52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS#23: JOHN UPTON

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every
week on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. For
this prompt I've tried to concentrate on ancestors I haven't researched as much
as I have others in my family tree. For this post, I'm writing about my 8x great
John Upton and one of those "family traditions" common in some genealogies.

I recently found this in an edition of the Historical Collections of the Essex Institute:

UPTON FAMILY.
COMMUNICATED BY MATTHEW A. STICKNEY

The following traditions relating to the Upton* family of Danvers and Reading, were obtained by me, Jan. 18, 1849, from Eli Upton, who was born Oct. 7, 1759, and died Feb. 24, 1849; and, as some of the items here given are not recorded anywhere to my knowledge, they are offered for publication in the Collections.

"John Upton was born in Scotland, and, it is supposed, was one of the prisoners taken by Oliver Cromwell at the battle of Dunbar, in 1651, and sent by him to New England, as he was sold on his arrival here. He was bought by a woman, whose name is not remembered, but who lived in that part of Salem now called Danvers. She came from England. Some of the fruit trees on the place were brought out by her. She had been living there some time. 

The place above mentioned has been in the hands of the Uptons from the death of John to the present time (1849); and it is now owned by Mr. Eli Upton. Two houses have been built there.

John Upton aforesaid bought a large lot of land in Reading for a "piece-of eight" and a colt. On this land one of his sons settled, and there John himself died in 1699. P247
Historical Collections of the Essex Institute (Google eBook) Vol7 Number 6 Essex Institute.,  Salem Ma 1865

A nice story there about how John came to Massachusetts, but probably untrue. There's no
mention of a John Upton on the list of names of the Scottish prisoners sent to the colony. In
his Upton Memorial, John Adams Vinton discredits that story and another that claims the
lady was Upton's wife who somehow got to Massachusetts before the prison ship had
arrived so she could purchase her husband. He also questions the tradition that the wife
was named Elenor Stuart.

There's also this, which concerns some land purchased by John Upton:

1668. Feb. 1.—Jeremiah Swain of Reading, for 22s. 6d.. sells to John Upton half an acre and seven poles of meadow, lying on the north side of Ipseage River, also a quarter of an acre and twenty-eight poles of meadow on the north side of said river, all in Reading -p13
The Upton Memorial: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of John Upton, of North Reading, Mass. ... Together with Short Genealogies of the Putnam, Stone and Bruce Families (Google eBook)  private use at the office of E. Upton & son,  Bath, Me 1874

It's significant to me because Jeremiah Swain is my 9x great grandfather and John Upton my 8x great grandfather. I always get a kick out of finding these sort of things involving ancestors from two different branches of my family tree!

JEREMIAH SWAIN

((Today is the 302nd anniversary of the death of my 9x great grandfather,
Jeremiah Swain, who was prominent in early Massachusetts Bay Colony
history. My discovery of this poem led to a 14 part series of posts on his 
life. First posted in Apr 2009))

On May 29,1844, at the Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Founding of
Old Reading, Massachusetts (now three towns: Reading, North Reading,
and Wakefield), the Honorable Lilley Eaton stepped forward and read a
poem he'd written about the history of the town and some of it's important
citizens. Among these was my ancestor Jeremiah Swain(also spelled
Swayne or Sweyn)

"At my old map I looked again,
And found the house of Major Swayne ;
'Twas situated near the ground
Where Stowell, Issacher, is found.
This Major Swayne, the records say,
Was a great warrior in his day,
And in our ancient Indian wars,
A victor chief, beloved of Mars ;
And when King Philip with his troop,
With tomahawk and dread war-whoop,
With poisoned arrows and firebrand,
Bore down upon the pilgrim land,
Old Major Swayne, with courage true,
Forth to the post of danger flew,
Was made commander of the free,
And led them on victory.
And once, 'tis said, it so fell out,
While Major Swayne was on a scout,
Exploring swamps and other by-land,
Within the State of old Rhode Island,
He found the Indians, whom he sought,
Gathered in force, within a fort.
Our hero's numbers being few,
He wished to hide them from their view,
So lurking near their palisade,
Concealed them there in ambuscade ;
Then bold as e'er a lion was,
His glitt'ring steel the Major draws,
And, mounting on a rising stone,
He cries in loud, undaunted tone,
"We've found the foe, let's storm the fort,
To drive them thence will be but sport;
Come, Captain Poole and Sergeant Brown,
Wheel up your squadrons into line."
The Indians heard this fearless boast,
And thought there came a mighty host ;
With terror struck, and wild dismay,
They quit the fort and ran away ;
Our little band, with triumph then,
Into the empty fortress ran,
Unfurled the flag of liberty,
And gain'd a bloodless victory."

Lilley Eaton & James Flint, Historical Address and Poem: Delivered at 
the Bi-centennialCelebration of the Incorporation of the Old Town of 
Reading May 29, 1844,  (Boston, Ma. S.N. Dickinson, 1844) pp.73-74

Now I'm well aware of poetic license but as I'll show in future posts Lilley Eaton took
quite a bit of it in his description of my ancestor's part in what is also known as the
Great Swamp Battle. Suffice it to say at this point that while Jeremiah Swain would
rise in rank in the Massachusetts militia, he was only a lieutenant at the time of the
battle, and the victory was hardly as bloodless as Mr. Eaton portrays it. But two
hundred years had passed and there was no internet around to consult about the
actual event so Lilley Eaton no doubt relied on tradition in composing his poem.

As I said, there'll be more to come, but for the moment, this is my descent from
Jeremiah Swain and his wife Mary Smith:

Jeremiah Swain m. Mary Smith
Sarah Swain m. John Laughton
John Laughton Jr. m Hepzibah(Hepzibath) Stimson (Stimpson)
John Laughton 3rd m. Jane Adams
John Laughton 4th m. Lydia Ann McGraugh
John Laughton 5th m. Amata Greenleaf
Esther Laughton m. Philip Richardson
Louisa Almata Richardson m. Jonathan Phelps West (my great great grandparents)

JEREMIAH SWAIN'S QUARTERSTAFF

One of the great things about being a genealogy blogger is that by
posting stories about my ancestors and my research on them, I've been
contacted by folks who share my ancestry. Recently I made the
acquaintance of  Evelyn Swain Webb from Texas, who is a fellow
descendant of Jeremiah Swain. Last year I wrote a fourteen part
series of posts about Jeremiah and his part in the New England Indian
Wars which was how Evelyn found me.

Today Evelyn sent me some fascinating photographs along with the story
behind them. They show a quarterstaff that was owned by Jeremiah:

This is part of the information Evelyn also sent along:
"When Jeremiah came from England he brought with him this 
Walking Stick of Quarterstaff, some times known as a cudgel. The 
wood is yew, or orange, and the head is ivory.  It appears to be 
about 4 ft. in length. Possibly, for unknown generations preceding 
Jeremiah the Quarterstaff  was held by a male member of the family, 
usually descending from father to eldest son  Through the years this
cane came down through Colonel John Farrar Swain, a brother to
Dr. Marcus Swain.  At the death of Col. John, the cane passed to his 
son Elmer Perry Swain, who died in 1913. It passed to his eldest son,
Lloyd E. Swain and thence to his nephew, Robert F. Swain.  Robert 
Swain was in the service in WW2, and it seemed that the dangers
attendant with participation in the war might disturb the traditional
line of descension.  Therefore, in 1944, it was donated by Lloyd N. 
Swain to the Nebraska State Historical Society, 1500 R. St. Lincoln,
NE 68501

The pictures were obtained by Oliver D. Swain on 28 Nov., 1989, 
from the Nebraska Historical Society.  This article was also written
by Oliver D. Swain, copied by Dona Evelyn Swain Webb, 2/20/00."

Now Jeremiah Swain died in 1710. So for 300 years, and probably
even longer than that since before Jeremiah, the quarterstaff was handed
down from father to son! That's amazing!

Thank you Evelyn for sending this along to me, and for allowing me to
share it here on my blog. Perhaps another of Jeremiah's descendants   
will find it here someday!

JEREMIAH SWAIN PART 14 : CONCLUSION

This is the last in a series of posts about Jeremiah Swain, my 9x great grandfather:

I've yet to find any information online as to whether Jeremiah Swain saw any more military
action after 1689. Instead he returned to his practice as a physician and to his political
career, serving several terms on the Reading Board of Selectman as well as the town's
Representative to the General Court and as a Governor's Assistant. As if all that wasn't
enough to keep Jeremiah busy, he also became a Justice of the Peace for Reading in 1691
which meant he could perform marriages.

The last online record I can find of Swain speaking in public involves the Salem Witch
trials in 1692. A woman named Mary Taylor was accused of witchcraft by Jeremiah's
sister Mary Marshall, and Jeremiah was present when she testified. He made a few
comments to "Goody" Taylor and asked her a few questions. I've found nothing else
about his activities after that in the eighteen years leading up to his death in 1710.

But I count myself extremely lucky to find so much of his actual correspondence!
His letters reflect the writing style of his period but are not flowery and his personality
comes through in some of his commentary about the Maine campaign. Despite adverse
weather and supply shortages he did the best he could and was a commander who led
his men into action. Like Benjamin Church, he seems to have adopted tactics more suited
to fighting Indians rather than European foes. But unlike Church, he didn't write a book
about his military exploits, so his role in the New England Indian wars is largely unknown
today.

This series on Jeremiah Swain started off discussing the facts behind a poem he
appeared in as "beloved of Mars." While some of the poem's facts are incorrect, other
writers describe him as a brave man and a good officer. A doctor, politician, justice of the
peace, and a military officer, he was a man of many parts.

And of course, without him I wouldn't be here!

JEREMIAH SWAIN PART 13: "...YOR HONORS HUMBLE SERVT..."

Whatever the reason for his recall, Jeremiah Swain moved quickly to
obey his orders, perhaps showing how tired he was of the campaign's
difficulties:


Letter Majr Sweyne to the Govr s Council Nov. 13. 1689.
"To ye Honrd Governr & Councill Sitting
att Boston Novembr 28. 89

Hithertoo by Sickness being prevented I now take ve boldness to give yor Honors
an account of my proceedings, persu- ance of an Ordr to me directed from yor
Honors with referance to or drawing off or fforces leaving Garrisons Soldiers
&c.—

Portsmouth Novembr 13th. 89.
Att a Councill of warr for ve Safety of ve provinces of New Hampshire & Maine,
my Self with yor Majttes officers in Comission in ye army with some of ye principal
Gents of both Provinces, ye Councills ordr being read several questions were
propounded to ye sd Councill of warr, viz how many Soldiers wr of absolute
necessity to be left in all. 2ly how many in each province. 3ly. where to be posted,
4ly under wt conduct & how vy should be maintained. It was thought necessary
on all hands vt Sixty men Should be left there twenty in Hampshire & forty in
Maine, vn I desired of vm to know how many of those Sixty vy would raise in ye sd
province, after debate vy agreed to raise ten, & so att Cochecho to post 4, att ve
widdow Heards Garrison 8, att Capt. Jno Gerrishes, att Oister river, 4. att Capt. Jno
Woodmans, & 4 att Robert Burnums — And for Maine it was thought need- full
vt 14 were posted in ye ffrontier Garrisons att Wells, & ye rest in Kittery, &
Berwick 4 att Majr Charles ffrosts Garrison, & 5 att ve most notherly Garrison in
ve front of both townes, ve rest att ve ffort att Salmon Falls & ve houses adjacent
& all to be quartered with ve inhabitants in each places where vy were posted.

It was adjudged meet also vt one of ye Captaines in Comission in ve army should
take ve charge of vm, I urged vt some of ye officers vr should do it, but vy replyed
vr Government was so lame vt vy could scarce comand each man his family, & it
would be an undoing thing not to leave one of vm in comission there because ve
Soldiers & inhabitants stood in some more fear of ve Bay vn of vr own officers.
So it was concluded to leave one, & I left Capt. Gardner for ve psent 'till further
orders from yor Honors ordering him with part of ve Soldiers to scout about ve
outside of yv townes as farr as vy could for ve snow in tollerable weather to see if
vy could finde either Skulking Indians or vr tracks but not to expose himself or men
too much to hazzard So leaving vm to Gods protection & ye Capts care & conduct
I tooke my leave of vm & returned home & disbanded ye rest and so subscribe my
self yor Honors Humble Servt

Jer Syene."

Jeremiah Swain's military career was once more over.

Found in "Documentary History of the State of Maine" pp70-74

JEREMIAH SWAIN PART 12: "...THE ABOVE IS RECOMMENDED TO YOUR CARE..."

Not long after Jeremiah Swain sent the last letter, it seems colonial political
affairs occurred that would lead to his recall.

Back in 1643, the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut
and New Haven had formed the New England Confederation to deal with
matters of mutual defense against the Indians. It's high point came during
the King Philip's War but it had begun falling apart even before the end of
the war. Now, in 1689, an attempt was being made to revive it, and it
now weighed in on the Maine campaign. Jeremiah Swain was the commander
of the troops from the Bay Colony, while those from Plymouth Colony were
under Benjamin Church's command. Now word came down from the
Confederation Commision that Swain and his men were to be withdrawn.

It's interesting to see that the order was recorded in triplicate!

"Ordered vt Major Jeremia Swaine and his officers with al the Soldiers in ye
Countryes Sarvis from Wels Westward be forth with drawn of: Exsept so
many of hiered men and others unto a competent numbr for the Secureing
Such places as thay shall Judg needfull for the present:

Leiveing them under Such Comanders as said Swaine & his officers shall Judg
meet pticular acct being tacken of them vt are so Left.

9 br 6th 1689 past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk."




and..

"Boston : 8° November 1689.
The Comissioners of the Colonys haveing comended it to the Governor & Councill
that the Souldiers belonging to the ffrontier Town's now at any of the head Quarters
together with all Sick, wounded and otherwise unfitted for Service be forthwith
dismissed home: As also the Troopers there or elsewhere; And in case there be not
a prospect of an Oppertunity to prosecute the Enemy that then the Indians that are
upon Service and so many of the English Souldiers as may with Safety to the People
of the remote Plantations be spared be as conveniently & privatly as may be returned
home -

It is Agreed and Ordered in case there be no prospect of prosecuting the Enemy, That
Major Jeremiah Swayne Comander in chiefe of the Forces at Newichewannick or
Salmon Falls, with the advice of his Comission Officers and Some of the principal
Gentlemen of the Province of New Hampshire and Maine (neerest to him) do post a
sufficient number of Souldiers at such Garrisons and out plantations in those parts as
may secure the same and Offend the Enemy in case of Attempt, to be disposed under
suitable Officers for their good Government and Order, takeing distinct Lists of the
names & number of souldiers Ordered to remain at Each place.

And the said Comander in Cheife. and other his Officers and Souldiers as privatly as
may be forthwith to draw off home and be discharged./.
Voted by the Gouernor & Council
la: Russell p ordr
Consented to by the Representatives.
Dated as abovesd
Ebenezer Prout Clerk"

and finally....

"Boston 8 Novembr 1689. Major Swayne
Inclosed is Copy of the Order of the Convention of the Governour and Council and Representatives Pursuant to what is contended to consideration by the Comissioners
of the Colonys as to yor drawing off with the Forces under yor comand in case there
be no prospect of prosecuting the Enemy, In which you are to. advise with yor
Comission Officers, and the Officers and some of the principal Gents of the Provinces
of New Hampshire & Mayne (nearest unto yon ) For the Setling of such Garrisons as
may be needfull for the Security of those parts before you come off, not exceeding
what are of absolute necessity And releive the Garrison Souldiers at Cochecha posting
some fresh men there in their stead if there be need of continuing any there and such
as you leave behind let those men who were hired out upon the Service be part of the
number and others such as may most conveniently be spared from home; But use yor
utmost Endeavours with the Gentlemen of the Province that they Supply the Garrisons
as much as may be with their own men, that the fewer of ours who have been long
upon duty be left abroad. The above is recommended to yor care and prudence by ye
Governor and Councill./.
By Order in Councill
Isc. Addington Sec17-
Superscribed
To Major Jeremiah Swayne
Comander in Chiefe of ye Forces at Salmon Falls "


Found in "Documentary History of the State of Maine" pp70-74

JEREMIAH SWAIN PART 10: "...not to trouble your Honors further..."

Part 10 in a series of posts about 9x great-grandfather Jeremiah Swain:

Letter from Jer. Sweyne
ffrom or head quartrs att Salmon falls in Barwick
Octohr 8. 89
Honrd Sirs
After ye tender of my humble Service to yor Honors, these are to acquaint yor Selves
yet thru ye goodness of God I am in pretty good health hoping yet these will finde
yor honors so, also to acquaint you that I received yor letter yesterday about 5 of
ye clock in ye afternoone & wt referred to ye Maquas wee coppied out & Posted
awaie to Majr Church with some other business of or owne in yor Honors letter we understand vt you have not had any account from us of or proceedings ye wch I do exceedingly wonder att. & am as much troubled to hear for I thought I had tooke an
effectual care vt yor Honors might have advice of all or motions, wee wrote you a
letter dated 16: Sept. giving account of all from Haverhill 'till vt day & sent it by one
of or own Soldiers Joshua Blanchard by name who lives on Mistick side belonging to Charlestown pray lett him be called to an account about. vn from vt day to ye 5th
instant we gave yor Honors an account by Quartr Master Whitmore of Medford &
since vt time wee have another scout returned from Wemepesiocke who marched round
it Supposed to be a 100 miles, found a barne of corne & some small things but none of
ye Enimy Supposed to have bin there this fortnight by their paths but one path to ye Westward but ye biggest path towards Ossabe, wee also Sent to Majr Church to advice
him concerning or next motion, whether Estward or westward to ye Chestnut Country
where some suppose some of ye Enimy is gon, wee by or last gave yor Honors an
account of three men Surprised by ye Enimy att Saco, ye next day was seen uppon ye
Sands about 200 Indians marching Estward since vt wee have not heard of them, or
men are many of them sick lame & stand in need of a Surgion, & good medicines further
we have bin moving to ye Gentm of Portsmouth that about 60 men be raised in that
pvince in case of or moving Estward & by reason of ye deficiency of so many of or
Soldiers I think I must call off Capt Noyes in case of or motion Estward. pray send
us more cloathes of all sorts. not to trouble yor Honors further att psent I rest &
subscribe myself yor Honors most humble servant att command.

Jer: Sweyne.

POST #501:WHAT THE HECK IS VS???

I'd thought I'd use my 501th post (and who'da thunk I'd make 500!!) to explain
those strange little words Jeremiah Swain used in his letters: "vm, vn, vt, vs" and
so on. Part of the explanation lies in transcriptions in the book "Documentary
History of the State of Maine";the rest lies in my transcriptions of those
transcriptions!

Now in the edition I used, which is available here on Google Books, the words
such as "vm" or "vy" appear as "ym " or "yy".It took me longer than I care to admit
to puzzle this one out. I believe the spellings are a result of one of two possible
reasons: actual 17th century penmanship or usage of what appears to be the modern
lower case letter "y" for lower case "v", or human error made when the original
transcribers misread a flowery letter "v" for our letter "y". Either way, I eventually
puzzled out that the "ym" in a sentence made sense if translated as the full word
"them", or "yy" as "they", and so on. So I made the decision to change the spellings
to "vm", "vy", "vs", and others to make reading the letters easier.

Another problem was the use of superscript, as in the word "ye" where the letter "e"
is smaller and raised slightly above the line. While I can reproduce that on Word or
Works, I've yet to discover how to do so on Blogger.

Lastly, there's the matter of copying and pasting the whole page to begin with. Most of the
Google Books pages are jpg images and I usually use the "view plain text" tab in the right
hand sidebar to copy the page into Work. This usually leads to some strange changes in
words such as "comand" which became "coiiiand" so I usually compare the text version
to the image version and correct such instances. It did lead to one funny instance where
Jeremiah's address to "Yor Honrs" became "Yor HonTM" as the text converter read the
"rs" as a registered trademark!

Anyway, vt's the story.

And vs concludes my 501th post!

JEREMIAH SWAIN PART 8: "Honored Sirs"

This is the eighth in a series of posts concerning my 9x great
grandfather, Jeremiah Swain.

A month after receiving his orders and instructions from the Governor and
his Council Jeremiah Swain sent the following letter detailing events after
his arrival in the province of Maine. I think George Washington would have
sympathized with Swain's concern over clothing and supplies!

I should also make note here of Jeremiah's writing style. As will become
more evident in some of his later letters, he frequently abbreviated words
and rather creatively in some cases. Note how he abbreviates September in
the date of the letter! I have changed a few things, changing "v"s to "u"s in
some words to make a sentence easier to understand, for example, but I've
left the original puncuation most of the spelling as Jeremiah wrote this.
I believe "Captain Noise" to be "Captain Noyes". And I never noticed until
just now that Jeremiah spelled his own name as Sweyen!

As in the previous post, my source is the Maine Historical Society's
Documentary History of Maine :

Salmon ffalls in Berwick 7ber 15 1689

Honored Sirs
After the tender of my most humble service to yor honrs. These few lines
humbly Sheweth the accot of my proceedings hitherto, as I came along by
Haverill, I left Orders wth Capt Noise to Scoutt upon ye Skirts of said
towne, & downe as far as Almsberry wth ye whole or pt of his Compee &
ye Troopers drawn out of ye Regiment Soe I advanced to Berwick where I
found the people in as much Danger of Some among them as of ye Enimy
for want of a well Settlement of ye Militia am. them, Then I sent for some
of ye principall Persons of ye place, and also of Hampsheir Gentlem And
advised with them, where wee agreed of ye Settlement of Severall Garrissons
wth their owne men and appointed Comanders of the same not without great
Opposition by some When I had almost done and intending to advance
towards Casco, I had news Sent me of a house poorly fortifyed at Oyster
River that it was taken by ye Enimie being about Sixty in ye Compny though
part of Capt Gardners Compy lodged the night before at said house & were
moved away about half a hour before ye assault and were got to Cocheecha
where a post overtooke them and they faced about & per sued ye Enimy but
could not find them. Our Souldiers not haveing pvission nor Amunition to
stay out were forced to return, Than I borrowed all ye Amunition & Bread I
could procure of the Inhabitants and sent pt of Capt Converss his Compny
to Cochecha to meet & Joyn with Capt Gardners who Persued ye Enimie
three dayes but finding none of them returned, but before yr returne, one
of ye Captives made his escape two dayes after he was taken, whom ye
Indians tould that they had beleagerd ye place three dayes and when they
knew how many men belonged to ye house & seeing ye all gathering Corn
came & killed them first, and then sett upon ye house where were onely
Woomen children & two Boyes, they killed & Captivated Eighteene
persons none escapeing, whereupon I ordered all ye Garrisons here abouts
(for time to Come) not to leave any Garrisson without less then 4 or five
able men upon ye Gentry at all times, we are Endeavouring but cannot yet
find any of ye Enimy by our Scouts, onely now & than there is a report of
Indians Seen & men are shott att. whereupon I offord Gaurds to ye
Inhabitants about their bussiness I cannot as yet have any Intelligence of
their head quarters but by ye Captive boyes accot he perceived or Judged
it was upon an Island at Winipessawket which is a small lake; Honed Sirs
I am now advancing towards Casco, having set there two Companyes upon
duty, Some few of or men are Sick & some lame Soe yet we are in want
of a Chirurgion, many of ye Souldiers are in much want of Cloathing &
Tobacco & please send some more good pork and bread in Convenient
time for a Recrute that we may not want as before, ye first barll of pork
we opened proved so bad could not spend it, for pease here are good to
be procured ; I hope you will be pleased to send lawes & Orders for ye
Comp. which is all at psent from Your Honors Humble Servt to
Comand.

Jeremiah Sweyen

The Council took note of the request for clothing and took action:

The following in the hand-writing of Secretary Addington:
Memo for Cloathing./.
Shoes and stockins, Trucking Cloth for blanketts.
Shirts drawers Coats and wast coats./.
Men wanting in James Convers his Company
Two from Capte Hamonds Company
Two of Cambridge went back from Woburn.
One wanting from Reding another went back from
Woburn.

But Jeremiah would need more than extra supplies for this campaign!

JEREMIAH SWAIN PART 7: "...ffight take Kill"

Towards the end of 1689 relations with the Indians inhabiting the area which is
now the present day state of Maine were worsening. Several factors contributed
to this, including the presence of French agents and of Indians who had fought
the colonists with King Philip now seeking refuge with the northern tribes. An
expedition led by Governor Edmund Andros in the spring of 1688 had destroyed
a French settlement on the Maine coast and led to open hostilities with the Indians
allied with the French. A series of attacks on English settlements followed.


By now many of the commanders from King Philip's War had died or were too old
to take command in the field. There were however a few prominent officers left
from that campaign, among them Jeremiah Swain and Benjamin Church . So in
August of 1689 it was decided that a more forceful strategy was necessary and
troops were to be sent to Maine. Accordingly, Jeremiah Swain received the following
letter from the Governor and his Council:


"Aug- 29th 1689. The Convention of the Governr and Council and Representatives
of the Massachusets Colony in New England—

To Jeremiah Sweyne Comander in Cheife :
Whereas the Kennebeck, and East Indians, with their Confederates have Openly
made Warr, upon their Majesties Subjects in the Province of Main, New Hampshire
and of this Colony, barbarously Murdering, and Captivating of many, Burning their
Houses, and Spoyling them of their Estates and whereas You Jeremiah Swayne are
Appointed Commander in Chief of all the forces now raised, and detached out of the
Several Regiments within this Colony for their Majesties Service for an Expedition
agst the Comon Enemy, Indians their Aiders and Abetters—

These are therefore in their Majties Names to Authorise and Require you to take
into your care, and Conduct all the Said Forces, and diligently to intend that Service
by Leading and Exeercising Yor lnferiour Officers, and Soldiers Commanding them
to Obey you as their Commander in chief, and to ffight take Kill, and destroy the
Said Enemies by all the waies and Means you can as you shall have Opportunity, And
you to Observe, and Obey: all such Orders and Directions as from time to time you
shall Receive from the Governr and Council of this Colony; In Testimony whereof
the Publick Seal of the Above said Colony is hereunto Affixed.

Dated in Boston the 29th day of Augt- 1689.
Anno qs RR et Regina Willielmi et Maria Anglia & p m—
Sealed with the Publick, Seal, and Signed by the Governr and ye Secretary."

-Court Records, Vol. 6, pp. 74-5

- William Chester Swain, Swain and allied families (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Press
of Swain and Tate Company, 1896)


Of course this was Puritan New England and there were certain expectations from
the government in the conduct of military commanders as the new Governor
Bradstreet and his Council made clear in the instructions they issued on 4 Sep
1689:

"Sept. I4th. 1689.
Instructions for Major Jeremiah Swayne
Comander in chiefe /
In Pursuance of the Comission given you to be Comander in chiefe of the Forces
raysed within this Colony for their Majesties Service in the present Expedition
against the comon Indian Enemy, Reposing confidence in yor wisdom prudence
and fidelity in the trust comitted unto you for the Honour of God the good of his
people and the Security of the Interest of Christ in his Churches: Expecting and
praying that in your dependance upon him you may be helped and assisted with
all that grace and wisdom which is requisite for the carrying of you on with
Success in this difficult Service And though much must be left unto yor own
prudence and direction as providence and oppertunity may present from time to
time in places of Action yet the following Instructions are comended unto yor
Observation and to be attended so far as the State of matters with you in such a
transaction will admit./

You are with all care and diligence to Improve the Severall Companys of Souldiers
under yor comand now quartered at Groton, Havarill & Newichewannick, together
with the Company of now sent out under the conduct of Captain Noah Wiswall and
such others as may be added unto you, in prosecution of yor Comission for the
pursuing, discovery, subduing & destruction of the said comon Enemy as you shall
have oppertunity, Intending likewise the safe guard and defence of those out Towns
that lye most open and in danger of incursions by the Enemy, Especially at such time
as they are now employed about their harvest, takeing care that they be sufficiently
guarded.

You are to take Effectual Order that the worship of God be maintained and kept up in
the Army. And that both Morning and Evening prayer to God be duely attended, and
so far as the Emergency of yor Service will admit, that the holy Sabbath be duely
Sanctified.

You are to see that yor Souldiers Armes be alwaies fix't and that they be furnished
with Amunition provisions and other necessarys that so they may be in a readiness
to repel or Attacque the Enemy.

And in yor pursuit take especial care to avoid danger by Ambushment or being
drawn under any disadvantage by the Enemy, In your marches keeping out
Scouts and a forlorn before your main body as shalbe requisite.

You are to Suppress all mutinies and disorders among yor Souldiers as much as
in you lyeth and to punish those who shall disobey the comand of their Officers,
desert their Company or neglect their duty And to prevent what may be and
punish such as shalbe found guilty, of prophane swearing curseing drunkenness
or such other sins as do provoke the Anger of God:

you may Encourage your Souldiers to be industrious & vigorous in their service
to search out and destroy the Enemy promiseing them the benefit of all captives
and plunder that shalbe taken unto their own use, and the reward of Eight pounds
for every ffighting Indian man that shalbe by them slain over & above their stated
wages./

You are from time to time to give intelligence and advice to the Governor and
Councill of yor proceedings and occurrences that may happen; And how it shall
please the Lord to deale with you in this present Expedition.—You are to maintain
a correspondence by intelligence as you can have oppertunity with Major Church
Comander in chiefe of the Forces gone farther Eastward, and to yield mutual
Assistance Each to other as you can conveniently come to joyne any part more or
less of yor severall fforces./ And if yor fforces or any part should hapen to come
neer to Each other you must agree upon some Signal whereby yor Indian may be discriminated from the Enemy.

You are to take notice that Cap Willard and Cap Hall with their Companye are put
under the comand of Major Church to joyne the Plymouth fforce.

You are to assigne to Cap Noah Wiswall Ten or more able hardy Englishmen to be
of his Company as he shall desire to mix with his Indians.

You are not to draw off the Forces now Quartered at Groton untill farther
Order.

Signed S: Bradstreet Govr
Boston 14 Septr 1689.
Past by the Governor & Councill
Isc Addington Secry "

-Maine Historical Society, Documentary History of the State of Maine (Portland,
Me. , Lefavor-Tower Company, 1907) pp 54-56

So having received his orders and instructions from Boston, Major Jeremiah
Swain and his troops set off for the territory of Maine to conduct an Autumn
campaign.

Unfortunately, it was not to be as easy a task as the Council back in Boston expected.

BEDTIME GENEALOGY 33

Just when I thought I had only enough information for one or two
more posts on Jeremiah Swain, I've found more! Another search
on Google Books brought the Documentary History of the State of
Maine which includes correspondence between Swain and the
government back in Boston. One is a letter of instruction to him
which is pretty lengthy but I'd like to publish it in its entirety
because of the insight it gives into the Puritan mindset. So I
now probably will have six or seven more blogposts on old
Jeremiah. Who knew I could find this much in my 9x great
grandfather?

It'll be a day or two before I post them though because I like to
send the information out to my Aunt Dot and Cousin Diana
before I post it here!