THE TARBELL FAMILY AND THE INDIAN WARS PT4

Samuel Abbott Green devoted quite a bit of research for his book to the Tarbell incident. He dicussed the various versions of what happened. He also found documents detailing the efforts made by Thomas Tarbell IV to find his siblings and bring them home. Green even made a trip to Montreal where he discovered what became of Sarah Tarbell :

During my visit to Montreal in the summer of 1877 I saw, at the Congregation of Notre Dame, the French record, of which the following is a translation: —
On Monday, July 23, 1708, the ceremony of baptism was performed on Sarah Tarbell, who was born at Groton in New England, October 9, 1693. Her parents were Thomas Tarbell and Elizabeth Wood, both Protestants, and she was baptized by the minister shortly after her birth. Having been taken by the savages on Monday, June 20, 1707, she was brought to Canada; she has since been sold, and has lived with the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, established at Lachine, where she abjured her religion on May 1. Her godfather was M. Jacques Urbain Robert de Lamorandiere, Secretary of M. l'lntendant; and her godmother was Madame Marguerite Bonat, wife of M. Etienne Pascaud, the deputy treasurer of the King in this country.
Her name Sarah has been changed to Marguerite.
[Signed] Mgte Bonat,
Pascaud,
Lamorandiere,
Meriel, Pretre.
 
The boys remained for many years with their captors at Caughnawaga, an Indian village on the right bank of the St. Lawrence River, directly opposite to Lachine.

 p110
  Groton During the Indian Wars  : J. Wilson and Sons, Cambridge , Ma. 1883

When John and Zachariah Tarbell finally returned to Groton, it was as grown men and strangers to their family:

 We find no further trace of these boys, now grown up to manhood, during the twenty-five years following this attempt to release the New England prisoners. In the winter of 1739 John and Zechariah Tarbell came back to Groton in order to visit their kinsfolk and see their native town. They were so young when carried away that their recollections of the place were of course very indistinct. It is not known now under what circumstances or influences they returned. An itemized bill of the expense incurred in bringing them back from Canada was made out against their brothers, Thomas and Samuel, and perhaps paid by them. Shortly afterward Thomas Tarbell petitioned the General Court for means to enable him to meet the necessary charges of the journey, besides the expenses of an interpreter; and a conditional loan was granted. The record does not say whether it was ever paid back by him.  ibid,p111

The Tarbell brothers were now more Native American than English, and returned to the families they had made for themselves in upstate New York,  Green traces the Indian side of the family right down to the time of the publication  of his book in 1877 .

It's quite possible I may have Tarbell cousins living there today,

THE TARBELL FAMILY AND THE INDIAN WARS PT3

The story of the capture of the Tarbell children and their susequent fate was written about in books and magazine articles right up into the early 20th century.  Samuel Abbott Green wrote quite a bit about them in his book Groton in the Indian Wars, starting with this:

In a list of prisoners held by the French and Indians in Canada, March 5, 1710-11, are the names of "Zech: Tarbal, John Tarbal, Sarah Tarbal, Matt. Farnsworth [and] Lydia Longley" (Archives, LXXI. 765), all of Groton, though no date of capture is given. Lydia Longley was taken by the Indians on July 27, 1694, and the particulars of her case have already been told. The Tarbell children were carried off on June 20, 1707; but it is unknown when Matthias Farnsworth was captured, and this entry appears to be the only record of the fact. Sarah, John, and Zechariah were children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Wood) Tarbell, who, with a large family, lived on Farmers' Row, near where James Lawrence's house now stands. Sarah was a girl nearly fourteen years of age, John a lad of twelve years, and Zechariah only seven, at the time when they were taken. They were near kindred of the Longley family, who had been massacred thirteen years before. The father was unquestionably the Corporal Tarbell who commanded, in the autumn of 1711, one of the eighteen garrisons in the town.

The story of their capture and captivity is a singular one, and sounds like a romance. They were picking cherries early one evening, — so tradition relates, — and were taken before they had time to get down from the tree. It should be borne in mind that the date of capture, according to the new style of reckoning, was July I, when cherries would be ripe enough to tempt the appetite of climbing youngsters. These children were carried to Canada, where, it would seem, they were treated kindly, as no inducement afterward was strong enough to make them return permanently to their old home. The girl, Sarah, was sold to the French, and placed in a convent at Lachine, near Montreal; but what became of her subsequently I am unable to say.

Thomas Tarbell, the father of these children, made his will September 26, 1715, which was admitted to probate six weeks later, and is now on file at the Middlesex Probate Office in East Cambridge. After making certain bequests to different members of his family, he says: —

all the rest & residue of my Reall Estate I give to be Equally divided between my three children, John, Zachary, & Sarah Tarbell, upon their return from Captivity, or In Proportion unto any of them that shall return, & the rest, or the parts belonging to them that do not return, shall be Equally divided among the rest of my children.

pp109-110

 Groton During the Indian Wars  : J. Wilson and Sons, Cambridge , Ma. 1883

Even after eleven years since their capture, my 8x great grandfather held out hope for their eventual return


His sons would come back to Groton after his death, but not as he had hoped they would.


To be continued.

THE TARBELL FAMILY AND THE INDIAN WARS PT1

I was researching the tragedy of Thomas Tarbell  III's family when I came across this account of an incident that took place before King Philip's War. It involves the murder of a colonist by an Indian and includes testimony from Thomas Tarbell Jr. as to what he heard about it.

It's from Samuel Abbott Green's book Groton During the Indian Wars. He starts with a brief summary of the events:

The earliest documents at the State House, relating to Groton and the savages, give an account of a drunken brawl which ended in murder. The affair took place in the Merrimack Valley, and several men of this town were summoned to appear as witnesses at the investigation before the General Court in Boston. In the spring of 1668 Captain Richard Waldron built a trucking or trading house at Penacook, now Concord, New Hampshire, where a few weeks later one Thomas Dickinson was murdered by an Indian while under the influence of liquor. The homicide created great excitement, and it has been supposed to have delayed the permanent settlement of the place for many years. A warrant was issued directing the constable of Groton to summon John Page, Thomas Tarbell, Jr., Joseph Blood, and Robert Parish, all of this town, before the General Court in order to give their testimony, which they did under oath. It appeared by the evidence that there had been a drunken row, and that Dickinson was killed by an Indian, who acknowledged the crime and expressed great sorrow for it, but pleaded drunkenness in extenuation of the deed. The culprit was tried at once by a council of the Indians, who sentenced him to be shot, which was done the next day. It is interesting now to note the high temperance stand taken, more than two hundred years ago, by the Chief Tohaunto, which places him abreast of the most earnest opposers of the rum traffic at the present time. p-9

Groton During the Indian Wars  : J. Wilson and Sons, Cambridge , Ma. 1883

A few pages later he quotes the testimony of three men, including my ancestor Thomas Tarbell, Jr., who were given two different versions of the death, one from a colonist and the other from the Indians.

Wee whose names are herevnto subscribed doe testifye that in or aboute y* Month of June last past goeing to Pennycooke to enquire after Cattle yt were lost, rideing to ye ffort at the sayd Pennicooke, 'meeteing wth some of the Indians belonging thereto told us, yt an Englishman was Killed by an Indian, and that all our Englishman; Laws they had Killed the Indian, wee farther enquireing of them how and whether the Indians were drunck when the Englishman was Killed, and they answered all Indians were then drunck or else they had noe Kild Englishman; And farther wee Evidence Tohaunto a Sagamore being afrayd that wee had brought Liquors to sell desired us if wee had any, that wee would power it vppon the ground for it would make ye Indians all one Divill, And farther wee meeteing wth Thomas Payne, who told us he was Capt. Waldern's servt, asking him whether the Indians were druncke when the Englishman was Killed, and he answered not drunck; and after farther discourse wth ye sd Payne he sayd that ye pson that was Killed was Peter Coffins man and farther sayd that if the Killing of the Man did not prevent it his the sayd Paynes Master Capt Walderne and Peter Coffin did intend to send Carpenters to build there and also to have ground broake vpp to be improved, and wee farther affirme that wee saw a Rundlett which would hold at least six Gallons in the Trucking House near the sayd ffort; after wch wee meeteing wth the Indians then there, and telling them yt Thomas Payne told us that they were not drunck when The Englishman was Killed the Indians then sayd yt Payne much Lyed, for wee had Divers Quarts of Liquors the same day that the sayd Englishman was Killed upon and one of the Indians Comaunded his Squagh to wash a Bladder, wherein the Indian sayd there was a Quart of Liquors and wee doe adiudge it to be as much; or using words to the same effect
October 27th 1668  
John Page
Robb Parris
Thomas Tarball
Joseph Bloud
Sworne in Court, 27, October 1668
Edw: Rawson Secrety
[Massachusetts Archives, XXX. 161.]
-p11

And there were darker days ahead for the settlers along the Massachusetts frontier.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 51:THOMAS TARBELL 3RD. OF GROTON, MA.

My 8x great grandfather Thomas Tarbell III's  family was deeply effected by the Indian raids on Groton during the period known as King William's War. I will discuss those events in subsequent posts but first the basic background on Thomas and his family.

Once more, rom the article in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, "Thomas Tarbell And Some Of His Descendants" by Charles Henry Wight:

4. Thomas' Tarbell (Thomas? Thomas1) married at Grotou, Dec. 1,1686, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and Alice (Rushton) Woods, who was born Sept. 17, 1665. They lived at Groton, where he was town clerk, 1704-1705. Thomas was chosen Deacon of the church at Groton, Apr. 22, 1715, and died at Lexington, where his sister Anna was living, Oct. 8 of the same year, being buried in that town. His will, dated Sept. 26 before his death, names his wife and all of his children, provision being made for his three children, John, Zachary and Sarah, in the event of their return from captivity. Elizabeth, his widow, died before Mar. 11, 1717— 18, as shown by papers relating to the estate.
Children, born at Groton:
7. i. Thomas,4 b. Sept. 15, 1687.
8. il. William, b. June 10, 1689.
ill. Elizabeth, b. Aug. 19, 1691; d. Dec. 23, 1763; m. Joseph Willard of Lancaster,
lv. Sarah, b. Sept. 29,1693; taken captive by the Indians, June 20,1707; d. unmarried in Canada.*
v. John, b. July 6, 1695; taken captive by the Indians, June 20, 1707; m. in Canada and had Indian descendants.*
9. vi. Samukl, b. Oct. 14, 1697.
vil. Zachahiah, b. Jan. 25, 1699-1700; taken captive by the Indians, June 20, 1707; m. in Canada and had Indian descendants. *
viii. Anna, b. May 28, 1702; d. Nov. 27,1753; m. Mar. 8, 1721-2, Eleazer Green, Jr.
Ix. James, b. Feb. 13, 1704-5; was alive at his father's decease, but had d. prior to May 16, 1729, when his brother, Eleazer Tarbell, sold with other property his interest in James's estate.
10. x. Eleazer, b. Apr. 28, 1707.

pp-71-72


 The New England Historical and Genealogical Register Vols. 37-52 (1883-98) Published by the Society Boston, Ma. 1909


I am descended from Elizabeth Tarbell who married Joseph Willard.

JOSEPH ABBOTT "SLAIN WITHIN SIGHT OF HIS OWN DWELLING"

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my 8x great granduncle Joseph Abbott was the first person in Andover, Ma killed by Indians. Searching online I found two accounts by local historians of the attack.

First, from Sarah Loring Bailey's Historical Sketches of Andove, written in the highly romanticized style of the 19th century :

But, in spite of all the vigilance and precautions, the Indians surprised the town at last. This was on the 8th [or 18th, N. S.] of April, 1676. In this attack, one of the soldiers, who had passed safely through the bloody Narragansett fight in the winter, was slain within sight of his own dwelling.1 It is not impossible that the savages knew who were the men in town that had helped to murder their brethren in the swamp fight; at any rate, they, on this day, whether by accident or design, took revenge on two of these. They directed their course to the house of George Abbot, one of the garrisons. Tradition says that they were seen crossing the river, and that Ephraim Stevens, a scout, gave the alarm. The villagers fled to-the garrisons ; but the Abbot brothers were at work in the fields, and did not reach the shelter before the savages were upon them. Joseph Abbot, the soldier, a strong, athletic young man about twenty-four years of age, made a brave resistance, and killed one or more of the Indians, but was finally set upon by the whole band and cut down, — the first, and perhaps the only, Andover soldierever slain in the town. His brother Timothy, a lad of thirteen years, was taken captive. The savages then hurried off, leaving the smitten household to its desolation. That such desolation ever came to the now peaceful spot it is difficult to realize. In the calm of a summer afternoon, the writer of this sketch stood upon the ground once trodden by the hurrying feet of the fleeing citizens and red with the blood of the slain. Now the scene is tranquil, and bears no token that any deed of violence was ever done here. Broad fields stretch away, just greened after the mower's scythe; elm, ash, and maple, with the friendly apple tree, make a pleasant shade, and through their foliage the sun streaming in, tessellates the grass with a shifting carpet of light and shade. Birds nest and sing undisturbed; from distant fields come sounds of labor ; the cattle are driven into the farm-yard ; the lengthening shadows and the striking of the meeting-house clock remind of the evening hour. In vain we try to call back to this serenity the struggle, the blood, the groans of the battle, the tears and the lament for the youthful dead. May they never come again to any home of Old Andover! pp 173-174
Historical Sketches of Andover: (comprising the Present Towns of North Andover and Andover),
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, Ma.1880


And there is this by a member of the family, Charlotte Helen Abbott, in the Abbott Genealogies research papers on the Andover Memorial Hall Library website. It was written about the same time as the above excerpt but not as florid: :

April 18 1676
Timothy (2) took one of the powder horns-as he supposed- the morning that his brother went to cut elder bushes by the swamp, now Brother's Field, but it was a horn of sand, used to whet the scythes, so they had no ammunition.

When the Indians came upon them, Joseph was bound not to be taken or let Timothy go, as he knew that he would be tortured because he was among those who burned Wamesit lodges on the way back from the war. So he resisted, and was killed. Timothy was taken captive and kept with the Indians for a number of months. He was later brought back by a squaw, having suffered much from hunger.p-23


 Early Records of the Abbott Family of Andover

The Wamesit lodges referred to were in an Indian camp the Andover militia destroyed on the way home from the Great Swamp Fight at Narragansett, R.I.

" A CAPTIVE EXPOSD TO GREAT HARDSHIPS,..."

In my research for my posts about my Butterfield ancestors, I came across this story about a Samuel Butterfield. This Samuel was not my 8x great grandfather, but rather his nephew, a son of Nathaniel Butterfield, and therefore one of my distant cousins. The incident took place during the Queen Anne's War, and Samuel Abbott Green (another distant cousin) wrote about it in his book Groton During the Indian Wars:

Penhallow, in his History, gives several instances of extreme cruelty to the prisoners on the part of the savages, and mentions the following case of a man who was captured in this town: —

A third was of Samuel Butterfield, who being sent to Groton as a Soldier, was with others attackt, as they were gathering in the Harvest; his bravery was such, that he kill'd one and wounded another, but being overpower'd by strength, was forc'd to submit; and it hapned that the slain Indian was a Sagamore, and of great dexterity in War, which caused matter of Lamentation, and enrag'd them to such degree that they vow'd the utmost revenge; Some were for whipping him to Death; others for burning him alive; but differing in their Sentiments, they submitted the Issue to the Squaw Widow, concluding she would determine something very dreadful, but when the matter was opened, and the Fact considered, her Spirits were so moderate as to make no other reply, than, " Fortune L'guare. Upon which some were uneasy; to whom she answered, If by killing him, you can bring my Husband to life again, I beg you to study what Death you please; but if not let him be my Servant; which he accordingly was, during his Captivity, and had favour shewn him." (Pages 38, 39.)
pp 94-95
Groton During the Indian Wars,  John Wilson & Son, Universtiy Press, Cambridge, Ma. 1883

Samuel was able to escape eventually:

Butterfield remained a captive for more than a year. It is not known how he obtained his release. His petition to the General Court sets forth the fact that he was an inhabitant of Chelmsford, and was sent by Captain Jerathmel Bowers to Groton, in order to help Colonel Taylor, in August, 1704, when the enemy came upon the place. It is as follows: —

To his Excellency Joseph Dudley Esqr Capt. General and Governor in Chief and To the Honoble the Council and House of Representatives now in General Assembly convened at Boston within 6* for her Majesties Province of the Massachust. Bay April 10th 1706.

The Humble Petition of Samuel Butterfield Sheweth
That yor Petitioner is an Inhabitant of the Town of Chelmsford, and in the month of August 1704, when the Enemy came upon Nashoway & Groton &: yor Petitioner (with others) was sent out by the Capt Jerathmel Bowers to Groton to assist Col. Taylor, when yor Petitioner being ordered out with some others to Guard a Man who was going to work in the field, the Enemy came upon them, killd one man and took yor Petitioner and one other Prisoners, tho yor Petitioner made all the resistance possible, killed one, and knockt down two more after they had seized him, for which yor Petitioner was cruelly used by them afterwards & threatened to be burnt, several times. May it please this Great and Generall Assembly, yor Petitioner was very well accoutred in all respects when he was taken, and then was stript of all and was between fourteen and fifteen months a Captive exposd to great hardships, and has sustained great Loss and damage.

Yor Petitioner therefore humbly prays the favor of this great and General Assembly to take the premises into yor serious Consideration and Grant him such Recompense for his Losses and sufferings, as aforesd as to yor wisdom and Goodness shall seem meet.
and yor Petitioner (as in duty bound) shall ever pray &c.
Samuell Butterfield
[Endorsed]

Apri1 10: 1706, Read.
In the House of Representative Resolved That the Sum of Five Pounds be allowed, & Paid out of the Publick Treasury to Samll Butterfield the Petitioner in Consideration of his Losse, & service. Sent up for concurrence.
Thomas Oakes Speaker
 
April. 11. 1706.
In Council.
Read & concurr'd.
Isa Addington Secry.
[Massachusetts Archives, LXXI. 195, 196.]

Butterfield had previously received, October 27, 1704, a bounty of four pounds for killing the Indian mentioned in this petition; but the present award was for his services and personal loss.
pp95-96
ibid. 

It's always struck me as ironic and sad that the Puritans, who sought to establish a godly commonwealth here in Massachusetts, should offer a bounty on the lives of other human beings, a practice that continued across the continent until the late 19th century.