A dubious 'first"
Named Medfield, the town was just one of several others established. Before long, it became a victim in the increasing animosity between the indigeousnes tribes and the English settlers. As mentioned in the last post a distinguishing feature of the Dedham land grant was that the settlers established relations with the tribes and arranged to purchase the properties. Unfortunately these agreements were not recorded in writing, which caused a certain amount of friction among the parties but they managed to come to new agreements.
Still some members of the tribes believed the English were violating treaties which caused new frictions. In one instance the English insisted that the tribes could not own guns according to their treaties and demanded the surrender of any arms the tribes owned. In Plymouth, the English decided to take justice into their own hands, convicting and hanging three members of the Wampanoag tribe for the murder of another member of the tribe, a matter that probably should have been decided by the tribe.
As tensions mounted raiding parties from the tribes began attacking the colonial villages, and the militia retaliated, attacking, burning villages and killing residents. Some attempts at negotiation and reconciliation were made, but by 1675, less than 50 years after Plymouth was established, war broke out in the colonies from Massachusetts to Maine under the leadership of King Philip, the adopted name of Metacomet, the premier leader of the Wampanoag confederation of tribe.
Medfield residents had seen and heard of the fall of neighboring towns and bought a cannon for protection. [1] The townsmen took to keeping their arms with them at all times -- while working the fields, sleeping at night, and even while at prayers. A structure called the Stone House was built as one of five garrisons constructed for the town's defense and became the main refuge for families to flee to in event of an attack.
Soldiers from Boston and Cambridge had been assigned to the town and were dispersed throughout the community. On Feb. 21, 1676 tribal members infiltrated the town and hid in a variety of places. One of those was the barn next to Samuel Morse's residence.
He had gone to the barn that morning and while uncovering his hay discovered one of the tribesmen hiding there. He rushed to his house, gathered his family, and fled to a garrison. Upon being discovered the tribesman lit the barn and house on fire, the first homestead to be set ablaze that day. The battle for the town was on.
The account of the battle is often gruesome. A mother fleeing with her young child was killed, but the child survived, discovered later clinging to his dead mother. Another woman died at the hands of one of the soldiers who'd been quartered in a house accidentally discharged his gun, mortally wounding the woman who lived there.
Yet another resident and his family escaped harm altogether. He had taken family a distance from the house, hidden them in a rocky area and returned to his abode in time to see native warriors preparing to fire his property. He ran at them, yelling to imaginary soldiers behind him to follow. The warriors decided no one would act that way unless real soldiers were out of sight nearby and fled.
One man died from wounds received while he was looking out his door to see what was going on. Another elderly man died from fire in his son's house because he was too old to escape. Two brothers who had been sent to Medfield to retrieve a yoke of oxen were surprised by warriors hiding in the barn where the oxen were kept. They scalped the brothers and left them for dead. One died, the other survived somehow. When news reached the dead brother's wife in Stone House, she went into labor and bore a daughter. Sadly the wife died a few hours later.
Eventually the town's forces came together, fired the cannon and forced their enemies to retreat. The account doesn't explain whether the cannon was fired to scare the enemy and hasten their retreat.
Some 17 townspeople and three soldiers died. Thirty-two homes, two mills and numerous barns were burned. Accounts of enemy deaths vary widely, with the best estimate essentially being "no one knows."
King Philip died later that year, bringing an end to the war. Two streets in Medfield are named Philip and Metacomet and serve as a reminder of the town's rough heritage. The town survives and has an estimated population a bit below 13,000.
[1] This account is largely taken from an article written by Richard DeSorgher in commemoration of the 340th anniversary of the attack on Medfield, retrieved from HometownWeekly.net
Image: The Dwight-Derby House in Medfield, MA, originally built in 1651. The original house survived the attack on the town.
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