I was recently listening to a book on CD called "Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War" by Nathaniel Philbrick. As I was listening and they kept mentioning different towns in Massachusetts, I wondered if they would ever mention Scituate. I went to 4th-7th grade there.
Not only did Scituate get mentioned, it got mentioned in connection with a Captain Michael Pierce.
Now, our house was on Captain Pierce Road (I did a mapquest but the star is placed too far down the road from our house). I knew that our road was named after a real Captain Pierce, but I don't know that I ever knew anything more than that.
So, what I learned was that a man named Benjamin Church (totally fascinating man...I might have to do a little more research on him...he was like George Washington in that he would be in battle and bullets would whiz past him, put holes in his clothes, but not touch him)...anyway during King Philip's war, Benjamin had been asked to lead some men against the Narragansett Indians. He said he would if he could have 200 white men and 100 Indians. They said no, so Benjamin turned them down. The job was then offered to Michael Pierce, who said yes.
The following is from
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx"One of the bloodiest massacres—and darkest moments for the English—occurred at Cumberland, R.I.
"On Sunday morning March 26, 1676, after receiving word that a party of the enemy lay near Blackstone's house at Study Hill in Cumberland, Capt. Michael Pierce marched from Rehoboth, leading a company of 63 English and 20 friendly Wampanoag Indians." They were ambushed by 500-700 Narragansetts.
"According to an account related by Hon. Edwin C. Pierce of Providence, the English retreated across the river to set up a defense on the west bank (now part of the City of Central Falls), but were attacked by a blocking force of about 300 Indians. Pierce formed his men into a circle and they continued to fight in ever decreasing numbers for about two hours, until only a few remained. Pierce was killed early in the battle. A few of the Wampanoags managed to escape by disguising themselves as attackers. Nine English were captured and taken to a spot in Cumberland, now called Nine Men's Misery, where they were tortured to death."
Anyway, it was just kind of fun for me to find out about a piece of my past.
'Doesn't sound like it was a very friendly neighborhood in days o' yore.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to add "parakeet trainer" to your already lengthy list of talents. :)