fearing an attack, they abandoned him and hastened back to Canada, where they reported that he was killed by a party of twenty horsemen.
But the Frenchman, though deserted by both friends and foes, did not die. He dressed and bound up his wound as well as he could, lived on his few rations and what the woods afforded, and four days later appeared at
1 The same Deacon Alexander who had piloted the first party of proprietors to Upper Ashuelot in 1734.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
Northfield, five miles distant, and surrendered to Capt. Alex- ander, the first man he met, and the one who had shot him. He was kindly treated and placed under the care of Rev. Benjamin Doolittle, 1 who was not only the minister of the settlement, but surgeon and physician as well. Under his treatment the young man soon recovered, and in less than four weeks was able to be sent to Boston.
On the 14th of November, "Chevalier de Longueil" with forty Canadians and Indians surprised twelve men near No. 4, killed Nathaniel Gould and Thomas Goodale, wounded Oliver Avery, and took John Anderson prisoner. From his captive, Longueil learned that the young French officer was alive and had been sent to Boston. This fact was reported to the governor at Quebec on the 3d of December.
Raimbault was a person of good family, courteous and gentlemanly, was treated with kindness and consideration by Gov. Shirley, and made quite a sensation among the society women of Boston. But he had no desire to remain a prisoner, and soon negotiated with the governor for an exchange. Being an officer, he agreed to obtain the consent of the governor of Canada to the release of two English prisoners for himself.
Sergt. John Hawks had now reached Boston on his return from captivity. He was regarded as something of a hero from his gallant defence of Fort Massachusetts and was soon after promoted to the rank of lieutenant. The governor appointed Hawks, with Mathew Clesson and Samuel Taylor of Deerfield as assistants, to take the prisoner to Canada and bring back two English captives in exchange.
Hawks was a personal friend of Blake, having been well acquainted with him here in the early days of the settlement, when they worked together in the same sur- veying party, laying out divisions of land. He also had a nephew in captivity-young Samuel Allen of Deerfield- and it was agreed that Blake and Allen should be the two prisoners to be exchanged for Raimbault.
1 The same who presided over the council that ordained Rev. Mr. Bacon and established the church here in 1738; and author of " Doolittle's Narrative" from which this story is largely taken.
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THE OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
The prisoner was sent to Deerfield, and the four men were there fitted out with supplies; and on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 1748, they started on snowshoes with their provisions on their backs-the three men well armed and equipped.
The Annals say: "Considering it possible that the French Governor might refuse to ratify the engagement of the Lieutenant, Mrs. Blake furnished Hawks with funds to redeem her husband." It is probable that she was then at Wrentham, near Boston, the home of the Blakes, where she would be likely to go when their new home was abandoned, and that Hawks saw her there before starting for Deerfield.
On the 10th, they reached No. 4, and the next day marched up Black river to what is now Cavendish. All that region was then a dense wilderness, and they en- camped that night on a hill known ever since as Hawks's mountain. The snow was deep, the weather cold, and their bivouac each night was in the dry snow, where a fire could be made with the dead branches of trees.
At No. 4, the suggestion was made that a party should go with them one day's march to assist in carry- ing their luggage, but that post had been neglected by the Massachusetts officials in the distribution of snowshoes, and the men could not go. This defect in the outfit of the fort was noticed by St. Blein, without doubt, for on the very day of the arrival of Hawks and his party at Montreal, Galissoniere, then governor of Canada, sent out a French cadet with seventeen Indians to our frontier. On the 15th of March, they came upon eight men who were getting wood about sixty rods from the fort at No. 4, without snowshoes, and could not escape. They killed Charles Stevens, wounded Nathan Andrews and captured Eleazur Priest. They then went leisurely away, as they could not be pursued, and reached Montreal, March 29, with one prisoner and one scalp.
Pursuing his journey, Lieut. Hawks and his party crossed the mountains at Mount Holly, followed down Otter creek more than twenty miles, then turned west- ward and struck a stream which took them to Lake Champlain opposite Ticonderoga-following the Indian
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
trail from Canada to the English settlement in the Con- necticut valley-thence on the ice of the lake and the river Sorel. Carrying a white flag, they reached Montreal on the 27th of February. Application was immediately made for the exchange of two prisoners in place of St. Blein. Under the same date, Feb. 27, Count de Galissoniere makes this record :
"Sieur Simblin, military cadet, who was wounded at the close of October last, within four leagues of the fort of Northfield, and taken to Boston, arrived at Montreal in company with three Englishmen sent with him by Mr. Shirley. We have them, well treated and closely watched. They ask to take back two prisoners, men of family, who are here. We shall see to their departure, if it be proper to release these two men."
Young Allen was found among the Indians, but he had become so infatuated with Indian life in his eighteen months of captivity that he preferred it, and was unwilling to return home. Upon meeting his uncle, Lieut. Hawks, who had sought this mission chiefly for the purpose of releasing him, he recognized him but kept aloof and declined to talk in English. He was finally persuaded, partly by threats and promises, to return home. He lived to old age, but always asserted his preference for the Indian mode of life.
Pursuing their journey to Quebec to find Blake, the prisoner conducted the party to the house of his father, a wealthy old gentleman living near the city. St. Blein was received with great rejoicing by his relatives, who had be- lieved the report of his death to be true, and his escort was most hospitably entertained.
At Quebec, Blake was found in prison, and Hawks ap- plied for his release in accordance with the agreement made with Raimbault. The English version is that at first the governor refused to ratify that agreement, that Hawks persisted, represented Mrs. Blake's situation and appealed to his feelings as a man, and finally offered a ransom- that the governor at last relented and told him to take the prisoner and keep his money.
The French account of the exchange is: "April 13, 1748, the General (Galissoniere) sends back from Montreal
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THE OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
the three persons who came with a cartel on the 27th of February. They were conducted to the frontier by Sieur de Simblin, whom they brought back. We found no diffi- culty in surrendering to them the two prisoners whom they asked of us on arriving."
Receiving his order for the exchange, and "expressing his gratitude, Hawks hastened to the prison, and gave to Blake the glad tidings of his release. On their way to New-England, the party again stopped at the house of old Raimbout. The neighbors were invited; a sumptuous feast was prepared; 'wine,' to use the language of Blake, 'was as plenty as water;' the evening, and the night, were spent in dancing; the happy father and mother opening the ball, and displaying all the liveliness of youth. Quebec, it should be remembered, had then been settled nearly a century and a half, and was far in advance of all the English colonies in refinement of manners. To the rough and sedate Englishmen, who had seldom been out of the woods, the whole scene was novel, and excited emotions, to which they had not been accustomed."
(Annals, page 27.)
It was about the middle of April when the three en- voys with the two exchanged captives left Montreal on their return. Ensign Obadiah Sartwell, who had been cap- tured at No. 4, also came with them. As the war still continued and marauding parties were out on the frontier, and as some of young Allen's friends among the Indians had shown a disposition to rescue him from the party, St. Blein, with a guard of soldiers, was sent with them up Sorel river and Lake Champlain to the ridge of the Green mountains between Otter creek and Black river. There, on the 26th of April, he left the party and returned to Can- ada, although it had been understood that he would go with them for protection as far as No. 4. Upon bidding them farewell he advised them to hasten on and to avoid the regular trail, where they were liable to meet bands of hostile Indians.
That night they made no fire lest they should be dis- covered. April 27 they set out early and followed down Black river, and the next day struck the Connecticut and reached the fort at Great Falls about sunset. There they made a raft, finished it at 10 o'clock that night and started
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
down the river, arriving at Fort Dummer at 9 o'clock the next morning. The next day, the 30th, the party set out for Deerfield, on horseback, escorted by about twenty of their friends, and there was great rejoicing.
Nothing definite is known concerning the subsequent movements of Mr. Blake until we find him a citizen here again in 1750, but it is probable that he went directly on from Deerfield and joined his family at Wrentham.
The sufferings of the pioneers from Indian incursions in 1747 had been great, and New Hampshire still declining to provide for their protection, they again applied to Massachusetts. Upon those petitions and the representa- tions of Col. Stoddard and others, in February, 1748, the general court of that province authorized the governor to reinforce the posts in the Connecticut valley. A bounty of five pounds was offered to men who would enlist for one year, and in some cases men were impressed. The forces at No. 4 and at Fort Massachusetts were increased to 100 effective men each. Capt. Phineas Stevens was reappointed to the command at No. 4, where he had remained through the winter with sixty men.
The company at the Ashuelots was increased to sixty- four men. Capt. Willard was a major in the militia, but accepted a commission as captain in these forces raised specially for defence. His lieutenant, William Sims, had been designated as captain in 1746, and was probably serving in the same way, as was often the case in those Indian wars. The term of enlistment for this year was eight months.
The roll of the company of Capt. Josiah Willard, Jr., at the two Ashuelots, Feb. 10 to Oct. 26, 1748, follows:
"Capt. Josiah Willard Jos. Richardson
Lieut. William Syms William Hunt
Serg't. Thomas Taylor Thomas Thoyets
Serg't. William Smeed Clerk Jeremiah Hall
John Evans James Burt
Corp. Thomas Crisson
Jeremiah Butler
Corp. Benoni Wright Timothy Fletcher Samuel Hall
Robert Tyler
John Ellis William Hill
Wm. Bickford
James Billing
Reuben Walker
Simeon Green
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THE OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
Jona. French
Nathaniel Hills
Daniel How jr.
Asahel Graves
Eben" Fletcher
Benj. Nichols
Robert Ewers
Thomas Robbins
John Edgehill
Josiah Crosby
John Robert
Joseph Barron
Aaron Ward
W.m Livingston
John Frost
Benj. Hoagg
Benj. Barrett
Henry Stevens
Sam1 Haslington
Joel Johnson
Henry Chandler
Elijah Holton
Thomas Crisson jr.
James Holton
Nath1 Fairbanks
Isaac Rice
Jethro Wheeler
James Eaton
James Jewell
John Scott
Hezekiah Elmer
Andrew Allard
Samuel Hill
Eliph. Corbin
David Nims
John Henry
David Bacon
Benjamin Osgood
W.m Blanchard
Jona. Lawrence jr.
Mathew Wyman
John Pullard."
(Massachusetts Archives.)
St. Blein, having become familiar with this region, con- tinued his operations in the Connecticut valley. May 21, Galissoniere writes: "Fifteen Abenaquis have been fitted out for a war party. They are commanded by Sieur Sim- blin who has only just returned from escorting the English cartels. Sieur Duplessis Fabert, Ensign of foot, with fifteen Canadians and thirty three Indians" were also sent out from Montreal by the governor on the same day.
On the 16th of June, twelve men of Capt. Willard's company of Upper Ashuelot, and two of Capt. Hobbs's company of No. 4, on their way from Ashuelot to Fort Dummer via Hinsdell's fort, were ambushed on the east bank of the river opposite Broad brook, within a mile or two of the spot where St. Blein was wounded the year before. Three of the Upper Ashuelot company, Joseph Richardson, John Frost and Jonathan French, were killed and scalped, and seven of the squad were captured. Four escaped across the river to Fort Dummer, one of whom was wounded. The great gun of the fort was fired as an alarm, and Capt. Ebenezer Alexander started immediately from Northfield with a relief party of two lieutenants and
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thirteen men, who found and buried the dead; but the Indians escaped. The enemy were Raimbault St. Blein, Sieur Duplessis Fabert and Sieur La Plante, who had combined their forces under the direction of St. Blein-the same who had escorted Lieut. Hawks and his party, from Montreal to the Green mountains at Mount Holly, only a few weeks before, with friendly protection. Of the seven captured, William Bickford was killed where the Indians encamped the first night. The others were stripped of their arms and most of their clothing the first night, and reached Canada towards the last of the month. Some were thrown into prison, and four of them were made to "run the gauntlet." They reached their homes during the autumn, greatly emaciated from abuse and starvation, and Benjamin Osgood died a few weeks later.
June 25, Gov. Galissoniere records: "The three differ- ent war parties commanded by Sieurs Duplessis Fabert, Simblin and La Plante, are returned to Montreal. These parties having united and made an attack on Northfield, brought in six English prisoners and five scalps."
Scouting having proved an effective method of oppos- ing the enemy, Capt. Melvin started out from Northfield in May, 1748, with eighteen men to scour the country above, leaving the rest of his company to protect the settlement. He marched to Fort Dummer, spent one night at Great Meadows, and reached No. 4 on the 14th. There he was joined by Captains Stevens and Hobbs with sixty men. They started the next day, following the Indian trail up Black river and across the mountains to Otter creek. Stevens and Hobbs with their men went down the right bank of the creek, turned to the north, recrossed the mountains and returned to No. 4. Melvin with his eighteen men followed the left bank and proceeded nearly to Crown Point, when they were attacked by 150 Indians and made a hasty retreat. When near Fort Dummer they were again suddenly attacked by the Indians, who had stealthily fol- lowed them. Six were killed and the party scattered, but Melvin and the other twelve men reached the fort. The whole valley was aroused and a party went in pursuit and buried the dead, but could not overtake the Indians.
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THE OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
Col. Stoddard died in June and Col. Israel Williams of Hatfield succeeded him as commander of the frontier.
On the 24th, Captain Hobbs, second in command at No. 4, started with forty men to scout that country to the southwest, with orders to go as far as Fort Shirley in Heath. On the 26th, they halted about twelve miles west of Fort Dummer. A large force of Indians under a half- breed named Sackett, well known to the whites and to Hobbs himself, had followed them; but Hobbs was wary and had placed a sentinel in his rear. While at their lunch the sentinel gave the alarm. The Indians gave their war- whoop and rushed upon them, but Hobbs and his men were ready and met them with a fire that laid several of them low. Sackett could speak English and called out to Hobbs to surrender, threatening to kill every man. But Hobbs defied him, and the fight continued for four hours, when Sackett was wounded and the Indians retreated, car- rying off their dead and wounded. Hobbs lost three men killed and four wounded. Two of the killed, Samuel Gunn and Ebenezer Mitchell, and Ralph Rice, wounded, were from the Ashuelot company, and Daniel "McKeeney," a citizen of Upper Ashuelot, had his thigh broken and was disabled for life. Hobbs and his men retired to Fort Dummer, which they reached the next day, having buried their dead and brought off their wounded.
Early in July, Sergt. Thomas Taylor,1 of Capt. Wil- lard's company at Upper Ashuelot, was sent with six men to Northfield to bring up ten men to supply the places of those who had been killed and captured on the 16th of June. On the 12th, Col. Willard, commander at Fort Dum- mer, reached Northfield on his way from Boston, intend- ing to go on to the fort the next morning. An alarm of Indians seen near Dummer reached Northfield that night, and Capt. Ebenezer Alexander with an escort started with the colonel about noon on the 13th. Meeting a scout who reported no Indians seen, Capt. Alexander with most of his men returned to Northfield, but five or six on horse- back escorted the colonel through to Dummer. As they
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