King William's war, 1689-1698

KING WILLIAM'S WAR, 1689-1698

The Eastern Indians generally appear to have observed the treaty made at
Casco, in 1678, conducting themselves for several years peaceably towards
the English settlers, who, in the meantime, had been gradually recovering
from their losses in the late disastrous war; but, partly through fault of
the English themselves, the peace was at length broken and ravages
committed, beginning with several places in the province of Maine.

The first sufferers in New Hampshire were in Dover, on the 28th of June,
1689, when the aged Major Waldron and more than a score of others were
killed, and nearly thirty were taken captive. About a month later the
savages feel upon the settlement at Oyster River also, and killed or
carried off nearly twenty persons.

On the 8th of July the town of Hampton voted "that all those who were
willing to make a fortification about the Meeting House, to secure
themselves and their families from the violence of the heathen, should
have free liberty to do it." A fortification was accordingly built, which,
about three years afterward, the town voted to enlarge so as to afford
room "to build houses in it according to custom in other forts." How many
houses were built is not known, but it was voted that a small house (14 by
16 feet) should be built there for the use of the minister, and when not
occupied by him to serve as a schoolhouse.

From information derived from one who had been in captivity among the
enemy, fears were entertained that an attempt would be made in the latter
part of September to destroy the towns of Hampton, Exeter, Salisbury and
Amesbury, and it was said that four hundred Indians were to be sent for
this purpose. In confirmation of the report in circulation, Indians
("skulking rogues," as they were termed) were seen in these towns almost
every day, sent, it was thought, to reconnoiter. Whether they found that
their design had been discovered, and that the people were too much on
their guard to be easily overcome, or whether the rumor of their intended
attack was unfounded, is uncertain; but the month of September wore away,
and the four towns still remained.

In March, 1690, the military officers in commission before Cranfield's
administration, were restored to office. Those for Hampton were: Samuel
Sherburne, Captain; Edward Gove, Lieutenant; John Moulton, Ensign.

During the month of July more than thirty persons were killed by the
savages, in Exeter.

Thus far no attack had been made upon any part of Hampton, but the people
were living in constant dread. So secret and so sudden had been the
movements of the enemy, that none knew where to expect their next assault.
The men dared not go abroad to their ordinary labors without being armed.
Their families were collected in the forts and in garrisoned houses, which
were carefully guarded. On the Sabbath, indeed, they ventured to attend
public worship, but, as we have seen, the meeting house was surrounded
with a fortification, the men went armed, and sentinels were stationed to
give an alarm, if the enemy should appear during the services.

At a town meeting held the next winter, Mr. Henry Green, Capt. Samuel
Sherburne and Henry Dow were chosen a committee to agree with and send out
two men, as scouts, to see what they could discover, so long as they could
go upon the snow, or so long as the neighboring towns sent out; and so
much of their wages as should not be paid by contribution, was to be paid
out of the next town rate. The committee was also directed to keep an
exact account of what the town or any of the inhabitants would expend in
carrying on the war.

This vote suggests what was then considered the most effectual method of
preventing the Indians from committing depredations, viz.: the employment
of scouts to be constantly scouring the woods, to discover them, if
possible, in their lurking places. Still, besides scouts, a large number
of soldiers were employed on different occasions, and sometimes for
several months in succession, under officers of skill and experience.

But, notwithstanding the vigilance of the scouts, the Indians sometimes
succeeded in finding hiding places, even in the immediate vicinity of a
garrison, where they lay concealed, watching the movements of those
belonging to the garrison, ready to seize the first opportunity to kill or
capture anyone who might happen to venture a little too far away. An
instance of this kind occurred in Salisbury, adjoining Hampton, on the 23d
of June, 1691. About half an hour after sunset, one John Ring went out of
Jacob Morrill's garrison, to drive in a cow, and was captured within a
little more than twenty rods of the garrison. The next day a great many
men of Salisbury and Hampton went into the woods to search for him, but,
as some one wrote at the time, "with very little hope of recovering him."
Justly did the same writer add: "The truth is, we are a distressed
people."

At the very time of this occurrence, a company of men, about thirty-four
in number, under Capt. Stephen Greenleaf, of Newbury, was out in that
vicinity searching for Indians. Ring was captured on Monday; Captain
Greenleaf's company went to Haverhill on the Saturday previous, came to
Hampton on Sunday, and went to Exeter on Monday, in the morning.

A little past midsummer a small army was sent out under the command of
four captains, one of whom was Samuel Sherburne, of Hampton. The forces
landed at Maquoit, near Casco, and marched up to Pechypscot (now
Brunswick, Me.), but finding no signs of the enemy, returned to Maquoit,
where they had left their vessels. While the commanders were on the shore,
waiting for the soldiers to get aboard, a great number of Indians suddenly
poured in upon them, and they were obliged to retreat to their vessels;
but this was a difficult matter, as, the tide being down, the vessels were
aground; and before it could be accomplished Captain Sherburne was slain.
He had been a resident of Hampton ten or twelve years, and was well known
as the keeper of the ordinary, or tavern. He was a captain in the militia;
three years a selectman of the town; was once chosen to represent the town
in the General Court; and in January next preceding his death, as has been
stated, he was on the committee to employ and send out scouts, and to keep
an account of the expenses incurred in the war. The vacancy made by his
death was afterwards filled by the choice of Lieut. John Smith, the
cooper.

On the last Tuesday of September, 1691, a party of Indians, variously
estimated from twenty to forty, came from the eastward in canoes and
landed at Sandy Beach (now Rye) a little after noon. The garrison there
they left unmolested and fell upon a few defenceless families living about
half a miles from the garrison; killed some of the members and took
captive some others, and burned one or two houses. The severest blow fell
upon "ould goodman Brackett's and goodman Rand's families."

Two messengers brought the sad intelligence to Hampton the same afternoon.
On their return in the evening, about the time of the moon's rising, on
reaching Ragged Neck, about half a mile south of Sandy Beach garrison,
they saw, "as they adjudged, about forty Indians coming towards Hampton,
with five or six canoes on their heads."

Having made this discovery the messengers quickly retraced their steps and
gave the alarm at Hampton. Henry Dow, one of the town committee,
immediately wrote and dispatched a letter to Salisbury, conveying the
intelligence to Maj. Robert Pike, who commanded the militia of the county
of Norfolk. Major Pike, having added a hasty note, forwarded the letter to
Mr. Saltonstall, one of the magistrates, who was then at Ipswich "on court
service," and by him it was sent to the governor.

The next morning, September 30, a company of men from Hampton hastened to
the scene of carnage, where they met Capt. John Pickering with a company
from Portsmouth. The enemy had gone. They were probably preparing to
embark at the time they were discovered at Ragged Neck, the evening
before. Their tracks were distinctly traced in the sand, as were also "the
tracks of two women and one child," whom, with others, as is supposed,
they carried into captivity. The companies found the dead bodies of ten
persons, and thought from what they found in the ashes, that three had
been burned with the house. Seven others were missing. The whole loss was
twenty persons, two of whom were very aged men; the others, women and
children. "We are in a sad condition," wrote one of our citizens; "the
enemy so violent; the Lord give us all wisdom to teach us what we ought to
do."

Soon after this occurrence it was proposed that delegates from the four
New Hampshire towns should meet in Portsmouth, to consider what measures
should be taken for defense against the common.

The proposition having been brought before this people in town meeting
assembled, October 26, it was agreed to, and Nathaniel Weare, Henry Dow
and Joseph Smith were chosen to represent the town in the proposed
meeting. The town engaged to furnish their due proposition of men and
money for the defense of the Province by such methods as should be agreed
upon at the meeting, provided the plan adopted should be consented to, and
subscribed by at least two of their committee, or delegates.

No documents have been found to show what was done or agreed upon by the
convention in Portsmouth. Even the time of holding the convention has not
been ascertained. But some transactions of our town, about to be related,
may have been in accordance with a plan adopted, or with suggestions made
at the convention. The record of these transactions is on a detached
paper, and the year is torn off; but there are some considerations which
render it probable that it was in 1691. If so, it was five days after the
town meeting, when delegates to the convention were chosen, as the record
itself shows that this was on the 31st day of October. Assuming this to be
the true date, we shall now proceed to give an account of those
transactions.

They chose a Committee of Militia and clothed them with extraordinary
powers. They were to have the charge of all the military affairs of the
town; to order all watches and wards and garrisons; and were authorized to
appoint, if they should see fit, some one garrison in the town to be
regarded as the principal garrison. In fine, whatever a majority of the
committee might agree to, the inhabitants obligated themselves to "yield
all ready obedience thereto according to their order." They also
authorized the committee to impose such fines for neglect of duty as they
might think proper, with this restriction: That no fine should exceed
three shillings for the neglect of a day's warding; nor two shillings, of
a night's watching, to be paid in, or as, money.

The committee was to consist of five men, and to be constituted in this
manner: Two members were to be from the south side of Taylor's river, and
three from the north side; three of the men were to rank as FIRST, SECOND
and THIRD; and were to have command of the soldiers in opposing the common
enemy in any emergency or case of assault. Henry Dow, John Smith (the
cooper), Ensign Jonathan Moulton, Sergt Benjamin Fifield and Joseph Swett
were chosen as the committee; the first three to command the soldiers in
the order in which they are named.

The committee was given full power to call out the soldiers whenever they
might think it necessary, and to see that they were properly armed and
equipped; and supplied with ammunition. Any soldier who should fail to be
thus armed, equipped and supplied was fined five shillings a month so long
as the deficiency should continue.

The town was induced to give such power to the committee on account of the
exigency of the situation. At the seizure and imprisonment of Governor
Andros, the province had been left without any regularly constituted
government, and the people were virtually thrown upon their own resources,
and no instructions as to their future government had since been received
from England. Exposed as they now were, to the tomahawk and the scalping
knife, their only safety seemed to be in confiding in the ability and
integrity of a few men whose word should be their law; and happy was it
for them that there were in the town men, on whom they could unite in
bestowing such a mark of confidence.

Nearly two years later a treaty of peace, or rather a truce, was formed,
articles of "submission and agreement" being signed by a considerable
number of chiefs and other Indians at Pemaquid, August 11, 1693. From that
time the people had a respite from hostilities for nearly a year. But the
next blow inflicted in New Hampshire was one of great severity. On a
summer morning, about daybreak, a large number of Indians fell suddenly
and unexpectedly upon the settlement at Oyster river; took three
garrisons, burned thirteen houses, and killed or carried into captivity
ninety-four persons. Other outrages followed.

Less than two years after the treaty, a body of Indians made an attack at
Portsmouth Plains, about two miles from the town. They had come from York
to Sandy Beach in canoes, which they secreted among the bushes near the
shore. Early in the morning of June 26, 1696, they simultaneously made an
onset upon five houses. Fourteen persons were killed, one other was
scalped and left for dead, but recovered, and four were taken prisoners.
The Indians, having plundered the houses, set them on fire, retreated
through the "Great Swamp" about four or five miles, and then stopped to
prepare a breakfast on the declivity of a hill, near the line, as it then
was, between Portsmouth and Hampton. In this situation, they were found by
a company of militia sent from Portsmouth, and the four prisoners were
rescued, but the Indians escaped into a neighboring swamp and succeeded in
reaching their canoes, in which they put to sea and saved themselves from
merited punishment. The hill where the prisoners were rescued from the
enemy, receiving its name from the circumstances related, has ever since
been called BREAKFAST HILL.

Just two months later Indians surprised and killed Lieut. John Locke,
while at work in his field. His residence was at Jocelyn's Neck, which
sometime after his death took the name of Locke's Neck; then a part of
Hampton, but thirty-four years afterwards annexed to Rye.

Hostilities were continued a year or two long. Depredations were made and
persons killed, wounded, or taken captive, in Dover and in several places
in Massachusetts and Maine; but as the enemy did not again appear in this
immediate neighborhood, it is not necessary that any further details
should be given.

The war in Europe was terminated by the treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, and
after it was known here, the French no longer gave aid to the Indians, and
the governor of Canada advised them to make peace with the English. To
this they at length agreed, and another treaty was made at Casco near the
beginning of the year 1699. A few of the captives were restored
immediately, and assurance was given that the others should be returned in
the spring. Some, however, had died in captivity, and some of those who
were still alive -- especially such as had been taken in childhood, --
having adopted the manners and customs of the Indians, intermarried, and
spent their lives with them.

During this war, and in succeeding years till his death, in 1724,
Bomaseen, a sachem of the Kennebecks, bore a prominent part. Mr. Drake, in
his History of the Indians, says of him: "Whether Bomaseen were the leader
in the attacks upon Oyster River, in New Hampshire, Groton, in
Massachusetts, and many other places, about the year 1694, we cannot
determine; but Hutchinson says he was 'a principal actor in the carnage
upon the English,' after the treaty which he had made with Governor Phips
in 1693 . . . . . . . He is mentioned as a 'notorious fellow,' and yet but
few of his acts are upon record." Traditions have been handed down, of
Bomaseen's frequent appearance in Hampton, both in peace and in war.

It is said that one dark night, during hostilities, an Indian was
discovered gazing in at a window of Thomas Lane's house (near the house of
the late Moses A. Dow). Lane seized his gun and sprang toward the door,
but stumbled over a kettle on the hearth and fell, thus giving the savage
time to slink into the darkness and escape. Afterward, Bomaseen, for it
was he, openly boasted that, if Goodman Lane had shown himself outside the
door, he was ready to shoot him.

We hear of Bomaseen on the war path in this vicinity in 1706, and at other
times. His name and mark are affixed to a treaty with the Indians,
concluded at Portsmouth, July 13, 1713. He was killed in war at Taconnet
Falls (near Winslow, Me.), while attempting to make his escape by
swimming.

In closing the narrative of some of the events of King William's war, it
is gratifying to be able to present so full a list of Hampton men, who
were employed as soldiers, scouts or messengers. Many of them served on
several occasions, particularly in the years 1694-5-6. This list is
gathered from various reliable sources, but it cannot be claimed that no
names are omitted. Probably some who suffered the hardships and braved the
dangers of the war, and perhaps some who were slain are lost from record.
The account of the committee of expenditure, mentioned on a previous page,
were it not mutilated, would, perhaps, furnish a list nearly complete, but
evidently more than forty names have been torn from the paper, while a
partial statement of the sums paid for their services remains. This
account show the sum of £211 19s. 3d. expended in paying men at a low
rate, for their services as scouts and soldiers in different places and
under different commanders, and for their rations, and for going post to
Portsmouth, Exeter, Salisbury and other places. Many of the soldiers here
named did garrison duty at Oyster River, Exeter and Hampton, and some at
Fort William and Mary. "Daniel Tilton's Garrison in Hampton" is specified.


HAMPTON MEN KNOWN TO HAVE SERVED IN KING WILLIAM'S WAR

Jacob Basford
Benjamin Batchelder
Stephen Batchelder
John Berry
Philemon Blake
Timothy Blake
Jacob Brown
Thomas Brown
Samuel Cass
John Chase
Jacob Clifford
Samuel Colcord
Abraham Cole, jr.
James Crafford
John Cram
Jonathan Cram
Joseph Cram
Thomas Crosby
Ebenezer Dearborn
Samuel Dearborn
Samuel, son of Henry
Thomas Dearborn
Thomas Dearborn, jr.
Capt. Henry Dow
Jabez Dow
John Dow
Joseph Dow, sr.
Joseph Dow, his son
Joseph Dow, jr.
Abraham Drake, sr.
Abraham Drake, jr.
Robert Drake
Jonathan Elkins
Moses Elkins
Joseph Fanning
Edward Fifield
Joseph Fifield
James Fogg
Samuel Fogg
Ebenezer Foulsham
John French
Joseph French
Nathaniel Francis
John Garland
Peter Garland
Isaac Godfrey
John Godfrey
Lieut. Edward Gove
Ebenezer Gove
Isaac Green
Nathaniel Griffin
Paul Healey
Samuel Healey
Timothy Hilliard
John Hobbs
Morris Hobbs, jr.
Nehemiah Hobbs
John Hussey
Benjamin James
Edmund Johnson
James Johnson
Samuel Johnson
David Kincaid
John Knowles
Simon Knowles
Benjamin Lamprey
Daniel Lamprey
Thomas Lancaster
William Lane
Aretas Leavitt
John Leavitt, jr.
Moses Leavitt
Thomas Leavitt
Nathaniel Locke
Caleb Marston
Ephraim Marston
Isaac Marston
John Marston
Jonathan Marston
John Mason
Samuel Melcher
Benjamin Moulton
Daniel Moulton
James Moulton
Ens. John Moulton
Joseph Moulton
Christopher Noble
John Nay
Samuel Nudd
Thomas Nudd
Francis Page
Christopher Palmer
Samuel Palmer
Benjamin Perkins
Caleb Perkins
Humphrey Perkins
James Perkins
James Philbrick
Sergt. Jonathan Philbrick
Thomas Philbrick
Christopher Pottle
Jonathan Prescott
Joshua Purington
John Redman
Ichabod Robie
Samuel Robie
Thomas Robie
Charles Rundlett
Lieut. John Sanborn
Mephibosheth Sanborn
Richard Sanborn
Stephen Sanborn
William Sanborn
Benjamin Shaw
Caleb Shaw
Josiah Shaw
Roger Shaw
Samuel Shaw
Capt. Samuel Sherburne
Christopher Smith
Israel Smith
Jacob Smith
Sergt. John Smith
John Smith, his son
Samuel Smith
William Smith
James Souther
James Stanyan
Thomas Stevens
John Stockbridge
William Swaine
John Swett
Capt. Joseph Swett
Moses Swett
Stephen Swett
Benjamin Taylor
John Taylor
Joseph Taylor
Benjamin Thomas
Daniel Tilton
Samuel Tilton
Benjamin Towle
Caleb Towle
Francis Towle
Joseph Towle
Philip Towle, jr.
John Tuck and man.
Thomas Ward
Peter Weare
Sergt. Ebenezer Webster
Isaac Webster
John Webster
Thomas Webster
David Wedgwood
Jonathan Wedgwood