King Philip's War
Several of my ancestors and relatives, on both sides of my tree, participated in King Philip's War, 1675-8, between the colonists in New England and a unified force of Indian tribes.
Population
First, a little demographics. New England was colonized in 1620, when about 100 English settlers landed at Plymouth Rock. They established a tenuous relationship with the local Indian tribes, which was often friendly, and often hostile. The background story is that the Indian population had been decimated by a plague, probably smallpox, that claimed up to 90% in some areas, from about 1616 to 1619. The colonists came upon farm fields that had been cleared and abandoned. The history of New England would have been far different, if the native population had been in its full vitality.
Indian Tribes in southern New England, 1600 [source]
This was far from the first contact between Europeans and Native Americans, being 13 years after the colony at Jamestown, Virginia was founded, and 128 years after Columbus. The pre-Columbian population of the Americas is estimated at 50 to 100 million, mostly in what is now southern Mexico and Central America. For comparison, the population of England in 1500 was 2.1 million (4.1 million in 1600), and Europe was 78 million (112 million). There has been much debate about the population in what is now the US and Canada, and estimates range from 2 to 18 million. In any case, the North American Indian tribes formed a relatively sparse population, compared to the much denser and developed civilization to the south. The vast majority of these people died from Eurasian diseases, to which they had no immunity. I don't know why the Europeans were not similarly decimated by Native American diseases.
Religion played a major role in colonial America. The early residents of New England were Puritans, and later Congregationalists and Quakers, who had fled religious persecution in their native England, seeking a place where they could practice their religion in peace. Ironically, they almost immediately began to persecute those who believed in other religions, even going as far as threatening to hang Indians and others who refused to convert. Religion also motivated the expansion of settlements into new territories. Colonists believed in leaving their fate in God's hands. If they and their family were killed, or suffered hardships, it was God's will. So they fearlessly built their homes on the edge of European civilization, and beyond. Puritans, in particular, wanted to live according to Biblical law, and thus they were continually pushed westward when eastern communities established any laws that were not from the Bible.
Estimated European Population of Colonial America, 1610 - 1680 [source]
From about 1630 to 1660, the population of Colonial America increased at a rate of about 2,300 per, with New England accounting for almost half. Virginia was the first and largest colony, with the Massachusetts Bay Colony a close second. (Maine was considered part of Massachusetts before 1820, so its population is sometimes not listed separately. Vermont was first settled by Europeans in 1666, but had essentially no European population before 1690.)
The Indians, for the most part, did not fully comprehend the European concept of ownership of land. It should be observed that the colonists were also new to land ownership, since the land in England, and in most of Western Europe, was mostly owned by the aristocratic classes. One of the main incentives that brought immigrants to America was the possibility of owning some land, which was difficult or impossible for the average person in Europe.
The Indians and Colonists had a good trading relationship, in which the Indians acquired metal knives and axes, as well as flintlock muskets, gunpowder and ammunition. They found these useful in hunting, and soon used them exclusively, abandoning their traditional methods. The Indians greatly prized their firearms, and became expert in their use. The Colonists traded for food and furs, but the main thing they were interested in was land. They often seized land with no payment, but many found that a small payment to the Indians made for better relations. When these relations became strained, the Colonists usually demanded that the Indians turn over their weapons. This became a sore point with the Indians, who saw it as theft, since they rarely recovered their weapons, once surrendered.
By 1664, New England consisted of the area in red. (Modern state boundaries are superimposed.)
The history of the Indian Wars was mostly written by the European settlers, and it shows a strong bias. Even as late as the 1900s, Indians were referred to as primitive savages. Some accounts of Indian massacres of peaceful colonists are particularly gruesome. We also begin to have a sense of equally horrific acts perpetrated on the Indian villages, in which men, women and children were slaughtered, and most of this is lost to history. Perhaps even worse is the indifference of settlers to the suffering of Indians due to diseases, which were unintentionally delivered to them from Europe. My pride in my ancestors is tainted by the realization that they took part in brutality and callous indifference, even as they were exposed to the same.
Massasoit (c. 1581 – 1661)
Massasoit was Sachem, or Chief, of the Wampanoag, and commanded great respect among all the neighboring tribes. He befriended and made agreements with the colonists, including an early treaty between the Wampanoag and the colonists, for mutual protection against neighboring tribes.
Engraving depicts Massasoit and John Carver smoking a ceremonial peace pipe, in 1621. [Larger version here]
Massasoit had 4 or 5 children:
eldest son Moanam, or Wamsutta (Alexander) b. 1621-5;
son Pometecomet, or Metacomet, or Metacom (Philip);
son Sonkanuchoo;
daughter Amie, wife of Tuspaquin, chief of the Namaskets;
possibly another daughter Sarah.
Soon after the death of Massasoit, Wamsutta and Metacom went to Plymouth and asked the Pilgrims to give them English names. The court named them Alexander and Philip. Wamsutta (Alexander), the eldest, became Sachem after the death of his father, about 1660 or 1661. He died within a year, thought to have been poisoned, and his brother Metacom (Philip) succeeded him in 1662. It was Metacom who became known as King Philip, leader of the war against the colonists, in 1675-8.
King Philip
"Massasoit had always maintained a cordial and firm friendship with the English ; and it would seem that Alexander also was somewhat of his father's nature and disposition. The moment, however, which saw Philip raised to the place of power, gave signal of a far different course of conduct on the part of the Wampanoag Sachem. The limits of his father's olden territory had been greatly reduced before he came to power. The English had purchased and otherwise absorbed a large proportion of their lands. Philip kept on selling and surrendering, till at last, as early as 1670-1, he began to feel the pressure of civilization upon their hunting and fishing grounds as well as cornfields." [GMB, pp. 24-5]
Two portraits of King Philip. In each, he is holding a flintlock musket.
Left: "Philip, King of Mount Hope" by Paul Revere, appeared in [BC] [source]
Colonial Military Leaders
Colonel Benjamin CHURCH (1639-1718) was principal military aide to Governor Josiah WINSLOW of Plymouth Colony, and led a kind of "special forces" company that was to become the US Army Rangers. His memoirs, written with the help of his son, Stephen CHURCH, are still read by military strategists. [BC]
Major Samuel APPLETON (1625-1696) was commander of the Massachusetts militia during King Philip's War, who led troops during the Attack on Hatfield, Massachusetts and the Great Swamp Fight. His brother was Captain John APPLETON.
Robert TREAT (1624-1710) was leader of the Connecticut militia during King Philip's War, and was governor of the Connecticut Colony from 1683 to 1698. He was also the founder of Newark, New Jersey.
Timeline
Troop Movements in June 1675
The first company of infantry from Boston was made up from the regular military companies of the town. A company of cavalry, or “troopers," was gathered from the regular organization in three counties. A third company, of "volunteers," was raised about the town and vicinity, from all sorts of adventurers, seafaring men and strangers, with a number of prisoners who had been convicted of piracy and condemned to death, but were now released to engage in fighting the Indians. Capt. Daniel Henchman commanded the first company, Capt. Thomas Prentice the troopers, and Capt. Samuel Mosely the "volunteers." These three companies marched out of Boston on the 26th and 27th and arrived at Swansy on the 28th, having formed a junction with the Plymouth forces under Major James Cudworth and Capt. Fuller, these having been in the field several days already. The forces quartered about the house of Rev. John Miles, the minister at Swansy, whose place was nearest the bridge leading over the river into Philip's dominions. Some of the troopers that evening rode across the bridge and had a slight skirmish with the enemy. On the 29th, Major Thomas Savage arrived with another company of foot with Capt. Nicholas Paige's troop. Major Savage took command of the Massachusetts forces; while, according to the custom in the United Colonies, the senior officer of the colony in which the forces were engaged at the time became commander-in-chief. The present seat of war being in Plymouth Colony, Major Cudworth was thus the commander of the whole army. On June 30th, the troopers, supported by Mosely's company, charged across the bridge for a mile into the woods, driving the enemy before them into swamps, with a loss of five or six. Ensign Perez Savage being severely wounded on the English side. This charge so frightened the Indians that they fled, in the night, out of their peninsula of Mount Hope, across the channel to Pocasset, now Tiverton, R.I., so that on the next day when the whole force marched over into Mount Hope, and marched back and forth sweeping the country with their lines, they found no enemy. The forces were engaged several days in scouting the neighboring country in search of the Indians, not yet knowing that the main body were in Pocasset. [GMB, pp. 27-8]
My Ancestors' Role
Three of the 5g-grandfathers of Isel HUNTLEY, my paternal grandmother, participated in King Philip's War. They were Aaron HUNTLEY, Samuel PEARSON and Stephen DE WOLF. Several of their brothers and brothers-in-law were also involved.
Brothers Aaron and Moses HUNTLEY were 21 and 23, and unmarried, in 1675. Their father and two younger sisters were living in Lyme, CT. Moses an Aaron were among the 180 volunteers from Connecticut. The Colony of Connecticut rewarded its volunteers with grants of land in a Cedar Swamp in what came to be called Voluntown. Aaron drew Lot No. 50, and Moses drew Lot No. 119. [GMB, p. 445] I don't know which unit Aaron and Moses were in. Aaron married Mary CHAMPION during the war, on 22 Feb 1676 in Lyme, and John HUNTLEY, father of Aaron and Moses, died on 16 Nov 1676, at age 53, also in Lyme. Elizabeth HUNTLEY, sister of Aaron and Moses, married John LEWIS on 28 May 1677, possibly the same John LEWIS who served with Capt SCOTTOW's troops, and was paid on 1 Aug 1677. [GMB, p. 339]
Stephen DE WOLF and his brother Edward DE WOLF were 25 and 29 in 1675. Their parents and 4 siblings lived in Lyme, CT. Stephen and Edward were both among the 180 volunteers from Connecticut, and like the HUNTLEY brothers, were rewarded lots in Cedar Swamp, with Edward drawing Lot No. 1 and Stephen Lot No. 135. They were present at the Great Swamp Fight in Dec 1675, according to [CBP, p. 108]. It is not clear which unit they were in, but there was a Stephen WOLFE in the company of Capt. SCOTTOW in Mar 1677/8. [GMB, p. 339] Late in life, Stephen's sister Mary DE WOLF would marry Mathew GRISWOLD, who was also a Connecticut Volunteer, and drew Lot No. 92 at the Cedar Swamp. Mary and Mathew were grandparents of Mathew GRISWOLD, Governor of Connecticut.
Samuel PEARSON was one of 11 children, born and raised in Rowley, MA. The brothers, and their ages in 1675: John Jr (31), Samuel (27), Jeremiah (22), Joseph (19), Benjamin (17), Stephen (13). Of course, Stephen would have been too young to take part in the war. John Jr was known as Captain John PEARSON, but it seems his service was ended by 1675. This has been difficult because there was another PEARSON family in Rowley, seemingly unrelated, with another Capt. John PEARSON. There is some mention of Samuel PEIRSON and Benjamin PEIRSON, but I'm not sure if these are ours.
Joseph PEARSON, brother of my 7g-grandfather Samuel PEARSON, was killed by Indians near Hatfield, MA, 25 Aug 1675, age 19. The colonial government sent a force of 80 men from Essex County, under the command of Captain LATHROP (or LOTHROP), to Western MA, to guard the far western settlements. On 18 Sep 1675 this force was escorting a shipment of wheat from Deerfield to Hadley, when they were ambushed by about 700 Indians. Most or all of the company was killed in the attack, called the Battle of Bloody Brook. The men sent from Essex County were said to be "the flower of the county" and the corps was called the Flower of Essex. Apparently Joseph PEARSON was killed in a smaller attack, less than a month before Bloody Brook.
On the maternal side of my tree, there were many FRENCH and CUMMINGS military men in early New England.
Lieutenant William FRENCH (1603-1681) was my 9g-grandfather, who emigrated from England about 1635, settling first in Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and about 1652 removed about 30 miles northwest, to Billerica. I don't know the details of his service, but he is usually referred to as Lieutenant, although his biography says he was later Captain. Since he immigrated at age 32, he probably acquired his military training and rank in England. William was a tailor by trade, and owned several parcels of land, near the boundary between Topsfield and Ipswich. He is also known for an article he wrote, describing an interview with an Indian who had converted to Christianity. See the William FRENCH page.
Lieutenant William FRENCH and his wife Elizabeth had 3 sons: John, Jacob and Samuel, who were 40, 35 and 30 in 1675. Samuel was my 8g-grandfather, the 6g-grandfather of my maternal grandmother, Dora EATON.
John French biography
John French, son of Lieutenant William French was born in England early in 1635, and was brought over when but five months old by his parents. He died in Billerica, Massachusetts, October, 1712. He resided on the south side of Fox Hill, on the east road. He was a soldier in King Philip's war and was a corporal in the fight at Brookfield, 1675. He was wounded in this assault at Quaboag (Brookfield), and in petition subsequently describes himself as a "poor, wounded'' man. He was poor enough for a time, and was harassed by the constable before he recovered from the losses of the war. He was an influential citizen of Billerica, and held many town offices from time to time. [WRC, Vol. I, p. 280]
Jacob "lived near his brother John, on the east road, Billerica. His house was one of the 'garrisons' of 1675, and may be the same venerable building, with brick-lined walls, in which Mr. James Fletcher now lives." [HAH, p. 56, Appendix, image on p. 112]
Garrisons in Billerica, MA 1675
The following were the garrisons appointed at these meetings [Oct 1675], with the inhabitants belonging to each.
1. Ralph Hills’—Nathaniel and Jonathan Hill, Thomas Dutton, jun. William French, William and Isaac Chamberlain. (5 houses.)
2. Thomas Fosters'—Joseph Foster, James Frost, Joseph French, Joseph Walber, Daniel Rogers, John Kittredge and Thomas Richardson. (6 houses.)
3. Simon Crosby's—Richard Daniel, William Hamlet, Jacob Hamlet, Jonathan Hides, Joseph Tompson and Peter Bracket. (7 families.)
4. Rev. Samuel Whiting’s—Thomas Dutton, sen. John Dutton, Daniel Shed, John Shed, John Durant, John Rogers, John Rogers, jr. Thomas and Nathaniel Rogers. (6 families.) This was " the main garrison and the last refuge in case of extremity."
5. Thomas Patten’s—Golden More, Samuel Frost, John Kidder, Roger Toothaker and John Trull. (5 families.)
6. James Patterson's—John Baldwin, Edward Farmer, Thomas Farmer, Henry Jefts and John Jefts, (4 families.)
7. Jacob French's—John French, John Marshall, Thomas Ross, and William Chamberlain, jr. (4 houses.)
8. James Kidder’s—Daniel Shed, jr. Samuel Trull, John Bracket, and James Kidder, jr. (4 families.)
9. Jonathan Danforth's—Samuel Manning, John Dunkin, and Jonathan Danforth, Jr.
10. Timothy Brooks’—Michael Bacon.
11. George Farley's house " to entertain as it may be capable."
12. Job Lane, from his remote situation was allowed to fortify his own house, and "to have two soldiers if the country could spare them." The Masters of the several Garrisons were sergeant Ralph Hill, serg. Thomas Foster, serg. Joseph Tompson, Rev. Samuel Whiting, Thomas Patten, James Patterson, John Marshall, serg. James Kidder and Jonathan Danforth. [JF, p. 11]
Samuel FRENCH, my 8g-grandfather, married Sarah CUMMINGS, daughter of John CUMMINGS (see below). They were early settlers in the part of Dunstable that was later included in the Province of New Hampshire. Dunstable was on the edge of the English settlements, and it endured many attacks by local Indians.
Descendant was a famous martyr in Rev War
A descendant of Lieutenant William French through his second son, John, himself named William French, a resident of Dummerston in the New Hampshire grants, was the celebrated victim of the Westminster massacre in 1775. As this was the direct result of the first organized resistance to British authority in the American colonies, William French has been claimed as the first martyr to the cause of American independence. [WRC, Vol. I, p. 280]
Deacon Isaac CUMMINGS, my 10g-grandfather, along with his wife and 3 children, emigrated from England in 1635, and settled in Topsfield, MA. He died in Mar 1677, at age 76, but it doesn't seem as if his death was related to the war. His sons, John and Isaac Jr, were 45 and 42 in 1675. His daughter Sarah married Samuel FRENCH (above).
Isaac Jr "is styled "Sergeant" in the list of those who took the oath of allegiance in 1678. He also served as selectman, treasurer, constable and tithingman. He was made a freeman in 1673, and in 1675 was impressed for the Narraganset expedition." [CTCD, p. 7] The roll of Major Appleton's company in the Narragansett campaign includes the name Isack Cummins. [GMB, p. 157]
John CUMMINGS, my 9g-grandfather, was 45 when the war began in 1675, and I don't believe he took part in it. His eldest son was 18, and I have not seen any evidence of his participation in the war. However, the family had its share of trouble with the Indians.
From the John CUMMINGS page: The family of John and Sarah CUMMINGS was particularly hard hit by Indian attacks. On 2 Nov 1688, their sons Isaac and Ebenezer were killed by Indians. For some reason, their bodies were not buried until several days later. On 3 Jul 1706, John and Sarah's son John and his wife were attacked. She was killed, and he suffered a broken arm, hiding overnight in a nearby swamp. On 5 Sep 1724 a group of 14 soldiers was attacked by Indians at Thornton's Ferry. All but one of the soldiers were killed, including the commander, Ebenezer FRENCH, and Ebenezer CUMMINGS, both grandsons of John and Sarah. Also killed was Lieut. Oliver FARWELL, husband of Mary CUMMINGS, granddaughter of John and Sarah. Two other grandsons, Josiah CUMMINGS and William CUMMINGS, were members of the ill-fated party of Capt. John LOVEWELL that started from Dunstable in April, 1725, for Pequawket, but they were sent home before the massacre, because William was sick. It was Josiah who first ran Thornton's Ferry.
Also see the John CUMMINGS Jr page.
Sources
[AGW] Massasoit of the Wampanoags (1919) by Alvin G. Weeks
[AH] The Tragedy Of King Philip And The Destruction Of The New England Indians, on American Heritage
[BB] Blood and Betrayal: King Philip's War, on HISTORYNET
[CBP] Charles d'Wolf of Guadaloupe, his ancestors and descendants (1902) by Calbraith B. Perry
[CTCD] Isaac Cummings, of Topsfield, Mass., and some of his descendants (1899) by Clark, Towne, Cummings and Dow
[G] Goffe rallying the men of Hadley
[GMB] Soldiers in King Philip's war (1906) by George M. Bodge
[HAH] History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical register (1883) by Henry Allen Hazen
[JF] An historical memoir of Billerica, in Massachusetts (1816) by John Farmer
[M] Metacom (King Philip), Wampanoag sachem, meeting settlers, illustration c. 1911
[MMD] The history of King Philip's war (1862) by Mather, Increase; Mather, Cotton; Drake, Samuel Gardner
[RBB] The History of King Philip’s War (2017) by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks
[TT] Tribal Territories Southern New England - Map
[WH1] A narrative of the Indian wars in New England : from the first planting thereof in the year 1607, to the year 1677 : containing a relation of the occasion, rise and progress of the war with the Indians in the southern, western, eastern, and northern parts of the said country by William Hubbard (1801)
[WH2] The history of the Indian wars in New England : from the first settlement to the termination of the war with King Philip in 1677
by William Hubbard (1865) Vol I Vol II
[WH3] A general history of New England, from the discovery to MDCLXXX (1815) by William Hubbard
[WRC] Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Boston and eastern Massachusetts (1908) by William Richard Cutter Vol I Vol II Vol III Vol IV
Last updated 4 Sep 2020 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.