-/vrt
GEN. JACKSON WOUNDED, MAY, 2, 1863.
Cn this day the victory of the Confederate Army at Chancellor*
viJle was balanced with the loss of Gen. Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackso
who never could be replaced. He fell, mortally wounded, after he ha
been fired on while returning from a scouting expedition with his ow
mejSbshgjrtly after sunset. He had been mistaken for a Union office
mmm^mms*
GATHERED SKETCHES
FROM
THE EARLY HISTORY
OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE AND VERMONT;
CONTAINING
VIVID AND INTERESTING ACCOUNTS OP A GREAT VARIETY
OP THE
ADVENTURES OF OUR FOREFATHERS,
gmh of otljer liuibmts of GMant &inu.
ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
EDITED BY
FRANCIS CHASE, M. A.
CLAREMONT, N. H. :
TRACY. K E N N E Y $ C
18 5 0,
THE ***
public l:?< •
547206B
,)
11
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Tear 1856, by
TRACY, KENNEY & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of New Hampshire.
SriRlOTTFZD AT Tin:
I 0 8 T 0 N HTEREOTVPE FOUNDRY.
PREFACE
Gentle reader, you have before you a collection of Sketches,
gathered from the early history of New Hampshire and Vermont ;
or, perhaps we ought to say, a selection, for the first period of the
existence of these two states is a deep and copious mine, from
which the diligent student may exhume any number of incidents,
which it would be well worth while, both as a matter of curiosity
and of information, to place before the reading public.
In this selection you will find incidents both grave and gay,
both pathetic and amusing ; some of them of considerable histori-
cal importance, and others which some persons might think almost
trifling. But it is intended that the following pages shall illustrate
as fully as possible the character of the times in which our ances-
tors lived. Their life, as is ours, was made up of trifles and
weightier things combined, and the best illustration is that in
which minor matters have their due proportion. We hope they
will not be found too numerous in this attempt.
The Editor takes no credit to himself for his portion of the
work. His work has been, for the most part, merely to select and
arrange, adding here and there a note or a prefatory remark to
clear up the meaning of the text, or to give additional information.
Such articles as have been taken from connected histories have of
course been altered to make them clear and intelligible when
standing by themselves. Matters not connected with the main
point of the story have been pruned out, and in some cases eluci-
dating sentences have been put in ; occasionally too, an inelegant
(3)
4 PREFACE.
expression has been amended. The biographical and a few other
articles have been prepared expressly for this work. Some frag-
ments have been found in looking over old files of newspapers ;
but most of them have been culled from books now out of print,
and inaccessible to the majority of readers. Where the origin of
an article has been certainly known, it has been duly credited.
The Editor takes pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to
the following excellent works : Williams's History of Vennont,
Belknap's History of New Hampshire, Drake's Indian Captivities,
Farmer and Moore's Historical Collections of New Hampshire,
De Puy's Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Heroes of '76, and
Powers's interesting little History of the Coos Country. For the
excellent fragment of history entitled " Kilburn's Defence," he is
indebted to the faithful pen of Dr. E. Morse, of Walpole, N. H.
Above all, he would offer his sincerest thanks to those kind
friends, -without whose generous assistance he could, in his present
circumstances, by no means have performed the labor of preparing
the present work. He indulges the hope that their joint labors
will be kindly received, and that this humble book may, in the
houses of both the lofty and the lowly of New England, be a source
of lasting pleasure. To the aged may it bring up pleasant pictures
of former days ; to the rising generation may it serve as an instruc-
tive history of times past, and as an agreeable substitute for the
useless works of fiction which are scattered in such profusion
throughout the Land.
CONTENTS.
PAOB
Introductory Chapter, 7
The Ked Man's Stratagem, 13
Death of Major Waldron, 18
The Captivity and Sufferings of Miss Sarah Gerish, .... 21
Three Narratives, 25
Lovewell's Fight, 32
The Boar and the Bear, 39
The Captivity of Mrs. Isabella M'Coy, of Epsom, N. H., . . 46
Peabody's Leap, 54
Kilburn's Defence, 62
Indian Bridge, 71
The Captivity and Sufferings of Mrs. Jemima Howe, ... 75
Hilton, of Famous Memory, 91
Indian Fun, 97
The Headless Spectre, 99
Attack upon Number Four, 102
The Indians at War ; their Usages and Customs, .... 106
A Witch Story of Olden Time, . 116
1* (5)
CONTENTS.
Destruction of the Indian Village of St. Francis, 124
Peter Brown's Temperance Lesson, 131
Incidents from the Life of Colonel Ethan Allen, 135
Seizure of Captain Remember Baker by the Yorkers, . . .143
Female Courage, 149
The Battle of Bennington, 151
Anecdotes from the Life of General Stark, 158
An Act of Courage, 165
The Old Man of the Mountain, 170
The New Hampshire Rangers, 174
The Burning of Royalton, 181
INCIDENTS.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
No history is more interesting to a nation than
the narrative of its own origin and progress. No
events are more attractive to young and old than
the incidents of varied suffering and prosperity, of
romance and of sturdy fact, which cluster around
the beginning of their country's existence. The
polished writers of Greece and Rome knew this,
and because Homer and V irgil sang of these things,
their vivid and graceful verses were in the mouths
of the lowest as well as the highest of their coun-
trymen. Greeks and Romans alike were fain to
magnify into gods and heroes the founders of their
respective empires. The exploits of Jason, Her-
cules, and Romulus were magnified by tradition into
superhuman actions ; and their heroic achievements
were related in hovel and palace with equal pride
and admiration. In this respect, the feelings that
actuated ancient nations prevail in the same degree
among modern ones. And perhaps there is no
(7)
8 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
nation on the face of the earth that has so much
patriotic pride in their ancestry as our own. A
son of that state whose green and beautiful moun-
tains have given it a name, feels his bosom glow as
warmly when the name of Ethan Allen is mentioned,
as did the Greek when speaking of his Hercules, or
the Roman when relating the deeds of Romulus.
There is no nation indeed which has more reason
to be proud of its founders than our own, and
there are no states, within the broad boundaries of
our country, whose early history is fraught with
incidents so interesting, or so full of exciting ad-
venture, as is that of New Hampshire and Vermont.
The first settlers of these states were men of strong
arms and brave hearts, who came with wives as
energetic and fearless as themselves, to hew them
out a home from among the dense and tangled for-
ests which then covered the land. They were men
fitted either for action or endurance. They were
accustomed to the hardships of a frontier life.
They understood the ways of the savage tribes
which surrounded them, and were most of them
more than a match for their wily foe in all the arts
and stratagems of Indian warfare. True, they were
sometimes overpowered by numbers, or lured by the
savages into traps set for their destruction ; but still
it seems almost a wonder that they were able to
exist, or to stand at all against a numerous and
cunning enemy. Their settlements were scattered ;
so much so, that frequently oife family was located
several miles distant from any other. Such a
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 9
position was of course exposed at all times to open
and secret attacks from a savage foe, and called
for the most extreme caution on the part of the
adventurous settlers. Each cabin was a castle, that
must be defended by the inhabitants to the death.
The story of " Kilburn's Defence " will be found to
illustrate what has been said on this point.
There seems to be a peculiar propriety in con-
necting the early histories of New Hampshire and
Vermont. True, New Hampshire was settled by
the whites one hundred years before any permanent
location had been made by civilized persons within
the borders of Vermont ; still, the same tribes of
Indians roamed and hunted over the whole territory.
The French and Indians of Canada, when they
dashed down upon the infant settlements of New
Hampshire, took their course over the verdant
mountains of Vermont and along the meadows of
the Connecticut Valley ; and when they returned,
they dragged their unwilling and woe-worn captives
through the same forests and across the same green
hills. They were connected too, in the eye of the
law, by grants from the crown of England ; which
made the western boundary of New Hampshire
extend to within twenty miles of the Hudson River.
The State of New York did indeed set up an op-
posing claim to the land west of the Connecticut
River ; but the claims of New Hampshire had been
first acknowledged by many of the actual settlers,
and though New York tried to enforce her authority
she could not succeed. For some time previous to
10 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
the revolutionary war quite a fierce strife was car-
ried on between the inhabitants of the New Hamp-
shire grants and the New York officials, in which
the former were assisted and abetted by the author-
ities of the state from which they had derived their
lands. No apology need therefore be made for
uniting in one volume incidents from the early his-
tory of these sister states. They were connected
in actual fact, and it is well they should be so in
whatever resembles an historical account.
A brief sketch of the settlement of New Hamp-
shire and Vermont may be useful as a chain to con-
nect together the following detached narratives.
As early as the year 1G23 the English had begun
settlements on the Piscataqua River. One David
Thompson, with others, erected salt works and es-
tablished a fishery at Portsmouth. Edward and
William Hilton went eight miles farther up the
river, to Dover. Thompson did not remain long in
his location, but it does not appear that the estab-
lishment he had made was entirely deserted. The
Hiltons of Dover played quite a prominent part in
the early history of this state, and some of their
descendants have been quite famous for their brave-
ry, prowess, and skill in Indian warfare. It is of
one of these that an incident is related in the fol-
lowing pages. The early settlers in New Hamp-
shire never pretended that they sought a home in
the wilderness for the sake of religious liberty.
They declared openly that they came to the Piscat-
aqua River to fish and to trade, and they hoped to
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 11
secure an abundant compensation for their labor.
It was deemed probable that stores of precious
metals would be found in the mountainous regions
of New Hampshire ; and stories of beautiful lakes
and rivers abounding in fish were circulated, and
received considerable credence. Having their at-
tention turned at first to such objects, they neglect-
ed agriculture ; and the growth of the settlements
was consequently slow for a number of years. A
number of townships were afterwards granted by
Massachusetts, within the borders of New Hamp-
shire, but were afterwards given up to the latter
state. Among these were Hopkinton, Charlestown,
Hinsdale, &c. Epsom, N. H., was chartered in
1727, and settled from the neighborhood of Dover.
Hence Mrs. Isabella M'Coy was carried captive in
1747. Hollis was settled in 1731 by Captain Peter
Powers. The interesting story of " the Boar and
the Bear n is related of him.
In Vermont, the first settlement was made by the
whites in 1724. The government of Massachusetts
in that year erected Fort Dumtner, near what is
now Brattleboro'. Soon after, StartwelFs and
Bridgeman's forts were built a little below,, in the
present town of Vernon, Vt. It was at the latter
that the tragical event occurred which is described
in the narrative of the captivity of Mrs. Howe.
These forts were formerly included in the township
of Hinsdale, New Hampshire, but were given up to
Vermont when the two states separated. After the
establishment of Fort Dummer, the settlement of
12 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
the Connecticut valley went on rapidly. The first
settlement by the English on the west side of the
Green Mountains was made at Bennington in 1761,
although a charter had been granted for the town
in 1749 by Benning Wentworth, governor of New
Hampshire. The French had located themselves on
the banks of Lake Champlain, opposite to Crown
Point, but evacuated both places when General
Amherst captured Ticonderoga in 1759. The
Abenaqui or St. Francis tribe of Indians were the
greatest and most powerful enemies the English had
among the denizens of the forest. These were scat-
tered all along the northern part of New Hamp-
shire and Vermont, and throughout Maine. This
was the tribe that espoused most strongly the cause
of the French in their wars against the colonists.
From first to last, they were the cause of a vast
deal of bloodshed and misery to our ancestors. A
portion of the tribe is still existing in Canada ;
but while the descendants of the English have con-
stantly gone forward in wealth and prosperity, and
in all the arts of civilization and refinement, these
down-trodden sons of the wilderness have sunk
lower and lower, until they are hardly the shadows
even of what they once were. While we drop the
tear of pity over the sufferings of our fathers, let
us not fail generously to commiserate the wretched
condition of those who caused these sufferings.
Parcete vidis.
THE RED MAN'S STRATAGEM.
AN INCIDENT IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF COCHECO.
1666.
The early settlers of Cocheco were exposed at
all times to the relentless hostility of the Indians.
No precautions could circumvent their stratagems.
They came at all times and in all seasons, with the
tomahawk in one hand and the torch in the other,
to massacre and destroy. The traveller was cut
down on his journey, the husbandman was butchered
in his field, the women and children were assaulted
at the fireside, and consigned to an ignominious
death, or a captivity worse than death.
In the summer of 1666, a band of savages made a
descent upon the infant settlement. Their approach
having, on this occasion, been observed, time was
afforded for such of the inhabitants as could not do
good service at bush fighting, to retreat to the block-
houses or garrisons. The women and children were
hurriedly gathered within the palisades of their
defences, while the rifle of the husband and father
for a moment checked the advances of the enemy.
There were at this time some half a dozen of these
block-houses at Cocheco, all of which, with one
2 (13)
14
exception, were successfully defended against this
assault of the savages. The manner in which this
one was captured shows at once the wily character
of the enemy against which our fathers had to guard
their possessions and their lives, and the persever-
ance with which that enemy labored to effect their
machinations.
The Indians, having been repulsed in their first
onset upon the settlement, retired, carrying with
them the bodies of several of their warriors, who
had been shot down in the fight. Two or three of
the white men had also been killed. Their bodies
were also dragged off, and, having been scalped and
otherwise horribly mutilated, were left as a prey to
the beasts of the field ; while the remains of the
Indian braves who had fallen were interred with all
the forms and ceremonies of their race. The in-
habitants of Cocheco were congratulating them-
selves upon their successful escape from the enemy.
Some of their little band, it was true, had fallen —
some, too, whom they could but illy spare. Their
voices hereafter would be missed in the council, and
their arms in the fight. But such things were of
common occurrence, and the cares of a precarious
existence left little time for mourning to the living.
The Indians, though repulsed, had not abandoned
their designs upon Cocheco. They retired only to
devise new, and, as they hoped, more successful
stratagems for surprising the white man. For sev-
eral days the watchfulness of the inhabitants cir-
cumvented all their machinations, during which they
15
did not deem it prudent to show their copper-col-
ored visages within the range or reach of a rifle shot
from the block-houses.
On the fourth day after the first attack they dis-
covered that one of the block-houses, which was
built on the margin of the river, could be entered
on the water side, provided any means could be de-
vised to reach it unobserved. To proceed to it
openly in their canoes, and make the attempt, either
by day or night, was out of the question, as the
inhabitants kept a strict lookout, and would have
bored a bullet hole through the head of the first
Indian that came within their reach. In this block-
house were four men, with their families, in all about
twenty. The Indians, having discovered an open-
ing to the garrison, were not long in devising a
way to enter it.
About half a mile above the settlement was a
mowing field, the grass of which had been cut and
made into cocks by some of the Cocheco men, the
day before the descent of the Indians upon them.
It was ready for the barn, and as soon as the Indians
should retire, it was the intention of the owners to
cart it in. Early in the morning of the fourth day,
however, they discovered that the enemy, having
exhausted every other means of annoying them,
were about to commence an assault with and under
cover of the hay. Having procured a cart belong-
ing to the settlement, which they had found within
their reach, they placed a large quantity of the
hay upon it, and having dragged it within a short
16 THE RED MAN'S STRATAGEM.
distance of the garrison, set it on fire, and, under
cover of the burning mass, attempted to back it up
to and burn with it the garrison.
Previous to this, however, they had, as it seemed,
in mere wantonness, set some fifteen or twenty cocks
of the hay adrift in the river, which were floating
vslowly down towards the garrison. The besieged
had observed this movement, but, suspecting noth-
ing, directed their attention exclusively to the dan-
ger which was pressing upon them on the other side
of the garrison. The cart, with its contents in a
mass of flames, was coming down upon them. The
men of the garrison stationed themselves at the loop-
holes, with their guns, to pick off as many of the
enemy, as they approached, as they could reach ;
while the women and children brought up water
from the river, which they obtained through the
door which the Indians had previously discovered,
to extinguish the flames.
The burning hay had reached the garrison, and
was sending its lurid flames far above the walls ;
yet, as the house was built of unhewn logs, massive
and strong, the fire made but little impression upon
it. More than one Indian who had assisted in push-
ing down the cart had paid for his temerity with
his life ; the muskets of the besieged kept them at
bay, or cut them down, as they exposed themselves ;
and the fire from the hay would have been extin-
guished, and the garrison successfully defended, had
it not been carried in another quarter.
While the inmates of the garrison wrcre thus de-
17
fending themselves from the attack on the land side,
the hay in the river had floated down opposite the
garrison, having gradually drawn towards the shore
as it approached ; and as the besieged, having driven
the Indians from the cover of the burning hay, were
employed in extinguishing it, a dozen savages sprang
upon them, as it were, from the bosom of the river,
entering the garrison from the water side. Each
hay cock had concealed the head of an Indian, as
he swam down the river beneath it !
The inmates of the garrison t#io escaped the
tomahawk, with the exception of some half a dozen
who succeeded in reaching one of the neighboring
houses, were carried off as captives into Canada.
Some of the more feeble died on the journey, and
were left by the wayside ; others lived to return,
after years of hardship and suffering, to their
friends.
2*
DEATH OF MAJOR WALDRON.
DOVER, N. II., JUNE 27, 1689.
In August, 1676, King Philip was slain. Some
of his followers *took refuge among the Penacooks,
others with the eastern Indians — the Ossipees and
Pequawketts. Hostilities were renewed through the
influence of these refugees, and at length two com-
panies of soldiers were sent from Boston to Dover.
Here they found a large number of Indians at the
house of Major Waldron, whom they regarded as
their friend and father. The Boston companies had
orders to seize all Indians who had been engaged
in King Philip's war, and, recognizing such among
the number, would have fallen upon them at once
had they not been dissuaded by Major Waldron,
who proposed to have a training and sham fight the
next day, in order to take them by stratagem. This
having been done, they were all seized and disarmed.
A separation was then made ; the Penacooks and
those who had made peace the autumn before were
set at liberty ; while the refugees — the strange In-
dians, as they were called — were retained as pris-
oners to the number of two hundred. Seven or
eight, who were convicted of having killed Eug-
(18)
DEATH OF MAJOR WALDRON. 19
lishmen, were executed. The rest were sold into
slavery in foreign parts.
Thirteen years passed since the seizure of the In-
dians at Dover ; but they still remembered it, and
longed for vengeance. Some of those who had
been sold into slavery had returned to excite their
brethren, and they soon broke out in hostilities.
On the evening of the 27th of June, 1689, two
squaws applied at each of the garrisoned houses in
Dover for lodging. The people, fearing no danger,
readily admitted them. Mesandowit, one of the
chiefs, was entertained at Major Waldron's. " Broth-
er Waldron" said he, with his usual familiarity, while
they were at supper, " what would you do if the strange
Indians should come ?n u I can assemble a hundred
men" was the reply, " by lifting up my finger" With
this fatal confidence they retired to rest. When all
was quiet, those within opened the gates and gave
the signal. The savages rushed in and began their
bloody work. Waldron, though eighty years of
age, seized his sword and drove the assailants back
through two doors, but when returning for his other
arms, was stunned with a hatchet, and fell. They
then dragged him into his hall, seated him in an
elbow chair upon a long table, and insultingly asked,
" Who shall judge Indian now ? " After feasting
upon provisions which they compelled the rest of
the family to procure, each one with a knife cut
gashes in Waldron's breast, saying, "J cross out my
account ! " They then cut off his nose and ears, and
forced them into his mouth ; and when, weakened
20 DEATH OF MAJOR WALDRON.
from the loss of blood, he was about to fall from
the table, his own sword was held under him, which
put an end to his tortures. At other houses, similar
acts of cruelty were perpetrated, and in the whole,
twenty-three persons were killed, and twenty-nine
carried prisoners to Canada, who were shortly sold
to the French. Many houses were burned, and
much property was plundered ; but so expeditious
were the Indians, that they had fled beyond reach
before the neighboring people could be collected.
THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS OF
MISS SARAH GERISH,
WHO WAS TAKEN AT THE SACKING OF DOVER, IN 1689, BY THE
INDIANS, AS COMMUNICATED TO THE REV. DR. COTTON MATHER
BY THE REV. JOHN PIKE, MINISTER OF DOVER.
Sarah Gerish, daughter of Captain John Gerish,
of Quochecho, or Cocheco, was a very beautiful and
ingenious damsel, about seven years of age, and hap-
pened to be lodging at the garrison of Major Wal-
dron, her affectionate grandfather, when the Indians
brought that horrible destruction upon it, on the
night of the 27th of June, 1689. She was always
very fearful of the Indians ; but fear, may we think,
now surprised her when they fiercely bade her go
into a certain chamber and call the people out. She
obeyed ; but finding only a little child in bed in the
room, she got into the bed with it, and hid herself
in the clothes as well as she could.
The fell savages quickly pulled her out, and made
her dress for a march, but led her away with no
more than one stocking upon her, on a terrible
march through the thick woods, and a thousand
other miseries, till they came to the Norway Planes.*
From thence they made her go to the end of Winni-
* The " Norway Planes " are in the present town of Rochester, N. H.
(21)
22 THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS
piseogee Lake ; thence eastward, through horrid
swamps, where sometimes they were obliged to
scramble over huge trees fallen by storm or age, for
a vast way together, and sometimes they must climb
up long, steep, tiresome, and almost inaccessible
mountains.
Her first master was an Indian named Sebun-
dowit, a dull sort of fellow, and not such a devil as
many of them were ; but he sold her to a fellow
who was a more harsh and mad sort of a dragon.
He carried her away to Canada.
A long and sad journey now ensued, through the
midst of a hideous desert, in the depth of a dread-
ful winter. And who can enumerate the frights she
endured before the end of her journey ! Once her
master commanded her to loosen some of her upper
garments, and stand against a tree while he charged
his gun ; whereat the poor child shrieked out, " He
is going to kill me ! " God knows what he was
going to do ; but the villain having charged his gun,
he called her from the tree, and forbore doing her
any damage. Upon another time, her master or-
dered her to run along the shore with some Indian
girls, while he paddled up the river in his canoe.
As the girls were passing a precipice, a tawny
wench violently pushed her headlong into the river ;
but so it fell out that in this very place of her fall
the bushes from the shore hung over the water, so
that she was enabled to get hold of them, and thus
saved herself. The Indians asked her how she be-
came so wet, but she did not dare to tell them, from
OP MISS SARAH GERISH. 23
fear of the resentment of her that had so nearly-
deprived her of life already. And here it may be
remarked that it is almost universally true that
young Indians, both male and female, are as much
to be dreaded by captives as those of maturer years,
and in many cases much more so ; for, unlike culti-
vated people, they have no restraint upon their mis-
chievous and savage propensities, which they indulge
in cruelties surpassing any examples here related.
They often vie with each other in attempting exces-
sive acts of torture.
Once, being spent with travelling all day, and
lying down wet and exhausted at night, she fell into
so profound a sleep that in the morning she waked
not. Her barbarous captors decamped from the
place of their night's rest, leaving this little captive
girl asleep, and covered with a snow that in the night
had fallen ; but at length awaking, what agonies
may you imagine she was in on finding herself left
a prey for bears and wolves, and without any suste-
tenance, in a howling wilderness, many scores of
leagues from any plantation ! In this dismal situa-
tion, however, she had fortitude sufficient to attempt
to follow them. And here again, the snow which
had been her covering upon the cold ground, to her
great discomfort, was now her only hope, for she
could just discern by it the trace of the Indians.
How long it was before she overtook them is not
told us, but she joined them and continued her cap-
tivity.
Now the young Indians began to terrify her by
24 MISS SARAH GERTSH.
constantly reminding her that she was shortly to be
roasted to death. One evening much fuel was prepared
between two logs, which they told her was for her
torture. A mighty fire being made, her master called
her to him, and told her that she should presently be
burnt alive. At first she stood amazed ; then burst
into tears ; and then she hung about her tiger of a
master, begging of him, with an inexpressible an-
guish, to save her from the fire. Thereupon the
monster so far relented as to tell her " that if she
would be a good girl she should not be burnt."
At last they arrived at Canada, and she was car-
ried to the Lord Intendant's house, where many per-
sons of quality took much notice of her. It was a
week after this that she remained in the Indians'
hands before the price of her ransom could be agreed
upon. But then the Lady Intendant sent her to the
nunnery, where she was comfortably provided for ;
and it was the design, as was said, for to have
brought her up in the Romish religion, and then
to have married her unto the son of the Lord In-
tendant.
She was kindly used there, until Sir William
Phipps, lying before Quebec, did, upon exchange of
prisoners, obtain her liberty. After sixteen months'
captivity, she was restored unto her friends, who
had the consolation of having this their desirable
daughter again with them, returned as it were from
the dead. But this dear child was not to cheer her
parents' path for a long period ; for, on arriving at
her sixteenth year, July, 1697, death carried her off
by a malignant fever,
THREE NARRATIVES
OF EXCESSIVE DISTRESS OF PERSONS TAKEN AT THE DESTRUC-
TION OF SALMON FALLS, IN THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE,
ON THE 27TH OF MARCH, 1690 ; VIZ., THE CRUEL TORTURE OF
ROBERT ROGERS, THE FIVE YEARS' CAPTIVITY OF MEHETABLE
GOODWIN, AND THE FORTUNATE ESCAPE OF THOMAS TOOGOOD.
[From the MagnaHa Christi Americana of Dr. Cotton Mather.]
When the news of the destruction of Schenectady
reached New England, it spread great alarm over
the whole country. The wise men gave particular
caution to all the frontier posts, urging them to
keep strict watch, and to make strong their fortifi-
cations ; but the people in the east did not their
duty, and Salmon Falls, a fine settlement upon a
branch of Pascataqua River, fell into the hands of
an infuriated and cruel enemy.
But, as has been observed, notwithstanding these
warnings, the people dreamed that while the deep
snoV of the winter continued, they were safe enough,
which proved as vain as a dream of a dry summer.
Near thirty persons were slain, and more than fifty
were led into what the reader will by and by call
the worst captivity in the world. It would be a
long story to tell what a particular share in this
8 W
26 THREE NARRATIVES.
calamity fell to the lot of the family of one Clem-
ent Short. This honest man, with his pious wife
and three children, were killed, and six or seven
others of their children were made prisoners. The
most of these arrived safe at Canada, through a
thousand hardships ; and the most of these were,
with more than a thousand mercies, afterwards
redeemed from Canada, and returned unto their
English friends again. But, as we cannot take
notice of all the individuals, we will pass to the
notice of those named at the commencement of this
narrative.
Among the prisoners was one Robert Rogers,
with whom, as the Indians journeyed, they came to
a hill, where this man, (being, through his corpu-
lency, called Robin Pork,) being under such an intol-
erable and unsupportable burden of Indian luggage,
was not so able to travel as the rest ; he therefore,
watching for an opportunity, made his escape. The
wretches, missing him, immediately went in pursuit
of him, and it was not long before they found his
burden cast in the way, and the tracks of his feet
going out of the way. This they followed, and
found him hid in a hollow tree. They dragged him
out, stripped him, beat and pricked him, pushed him
forward witli the points of their swords, until fney
got back to the hill from whence he had escaped.
It being almost night, they fastened him to a tree,
witli his hands behind him, then made themselves a
supper, singing and dancing around him, roaring,
and uttering great and many signs of joy, but with
THREE NARRATIVES. . 27
joy little enough to the poor creature, who foresaw
what all this tended to.
The Indians nest cut a parcel of wood, and bring-
ing it into a plain place, they cut off the top of a
small red oak tree, leaving the trunk for a stake,
whereunto they bound their sacrifice. They first
made a great fire near this tree of death, and bring-
ing Rogers unto it, bid him take his leave of his
friends, which he did in a doleful manner, such as
no pen, though made of a harpy's quill, were able
to describe the dolor of it. They then allowed him
a little time to make his prayers unto Heaven, which
he did with an extreme fervency and agony ; where-
upon they bound him to the stake, and brought the
rest of the prisoners, with their arms tied each to
the other, and seated them round the fire. This
being done, they went behind the fire, and thrust it
forwards upon the man, with much laughter and
shouting ; and when the fire had burnt some time
upon him, even till he was almost suffocated, they
pulled it away from him, to prolong his existence.
They now resumed their dancing around him, and
at every turn they did with their knives cut collops
of his flesh out of his naked limbs, and throw them
with his blood into his face. In this manner was
their work continued, until he expired.
Being now dead, they set his body down upon the
glowing coals of fire, and thus left him tied with his
back to the stake, where he was found by some Eng-
lish forces soon after, who were in pursuit of these
Indians.
28 THREE NARRATIVES.
Mehetable Goodwin, another of the captives
of this band of Indians, who, it will be proper to
notice, were led by the renowned Indian chief
Hopehood, had a child with her about five months
old. This, through hunger and hardship, she being
unable to nourish from her breast, occasioned it to
make grievous and distressing ejaculations. Her
Indian master told her that if the child were not
quiet, he would soon dispose of it, which caused her
to use all possible means that his netopship* might
not be offended ; and sometimes she would carry it
from the fire out of his hearing, when she would sit
down up to her waist in the snow for several hours
together, until it was exhausted and lulled to sleep.
She thus for several days preserved the life of her
babe, until he saw cause to travel with his own cubs
farther afield ; and then, lest he should be retarded
in his travel, he violently snatched the babe out of
its mother's arms, and before her face knocked out
its brains ; and having stripped it of its few rags it
had hitherto enjoyed, ordered the mother to go
wash them of the blood wherewith they were
stained ! Returning from this sad and melancholy
task, she found the infant hanging by the neck in
a forked bough of a tree. She requested liberty
to lay it in the earth, but the savage said, " It is
better as it is, for now the wild beasts cannot come
at it ; and you may have the comfort of seeing it
again if ever you come that way."
* Netop is the Indian word for friend.
THREE NARRATIVES. 29
The journey now before them was like to be very-
long — as far as Canada, where Mrs. Goodwin's
master's purpose was to make merchandise of her,
and glad was she to hear such happy tidings. But
the desperate length of the way, and want of food,
and grief of mind, wherewith she was now encoun-
tered, caused her within a few days to faint under
her difficulties ; when, at length, she sat down for
some repose, with many prayers and tears unto God
for the salvation of her soul, she found herself un-
able to rise, until she saw her furious executioner
coming towards her, with fire in his eyes, the devil
in his heart, and his hatchet in his hand, ready to
bestow a mercy stroke of death upon her. Then it
was that this poor captive woman, in this extreme
misery, got upon her knees, and, with weeping and
wailing, and all expressions of agony and entreaty,
prevailed on him to spare her life a little longer,
and she did not question but God would enable her
to walk a little faster. The merciless tyrant was
prevailed with to spare her this time ; nevertheless,
her former weakness quickly returning upon her, he
was just going to murder her, when a couple of In-
dians, just at this moment coming in, called suddenly
upon him to hold his hand. At this such a horror
surprised his guilty soul that he ran away from her ;
but hearing them call his name, he returned, and
then permitted these his friends to ransom his pris-
oner.
After these events, as the party were seated by the
side of a river, they heard several guns go off on
3*
30 THREE NARRATIVES.
the opposite side, which the Indians concluded was
occasioned by a party of Albany Indians, who were
their enemies ; whereupon this bold blade (her old
master) would needs go in a canoe to discover what
they were. They tired upon and shot him through,
together with several of his friends, before the dis-
covery could be made. Some days after this, divers
of his friends gathered a party to revenge his death
on their supposed enemies. With these they soon
joined battle, and after several hours' hard fighting,
were themselves put to the rout. Among the cap-
tives which they left in their flight was this poor
woman, w^ho was overjoyed, supposing herself now
at liberty ; but her joy did not last long, for these
Indians were of the same sort as the others, and had
been by their own friends thus, through a strange
mistake, set upon.
However, this crew proved more favorable to her
than the former, and went away silently with their
booty, being loath to have any noise made of their
foul mistake. And yet a few days after, such another
mistake happened ; for meeting with another party
of Indians which they imagined were in the English
interest, they also furiously engaged each other, and
many were killed and wounded on both sides ; but
the conquerors proved to be a party of French In-
dians this time, who took this poor Mrs. Goodwin,
and presented her to the French captain of the
party, by whom she was carried to Canada, where
she continued five years, after which she was brought
safely back to New England.
'THREE NARRATIVES. 31
Thomas Toogood's short narrative is introduced
to relieve the reader from the contemplation of
blood and misery. At the same time the other cap-
tives were taken, three Indians hotly pursued this
man, and one of them overtaking him, while the
rest perceiving it, staid behind the hill, having
seen him quietly yield himself a prisoner. While
the Indian was getting out his strings to bind his
prisoner, he held his gun under his arm, which Too-
good observing, suddenly sprang and wrested it
from him ; and momentarily presenting it at the
Indian, protested that he would shoot him down if
he made the least noise. And so away he ran with
it unto Quochecho. If my reader be now inclined
to smile, when he thinks how simply poor Isgrim
looked,* returning to his mates behind the hill,
without either gun or prey, or any thing but strings,
to remind him of his own deserts, I am sure his
brethren felt not less so, for they derided him with
ridicule at his misadventure. The Indians are sin-
gularly excessive in the practice of sporting at the
misfortunes of one another in any case they are
outwitted, or have been guilty of committing any
blunder.
* The only retaliation the baffled savage was able to make upon
Toogood was to cry out Nogood, Nogood, as his intended victim disap-
peared.
LOVEWELL'S FIGHT.
a ballad. n. h. historical collections.
April 18, 1725.
" The story of LovewelPs Fight," says the North
American Review, " is one of the nursery tales of
New Hampshire. There is hardly a person that
lives in the eastern and northern part of the state
but has heard incidents of that fearful encounter
repeated from infancy. It was on the 18th of April,
1725, that Captain John Lovewell, of Dunstable,
Massachusetts, with thirty-four men, fought a famous
Indian chief, named Paugus, at the head of about
eighty savages, near the shores of a pond in Pe-
quawkett.* LovewelPs men were determined to
conquer or die, although outnumbered by the In-
dians more than one half. They fought till Love-
well and Paugus were killed, and all LovewelPs
men but nine were either killed or wounded dan-
gerously. The savages having lost, as was supposed,
sixty of their number out of eighty, and being con-
vinced of the fierce and determined resolution of
* The Indian name of a considerable tract of country including Con-
way, N. H., Fryeburg, Me., and the aujaccnt towns.
(32)
LOVEWELL S FIGHT. 33
their foes, at length retreated and left them masters
of the ground. The scene of this desperate and
bloody action, which took place in the town which
is now called Fryeburg, is often visited with interest
to this day, and the names of those who fell, and
those who survived, are yet repeated with emotions
of grateful exultation."
What time the noble Lovewell came,
With fifty men from Dunstable,
The cruel Pequa'tt tribe to tame,
With arms and bloodshed terrible.
Then did the crimson streams, that flowed,
Seem like the waters of the brook,
That brightly shine, that loudly dash
Far down the cliffs of Agiochook.
With Lovewell brave, John Harwood came ;
From wife and babes 'twas hard to part ;
Young Harwood took her by the hand,
And bound the weeper to his heart.
" Repress that tear, my Mary dear,"
Said Harwood to his loving wife ;
" It tries me hard to leave thee here,
And seek in distant woods the strife.
" When gone, my Mary, think of me,
And pray to God that I may be
Such as one ought that lives for thee,
And come at last in victory."
34 LOVBWELl/s FIGHT.
Thus left young Harwood babe and wife ;
With accent wild, she bade adieu ;
It grieved those lovers much to part,
So fond and fair, so kind and true.
Seth Wyman* who in Woburn lived,
(A marksman he of courage true,)
Shot the first Indian whom they saw ;
Sheer through his heart the bullet flew.
The savage had been seeking game ;
Two guns and eke a knife he bore,
And two black ducks were in his hand ;
He shrieked, and fell, to rise no more.f
Anon, there eighty Indians rose,
Who'd hid themselves in ambush dread ;
Their knives they shook, their guns they aimed,
The famous Paugus at their head.
Good heavens ! they dance the powwow dance ;
What horrid yells the forest fill !
The grim bear crouches in his den,
The eagle seeks the distant hill.
* He was Lovewell's lieutenant. He distinguished himself in such
a signal manner that, after his return, he was presented with a silver-
hilted sword and a captain's commission.
f This Indian was no doubt placed there as a decoy. Suspecting
this, the men concealed their packs and advanced with great caution.
Meantime Paugus and Wahwa, with two parties of Indians, followed
their trail till they found the packs. About these they placed them-
selves in ambush, and when the Englishmen returned, rose and com-
menced the attack.
FIGHT. 35
M What means this dance, this powwow dance ? "
Stern Wyman said ; with wondrous art
He crept full near, his rifle aimed,
And shot the leader through the heart*
John Lovewell, captain of the band,
His sword he waved, that glittered bright,
For the last time he cheered his men,
And led them onward to the fight.
11 Fight on, fight on," brave Lovewell said ;
" Fight on, while Heaven shall give you breath ! M
An Indian ball then pierced him through,
And Lovewell closed his eyes in death.
John Harwood died all bathed in blood,
When he had fought till set of day !
And many more we may not name
Fell in that bloody battle fray.
When news did come to Harwood's wife,
That he with Lovewell fought and died,
Far in the wilds had given his life,
Nor more would in their home abide, —
Such grief did seize upon her mind,
Such sorrow filled her faithful breast,
On earth she ne'er found peace again,
But followed Harwood to his rest.
'Twas Paugus led the Pequa'tt tribe ;
As runs the fox would Paugus run ;
3t> LOVEWELL'S FIGHT.
As howls the wild wolf would he howl ;
A large bear skin had Paugus on.
But Chamberlain, of Dunstable,
(One whom a savage ne'er shall slay,)
Met Paugus by the water side,
And shot him dead upon that day.*
Good heavens ! is this a time for prayer ?
Is this a time to worship God ?
When Lovewell's men are dying fast,
And Paugus' tribe hath felt the rod ?
The chaplain's name was Jonathan Frye ;
In Andover his father dwelt,
And oft with Lovewell's men he'd prayed,
Before the mortal wound he felt.
* The death of this celebrated Indian happened in this manner:
Paugus and Chamberlain had been foes, and had met in bloody fray
before the present battle. Towards the close of the day the guns of
each had become foul from constant firing, and they came at the same
time to the water's edge for the purpose of washing them. Paugus
was up stream and Chamberlain below. They immediately recognized
each other. " Now, Paugus," said Chamberlain, " it is you or I."
" Yes," answered the warrior, " it is you or I." Both then sprang to
the water, and commenced cleaning their pieces. Each strained every
nerve, conscious that to be last would be death. Almost with the
rapidity of lightning the guns were washed out and dried. They be-
gan loading at the same instant. The muskets were primed, the
powder rammed home, the bullets thrown into the muzzles, and who
could tell the issue ! But now appeared the advantage of Chamber-
lain's position. Paugus, standing above Chamberlain, was obliged to
follow his ball with a wad, to prevent its rolling out. Chamberlain
dropped the ball down the muzzle of his piece, his eye glanced along
the barrel, and with a yell the Indian chief leaped into the air and fell
headlong into the brook.
lovewell's fight. 37
A man was he of comely form,
Polished and brave, well learnt and kind ;
Old Harvard's learned halls he left,
Far in the wilds a grave to find.
Ah, now his blood-red arm he lifts,
His closing lids he tries to raise,
And speak once more before he dies,
In supplication and in praise.
He prays kind Heaven to grant success,
Brave Lovewell's men to guide and bless,
And when they've shed their heart blood true,
To raise them all to happiness.
" Come hither, Farwell," said young Frye,
" You see that I'm about to die ;
Now for the love I bear to you,
When cold in death my bones shall lie, —
" Go thou and see my parents dear,
And tell them you stood by me here ;
Console them when they cry, Alas !
And wipe away the falling tear."
Lieutenant Farwell took his hand,
His arm around his neck he threw,
Ind said, " Brave chaplain, I could wish
That Heaven had made me die for you.
4
38
The chaplain on kind Farwell's breast,
Bloody and languishing he fell ;
Nor after this said more, but this,
" I love thee, soldier ; fare thee well."
Ah, many a wife shall rend her hair,
And many a child cry, " Woe is me ! "
When messengers the news shall bear,
Of LovewelFs dear-bought victory.*
With footsteps slow shall travellers go,
Where Lovewell's Pond shines clear and bright,
And mark the place where those are laid
Who fell in Lovewell's bloody fight.
Old men shall shake their heads, and say,
" Sad was the hour and terrible
When Lovewell brave 'gainst Paugus went,
With fifty men from Dunstable."
* Of the thirty-four men who helonged to Lovewell's party, but nine
returned unhurt ; eleven came back wounded, and three had to be left
behind on account of their severe wounds. Among these three was
Ensign Robbins, who desired to have his gun charged and left by his
side, that he might kill one more of them, should they return.
THE BOAR AND THE BEAR.
WRITTEN BY THE REV. GRANT POWERS, FOR THE HISTORICAL
COLLECTIONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1731.
The town of Hollis, in the county of Hillsbor-
ough, N. H.,is one of the oldest towns in the county,
and was first settled by Captain Peter Powers, and
Anna, his wife, from Hampshire, Dunstable, in 1731.
Those early settlers were accustomed to the rearing
of many swine, by permitting them to run at large
in the woods, and to subsist upon roots, acorns, and
nuts, which were produced in great abundance in
the place. In the fall of the year, or at the time of
the first deep snow, the older members of the herd,
that were originally tame, would lead their numer-
ous progeny into winter quarters, at a shed erected
for that purpose some distance from the house, where
the owner disposed of them as he pleased, although
many of them were as untame and as ferocious as
the beasts of the mountains. At that time bears
were plenty, and very hostile to swine. It became
necessary, therefore, to provide for the defence of
the herd, by permitting one of the males to live
(39)
40 THE BOAR AND THE BEAR.
several years beyond the period of life ordinarily
assigned to that species by man ; at which time he
became literally the master of the flock. His tusks
protruded on either side, in nearly semicircles, to
the distance of six or seven inches. He seemed
conscious of his superiority and responsibility. He
was fierce in the extreme, and courted danger ; and
when the herd was assailed he instantly presented
himself to the foe, with eyes darting lire, with tusks
heated to blueness, and foaming at the mouth in a
terrific manner. He roamed the forest, unconscious
of danger ; he led the herd ; and but few of the
untamed tribes had the temerity to dispute his title
to supremacy.
It happened, however, on a certain day in autumn,
when Anna stood in the door of her cabin, listening
to the oft-repeated sound of the descending axe, or
the crash of falling trees, while her husband was at
his daily task, that she heard from a great distance
the faint yet distinct cry of one of their herd. She
thought it was the cry of expiring nature. She
remained in this state of suspense but a short time
before the herd came rushing from the forest in the
greatest apparent trepidation. The oldest dams of
the herd, much exhausted, and without their common
leader and protector, seemed inclined to take refuge
in the apartment which had been their retreat in
former winters ; but the younger branches of the
family would not follow them. The dams, seeing
this, dashed on through the cleared space, and dis-
appeared in the forest on the north side. The cries
THE BOAR AND THE BEAR. 41
of the wounded were still heard, but grew fainter
and fainter, until wholly lost in death. But the
anxious Anna had not removed from her position
before the old boar came rushing through the bushes
in eager pursuit of his charge, which had eloped and
left him in the rear by many a rood. He was fresh
from the field of combat. He was bathed in blood,
foaming at the mouth, gnashing his tusks, and ex-
hibiting a terrific aspect. Regardless of home, he
approached a field of corn which grew near the
cabin, and leaped the fence, not touching the top-
most knot, although it was proof against horses
which strayed through the woods from neighboring
towns in Massachusetts. He passed directly through
the field, without touching a kernel of corn, and,
leaping the fence on the opposite side, disappeared
in the woods. Not long after the wished-for hus-
band, whose presence the gathering shades of even-
ing, the deep solitude of the place, and the stirring
events of the afternoon, had rendered peculiarly in-
viting to the young partner of his toils and hopes,
returned with his axe upon his shoulder, enlivening
the forest with his evening whistle, and driving his
old bell-cow before him, which summoned Anna with
her milk pail to her evening task.
Scarcely had he secured the topmost rail to his
yard enclosure, when Anna, from the window of her
cabin, saw her husband held in anxious suspense.
For some moments he paused and listened, but turned
and called, " Anna, Anna, bring me my gun and am-
munition in a minute, for the old master himself is
4*
42 THE BOAR AND THE BEAR.
worsted." They were at his hand in a trice. " Look
to yourself," said the husband, and bounded into
the forest.* Pursuing with great speed the course
whence the sound proceeded, which alone broke the
silence of the evening, our adventurer soon found
himself at the distance of about a mile and a half
from his cabin, surrounded with black alders, so
thickly set as to be almost impenetrable to man and
beast. Before him lay Long Pond, so called, about
one mile in length, and from a quarter to a half a
mile perhaps in width. He was near midway of the
pond, and the sound from the laboring boar and his
antagonist (a mixed, frightful yell) proceeded direct-
ly from the opposite shore. Nothing now remained
but for him to plunge into the pond, and make the
opposite shore by beating the waves, or to divide
him a passage amidst the alders around one of the
extremities of the pond, which could not be done
short of travelling the distance of another mile.
But no time was to be lost. The cries of the boar
bespoke the greatest need, and the latter course
was adopted ; and in a space of time and with the
courage and energy which are scarcely conceived by
the present generation, he arrived at the scene of
action. Whose heart does not now misgive him,
while nearing the battle ground, alone, in darkness,
and all uncertain as to the nature of the foe ? But
young Powers advanced with undaunted firmness.
He was under the necessity of approaching near to
* Indians were then numerous in the town.
THE BOAR AND THE BEAR. 43
the belligerents before he could make any discovery,
by reason of the darkness of the night, rendered
more dark by the towering trees, which mingled
their branches at some sixty or seventy feet from
the ground, and a dense underwood, which stood
like a hedge continually before him. But as soon
as he entered the area which had been beaten down
during the action, he discovered the boar seated
upon the ground, and still defending himself against
the furious assaults of the hugest bear his eyes ever
beheld. She was like his old bell-cow for magni-
tude ! He drew his gun to an aim, when he per-
ceived, obscurely, that the bear was on a line with
him and his hog, and he could not discharge his
piece without putting the life of the latter in jeop-
ardy ; and as he was moving in a circular direction
to procure a safe discharge, he was discovered by
the bear, and she bounded into the bushes. Powers
now came up to the boar, and witnessed such tokens
of gladness as surprised him. It was, however, too
solemn an hour with the swine to lavish upon his
deliverer unmeaning ceremonies. As soon as he
found himself released from his too powerful antag-
onist, he prostrated himself upon the ground, and
lay some time, panting and groaning in a manner
truly affecting to his owner. Powers now dis-
charged his gun, with a view to terrify the beasts
of prey, and keep them off during the night. He
struck and kindled a fire, and, upon a slight exam-
ination, he found that his hog was lacerated in his
rear in a shocking manner. He was utterly dis-
44 THE BOAR AND THE BEAR.
abled from rising, except upon his fore feet. But to
show the indomitable nature of the animal, I will
relate that the boar, after some little time, recov-
ered in a degree from his extreme exhaustion, and
gaining the same position he had when his owner
found him, began to beat a challenge for a re-
newal of the combat. Again his eyes flashed with
rage, he stamped with his fore feet, he chafed,
gnashed with his tusks, and, foaming at the mouth,
he looked around with the greatest apparent firm-
ness for his antagonist. Our adventurer now drew
together fallen wood sufficient to support a fire
through the night, burned powder around his swine,
and returned to his cabin, where he was never more
joyfully received by the young wife, who, during all
this while, had remained listening at the window in
painful solicitude.
The next day some help was obtained, as one
family had, prior to this, moved in and settled in
the south-west part of the town ; and the battle
ground was revisited. The boar had not moved
out of his place, but was still weltering in his blood.
With much labor he was conveyed home in a cart;
and, as he never could become the defence of the
herd again, he was yarded, fattened, and killed, and
helped by his death to promote that existence to the
family which he could no longer do by his life.
With a view to account for the melancholy fate
of the boar, Powers and his associates went in
search of the swine that was destroyed in the af-
ternoon of the preceding day. They found one of
THE BOAR AND THE BEAR. 45
their largest hogs slain by a bear, and, near to, a
large bear was as evidently slain by the boar. From
this they inferred that the first hog was mortally
wounded by a bear in the absence of the boar, but
the cries of the wounded soon brought the master,
when a battle ensued in which the bear was slain,
not, however, without loss of blood from the boar ;
that during this first action the rest of the herd
fled, and that the boar was in pursuit of them when
he passed the cabin through the field ; that after
running some miles at the point of exhaustion, he
fell in with a still more powerful antagonist, when
Lis fight was comparatively feeble, and he fell, over-
powered, but not subdued.
THE CAPTIVITY OF MRS. ISABELLA
M'COY, OF EPSOM, N. H.
COMMUNICATED BY THE REV. JONATHAN CURTIS, OF EPSOM, TO
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS.
1747.
The Indians were first attracted to the new set-
tlements in the town of Epsom, N. H., by discover-
ing M'Coy at Suncook, now Pembroke. This, as
nearly as can be ascertained, was in the year 1747.
Reports were spread of the depredations of the
Indians in various places, and M'Coy had heard
that they had been seen lurking about the woods at
Penacook, now Concord. He went as far as Pem-
broke, ascertained that they were in the vicinity,
was somewhere discovered by them, and followed
home. They told his wife, whom they afterwards
made prisoner, that they looked through cracks
around the house, and saw what they had for supper
that night. They, however, did not discover them-
selves till the second day after. They probably
wished to take a little time to learn the strength
and preparation of the inhabitants. The next day,
Mrs. M'Coy, attended by their two dogs, went down
to see if any of the other families had returned
(46)
THE CAPTIVITY OF MRS. ISABELLA MTCOY. 47
from the garrison. She found no one. On her
return, as she was passing the block house, which
stood near the present site of the meeting house, the
dogs, which had passed round it, came running back
growling and very much excited. Their appearance
induced her to make the best of her way home. The
Indians afterwards told her that they then lay con-
cealed there, and saw the dogs when they came
round.
M'Coy, being now strongly suspicious that the
Indians were actually in the town, determined to set
off the next day with his family for the garrison at
Nottingham. His family now consisted of himself,
his wife, and son John. The younger children were
still at the garrison. They accordingly secured
their house as well as they could, and all set off
next morning, M'Coy and his son with their guns,
though without ammunition, having fired away what
they brought with them in hunting.
As they were travelling a little distance east of
the place where the meeting house now stands, Mrs.
M'Coy fell a little in the rear of the others. This
circumstance gave the Indians a favorable opportu-
nity for separating her from her husband and son.
The Indians, three men and a boy, lay in ambush
near the foot of Marden's hill, not far from the junc-
tion of the mountain road with the main road. Here
they suffered M'Coy and his son to pass ; but as his
wife was passing them, they reached from the bushes,
and took hold of her, charging her to make no noise,
and covering her mouth with their hands, as she
cried to her husband for assistance. Her husband,
hearing her cries, turned, and was about coming to
her relief; but he no sooner began to advance, than
the Indians, expecting probably that he would fire
upon them, began to raise their pieces, which she
pushed one side, and motioned to her friends to
make their escape, knowing that their guns were
not loaded, and that they would doubtless be killed
if they approached. They accordingly ran into the
woods, and made their escape to the garrison. This
took place August 21, 1747.
The Indians then collected together what booty
they could obtain, which consisted of an iron tram-
mel from Mr. George Wallace's, the apples of the
only tree which bore in town, which was in the
orchard now owned by Mr. David Griffin, and some
other trifling articles, and prepared to set off with
their prisoner for Canada.
Before they took their departure, they conveyed
Mrs. M'Coy to a place near the little Suncook River,
where they left her in the care of the young Indian,
while the three men, whose names were afterwards
ascertained to be Plausawa, Sabatis, and Christi,
went away, and were for some time absent. During
their absence, Mrs. M'Coy thought of attempting to
make her escape. She saw opportunities when she
thought she might despatch the young Indian with
the trammel which, with other things, was left with
them, and thus perhaps avoid some strange and bar-
barous death, or a long and distressing captivity.
But, on the other hand, she knew not at what dis-
THE CAPTIVITY OF MRS.
tance the others were. If she attempted to kill her
young keeper, she might fail. If she effected her
purpose in this, she might be pursued and overtaken
by a cruel and revengeful foe, and then some dread-
ful death would be her certain portion. On the
whole, she thought best to endeavor to prepare her
mind to bear what might be no more than a period
of savage captivity. Soon, however, the Indians
returned, and put an end for the present to all
thoughts of escape. From the direction in which
they went and returned, and from their smutty ap-
pearance, she suspected what their business had
been. She told them she guessed they had been
burning her house. Plausawa, who could speak
some broken English, informed her they had.
They now commenced their long and tedious jour-
ney to Canada, in which the poor captive might well
expect that great and complicated sufferings would be
her lot. She did indeed find the journey fatiguing,
and her fare scanty and precarious. But in her treat-
ment from the Indians she experienced a very agree-
able disappointment. The kindness she received
from them was far greater than she had expected
from those who were so often distinguished for their
cruelties. The apples they had gathered they saved
for her, giving her one every day. In this way they
lasted her as far on the way as Lake Champlain.
They gave her the last as they were crossing that
lake in their canoes. This circumstance gave to the
tree on which the apples grew the name of " Isa-
bel's tree," her name being Isabella. In many ways
50 THE CAPTIVITY OF MRS. ISABELLA M'COY.
did they appear desirous of mitigating the distresses
of their prisoner while on their tedious journey.
When night came on, and they halted to repose
themselves in the dark wilderness, Plausawa, the
head man, would make a little couch in the leaves,
a little way from theirs, cover her up with his own
blanket, and there she was suffered to sleep undis-
turbed till morning. When they came to a river
which must be forded, one of them would carry her
over on his back. Nothing like insult or indecency
did they ever offer her during the whole time she
was with them. They carried her to Canada, and
sold her as a servant to a French family, whence, at
the close of that war, she returned home. But so
comfortable was her condition there, and her hus-
band being a man of rather a rough and violent
temper, she declared she never should have thought
of attempting the journey home, were it not for the
sake of her children.
After the capture of Mrs. M'Coy, the Indians fre-
quently visited the town, but never committed any
very great depredations. The greatest damage they
ever did to the property of the inhabitants was the
spoiling of all the ox teams in town. At the time
referred to, there were but four yoke of oxen in the
place, viz., M'Coy's, Captain M'Clary's, George Wal-
lace's, and Sergeant Blake's. It was a time of
apprehension from the Indians, and the inhabitants
had therefore all fled to the garrison at Nottingham.
They left their oxen to graze about the woods, with
a bell upon one of them. The Indians found them,
THE CAPTIVITY OF MItS. ISABELLA M'COY. 51
shot one out of each yoke, took out their tongues,
made a prize of the bell, and left them.
The ferocity and cruelty of the savages were
doubtless very much averted by a friendly, concili-
ating course of conduct in the inhabitants towards
them. This was particularly the case in the course
pursued by Sergeant Blake. Being himself a curious
marksman and an expert hunter, — traits of charac-
ter in their view of the highest order, — he soon
secured their respect, and, by a course of kind treat-
ment, he secured their friendship to such a degree
that, though they had opportunities, they would not
injure him, even in time of war.
The first he ever saw of them was a company of
them making towards his house through the opening
from the top of Sanborn's Hill. He fled to the
woods, and there lay concealed, till they had made
a thorough search about his house and enclosures,
and had gone off. The next time his visitors came,
he was constrained to become more acquainted with
them, and to treat them with more attention. As
he was busily engaged towards the close of the day
in completing a yard for his cow, the declining sun
suddenly threw along several enormous shadows
on the ground before him. He had no sooner turned
to see the cause, than he found himself in the com-
pany of a number of stately Indians. Seeing his
perturbation, they patted him on the head, and told
him not to be afraid, for they would not hurt him.
They then went with him into his house, and their
first business was to search all his bottles, to see if
52 THE CAPTIVITY OF MRS. ISABELLA m'cOY.
he bad any iroccapee n — rum. They then told him
they were very hungry, and wanted something to
eat. He happened to have a quarter of a bear,
which he gave them. They took it, and threw it
whole upon the fire, and very soon began to cut and
eat from it half raw, While they were eating, he
employed himself in cutting pieces from it, and
broiling upon a stick for them, which pleased them
very much. After their repast, they wished for the
privilege of lying by his fire through the night,
which he granted. The next morning they pro-
posed trying skill with him in firing at a mark. To
this he acceded. But in this, finding themselves
outdone, they were much astonished and chagrined ;
nevertheless, they highly commended him for his
skill, patting him on the head, and telling him if he
would go off with them, they would make him their big
captain. They used often to call upon him, and
his kindness to them they never forgot, even in time
of war.
Plausawa had a peculiar manner of doubling his
lip, and producing a very shrill, piercing whistle,
which might be heard a great distance. At a time
when considerable danger was apprehended from
the Indians, Blake went off into the woods alone,
though considered hazardous, to look for his cow
that was missing. As he was passing along by Sin-
clair's Brook, an unfrequented place, northerly from
M' Coy's Mountain, a very loud, sharp whistle, which
he knew to be Plausawa's, suddenly passed through
his head like the report of a pistol. The sudden
THE CAPTIVITY OF MRS. ISABELLA M7COY. 53
alarm almost raised him from the ground, and, with
a very light step, he soon reached home without his
cow. In more peaceable times, Plausawa asked him
if he did not remember the time, and laughed very-
much to think how he ran at the fright, and told
him the reason for his whistling. "Young Indian,"
said he, "put up gun to shoot Englishman. Me knock
it down, and whistle to start you off" So lasting is
their friendship, when treated well. At the close
of the wars, the Indians built several wigwams near
the confluence of Wallace's Brook with the great
Suncook. On a little island in this river, near the
place called " Short Falls," one of them lived for a
considerable time. Plausawa and Sabatis were
finally both killed in time of peace by one of the
whites, after a drunken quarrel, and buried near a
certain brook in Boscawen.*
5*
* See the article " Indian Bridge,' p. 71.
PEABODY'S LEAP.
A LEGEND OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
Many are the places, scattered over the face of
our beautiful country, whose wild and picturesque
scenery is worthy of the painter's pencil, or the
poet's pen. Some of them, which were once cele-
brated for their rich stories of " legendary lore,"
are now only sought to view their natural scenery,
while the traditions which formerly gave them ce-
lebrity are buried in oblivion. Such is the scene
of the following adventure, — a romantic glen,
bounded on the north side by a high and rocky hill,
which stretches itself some distance into the lake,
terminating in a precipice some thirty feet in height,
and known by the name of " Peabody's Leap."
At the time of the adventure, Timothy Peabody
was the only man that lived within fifty miles of
the place. In an attack on one of the frontier set-
tlements, his family had all been massacred by the
merciless savage, and he had sworn that their death
should be revenged. The better to accomplish this
dread purpose, he had removed to this solitary
place, and constructed the rude shelter in which he
dwelt, till the blasts of winter drove him to the
(54)
peabody's leap. 55
home of his fellow-men again, to renew the contest
when spring had awakened nature into life and
beauty. He was a man who possessed much shrewd
cunning, combined with a thorough knowledge of
Indian habits, by which he had always been enabled
to avoid the snares of his subtle enemies. Often,
when they had come with a party to take him, he
escaped their lures, and after destroying his hut,
on their return homeward some of their boldest
warriors were picked off by his unerring aim ; or,
on arriving at their home, they learned that one of
their swiftest hunters had fallen a victim to his
deadly rifle. He had lived in this way for several
years, and had so often baffled them that they had
at last become weary of the pursuit, and for some
time had left him unmolested.
About this time a party of Indians made a de-
scent on one of the small settlements, and had taken
three prisoners, whom they were carrying home to
sacrifice for the same number of men that had been
shot by Peabody. It was towards the close of the
day when they passed his abode, most of the party
in advance of the prisoners, who, with their hands
tied, and escorted by five or six Indians, were almost
wearied out by their long march, and but just able
to crawl along. He had observed this advanced
guard, and suspecting there were prisoners in the
rear, let them pass unmolested, intending to try
some " Yankee tricks ;; to effect their rescue. He
accordingly followed on in the trail of the party,
keeping among the thick trees which on either side
56
skirted the path. He had proceeded but a short
distance before he heard the sharp report of a rifle,
apparently very near him, which he knew must be
one of the Indians, who had strolled from the main
body to procure some game for their evening meal.
From his acquaintance with their habits and lan-
guage, he only needed a disguise to enable him to
join the party if necessary, and, aided by the dark-
ness, which was fast approaching, with but little
danger of detection. The resolution was quickly
put in operation to kill this Indian and procure his
dress.
He had got but a few paces before he discovered
his victim, who had but just finished loading his
rifle. To stand forth and boldly confront him would
give the savage an equal chance, and even if Pea-
body proved the best shot, the party of Indians, on
hearing the report of two rifles at once, would be
alarmed, and commence a pursuit. The chance was,
therefore, two to one against him, and he was
obliged to contrive a way to make the Indian fire
first. Planting himself behind a large tree, he took
off his fox skin cap, placed it on the end of his
rifle, and began to move it. The Indian quickly
discovered it, and was not at a loss to recollect the
owner by the well-known cap. Knowing how often
Peabody had eluded them, he resolved to despatch
him at once ; and without giving him notice of his
dangerous proximity, he instantly raised his rifle,
and its contents went whizzing through the air.
The ball just touched the bark of the tree, and
PEABODY;S LEAP. 57
pierced the cap, which rose suddenly, like the death
spring of the beaver, and then fell amidst the bushes.
The Indian, like a true sportsman, thinking himself
sure of his victim, did not go to pick up his game
till he had reloaded his piece ; and dropping it to
the ground, he was calmly proceeding in the opera-
tion, when Peabody as calmly stepped from his
hiding-place and exclaimed, " Now, you tarnal crit-
ter, say your prayers as fast as ever you can ! "
This was short notice for the poor Indian. Be-
fore him, and scarcely ten paces distant, stood the
tall form of Peabody, motionless as a statue, his
rifle at his shoulder, his finger on the trigger, and
his deadly aim firmly fixed upon him. He was
about to run, but he had no time to turn round ere
the swift-winged messenger had taken its flight ; the
ball pierced his side — he sprang into the air and
fell lifeless to the ground.
No time was to be lost. He immediately pro-
ceeded to strip the dead body and array himself in
the accoutrements, consisting of a hunting shirt, a
pair of moccasins or leggins, and the wampum, belt
and knife. A little of the blood besmeared on his
sunburnt countenance served for the red paint, and
it would have taken a keen eye, in the gray twilight
and thick gloom of the surrounding forest, to have
detected the counterfeit Indian. Shouldering his
rifle he again started in the pursuit, and followed
them till they arrived in the glen, where their ca-
noes were secreted. Here they stopped and began
to prepare for their expected supper, previous to
58
their embarkation for the opposite shore. The
canoes were launched, and their baggage deposited
in them. A fire was blazing brightly, and the party
were walking impatiently around, awaiting the re-
turn of the hunter. The body of Peabody was
safely deposited behind a fallen tree, where he could
see every motion and hear every word spoken in
the circle. Here he had been about half an hour.
Night had drawn her sable curtains around the
scene. The moon shone fitfully through the clouds
which almost covered the horizon, only serving
occasionally to render the u darkness visible." The
Indians now began to evince manifest signs of im-
patience for the return of their comrade. They
feared that a party of the whites had followed them
and taken him prisoner, and at last resolved to go
in search of him. The plan, which was fortunately
heard by Peabody, was to put the captives into one
of the canoes, under the care of live of their num-
ber, who were to secrete themselves in case of
attack, massacre the prisoners, and then go to the
assistance of their brethren.
As soon as the main body had started, Peabody
cautiously crept from his hiding-place to the water,
and sliding in feet foremost, moved along on his
back, his face just above the surface, to the canoe
which contained the rifles of the guard. The
priming was quickly removed, and their powder
horns emptied. He then went to the canoe in which
the captives were placed, and gave them notice of
the intended rescue, at the same time warning them
PEABODY'S LEAP. 59
not to show themselves above the gunwale till they
were in safety. He next with his Indian knife sepa-
rated the thong which held the canoe to the shore,
intending to swim off with it till he had got far
enough to avoid observation, then get in and paddle
for the nearest place where a landing could be
effected. All this was the work of a moment, and
he was slowly moving off from the shore, expecting
an attack from this side ; but unfortunately his rifle
had been left behind, and he resolved not to part
with " Old Plumper," as he called it, without at
least one effort to recover it. He immediately gave
the captives notice of his intention, and directed
them to paddle slowly and silently out, and in going
past the headland to approach as near as possible,
and there await his coining. The guard by this
time had secreted themselves, and one of the num-
ber had chosen the same place which Peabody him-
self had previously occupied, near which he had
left his old friend. He had almost got to the spot,
when the Indian discovered the rifle, and grasping
it, sprang upon his feet and gave the alarm to his
companions. Quick as thought, Peabody was upon
him, seized the rifle, and wrenched it from him with
such violence as to throw him prostrate upon the
ground. The rest of the Indians were alarmed, and
sounding the war whoop, rushed upon him.
It was a standard maxim with Peabody, that " a
good soldier never runs till he is obliged to ; " and
he now found that he should be under the necessity
of suiting his practice to his theory. There was
60 * J>EABODY;S LEAP.
no time for deliberation ; be instantly knocked down
the foremost with the butt of his rifle, and bounded
away through the thicket like a startled deer. The
three Indians made for the canoe in which the rifles
were deposited, already made harmless by the pre-
caution of Peabody. This gave him a good advan-
tage, which was not altogether unnecessary, as he
was much encumbered with his wet clothes ; and be-
fore he reached the goal he could hear them snap-
ping the dry twigs behind him. The main body
had likewise got the alarm, and were but a short
distance from him when he reached the head land.
Those who were nearest he did not fear, unless
they came to close action, and he resolved to send
one more to his long home, before he leaped from
the precipice.
" It's a burniug shame to wet so much powder,"
exclaimed he ; " I'll have one more pop at them
tarnal redskins." Peabody's position was quickly
arranged to put his threat into execution. His
rifle was presented, his eye glanced along its barrel,
and the first one that showed his head received its
deadly contents. In an instant Peabody was in the
water, making for the canoe. The whole party by
this time had come up, and commenced a brisk fire
upon the fugitives. Peabody stood erect in the
canoe, shouting in the voice of a Stcntor, " You'd
better take care; yell spile the skiff. Old Plumper's
safe, and you'll feel him yet, I tell ye / "
They were quickly lost in darkness, and taking a
61
small circuit, effected a landing in safety. Many
an Indian's life verified his last threat, and Pea-
body lived to a good old age, having often related
to his friends and neighbors the adventure which
gave to this place the name of " Peabody's Leap."
6
KILBURN'S DEFENCE.
WALPOLE, N. H.
1755.
The first civilized inhabitant of the present town
of Walpole, N. EL, was John Kilburn, who settled
there in 1749. The large and fertile meadows at
the mouth of Cold River, in that township, slightly
covered with tall butternut and ancient elm trees,
presented an inviting prospect to new colonists, and
an easy harvest to the hand of cultivation. Just
above them, along the east bank of the Connecticut,
was the defile, bounded by steep mountains, which
formed the Indian highway to and from Charles-
town, the next township. There, too, was the head
of shad navigation, the great lishiug ground of the
savages from time immemorial. Next below this
narrow pass by the river, and nearer the meadows,
is the site of an ancient Indian village, since occu-
pied by a tavern. Next on the south, and bounding
the meadows northerly, was Cold River, a small
branch of the main stream, overshadowed with tall
maples and elms. The meadows themselves were
about half a mile in extent ; the Connecticut was
on the western side, and a semicircle of woods on
(02)
KILBURN S DEFENCE. 63
the east, with a central round eminence forty feet
high, from which issues at this day a medicinal spring.
It was here the adventurous and hardy Kilburn built
himself a log hut, and here he inhabited the solitude
of the forest for two years, without any intercourse
with friend or foe.
During this time his life was one continued scene
of danger and hardship. He sought opportunities
to cultivate the friendship of the Indians, who
roamed and prowled in the woods around him ; but
in this attempt he was wholly unsuccessful. They
avoided him studiously in the daytime, and in the
night he soon found that they approached hi3 hum-
ble habitation only for the purpose of dealing him
the deadly blow. He was finally obliged, in conse-
quence of this state of things, to adopt the plan of
" camping out " at different places in the woods each
night, with nothing but the cold earth for his bed, a
bear skin for his covering, and a cartridge box for
his pillow. In this manner he continued to elude
the scalping knife of his lurking enemies, though
they not unfrequently visited and plundered his hut
in his absence.
In 1751 Colonel Benjamin Bellows obtained the
charter of Walpole, and began a small settlement on
a spot occupied to this day by the buildings of a gen-
tleman of the same name, above a mile south from
the establishment of Kilburn. There was at this
time a fort also in the neighboring township of
Number Four, now called Charlestown. These ad-
ditions to the power of the whites in this quarter
64 KILBURN'S DEFENCE.
Lad an essential influence upon the respect and the
fear felt for them by the Indians ; nor was it long
before a company of them descended the river in
their canoes, landed over the falls, and invited their
old acquaintance, Kilburn, to trade with them. He
accepted the invitation without scruple or hesitancy,
visited their encampment, bought furs of them, made
them presents of flints, flour, and fish hooks. From
this time they continued to hunt, fish, and lodge oc-
casionally in the neighborhood. The report of the
guns with which the whites had furnished them long
ere this, and the smoke of their low wigwams among
the trees, became mingled with the familiar occur*
rences of daily life.
The affairs of the settlers continued to prosper
until 1753, when this alarming event occurred to
disturb their security. Two men, by the name of
Twitchell and Flint, who had gone back to the hills,
about a mile east of the settlement, to procure some
ash timber for oars, were fired upon and killed by
the Indians. One of them was scalped. The other
they barbarously cut open, took out his heart, yet
warm, cut it in pieces, laid it upon his breast, and
thus left him to be found by his friends. This mas-
sacre was among the first appearances of a rupture
of the negotiations for peace pending between Eng-
land and France, and was the commencement of a
new and long series of Indian ravages. It was,
moreover, the first Christian blood that was spilt in
Walpole, and the impression it produced on the
minds of the settlers was proportionately deep and
KILBUKNrS DEFENCE. 65
lasting. The bodies of the murdered men were
buried near where they were found, in a spot still
indicated by a ridge of land, on the west side of the
road, about two miles north of Walpole village. It
is believed by the friends of Twitchell — at least
by some of the number — that his guardian spirit
continued, as long as his savage murderers lived, to
hover over them by night and by day, and to warn
them of the wiles of the Indians. Even a rock in
Connecticut River, where he used to fish with never-
failing success, was a long time held in religious
veneration ; and few, it is rumored, of all those who
to this day go to angle from " Twitchell Rock," re-
turn without taking from the stream a most gener-
ous fry.
In the spring of 1755, an Indian by the name of
Philip, who had just learned English enough to be
understood, visited Kilburn's log house, under the
pretence of being on a hunting excursion and in want
of provisions. He was treated with kindness, and
furnished liberally with flints, meal, and various
other articles which he asked for. Soon after his
departure it was ascertained that the same Indian
had visited all the settlements on the Connecticut
River, with the same plausible story. The conclu-
sion was with Kilburn and his fellow-settlers that
Philip was a scout employed by the enemy. This
suspicion was soon after confirmed by intelligence
received at all the forts on the frontiers, through a
friendly Indian, from Governor Shirley at Albany.
He stated that four or five hundred of the savages
6*
66
were collected in Canada, whose object was to
butcher the whole white population on Connecticut
River.
The settlers — and those of Walpole among the
number — were startled by these tidings ; but they
were not disheartened. They valued their hard-
earned harvest and their solitary homes in the wil-
derness, humble as they were, too highly to leave
them from the mere apprehensions of danger. They
had been accustomed, too, to all the hardships of a
rude life ; and long had they looked for the time to
come, as it came now, when they must defend them-
selves, or die in the cause.
Kilburn and his comrades now fortified their hab-
itations round about by a palisade of stakes, with
such preparations of the same nature as their means
allowed. On these alone they depended for safety,
the next garrison (a fort of forty men) being a mile
distant from the settlement of Colonel Bellows.
Measures thus prudently being taken, nothing re-
mained but to wait for the onset of the enemy. Nor
had they to wait long. On the 17th of August,
1755, Kilburn and his son, in his eighteenth year,
and a man by the name of Peak, with his son, were
returning from work about noon, when one of them
suddenly discovered the red legs of Indians among
the alders that skirted the meadows, as thick, in his
own language, "as grasshoppers." They instantly
fled to the house, fastened the door, and began to
make preparations for an obstinate defence. In
this they were assisted as well as encouraged by
kilburn's defence. 67
Kilburn's wife, and his daughter Hitty, whose par-
ticular charge, however, was to watch the move-
ments of the enemy.
In fifteen minutes the latter were seen crawling
upon the bank east of the house, and as they crossed
the footpath one by one, one hundred and ninety-
seven were counted. About the same number re-
mained in ambush near the mouth of Cold River.
The object of this party was to waylay Colonel Bel-
lows and his men, whom they knew to be working
at his mill about a mile east. Before a great while
accordingly these people came along, each with a
bag of meal on his back. Presently their dogs be-
gan to growl, and to betray other symptoms of hav-
ing discovered or suspected an enemy. All this
Bellows understood perfectly well ; nor was he at a
loss in forming his opinion as to the state of the
case. He had no doubt the Indians were close at
hand in ambush, and he took his measures accord-
ingly. He ordered all his men, about thirty, to
throw down their meal, and advance to the rising
ground just above them, carefully crawl up the bank,
spring upon their feet, give one shout, and instantly
drop down among the tall fern, which in that placA
covered the ground.
The manoeuvre succeeded ; for as soon as the shout
was heard, the Indians all rose in a semicircle round
the path Bellows was to pursue. This gave the
party a fine chance for a fair shot, and they im-
proved it promptly by a general discharge, which
so disconcerted the plans of the Indians that they
68 kilbukn's defence.
darted away into the bushes without firing a gun.
Bellows found, however, that their party was too
numerous for his, and he ordered his men to file off
to the south, and make for the fort. Not long after
these Indians came out on the eminence east of Kil-
burn's house. Here the " Old Devil" Philip, as he
was now generally called, — being the same wily
savage who had visited Kilburn's house the season
previous, — came forward, securing himself behind
a large tree, and called out loudly to those in the
house to surrender. " Old John, young John" he
cried, "J know you; come out here; we give good
quarter" " Quarter ! " shouted Kilburn from the
house, with a tremendous voice, that thrilled through
every Indian heart, "quarter, you black rascals! be-
gone, or we will quarter you ! "
Thus disappointed in his application, Philip re-
turned to the main body of his companions. After
a few minutes' consultation, the Indian war whoop
was raised, as if, in Kilburn's language, " all the devils
had been let loose." Kilburn was nothing daunted by
this performance, however, and he even managed to
get the first fire, before the smoke of his enemies'
guns obstructed his aim. lie was confident that this
discharge brought down an Indian, who, from his ex-
traordinary size, and other circumstances, appeared
to be Philip. A moment after the Companions of
the fallen savage, now mustered in full force, rushed
forward to the work of destruction ; and probably
not fewer than four hundred bullets were lodged in
Kilburn's house at the first fire. The roof especially
69
was made a perfect "riddle sieve.'7 This leaden
shower was kept up for some time, with an incessant
blaze and clamor, while detachments of the enemy-
were amusing themselves with butchering the stray
cattle, and destroying the hay and grain, in the sur-
rounding meadow.
Kilburn and his men, meanwhile, were by no
means idle. The powder was already poured out
into hats, for the convenience of loading in a hurry,
and every thing prepared for a spirited defence or
a glorious death. They had several guns in the
house, all of which were kept hot by incessant firing
through the port-holes. As they had no ammunition
to spare, each one took special aim, to have every
bullet tell. The women assisted in loading the guns.
When the stock of lead grew scanty, they had also
the presence of mind to suspend blankets horizon-
tally near the roof of the house, inside, to catch the
enemy's balls. These they immediately run into new
bullets, if necessary, which the men took upon them-
selves to have returned to the savages with interest.
They made several attempts to burst open the
doors of the house ; but the fire of the brave little
garrison was too hot for them. Most of the time,
therefore, they endeavored to keep behind stumps,
logs, and trees, evidently showing by this manage-
ment that they began to feel the force of the remark
made to them by Kilburn, as we have seen, at the
onset. An incessant firing, however, was kept up on
their part until near sundown. Then they gradu-
ally retreated ; and when the sun sank behind the
70
western hills, the sound of their guns and the cry
of the war whoop died away in silence. How many
of the enemy fell on this occasion never was ascer-
tained. Of the little garrison, Peak only was
wounded in the hip, by exposing himself too much
before a port-hole ; and, for want of surgical aid,
this proved fatal on the sixth day. The French and
Indian war continued until 1763 ; but the village
of Walpole was not afterwards molested in any
instance by the enemy.
Kilburn was as upright and worthy as he was
brave, and lived to see that town populous and
flourishing, and his fourth generation upon the
stage. A plain, unpolished stone points out the
spot in the burying ground of the village where
sleep his mortal remains, under this inscription : —
In memory of
John Kilburn, who departed
this life for a better, April 8th, 1789, in
the 85th year of his age. He was
the first settler of this town,
in 1749.
His son, "young John," revisited this scene of
his youthful exploits for the last time in 1814. He
died in 1822, among his children at Shrewsbury,
Vermont.
INDIAN BRIDGE.
FROM THE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1753.
In the fall of the year 1753, Sabatis and Plausa-
wa, two Indians, were at the place where Deacon
Sawyer now lives, in Canterbury. There Joshua
Noyes and Thomas Thorla, from Newbury, who were
looking after cattle which had been turned into the
woods the spring before, met them. Plausawa had
been several times at Newbury, and knew Noyes
and Thorla, and they knew him. The Indians ap-
peared not much pleased at seeing them, and began
to put their baggage into their canoe, and to pre-
pare to go away. Sabatis appeared sullen, and dis-
posed to do mischief, but was kept from it by Plau-
sawa. Noyes and Thorla proposed to buy their furs.
At first they refused to sell, saying they would not
trade with the English, but would go to Canada.
Afterwards they offered to sell furs for rum. Those
men had brought rum on purpose to trade with the
Indians ; but seeing their temper, especially that of
Sabatis, they refused to let them have any, and con-
cluded to go away and leave them. As they were
departing, Plausawa in a friendly manner advised
(71)
72 INDIAN BRIDGE.
them to go home, and to avoid meeting with the In-
dians, lest they should be hurt. When they had
gone a little distance from the Indians, Sabatis called
them, and said, " No more you English come here ;
me heart bad — me kill you." Thorla replied, " No
kill ; English and Indians now all brothers." They
soon met Peter Bowen going towards the Indians,
told him in what temper the Indians were, and ad-
vised him not to go to them, and by no means to let
them have a drop of rum. He replied that he was
not afraid of them ; that he was acquainted with
Indians, and knew how to deal with them. The
Indians had got into their canoe, and were going up
the river. Bowen called them, and asked them to
go to his house and stay that night, and told them
he would give them some rum. It was then near
night. They went with Bowen to his house, which
was in Contoocook, at some distance below where
they then were. He treated them freely with rum,
which made them at first very well pleased ; but as
they became more intoxicated, they began to be
troublesome. Bowen, who had every quality of an
Indian, had lived much with them, and knew per-
fectly well how they would conduct, fearing they
might do mischief, took the precaution to make his
wife engage their attention, while he drew the
charges from their guns, which were left behind the
door in the entry. After this was done, the night
was spent in a drunken Indian frolic, for which
Bowen had as good a relish as his guests. The next
morning they asked Bowen to go with his horse and
INDIAN BRIDGE. 73
carry their baggage to the place where their canoe
was left the evening before. He went, and carried
their packs on his horse. As they went, Sabatis pro-
posed to run a race with the horse. Bo wen, suspect-
ing mischief was intended, declined the race, but
finally consented to run. He, however, took care to
let the Indian outrun the horse. Sabatis laughed
heartily at Bowen, because the horse could run no
faster. They then proceeded, apparently in good
humor. After a while, Sabatis said to Bowen,
" Bowen walk woods/7 meaning, " Go with me as a
prisoner." Bowen said, " No walk woods ; all one
brothers." They went on together until they were
near the canoe, when Sabatis proposed a second
race, and that the horse should be unloaded of the
baggage, and should start a little before him.
Bowen refused to start so, but consented to start
together. They ran, and as soon as the horse had
got a little before the Indian, Bowen heard a gun
snap. Looking round, he saw the smoke of powder,
and the gun aimed at him ; he turned and struck
his tomahawk in the Indian's head. He went back
to meet Plausawa, who, seeing the fate of Sabatis,
took aim with his gun at Bowen ; the gun flashed.
Plausawa fell on his knees, and begged for his life.
He pleaded his innocence and former friendship for
the English ; but all in vain. Bowen knew there
would be no safety for him while the companion and
friend of Sabatis was living. To secure himself, he
buried the same tomahawk in the skull of Plausawa.
This was done in the road on the bank of Merrimac
7
74 INDIAN BRIDGE.
River, near the northerly line of Contoocook, now
Boscawen. Bowen hid the dead bodies under a
small bridge in Salisbury. The next spring the
bodies were discovered and buried.* That bridge
has ever since, to this day, been called Indian
Bridge.
* It is due to history, as well as to the credit of a race already too
much maligned, to state that the killing of Plausawa and Sabatis was
considered a murder, both by the St. Francis tribe of Indians, to which
they belonged, and by the authorities of New Hampshire, who seized
upon Bowen and one other, and imprisoned them in the Portsmouth
jail, whence, however, they were liberated by an armed mob, the peo-
ple generally considering the killing of an Indian a meritorious act.
Bowen was aware that the half-intoxicated Indians were in a state of-
irritation against the whites; nevertheless he invited them to his
house, and gave them every opportunity to vent their feelings. He
had them completely in his power, though they did not know it. It
would seem also that gratitude as well as mercy should have led him to
spare their lives. A reference to the "Captivity of Mrs. M'Coy " will
show that Plausawa had before this saved the life of one of the set-
tlers, when in a very critical situation.
THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS OF
MRS. JEMIMA HOWE,
TAKEN PRISONER BY THE INDIANS AT BRIDGMAN'S FORT, IN THE
PRESENT TOWN OF VERNON, VT. COMMUNICATED TO DR. BEL-
KNAP BY THE REV. BUNKER GAY.
1755.
As Messrs. Caleb Howe, Hilkiah Grout, and Ben-
jamin Gaffield, who had been hoeing corn in the
meadow, west of the river, were returning home a
little before sunset, to a place called Bridgman's
Fort, they were fired upon by twelve Indians, who
had ambushed their path. Howe was on horseback,
with two young lads, his children, behind him. A
ball, which broke his thigh, brought him to the
ground. His horse ran a few rods, and fell like-
wise, and both the lads were taken. The Indians,
in their savage manner, coming up to Howe, pierced
his body with a spear, tore off his scalp, stuck a
hatchet in his head, and left him in this forlorn con-
dition. He was found alive the morning after by
a party of men from Fort Hinsdale ; and being
asked by one of the party whether he knew him, he
answered, " Yes, I know you all." These were his
last words, though he did not expire until after his
(75)
76 THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS
friends had arrived with him at Fort Hinsdale.
Grout was so fortunate as to escape unhurt ; but
Gaffield, in attempting to wade through the river,
at a certain place which was indeed fordable at that
time, was unfortunately drowned. Flushed with
the success they had met with here, the savages
went directly to Bridgman's Fort. There was no
man in it, and only three women and some children,
viz., Mrs. Jemima Howe, Mrs. Submit Grout, and
Mrs. Eunice Gaffield. Their husbands I need not
mention again, and their feelings at this juncture I
will not attempt to describe. They had heard the
enemy's guns, but knew not what had happened to
their friends. Extremely anxious for their safety,
they stood longing to embrace them, until at length,
concluding from the noise they heard without that
some of them were come, they unbarred the gate in
a hurry to receive them ; when, lo ! to their inex-
pressible disappointment and surprise, instead of
their husbands, in rushed a number of hideous In-
dians, to whom they and their tender offspring be-
came an easy prey, and from whom they had nothing
to expect but either an immediate death or a long
and doleful captivity. The latter of these, by the
favor of Providence, turned out to be the lot of
these unhappy women, and their still more unhappy,
because more helpless, children. Mrs. Gaffield had
but one, Mrs. Grout had three, and Mrs. Howe
seven. The eldest of Mrs. Howe's was eleven
years old, and the youngest but six months. The
two eldest were daughters which she had by her
OF MRS. JEMIMA HOWE. 77
first husband, Mr. William Phipps, who was also
slain by the Indians. It was from the mouth of
this woman that I lately received the foregoing ac-
count. She also gave me, I doubt not, a true, though,
to be sure, a very brief and imperfect history of her
captivity, which I here insert for your perusal. It
may perhaps afford you some amusement, and can
do no harm, if, after it has undergone your critical
inspection, you should not think it (or an abbrevia-
tion of it) worthy to be preserved among the records
you are about to publish.
The Indians (she says) having plundered and put
fire to the fort, we marched, as near as I could judge,
a mile and a half into the woods, where we en-
camped that night. When the morning came, and
we had advanced as much farther, six Indians were
sent back to the place of our late abode, who col-
lected a little more plunder, and destroyed some other
effects that had been left behind ; but they did not
return until the day was so far spent that it was
judged best to continue where we were through the
night. Early the next morning we set off for Can-
ada, and continued our march eight days succes-
sively, until we had reached the place where the
Indians had left their canoes, about fifteen miles
^rom Crown Point. This was a long and tedious
march ; but the captives, by divine assistance, were
enabled to endure it with less trouble and difficulty
than they had reason to expect. From such savage
masters, in such indigent circumstances, we could
not rationally hope for kinder treatment than we
7*
78 THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERING
received. Some of us, it is true, had a harder lot
than others ; and, among the children, I thought my
son Squire had the hardest of aii}\ He was then
only four years old ; and when we stopped to rest
our weary limbs, and he sat down on his master's
pack, the savage monster would often knock him off,
and sometimes, too, with the handle of his hatchet.
Several ugly marks, indented in his head by the
cruel Indians at that tender age, are still plainly to
be seen.
At length we arrived at Crown Point, and took
up our quarters there for the space of near a week.
In the mean time some of the Indians went to Mon-
treal, and took several of the weary captives along
with them, with a view of selling them to the French.
They did not succeed, however, in finding a market
for any of them. They gave my youngest daughter,
Submit Phipps, to the governor, De Vaudreuil, had
a drunken frolic, and returned again to Crown
Point, with the rest of their prisoners. From hence
we set off for St. John's, in four or five canoes, just
as night was coming on, and were soon surrounded
with darkness. A heavy storm hung over us. The
sound of the rolling thunder was very terrible upon
the waters, which, at every flash of expansive light-
ning, seemed to be all in a blaze. Yet to this w^
were indebted for all the light we enjoyed. No
object could we discern any longer than the flashes
lasted. In this posture we sailed in our open, tot-
tering canoes almost the whole of that dreary night.
The morning, indeed, had not yet begun to dawn,
OF MRS. JEMIMA HOWE. 79
when we all went ashore ; and, having collected a
heap of sand and gravel for a pillow, I laid myself
down, with iny tender infant by my side, not know-
ing where any of my other children were, or what a
miserable condition they might be in. The next
day, however, under the wing of that ever-present
and all-powerful Providence which had preserved
us through the darkness and imminent dangers of
the preceding night, we all arrived in safety at St.
John's.
Our next movement was to St. Francis, the me-
tropolis, if I may so call it, to which the Indians
who led us captive belonged. Soon after our arrival
at their wretched capital, a council, consisting of
the chief sachem and some principal warriors of
the St. Francis tribe, was convened ; and after the
ceremonies usual on such occasions were over, I was
conducted and delivered to an old squaw, whom the
Indians told me I must call my mother — my infant
still continuing to be the property of its original
Indian owners. I was nevertheless permitted to
keep it with me a while longer, for the sake of sav-
ing them the trouble of looking after it, and of
maintaining it with my milk. When the weather
began to grow cold, shuddering at the prospect of
approaching winter, I acquainted my new mother
that I did not think it would be possible for me to
endure it if I must spend it with her, and fare as the
Indians did. Listening to my repeated and earnest
solicitations that I might be disposed of among
some of the French inhabitants of Canada, she at
80 THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS
length set off with me and rrty infant, attended by
some male Indians, upon a journey to Montreal, in
hopes of finding a market for me there. But the
attempt proved unsuccessful, and the journey tedious
indeed. Our provisions were so scanty, as well as
insipid and unsavory, the weather was so cold, and
the travelling so very bad, that it often seemed as
if I must have perished on the way. The lips of
my poor child were sometimes so benumbed that
when I put it to my breast, it could not, till it grew
warm, imbibe the nourishment requisite for its sup-
port. While we were at Montreal, we went into
the house of a certain French gentleman, whose
lady, being sent for, and coming into the room
where I was, to examine me, seeing I had an infant,
exclaimed suddenly in this manner : " Damn it, I
will not buy a woman that has a child to look after.77
There was a swill pail standing near me, in which I
observed some crusts and crumbs of bread swimming
on the surface of the greasy liquor it contained.
Sorely pinched with hunger, I skimmed them off
with my hands, and ate them ; and this was all the
refreshment which the house afforded me. Some-
where, in the course of this visit to Montreal, my
Indian mother was so unfortunate as to catch the
small pox, of which distemper she died, soon after
our return, which was by water, to St. Francis.
And now came on the season when the Indians
began to prepare for a winter's hunt. I was ordered
to return my poor child to those of them who still
claimed it as their property. This was a severe
OF MRS. JEMIMA HOWE. 81
trial. The babe clung to my bosom with all its
might ; but I was obliged to pluck it thence, and
deliver it, shrieking and screaming, enough to pen-
etrate a heart of stone, into the hands of those un-
feeling wretches, whose tender mercies may be
termed cruel. It was soon carried off by a hunting
party of those Indians to a place called Messiskow,
at the lower end of Lake Champlain, whither, in
about a month after, it was my fortune to follow
them. I had preserved my milk, in hopes of seeing
my beloved child again ; and here I found it, it is
true, but in a condition that afforded me no great
satisfaction, it being greatly emaciated and almost
starved. I took it in my arms, put its face to mine,
and it instantly bit me with such violence that it
seemed as if I must have parted with a piece of my
cheek. I was permitted to lodge with it that and
the two following nights ; but every morning that
intervened, the Indians, I suppose on purpose to tor-
ment me, sent me away to another wigwam, which
stood at a little distance, though not so far from the
one in which my distressed infant was confined but
that I could plainly hear its incessant cries and
heart-rending lamentations. In this deplorable con-
dition I was obliged to take my leave of it, on the
morning of the third day after my arrival at the
place. We moved down the lake several miles the
same day ; and the night following was remarkable
on account of the great earthquake* which terribly
* November 18, 1755.
82 THE CAPTIVITY AKD SffffFEHINGS
shook that howling wilderness. Among the islands
hereabout we spent the winter season, often shifting
our quarters, and roving about from one place to
another, our family consisting of three persons only,
besides myself, viz. : my late mother's daughter,
whom, therefore, I called my sister, her sanhop,*
and a pappoose, They once left me alone two dismal
nights ; and when they returned to me again, per-
ceiving them smile at each other, I asked, t: What is
the matter?'7 They replied that two of my chil-
dren were no more ; one of which, they said, died a
natural death, and the other was knocked on the
head. I did not utter many words, but my heart
was sorely pained within me, and my mind exceed-
ingly troubled with strange and awful ideas. I
often imagined, for instance, that I plainly saw the
naked carcasses of my deceased children hanging
upon the limbs of the trees, as the Indians are wont
to hang tlte raw hides of those beasts which they
take in hunting.
It was not long, however, before it was so ordered
by kind Providence that I should be relieved in a
good measure from those horrid imaginations ; for,
as I was walking one day upon the ice, observing a
smoke at some distance upon the land, it must pro-
ceed, thought I, from the lire of some Indian hut ;
and who knows but some one of my poor children
may be there? My curiosity, thus excited, led me
to the place, and there I found my son Caleb, a
little boy between two and three years old, whom I
* Warrior husband.
op Mrs. jemima howe. 83
had lately buried, in sentiment at least, or, rather,
imagined to have been deprived of life, and perhaps
also denied a decent grave. I found him likewise
in tolerable health and circumstances, under the
protection of a fond Indian mother ; and, more-
over, had the happiness of lodging with him in my
arms one joyful night. Again we shifted our quar-
ters, and when we had travelled eight or ten miles
upon the snow and ice, came to a place where the
Indians manufactured sugar, which they extracted
from the maple trees. Here an Indian came to visit
us, whom I knew, and could speak English. He
asked me why I did not go to see my son Squire.
I replied that I had lately been informed that he
was dead. He assured me that he was yet alive,
and but two or three miles off, on the opposite side
of the lake. At my request he gave me the best
directions he could to the place of his abode. I
resolved to embrace the first opportunity that
offered of endeavoring to search it out. While I
was busy in contemplating this affair, the Indians
obtained a little bread, of which they gave me a
small share. I did not taste a morsel of it myself,
but saved it all for my poor child, if I should be so
lucky as to find him. At length, having obtained
from my keepers leave to be absent for one day, I
set off early in the morning, and steering as well
as I could, according to the directions which the
friendly Indian had given me, I quickly found the
place which he had so accurately marked out. I
beheld, as I drew nigh, my little son without the
84 THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS
camp ; but he looked, thought I, like a starved and
mangy puppy, that had been wallowing in the ashes.
I took him in my arms, and he spoke to me these
words, in the Indian tongue : " Mother, are you
come ? " I took him into the wigwam with me, and
observing a number of Indian children in it, I dis-
tributed all the bread which I had reserved for my
own child among them all, otherwise I should have
given great offence. My little boy appeared to be
very fond of his new mother, kept as near me as
possible while I staid, and when I told him I must
go, he fell as though he had been knocked down
with a club. But, having recommended him to the
care of Him that made him, when the day was far
spent, and the time would permit me to stay no
longer, I departed, you may well suppose with a
heavy load at my heart. The tidings I had received
of the death of my youngest child had, a little be-
fore, been confirmed to me beyond a doubt ; but I
could not mourn so heartily for the deceased as for
the living child.
When the winter broke up, we removed to St.
John's ; and through the ensuing summer our prin-
cipal residence was at no great distance from the
fort at that place. In the n. i:in time, however, my
sister's husband, having Ken out with a scouting
party to some of the English settlements, had a
drunken frolic at the fort when he returned. His
wife, who never got drunk, but had often experi-
enced the ill effects of her husband's intemperance,
fearing what the consequence might prove if he
OF MRS. JEMIMA HOWE. 85
should come home in a morose and turbulent humor,
to avoid his insolence, proposed that we should both
retire, and keep out of the reach of it until the
storm abated. We absconded, accordingly ; but it
so happened that I returned and ventured into his
presence before his wife had presumed to come nigh
him. I found him in his wigwam, and in a surly
mood ; and not being able to revenge upon his wife,
because she was not at home, he laid hold of me,
and hurried me to the fort, and, for a trifling con-
sideration, sold me to a French gentleman whose
name was Saccapee. " 'Tis an ill wind certainly
that blows nobody any good." I had been with the
Indians a year lacking fourteen days ; and if not
for my sister, yet for me 'twas a lucky circumstance
indeed which thus at last, in an unexpected moment,
snatched me out of their cruel hands, and placed
me beyond the reach of their insolent power.
After my Indian master had disposed of me in
the manner related above, and the moment of sober
reflection had arrived, perceiving that the man who
bought me had taken the advantage of him in an
unguarded hour, his resentment began to kindle,
and his indignation rose so high that he threatened
to kill me if he should meet me alone, or, if he
could not revenge himself thus, that he would set
fire to the fort. I was therefore secreted in an
upper chamber, and the fort carefully guarded, until
his wrath had time to cool. My service in the fam-
ily to which I was now advanced was perfect free-
dom in comparison of what it had been among the
8
86 THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS
barbarous Indians. My new master and mistress
were both as kind and generous towards me as I
could any ways expect. I seldom asked a favor of
either of them but it was readily granted ; in con-
sequence of which I had it in my power in many
instances to administer aid and refreshment to the
poor prisoners of my own nation who were brought
into St. John's during my abode in the family of the
above-mentioned benevolent and hospitable Sacca-
pee. Yet even in this family such trials awaited
me as I had little reason to expect ; but I stood in
need of a large stock of prudence to enable me to
encounter them. Must I tell you, then, that even
the good old man himself, who considered me as his
property, and likewise a warm and resolute son of
his, at that same time, and under the same roof, be*
came both excessively fond of my company ? so that
between these two rivals — the father and the son
— I found myself in a very critical situation in-
deed, and was greatly embarrassed and perplexed,
hardly knowing many times how to behave in such
a manner as at once to secure my own virtue and
the good esteem of the family in which I resided,
and upon which I was wholly dependent for my
daily support. At length, however, through the
tender compassion of a certain English gentleman*
the governor, De Vaudreuil, being made acquainted
with the condition I had fallen into, immediately
ordered the young and amorous Saccapee, then an
officer in the French army, from the field of Venus
* Colonel Peter Schuyler, then a prisoner.
OF MRS. JEMIMA HOWE. 87
to the field of Mars, and at the same time also wrote
a letter to his father, enjoining it upon him by no
means to suffer me to be abused, but to make my
situation and service in his family as easy and de-
lightful as possible. I was, moreover, under un-
speakable obligations to the governor upon another
account. I had received intelligence from my daugh-
ter Mary, the purport of which was, that there was
a prospect of her being shortly married to a young
Indian of the tribe of St. Francis, with which tribe
she had continued from the beginning of her cap-
tivity. These were heavy tidings, and added greatly
to the poignancy of my other afflictions. However,
not long after I had heard this melancholy news, an
opportunity presented of acquainting that humane
and generous gentleman, the commander-in-chief,
and my illustrious benefactor, with this affair also,
who, in compassion for my sufferings, and to miti-
gate my sorrows, issued his orders in good time,
and had my daughter taken away from the Indians,
and conveyed to the same nunnery where her sister
was then lodged, with his express injunction that
they should both of them together be well looked
after and carefully educated, as his adopted chil-
dren. In this school of superstition and bigotry
they continued while the war in those days between
France and Great Britain lasted ; at the conclusion
of which war the governor went home to France,
took my oldest daughter along with him, and mar-
ried her to a French gentleman, whose name is Cron
Louis. He was at Boston with the fleet under
88 THE CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS
Count d'Estaing, (1778,) as one of his clerks. My
other daughter still continuing in the nunnery, a
considerable time had elapsed after my return from
captivity, when I made a journey to Canada, resolv-
ing to use my best endeavors not to return without
her. I arrived just in time to prevent her being
sent to France. She was to have gone in the next
vessel that sailed for that place ; and I found it ex-
tremely difficult to prevail with her to quit the nun-
nery and go home with me ; yea, she absolutely
refused ; and all the persuasions and arguments I
could use with her were to no effect until after I
had been to the governor and obtained a letter from
him to the superintendent of the nuns, in which he
threatened, if my daughter should not be immediately
delivered into my hands, or could not be prevailed
with to submit to my maternal authority, that he
would send a band of soldiers to assist me in bring-
ing her away. Upon hearing this, she made no fur-
ther resistance ; but so extremely bigoted was she
to the customs and religion of the place, that, after
all, she left it with the greatest reluctance and the
most bitter lamentations, which she continued as we
passed the streets, and wholly refused to be com-
forted. My good friend, Major Small, whom we
met with on the way, tried all he could to console
her, and was so very kind and obliging as to bear
us company, and carry my daughter behind him on
horseback.
But I have run on a little before my story, for I
have not yet informed you of the means and man-
OP MRS. JEMIMA HOWE. 89
ner of my own redemption, to the accomplishing of
which, the recovery of my daughter, just mentioned,
and the ransoming of some of my other children,
several gentlemen of note contributed not a little ;
to whose goodness, therefore, I am greatly indebted,
and sincerely hope I shall never be so ungrateful as
to forget. Colonel Schuyler, in particular, was so
very kind and generous as to advance two thousand
seven hundred livres to procure a ransom for myself
and three of my children. He accompanied and
conducted us from Montreal to Albany, and enter-
tained us in the most friendly and hospitable man-
ner a considerable time at his own house, and I
believe entirely at his own expense.
I have spun out the above narrative to a much
greater length than I at first intended, and shall
conclude it with referring you for a more ample and
brilliant account of the captive heroine who is the
subject of it to Colonel Humphrey's History of the
Life of General Israel Putnam, together with some
remarks upon a few clauses in it. I never indeed
had the pleasure of perusing the whole of said his-
tory, but remember to have seen, some time ago, an
extract from it in one of the Boston newspapers, in
which the colonel has extolled the beauty, and good
sense, and rare accomplishments of Mrs. Howe, the
person whom he endeavors to paint in the most
lively and engaging colors, perhaps a little too
highly, and in a style that may appear to those who
are acquainted with her to this day romantic and
90 CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS OF MRS. HOWE.
extravagant; and the colonel must needs have been
misinformed with respect to some particulars that
he has mentioned in her history. Indeed, when I
read the extract from his history to Mrs. Tute,
(which name she has derived from a third husband,
whose widow she now remains,) she seemed to be
well pleased, and said at first it was all true, but
soon after contradicted the circumstance of her
lover's being so bereft of his senses, when he saw
her moving off in a boat at some distance from the
shore, as to plunge into the water after her, in con-
sequence of which he was seen no more. It is true,
she said, that as she was returning from Montreal to
Albany, she met with young Saccapee on the way ;
that she was in a boat with Colonel Schuyler ; that
the French officer came on board the boat, made her
some handsome presents, took his final leave of her,
and departed, to outward appearance in tolerable
good humor.
She moreover says that when she went to Canada
for her daughter, she met with him again ; that he
showed her a lock of her hair, and her name, like-
wise, printed with vermilion on his arm. As to her
being chosen agent to go to Europe, in behalf of
the people of Hinsdale, when Colonel Howard ob-
tained from the government of New York a patent
of their lands on the west side of Connecticut River,
it was never once thought of by Hinsdale people
until the above-mentioned extract arrived among
them, in which the author has inserted it as a mat-
ter of undoubted fact.
HILTON, OF FAMOUS MEMORY.
ORIGINAL, C. C.
Among the marvellous instances of courageous
venture and good fortune which are presented to
us in the history of the old days of Indian warfare,
nothing is more remarkable than the following,
which, while it is unquestionably true in substance,
has never, so far as the relater knows, been put in
print. It has lain now fifty years in the memory
of the relater, who received it from men who had
themselves burned gunpowder in Indian wars, and
who were familiar with the stories, hardships, and
sufferings of their own sires and grandsires. While
so many things have been recorded of that great
friend, fighter, killer, and circumventor of Indians,
it seems strange that the affair about to be related
has hitherto escaped the attention of collectors.
This Hilton had been for many years a particular
favorite among the red skins, having on various
occasions done them good turns in their quarrels
with one another. He had also, much to their ad-
vantage, at sundry times, stood their true friend in
the traffic carried on by them with the pale faces.
(911
92 HILTON, OF FAMOUS MEMORY.
But circumstances changed, and Indians and set-
tlers changed with them. In a time of war it was
found by the former that all their plans were antici-
pated and frustrated, and all their stratagems baf-
fled by the bravery, sagacity, and untiring activity
of their old friend Hilton. They therefore deter-
mined, though sorrowfully, on capturing and killing
him at all hazards. The aged chief, who held in
grateful memory former days of intimacy, kindness,
and friendship, with a lip tremulous in spite of de-
termination, and with an eye moistened in sorrow,
though fixed and steady as death, said aloud, in
tones which never yet had failed of bringing to his
cabin the scalps of the slain, ''It must be done!
Hilton, no longer the red man's friend — Hilton
must die ! Warriors, ten of you, brave and saga-
cious men, keen of sight and fleet of foot, go to the
settlement, nor let me look on your faces again till
you show me Hilton, living or dead ! Go, warriors,
go!"
This time, sure enough, the Indians got the start
of Hilton. Passing the outposts unobserved, and
eluding the vigilance of his videttes, they found
him, as they came in sight of the settlement, busily
and unconcernedly engaged in hoeing corn in a field
not far from the fort, while his trusty gun was seen
leaning against a tree at some distance.
Their plan was laid at once, which was, to pass
around through the woods to a point nearest the
gun, secure that, and then rush upon him and take
him alive. In this they were successful ; being
HILTON, OF FAMOUS MEMORY. 93
wholly unobserved by the lookouts of the garrison
as well as by hiin, whom alone they wanted to see,
until the instant of their laying hands on his weap-
on, when, rising to his full, great height over a
corn hill, to which he had been stooping for the
purpose of removing weeds, he beheld them ad-
vancing upon him. It was a critical moment.
But Hilton had seen hard spots before, and had
survived ; and it was his determination to do so in
this case. Advancing towards them with a quick
step and easy affability of manner, his hand being
extended in familiar greeting, " Oho ! my old friends,"
said he, "is it you? I am glad to see you — in-
deed I am — and now what can I do for you ? Will
you sit here while I go to the house and bring you
out something good to eat and drink ? " " No, no !
Hilton go with Indians — quick, quick ! " said the
tawny savages. " With all my heart," quoth he.
" Lead on, my good fellows. This is not the first
time you and I have tramped the woods together.
I see how it is — you want me to go and see my
old friend, your great chief. It is well ; I shall
rejoice to see him once again."
Thus glibly ana unconcernedly he talked as they
hurried along the forest path.
At length, about six miles from the fort, or gar-
rison, they came to a deserted log cabin, where,
knowing that they had done their work so adroitly
as to occasion no alarm in the settlement, they con-
cluded to stop a while, take some food, and prepare
themselves for a long march in the forest.
94 HILTON, OF FAMOUS MEMORY.
Completely deceived and put off their guard by
the easy affability and complacent good humor of
their captive, they carelessly entered the cabin,
placed their guns in a corner at one end, and began
to busy themselves, some in preparations for cook-
ing, and others in mending their moccasons, while
others still stretched themselves on a pile of straw
in a distant corner, and went to sleep. Having
securely fastened the door, and observed that the
only other place of possible egress was an open
window at the end near their own party, they gave
themselves no trouble about Hilton, who walked
about sociably among them, chatted pleasantly, and
inquired about their success in hunting, how many
children they had, and what changes had taken
place since he was last among them. In the same
easy way he begged they would allow him to gratify
his curiosity with a look at their guns, which were
now all standing together in a corner. To this
they assented without hesitation. " Fine shooters,
these, my good fellows," said he, as he took up and
examined one after another. " Glad to see you
so well provided with these kill-deers ; and powder
and balls, too ; are they plenty wifn you ? and flints,
good ! good ! " And so he ran on.
Bat the savages, poor doomed wretches, did not
observe that when he set each gun down again in
its place, he took care to leave it cocked ; for he
had seen that all were loaded and primed.
At length, all being ready — the position of each
man well marked by an eye which never faltered in
HILTON, OP FAMOUS MEMORY. 95
moments of danger — his fearless spirit nerved to
unusual daring, and to the issue of risks in which
a life was to be won by ten deaths — with the stern
purpose of a man whose soul was filled with the
certainty of one thing, namely, that either he or ten
Indians must bite the dust — cool in purpose, but
quicker than lightning in action, he began. Bang !
bang ! bang ! Down came a tall fellow — up sprang
another from the straw, only to come down again
with his death wound ; here reeled one to the wall,
but gasped and fell ; there sprawled another, who
had nearly clutched our hero ; another tumbled into
the fire, on the coals of which he was broiling a
piece of meat ; upon the head of another, who was
coming on too quick for him, he dealt a levelling
blow with a gun, which had just sent lead through
the heart of a brawny foe. And so with unshrink-
ing purpose, a true eye, and a hand quicker than
the lightning's flash, he either killed or disabled all
but one. That one plunged through the open win-
dow, and was soon lost in the thick shadows of the
forest. He, after wandering many days, as was
afterwards ascertained, and being near perishing by
hunger, regained his tribe — the sole messenger of
that terrible destruction which had come down upon
his party on the very day of success.
As for Hilton, he did not want for trophies of
his prowess. The reader needs not be told what he
did with the wounded, and may himself judge whether
the little garrison would be willing to furnish hos-
pital comforts to murderous savages. The weapons
96 HILTOX, OF FAMOUS MEMORY.
of death he gathered up, took them on his shoulder,
and without losing a hair of his head, marched in
triumph to meet his friends, who by this time had
discovered that he was missing from the field.
The reader will please to allow his imagination
large scope, when he thinks of the rejoicings of
young and old when Hilton told the story of his
afternoon's work.
INDIAN FUN.
One of the earliest settlers around Lake Cham-
plain was Colonel Edward Raymun. He under-
stood the character and disposition of the natives
of the forest, and lived with them in much harmony,
frequently employing them to row him up and down
the lake, as he had occasion. One stout fellow, by
the name of Big Bear, had his wigwam at no great
distance from the colonel's dwelling, and was often
there. The colonel, having occasion to visit some
distant shore of the lake, employed Big Bear to
row him in his canoe. On their return, they passed
near a high yet sloping ledge of rocks, on which lay
an immense number of rattlesnakes asleep and bask-
ing in the sun. The Indian gave a penetrating look
at the colonel, and thus inquired : " Raymun love
fun ? " " Yes," was the reply. " Well, then, Ray-
mun have fun ; mind Indian, and hold a glum." So
he rowed along, silent and slow, and cut a crotch
stick from a bunch of hazels upon the bank.
" Steady, now, hold a glum, Raymun," said he, as
he clapped the crotch astride the neck of a serpent
that was asleep close to the edge of the water.
" Take urn now, Raymun ; hold fass." The colonel
then took hold of the stick keeping the serpent
9 (97)
98 INDIAN FUN.
down, while Big Bear tied up a little sack of pow-
der, putting oue end of a slow match therein. He
then made it fast to the snake's tail, and, touching
fire to the match, gave orders to " let um go," at the
same time pushing off from the shore ; the snake,
being liberated, crawled away to his den. The In-
dian then immediately stood up, clapped his hands,
making as loud a noise as possible, and thus roused
the serpents, who all in a moment disappeared.
"Now look, Raymun, now look ; see fun," said he ;
and in about a minute the powder exploded, when
there was, to be sure, fun alive. The snakes, in
thousands, covered the rocks, all hissing, rattling,
twining, twirling, and jumping every way imagina-
ble. Colonel Raymun burst into a loud laugh, that
echoed across the lake, pleased alike at the success
of the trick and the ingenuity of the savage's inven-
tion. But Big Bear, from the beginning to the endT
was as grave as a judge, not moving a muscle, and
not having the least show of risibility in his coun-
tenance. This is truly characteristic of the Amer-
ican aborigines ; what causes the excitability of
laughter in others has no effect upon them ; they
may love fun, but never, in the smallest degree, ex-
hibit that character in their looks.
THE HEADLESS SPECTRE.
EXTRACTED FROM THE MANUSCRIPT AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF IRA
ALLEN, OF VERMONT, NOW IN THE HANDS OF HENRY STE-
PHENS, ESQ., OF BARNET, VT. DRA ALLEN WAS A BROTHER
OF THE CELEBRATED COLONEL ETHAN ALLEN.
1770.
Mr. and Mrs. Mclntire were from Scotland, and
had two daughters about twenty-four years of age.
The old lady and her daughters used to amuse me
by telling many frightful stories respecting ghosts,
apparitions, <fcc, appearing to people in Scotland,
amongst which were many stories respecting an old
woman appearing without a head. One evening I
challenged the old woman without a head, and all
the ghosts, to meet me at any time and place they
chose. This exceedingly alarmed my honest land-
lady and daughters, and they all seemed exceeding
anxious for my safety, for being so presumptuous as
to make such a challenge, and not doubting but that
I should meet with difficulty the first time I should
be belated in the woods. The next day I found a
part of my hogs had strayed away and become wild ;
with all the art I had, I could not get them so gen-
tle that I could approach them till near dark, at
(99)
54720GII
100 THE HEADLESS SPECTRE.
which time I was at least three miles in the wilder-
ness. There was then a snow on the ground about
four inches deep. I made the best of my way to
gain a footpath from Mr. Mclntire's to a beaver
meadow. In the way I passed a thicket of hemlock,
under which it was dark. I cut a staff about three
feet long, to defend my eyes from limbs that might
come in my face. In this way I found the footpath.
In this several loads of hay had been carried from
the meadow to the house, which had mixed the
leaves and snow, so that I could discover the foot-
path for twenty rods before me. Then, for the first
time that night, I thought of the old woman with-
out any head ; at which I had a hearty laugh, think-
ing whether I should turn out if she met me in
that narrow path. I thought no more of the matter
till I had walked about one mile, when, to my no
small surprise, at about eight rods' distance, I dis-
covered in the path the perfect appearance of a
woman without a head ; her shoulders, waist, arms
akimbo, her hands on her hips, woman's clothes, and
feet below were in perfect shape before me ; all
which I viewed with astonishment.
I reasoned to myself — Is this appearance ficti-
tious or real ? If the God of nature authorizes appa-
ritions, then there is no flying from them. What
injury can they possibly do me ? I have promised
faithfully not to flinch at any such appearance ; I
will see it out. On this determination I kicked the
snow away, that I might know where I made the
discovery, and advanced with my cane in hand for
THE HEADLESS SPECTRE. 101
a blow as soon as I arrived near enough. With
trembling approaches I came within about thirty
yards, before I discovered the cause of such an ap-
pearance. The facts were, that a tree had been
broken by the wind, leaving a stump, which the
woodcocks had pecked the bark from in that shape
so long that the wood had become whitish. The
bark of the other part had fallen off. The dark-
ness of the night prevented me from seeing the
darker color, while the bright snow shone from
the other part of the stump, forming the size and
figure of a headless woman. To satisfy myself, I
went back to where I had kicked away the snow,
and the old woman again appeared in perfect shape.
I occasionally passed that place afterwards, but not
at a time when such an opportunity could be discov-
ered. Had I been frightened, and run away, I might,
like others, have believed in spectral appearances.
9*
ATTACK UPON NUMBER FOUR.
(CHABLESTOWN, N. H.)
1747.
In the latter end of March, Captain Phineas Ste-
vens, who commanded a ranging company of thirty-
men, came to Number Four, the place now, called
Charlestown. It had been garrisoned by the small
force of six men ; but even these had deserted it in
the previous winter, and for two months it was en-
tirely destitute of occupants. Captain Stevens,
finding the fort entire, determined to keep posses-
sion of it. He had not been there many days when
he was attacked by a very large party of French
and Indians, commanded by M. Debeline. The
dogs, by their barking, discovered that the enemy
were near, which caused the gate to be kept shut
beyond the usual time. One man went out to make
discovery, and was fired on, but returned with a
slight wound only. The enemy, finding that they
were discovered, arose from their concealment, and
fired at the fort on all sides. The wind being high,
they set fire to the fences and log houses, till the
fort was surrounded by flames. Captain Stevens
took the most prudent measures for his security,
(102)
ATTACK UPON NUMBER FOUR. 103
keeping every vessel full of water, and digging
trenches under the walls in several places, so that
a man might creep through and extinguish any fire
which might catch on the outside of the walls. The
fire of the fences did not reach the fort, nor did the
flaming arrows which they incessantly shot against
it take effect. Having continued this mode of
attack for two days, accompanied with hideous
shouts and yells, they prepared a wheel carriage,
loaded with dry fagots, to be pushed before them,
that they might set fire to the fort. Before they
proceeded to this operation, they demanded a cessa-
tion of arms till the sun rising, which was granted.
In the morning, Debeline came up with fifty men
and a flag of truce, which he stuck in the ground.
He demanded a parley, which was agreed to. A
French officer, with a soldier and an Indian, then
advanced, and proposed that the garrison should
bind up a quantity of provisions with their blan-
kets, and, having laid down their arms, should be
conducted prisoners to Montreal. Another pro-
posal was, that the two commanders should meet,
and that an answer should then be given. Stevens
met the French commander, who, without waiting
for an answer, began to enforce his proposal by
threatening to storm the fort and put every man to
death, if they should refuse his terms and kill one
of his men. Stevens answered that he could hearken
to no terms till the la^i extremity ; that he was in-
trusted with the defence of the fort, and was deter-
104 ATTACK UPON NUMBER FOUR.
mined to maintain it till lie should be convinced
that the Frenchman could perform what he had
threatened. He added that it was poor encourage-
ment to surrender, if they were all to be put to the
sword for killing one man, when it was probable
they had already killed more. The Frenchman
replied, " Go and see if your men dare to fight any
longer, and give me a quick answer." Stevens
returned and asked his men whether they would
fight or surrender. They unanimously determined
to fight. This was immediately made known to the
enemy, who renewed their shouting and firing all
that day and night. On the morning of the third
day they requested another cessation for two hours.
Two Indians came with a flag, and proposed that if
Stevens would sell them provisions, they would with-
draw. He answered that to sell them provisions
for money was contrary to the law of nations ; but
that he would pay them five bushels of corn for
every captive for whom they would give a hostage,
till the captive could be brought from Canada.
After this answer a few guns were fired, and the
enemy were seen no more.
In this furious attack from a starving enemy, no
lives were lost in the fort, and two men only were
wounded. No men could have behaved with more
intrepidity in the midst of such threatening danger.
An express was immediately despatched to Boston,
and the news was there received with great joy.
Commodore Sir Charles Knowlcs was so highly
ATTACK UPON NUMBER FOUR. 105
pleased with the conduct of Captain Stevens that
he presented him with a valuable and elegant sword,
as a reward for his bravery. From this circum-
stance the township, when it was incorporated, took
the name of Charlestown.
THE INDIANS AT WAR: THEIR USAGES
AND CUSTOMS.
FROM THE "NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT," BY
SAMUEL WILLIAMS, LL. D.
The civil regulations of the savages were all de-
signed to qualify and prepare them for war. Among
the causes that led to this, an opposition of interests
was the most common and powerful. No people
ever had more clear or more just ideas of their own
rights and property than the Indians. They not
only understood their own personal rights, but they
were perfectly well acquainted with the rights and
property that were vested in the tribe. Each tribe
claimed the soil in their own domains. This right
was viewed as complete, perfect, and exclusive —
such as entitled them to the full and entire posses-
sion, and to oppose by force and violence all en-
croachments upon the soil or game in any part of
their territories. The bounds of these territories
were extensive and ill defined. Real or supposed
encroachments and injuries were constantly taking
place. Hence arose innumerable subjects of dis-
pute and controversy, which easily inflamed the
fierceness of the savage temper, and brought on
mutual injuries, reproaches, hostilities, and war. In
(106)
THE INDIANS AT WAR. 107
this state most of the Indian tribes were found.
Interest had become a source of discord among the
neighboring tribes. From this cause arose most of
their inveterate and perpetual wars.
The manner in which the Indians carry on their
wars is very different from that of civilized nations.
To defend themselves against an enemy they have
no other fortification but an irregular kind of for-
tress, which they call a castle or fort. It consisted
of a square, without bastions, surrounded with pali-
sades. This was erected where the most consider-
able number of the tribe resided, and was designed
as an asylum for their old men, their women and
children, while the rest of the tribe were gone out
to war. The weapons of the Indian were a club
made of hard wood, a bow and arrow. Thus armed,
the Indian takes with him a small bag of corn, and
is completely equipped for a campaign. When he
takes the field, it is with such a number of warriors
as the tribe can supply. During their march they
are dispersed in straggling companies, that they may
better supply themselves by hunting. When they
approach near to the enemies' frontiers, their troops
are more collected ; all is then caution, stratagem,
secrecy, and ambuscade. Their employment as
hunters has taught them great address and vigilance
in following and surprising the game. Their mode
of war is the same as that of hunting. With great
ingenuity they will find and follow the track of
their enemies ; with a surprising patience and per-
severance they will wait for the moment when they
108 THE INDIANS AT WAK.
find him the least able to defend himself ; and when
they can find an enemy unprepared, they make their
attack with great fury and with pretty sure success.
In their battles they always endeavor to secure
themselves behind the trees or rocks, and never
meet their enemy in the open field, or upon equal
terms, if they can avoid it. The method of the
Europeans, of deciding a battle in the open field,
they regard as extreme folly and want of prudence.
Their established maxims are, to obtain a superior-
ity in situation, numbers, concealment, or some other
circumstance, before the battle ; in this way to pre-
serve the lives of their own party, and destroy their
enemies, with as little loss as possible to themselves.
A victory obtained with the loss of many of their
own party is a matter of grief and disgrace, rather
than of exultation ; and it is no honor to fall in the
field of battle, but viewed rather as an evidence of
a want of wisdom, discernment, and circumspection.
When the attack is to be made, nothing can exceed
the courage and impetuosity of the savage. The
onset begins with a general outcry, terminating in a
universal yell. Of all the sounds that discord has
produced, the Indian war whoop is the most awful
and horrid. It is designed and adapted to increase
the ardor of those who make the attack, and to
carry terror and horror into the feelings of those
on whom the attack is made. The Indians immedi-
ately come forward, and begin the scene of outrage
and death. All is then a scene of fury, impetuosity,
and vengeance. So great is the rage of the savage,
THEIR USAGES AND CUSTOMS. 109
that he has no regard to discipline, subordination,
and order. Revenge takes an entire possession of
his soul ; forgetful of all order, regardless of disci-
pline and danger, he aims only to butcher and de-
stroy. Jf the Indians remain masters of the field,
they always strip and scalp the dead. Leaving the
bodies of their enemies naked, unburied, and often
mangled, they carry off the plunder and scalps, and
make a very swift and sudden retreat. Upon their
approach to their own tribe, a herald is sent for-
ward to announce the event ; the tribe is collected,
and the conquerors make their entry with their en-
signs of triumph ; the scalps, stretched upon a bow,
and elevated upon a pole, are carried before them,
as the tokens of their valor and success, and monu-
ments of the vengeance they have inflicted upon the
enemies of their country.
The prisoners which they have taken make an
important part of their triumph. The savages are
anxious to take as many of these as possible. Dur-
ing their march, they are generally treated with a
degree of humanity and kindness ; but the greatest
care is taken to prevent their escape. When they
arrive at the place of their destination, the old men,
women, and children of the Indian tribe form them-
selves into two lines, through which the prisoners
must run the gantlet to the village. If the prisoner
is young, active, and a good runner, he makes his
way through the lines without receiving much injury.
If he is weak, old, and infirm, he receives much dam-
age by the blows, stripes, and bruises laid upon him.
10
110 THE INDIANS AT WAR:
When this scene is finished, the prisoners are con-
ducted to the village, treated with apparent good
humor, and fed as well as the Indians' fare admits.
To the village thus assembled the head warrior
of the party relates every particular of the expedi-
tion. When he mentions their losses, a bitter grief
and sorrow appears in the whole assembly. When
he pronounces the names of the dead, their wives,
relations, and friends put forth the most bitter
shrieks and cries. But no one asks any question, or
interrupts the speaker with any inquiry. The last
ceremony is to proclaim the victory. Every indi-
vidual forgets his own loss and misfortune, and joins
in the triumph of his nation. Their tears cease, and
with one of the most unaccountable transitions in
human nature, they pass at once from the bitterness
of sorrow to all the extravagance of joy. The
whole concludes with a savage feast, songs, and
dance.
The fate of the prisoners is next to be decided.
The elders and chiefs assemble and deliberate con-
cerning their destiny. The women and children are
disposed of according to the pleasure of their cap-
tors ; but they are seldom or never put to torture
or death. Of the men, some are appointed to sup-
ply the places of such Indians as have fallen in
battle. These are delivered to their friends and
relations, and if they arc received by them, they
have no sufferings to fear ; they are adopted into
the family, and succeed to all the privileges of the
deceased, and arc esteemed as friends, brothers, and
THEIR USAGES AND CUSTOMS. HI
near relations. But if they are not received and
admitted into the family, or if they are destined to
be put to death, a most distressing and horrid scene
ensues.
A stake is fixed firmly in the ground ; at the dis-
tance of eight or ten feet, dry wood, leaves, and
fagots are placed in a circle round the stake, and
the whole village is collected, to bear their part in
the tragedy which is to ensue. The prisoner is led
to the stake, and tied to it by his hands, in such a
manner that he may move freely round it. Fire is
set to the wood, that, as it runs round the circle,
the unhappy victim may be forced to run the same
way. As the sufferings of the prisoner begin to
become severe, the acclamations of the spectators
commence. The men, women, and children strive
to exceed each other in finding out new and keener
methods of torment. Some apply red hot irons,
others stab and cut with their knives, others mangle
and tear off the flesh ; others again bite off the
nails and joints, or twist and tear the sinews. Every
species and degree of cruelty that savage rancor
and revenge can invent and apply is tried upon the
wretched sufferer ; but great care is taken that the
vital parts may not be so injured as to bring the
torments of the victim to a speedy end. In this
horrid situation, the sufferer is undaunted and in-
trepid. He reviles and insults his tormentors. He
accuses them of cowardice, meanness, and want of
spirit ; as ignorant, unskilful, and destitute of inge-
nuity and invention in the art of tormenting. Not
112 THE INDIANS AT WAR :
a groan, a sigh, a tear, or a sorrowful look, is suf-
fered to escape him. To insult his tormentors, to
display undaunted and unalterable fortitude in this
dreadful situation, is the most noble of all the tri-
umphs of the warrior. With an unaltered counte-
nance, and with the decisive tone of dignity and
superior importance, the hero proceeds with great
calmness to sing the song of his death : —
" Intrepid and brave, I feel no pain and I fear no
torture. I have slain, I have conquered, I have
burnt mine enemies, and my countrymen will avenge
my blood. Ye are a nation of dogs, of cowards,
and women. Ye know not how to conquer, to suf-
fer, or to torture. Prolong and increase my tor-
ments, that ye may learn from my example how to
suffer and behave like men."
With such unconquerable magnanimity and forti-
tude the sufferer perseveres, under every method of
torment and torture. Wearied' with cruelty, and
tired with tormenting a man whose fortitude they
cannot move, one of the chiefs, in a rage, concludes
the scene by knocking the prisoner on the head, or
stabbing him to the heart.
These scenes, however, were not common. They
seem to have been a kind of honor reserved for the
warriors, and were the trials of their courage and
fortitude ; and nothing was esteemed more base and
ignominious than to shrink from them, or to show
any sense of fear or pain under them.
When the prisoners were adopted into the tribe
of the conquerors, nothing could exceed the kind-
THEIR USAGES AND CUSTOMS. 113
ness and affection with which they were treated.
All distinction of tribes was forgotten ; they held
the same rank as the deceased person whose place
they filled, and were treated with all the tenderness
due to the husband, the brother, the child, or friend ;
and it was generally the case that the savages avoid-
ed abuse and cruelty to the women and children that
fell into their hands.
The Indian method of carrying on a war was so
contrary to the maxims and customs of all civilized
nations, that some of the European writers, judging
from their own customs, have concluded it was
founded on cowardice, and arose from an ignoble
and timid spirit, afraid to meet its opposers on equal
ground, and depending wholly on craft, and not at
all on courage and firmness of mind. No conclu-
sion was ever farther from the truth. When placed
in a critical and dangerous situation, no people ever
discovered more valor, firmness, and intrepidity.
When subdued, an Indian was never known to ask
for his life. When compelled to suffer, the Indian
bore it with a steadiness, a fortitude, and a magna-
nimity unknown to all other nations, and of which
there are no examples in the history of war. His
method of war did not arise from a sense and fear
of danger ; he was well acquainted, and always in
the midst of this; but it arose from his situation
and employment, and was perfectly well adapted to
it. From his situation and employment as a hunter,
he acquired the art of ambuscade and surprise ; and
the method with which he could best succeed in
10*
114 THE INDIANS AT WAR:
taking his game he found to be the most successful
to insnare and overcome his enemy. The situation
and state of the country, overspread with thick for-
ests, led to the same method. The situation of the
tribe, scattered and dispersed in the woods, sug-
gested the same idea. The method of fighting
could not be in the open fields, but among the trees ;
and he wisely placed the point of honor in the pub-
lic good, where the prospect and probability of his
success lay. Had the honor of the Indian warrior
been placed in courting fame and victory in the
open field, the whole tribe would have been de-
stroyed by the effusion of blood that must have
succeeded. His maxims, therefore, were better
chosen, and they were such as every circumstance in
his situation and employment naturally led him to ;
not in a useless ostentation of daring courage and
boldness, but in the public utility and advantage.
So far as an enterprise depended on secrecy, subtle-
ty, surprise, and impetuosity, the Indian method of
war seems to have been fully equal to the European.
The Spaniards, the French, the English, and the
States of America have had many and painful proofs
of their address and prowess in this method. But
when a fort was erected, or a small fortification to
be carried, the Indian method of war wholly failed.
Neither their arms, their arts, nor their customs
were of any avail here. Wholly unacquainted with
the art of fortification, they could neither erect nor
take a fort of any strength. When the Europeans
had once got possession of any part of their coun-
THEIR USAGES AND CUSTOMS. 115
try, and erected a small fortification in their terri-
tories, they held it by a sure possession. The sav-
ages were wholly unable to dispossess them by their
method of war, and nothing was left for them but
to retreat farther into the forests. In this way the
English and French were making constant advances
into their country ; and their art of war afforded
them no sufficient means either to prevent or to
redress it. But when the Europeans followed them
into the woods, where their strength and art might
be employed to advantage, the Indians generally
surprised and defeated their armies, with great
havoc and slaughter.
A WITCH STORY OF OLDEN TIME.
OKIGINAL. A. C.
It is sometimes curious to recall to mind stories
which were believed and currently reported a hun-
dred and more years ago by the sturdy founders of
our nation, who, though men fit to grapple with all
earthly dangers, to fight the bloody Indians, or the
wild beasts of the forest, were, notwithstanding,
affected with many little weaknesses. Among these
may be mentioned particularly a fear of the super-
natural, to which agency they ascribed every strange
or unusual occurrence.
The following incident was related to the writer
by a descendant of the principal actor in the affair.
About the year 1740, a certain man by the name
of Jones built a house for himself and family in a
clearing he had cultivated in the middle of the State
of New Hampshire. The family having moved into
the house, a single week sufficed to prove that the
house was haunted. Strange noises were heard
throughout the house, and whenever any one dared
to open his eyes at the " still and witching hour of
midnight," startling and inexplicable sights were
seen. The family naturally became much alarmed,
and dared not remain longer in the house. These
(116)
A WITCH STORY OF OLDEN TIME. 117
facts, being noised abroad, excited a great deal of
remark and wonderment. Some proposed to have
the spirits exorcised ; but a man named Turner
finally offered his services to quell the disturbance,
and clear the house of its ghastly visitants. He
declared that he cared for nothing earthly or un-
earthly ; so, both for the purpose of proving his
bravery and of ascertaining the cause of the dis-
turbance, it was determined that he should sleep in
the house, and see the matter through.
The family of Mr. Jones departed on a visit to
their friends, and in came Turner to sleep as agreed.
The house was of one story, consisting of a kitchen,
sitting room, and bed room on the ground floor, and
an unfurnished loft above, reached by a ladder. On
the night in question, Turner, having replenished
the fire in the enormous fireplace — one of those
comfortable fireplaces which an old-fashioned kitchen
always contained, and which occupied nearly the
whole of one side of the room — Turner, I say,
having rolled on some logs, sat a while in the chim-
ney corner, his elbows resting on his knees, as he
gazed at the burning brands. Tongues of flame
leaped from the smoking logs, and whirled away up
the chimney ; and their roaring, as they disap-
peared, seemed changed to unearthly tones — now
soft and musical, now hoarse and low, like distant
thunder. The roaring of the wind among the pines
near by mingled with that of the fire, and increased
the excitement of Turner's imagination. Strange
shapes appeared to rise from the flames, and nod
US A WITCH STORY OF OLDEN TIME.
and brandish their arms around, then sink, only to
be succeeded by others still more fearful. The fit-
ful gleams cast a ghastly light over the remoter
parts of the room. The shadows on the wall joined
hands, and moved around in solemn silence.
Turner sat in his lonely revery until the sticks he
had thrown upon the fire were nearly consumed, and
the flames were just dying away ; then, rousing up,
he bethought himself of his old reputation for cour-
age. Rather than be exposed to the sneers of his
neighbors, he was ready to meet ten thousand ghosts.
He threw on some fresh fuel, and went to bed.
The bedroom opened immediately out of the
kitchen, where he had been sitting. Leaving the
door open, he lay down to sleep, and remained undis-
turbed till about midnight, when a slight noise caused
him to open his eyes. Looking through the open
door into the kitchen, he beheld, with momentary
horror, a cat sitting on the hearth and gazing dire-
fully at him with eyes like two balls of fire, as large
as a man's fist. Turner was really a brave man.
He quickly expelled from his bosom the first trace
of terror, and prepared as quickly to expel his un-
welcome guest.
Creeping carefully from the bed to the fireplace,
— the cat turning all the while so as to face him, —
he snatched a huge fire shovel, with a handle four
feet in length, and aiming a blow at the horrid beast
before him, struck it with force sufficient to kill any
thing of earthly mould. Strange to say, however,
the shovel rebounded from the cat in a wonderful
4 WITCH STORY OP OLDEN TIME. 119
manner, almost flying from Turner's hands. It was
like beating a large mass of India rubber. Noth-
ing daunted, he laid on still harder, until by dint
of oft-repeated blows the monster was pushed near
the outer door, when one more tremendous stroke
sent the animal straight through the middle of the
oaken planks, which closed up as before. Turner
instantly sprang to the latch and opened the door ;
but, wonderful to relate, nothing was in sight. He
looked to the right and he looked to the left ; but
nothing could be seen or heard save the tall pine
trees waving and roaring in the stormy blast.
Going to the barn before breakfast, to attend to
the stock of the farm, he was surprised to find that
a promising calf was missing. The barn was con-
structed tight and secure, and all the doors were
closed. No mode of egress could be discovered.
However, as a forlorn hope, he searched the pasture
near by, where he soon heard the faint bleating of a
calf. He followed the sound, and was led to a log,
to all appearance sound and solid. This puzzled him ;
but he quickly brought an axe and wedges, and with
their aid the log was forced to reveal its secrets.
The calf was found nicely packed in a cavity the
size of its body. Out it jumped, glad to be released
from captivity. On a minute examination, Turner
discovered a knot hole in the side of the barn, lined
with hair, through which it was evident to all the
neighbors — who came in crowds to examine the
place — that the animal was drawn . We may remark
120 A WITCH STORY OF OLDEN TIME.
that the unfortunate calf never thrived, afterwards,
but died soon after, in great pain.
But we have not finished our story yet. In the
course of the forenoon, having occasion to go to
mill, about five miles distant, Turner set off with
horse and sleigh. When he had passed about half
this distance, he reached the house of a neighbor,
whom he saw standing in the door. The man begged
Turner to step in and see his grandmother, who, he
said, was taken suddenly ill in the night. On going
in, what was his amazement to find the old lady
black and blue from head to foot, as if severely
bruised in some unusual manner.
The mystery was here solved. No doubt the old
woman was the witch who abstracted the calf, and
shut it up by her wonderful art in the log. No
doubt it was she also who, in the form of a cat, dis-
turbed the house of Mr. Jones, and was driven out
by Turner with such vigor.
The old woman died the same day. After this
night we may conclude nothing ever again disturbed
the haunted house.
BAKER'S RETREAT.
FROM THE REV. GRANT POWERS'S "HISTORY OF THE COOS
COUNTRY."
Much discussion has arisen at different times in the
county of Coos, N. H., in relation to the origin of the
name of Baker's River. It was called by that name
when the first settlers came on, and it was called so
in the journal of Captain Powers, in 1754. The
following tradition, which has come down from the
earliest settlement, seems fully to explain the source
from which the name was derived.
It is said that while Massachusetts was claiming
the province of New Hampshire, prior to the old
French war, Massachusetts sent a Captain Baker,
from old Newbury, at the head of a company, to
ferret out the Indians, who had their encampment
somewhere upon the waters of the Pemigewasset.
Baker procured a friendly Indian, who led them to
Plymouth, in New Hampshire. When Baker and his
party had arrived on these meadows, the friendly
Indian signified it was now time for every man to
gird up his loins ; and they did so, moving forward
with all possible circumspection. When they had
reached the south bank of Baker's River, near its
11 .(121)
122
junction with the Pemigewasset, they discovered the
Indians on the north bank of Baker's River, sport-
ing in great numbers, secure, as they supposed, from
the muskets of all " pale faces." Baker and his men
chose their position, and opened a tremendous fire
upon the Indians, which was as sudden to them as a
clap of thunder. Many of the sons of the forest
fell in death in the midst of their sports. But the
living disappeared in an instant, and ran to call in
their hunters. Baker and his men lost no time in
crossing the river in search of booty. They found
a rich store of furs deposited in holes dug into the
bank of the river horizontally, in the manner bank
swallows make their holes. Having destroyed their
wigwams and captured their furs, Baker ordered a
retreat, fearing that they would soon return in too
great force to be resisted by his single company.
And the Indians were fully up to his apprehensions ;
for, notwithstanding Baker retreated with all expe-
dition, the Indians collected, and were up with them
when they had reached a poplar plain in Bridge-
water, a little south of Walter Webster's tavern.
A smart skirmish ensued, but the Indians were re-
pulsed with loss. Notwithstanding this, the friendly
Indian advised Baker and his men to use all dili-
gence in their retreat ; for he said their number
would increase every hour, and that they would
return to the attack.
Accordingly Baker pressed on the retreat with
all possible despatch, and did not allow his men to
take refreshment after the battle. But when they
123
came into New Chester, having crossed a stream,
his men were exhausted, through abstinence, forced
marches, and hard fighting ; and they resolved they
could go no farther without food, saying to their
commander they " might as well fall by the toma-
hawk as by famine." The captain acquiesced, and
they prepared to refresh themselves ; but here was
a call for Indian stratagem. The friendly Indian
told every man to build as many fires as he could in
a given time ; for the Indians, if they pursued them,
would judge of their numbers by the number of
their fires. He told them, also, that each man should
make him four or five crotched sticks, and use them
all in roasting a single piece of pork ; then leave
an equal number of wooden forks around each
fire, and the Indians would infer, if they came up,
that there were as many of the English as there
were forks, and this might turn them back. The
Indian's counsel was followed to the letter, and the
company moved on with fresh speed. The Indians,
however, came up while their fires were yet burn-
ing, and, counting the fires and forks, the warriors
whooped a retreat, for they were alarmed at the
number of the English. Baker and his men were
no longer annoyed by those troublesome attendants ;
and he attributed their preservation to the counsel
of the friendly Indian.
DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIAN VILLAGE
OF ST. FRANCIS.
from williams's history of Vermont.
1759.
In the year 1759 it was thought best to make the
enemy feel the force and resentment of the English
colonies. The Indians had not as yet discontinued
their attempts to disturb and distress the frontiers.
Among these tribes, none had been more bloody and
cruel than that of St. Francis. Their village was
situated on the south side of the River St. Law-
rence, not far from Trois Rivieres. So early as the
year 1703, the Governor of Canada had drawn off
a large number of Indians from Penobscot, Nor-
ridgewock, Saco, Pigwacket, and other parts of the
eastern country, and settled them at BeQancour and
St. Francis. By uniting them with the Indians of
Canada, he meant to procure a force sufficient to
protect their own frontiers, and to have always in
reserve a body of savages well acquainted with the
English frontiers, and the most favorable times and
places of carrying desolation among them. The
event justified his expectations. From none of the
(124)
DESTRUCTION OF THE VILLAGE OF ST. FRANCIS. 125
Indian tribes had the provinces of New Hampshire
and Massachusetts suffered so much as from the sav-
ages of this village and tribe. They made their
incursions through the River St. Francis to Lake
Memphremagog, and from thence down Connecticut
River to the English settlements, and had been much
distinguished by the slaughter and destruction they
had spread among the advanced settlements, by the
number of their scalps and captives, and by the
enormity of their cruelty and barbarity.
Major Rogers was appointed by General Amherst
to manage an excursion against this barbarous tribe,
and to carry the horrors of war into the midst of
Canada. Rogers was from the province of New
Hampshire. He commanded a company so early as
the year 1755, and had become so famous for the
number, boldness, and success of his enterprises,
that Lord Loudon had set him at the head of the
ranging companies, put him upon the British estab-
lishment and pay, till he rose to the rank of a major.
Amherst esteemed him a proper person to retaliate
on an Indian village some of the measures they had
so often acted against the advanced English forts
and settlements. The orders which he gave to
Rogers were expressive of the character and views
of the English general, and of the sentiments and
feelings of the English colonies with respect to the
Indian cruelties.*
* " ORDERS FROM SIR JEFFREY AMHERST TO MAJOR ROGERS.
11 You are this night to set out with the detachment, as ordered
yesterday, (viz., of two hundred men,) and proceed to Missiscoe Bay,
11*
126 DESTRUCTION OP THE
In conformity to his orders, Rogers set out with
two hundred men in bateaux, and proceeded down
Lake Champlain. On the fifth day after they left
Crown Point, they met with a misfortune which
diminished their numbers. Being encamped on the
eastern shore of the lake, a keg of gunpowder acci-
dentally took fire, which in its explosion wounded a
captain of the royal regiment and several of the
men. These were sent back to Crown Point, with
some of the party to conduct them. By this event
the party was reduced to one hundred and forty-two
men, officers included. With this reduced party the
major proceeded on the expedition, and in seven
days landed at Missiscoe Bay. Here he concealed
his boats among the bushes that hung over one of
the streams, and left in them provisions sufficient
to carry them back to Crown Point. Two of his
rangers were appointed to watch the boats, and to
from whence you will march and attack the enemy's settlements on
the south side of the River St. Lawrence, in such a manner as you
shall judge most effectual to disgrace the enemy, and for the success
and honor of his majesty's arms.
" Remember the barbarities that have been committed by the enemy's
Indian scoundrels, on every occasion where they have had an opportu-
nity of showing their infamous cruelties on the king's subjects, which
they have done without mercy ; take your revenge ; but do not forget
that though these villains have dastardly and promiscuously murdered
the women and children of all orders, it is my orders that no women
or children be killed or hurt.
" When you have executed your intended service, you will return
with your detachment to camp, or to join me wherever the army
way be. Yours, &c,
" Jeffrey Amherst.
" Camp at Crown Point, September 12, 1759."
INDIAN VILLAGE OP ST. FRANCIS, 127
keep themselves concealed till the party should
return 5 or7 if the enemy should discover the boats,
to pursue the track of the party with the greatest
speed, and give intelligence to the commander. The
second evening after Rogers left the bay, the two
trusty rangers overtook the party, and informed
Rogers that four hundred French and Indians had
discovered the boats, and sent them away with fifty
men, and that the remainder were in pursuit of the
English party. Rogers kept the intelligence to him-
self, and ordered a lieutenant with eight men and
these two rangers to proceed to Crown Point, in-
form the general of what had taken place, and
request him to send provisions to Coos, (now New-
bury,) on Connecticut River, by which he meant to
return.
Nothing now remained for Rogers but to give up
the expedition or to outmarch his pursuers. He
determined on the latter, and pushed forward for
St. Francis with all the expedition that was possi-
ble. On the 4th of October, at eight o'clock in
the evening, he came within sight of the town.
Ordering his men to halt and refresh themselves, he
dressed himself in the Indian garb, and took with
him two Indians who understood the language of
the St. Francis tribe, and went to reconnoitre the
town. He found the Indians engaged in a grand
dance, and without any apprehension of danger.
At two o'clock in the morning he returned to his
detachment, and marched them to the distance of
about five hundred yards from the town. About
128 DESTRUCTION OP THE
four o'clock, the Indians broke up their dance, and
retired to rest. Rogers waited till they were
asleep, and at break of day he posted his men in
the most favorable situation, and made a general
assault. Completely surprised, the Indians were
soon subdued. Some were killed in their houses,
and of those who attempted to fly, many were shot
or knocked on the head by those who were placed
at the avenues. The Indian method of slaughter
and destruction was put in practice on this occa-
sion ; and wherever the Indians were found, their
men, women, and children were slain without dis-
tinction and without mercy. The ferocity of the
proceedings was already extremely violent ; but the
prospects which appeared at the rising of the sun
could not but add new force and irritation to the
feelings and passions of the assailants. As the light
appeared, the scalps of several hundred of their
countrymen were seen suspended on poles, and wav-
ing in the air. These trophies of savage cruelty
and success could not fail to irritate to the highest
degree the passions of the provincial soldiers ; they
meant to avenge the blood of their friends and rela-
tions, and they spared no pains to make an end of
the village and of all that they could find of its
inhabitants. The village contained three hundred
of the enemy ; two hundred were killed on the spot,
and twenty taken prisoners.
The town appeared to have been in a very flourish-
ing state. The houses were well furnished, and the
church was handsomely adorned with plate ; the
INDIAN VILLAGE OF ST. FRANCIS. 129
whole village had been enriched by the scalps and
plunder taken from the English. Two hundred
guineas were found in money, and a silver image
weighing ten pounds, besides a large quantity of
wampum, clothing, and some provisions. Collect-
ing the provisions and such articles as they could
easily transport, they set fire to the town, and
reduced it to ashes. At seven o'clock in the morn-
ing the affair was completely over ; Rogers then
assembled his men, and found that one was killed,
and six slightly wounded. Having refreshed his
men for one hour, the major made no further delay,
but set out on his return, with the addition of five
English captives, whom he had retaken, leaving the
inhabitants slain, and the village reduced to ashes.
To avoid his pursuers, Rogers now took a differ-
ent route, and marched up St. Francis River, mean-
ing to have his men collect and rendezvous at Coos,
on Connecticut River. On their march they were
harassed by some of the enemy, and several times
attacked in the rear. In these rencontres they lost
seven of their men, till Rogers, favored by the dusk
of the evening, formed an ambuscade upon his own
track, and fell upon the enemy where they least ex
pected it ; by this stroke he put an end to any fur-
ther annoyance from the enemy. For about ten
days the detachment kept together, till they had
passed the eastern side of Lake Memphremagog.
It was then thought best to scatter into smaller par-
ties, and nrake the best of their way to some of the
English settlements. Their sufferings now began to
130 DESTRUCTION OF THE VILLAGE OF ST. FRANCIS.
be severe, not only from the excessive fatigues they
had undergone, but from hunger. Their provisions
were expended, and they were yet at a distance
from any place of relief. Some were lost in the
woods, and others perished at Coos, being unable
to hold out any further. But Rogers, with the most
of his men, persevered amidst all their sufferings,
till they arrived at Number Four, now Charlestown.
This enterprise proved extremely dangerous and
fatiguing to the men who had been engaged in it,
but it made a deep impression on the enemy. It
carried alarm and consternation into the heart of
Canada, and convinced the Indians that the retalia-
tion of vengeance was now come upon them.
PETER BROWN'S TEMPERANCE LESSON.
Among the earliest settlers of one of the western
towns of Windham county, Vermont, was a certain
man named Peter Brown, familiarly called " Old
Pete," who, entirely alone in the wilderness, com-
menced the task of clearing the woods and securing
for himself a home. In the course of a few years
he found himself surrounded by a thriving hamlet.
Our hero, being of an eccentric turn of mind, was
the butt for all the boys in the neighborhood to play
their pranks upon ; and hence our story arises.
One fruitful summer, Peter, being moved with a
desire for the good things of this life, cultivated, to
the wonder of all round about, a patch of water-
melons. These were the first raised in that part of
the state, and the temptation to the boys was strong
to assist him in disposing of them. At length, after
losing many of the best ones, he concluded to watch
the next night, and see what could be done towards
catching the depredators. By the way, old Pete,
although not a drunkard, was yet one who loved his
bottle, and prided himself upon keeping the best
vhiskey in all the country, never leaving home with-
out his pint bottle, which he called by the familiar
name of "Betty." On the occasion in question,
(131)
132 TETER BROWN'S TEMPERANCE LESSON.
having replenished " Betty," he filled his cart with
fresh straw, and started for the melon patch. This
was situated on the side of a hill, at the foot of
which was a muddy pond, some two rods in diame-
ter, and three feet deep, and mostly frequented by
tadpoles and other small fry of that sort.
As was said, Peter started for his melon patch
with every thing prepared for a vigorous campaign.
The oxen turned into the pasture, his next care was
to locate the cart where he could overlook the
whole field ; he blocked the wheels, and, putting
" Betty " in his pocket, commenced his lonely patrol.
Leaving Brown carefully attending to his melons,
let us return to the boys, who take quite a promi-
nent part in our story. Peter, like many a man of
our own times, could never keep a secret ; so all
his preparations became known to his friends the
boys, who formed their plans accordingly, and early
in the evening ensconced themselves in a clump of
bushes near by, to await the favorable moment for
their operations.
As time progressed, Peter's bottle made frequent
visits from pocket to mouth, until, whether from
fatigue or too frequent libations, he became very
sleepy, and by ten in the evening turned in and
nestled very comfortably in the straw on the cart,
intending, of course, to keep one eye open. In
spite of his strenuous exertions to the contrary,
sleep entirely overcame him ; and his loud snoring
announced to the boys in the bushes that the time
had come for their sport ; so out they sallied, and,
PETER BROWNS TEMPERANCE LESSON. 133
having selected half a dozen of the best melons,*
returned to an appointed place, where ample justice
was done to the delicious fruit. Their main object
being accomplished, next comes the fun ; and to
this they applied themselves with zest. Stealing
out cautiously, one held the tongue of the cart,
while others removed the blocking from the wheels ;
then, with a shove, off went cart, Pete, bottle, straw,
and all. The probability seemed strong for a fine
ride and a safe deliverance at the bottom ; but for-
tune willed otherwise ; for, as the hill was steep,
the speed grew greater, till the whole establish-
ment ran plump into the pond, when, striking a
log sunk in the middle, the stoppage was so sud-
den as to pitch Pete and all his gear into the
water. After splashing for a while, till some of the
effects of the liquor were gone, he caught a wheel,
and drew himself up into the cart, where he sat in
perfect bewilderment as to how and when he came
there. Having removed the mud and grass from
his face, at length he came to himself, and recol-
lected mounting the cart and settling himself in the
straw. From that time his memory was as much in
the dark as was every thing around him.
The boys all this time stood near, watching.
When the old man fell in, their first thought was to
help him out, for fear he would be drowned ; but
when he was seen seated safely in the cart, and no
danger was to be apprehended, they disappeared
behind the hill in high glee. Peter felt very mis-
erable, and hardly knew what to do. He was just
12
134 PETER BROWN'S TEMPER ANCE LESSON.
drunk enough not to have a very clear idea of his
situation, and hence feared to start for the shore.
Finally he arrived at the conclusion that the best
way was to try and raise some neighbors who lived
near. These, coming at his cry, soon built a fire,
by the light of which Peter Brown came safe to
shore. When the loss of the melons was discov-
ered, it was easy to understand the cause of the dis-
aster, his rapid ride and plunge. It is said that
Pete never recovered his " Betty," and, furthermore,
never got another ; however that may be, Brown
never forgot his night's adventure, or the very prac-
tical temperance lesson he had received.
INCIDENTS FROM THE LIFE OF COLONEL
ETHAN ALLEN.
Ethan Allen, one of the most prominent of the
heroes of Vermont, was born in Litchfield, Con-
necticut, January 10, 1737. He removed hence to
Vermont, 1770. Previous to this removal, nothing
is known of him, except that he made frequent jour-
neys to Vermont, to locate lands under the grants
of New Hampshire. His first public acts were in
defending the settlers under these grants from the
claims of the State of New York. This controversy
continued for a long time to occupy the minds of the
inhabitants ; and though during the revolutionary
war all united in the common cause, the final settle-
ment of the dispute was not until 1791. Throughout
the whole, Allen took a prominent part ; and it was
much owing to his influence that the issue was so
favorable to the New Hampshire grantees. Allen
never having had the advantages of early education,
the works which he wrote possessed not sufficient
interest or importance to secure their preservation
to the present day, though they showed many traces
of a mind naturally strong and vigorous to a high
degree. The chief points in his character were an
unconquerable industry and perseverance in what-
(135)
136 INCIDENTS FROM THE LIFE
ever be undertook. He possessed, also, the great-
est bravery, which, though ever tempered by pru-
dence when the lives of others depended upon him,
yet amounted even to rashness in the exposure of
his own person. While firm in resistance to the
encroachments of others, he was a strong, unwaver-
ing friend to law and order.
The courage and prudence of Colonel Allen were
evident at the celebrated capture of Ticonderoga,
with which every child is familiar, and in his expe-
dition under Montgomery to Canada. Though the
latter terminated disastrously, it was owing to no
fault of his.
In his narrative of this affair he tells the follow-
ing incident, which fully illustrates his personal
fearlessness. He had surrendered under pressure
of vastly superior numbers, on condition that all
his men should be treated with honor ; but General
Prescott, the British commander, ordering up a guard
in his presence to execute a number of Canadians
who were taken with him, Allen says, —
"It cut me to the heart to see the Canadians in
so hard a case, in consequence of their having been
true to me ; they were wringing their hands, saying
their prayers, as I concluded, and expected immedi-
ate death. I therefore stepped between the execu-
tioners and the Canadians, opened my clothes, and
told General Prescott to thrust his bayonet into my
breast, for I was the sole cause of the Canadians
taking up arms.
" The guard, in the mean time, rolling their eye-
OF COLONEL ETHAN ALLEN. 137
balls from the general to me, seemed impatiently-
waiting his dread command to sheathe their bayo-
nets in my heart ; I could, however, plainly discern
that he was in a suspense and quandary about the
matter. This gave me additional hopes of succeed-
ing ; for my design was not to die, but to save the
Canadians by a finesse. The general stood a min-
ute, when he made me, with an oath, the following
reply : ' I will not execute you now, but you shall
grace a halter at Tyburn.' " It is needless to add
that Allen never saw that famous hill.
At one time a large reward was offered by the
State of New York for the apprehension of Allen.*
His friends were much alarmed ; but Allen laughed
at them, and offered a bet that he would proceed to
Albany, drink a bowl of punch, and return unhurt.
Accordingly, the bet being accepted, he rode to
Albany, and, after deliberately alighting from his
horse, and entering the house with a haughty air,
called for a bowl of punch. The intelligence that
" Ethan Allen was in the city " spread rapidly, and
a large concourse of people collected around the
house, among whom was the sheriff of Albany
county. Allen was wholly unmoved. Having fin-
ished his punch, he went to the door, mounted his
horse, and giving a hearty " Huzza for the Green
Mountains ! " departed unharmed. Those who were
disposed to arrest him felt that the enterprise would
not be unaccompanied with danger.
• See De Puy's "Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Heroes
of 76."
12*
138 INCIDENTS FROM THE LIFE
Another anecdote is alike illustrative of the temer-
ity of Allen and the heroism of one of the women
of those exciting times. While travelling upon the
shores of Lake Champlain, opposite Crown Point,
with a single companion, he stopped at the house of
a Mr. Richards. It happened that, at the same
time, a party of six soldiers from the neighboring
fortress, fully armed, were at the house, with the
intention of remaining during the night. Knowing
Allen, they determined on arresting him, and ob-
taining the tempting reward offered by the govern-
ment of New York for his apprehension. Mrs.
Richards overheard their conversation, and when
lighting Allen and his companion to their room,
informed them of the design of the soldiers, and
silently raising a window, advised them to escape.
When the soldiers discovered that Allen had left
the house, they threatened Mrs. Richards with pun-
ishment for conniving at the escape of the heroic
leader of the Green Mountain Boys ; but she apol-
ogized, on the ground that if she had failed to do
so, the people would have torn down her house, and
driven herself and family from their possessions.
The patriotism of Allen was entirely regardless
of family ties. On one occasion, when his brother
Levi joined the Tories, lie entered a complaint
:i'_--ainst him to the patriot authorities, praying that
his property be confiscated for the use of the public.
When Levi heard of it, he challenged Ethan to
single combat. Ethan replied that it would be dis-
OP COLONEL ETHAN ALLEN. 139
graceful to fight a Tory. We may remark that
Levi afterwards became a staunch Whig.
We append an exact copy of the above complaint
of Colonel Allen against his brother.
" Bennington County, ss. *
Arlington, 9th of January, 1779. J
"To the Honorable the Court of Confiscation
comes Colonel Ethan Allen, in the name of the free-
men of this State, and complaint makes that Levi
Allen, late of Salisbury, in Connecticut, is of tory
principles, and holds in fee sundry tracts and par-
cels of land in this State. The said Levi has been
detected in endeavoring to supply the enemy on
Long Island, and in attempting to circulate counter-
feit continental currency, and is guilty of holding
treasonable correspondence with the enemy, under
cover of doing favors to me, when a prisoner at
New York and Long Island ; and in talking and
using influence in favor of the enemy, associating
with inimical persons to this country, and with them
monopolizing the necessaries of life ; in endeavor-
ing to lessen the credit of the continental currency ;
and in particular hath exerted himself in the most
fallacious manner, to injure the property and charac-
ter of some of the most zealous friends to the inde-
pendency of the United States, and of this State
likewise ; all which inimical conduct is against the
peace and dignity of the freemen of this State : I
therefore pray the Honorable Court to take the
140 INCIDENTS FROM THE LIFE
matter under their consideration, and make confis-
cation of the estate of said Levi, before mentioned,
according to the laws and customs of this State, in
such case made and provided.
"Ethan Allen."
Our hero was distinguished for his contempt of
pain. Once, while in a dentist's office, a lady came
in who was severely afflicted with an aching tooth,
but who had not the courage to submit to its extrac-
tion. Allen, perceiving her fears, ordered the den-
tist to take out one of his. He was assured that all
his teeth were sound ; but Allen said, " Never mind ;
do as I bid you ; " and soon the tooth was out. It
hardly need be added that the lady, ashamed of her
fears, followed his example.
The following anecdote is related of Colonel
Allen to show that while determined that the guilty
should suffer for their faults, he was yet equally
strenuous that all the forms of justice should be
complied with.
A certain David Redding was accused of supply-
ing the enemy with food, and performing many
other acts unfriendly to his country. He was first
tried by a jury of six persons, under the authority
of the Council of Safety, and, being convicted, was
sentenced to be hung on the 6th of June, 1778.
In the mean time, one John Burnam appeared from
Connecticut, with Blackstone in his saddle bags,
and declared before the council that a man could
not be legally tried by less than twelve men, thus
OF COLONEL ETHAN ALLEN. 141
proving Red ding's trial irregular. The council im-
mediately granted a reprieve and a new trial.
A multitude had assembled at the time appoint-
ed for the execution, when the news of this proce-
dure came out. Their disappointment was very
great, and an attempt was made to rescue the pris-
oner, and hang him in spite of every thing. Allen
mounted a stump, and exclaimed, " Attention, the
whole ! " He then advised them to retire to their
houses, and return at the time fixed by the council,
saying, with a tremendous oath, " You shall see
somebody hung ; if Redding is not, I'll be hung
myself." Upon this the crowd dispersed ; and Red-
ding, having been again convicted, was executed on
the appointed day.
In religious belief Allen was a deist, and was
fond of displaying his peculiar views on all occa-
sions ; his wife, however, was a devoted Christian.
Notwithstanding the infidel character of his views,
Allen was staunch in his love of truth, and a thor-
ough contemner of any thing like equivocation or
deceit.
On one occasion a person to whom he owed money
had commenced a suit against him. Allen was un-
able to pay the debt, and employed a lawyer to
have the execution of legal process against him
postponed for a short period. As an easy measure
to effect this, and throw the case over to the next
session of the court, the lawyer denied the genuine-
ness of the signature ; Allen, who was present,
stepped angrily forward, and exclaimed to his
142 INCIDENTS FROM THE LIFE OF ETHAN ALLEN.
astonished counsel, " Sir, I did not employ you to
come here and lie ; I wish you to tell the truth.
The note is a good one ; the signature is mine ; all
I want is for the court to grant me sufficient time
to make the payment." It is almost needless to
add that the plaintiff acceded to his wish.
Allen died suddenly at Burlington, Vt., February
12, 1789, at the age of fifty years, while yet in the
fulness of his vigor and strength.
SEIZURE OF CAPTAIN REMEMBER BAKER
BY THE YORKERS.
1772.
The subject of the following narrative was one
of the most prominent men on the side of the Green
Mountain Boys, in the protracted struggle which
was carried on with the authorities of New York.
Having lost his father in early youth, severe neces-
sity gave him habits of prudence, energy, and self-
reliance, which well fitted him to become a leader
among resolute men. He was a soldier and after-
wards an officer in the French war, and gained no
little distinction by his bravery and discretion. He
settled in Arlington, Vt., about the year 1764, and
built some mills. These were the first erected
north of Bennington, and attracted numerous set-
tlers to the vicinity. Baker early incurred the dis-
pleasure of the officials of New York by the vigor
with which he opposed their efforts to gain jurisdic-
tion over the New Hampshire grants, as well as by
the influence which his example had upon others.
He was denounced to the world as a felon, and, in
company with Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, he
enjoyed the distinction of having a large reward
offered for his apprehension. These circumstances
(143)
144: SEIZURE OF CAPTAIN BAKER
led one John Munro, an active partisan of New
York, to assemble ten or twelve men of like feeling
with himself, for the purpose of seizing Captain
Baker, and carrying him to Albany. The following
account of the transaction is taken, with some little
alteration for the reader's sake, from the Connecticut
Courant of June 9, 1772. It is understood to have
been written by Colonel Ethan Allen.*
" This wicked, inhuman, most barbarous, infamous,
cruel, villanous, and thievish act was perpetrated,
committed, and carried into execution by one John
Munro, a reputed justice of the peace, living near
Arlington, with a number of ruffians, his neighbors.
These, after a Lord's day consultation in plotting
this wicked and horrid design, surprised Baker in
his dwelling house, about the first appearance of
morning light on the 22d day of March. After
making an attempt to discharge their firearms
through Baker's house, and finding them miss fire,
Munro with his attendants did with axes forcibly
break and enter Baker's house, and with weapons
of death spread destruction round the room, cutting
with swords and bruising with firearms and clubs
men, women, and children ; swearing he would have
Baker, dead or alive, and that he would burn the
house — Baker, wife, children, and all the effects.
To compass and bring this villanous scheme into
execution, he did, with his own wicked and rebel-
lious hand, convey fire from the hearth to a cup-
* Sec De Puy's " Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Heroes of
76," p. 161.
BY THE YORKERS. 145
board in the room, it being the most convenient
place to answer his intentions ; when all on a sud-
den a Judas spirit — that of gain and plunder —
overbalanced his wicked noddle. This being agreed
on, he instantly thrust his sword at Mrs. Baker,
with an intention to destroy her life, (as he has
since confessed,) when her right arm for that time
happily preserved her from the intended murder.
Others of his attendants, in the mean time, were
mauling, beating, and bruising his children. Mr.
Baker, having at that time posted himself in his
chamber, for the better security of himself, his fam-
ily, and effects, finding their malice and impreca-
tions principally levelled at his person, thought
proper to leave his chamber, thinking thereby to
draw the murderers after him, and so give his fam-
ily a better opportunity to save themselves from
impending ruin and utter destruction. He accord-
ingly burst a board from the gable end of the house,
and leaped out ; when part of the ruffians were
ordered by Munro, after firing upon Baker, to set
on him a large, spiteful, wilful, and very malicious
dog, educated and brought up agreeably to their
own forms and notions. He was, like those other
servants of the devil, at that time all obedience.
He seized Baker, and being instantly joined by his
cruel partners, the prisoner was bound and pinioned
so fast that he was unable to make the least resist-
ance in defence of himself, his unhappy, wounded
wife, or his poor, helpless, distressed children.
" And not being as yet satisfied with their own
13
146 SEIZURE OF CAPTAIN BAKEK
unlawful proceedings, and their thirst for blood not
being quenched, the better to enhance and increase
their horrid crimes, and procure a fell draught of
human blood to quench their unnatural thirst, they
conveyed Baker to the carriage in which they roder
where, in his confined state, John Munro did with
his attendants tomahawk, cut, and slash him in
spots, that their eyes might see a life languish out
by degrees in streams of blood, while they didf
with an oath at almost every breath, laugh him in
the face, to express their satisfaction in his agoniz-
ing groans.
"In this awful and lamentable situation — almost
on the verge of eternity by means of his bruises,
cuts, and great effusion of blood — Baker, with a
voice according to his strength, called for his
clothes ; for thus far he was just as he rose from his
bed. But he was denied these by Justice Munror
who gave him several strokes with his naked sword
over the face and eyes, breaking the weapon into
three pieces. He followed this inhuman act with
the menace that ' he would clothe him as a
traitor; ' which aggravating threat gave a new sip
to their beloved revenge. Thus they continued
him in his naked journey for the space of four miles
and a half, with many cruel words and hard blowsr
stopping hifl breath with handkerchiefs till he was
almost suffocated, lest he should apply to some per-
son for relief.
" The justice and attendants had taken those of
the effects belonging to the house which he and
BY THE YORKERS. 147
they, in their trepidation, thought worthy their
notice ; although they would probably have been
more faithful in the prosecution of selfish and
worldly gain, had they not feared a surprise in so
unchristian an act. They pursued their journey
with severe words and cruel threats, as though
resolved to take full swing, and make an ample
feast of human cruelty. They were followed by
three loyal and faithful men, who, after asking for
the preservation of Baker's life, were fired upon by
several of Munro's party, and robbed of what they
had with them, to the value of forty dollars, as a
fresh sip and recruit to their hellish desires. These
distressing tidings, being soon spread in the neigh-
borhood, stirred up the innocent inhabitants. For
the preservation of their own persons, their families
and effects, as well as those of Baker, some of them
pursued the carriage about thirty miles, coming up
with it at the Hudson River ferry, opposite to
Albany. The savage-like John, with his attend-
ants, being conscience struck and condemned, ran
and hid themselves so privately that it is not known
by his or their acquaintances where they have been
ever since ; leaving Baker with very little remains
of life, unable to fight for himself, and relying, as he
had never done before, upon the mercies of his foes.
" Such is a very short though true account of the
barbarous conduct of the said John towards Baker
and his family. Such conduct, exercised by a pre-
tended or real civil magistrate, must be a reproach,
a shame, and disgrace to the laws, restrictions, reg-
148 SEIZURE OP CAPTATN BAKER BY THE YORKERS.
illations, peace, manners, good order, and economy,
both of the laws of God and man. The above and
much more can be attested with good authority, as
many worthy persons were eye witnesses of the
tragedy. The robbery has since been confessed by
the said justice, and he has promised to make
amends." *
* This last clause seems to have been added some time after the
article was written. The reader will observe that the publication was
more than two months after the occurrence it narrates.
FEMALE COURAGE.
from Thompson's "gazetteer of Vermont."
During the revolutionary war, the inhabitants of
the western part of the State of Vermont, which
had then been settled but a few years, were much
exposed to the depredations of the merciless Indians.
Coming down Lake Champlain in their canoes, they
generally fell upon the settlements before they had
any warning of their approach. As they seldom
molested women and children, it was customary for
the men to flee into the woods till the Indians had
performed their work of plunder. At one time a
party of them entered the house of Mr. Philip
Stone, of Bridport, Vt., giving him but just time
to escape ; and after stripping it of every thing
of value to them, the principal sanhop put on the
finest shirt it afforded, and, swaggering away to the
hogsty, selected the best hog, and officiated as chief
butcher, flourishing his fine bloody sleeves, while
his comrades, whooping and dancing, carried it
away to their canoes. At another time, a party of
Indians, coming up the bank, were discovered by
Mrs. Stone in season to throw some things out of a
back window into the weeds, put a few in her bosom,
13 * (149)
150 FEMALE COURAGE.
and sit down to her carding. The Indians, after
taking what they could find elsewhere, came about
Mrs. Stone and the children. One of them, seem-
ing to suspect that she had some valuable articles
concealed about her person, attempted to pull them
from her bosom ; whereupon she struck him on the
face with the teeth side of her card so violently
that he withdrew his hand, while a tall young sav-
age was flourishing his tomahawk over her head.
Upon this an old Indian cried out, " Good squaw !
good squaw / " and burst into a laugh of derision at
his companions, for being beaten.
THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.
from Williams's "history of Vermont."
1777.
General Burgotne was making very slow ad-
vances from Lake Champlain towards Albany.
Having received information that a large quantity
of stores was laid up at Bennington, and guarded
only by the militia, he formed the design of surpris-
ing that place; and was made to believe that as
soon as a detachment of the royal army should ap-
pear in that quarter, it would receive effectual assist-
ance from a large body of loyalists, who only waited
for the appearance of a support, and would, in that
event, come forward and aid the royal cause. Full
of these expectations, he detached Colonel Baum, a
German officer, with a select body of troops, to
surprise the place. His force consisted of about
five hundred regular troops, some Canadians, and
more than one hundred Indians, with two light
pieces of artillery. To facilitate their operations,
and to be ready to take advantage of the success
of the detachment, the royal array moved along the
east bank of Hudson's River, and encamped nearly
(151)
152 THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.
opposite to Saratoga, having at the same time
thrown a bridge of rafts over the river, by which
the army passed to that place. With a view to
support Baum, if it should be found necessary,
Lieutenant Colonel Breyman's corps, consisting of
the Brunswick grenadiers, light infantry, and chas-
seurs, were posted at Battenkill.
General Stark, having received information that
a party of Indians were at Cambridge, sent Lieu-
tenant Colonel Greg, on August 13, with a party
of two hundred men, to stop their progress. Towards
night he was informed by express that a large body
of regulars was in the rear of the Indians, and ad-
vancing towards Bennington. On this intelligence,
Stark drew together his brigade and the militia
that were at hand, and sent on to Manchester, to
Colonel Warner, to bring on his regiment ; he sent
expresses at the same time to the neighboring militia,
to join him with the utmost speed. On the morning
of the 14th he marched, with his troops, and at the
distance of seven miles he met Greg on the retreat,
and the enemy within a mile of him. Stark drew
up his troops in the order of battle ; but the enemy,
coming in sight, halted upon a very advantageous
piece of ground. Baum perceived the Americans-
were too strong to be attacked with his present
force, and sent an express to Burgoyne, with an
account of his situation, and to have Breyman
march immediately to support him. In the mean
time, small parties of the Americans kept up a skir-
mish with the enemy, killed and wounded thirty of
THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 153
them, with two of their Indian chiefs, without any
loss to themselves. The ground the Americans had
taken was unfavorable for a general action, and
Stark retreated about a mile, and encamped. A
council of war was held, and it was agreed to send
two detachments upon the enemy's rear, while the
rest of the troops should make an attack upon their
front. The next day the weather was rainy : and
though it prevented a general action, there were
frequent skirmishings in small parties, which proved
favorable and encouraging to the Americans.
On August 16, in the morning, Stark was joined
by Colonel Symonds and a body of militia from
Berkshire, and proceeded to attack the enemy,
agreeably to the plan which had been concerted.
Colonel Baum, in the mean time, had intrenched on
an advantageous piece of ground near St. Koick's
mills, on a branch of Hoosic River, and rendered
his post as strong as his circumstances and situation
would admit. Colonel Nichols was detached with
two hundred men to the rear of his left ; Colonel
Herrick, with three hundred men, to the rear of his
right ; both were to join, and then make the attack.
Colonels Hubbard and Stickney, with two hundred
more, were ordered on the right, and one hundred
were advanced towards the front, to draw the atten-
tion of the enemy that way. About three o'clock
in the afternoon, the troops had taken their posi-
tion, and were ready to commence the action. While
Nichols and Herrick were bringing their troops to-
gether, the Indians were alarmed at the prospect,
154 THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.
and pushed off between the two corps, but received
a fire as they were passing, by which three of them
were killed, and two wounded.
Nichols then began the attack, and was followed
by all the other divisions ; those in the front imme-
diately advanced, and in a few minutes the action
became general. It lasted about two hours, and
was like one continued peal of thunder. Baum
made a brave defence ; and the German dragoons,
after they had expended their ammunition, led by
their colonel, charged with their swords ; but they
were soon overpowered. Their works were carried
on all sides, their two pieces of cannon were taken,
Colonel Baum himself was mortally wounded and
taken prisoner, and all his men, except a few who
had escaped into the woods, were either killed or
taken prisoners. Having completed the business by
taking the whole party, the militia began to disperse
and look out for plunder. But in a few minutes
Stark received information that a large reinforce-
ment was on their march, and within two miles of
him. Fortunately at that moment Colonel Warner
came up with his regiment from Manchester. This
brave and experienced officer commanded a regi-
ment of continental troops, which had been raised
in Vermont. Mortified that he had not been in the
former engagement,* he instantly led on his men
against Brejman, and began the second engage-
* This seems to be a mistake as to Warner himself. He assisted
Stark in person, though his men were not there. Sec Anecdotes from
the Life of General Stark, page 163.
THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 155
ment. Stark collected the militia as soon as possi-
ble, and pushed on to his assistance. The action
became general, and the battle continued obstinate
on both sides till sunset, when the Germans were
forced to give way, and were pursued till dark.
They left their two field pieces behind, and a con-
siderable number were made prisoners. They re-
treated in the best manner they could, improving
the advantages of the evening and night, to which
alone their escape was ascribed.
In these actions the Americans took four brass
field pieces, twelve brass drums, two hundred and
fifty dragoon swords, four ammunition wagons, and
about seven hundred prisoners, with their arms and
accoutrements. Two hundred and seven men were
found dead upon the spot ; the numbers of wounded
were unknown. The loss of the Americans was
but small ; thirty were slain, and about forty were
wounded.
To this account we subjoin the following interest-
ing incident from the Rev. Grant Powers's History
of the Coos Country.
Colonel Charles Johnston, of Haverhill, N. H.,
was a man possessing most excellent qualities of
mind and heart. His bravery and goodness were
celebrated in all the country round ; and the powers
of his body were well proportioned to the greatness
of his heart. The following event illustrates both
his physical power and his courage. At the time
when the troops of Vermont and New Hampshire
156 THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.
signalized themselves at the battle of Bennington,
under General Stark, Colonel Johnston was there,
and sustained a part in the brilliant achievements
of that ever-memorable day. After Colonel Baum
had surrendered to the American troops, and the
battle was renewed by the arrival of Colonel Brey-
man, Colonel Johnston, in obedience to orders from
General Stark, was necessitated to pass through a
narrow strip of woods on foot and alone, to bear
some orders to the other division of the American
army. He had no weapon of defence but a stout
staff, which he had cut in the woods that day, as he
was passing on to Bennington from New Hampshire.
Thus equipped, he came suddenly upon a British,
scout in ambush, placed there to intercept communi-
cations between the different divisions of the Amer-
icans. The party in ambush was commanded by a
Hessian lieutenant. As Johnston came up, this
officer stepped forth, sword in hand, and claimed
him as his prisoner. The word was no more than
uttered before tho sword was struck from the hand
of the officer by Johnston's staff, and as soon did
Johnston have possession of that sword, and point-
ing it at the breast of the Hessian, declared to him
that he was that moment a dead man if he and his
party did not throw down their arms. The officer
turned to his men and said, " We are prisoners of
war." The soldiers threw down their arms, and
Johnston marched them before him to the American
lines, where they were received by our troops.
The colonel returned with the sword to his fam-
THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 157
ily, and, presenting it to his only son, Captain
Michael Johnston, said, "This sword was won by
valor ; let it never be retaken through cowardice."
The sword was a splendid article of the kind.
There was a good deal of writing upon it, formed
by etching, and the officer's name. This sword was
brought forth and exhibited for the mournful grati-
fication of spectators on the day of the colonel's
funeral solemnities. Before his death it was his ex-
pressed wish that this sword might descend from
him in the line of the oldest male heir ; and it is
now in the possession of the Rev. Charles Johns-
ton, of the town of Locke, Cayuga county, N. Y.
14
ANECDOTES FROM THE LIFE OF GEN-
ERAL STARK.
General John Stark, the hero of the battle of
Bennington, was a native of Londonderry, in New-
Hampshire, and was born August 17, 1728. His
life was throughout one of great hardship and ad-
venture. When at the age of twenty-one years, he
was captured by the Indians, while on a fishing and
hunting excursion. This happened in the following
manner : —
John Stark, his brother William, and two others
were camping out near the Connecticut River. In
the excitement of the chase, John had wandered
quite a distance from his companions, when sud-
denly he was surprised and seized by a party of ten
savages. Of course resistance was vain, and he
quietly gave himself up into their hands. On their
demanding information about his companions, he
directed them to a point opposite to their real posi-
tion, and thus succeeded in leading the savages two
miles out of the way. I lis associates, not knowing
the cause of his absence, and thinking that he had
wandered so far from them that he could not readily
find his way back, unfortunately fired a number of
guns as a signal. This of course made their posi-
(158)
ANECDOTES FROM THE LIFE OF GENERAL STARK. 159
tion known to the Indians. They immediately
retraced their course, and stealthily approached the
unsuspecting hunters. But their plans were disar-
ranged by the boldness and intrepidity of Stark.
As soon as they approached within hailing distance,
he shouted to his comrades to run for their lives ;
and they lost no time in commencing a rapid retreat.
Instantly four of his captors levelled their pieces at
the three Yankees ; but as quick as thought Stark
struck up the guns of two of them, and by this
means his brother William, who was one of the
party, was able to make his escape. For this bold
action John received a severe beating.
When the Indians arrived at the village of St.
Francis, the spirit and deportment of Stark gained
him the admiration of all the warriors. The cap-
tives were compelled to run the gantlet. The one or
two who preceded Stark received very cruel treat-
ment ; but this intrepid youth, wrenching a tomahawk
from the Indian who stood first in the line, fell with
such fury upon every one who attempted to strike
him, that he arrived at the end of his race completely
untouched.
On another occasion they set Stark at work hoe-
ing corn. Well knowing that they considered this
an occupation unfit for brave men, he endeavored
to show his ignorance of such work by leaving the
weeds and hoeing up the corn. Finding them dis-
pleased at this, he flung the hoe into the river, ex-
claiming that "hoeing corn was work for squaws,
and not for brave warriors." At this they broke
160 ANECDOTES FROM THE LIFE
out in undisguised applause. He was styled " young
chief," and was honored with an adoption into the
tribe. He remained among them but four months.
In the French war, Stark was lieutenant in Major
Rogers's company of rangers. In the month of Jan-
uary, 1757, Major Rogers with his men were ordered
to proceed from Fort William Henry, where they
were then stationed, on a scout towards Fort Ticon-
deroga, on Lake Champlain. Proceeding down
Lake George on the ice, they came on the third day
to Lake Champlain. There they captured some
provision sleds out of a train belonging to the
enemy, and took a few prisoners. Fearing that the
large garrison at Ticonderoga would be apprised
of his proximity by those who escaped, the rangers
immediately began to retrace their steps towards
Fort William Henry. As they were marching in
single file, on account of the deep snow, across the
neck of land which divides Lake George from Lake
Champlain, the advance came unexpectedly upon
two hundred of the enemy's troops, drawn up in
battle array. In an instant a tremendous volley
was poured upon them by the French. Stunned by
this sudden and unlooked-for attack, they turned
and rushed back to the rear. Stark, with his usual
promptness, instantly formed his men upon a ridge,
ten or fifteen rods distant from the enemy's posi-
tion. Early in the action Major Rogers was disa-
bled by a wound from exercising the command, and
the responsibility devolved upon Stark. He was
equal to the emergency. Where the balls flew
OF GENERAL STARK. 161
thickest, there he stood, encouraging and cheering
on his men to their duty. The battle began at three
o'clock in the afternoon, and for four hours they
stood their ground, in snow four feet in depth, upon
one of the coldest of winter's chilly days. Although
they were apprehensive that the keen evening air
would be as fearful an enemy as the troops in their
front, yet, animated by the unflinching spirit of
their leader, they stirred not from their places until
night had thrown her sable mantle over the wild
forest, and the enemy had abandoned the field. The
blood of half the French troops crimsoned the
trampled snow. The bodies of the slain lay where
they fell, and stiffened in the cold blasts of the
north wind. Forty-eight of the rangers remained
unhurt, and these, with the wounded, dragged them-
selves through the snow to the shore of Lake
George. They arrived here at dawn, in a state of
utter exhaustion. Stark, with two other brave men,
volunteered to go to Fort William Henry, at the
southern end of the lake, and procure sleds, on
which to transport the wounded. The lake is
thirty-six miles in length, and they travelled this
distance upon the ice, reaching the fort about dark.
They immediately started on their return with the
sleds, travelled all night, and brought back the
wounded to the fort at the close of the next day.
Stark himself assisted to draw the sleds. Truly
immense must Stark's power of endurance have
been, thus to enable him to pass three days and two
nights in the most violent and unremitted exertion.
14*
162 ANECDOTES FROM THE LIFE
Had it not been for bis indomitable resolution and
perseverance, it is probable that not one of his com-
pany would have returned to the fort to communi-
cate the melancholy news of his comrades' destruc-
tion. At the close of this war he retired with the
reputation of a brave and vigilant officer.
When the revolutionary war broke out, Stark was
carrying on a saw mill. Fired by the news of the
battle of Lexington, he abandoned his work, and
proceeded at once to the continental army, near
Boston. The morning after his arrival he received
a colonel's commission ; and so great was his popu-
larity, and the enthusiasm of the day, that in two
hours he succeeded in enlisting eight hundred men.
On the memorable 17th of June, Stark, with his
New Hampshire backwoodsmen, was engaged in the
terrible battle of Bunker Hill ; and the deadly fire
of these sure marksmen, and the invincible courage
of their leader, did much towards securing a favor-
able termination to that bloody conflict. He occu-
pied an important place in several other battles ;
but he reached the climax of his fame, when, in one
of the darkest and most desponding periods of the
American war, he achieved a glorious victory over
the enemy at Bennington.
As a full description of this engagement will be
found in another place, it is not our intention now
to give any lengthened sketch of it, but merely to
relate some incidents in which our hero was partic-
ularly concerned.
On the morning of the battle, Stark, who was
OF GENERAL STARK. 163
encamped about two miles distant from the enemy,
rode forward with Warner, colonel of the Vermont
regiment, to reconnoitre the position of his oppo-
nents. As they stopped to make observations, the
report of a cannon was heard, and a heavy ball
plunged past, ploughing the earth as it went. Stark
looked at it coolly, and then exclaimed, " Those
rascals know I am an officer ; don't you see they
honor me with a salute from a big gun ? "
Nothing could be more characteristic of Stark
than his speech to his men on leading them in sight
of the enemy's troops. "Boys/7 cried he, as he
pointed with his sword to the bayonets which
gleamed from the high ground opposite, "boys,
those are your enemies — the red coats and tories !
We must conquer them, or to-night Molly Stark is a
widow ! " Victory or death was the only sentiment
which possessed his intrepid heart ; and this feeling
indeed was not confined to him, but pervaded the
breasts of all those who came to fight at his side for
the liberty of their homes and their country. Such
was the spirit that carried them through one of the
hardest and most fiercely contested battles that
occurred during the war of the revolution. They
not only defeated the disciplined force that pre-
sented itself at first, but also an equally large rein-
forcement which arrived while the American troops
were scattered in pursuit of their defeated foe, thus
taking them at a disadvantage. In his official
report. Stark thus speaks of the first portion of the
engagement : " It lasted two hours, and was the
164 ANECDOTES FROM THE LIFE OF GENERAL STARK.
hottest I ever saw. It was like one continued clap
of thunder."
Stark was acting at this time under the authority
of the State of New Hampshire ; but after this
brilliant victory, Congress hastened to show its ap-
preciation of his distinguished services. They be-
stowed upon him without delay the rank of briga-
dier general in the army of the United States. Thus
ever ready was Congress to recognize and reward
service done in the cause of liberty, though not in
lines marked out by itself.
General Stark after this volunteered his services
under General Gates at Saratoga, and assisted in
the council which stipulated for the surrender of
Burgoyne ; nor did he cease his valuable services
till he could greet his native country as an inde-
pendent nation.
General Stark was of middle stature, not formed
by nature to exhibit an erect soldierly mien. His
manners were frank and unassuming ; but he mani-
fested a peculiar sort of eccentricity and negligence,
which precluded all display of personal dignity, and
seemed to place him among those of ordinary rank
in life. But as a courageous and heroic soldier, he
is entitled to high rank among those who have been
crowned with unfading laurels, and to whom a large
share of glory is justly due. His character as a
private citizen was unblemished, and he was ever
held in respect. He lived to the advanced age of
ninety-three years, eight months, and twenty-four
days, and died May 8, 1822.
AN ACT OF COURAGE.
FROM REV. G. POWERS's "HISTORY OF THE COOS COUNTRY-"
1777.
It will be recollected by those who are acquaint-
ed with the history of the war of the revolution,
that as soon as the battle was fought at Bennington,
and the Americans began to hope that Burgoyne's
army would fall into their hands, they set about
retaking the forts of Ticonderoga and Mount Inde-
pendence, on the shores of Lake Champlain, which
forts Burgoyne had left in his rear, supplied with
troops for their defence. Ticonderoga was taken,
and Mount Independence was straitly besieged for
some time. There was a good deal of hard fight-
ing, and it was confidently expected that Mount Inde-
pendence would surrender ; but it did not.
The British shipping had full possession of the
lake. Ticonderoga was upon the west side of the
lake, and Mount Independence on the east. Our
troops on the west side could hold no communica-
tion with those who had invested Mount Independ-
ence, and of course they could have no concert in
action. It was at this time, when the greatest
solicitude was felt by the two American command-
(165)
166 AN ACT OF COURAGE.
ers to know each other's minds, that the following
expedient was adopted by the commander at Ticon-
deroga. He called on his men to know if there
were any two of them who would volunteer to swim
the lake in the evening, and carry despatches to
General Lincoln, near Mount Independence. For a
time none offered to undertake the hazardous enter-
prise ; but when informed how much was probably
depending upon it, Wallace, of Thetford, Vt.,
stepped forward and said he would attempt it ; and
then followed him Ephraim Webster, of Newbury,
who originated in New Chester, N. H.
The documents were made out, and about sundown
an officer took these two men upon an eminence
which overlooked the lake, and pointed out to them
the course they must take to avoid discovery by the
British shipping, and then where they would prob-
ably find the American camp. At dusk of evening
the same officer attended them to the margin of the
lake, assisted them to prepare for the voyage, and
saw them set sail, little expecting ever to hear from
them again ; for as they had to swim up and down
the lake, in a zigzag course, to avoid the enemy,
they must swim more than two miles before they
could make terra fir ma ; and it was so late in the
season, the water was quite cold. They rolled their
despatches in their clothes, and bound them upon
the back part of their neck by cords passing round
their foreheads. As soon as they entered the water,
Wallace said to Webster, " We shall never reach
AN ACT OP COURAGE. 167
shore, it is so cold ; " but this he said without any
thought of relinquishing the enterprise.
When about midway of the lake, the cord which
fastened Wallace's clothes to his neck slipped down
from his forehead to his throat, and cut him so
hard as almost to strangle him. He made several
attempts to replace the string upon his forehead,
but failed, and was on the point of giving up all
for lost. The thought, however, of the importance
of his undertaking seemed to inspire him with new
life and vigor, and he succeeded in replacing the
string, and passed on without saying a word to dis-
hearten Webster. They passed so near the British
shipping as to hear the oft-repeated cry, "All's
well ! " They took no care to contradict that
report, but buffeted the waves with stout hearts
and sinewy limbs. They kept in company until
they came near the eastern shore of the lake, when
Webster seemed to fall into the rear, a few rods at
the north of Wallace ; and just as Wallace struck
the twigs of a tree which lay extended into the
lake, he heard Webster say, " Help, Wallace ; I am
drowning ! " Wallace sprang to the shore, caught
a stick, rushed into the water, and extended it
to Webster in the act of sinking, and drew him
ashore. Webster could not stand ; but Wallace
rubbed him briskly, and put on his clothes, and he
soon recovered so as to walk. Webster was so full
of expressions of gratitude to Wallace for the pres-
ervation of his life, that Wallace had to caution
168 AN ACT OF COURAGE.
him not to speak so loud, for the enemy would hear
them.
But new difficulties now presented themselves.
It was dark, and they were in a strange place. The
enemy was near, and had their sentinels on shore, as
well as the Americans ; and what was worst of all,
they knew not the countersign of the Americans on
that side of the lake. They started, however, in
quest of the American camp, and after travelling
about nearly one hour, they were hailed by a Brit-
ish sentinel, and did but just make their escape.
They then took a different direction, and Wallace
gave both despatches into Webster's hands, and
told him to keep in the rear, and he would go for-
ward ; and if he should happen to fall into the
hands of the enemy, Webster might have opportu-
nity to escape with the despatches. But they had
not proceeded a great way before Wallace was
hailed by a sentinel — "Who comes there?" "A
friend," says Wallace. " A friend to whom ? " says
the sentinel. " Advance, and give the countersign."
This was a fearful moment. Wallace hesitated for
an instant, and then replied, by way of question,
" Whose friend are you ? " The sentinel responded,
" A friend to America." " So am I," said Wallace,
" and have important despatches for your general."
They were immediately conducted to the general's
quarters, the despatches were delivered, and Wal-
lace and Webster were received with every mark
of surprise and gratitude, and every thing was done
to render them comfortable and happy. But Wal-
AN ACT OF COURAGE. 169
lace never enjoyed the degree of health afterwards
that he did prior to that chill and almost incredi-
ble effort. Wallace departed this life February 7,
1833, aged eighty. Mrs. Wallace died May, 1831,
aged eighty-one.
Webster's subsequent history is worthy of a pass-
ing notice. At the time he visited Newbury last,
he was residing among the Oneida Indians, New
York. They had adopted him as their brother,
promoted him to be chief in their tribe, and, to ren-
der the tie indissoluble, they had given him for a
wife one of the black-haired maidens of the forest.
Webster's health was not permanently injured by
his dangerous adventure.
15
THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN.
FROM AN ADMIRABLE POEM BY " H.," ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED
IN THE DEMOCRATIC REVIEW OF APRIL, 1839. SEE FRONTIS-
PffiCE.
Wheee a tall post beside tlie road displays
Its lettered arm, pointing the traveller's eye
Through the small opening 7mid the green birch
trees,
Towards yonder mountain summit towering nigh.
There pause ; what doth thy anxious gaze espy ?
An abrupt crag hung from the mountain's brow I
Look closer ; scan that bare sharp cliff on high ;
Aha ! the wondrous shape bursts on thee now —
A perfect human face — neck, chin, mouth, nose, and
brow !
And full and plain those features are displayed,
Thus profiled forth against the clear blue sky,
As though some sculptor's chisel here had made
This fragment of colossal imagery,
The compass of his plastic art to try.
From the curved neck up to the shaggy hair
That shoots in pine trees from the head on high,
All, all is perfect ; no illusions there,
To cheat the expecting eyp with fancied forms of air.
(170)
THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN. 171
Most wondrous vision ! the broad earth hath not
Through all her bounds an object like to thee,
That travellers e'er recorded, nor a spot
More fit to stir the poet's phantasy ;
Gray Old Man of the Mountain, awfully
There from thy wreath of clouds thou dost uprear
Those features grand — the same eternally ;
Lone dweller 'mid the hills, with gaze austere,
Thou lookest down, methinks, on all below thee here.
And curious travellers have descried the trace
Of the sage Franklin's physiognomy
In that most grave and philosophic face :
If it be true, Old Man, that here we see
Sage Franklin's countenance, thou indeed must be
A learned philosopher, most wise and staid,
From all that thou hast had a chance to see,
Since earth began ; here thou, too, oft hast played
With lightnings glancing frequent round thy rugged
head.
Thou saw'st the tawny Indian's light canoe
Glide o'er the pond that glistens at thy feet,
And the white hunter first emerge to view
From up yon ravine, where the mountains meet,
To scare the red man from his ancient seat,
Where he had roamed for ages, wild and free.
The motley stream which since from every state
And clime through this wild vale pours ceaselessly,
Travellers, gay tourists, all have been a theme to
thee.
172 THE OLD MAN OP THE MOUNTAIN.
In thee the simple-minded Indian saw
The image of his more benignant God,
And viewed with deep and reverential awe
The spot where the Great Spirit made abode ;
When storms obscured thee, and red lightnings
glowed
From the dark clouds oft gathered round thy
face,
He saw thy form in anger veiled, nor rowed
His birchen bark, nor sought the wild deer chase,
Till thy dark frown had passed, and sunshine filled
its place.
0 that some bard would rise — true heir of
glory, —
With the full power of heavenly poesy,
To gather up each old romantic story
That lingers round these scenes in memory,
And consecrate to immortality ;
Some western Scott, within whose bosom thrills
That fire which burneth to eternity —
To pour his spirit o'er these mighty hills,
And make them classic ground, thrice hallowed by
his spells.
But backward turn ; the wondrous shape hath
gone;
The round hill towers before thee, smoothly green ;
Pass but a few short paces further on,
Nought but the ragged mountain side is seen ;
Thus oft do earthly things delude, I ween,
THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN. 173
That in prospective glitter bright and fair,
While time, or space, or labor intervene ;
Approach them, every charm dissolves to air ;
Each gorgeous hue hath fled, and all is rude and bare.
15*
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE RANGERS.
ORIGINAL. F. C.
Among all the men who were engaged during
those early times when unflinching courage and firm
self-reliance were the only assurances of safety in
battling for their own existence and that of the
dear ones who clustered around their firesides, there
were none, from one end of the American shores
to the other, whose brave and daring spirit was
held in so much repute as was that of the New
Hampshire Rangers. Thoroughly inured to the
hardships of a frontier life, and initiated by experi-
ence into all the stratagems of border warfare, they
made soldiers, when it became time for them to take
the gun in hand, that friends could depend upon,
and that enemies could not but fear. This fact has
been attested by every engagement in which these
troops took any part. It is only necessary to men-
tion the well-known battles of Bunker Hill and
Bennington, and the capture of Ticonderoga, to
enable the reader to draw his own conclusions.
The incident which the writer is about to narrate
is but another testimony to the same fact — the
(174)
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE RANGERS. 175
roost of it a family tradition, which now for the
first time takes its place upon the historic page.
In the year 1755,, the second from the beginning
of the old French war, Baron Dieskau, a brave and
experienced officer, was ordered to proceed from
Canada up Lake Champlain, and to seize, if possible,
the English posts upon that lake and Lake George.
To effect that purpose he took with him a strong
detachment of French regulars, Canadians, and In-
dians, amounting in all to eighteen hundred men.
Before any part of his object had been accomplished,
however, he engaged in battle with General William
Johnson, upon the banks of Lake George, was en-
tirely defeated, and himself received a mortal
wound. Such of his men as were able to make
their escape retreated to a place about four miles
from the battle field, and there encamped.
In the mean time a party consisting of two hun-
dred New Hampshire Rangers had been despatched
from Fort Edward to assist the main body of pro-
vincials under General Johnson, This party was
commanded by Captain McGinness, of New Hamp-
shire, a capable and vigilant officer. Proceeding
cautiously through the woods, the scouts in advance
discovered the French and Canadian soldiers in
their camp, numbering several hundreds. The
Rangers were speedily informed of the proximity
of their foe, and though greatly outnumbered, their
intrepid hearts would not allow them to retreat.
They determined to attack ; and as the word was
given to advance, each man seized his firelock with
176 THE NEW HAMPSHIRE RANGERS.
firmer grasp, and moved on steadily and in order.
It was now afternoon, and the French officers were
in the centre of the oamp, engaged in consultation
as to how they might make the best of their disas-
trous condition, and get back to Canada in the
quickest possible manner. The men were standing
about, some cooking, some arranging their muskets
and accoutrements, when the sentinels, who had not
perceived the cautious approach of the Hangers till
they were close upon them, gave the alarm. They
sprang to arms with all the energy of desperation.
But the movements of the hardy sons of New Hamp-
shire were far too rapid to allow them to form in
battle array.
Hardly had the warning shout of the sentinels
rung through the camp when it was followed by a
huzza which made the welkin ring again, and in an
instant the bold Rangers poured in upon them with
so fierce an onset that neither Canadians, French-
men, nor Indians could stand against them for a
moment. All order and subordination were of
course destroyed. Every man fought for himself,
as best he could — some from behind trees, some
from rocks, some lying at length behind little pieces
of rising ground, firing in terror or in random and
desperate fury. From their superior numbers they
might even then have gained the victory ; but the
New Hampshire men understood this kind of fight-
ing even better than they, and having once put their
hand to the work they would never turn back.
Selecting their stations with a practised eye, they
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE BANGERS. 177
maintained the contest with unabated vigor, fight-
ing man to man, or sending their unerring bullets
wherever a head or part of a body offered a mark
for their deadly aim.
Two hours passed on, and the battle raged as
fiercely as ever. The forests still rang loudly with
the reports of muskets, the cheers of the provin-
cials, and the yells and shouts of the savages and
the French. The blue smoke grew thicker as it
curled slowly up among the trees, and the sun, as it
went downward in the heavens, sent a darker shade
from the thick foliage over the heads of the com-
batants. Yet the fight went on, and neither party
had secured the advantage. The intrepidity and
skill of the rangers were an equal match for the num-
bers of their foe. Neither was inclined to yield.
At last, however, the tide of victory was turned
completely in favor of the Americans by a ruse of
their able commander. The drummer and fifer of
the company had, at the beginning of the battle,
laid themselves down for safety behind a large log,
at some little distance in the rear of their com-
rades. Captain McGinness, observing this, cau-
tiously approached them, and gave directions that
at a given signal from him they should rise up and
vigorously ply their instruments. He then quietly
returned to his place, and gave the pre-concerted
sign. The musicians sprang to their feet, and their
lusty efforts soon made the woods reecho with the
martial sounds. " A reinforcement ! " shouted Cap-
tain McGinness; "men, to your work!" Right
178 THE NEW HAMPSHIRE RANGERS.
and left caught up the words, and the cry of " Re-
enforcements ! reinforcements ! " animated the hearts
and gave new vigor to the arms of the provincials,
while it sent terror to the hearts of their opponents.
Panic-stricken at the sounds, they could no longer
stand their ground. They rushed headlong from
their places, and fled through the woods in the wild-
est disorder and dismay — the polished Frenchman
and the savage striving only as to which should
get first from the presence of their dreaded foe.
The Rangers followed them with vigor, but the pur-
suit was short, for darkness soon put a stop to the
prospect of accomplishing any thing among the tan-
gled under-brush. And thus, under cover of night,
the French and Indians got away as best they could.
The Rangers found, on calling the roll, that they
had lost but twelve men, while the ground was
strewed with the dead bodies of the enemy.
The writer cannot forbear to add an interesting
incident that occurred during this battle. One
Jonathan Chase, of Hopkinton, N. H., an expert
marksman, had located himself somewhere near the
centre of the belligerents. In the course of the
action he was led to notice a large stump, nearly
opposite him, a little in advance of the main body
of the enemy. From this a shot was fired at inter-
vals, and almost always to the injury of some one
of his comrades. Looking carefully at the stump,
he discovered a knot hole in the front of it, through
which presently the muzzle of a musket was pushed,
and, after a moment's delay, discharged. As quick
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE RANGERS. 179
as thought Chase's plan was laid. Knowing that
the savage would desire to learn the effect of his
shot, he levelled his musket, waited an instant, then
sent his bullet straight through the aperture. A
faint yell reached his ear, and the body of a huge
savage rose from the stump, and fell heavily to the
ground. The work of death was as sure as it was
speedy.
When the enemy were seized with panic, Chase
followed them, and passing the body of his foe,
snatched from his pack a wooden hominy-spoon
which hung outside. He then observed that the
stump was hollowed out like a tray, thus afford-
ing its occupant protection. The only opening was
that which the Indian had used as a port hole, and
through which the bullet of the keen-eyed marksman
had entered. The Indian was shot through the
brain, the ball having entered just above the right
eye.
The wooden spoon was carried home, and remained
long in the family as a valued relic. It was a curi-
ous specimen of savage workmanship, much orna-
mented, and having the figure of an Indian carved
upon the handle. The bowl was large, and a pro-
jection on the handle served for a sort of pedestal
for the Indian figure, which was in a sitting posture,
the elbows resting on the knees, and the hands hold-
ing to the mouth a water bottle, from which he was
drinking.
This spoon was an object of great interest to the
180 THE NEW HAMPSHIRE RANGERS.
youngsters of the family ; and when the head of its
brave winner was silvered with age, it was his de-
light, as well as theirs, to have them gather around
him on a winter evening, and ask him to tell over
again the story of the wooden spoon.
THE BURNING OF ROYALTON.
The following account is taken as it stands from
a book published more than fifty years ago. It was
written by Zadoc Steele, who was taken and carried
captive by the enemy at the time of the attack, and
who afterwards escaped and returned through great
suffering and privation to his home and friends. It
may therefore be relied upon as a faithful account
of the scenes it describes. At the first reading, the
editor took his pencil in his hand to correct some
inaccuracies of style which met his eye ; but finding
that one alteration would lead to many more, and
that in endeavoring to improve the style he would
be likely to destroy the vivid and graphic character
which an eye witness had impressed upon the ac-
count, he determined to insert the whole story in
its original dress. For pathos and copiousness of
language the author could hardly be excelled. Had
he possessed a thorough education, no doubt he
would have stood equal, if not superior, in these
respects, even to the two famous historians of Napo-
leon the Great which our own times have produced.
As a union of interest always strengthens the
bonds of affection, so a participation in extreme
16 '(181)
182 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
sufferings will never fail to produce a mutual sensi-
bility. Prompted by a generous glow of filial love
and affection, we generally take delight in survey-
ing whatever gave our forefathers joy, and are ready
to drop a sympathetic tear when we review the suf-
ferings which they have undergone. But, contrary
to the laws of sympathy and justice, the attention
of the public is often engrossed with accounts of the
more dreadful conflagrations of populous cities in
foreign countries, or the defeat of armies in the
field of carnage ; while the destruction of small
frontier settlements by the Indian tribes in our own
country is at the same time little known, if not
entirely forgotten. Thus the miseries of our neigh-
bors and friends around us, whose bitter cries have
been heard in our streets, are too often suffered to
pass unnoticed down the current of time into the
tomb of oblivion.
The burning of Royalton was an event most in-
auspicious and distressing to the first settlers of
that town. Nor is it a little strange that, among
the numerous authors who have recorded the events
of the American revolution, some of them have not
given place in their works to a more full detail of
that afflictive scene.
Laboring under all the difficulties and hardships
to which our infant settlements were subject, and
striving by persevering industry to soar above every
obstacle which might present itself to obstruct their
progress, they had filled their barns with the fruits
of the land, their storehouses were crowded with
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 183
the comforts of life, and all nature seemed to wear
a propitious smile. All around them promised pros-
perity. They were far removed from the noise of
war ; and, though conscious of their danger, fondly
hoped they should escape the ravages of a savage
foe.
Royal ton was chartered in the year 1779. A con-
siderable settlement, however, had taken place pre-
vious to that time, and the town was in a thriving
condition. Large stocks of cattle, which would
confer honor upon the enterprise of farmers in old
countries, were here seen grazing in their fields.
United by common interest, living on terms of
friendship, and manifesting that each one in a good
degree " loved his neighbor as himself/7 harmony
prevailed in their borders, social happiness was
spread around their firesides, and plenty crowned
their labors. But, alas! the dreadful reverse re-
mains to be told. While joys possessed were turned
to sorrows, their hopes for joys to come were
blasted. And as the former strongly marked the
grievous contrast between a state of prosperity and
aflliction, the latter only showed the fallacy of prom-
ising ourselves the future.
On the morning of the 16th of October, 1780,
before the dawn of day, the inhabitants of this town
were surprised by the approach of about three hun-
dred Indians of various tribes. They were led by
the Caghnewaga tribe, and had left Canada intend-
ing to destroy Newbury, a town in the eastern part
of Vermont, on Connecticut River. A British lieu-
184 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
tenant by the name of Horton was their chief com-
mander ; and one Le Mott, a Frenchman, was his
second. Their pilot, or leader, was a despicable
villain, by the name of Hamilton, who had been
made prisoner by the Americans at the taking of
Burgoyne in 1777. He had been at Newbury and
Royalton the preceding summer on parole of honor,
left the latter place with several others, under pre-
tence of going to survey lands in the northern part
of this state, and went directly to the enemy. He
was doubtless the first instigator of those awful
depredations which were the bitter fruits of this ex-
pedition, and which ought to stamp his name with
infamy and disgrace.
On their way thither, it is said, they came across
several men from Xewbury, who were engaged in
hunting near the place where Montpelier village
now stands, and made them prisoners. They made
known their object to these hunters, and inquired of
them whether an armed force was stationed at New-
bury. Knowing the defenceless state of that town,
and hoping they should be able to induce the In-
dians to relinquish their object and return to Canada,
they told them that such an armed garrison was kept
at Newbury as would render it extremely dangerous
for them to approach — thus artfully dissembling by
ambiguity of expression the true condition of their
fellow-townsmen, and, like Rahab the harlot, saved
their father's house from destruction.
Unwilling, however, that their expedition should
prove wholly fruitless, they turned their course to
BURNING OP ROYALTON. 185
Royalton. No arguments which the prisoners could
adduce were sufficient to persuade them from that
determination.
Following up Onion River as far as the mouth of
Stevens's branch, which empties into the river at
Montpelier, they steered their course through Barre,
at that time called Wildersburg ; proceeded up
Gaol branch, which forms a part of Stevens's branch,
and travelled over the mountains through Orange
and Washington ; thence down the first branch of
White River, through Chelsea and Tunbridge, to
Royalton. They laid in their encampment at Tun-
bridge, not far distant from Royalton, during the
Sabbath, the day preceding their attack upon the
latter place, for the purpose of concerting measures
to carry into effect their atrocious and malignant
designs. Here were matured those diabolical seeds
of depredation and cruelty from which sprang bit-
terness, sorrow, and death.
As they entered the town before daylight ap-
peared, darkness covered their approach, and they
were not discovered till Monday morning at dawn
of day, when they entered the house of Mr. John
Hutchinson, who resided not far from the line sep-
arating Royalton from Tunbridge. He was totally
ignorant of their approach, and wholly unsuspicious
of danger till they burst the door upon him.
Here they took Mr. John Hutchinson and Abijah
Hutchinson, his brother, prisoners, and plundered
the house ; crossed the first branch, and went to the
house of Mr. Robert Havens, who lived at a small
16*
186 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
distance from Mr. Hutchinson's. Mr. Havens had
gone out into his pasture in pursuit of his sheep,
and having ascended a hill about forty rods from
his house, hearing his neighbor Hutchinson's dog
bark, halted, and stood in pensive silence. Here
he listened with deep anxiety to know the extent
of the evil he feared. But, alas! he little expected
to find a herd of savage men. It was his only fear
that some voracious animal was among his sheep,
which so disturbed the watchful dog. While he
listened in silence, with his thoughts suspended, he
heard a noise as of sheep or cattle running with full
speed through the water. Casting his eye to the
west, towards his own dwelling, he beheld a com-
pany of Indians just entering the door. Seeing his
own danger, he immediately laid down under a log,
and hid himself from their sight. But he could not
hide sorrow from his mind. Here he wept. Tears
trickling down his withered cheeks bespoke the
anguish of his soul while he thought upon the dis
tress of his family. With groanings unutterable he
lay a while, heard the piercing shrieks of his be-
loved wife, and saw his sons escaping for their
lives.
Laden with the weight of years, decrepit and in-
firm, he was sensible if he appeared in sight it would
prove his death. He therefore resolved not to move
until a favorable opportunity presented. His son,
Daniel Havens, and Thomas Pember were in the
house, and made their appearance at the door a lit-
tle before the Indians came up. Beholding the foe
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 187
but few rods distant, they ran for their lives. Daniel
Havens made his escape by throwing himself over a
hedge fence down the bank of the branch and
crawling under a log, although a large number of
the Indians passed directly over it in pursuit of
him. Who can tell the fears that agitated his
bosom while these savage pursuers stepped upon the
log under which he lay? and who can tell the joys
he felt when he saw them pass off, leaving him in
safety? — a quick transition from painful fear and
imminent danger to joyful peace and calm retire-
ment. They pursued Thomas Pember till they came
so near as to throw a spear at him, which pierced
his body and put an end to his existence. He ran
some time, however, after he was wounded, till by
loss of blood he fainted, fell, and was unable to
proceed farther. The savage monsters came up,
several times thrust a spear through his body, took
off his scalp, and left him food for worms. While
they were tearing his scalp from his head, how did
his dying groans pierce the skies and call on Him
who holds the scales of justice to mark their cruelty
and avenge his blood !
He had spent the night previous at the house of
Mr. Havens, engaged in amorous conversation with a
daughter of Mr. Havens, who was his choice compan-
ion, the intended partner of his life.
By imagination we view the fair survivor sur-
rounded by the savage tribe, whose frightful aspect
threatened ruin ; her soul overwhelmed with fear,
and stung with grief, bereft of her dearest friend.
188 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
They made the house of Mr. Havens their rallying
point, or post of observation, and stationed a part
of their company there to guard their baggage and
make preparations for retreat when they had com-
pleted their work of destruction. Like the messen-
ger of death, silent and merciless, they were scarcely
seen till felt ; or, if seen, filled the mind with terror,
nor often afforded opportunity for escape. Moving
with violent steps, they proceeded down the first
branch to its mouth ; while a number, armed with
spears, led the van, and were followed by others,
armed with muskets and scalping knives. The for-
mer they called runners, who were directed to kill
all those who should be overtaken in an attempt to
escape ; while the latter, denominated gunners, took
charge of the prisoners, and scalped those who were
killed.
They had not proceeded far before a young man, by
the name of Elias Button, being ignorant of their ap-
proach, made his appearance in the road but a few
rods from them. Espying his danger, he turned and
ran with the greatest possible speed in his power to
escape their cruel hands. The savage tribe pursued
him with their usual agility, soon overtook the trem-
bling youth, pierced his body with their spears, took
off his scalp, and left him weltering in his gore.
Young, vigorous, and healthy, and blessed with the
brightest hopes of long life and good days, he was
overtaken by the merciless stroke of death without
having a minute's warning. Innocence and bravery
were no shield, nor did activity secure him a safe
retreat.
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 189
That they might be enabled to fall upon the inhab-
itants unawares, and thereby secure a greater num-
ber of prisoners as well as procure a greater quan-
tity of plunder, they kept profound silence till they
had arrived at the mouth of the branch.
After killing Pember and Button, and taking such
plunder as most pleased their fancy, they proceeded
to the house of Joseph Kneeland, who resided about
half a mile distant from the house of Mr. Havens.
Here they found Messrs. Simeon Belknap, Giles
Gibbs, and Jonathan Brown, together with Joseph
Kneeland and his aged father, all of whom they
made prisoners. They then went to the house of
Mr. Elias Curtis, where they took Mr. Curtis, John
Kent, and Peter Mason. Mrs. Curtis had just
waked from the slumbers of the night, and was
about dressing herself as she sat upon her bed,
when the savage monsters entered the door ; and
one of them instantly flew at her, with a large knife
in his hand, and seized her by the neck, apparently
intending to cut her throat. While in the very at-
titude of inflicting the fatal wound, the murderous
wretch discovered a string of gold beads around
her neck, which attracted his attention, and pre-
vented the dreadful stroke of death. Thus his
avidity for gold allayed his thirst for human blood.
His raging passions were suddenly cooled ; curiosity
restrained his vengeance and spared the life of the
frightened object of his cruelty. He had put the
knife to her throat, and eternity seemed open to her
view ; but instead of taking her life he only took
190 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
her beads, and left her rejoicing at her deliverance.
The barbarous looks of the wicked crew bespoke
their malignant designs, and caused horror and dis-
may to fill the minds of all who beheld them. But,
alas ! who can tell what horror thrilled the bosom
of this trembling woman? What fearful pangs
were made to pierce her soul ! Behold the tawny
wretch, with countenance wild and awful grimaces,
standing by her bedside, holding her by the throat
with one hand, and the weapon of death in the other I
See standing around her a crowd of brutal savages,
the sons of violence, foul tormenters ! In vain do I
attempt to paint the scene. Nor will I pretend to
describe the feelings of a kind and tender mother,
who, reposing in the arms of sleep, with her infant
at her bosom, is roused from her slumbers by the ap-
proach of a tribe of savage Indians at her bedside.
To prevent an alarm from being sounded abroad,
they commanded the prisoners to keep silence on
pain of death. While the afflicted inhabitants be-
held their property wasted and their lives exposed to
the arrows of death, it caused their hearts to swell
with grief. But they were debarred the privilege of
making known their sufferings to their nearest friends,
or even to pour out their cries of distress, while sur-
rounded by the savage band, whose malevolent ap-
pearance could not fail to spread fear and distress in
every bosom. They plundered every house they
found till they arrived at the mouth of the branch.
Here the commander, a British officer, took his stand
with a small party of Indians, while some went up
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 191
and others down on each side of the river to complete
the work of destruction. They had already taken
several horses, which some of them rode, to facilitate
their march and enable them to overtake those who
attempted to make their escape. Frightened at the
horrible appearance of their riders, who were in no
way qualified to manage them, the horses served
rather to impede than hasten their progress.
Instigated by " the powers of darkness," fired
with rage, eager to obtain that booty which they
acquired by the pillage of houses, and fearful, at the
same time, that they should themselves fall a prey
to the American forces, they pursued their ravages
with infuriated zeal, and violence and horror at-
tended their movement.
General Elias Stevens, who resided in the first
house on the river above the mouth of the branch,
had gone down the river about two miles, and was
engaged at work with his oxen and cart. While
busily employed loading his cart, casting his eye up
the river he beheld a man approaching, bareheaded,
with his horse upon the run, who, seeing General
Stevens, cried out, " For God's sake, turn out your
oxen, for the Indians are at the mill ! " * General
Stevens hastened to unyoke his oxen, turned them
out, and immediately mounted his horse and started
to return to his family, filled with fearful apprehen-
sions for the fate of his beloved wife and tender off-
spring. He had left them in apparent safety, repos-
* The mills to which he referred, owned by a Mr. Morgan, were sit-
uated on the first branch, near its mouth.
192 BURNING OP R0YALT0N.
ing in the arms of sleep. Having proceeded on his
return about half way home, he met Captain Joseph
Parkhurst, who informed him that the Indians were
but a few rods distant, in swift pursuit down the river,
and that, unless he returned immediately, he would
inevitably fall into their hands.
Apprised of his danger, he turned and accompanied
the captain down the river. Conjugal and parental
affection alone can suggest to the imagination of the
reader what were the feelings of General Stevens
when compelled for his own safety to leave the wife of
his bosom and their little ones to the mercy of a sav-
age foe. What pains did he feel when he found him-
self deprived of all possible means to afford them re-
lief ! Nor could he expect a more favorable event
than to find them all sacrificed at the shrine of savage
barbarity. Who, not totally devoid of sympathy,
can refrain to drop a tear as he reflects upon those
painful emotions which agitated the general's breast
when he was forced to turn his back upon his beloved
family while thus exposed to danger ? Indeed, it was
his only source of consolation that he might be able
to afford assistance to his defenceless neighbors ; and
as they soon came to the house of Deacon Daniel Rix,
he there found opportunity to lend the hand of pity.
General Stevens took Mrs. Rix and two or three
children with him upon his horse ; Captain Park-
hurst took Mrs. Benton and several children upon
his horse with him ; and they all rode off as fast as
possible, accompanied by Deacon Rix and several
others on foot, till they arrived at the place where
BURNING OP ROYALTON. 193
the general first received the alarm. Filled with
anxiety for his family, and not having seen any In-
dians, General Stevens here concluded again to
return, hoping he should be able to reach home in
time to secure his household from danger before the
Indians arrived. Leaving Mrs. Rix and children in
the care of a Mr. Burroughs, he started for home,
and had proceeded about half a mile when he discov-
ered the Indians in the road ahead of him, but a few
rods distant. He quickly turned about, hastened his
retreat, soon overtook the company he had left, and
entreated them immediately to leave the road and
take to the woods, to prevent being taken. Those
who were on foot jumped over the fence, hastened to
the woods out of sight of the Indians, where they re-
mained in safety, undiscovered by the savage foe, who
kept the road in pursuit of General Stevens. He
passed down the road about half a mile, and came to
the house of Mr. Tilly Parkhurst, his father-in-law.
Seeing his sister engaged in milking by the barn, he
" told her to leave her cow immediately, or the In-
dians would have her," and left her to secure her
own retreat. They were now in plain sight, not
more than eighty or a hundred rods off. The road
was full of them, running like bloodhounds. The
general rode to the house, told them to run for their
lives, and proceeded to warn others who lived con-
tiguous. By this time the way was filled with men,
women, and children, and a large body of Indians in
open view but just behind them. The savage tribe
now began to make the surrounding wilderness
11
194 BURNING OF ROY ALTON.
reecho with their frightful yells. Frightened and
alarmed for their safety, children clung to their par-
ents ; and half-distracted mothers, filled with fearful
apprehensions of approaching destruction, were
heard to make the air resound with their cries of
distress. General Stevens endeavored to get them
into the woods, out of sight of the Indians. Fear
had usurped the power of reason, and Wisdom's
voice was drowned in the torrent of distraction.
There was no time for argument ; all was at stake ;
the enemy hard by, and fast approaching ; defence-
less mothers, with helpless infants in their arms, flee-
ing for their lives. Despair was spread before them,
while the roaring flood of destruction seemed rolling
behind them. Few could be persuaded to go into
the woods ; and most of them kept the road till
they arrived at the house of Captain E. Parkhurst,
in Sharon. Here they halted a moment to take
breath, hoping they should not be pursued any far-
ther. The Indians, being taken up in plundering
the houses, had now fallen considerably in the rear.
But the unhappy victims of distress had not long
been here when the cruel pursuers again appeared
in sight.
Screaming and crying now witnessed the horrors
of that dreadful scene. Groans and tears bespoke
the feelings of a heart agitated with fear and swol-
len with grief. There was no time to be lost.
While they waited they waited for destruction.
Children hanging to their mothers' clothes ; moth-
ers inquiring what they should do, and calling for
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 195
assistance ; floods of tears and piercing shrieks, —
all presented to view a most painful scene. Seeing
the Indians approaching with hideous yells that
thrilled the heart of every one, General Stevens put
his mother and his sister upon his own horse. Cap-
tain Joseph Parkhurst put Mrs. Rix and three of
her children upon another horse, without a bridle,
and ordered them to hasten their flight. There yet
remained the wife of Captain E. Parkhurst, who
stood in the most critical situation in which a wo-
man, can be placed, begging and crying for help,
surrounded by six small children clinging to her
clothes and pleading with her for protection. Alas !
how awful was the spectacle, how affecting the
scene, to see a woman in this deplorable condition
pleading for succor when none could help, when
safety and support had fled, and dangers were rush-
ing upon her ! A heart not devoid of sympathy
could not fail to weep. Conscious of her wretched
situation, feeling for her dear children, being told
there was no probability for her escape, gathering
her little ones around her she wept in bitterness of
soul ; tears of pity ran down her cheeks while she
waited the approach of the savage tribe to inflict
upon her whatever malice could invent or inhuman-
ity devise.
Her husband, to whom she fain would have looked
for protection, was gone from home when all her
woes fell upon her. Well might she say, " There-
fore are my loins filled with pain ; pangs have taken
hold upon me as the pangs of a woman that trav-
196 BURNING OP ROYALTON.
aileth ; my heart panted ; fearfulness affrighted me ;
the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear
unto me." While Mrs. Parkhurst saw her friends
and neighbors fleeing from her, and beheld the In-
dians approaching with impetuous step, her bosom
throbbed with anguish ; horror seized her soul ; and
death, immediate death, both to her and her chil-
dren, " stood thick around her," threatening to
thrust his dagger into her aching heart. There was
no time to decide on the priority of claims to pity
or the demands of justice. Those who were near-
est at hand first received assistance ; not, however,
without regard to that affection which arises from
consanguinity or matrimonial connection ; and these
relations not only unite the hearts but connect the
hands in scenes of distress.
At the time General Stevens put his mother and
his sister upon his horse, the Indians were not eight
rods from him ; they, in company with Mrs. Rix and
her children, rode off as fast as possible : the gen-
eral followed with several others on foot. Part of
the Indians pursued them, while others entered the
house and plundered it of its furniture. They took
her eldest son from her ; then ordered her, with the
rest of her children, to leave the house. She ac-
cordingly repaired into the fields back of the house
with five of her children, and remained in safety till
they had left the place. Soon after General Stevens
started, his dog came in his way, and caused him to
stumble and fall, which so retarded his progress
that he was obliged to flee to the woods for safety,
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 197
leaving the women and children to make the best
of their retreat. The Indians pursued down the
road after them with frightful yells, and soon over-
took those who were on foot. They took Gardner
Rix, son of Deacon Rix,* a boy about fourteen
years old, just at the heels of his mother's horse,
while she was compelled to witness the painful sight.
Alas ! what distress and horror filled her boscm,
when she, with three of her children no less dear
than herself, fleeing from the savage foe, mounted
upon a horse snorting with fear, having nothing but
a pocket handkerchief in his mouth for a bridle, saw
her wearied son, faint for want of breath, fall a cap-
tive to this barbarous crew ! Cruel fate ! The
trembling youth, overwhelmed with fear and bathed
in tears, was now torn from his tender parents, and
compelled to roam the wilderness to unknown re-
gions. Nor was the disconsolate mother, with her
other little ones, left in a much more safe condition.
Exposed and expecting every step to fall to the
ground, which, if it proved not their death, would
leave them a prey to the savage monsters, no tongue
can tell the pains she felt, nor pen describe the hor-
rors of her soul. To behold her little son, while
fleeing for his life, fall into the hands of these sons
of cruelty, what kind and tender mother would not
feel her heart to bleed ? May we not listen to the
voice of Imagination, and hear her say, —
* Captain Rix then lived where Mr. Phelps now lives. 1863.
17* .
198 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
" 0 infinite distress ! such raging grief
Should command pity, and despair relief;
Passion, methinks, should rise from all my groans,
Give sense to rocks and sympathy to stones " ?
The Indians pursued the women and children as
far as the house of Mr. Benedict, the distance of
about a mile. They effected their escape, though
surrounded with dangers and pursued with impetu-
ous and clamorous steps. Here they discovered
Mr. Benedict on the opposite side of a stream, called
Broad Brook, which ran near the house. They
beckoned to have him come over to them ; choos-
ing, however, not to hazard the consequences of
yielding obedience to their request, he turned and
ran a short distance, and hid himself under a log.
He had not long been in this situation when these
bloodthirsty wretches came and stood upon the same
log, and were heard by him to exclaim, in angry
tone, " If we could find him he should feel the tom-
ahawk."
After standing upon the log some time, and en-
deavoring to espy the concealed, trembling object
of their pursuit, they left him and returned to the
house. Ah, what joy filled his bosom when he saw
these messengers of death pass away, leaving him in
safety ! How must his heart have glowed with
gratitude towards the" great Preserver of men " at
this unexpected deliverance from the most imminent
danger !
His joys, however, were not unmingled with sor-
row, as the fell destroyers were still, at his house,
BURNING OP ROYALTON. 199
committing ravages and wasting his property. But
no man can be supposed to put his property in com-
petition with his life.
The Indians pursued down the river about forty
rods farther, where they made a young man, by the
name of Avery, prisoner, and then concluded to
return.
While they were at the house of Tilly Parkhurst,
aforementioned, (which was about six miles from
the place they entered Royalton,) his son, Phineas
Parkhurst, who had been to alarm the people on the
cast side of the river, just as he entered the stream
on his return discovered the Indians at his father's
door. Finding himself in danger, he immediately
turned to go back ; and the Indians just at this time
happened to see him, and fired upon him. This was
the first gun they fired after they entered the town.
The ball entered his back, went through his body,
came out under his ribs, and lodged in the skin :
notwithstanding the wound, he was, however, able
to ride, and continued his retreat to Lebanon, in the
State of New Hampshire, the distance of about six-
teen miles, with very little stop, supporting the ball
between his fingers. He now resides in that town,
and sustains the character of a useful physician, and
an industrious, independent farmer.
That party of Indians which went down on me
east side of the river extended their ravages as far
as the house of Captain Gilbert, in Sharon, where a
public house is now kept by Captain Dana. Here
they took a nephew of Captain Gilbert, by the name
200 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
of Nathaniel Gilbert, a boy about fifteen years of
age. They now resolved to return, and commenced
that waste of property which tracked their progress.
As they retraced their steps, they set fire to all the
buildings they found, of every description. They
spread desolation and distress wherever they went.
Houses filled with furniture and family supplies for
the winter, barns stored with the fruits of industry,
and fields stocked with herds of cattle were all laid
waste.
They shot and killed fourteen fat oxen in one yard,
which, in consequence of the inhabitants being dis-
persed, were wholly lost. Cows, sheep, and hogs,
and, indeed, every creature designed by the God of
nature to supply the wants of man, which came
within their sight, fell a prey to these dreadful spoil-
ers. Parents torn from their children, husbands
separated from their wives, and children snatched
from their parents presented to view an indescrib-
able scene of wretchedness and distress. Some
were driven from their once peaceful habitations
into the adjacent wilderness for safety, there to
wait the destruction of their property ; stung with
the painful reflection that their friends, perhaps a
kind father and affectionate brother, were made
captives, and compelled to travel with a tawny herd
of savage men into the wild regions of the north,
to be delivered into the hands of enemies and un-
dergo the fatigues and dangers of a wretched captiv-
ity ; or, what was scarcely more to be deplored,
learn with pain that they had fallen the unhappy
BURNING OF ROY ALTON. 201
victims to the relentless fury of the savage tribe,
and were weltering in their gore where there was
no eye to pity or friendly hand to administer relief.
The third party of Indians who went up the
river first came to the house of General Stevens.
Daniel Havens, whose escape I have mentioned,
went directly there, and warned the family of their
danger. Trembling with fear, he only stepped into
the house, told them that " the Indians were as
thick as the d — 1 at their house," and turned and
went directly out, leaving the family to secure their
own retreat.
Mrs. Stevens and the family were in bed, except-
ing her husband, who, as before stated, had gone
down the river, about two miles from home. She
immediately arose from her bed, flung some loose
clothes over her, took up her child, and had scarce-
ly got to the fire when a large body of Indians
rushed in at the door. They immediately ransacked
the house in search of men, and then took the beds
and bedding, carried them out of doors, cut open
the bedticks, and threw the feathers into the air.
This made them sport enough. Nor did they fail
to manifest their infernal gratification by their tar-
tarean shouts and disingenuous conduct.
Mrs. Stevens entreated them to let her have some
clothes for herself and child ; but her entreaties
were in vain. They were deaf to the calls of the
needy, and disregarded the demands of justice.
Her cries reached their ears, but nothing could
excite one single glow of sympathy. Her destitute
202 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
and suffering condition was plain before their eyes ;
but they were blind to objects of compassion. Alas !
what bitterness of soul, what anguish, what heart-
rending pangs of fear distressed her tender bosom !
Surrounded by these pitiless, terrific monsters in
human shape, with her little offspring in her arms,
whose piercing shrieks and tender age called for
compassion ; exposed to the raging fire of savage
jealousy, unquenchable by a mother's tears ; anxious
for the safety and mourning the absence of her
bosom friend, the husband of her youth, — it is be-
yond the powers of imagination to conceive or lan-
guage to express the sorrows of her heart.
At one moment securely reposing in the arms of
sleep, with her darling infant at her breast ; the
next amid a savage crew, whose wicked hands were
employed in spreading desolation and mischief,
whose mortal rage exposed her to the arrows of
death. After plundering the house they told Mrs.
Stevens to " be gone or they would burn." She had
been afraid to make any attempt to escape, but now
gladly embraced the opportunity. She hastened
into the adjacent wilderness, carrying her child,
where she tarried till the Indians had left the
town.
A boy by the name of Daniel Waller, about four-
teen years old, who lived with General Stevens,
hearing the alarm given by Mr. Havens, set out im-
mediately to go to the general and give him the in-
formation. He had proceeded about half a mile
when he met the Indians, was taken prisoner, and
carried to Canada.
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 203
They left the house and barn of General Stevens
in flames, and proceeded up the river as far as Mr.
Durkee's, where they took two of his boys prison-
ers, Adan and Andrew, and carried the former to
Canada, who died there in prison.
Seeing a smoke arise above the trees in the woods
adjacent, the hostile invaders directed their course
to the spot, where they found a young man, by the
name of Prince Haskell, busily engaged in chop-
ping, for the commencement of a settlement. Has-
kell heard a rustling among the leaves behind him,
and, turning round, beheld two Indians but a few
feet from him. One stood with his gun pointed di-
rectly at him, and the other in the attitude of throw-
ing a tomahawk. Finding he had no chance to
escape, he delivered himself up as a prisoner, and
was also carried to Canada. He returned in about
one year, after enduring the most extreme sufferings
in his wanderings through the wilderness on his way
home.
A Mr. Chafee* who lived at the house of Mr.
Hendee, started early in the morning to go to the
house of Mr. Elias Curtis to get his horse shod.
On his way he saw Mr. John Kent ahead of him,
who was upon the same business. Wishing to put in
his claim before Mr. Chafee. he rode very fast, and
arrived at the house first. He had scarcely dis-
mounted from his horse when the Indians came out
of the house, took him by the hair of his head, and
* Mr. Chafee lived near where Mr. Dewey now lives, 1851.
204 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
pulled him over backwards. Seeing this, Mr.
Chafee immediately dismounted, jumped behind the
shop, hastened away, keeping such a direction as
would cause the shop to hide his retreat. Thus he
kept out of sight of the Indians, effected his escape,
and returned to the house of Mr. Hendee.* On re-
ceiving the alarm given by Mr. Chafee, Mr. Hendee
directed his wife to take her little boy, about seven
years old, and her little daughter, who was still
younger, and hasten to one of their neighbors for
safety, while he should go to Bethel, the town west
of Royalton, and give the alarm at the fort.
Mrs. Hendee had not proceeded far when she was
met by several Indians upon the run, who took her
little boy from her. Feeling anxious for the fate
of her child, she inquired what they were going to
do with him. They replied that they should make
a soldier of him ; and then hastened away, pulling
him along by the hand, leaving the weeping mother
with her little daughter to witness the scene and
hear the piercing shrieks of her darling son.
This leads me to notice one instance of female
heroism, blended with benevolence, displayed by
Mrs. Hendee, whose name deserves ever to be held
in remembrance by every friend of humanity.
She was now separated from her husband, and
placed in the midst of a savage crew, who were com-
mitting the most horrid depredations and destroy-
ing every kind of property that fell within their
* Mr. Hendee lived near where Milo Dewey now lives, 1853.
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 205
grasp. Defenceless, and exposed to the shafts of
envy or the rage of a company of despicable tories
and brutal savages, the afflicted mother, robbed of
her only son, proceeded down the river with her
tender little daughter hanging to her clothes,
screaming with fear, pleading with her mother to
keep away the Indians.
In this condition, possessing uncommon resolution
and great presence of mind, she determined again to
get possession of her son'. As she passed down the
river she met several tories who were with the In-
dians, of whom she continued to inquire what they
intended to do with the children they had taken,
and received an answer that they should kill them.
Still determined not to part with her son, she passed
on and soon discovered a large body of Indians
stationed on the opposite side of the river. Wish-
ing to find the commanding officer, and supposing
him to be there, she set out to cross the river, and
just as she arrived at the bank, an old Indian
stepped ashore. He could not talk English, but
requested by signs to know where she was going.
She signified that she was going to cross ; when he,
supposing she intended to deliver herself up to them
as a prisoner, kindly offered to carry her and her
child across on his back. But she refused to be car-
ried. He then insisted upon carrying her child ; to
which she consented. The little girl cried, and said
u she didn't want to ride the old Indian." She was,
however, persuaded to ride him ; and they all set
out to ford the river.
18
206 BURNING OP ROYALTON.
Having proceeded about half way across, they
came to deeper and swifter water ; and the old In-
dian, patting the mother upon the shoulder, gave
her to understand that if she would tarry upon a
rock near them, which was not covered with water,
till he had carried her child over, he would return
and carry her also. She therefore stopped and sat
upon the rock till he had carried her daughter and
set it upon the opposite shore, when he returned
and took her upon his back, lugged her over, and
safely landed her with her child.
Supported by a consciousness of the justice of her
cause, braving every danger, and hazarding the
most dreadful consequences, not excepting her own
life and that of her children, she now sat out to ac-
complish her object.
She hastened to the commanding officer, and bold-
ly inquired of him what he intended to do with her
child. He told her that it was contrary to orders
to injure women or children. " Such boys as should
be taken." he said, " would be trained for soldiers,
and would not be hurt."
" You know," said she, in reply, " that these little
ones cannot endure the fatigues of a march through
the vast extent of wilderness which you are calcu-
lating to pass. And when their trembling limbs
shall fail to support their feeble bodies, and they
can no longer go, the tomahawk and the scalping
knife will be the only relief you will afford them.
Instead of falling into a mother's arms and receiv-
ing a mother's tender care, you will yield them into
BURNING OP ROYALTON. 207
the arms of death, and earth must be their pillow
where the howling wilderness shall be their only
shelter. Truly a shelter from a mother's tears, but
not from the jaws of wild beasts or a parents grief.
And give me leave to tell you," added she, " were
you possessed of a parent's love, could you feel the
anguish of a mother's heart at the loss of her first
born, her darling son, torn from her bosom by the
wicked hands of savage men, no entreaties would be
required to obtain the release of my dear child."
Horton replied, " that the Indians were an un-
governable race, and would not be persuaded to
give up any thing they should see fit to take."
" You are their commander," continued she, " and
they must and will obey you. The curse will fall
upon you for whatever crime they may commit ; and
all the innocent blood they shall here shed will be
found in your skirts ' when the secrets of men's
hearts shall be made known ; ' and it will then cry
for vengeance on your head ! "
Melted into tears at this generous display of ma-
ternal affection, the infamous destroyer felt a relent-
ing in his bosom, bowed his head under the weight
of this powerful eloquence and simple boldness of
the brave heroine, and assured her that he would
deliver her child up when the Indians arrived with
him. The party who took him had not yet returned.
When he arrived, Horton, with much difficulty, pre-
vailed on the Indians to deliver him up. After she
had gained possession of him, she set out, leading
him and her little girl by the hand, and hastened
208 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
away with speed, while the mingled sensations of
fear, joy, and gratitude filled her bosom. She had
not gone more than ten rods when Horton followed,
and told her to go back and stay till the scouting
parties had returned, lest they should again take her
boy from her. She accordingly returned, and tarried
with the Indians till they all arrived and started for
Canada. While she was there, several of her neigh-
bors' children, about the same age of her own, were
brought there as captives. Possessing benevolence
equal to her courage, she now made suit for them ;
and, by her warm and affectionate entreaties, suc-
ceeded in procuring their release. While she
waited for their departure, sitting upon a pile of
boards, with the little objects of charity around her
holding fast to her clothes, with their cheeks wet
with tears, an old Indian came and took her son by
the hand, and endeavored to get him away. She re-
fused to let him go, and held him fast by the other
hand till the savage monster violently waved his cut-
lass over her head, and the piercing shrieks of her
beloved child filled the air. This excited the rago
of the barbarous crew so much as to endanger her
own and the lives of the children around her, and
compelled her to yield him into his hands. She
again made known her grievances to Horton, when,
after considerable altercation with the Indians, he
obtained her son, and delivered him to her a second
time, though he might be said to "fear not God nor
regard man." Thus, like the importunate widow
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 209
who " troubled the unjust judge," this young woman*
obtained the release of nine small boys from a
wretched captivity, which doubtless would have
proved their death. She led eight of them away,
together with her daughter, all hanging to her own
clothes and to each other, mutually rejoicing at their
deliverance. The other, whose name was Andrew
Durkee, whom the Indians had carried to the house
of Mr. Havens, was there released according to the
agreement of Horton with Mrs. Hendee, and sent
back on account of his lameness.
Being told that the great bone in his leg had
been taken out in consequence of a fever sore, an
old Indian examined it, and cried out, " No boon !
no go ! " and, giving him a blanket and a hatchet,
sent him back.
Mrs. Hendee carried two of the children across
the river on her back, one at a time, and the others
waded through the water with their arms around
each other's neck. After crossing the river she
travelled about three miles with them, and encamped
for the night, " gathering them around her as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings." The
names of the children who were indebted to her for
their release from the savage tribe were Michael
Hendee, Roswell Parkhurst, son of Captain Eben-
ezer Parkhurst, Andrew and Sheldon Durkee, Jo-
seph Rix, Rufus and Fish, Nathaniel Evans,
and Daniel Downer. The latter received such an
Mrs. Hendee was at this time aged twenty-seyen years.
18*
210 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
affright from the horrid crew that he was ever af-
terwards unable to take care of himself, wholly unfit
for business, and lived for many years wandering
from place to place, a solemn though silent witness
of the distress and horror of that dreadful scene.
Mrs. Hendee now (1818) lives in Sharon, where
the author visited her, and received the foregoing
statement of this noble exploit from her own mouth.
It is also corroborated by several gentlemen now
living, who were eye witnesses.
She has "buried her first and second husbands, and
now lives a widow, by the name of Moshier. Her
days are almost gone. May her declining years be
crowned with the reward due to her youthful deeds
of benevolence. She has faced the most awful dan-
gers for the good of mankind, and rescued many
from the jaws of death.
In view of the exceeding riches of that mercy
which has protected her through such scenes of
danger, may she devote her life to the service of the
mighty God, and, at last, find a happy seat at the
right hand of Him •' who gave himself a ransom for
all." And thus let the children who are indebted
to her bravery and benevolence for their lives " rise
up and call her blessed." Gratitude forbids their
silence ; for to maternal affection and female hero-
ism alone, under God, they owe their deliverance
from savage cruelty. The boldest hero of the other
sex could never have effected what she accomplished.
His approach to the savage tribe to intercede in be-
half of those defenceless children most surely would
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 211
have brought upon himself a long and wretched
captivity, and perhaps even death itself.
The Indians, having accomplished their nefarious
designs, returned to the house of Mr. Havens with
their prisoners and the plunder of houses which
they had devoted to destruction. Here was the
place where they had commenced their ravages.
The old man, as before observed, having concealed
himself under a log, at the time he espied the Indians
in the morning, while hunting for his sheep, still
remained in sorrowful silence undiscovered. He
had considered it unsafe to move, as a party of the
crew had continued there during the day, and had
twice come and stood upon the log under which he
lay, without finding him.
After collecting their plunder together, and dis-
tributing it among them, they burned the house and
barn of Mr. Havens, and started for Canada. It
was now about two o'clock in the afternoon. They
carried off twenty-six prisoners from Royalton, who
were all delivered up to the British as prisoners of
war.
They all obtained their release, and returned in
about one year, except Adan Durkee, who died in
camp at Montreal.
Twenty-one dwelling houses and sixteen good new
barns, well filled with hay and grain, the hard earn-
ings of industrious young farmers, were here laid in
ashes by the impious crew. They killed about one
hundred and fifty head of neat cattle, and all the
sheep and swine they found. Hogs in their pens and
212 BURNING OP ROYALTON.
cattle tied in their stalls were burned alive. They
destroyed all the household furniture except what
they carried with them. They burned the house of
Mr. John Hutchinson ; and giving his wife a hatchet
and a flint, together with a quarter of mutton, told
her to "go and cook for her men." This they said
to aggravate her feelings, and remind her of her
forlorn condition.
Women and children were left entirely destitute
of food and every kind of article necessary for the
comforts of life, almost naked, and without a shel-
ter. Wandering from place to place, they beheld
their cattle rolling in their blood, groaning in the
agonies of death, and saw their houses laid in ruins.
Disconsolate mothers and weeping orphans were
left to wander through the dreadful waste, and
lament the loss of their nearest friends, comfortless
and forlorn.
The Indians took away about thirty horses, which
were, however, of little use to them, but rather
served to hinder their progress. Their baggage
was composed of almost every article commonly
found among farmers ; such as axes and hoes, pots,
kettles, shovels and tongs, sickles, scythes and chains,
old side saddles, and bedticks emptied of their
feathers, warming pans, plates, and looking glasses,
and indeed nearly all kinds of articles necessary for
•the various avocations of life.
On their return they crossed the hills in Tun-
bridge, lying west of first branch, and proceeded to
Randolph, where they encamped for the first night,
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 213
near the second branch, a distance of about ten
miles. They had, however, previously despatched
old Mr. Kneeland, a prisoner whom they considered
would be of the least service to them, with letters
to the militia, stating that " if they were not fol-
lowed the prisoners should be used well ; but should
they be pursued, every one of them would be put to
death."
The alarm had by this time spread through the
adjacent towns ; and the scattering, undisciplined
militia shouldered their muskets, and hastened to
pursue them. They collected at the house of Mr.
Evans, in Randolph, about two miles south of the
encampment of the Indians. Here they formed a
company, consisting of about three hundred in num-
ber, and made choice of Colonel John House, of
Hanover, New Hampshire, for their commander.
They supposed the Indians had gone to Brookfield,
about ten miles from that place, up the second
branch. With this expectation they took up their
march about twelve o'clock at night, hoping they
should be able to reach Brookfield before light, and
make them prisoners. They had scarcely started
when the American front guard, to their utter sur-
prise, were fired upon by the rear guard of the
enemy. Several fires were exchanged, and one of
the Americans wounded ; when Colonel House,
through cowardice or want of skill, commanded
them to halt and cease firing. He then ordered
them to make a stand, and kept them in suspense
till the Indians had made their escape. To hasten
214 BURNING OF ROYALTON.
their flight, the savage tribe were compelled to
leave at their encampment a considerable quantity
of their plunder, nearly all the horses, and made
good their retreat.
Here they killed two of the prisoners, by the
names of Joseph Kneeland and Giles Gibbs. The
former was found dead, with his scalp taken off, and
the latter with a tomahawk in his head.
At daylight Colonel House courageously entered
the deserted camp, and took possession of the spoil ;
but, alas ! the enemy were gone, he knew not where.
Urged by his brave soldiers, who were disgusted at
his conduct, he proceeded up the second branch as
far as Brookfield, in pursuit of the enemy, and, not
finding them, disbanded his men and returned.
Had Colonel H. possessed courage and skill ade-
quate to the duties of his station, he might have de-
feated the enemy, it is thought, without the least
difficulty, and made them all prisoners. His num-
ber was equal to that of the enemy, well armed with
muskets, and furnished with ammunition. The ene-
my, though furnished with muskets, had little ammu-
nition, and were cumbered with the weight of much
guilt and a load of plunder. They had encamped
upon a spot of ground which gave the Americans
all the advantage, and their only safety rested in
their flight. The American force consisted of un-
disciplined militia, who promiscuously assembled
from different quarters, but were full of courage,
animated by the principles of justice, and determined
to obtain redress for the injuries they had received
from the barbarous crew.
BURNING OF ROYALTON. 215
Many of them, likewise, had friends and connec-
tions then in possession of the Indians, to obtain
whose freedom they were stimulated to action. But,
alas ! their determination failed, their hopes were
blasted. They were forced to relinquish the object,
and suffer their friends to pass on and endure a
wretched captivity. They, however, forced the In-
dians to leave the stream and take their course over
the hills, between the second and third branch, which
brought them directly and unexpectedly to the house
of Zadoc Steele, whom they made prisoner, and
took to Canada.
**
DEC 7 - 7950