Monuments and Markers "Bloody Brook"

 South Deerfield, Massachusetts

"Erected in 1838 to commemorate the September 18, 1675 "Bloody Brook" attack, this marble obelisk remembers the soldiers and Deerfield, Massachusetts, townsmen who were killed near what is now South Deerfield during King Philip's War (1675-1676). The town had been burned on September 12 by Metacom's (King Philip's) forces. On September 18, the men had returned to remove their grain to safety. The ambush occurred as they crossed over Muddy (Bloody) Brook with their wagons en route to the mill in Hadley." (Memorial Hall Mass edu)

"On 18 Sep 1675, Captain Thomas Lathrop's company of soldiers were bringing loaded carts toward Northampton when they were ambushed at a spot known as Bloody Brook, about 5 or 6 miles due south of Deerfield. The men were take totally by surprise and 64 men were killed." [About half the village's adult males.] (Hawkes Family Genealogy Page.)

 resulted in the death of about half the village's adult males. 

Our Grandfathers Killed at Bloody Brook:

9th gr grandfather Samuel WRIGHT Jr. born 3 Oct 1632 at Northhampton, MA, married Elizabeth BURT 24 Nov 1653 at Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, died 13 Sep 1675 at Bloody Brook, Northfield , MA.

10th gr grandfather Joseph GILLETT Sr. baptized 25 July 1641 in Windsor. CT, married ELIZABETH HAWKES 24 Nov. 1663 in Hadley, Massachusetts, Killed in an Indian massacre 18 Sept. 1675 at Bloody Brook, Deerfield, MA.

Ancestry Chain: 
9th great grandfather (JR; Lark; Camilla SMITH; George Ensign SMITH; Harriett Camilla ENSIGN; Martin Luther ENSIGN; Horace Datus ENSIGN; Lydia NOBLE; Samuel NOBLE; Ruth WRIGHT; Joseph WRIGHT; Samuel WRIGHT Jr.)

10th great grandfather (JR; Lark; Camilla SMITH; George Ensign SMITH; Harriett Camilla ENSIGN; Martin Luther ENSIGN; Mary BRONSON; Ester REMINGTON; Esther SAWYER; Esther MARSH; Elizabeth GILLETT; Joseph Gillett; Joseph Sr. Gillett)

NOTE: I will explore ancestors who were attacked  during the 1704 Raid on Deerfield (also known as the Deerfield Massacre. 

Will make a new post. I find our 9th great grandmother Sarah Dickinson [Lane Kellogg] and her family members were killed and captured 

John GUSTIN “Augustine Le Rossignol Jean” of the Isle of Jersey, Massachusetts Colony, and Maine

Augustine Jean Ancestry p.1

Parts from The Gustin Family SLFHL, GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMORIES, MIDDLESEX CO. MASS. by Cotter, From NEW ENGLAND MARRIAGES PRIOR T0 1700, The Ancestry of John Gustin by Susan McComb, Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families 1620-1700 Huguenot ancestry, GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND, ANCESTRY OF JOHN S. GUSTIN, Wiltis's History of Portland, ME., Smith and Deans' Journal, and other GUSTIN histories authors not listed:

Augustine Jean was born in the village of La Tacq, Parish of St. Ouens, Isle of Jersey, , Channel Islands, England, 9 Jan 1647. He was a French Norman. The tradition of the sea was in his blood and there must have been the lure of the distant horizons an heritage of his Viking ancestors -- as even before he was 28 years old tradition has it that he made more than one voyage to America on his own ship. In Nov. 1674 his father Edmond /Edmund JEAN de la Tacq of St. Owens (1597-1674) died severing the last of his ties to home, his mother Esther La Rossignol (1612-1672) had died two years before. The following spring 1675 he sailed to America as Captain in the merchant service with Pierre Baudoin. He settled first in Reading, Massachusetts were he was known as “Mariner of the Isle of Jersey.”

His full baptismal name was “Augustine Le Rossignol Jean” by this name he sold his estate in the Isle of Jersey in 1677. He was named ofter his mother’s brother. The name Augustine Jean little by little was anglicized to John Gustin. He can be found as Augustin Jean, Augustine John, John AUGuststin, Gustine, Gustan, Guston, Gustin, Etc.

King Philip’s War was at its height John GUSTIN was in Marlboro Massachusetts and served as sergeant in the company of Capt. Beers who was killed in a battle known as Beers' Ambush. He served under Captain Turner. Captain. Turner was killed by the Indians at the battle of Falls Fight.

After the war he received a grant of land from Gov. Danforth at Falmouth in 1680 and the privilege of operating a brick yard. He bought more Falmouth land with money left his by his father and mother. He was granted a fourth lot with liberty in the cove for a brick yard. In his Will he describes these lands as ‘lying in Casco Bay, at Martin’s Point and Pasumscot River,’ now the city of Portland, Maine.

He had married, 10 Jan 1678, Eliza / Elizabeth BROWN born March 26, 1657 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA and died Aft. 1720 in Falmouth, Cumberland, ME. Elizabeth was the daughter of Capt. John BROWN of Watertown and Ester (Hester) MAKEPEACE and granddaughter of Thomas MAKEPEACE of Boston. In the following year John and Elizabeth moved to his new property where their first son, Samuel and a daughter Sarah were born.

On 26 May 1690, the French, assisted by a party of Abenakis Indians, captured, sacked and burned Falmouth, John Gustin and and the Browne families being among the very few who escaped from that slaughter. After the attack only a chair was left on the Gustin property. The Gustin's fled to Lynn, where they remained until 1719. Children born in Lynn, Massachusetts were John, Abigail, Ebenezer, Thomas, and David. The title to the Falmouth property was listed in the will of [Augustine Jean].[During King William's War [the first of the French and Indian Wars], on September 21, 1689, Major Benjamin Church and 250 troops defended the town of Falmouth, Maine from native attack. 21 of his men were killed or wounded. Church then return to Boston leaving the small group of English settlers unprotected. (The following spring, May 1690, Castin returned with over 400 French and native troops and massacred the English settlers in the Battle of Fort Loyal. When Church returned to the village he buried the dead.) (Wikipedia, Falmouth, Maine.)]

He moved from Lynn, Massachusetts back to Falmouth 1n 1719. When he died aft 3 July 1719 in Falmouth, Cumberland, Main. He left a widow and seven children.

Children of John GUSTIN and Elizabeth BROWNE:
Sarah (1679-1721)
Samuel (1681-1719)
Elizabeth E. (1685-1805)
William (1687-1721)
Mary (1689-1752)
John (1691-1777)
Abigail (1693-1787)
Ebenezer Eleasar (1696-1794)
Thomas (1698-1765)
David Augustine (1702-1765)

North Western New Jersey History p.11

Ancestry Chain: 9th great grandfather (John GUSTIN) Augustine La Rossingnol JEAN b.1647, (Reverend) Samuel GUSTIN Sr. b.1681, Samuel Jr. GUSTIN (Rev. War) b.1718, Ann GUSTIN-3680 b.1760, Simeon A. DUNN b.1774, Simeon Adams DUNN b.1803, Mary DUNN b.1833, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark , JR.

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From The Gustin Compendium by Gustine Weaver, New England Families by William Richard Cutter and other histories:

The Father of Elizabeth BROWNE GUSTIN was John BROWN (III) born in England 1631 as an infant [1632] was brought Boston in. John BROWNE (III) was called a Scotchman. Son of John BROWN (II) born 1601 and wife Dorothy KENT, who came to American in 1632, in the ship "Lion" and settled at Watertown. John (III) lived in Watertown and Cambridge. John (III) [1662] moved to Marlboro, Massachusetts. He sold his farm there about the time that Elizabeth Brown married John Gustin and went with them [1678] to Falmouth Maine [then part of Massachusetts Colony]. From there, due to the destruction of the town by the Indians he went to Watertown, Massachusetts. Where he died in 1698. John (III) married Esther MAKEPEACE of Boston 24 April, 1655. She was born in England, daughter of Thomas MAKEPEACE and Alice BRASIER. John (III) and Esther BROWNE had eleven children. John’s will being dated 20 Nov. 1697 mentions his wife Esther, his children John, Thomas, Daniel, Joseph, Deborah, wife of Jeremiah Meachem, and sons-in-law John Gustin, John Adams, Thomas Darby and John Hartshorne.
Ancestry Chain: 10th great grandfather Capt. John (III) BROWN 1632-Immigant b.1631, Elizabeth BROWN-11436 b.1657, (Reverend) Samuel GUSTIN Sr. b.1681, Samuel Jr. GUSTIN (Rev. War) b.1718, Ann GUSTIN-3680 b.1760, Simeon A. DUNN b.1774, Simeon Adams DUNN b.1803, Mary DUNN b.1833, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark , JR.

Park to Honored Grandfather Capt. Michael Pierce 316 years after his death

Pierce Park and Riverwalk
Central Falls, Rhode Island

Pierce Park and Riverwalk is located on High Street in Central Falls along the Blackstone River. Constructed in 1991 it contains a ball field, trail systems with river overlooks, benches and playground facilities. It is also the site of the Pierce Fight. The Pierce Fight site has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. Located between High Street and the Blackstone River, this is the Rehoboth and Canonchet's Narragansett Indians on March 16, 1676. A marker near Macomber Stadium describes the confrontation, a critical episode in King Philip's War.
Services / Features / Restrictions: Smoke Free, Free Admission, Children's Activities, Attraction, Cultural, Of Interest to Children, National Register, Park, Spectator Sports, Alcohol Prohibited, Smoke Free, Blackstone Valley and Northern Rhode Island, Ball Field, Playground, Hiking Trail, Wildlife Viewing.
Handicap Service: Complete Wheel Chair Access.

Captain Michael Pierce was born in 1615. He married Persis Eames in 1643. Captain Michael Pierce died on 26 March 1676; The battle in which Captain Michael Pierce lost his life is detailed in Drakes Indian Chronicles (pp. 220-222) as follows:

"Sunday the 26th of March, 1676, was sadly remarkable to us for the tidings of a very deplorable disaster brought into Boston about five o'clock that afternoon, by a post from Dedham, viz., that Captain Pierce of Scituate in Plymouth Colony, having intelligence in his garrison at Seaconicke, that a party of the enemy lay near Mr. Blackstorne's, went forth with sixty-three English and twenty of the Cape Indians (who had all along continued faithful, and joyned with them), and upon their march discovered rambling in an obscure woody place, four or five Indians, who, in getting away from us halted as if they had been lame or wounded. But our men had pursued them but a little way into the woods before they found them to be only decoys to draw them into their ambuscade; for on a sudden, they discovered about five hundred Indians, who in very good order, furiously attacked them, being as readily received by ours; so that the fight began to be very fierce and dubious, and our men had made the enemy begin to retreat, but so slowly that it scarce deserved the name, when a fresh company of about four hundred Indians came in; so that the English and their few Indian friends were quite surrounded and beset on every side. Yet they made a brave resistance for about two hours; during which time they did great execution upon their enemy, who they kept at a distance and themselves in order. For Captain Pierce cast his sixty-three English and twenty Indians into a ring, and six fought back to back, and were double - double distance all in one ring, whilst the Indians were as thick as they could stand, thirty deep. Overpowered with whose numbers, the said Captain and fifty-five of his English and ten of their Indian friends were slain upon the place, which in such a cause and upon such disadvantages may certainly be titled "The Bed of Honor." However, they sold their worthy lives at a gallant rate, it being affirmed by those few that not without wonderful difficulty and many wounds made their escape, that the Indians lost as many fighting men in this engagement as were killed in the battle in the swamp near Narragansett, mentioned in our last letter, which were generally computed to be above three hundred."

Today, in Scituate, there is a Captain Michael Pierce Monument and a Captain Pierce Road.

Ancestry Chain: 10 Great grandfather Capt. Micheal J. PIERCE Immigrant b.1615 / Mary PIERCE b.165 / Mary HOLBROOK b.1686 / Rachel DANIELS b.1720 / Abner RAWSON Rev.WarVet b.1764 / Amariah RAWSON b.1787 / Adaline RAWSON b.1811 / Mary DUNN b.1833 / Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859 / George Ensign SMITH b.1898 / Camilla SMITH b.1926 / Lark / JR.

INDIAN RAID IN 1675 - LANCASTER MASSACHUSETTS

(INDIAN RAID IN 1675, History of the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts: from the first settlement ... By Abijah Perkins Marvin Thomas Sawyer.)

Pg. 101-102
…What occurred in Lancaster [Massachusetts] comes properly into the history of the town…

The war broke out in June, 1675, by an attack on Swansey, near Mount Hope, the home of Phillip. Not far from this date an English spy among the Indians learned from Monaco, a one-eyed Indian, that in about twenty days the natives were “ to fall upon Lancaster, Groton, Marlborough, Sudbury, and Medfield, and that the first they would do, would be to cut down Lancaster Bridge, so as to hinder the flight of the inhabitants, and prevent assistance from coming to them.”

The storm of was actually burst upon this town on the twenty-second day of August, old style, 1675. On the day eight persons were killed in different parts of the town….This was probably a stealthy movement of the Indians, who killed as many as possible before an alarm was given, and then slunk away into the darkness of the forest or the swamp.

…There were several garrisons or block-houses, in different neighborhoods, to which the families could resort, on occasions of alarm…

It may be a convenience to the reader to have the locations of the garrisons pointed out in this connection. One was the minister’s garrison, D, its site being familiar to all. An other, called Sawyer’s, was just behind the house, E, of john A. rice. It was on Thomas Sawyer’s land, and the road was west of it in those days. A third was in Clinton, and on the land of John Prescott. The fourth was on the north side of the river, near the corner by the house, F, of Dr. Thompson. At the John White place, H, on the Neck road, was a fifth. There may have been one or two others remote from the central part of the twon.

When the first attack was made on Lancaster, in August….the savages fell on the inhabitants with ruthless vengeance….

Pg. 103-104
In about six months, on the tenth of February, 1675-6, the second act in the tragedy opened, more awful and bloody. It was in the depth of winter, and most of the colonial troops, exhausted by the last campaign, were at home, or in winter-quarters. Major Willard was engaged in civil affairs in Boston, and broken by hard service, he did not long survive after the ruin of the town h had loved and served so long and so faithfully. Thus it happened that Lancaster was almost as defenseless as in the preceding autumn. A few houses had been garrisoned, but the people were not very vigilant, supposing that the severity of the weather would keep the Indians in quiet till the opening of spring. In this they were deceived. The natives living in various parts of the town the number of twenty-five or thirty families, or from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty persons, were now in league with, or under the domination of Philip. By their knowledge of the approaches to the place, the enemy were able to make a plan of attack.

On the evening of February 9, the people retired to rest, as usual, with perhaps some eye to watchfulness. Whether they gathered into the garrison, that night, or hurried thither, at alarming signs, on the break of day, is not known. But it is certain that early in the morning of the tenth, king Philip, followed by fifteen hundred warriors of the Wampanoag, Narragansett and Nipmue tribes, made a desperate assault on Lancaster. They invested the town in five different places. Three only of these can be fixed. The first was probably at Wattoquoddoc, southwest part of Bolton, where Jonas and John Fairbanks and Richard Wheeler were killed. Wheeler had a garrison house. The second known point of attack was at Prescott’s garrison, now in Clinton, about twenty-five rods east of the old counterpane mill, now called the Clinton Yarn Mill, and near the house of Dea. Parkhurst, on Walnut street. Here Ephraim Sawyer [son of Thomas SAWYER] was killed. Henry Farrar and a Mr. Ball and his wife, were slain in an unknown locality….

The main attack was on the house of the Rev. Mr. Rowlandson. This was the central, fortified house, and it was vulnerable on one side. The destruction of this house, and the murder or capture of its inmates and defenders, would be a mortal blow to the plantation….Pg. 105
Into this house the people living in the neighborhood, and perhaps some from the Neck hastily ran for protection. The enemy tore up the planks of the bridge, to prevent passing, but doubtless they were boats then as well as now on the river. It may be observed that the meeting-house stood where it was visible from every habitation on both sides of the Neck, and in South Lancaster. It is believed that some had taken refuge in other fortified houses, and others had fled to the woods and swamps, as only about one in six of the inhabitants was killed and captured. The remained were in some way preserved from the fury of the savages.

There were at least forty-two persons, old and young, male and female, in the house of Mr. Rowlandson. This garrison was guarded only on the front, (which probably faced south,) and the two sides, with no flankers to cover the rear, and no port-holes in that direction. This is the statement of Mr. Harrington; but Hubbard, the historian, says that the “fortification was on the back side of the building, but covered up with fire-wood, and the Indians got near and burnt a leanto.”

The attack was made early in the morning, and says Mrs. Rowlandson, “quickly it was the dolefullest day that ever mine eyes saw.” The house was defended upwards of two hours with determined bravery. The Indians, “after several unsuccessful attempts to set fire to the building, filled a cart with combustible materials, and approached the defenseless rear. In this manner the house was soon enveloped in flames. According to Mrs. Rowlandson’s recollection of that “amazing time,: the Indians had been near the house about two hours before setting it on fire. The enemy from the barn, or behind the hills, or any shelter, watched every opportunity to shoot the defenders, if any one were exposed at window of loophote.
Pg. 106
“The bullets seemed to fly like hail.” soon one man was wounded, and then another, and then a third. The fire from combustibles in the cart seized on the house, when one brave man ventured out and quenched the flames. Would that his name was on record! But the fire was again lighted, and soon spread over the house. Some in the house were fighting for their lives, and some wallowing in their blood. The fire was over their heads, and the “bloody heathen ready to knock all who stirred out on the head.” Now might be heard mothers and children crying out for themselves and one another, “Lord, what shall we do?” Then, says Mrs. Rowlandson, in her touching narrative; “I took my children, (and one of my sisters hers,) to go forth and leave the house; but as soon as we came to the door, and appeared, the Indians shot so thick that the bullets rattled against the house, as if one had taken a handful of stones and thrown them, so that we were forced to give back.” Their six stout dogs, at other times brave, and ready to fly at an enemy, lost all spirit, and would not stir. The fire increasing behind them, they were forced out of doors, where the Indians were eagerly watching to shoot them. Immediately Thomas Rowlandson, (brother of the minister,) who had been shot in the neck while in the house, fell down dead, whereupon the enemy shouting fell upon him, and stripped him of his clothes. A bullet went through the side of Mrs. Rowlandson, and also through the hand and bowels of her little daughter, six years old, by her side. The son of a sister, Mrs. Kerley, wife of Henry Kerley, had his leg broken, when the Indians knocked him on the head. “Thus,” says her narrative, “were we butchered by those merciless heathens, standing amazed with the blood running down to our heels.” She goes on in these words; “My elder sister being yet in the house, and seeing those woeful sights, the infidels hauling mothers one way and children another, and some wallowing in their blood, and her eldest son telling
Pg. 107
Her that her son William was dead, and myself wounded, she said, ‘Lord, let me die with them;’ which was no sooner said, but she was struck with a bullet, and fell down dead over the threshold. Then the Indians laid hold of us, pulling me one way and the children another, and said, ‘come, go along with us.’” Of all in the house, whether thirty-seven or forty-two, only one, Ephraim Roper, escaped. Twelve were killed, some shot, some stabbed with spears, and some knocked on the head with hatchets. One was “chopped into the head with a hatchet and stripped naked, and yet was crawling up and down.” all of the dead were “stripped naked by a company of hell-hounds, roaring, ranting, singing and insulting as if they would have torn our very hearts out.”

All accounts speak of the great bravery of the defenders. One writer tells us that eight men sacrificed their lives in the effort to rescue Mrs. Rowlandson. The true statement is that ten or twelve men, with women and children, took refuge in the garrison with her family, and the men were victims, with one exception. The rest were either put to death on the spot, or were reserved for torture. Mrs. Harrington states that there were twelve men, and he gives the names of the eleven following, “ Ensign Divoll, Abraham Joslin, Daniel Gains, Thomas Rowlandson, William and Joseph Kerley, John McLoad, John Kettle and two sons of Josiah Divoll.” He adds an “&c.,” which completes the twelve. William Kerley was probably the brother of Capt. Henry Kerley. The wife of Ephraim Roper was killed in attempting to escape. Mrs. Drew, sister of Mrs. Rowlandson, was taken captive; also the wife of Abraham Joslin and other women and children to the number of about twenty.

The fight was over. How many of the savages were killed is not recorded, but it was supposed that many were slain or wounded. The remainder, who were numerous, immediately began to plunder the houses, strip the dead of their clothing, and remove every valuable with could be taken away.
Pg 108
They also drove off all the live stock that were at hand. Fearing the arrival of troops from Marlborough, they started before night for the summit of George hill. There the hours of darkness were spent by the Indians in savage revelry. The poor captives were kept awake, near the great boulder, by the singing and howling of the victors; and according to the intimation of the one writer, by the dying groans of some of the victims. Lurid lights rose from the burning timbers of numerous houses; and the flames where the husbands, and fathers, and brothers were enduring torture, gave a tenfold horror to the darkness.

The women and children were taken into captivity with the purpose of obtaining ransom….[about 11 months later some still living were released.]

Different accounts vary in regard to the whole number of the slain, and the captured. There were fifty persons at least, and one writer says fifty-five. Nearly one-half of them suffered death on the spot, or in the wilderness. When Mr. Rowlandson, Capt. Kerley and Mr. Drew, all brothers-in-law, who had been seeking aid from the general court, in Boston, returned, a scene of horror met their eyes. The anguish they felt cannot be described, yet the tradition is that the minister was sustained by a strong persuasion that his wife would be restored. But this was uncertain. One child was wounded; the whole three, with their mother were in captivity, and many of his friends as well as the friends of his two companions, were killed or taken. Their dwellings had been burned. The wife of one, though he knew it not,was buried in the ruins. The wives of the other tow were in the power of the savages, threading their way through the trackless forest in the midst of winter, with no comforts, and no friends to cheer them, either starving with hunger, or preserving life by eating the most loathsome offal, separated from each other, and with nothing but death or hopeless captivity in prospect….
Pg. 110-112
The survivors took shelter, with what they could gather, whether of goods, provisions, grain or stock, in the near two fortified houses or garrisons; one of them on the land of Lawrence Waters, not far from the house of Mr. Symmes, R, and the other at Thomas Sawyer’s, not far the rear of the house now occupied by J. A. Rice, E. In these circumstances, they sent a most moving petition to the governor and council, singed by the occupants of both garrisons. The names of those who were in the garrison on the east side of North river, were Jacob Farrar, John Houghton, sen., John Houghton, jr., John Whitcomb, Job Whitcomb, Jonathan Whitcomb, John Moore and Cyprian Stevens. The signers in Sawyer’s garrison were John Prescott, sen., Thomas Sawyer, sen., Thomas Sawyer, jr., Jonathan Prescott, Thomas Wilder, John Wilder, Nathaniel Wilder, John Rigby, John Roper, and widows Wheeler, Fairbanks and Roper. The absence of several names will be remarked, as White, James, Parker, Gates, Rugg, Kerley, Drew, Rowlandson, and others who were still a live. The probability is that many families who were “burned out of house and home,” left as soon as possible for the lower towns. The petition of those who remained implored the governor and council that a “guard of men with carts might be ordered to Lancaster, to remove them to a place of safety.” They go on to say; “Our state is very deplorable in our incapacity to subsist: as to remove away we cannot, the enemy has so encompassed us; other wise for want of help and cattle, being most of them carried away by the barbarous heathen; and to stay disenabled for want of food. The town’s people are generally gone, who felt the judgment but light, and had their cattle left them with their estates. But we, many of us here in this prison, have not bread to last us one month, and our other provisions spent and gone for the generality. We are sorrowful to leave this place. Our women’s cries does daily increase beyond expression; which does not only fill our ears, but our hearts full of grief.” The above was drawn up by those in garrison on the east side of North river. Those on the other side add touchingly, “We are in like distress, and so humbly desire your like pity and fatherly care, having widows and many fatherless children.” According to Mr. Willard, “more than a hundred and seventy births are recorded: before the year 1676, and many of these were young at the time of the massacre. The parents of others had died in their beds, so that the fatherless, as well as the widows, were numerous in proportion to the whole population.

The place being considered untenable, troops were went up with carts, who transported the people, with their remaining movable property, to the eastern towns, where they found homes with their friends. Then the Indians, who seemed to have been lurking around, came out of their lairs, and set fire to the buildings still standing: and with the exception of the house of God and one dwelling, when they ceased to burn, there was nothing left but smoking and blackened ruins in this lovely valley. The settlers in the outskirts of the town, as well as in the center, withdrew under the protection of the soldiers. The settlement was abandoned. The The town was destroyed. For a year or two it was without a white inhabitant. Thus closes the second act in this awful drama; this carnival of arson and murder….

(History of the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts: from the first settlement ... By Abijah Perkins Marvin Thomas Sawyer.)

Capt. James AVERY

Captain James AVERY

Shortly after 1894, the Avery Memorial Association was incorporated. The association erected a granite memorial in what is now known as the Avery Memorial Park. The shaft is surmounted by a bronze bust, representing Captain James Avery as a typical Puritan, magistrate and Indian fighter. It was designed by the noted sculptor, Bela Lyon Pratt, an Avery descendant. The association is functioning today.

Captain James Avery, only child of Christopher Avery, and the founder of the family that is known as the Groton Averys, was born in England, about 1620, died April 18, 1700. He came to America with his father, and lived at Gloucester, Massachusetts, for several years. Miss Caulkin's History of New London, p. 67, says: "On the 19th of October, 1650, grants were made by the townsmen to Mr. Blynman, Obadiah Biven, Hugh Caukin, Hugh Roberts, John Coile, Andrew Lester, James Averye, Robert Isbell." He received many other land grants in the several distributions, and others for public and military service. His dwelling in New London, once "the unadorned church and watch tower of the wilderness," is still in good repair and was owned and occupied by an Avery in 1893. He was active in military affairs and is generally spoken of as ensign, lieutenant or captain. In the English-Dutch quarrels and in their own Indian troubles he saw much military service and fully earned his rank of captain. He was equally prominent in civil affairs; he was chosen selectman and held office for twenty years; he was a commissioner to "try small causes." Here he gained his title of judge. Before his court came actions for small debts and complaints of evil speaking and disorderly conduct, wills were proved and marriages performed. He was in this office many years. From 1658 to 1680 he was elected to the general court twelve times. In 1871 Judge Wheeler published a list of representatives from Groton which was set off from New London in 1705. "It is worthy of note that out of 545 representatives of the town of Groton, 104 have borne the name of Avery, and all were descendants of Captain James Avery." He was prominent in church affairs, and the references to him in the records are numerous. He married, November 10, 1643, in Boston, Joanna Greenslade, born about 1622 and living in 1693. Children, the three first being born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the others in New London, Connecticut: Hannah, James, Mary, Thomas, John (see forward), Rebecca, Jonathan, Christopher and Samuel. Captain Avery married (second), 1698, Mrs. Joshua Holmes, a widow

This information is from Vol. II, pp. 779-782 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). It is in SCPL's Reference collection at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.

Battles: Avery served as a captain in command of forty Englishmen from Stonington, Lyme, and New London. In 1676. He also served as captain of one of four companies which protected the frontier. In the Great Swamp Fight, a battle at Kingston, Rhode Island, Avery commanded a group of ally Pequot Indians.

About 1656, he built the "Hive of the Averys" at the head of Poquonnock Plain, in the present town of Groton about a mile and a half from the river Thames. Here James Avery lived until he died.

Pioneer: Capt. James Avery was among Groton, Connecticut’s early settlers, for whom Avery Point is named. A monument stands on the location of his 1656 home, called The Hive of the Averys. The home burned down in a fire started from an ember of a passing train on July 20, 1894.

Immigration: There are several traditions concerning James Avery. One was that he came from Salisbury, Wilts, England in the "Arabella" with John Winthrop and landed at Salem, Mass June 12 1630. Another was that he came over with the younger Winthrop, in 1631, and that, on the voyage, the subsequent governor of Connecticut formed a strong and life-long attachment for James.

---------------

THE AVERY MEMORIAL MONUMENT OF GROTON, CT

by Mary Virginia Goodman and Elwood James Thacher, edited by Joe Lantiere

Christopher Avery and his only son James (1621 -1700, founder of the Groton Averys) came from England to Gloucester, MA before 1642.

About 1650, James came to Pequot (New London), CT. A house which later became the old Avery Homestead, known as the "Hive of the Averys," and stood at the head of Birch Plain, was built around 1656. Here, the second Captain James Avery [Jr.], oldest son of the founder, lived with his family from 1671 until his death in 1728.

In June of 1684, the old Blinman edifice at New London, "The unadorned church and watch-tower of the wilderness, was sold to Captain James Avery for six pounds, with the condition that he should remove it in one month's time." According to tradition, it was taken down and its materials were carried by river and sound, and added to the 1656 house at the head of Poquonock Cove.

For over 230 years, successive families of Averys lived and reared their children at the Hive, generation after generation. The venerable old house withstood the storms of winter and the heat of summer; the hand of time gently touched every ancient board.

The descendants of James and his father Christopher began to consider the [Avery Hive] forever indestructible until one night on July 20, 1894, a spark from an engine passing over the railroad bridge set fire to the time-seasoned roof, and soon, engulfed by flames, the old Avery Homestead fell.

Its destruction filled the hearts of the members of the Avery clan with sorrow and dismay, but soon their grief gave way to plans for memorializing the house by establishing a memorial society and a monument on this spot to show to generations yet unborn that here lived the men of olden times, James Avery and his sons and grandsons, who were of such prominence in the very beginnings of the colony of Connecticut in this section of New London and Groton.

Soon after the destruction of the old "Hive," The Avery Memorial Association was incorporated. The owner of the homestead site, James Dension Avery, gave the land by deed of gift to the new Avery Association.

The granite shaft, surmounted by a bronze bust representing the builder, is a replica of a typical Puritan, magistrate and Indian fighter. The monument was designed by the noted sculptor Bela L. Pratt, an Avery descendant. The shaft rises from the middle of the outline of the old house. Whoever walks around the monument today will see the old stone steps where Averys for generations entered the old homestead. Parts of the chimney still stand, ivy covered now. The monument was dedicated July 20, 1900. Six hundred descendants gathered on that day to honor their illustrious ancestor and the ancient home spot. Dr. Elroy M. Avery, the President of the Association presided; Helen Morgan Avery unveiled the bust; Frank Montgomery Avery delivered the oration:

"We have assembled here today to join in the dedication of a memorial; not of a monument erected to the memory of a great historical event or the accomplishment of some illustrious personal achievement, but of a memorial designed to designate the spot where the roots of a family tree struck deeply and strong enough to take permanent hold in the soil of New England, and whence its branches have spread out far and wide and lusty with the strength of the parent stock. It is to honor the place of our forefathers' refuse and abode, of their struggles and triumphs, their birthplaces and their death place through the early generations, that this shaft has been erected on the site of the first of their homesteads, and that we are here today." (http://www.averymemorialassociation.com/averymon.htm)

SEE ALSO: http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~avery/avery/pages/15.htm

Ancestry Chain: 11th gr.-grandfather Christopher AVERY Immigrant b.1590, 10th gr.-grandfather Captain James AVERY Immigrant b.1620, 9th gr.-grandfather Lt. James Jr. AVERY b.1646, Edward D. AVERY b.1676, Joanna AVERY b.1700, Hannah ALLEN b.1734, Lucretia NEEDHAM b.1760, Shadrach ROUNDY b.1789, Almeda Sophia ROUNDY b.1829, Charles PARKER b.1853, Laura Elizabeth PARKER b.1889, Lark, TR.

The Home of Sarah and Lt. William CLARK Burned the Night of July 14, 1681

Original Lt. William Clarke gravestone from 1690,
still preserved in Northampton, MA graveyard.
Was replaced by a larger monument by relatives in 1884. [see below]

Lt. William CLARKE (1609-1690) m Sarah STRONG (1611-1675)

Lt.William Clark was born in 1606 or 1609 in Dorsetshire? England and died on 19 July 1690 in Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. He is buried in Bridge St. Cemetery in the same aforementioned location. William married Sarah STRONG around 1636 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., MA and she was born in England around 1611 and died on 6 September 1675 in Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. She also is buried at Bridge St. Cemetery, Northampton, MA. William's second wife was Sarah Slye Cooper and they were married on 15 November 1676 in Northampton, Hampshire, MA. Sarah was born in England around 1620 and died on 8 May 1688. She was the daughter of George SLYE. (http://www.familytreesite.org/clarke.htm)

There are at least three versions on the arrival of William Clarke in the New World:

Version 1 - He departed Plymouth, England on March 30, 1630 aboard the ship 'Mary and John' arriving in Nautucket (now called Hull) on May 30, 1630. He would have been 21 at that time. This is the version that appears in most family records.

Version 2 - William Clarke emigrated in 1630 aboard the ship 'William and Mary' in the company of Rev. Mister Warham of Plymouth, Dorsetshire, England. He settled first in Dorchester, Suffolk, Ma. prior to 1635, where he officiated as Townsman or Selectman from 1646 to 1653, removing to Northampton in 1659.

Version 3 - William Clarke left England on the ship 'Mary and John', which sailed from London on March 24, 1633, arriving in New England in June of that year.

This last version seems the most likely, even though it does not agree with 'old family tradition'. The port of embarkation also differs.

"He was the first citizen of Northampton to be elected deputy to the General Court, and 14 times between 1663 and 1682 was elected to that office, although not consecutively. He was Associate Justice of county court for 26 years; In 1662, he was authorized by the General Court to solemnize marriages, being the first person in that town to hold that responsible position. Frequently appointed by the Court to deal with Indians. He was chosen Lieutenant of the first military company ever organized here, when that was the office of highest rank to which the company, on account of its small number of men was entitled, and was in active service during King Philip's War and was at the same time a member of the military committee of the county. He supplied the commissary department to some extent during King Philip's Indian War and the Legislature ordered the Treasurer to pay him in 1676 'thirty-eight pounds, eighteen shillings for "Porke and bisket" delivered to the country's use'. He helped to build the first grist mill and the first saw mill in the town. He was greatly interested in promoting the new settlement of Squakheag (Northfield) and is named as having served as town clerk at the second settlement of that place, although there is no evidence that he ever lived there. Several times he was chosen commissioner, with others, to determine disputed boundaries between Northampton and neighboring towns. His home lot, one of the largest, covered the north half of the Smith College property. Tradition states that here he built a block house upon this lot which was used for refuge during the Indian troubles. His dwelling house was burned in 1681, having been set on fire by a Negro, as he averred in search of food. * In 1671, he was licensed to sell "wine, cider or liquor for a year". He had large grants of land in the meadows and elsewhere and purchased many acres in different parts of the town. All his lands, embracing nearly two hundred acres, with the exception of 7 3/4 acres, he disposed of before his death to his sons, reserving to himself an annuity of 24 pounds.

"The house of Lieut. William Clarke, situated very nearly on the ground now occupied by the main Smith College building, was burned on the night of July 14, 1681. It was built of logs, and Clarke and his wife were living in it at the time. A Negro, named Jack, set the house on fire. He confessed the deed and pretended that it was done accidentally, while he was searching for food, swinging a burning brand to light his way. Jack did not belong in town; he was a servant to Samuel Wolcott of Wethersfield; was a vicious character, a forerunner of the great army of tramps now everywhere wearying the patience of the public, and had already been before the courts for other misdemeanors. His object undoubtedly, was robbery, and it is not probable that he went about the house searching for food even, with a lighted pine torch in his hands. Very likely after stealing whatever he could lay his hands upon, he set the house on fire to conceal the robbery, or from spite against William Clarke, who was at this time 72 years of age.

Capture and Punishment of the Incendiary. Jack was arrested in Brookfield or Springfield, and was brought before the court in Boston, where he plead not guilty. When his confession was read to him, however, he acknowledged it, and the jury brought in a verdict of guilty. The court believed his confession as to setting the house on fire, but did not credit his statement that it was done carelessly. He was sentenced to be "hanged by the neck till he be dead and then taken down and burnt to ashes in the fire with Maria, the Negro". Maria was under sentence of death for burning the houses of Thomas Swan, and of her master, Joshua Lamb, in Roxbury. She was burned alive. Both of these Negroes were slaves. Why the body of Jack was burned is not known.

note 1: Many slaves were burned alive in New York and New Jersey, and in the southern colonies, but few in Massachusetts. note 2: Tradition has handed down the following items concerning the burning of Clarke's house: The Negro fastened the door on the outside so that no one could escape, and set the fire on the outside. William Clarke injured his hands considerably (pounded them, it is said) in his endeavor to escape, and his wife was somewhat burned. John Clarke, grandson of William, a little more than a year old, was brought out of the house and laid beside the fence. There was powder in one of the chambers, and when it exploded the ridge pole was blown across the road, and one end forced into the ground. The Negro had taken offense at something William Clarke had done in his official capacity, and set the fire in a spirit of revenge. He was discovered either at Brookfield, Springfield, or near New Haven, and identified by means of a jack-knife in his possession that belonged to the Clarke's." History of Northampton Massachusetts From Its Settlement in 1654 (James Russell Trumbull - Printed in Northampton in 1898)

Lt. William Clarke and Sarah Strong had the following children:

(1) Sarah Clark was born on 21 April 1638 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 21 June 1638 in the same locatiion..

(2) Jonathan Clark was born on 1 August 1639 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 1 Oct 1639 in the same location.

(3) Nathaniel Clark was born on 27 January 1642 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 30 March 1669 in Northampton, Hampshire County, MA. On 8 May 1663 he married Mary Meekins in Hadley, Hampshire County, MA.

(4) Experience Clark was born on 30 March 1643 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died in 1662 at Northampton, Hampshire County, MA.

(5) Increase Clark was born on 1 March 1646 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 24 April 1662 at Northampton, Hampshire County, MA.

(6) Rebecca Clark was born 1 March 1648/9 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 8 February 1733 at Northampton, MA. She married Israel Rust on 9 December 1669.

(7) John Clark (Deacon) was born on 1 May 1651 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 3 September 1704 at Windsor, Hartford County, CT. His first wife was Rebecca Cooper and she died during childbirth. His second wife was Mary Strong and they were married on 20 March 1679.

(8) Samuel Clark was born on 16 October 1653 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 5 August 1729 at Northampton, MA. He married Elizabeth Edwards on 1 March 1682 at Northampton, MA.

(9) Captain William Clark was born on 3 July 1656 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 9 May 1725 at Lebanon, New London County, CT. His first wife was Hannah Strong and they were married on 15 July 1680. William's second wife was Mary Smith and they were married on 31 January 1694/5.

(10) Sarah Clark was born on 19 March 1659 at Dorchester, Suffolk County, MA and died on 15 April 1728 at Northampton, MA. She married Capt. John Parsons on 23 December 1675 in Northampton, MA.

Ancestry Chain: Lt. William CLARK Immigrant b.1609, Nathaniel CLARK b.1641, Mary PARSONS b.1688, Jerusha GRAVES b.1717, Jerusha COOLEY b.1738, Sylvanus BRONSON b.1769, Mary BRONSON b.1806, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR.

Great Swamp Fight - Fort Narragansett - King Philip's War

The settlements enjoyed a period of growth and development for the next decade, until the 1660s when threats from the surrounding Indian tribes began to grow. War finally erupted June 1675 in Swansea, Massachusetts with "King Philip", second son of Massasoit, sachem of the Pokanoket Indians. In the beginning Connecticut felt secure in its geographical location and longstanding alliance with the local Mohegans...then followed several years of brutal attacks and a reign of terror against the English settlements.

The Narragansetts had remained fairly neutral until this time, but were found sheltering some of King Philip's men. Three hundred and fifteen Connecticut men lead by [uncle] Major Robert Treat attacked the Narragansett fort on December 19, 1675 and were met by 2,000 Indians. This was later known as the "Great Swamp Fight," and [7th great grandfather] Capt. John Mason was killed in the battle as was [8th great grandfather] Samuel Marshall and [9th great grandfather] John Stedman as well as [uncle] Ebenezer Dibble. [9th great grandfather] Captain James Avery was not killed.

Off a hiking trail in Rhode Island stands a memorial to a long-forgotten war. 

Today, the monument pays tribute to the brave soldiers on both sides of the Great Swamp Fight.

Capt. Samuel Marshall - "King Phillips War"

Smith's Castle Plantation - Mass Grave-site, Rhode Island

Capt. Samuel Marshall was killed at the head of his troops Dec. 19, 1675, at Fort Narragansett, Connecticut, in "King Phillips War". A war between New England colonists and Metacomet or King Phillip, as the English called him. He was a son of Massasoit, who welcomed the Pilgrims to Plymouth. He became chief of the Wampanoag tribe of Indians after the death of his father in 1661, and the death of his older brother, Wamsutta, or Alexander, soon after.

Phillip opposed the giving up of land continuously demanded by the colonists, and in 1675 started a war in alliance with the Nipmuc and Narragansett tribes. The Indians attacked 52 of the 90 towns then settled in New England, destroying 12 of them. They killed some 600 hundred persons, including the members of two ambushed colonial forces.

Early in 1676 the Narragansetts were defeated and slaughtered. In August, Captain Benjamin Church defeated the Wampanoags, and Phillip was tracked down and killed at Mount Hope, near Bristol, RI. He was beheaded and quartered, his head being carried to Plymouth and displayed on a pole, his hands were taken to Boston. His wife and son were captured and sold into slavery.

---------------------------

Life of Samuel Marshall

• 1630-1675 , ENGLAND TO CONNECTICUT COLONY,NEW ENGLAND

Samuel was brought to New England [in 1634] as a child of four years. He learned the shoemaker trade of his father [Thomas MARSHALL] and probably assisted his father as Ferry Keeper in Boston. He was literate, probably educated at the school to which his father gave money. It has yet to be determined what his relationship with the Allyn family of Windsor was. It appears that he spent his entire adult life in Windsor Connecticut. Shortly after his marriage, records show that he served as an attorney in civil actions brought by English plaintiffs against local defendants. In January 1652 he brought Thomas Marshfield's house on broad street and sold it the next year. He dealt extensively in the purchase and resale of property. Later records show that he was licensed to sell cider as an alcoholic beverage and also planted apple orchards. On a couple occasions he sued and was counter-sued for slander,etc. In addition to following his father's profession as a shoemaker, he was an active citizen. He was active in the local militia but did not seem to be active in church affairs. In 1673 "Quartermaster" Samuel Marshall received a grant of 150 acres. He became a Captain,in the Windsor Horse Troop. Samuel Marshall was one of the "five brave Captains killed at the head of their companies in the attack on the Narragansett Fort, in the Great Swamp Fight" of the King Philip's War on Dec. 19,1675. Before this fight he made his will on Sept. 4,1675. His body was taken along with many others to Smith's Castle in Wickford, Rhode Island and buried in a mass grave. This is now called Smiths Castle Mass Gracesite, Wickford, Washington County, Rhode Island.

Anestry Chain: Thomas MARSHALL Immigrant b.1610, [9th gr. grandfather] Captain Samuel MARSHALL Immigrant b.1630, Deacon Thomas MARSHALL b.1663, Catherine MARSHALL b.1699, Catherine FOWLER b.1723, Lydia NOBLE b.1768, Horace Datus ENSIGN b.1797, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR.

Smith's Castle: In 1675, King Philip, sachem of the Wampanoags, led a coalition of Native Americans in a bloody conflict with the colonists over control of land. The Narragansetts, whose winter home was in the Great Swamp only 12 miles from Cocumscussoc, had pledged neutrality. Suspecting that the Narragansetts were harboring Wampanoag warriors, 1,000 colonial troops from Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and Plymouth colonies massed at the Castle and attacked the Great Swamp village in December 1675. Both sides suffered great losses. Forty colonial soldiers were interred in a mass grave near the Castle. In retaliation for the attack, the Castle was burned in 1676.

Captain Michael Pierce - New World

Earliest monument to American Veterans
Cumberland, Rhode Island
Honoring Michael PIERCE and 8 other men killed by Indians 26 MAR 1676

[10 GGF] Captain Michael Pierce
Biography and Genealogy by Barbara Case: http://www.bushwah.com/names/piercetree1.htm

[See also Carole Gardner's Capt. Micheal Peirse document attached. Gardner has done extensive recent genealogical research. Some of her findings conflict with the information presented on these pages and shed new light on the Micheal Pierce genealogy.]

Captain Michael Pierce was born in 1615 and died in1676. He and his descendants form the first American generation of Pierces in our family tree. Michael Pierce immigrated to the New World in the early 1640s from Higham, Kent, England to Scituate, in what later became Massachusetts. The ten year period from 1630 to 1640 is know as The Great Migration. During this period, 16,000 people, immigrated to the East Coast of North America.

Brother of famous Colonial Sea Captain, William Pierce. Captain Michael Pierce was the brother of the famous Colonial sea captain, William Pierce, who helped settle Plymouth Colony. Captain Michael Pierce played a significant role in the Great Migration. Historical records show that this one sea captain crossed the Atlantic, bringing settlers and provisions to the New World more frequently than any other. He had homes in London, the Bahamas and Rhode Island. He played a central role in the government of the early colonies. He was killed at Providence, one of the Bahama Islands, in 1641.

There were actually four Pierce brothers who made their mark on the New World: John Pierce (the Patentee), Robert Pierce, Captain William Pierce, and Captain Michael Pierce. All were grandsons of Anteress Pierce, and sons of Azrika Pierce and his wife Martha.

Marries Persis Eames. In 1643, Michael Pierce married Persis Eames of Charleston Massachusetts. His wife was born in Fordington, Dorsetshire England 28 October 1621. She was the daughter of Anthony Eames and Margery Pierce.

Pierce Family Moves to Scituate. Michael and Persis Pierce's first child, a daughter, was born in 1645 and named Persis in honor of her mother. Unfortunately, their first child died in 1646 at one year of age. The new family settled first in Higham, but moved in 1676 to Scituate, where the Pierce family continued to reside for most of the next century. Scituate is located some 10 miles north of the original Plymouth colony. It was settled as early as 1628 by a group of men from Kent, England.

In 1646, Benjamin Pierce, their second child, a son and heir, was born. This son, Benjamin Pierce, fathered the second Pierce generation in this family tree. Twelve other children were born over the coming years: Ephraim, Elizabeth, Deborah, Sarah, Mary, Abigail, Anna, Abiah, John, Ruth and Peirsis.

Erected First Saw-Mill. Michael Pierce resided on a beautiful plain near the north river and not far form Herring brook. He assisted in erecting the first saw-mill. The mill was the first one erected in the colony. It is believed that Samuel Woodworth (1784-1842) wrote the song, "The Old Oaken Bucket," concerning this river and mill in Scituate. Samuel Woodworth's grandfather, Benjamine Woodworth, witnessed the signing of Captain Michael Pierce's will, on January 1675. The lyrics to this classic American folk tune are given below:

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,

When fond recollection presents them to view,

The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood,

And ev'ry lov'd spot which my infancy knew.

The wide spreading stream, the mill that stood near it,

The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell.

The cot of my father, the dairy house by it,

And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well.

The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well.

The moss-covered bucket I hail as a treasure,

For often at noon when returned from the field,

I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,

The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.

How ardent I seized it with hands that were glowing,

And quick to the white pebbled bottom it fell.

Then soon with the emblem of truth overflowing,

And dripping with coolness it rose from the well.

The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well.

How soon from the green mossy rim to receive it,

As poised on the curb it reclined to my lips,

Not a full flowing goblet could tempt me to leave it,

Tho' filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.

And now far removed from the loved situation,

The tear of regret will intrusively swell.

As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,

And sighs for the bucket that hung in the well.

The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well.

Captain in the Local Militia Fighting the Indians. Unlike his famous brother, Captain William Pierce, Michael Pierce was not a sea captain. He attained the title, Captain, from the Colony court in 1669. Historical records show that he was first given the rank of Ensign under Captain Miles Standish, then later, in 1669, he was made Captain. These titles reflects his role as a leader in the local militia formed to protect the colony from the Indians.

Honored for Heroism in King Phillip's War. Captain Michael Pierce's memory is well-documented in American history. He is honored for the brave manner in which he died in defense of his country. The exact manner in which he died is repeated in more than 20 books and letters detailing the military history of the King Phillip's War. This war took place between 1675 and 1676, and remains one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history. It was also a pivotal point in early American history. Although the English colonists were ultimately victorious over the Indians, it took the colonies over 100 years to recover from the economic and political catastrophy brought about by this conflict.

The battle in which Captain Michael Pierce lost his life is detailed in Drakes Indian Chronicles (pp. 220-222) as follows:

"Sunday the 26th of March, 1676, was sadly remarkable to us for the tidings of a very deplorable disaster brought into Boston about five o'clock that afternoon, by a post from Dedham, viz., that Captain Pierce of Scituate in Plymouth Colony, having intelligence in his garrison at Seaconicke, that a party of the enemy lay near Mr. Blackstorne's, went forth with sixty-three English and twenty of the Cape Indians (who had all along continued faithful, and joyned with them), and upon their march discovered rambling in an obscure woody place, four or five Indians, who, in getting away from us halted as if they had been lame or wounded. But our men had pursued them but a little way into the woods before they found them to be only decoys to draw them into their ambuscade; for on a sudden, they discovered about five hundred Indians, who in very good order, furiously attacked them, being as readily received by ours; so that the fight began to be very fierce and dubious, and our men had made the enemy begin to retreat, but so slowly that it scarce deserved the name, when a fresh company of about four hundred Indians came in; so that the English and their few Indian friends were quite surrounded and beset on every side. Yet they made a brave resistance for about two hours; during which time they did great execution upon their enemy, who they kept at a distance and themselves in order. For Captain Pierce cast his sixty-three English and twenty Indians into a ring, and six fought back to back, and were double - double distance all in one ring, whilst the Indians were as thick as they could stand, thirty deep. Overpowered with whose numbers, the said Captain and fifty-five of his English and ten of their Indian friends were slain upon the place, which in such a cause and upon such disadvantages may certainly be titled "The Bed of Honor." However, they sold their worthy lives at a gallant rate, it being affirmed by those few that not without wonderful difficulty and many wounds made their escape, that the Indians lost as many fighting men in this engagement as were killed in the battle in the swamp near Narragansett, mentioned in our last letter, which were generally computed to be above three hundred."

Today, in Scituate, there is a Captain Pierce Road.

In Cumberland, Rhode Island, there is a monument called Nine Men's Misery. A tablet near the monument reads:

NINE MEN'S MISERY
ON THIS SPOT WHERE
THEY WERE SLAIN
BY THE INDIANS
WERE BURIED
THE NINE SOLDIERS
CAPTURED IN
PIERCE'S FIGHT
MARCH 26, 1676

The monument is located in a dark, place in the woods, near a former monastery. The monastery is now a public library. The monument consists of little more than a pile of stones cemented together by a monk and marked with a plaque. However, this site is of major historical significance because it is concidered to be the oldest monument to veterans in the United States.

---

1. Captain Michael Pierce born 1615; died 3/26/1676.

married Persis Eames, 1643 (born. Oct. 28, 1621; died Dec. 31,1662). Micheal Pierce and Persis Eames had these 13 children:

2. Persis Pierce, born 1645. Persis died 1646 at 1 year of age.

3. Benjamin Pierce, born 1646.

4. Ephraim Pierce, born 1647. Ephraim died 1719 at 72 years of age.

5. Elizabeth Pierce, born 1649. She married a Holbrook and gave birth to Captain Michael Pierce's only two grandchildren at the time of his death who are mentioned in his will: Elizabeth Holbrook and Abigail Holbrook.

6. Deborah Pierce, born 1650.

7. Sarah Pierce, born 1652.

8. Mary Pierce, born 1654. She married Samuel Holbrook, 23 June 1675. Samuel was born in Weymouth, Mass 1650. Samuel was the son of William Holbrook and Elizabeth Pitts. Samuel died 29 October 1712 at 62 years of age. Mary Pierce and Samuel Holbrook had the following six children: Persis, Elizabeth, Bethiah, Samuel, Elizabeth, and Mary.

9. Abigail Pierce, born 1656. Abigail died 1723 at 67 years of age.

10. Anna Pierce, born 1657.

11. Abiah Pierce, born 1659. She married Andrew Ford.

12. John Pierce, born 1660. John died 28 June 1738 at 77 years of age. He married Patience Dodson 12 December 1683.

13. Ruth Pierce, born 1661.

14. Peirsis Pierce, born 1662. Persis 3 December 1695. She married Richard Garrett, 3rd, who was born in 1659. They lived in Scituate, Mass. and had three children: John (born 1706), Anna, and Deborah.

married Mrs. Annah James sometime soon after 1662. They had no children. Captain Michael Pierce remained married to Annah Pierce until his death. Annah Pierce is well provided for in his will.

[10 Great grandfather Capt. Micheal J. PIERCE Immigrant b.1615 / Mary PIERCE b.165 / Mary HOLBROOK b.1686 / Rachel DANIELS b.1720 / Abner RAWSON Rev.WarVet b.1764 / Amariah RAWSON b.1787 / Adaline RAWSON b.1811 / Mary DUNN b.1833 / Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859 / George Ensign SMITH b.1898 / Camilla SMITH b.1926 / Lark / JR]