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Town News Editors Note: Coming soon, Marlborough, Salem, Ipswich, and more. Deerfield (Pocomptuk)
Editors note: Deerfield was among the most brutally and tragically ravished of the early "plantations." 1669: Samuel Hinsdale breaks first ground and completes home. Sampson Frary becomes the second settler. Other early settlers include Francis Barnard, Philip Barsham, William Bartholomew, Joshua Carter, Samuel Daniels, John Farrington, Zecheriah Field, Frary Samson, Joseph Gillett, Samuel Harrington, Robert Hinsdale, Quintus Stockwell, Nathaniel Sutleff, William Smead, James Tuffts, Daniel Weld, Richard Weller and Rev. Samuel Mather. 1674: Moses Craft is licensed to keep an ordinary tavern here. Sept 18, 1675: John Allen, husband of Mary Hannum, and son of Samuel the emigrant, was among those killed recently in the tragic battle of "Bloody Brook." Captain Thomas Lathrop also lost his life. Others of Deerfield who lost their lives include John Barnard, John Hinsdale, Jonathan Plympton and Phillip Barsham. 1677: John Plympton taken captive by the Indians, tortured and burned at the stake. He was married to Jane Dummer by whom he had thirteen children 1687: Joseph Barnard, with the consent of the town, is appointed town clerk. June 6,1693: Tragedy has struck the homes of Thomas Broughton and Widow Hepzibah Wells. Broughton, his wife, and three children were tomahawked and scalped. Widow Wells, staying with a sick child nearby, had left her four children at home. Mary, Sarah and Hepzibah were all tomahawked and scalped. Daniel, asleep in the chamber, slept through the whole horrid mess. Mrs. Wells who rushed to the aid of her children suffered the same fate as her three daughters. 1698: King William's War and the earlier Indian attacks have left the town impoverished. Fields are neglected, fences broken down, provisions exhausted, clothing nearly worn out and the children almost naked. 1699: Joseph Barnard, son of Francis, mortally wounded at Indian Bridge by a party of Indians in ambush. Feb 1703/4: A force of 200 French and Indians, led by Captain Hertell de Rouville, sacked Deerfield, murdering men, women and children alike. 54 in all were killed, almost all buried in a common grave. Twelve captives were taken, about eight murdered, with about twelve perishing on the march to Canada. 1704: John Catlin, blacksmith, and his two sons have been killed, four children carried into captivity, two of them killed on the march. 1704: Thomas French, son of John of Northhampton, his wife and six children captured and taken into captivity. His wife and one child were killed on the march. 1706: John Sheldon, who on snow-shoes tracked through the wilderness to Canada to recover his four children and friends held in captivity, has returned with one daughter, and several others. His second wife, Elizabeth Pratt of Hartford, Conn, and one child were killed in 1704. (Note: Town News items are
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