Thomas Eames Family in King Philip s War Josiah Temple The Thomas Eames Family was trying again to make a go of it. Thomas and his wife Mary had each been widowed and had children that they brought to their marriage, they also had three more children together. Thomas had been maimed in his limbs, perhaps when he served in the Pequot war as a nineteen year old; or maybe it happened on the farm or perhaps in the stone quarry... the records don t tell. He d been a bricklayer & stonecutter, a miller and a farmer. They sold their small (8 acre) farm in Cambridge, MA and moved out to Framingham. Farming was going well there, but now there were problems between the English and the Indians again. This time the Wampanoags and others too, were lining up against the growing settlements of the Colonists. There had been soldiers billeted in the Eames house, protecting them and their neighbors, but now they were needed elsewhere. Thomas hitched up the horses and took the wagon to Boston for ammunition... would he be back in time? The Ordeal of the Thomas Eames Family in New England 1675 in the War With the Indians known as King Philip s War New England History Series Introduction, notes and editing by Norman P. Burdett, 2011
Introduction to Thomas Eames Thomas Eames was born in England in 1618. The first permanent settlement in New England was in Plymouth Colony in 1620. followed by Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628. So many people came from England during the 1630 s that this period came to be known as the Great Migration. We find a record of young Tom Eames in Dedham Massachusetts in 1634. That would make him about sixteen years old. We next notice him as being in the Army of Massachusetts Colony during the Pequot War in 1637. He would be around nineteen then. The Governors from Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth and Connecticut formed a confederation called The United Colonies of New England. This was for defensive purposes, each colony pledging to come to the aid of their sister colonies in times of war. A band of Pequot Indians had attacked and killed Captain Stone and his crew from Virginia, who were on a trading mission on the Connecticut River in the area now Stonington, CT. When the colonists tried to bring those individuals to justice, frictions with the Pequots erupted and a few skirmishes soon escalated into war. The United Colonies raised men to fight the Pequots by impressing, or conscripting suitable men, i some from each town in each colony. The quota for each colony was determined by population, with Massachusetts providing the largest portion by far, followed by Connecticut, with Plymouth sending the least. With the help of the Narragansett and the Mohegan Indians they were guided to one of the two forts of the Pequots. They had hoped to attack both forts at the same time but it was too late to travel to the farther one, since they arrived at the first one just around nightfall. Indian forts were used as a place of refuge rather than a strong location to fight from. The English decided to attack at night and take the Pequots by surprise. There were two entrances to the fort. Captain Mason attacked one entrance and Captain Underhill the other. There was a fierce battle between the surprised Pequots and the English & their allies. One of the officers decided to light the wigwams on fire. A huge fire resulted and several hundred Pequots, including children, women and elderly people were burned alive. One report states that the Narragansetts were horrified at the burning of the fort with noncombatants inside. Some turned back and lingered at the Pawcatuck River, which was the boundary between the Pequot and Narragansett territory. The eventual result of this attack was that the Pequots surrendered. A large part of the tribe went westward and joined with other tribes. The remnants ii
of their tribe were divided to live among the Narragansetts and the Mohegans, and also some went to be servants to the English. The Pequots ceased to be a threat to the English as an organized group although there was sporadic raiding for some time after. Thomas Eames was at that battle. Sometime after the war Thomas Eames married a girl named Margaret. They lived at Dedham in 1640. He was a brick layer and a stone cutter, building chimneys and cutting foundation stones for settlers. Regarding Thomas being exempt from being impressed into the army in 1675, it is mentioned that he was maimed in his limbs. Whether this was caused by his service in the Pequot War, or by an accident as he pursued his trade as a stonecutter and bricklayer is unknown. Presumably he was able bodied in order to have served in the army in 1637. By 1652 Thomas and Margaret were located at Medford with Thomas operating a water powered mill by the side of the Mystic River. They had three children together. Margaret died about 1659. In 1662 Thomas married a widow, Mary (nee Blanford) Paddleford in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mary had several children of her own. The record shows that Thomas owned eight acres and a house in Cambridge where they lived until they sold it on February 10, 1664/5 In 1670 we find them moved to Sudbury, MA on the Pelham Farm. Thomas leased a parcel of land from Thomas Danforth, and built a house and barn on the southern side of Mount Wayte in Framingham about three miles from a town of Praying Indians at Magunkook. In the account that follows, an inventory of his goods shows that he was successfully farming by the time that his home was attacked by Indians in 1675. This brings us up to the time of the following account which is taken mostly from Josiah H. Temple s History of Framingham, 1887. My purpose in publishing this account it twofold. First, it is a rare account of an attack on a household, with a fair amount of background information. Secondly, it shows that there was a process in place to provide the opportunity for justice for Indians during the war. Whether or not justice was served in this case we will never know, but at least there was a trial and a defense, and they were not just executed without a chance to defend themselves. I thought this to be worth highlighting. s iii iv
The Ordeal of Thomas Eames Family Taken from the History of Framingham Mass. Josiah H. Temple, 1887 King Philip's War broke out in June, 1675, and the relation of individuals among our Indians to this war, has been developed into a number of biographical sketches. The event however, of most direct consequence to Framingham, is the destruction of the home and family of Thomas Eames, Feb.1, 1675/6.* Mr. Eames had taken up lands and built a home on the southern slope of Mt. Wayte, in 1669. He seems to have pitched there by the consent of Mr. Danforth, with whom he was well acquainted, but had taken no lease. It should be noted here that his house lot was on the land that Mr. Danforth bought of Richard Wayte, and not on the land which he, (Eames) afterward received by grant, and purchased of the Indians. His nearest neighbors were the two Stone families farms, and Henry Rice, who lived a short distance to the south of Salma D. Hardy's. *Until 1752 the English had not yet changed from the Julian Calendar where the year began March 25. So dates between Jan.1 and March 25 were actually in 1675 (Old Style) while we (New Style) would place those dates in 1676. The use of 1675/6 is to indicate this situation. His family then consisted of a wife and not less than six children of his own, and probably 4 children of his wife by a former marriage, varying in age from 24 years to 7 months. Two children were born to him in Framingham. His eldest son settled in Watertown; and before the summer of 1675, it appears that one or two of his wife's children were away at service, so that, at the time of the assault, eight or nine of his own and one or two of his wife's children were living at home. This is in accord with Mr. Eames own statement that he had lost a wife and nine children, also with the statement of his sons, that 5 of their father's children were slain, and only four of those taken returned from captivity, implying that at least one daughter was held a considerable time after the taking. Some of the published accounts differ from this, and from each other; but it has been deemed safe to follow the statement of Mr. Eames and his sons, who certainly knew the facts. When hostilities broke out, the Council at Boston sent four soldiers to guard the scattered families on the Framingham Plantation. The farmers were required to furnish them food and lodging in return for the protection afforded. Probably the soldiers were quartered by Mr. Eames. "On July 23, 1675, it was ordered that two of the four men ordered to guard Eames and the farmers, 1 2