Salem Witch Trials documents and other records

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22. Yes, it was France, with their Indian allies.

The raid on Deerfield was part of Queen Anne's War in Europe. It spilled over into the American colonies when the French king ordered the colonial Canadian governor to harrass outlying English villages in order to discourage the expansion of the English into territory that France wanted. Deerfield was the northwesternmost English village in Massachusetts at the time, so it was most vulnerable.

The attack on Deerfield occured on February 29, 1704, just before dawn, while the villagers slept. Some captives remained in Canada as French subjects or adopted members of tribes that participated in the attack. But a large number of them were ransomed back to New England in various ransom expeditions. It was my ancestor, John Sheldon, Sr. who ransomed back the largest number, including his own children, in 3 different trips.

One political and historical significance of the raid is that it prompted England to take a more direct control over the colonies and to place troops in villages, housed in people's homes. The colonists welcomed this protection at first, but rebelled against this control and housing of troops at the time of the Revolution.

Hostilities from this raid and others led to the French and Indian Wars a few decades later.

There were other raids on English villages at the time, but this one became famous because of the large number of captives and the prominance of one captive family - the village minister, whose wife was a Mather, cousin to Cotton Mather. The members of his family who survived the attack and march to Montreal were ransomed back except for his 7 year old daughter, Eunice, who was adopted by a Catholic Mohawk family, converted to Catholicism, and married a Mohawk man. Eunice's relatives and all of New England tried, all her life, to get Eunice to return, but she refused, although she did visit them a few times.

Some recommended sources on the Deerfield raid:

1. an excellent, award-winning website, The Many Stories of Deerfield. It tells about the raid from all sides, English, French, and the various tribes involved. I don't have a link, but a search will turn it up.

2. A book, Captors and Captives, by Haefeli and Sweeney. The authors are local (to Deerfield) historians who describe the village and its residents prior to the attack, the atttack itself, and its effects on the village and on New England. They include a map of the village, a map of the route the captives were taken on to Montreal, and a chart of all the deaths and the captives and what became of them.

3. The Unredeemed Captive, by John Demos. It is the story of Eunice Williams, the minister's daughter who remained with her adopted Mohawk family. The title is a play on the title of a work published by Eunice's father, Rev. John Williams, after his return to Deerfield - The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion. The Demos book uses historical facts, but told in a very subjective style from the various perspectives of Eunice and her family. Gives details of the raid and the march of captives from Deerfield to Montreal.

4. Rev. John Williams' published work on his captivity experiences. It is available as a reference in some libraries. It is written in the stilted language of an 18th century Puritan clergyman, with numerous Biblical and doctrinal references, so it is pretty dry, dull reading for modern people.