Allen line: Edward Stebbins in King Philip's War

It's approaching Memorial Day as I write this.  In general, Memorial Day honors veterans who gave their lives for our country.  I completely support that, as we have a family member who died during World War II.  Most of our ancestors made it through whatever war they were involved in, but some had adventures during that time. 

For this post, I'm writing about a man who had what some would consider the "ultimate" adventure; others would consider it heroism, and still others might shudder at the result.  This was before our country was even dreamed of.  Massachusetts was a colony of England, and it was still almost all frontier land.  Springfield, Massachusetts was no exception; it was a small settlement on the Connecticut River, struggling to survive even before King Phillip's War broke out. 

Edward Stebbins was born in Springfield April 14, 1656, the son of Thomas and Hannah Wright had Stebbins.  He was the first of this Stebbins line to be born in New England as Thomas had come to America with his father at about the age of 14.  Thomas had memories of England, but Edward was 100% New Englander.  At the age of 16, Edward would have been eligible and probably required to join the training band, although I've not found specific note of it.  Surely a town settled in the wilderness, with different tribes of native Americans all around them, would have had a training band. 

We don't know whether Edward was doing guard duty or whether he may have been working in the fields, but in the spring of 1676, he and at least one other young man were surrounded and then abducted by a group of natives.  They were held captive for about a month until Edward and his friend managed to escape during the nighttime hours.  They reported the location of the natives to the nearest authorities and immediately a large force of men were on their trail, and the entire village of natives was ambushed and destroyed-old men, women and children-by the colonists.  The warriors were mostly in camp at a nearby location, and it's not clear to what extent they became involved in the battle.  .

This was not the finest moment in American history but it was what it was.  To the colonists affected by King Philip's War, it was kill or be killed.  Springfield had been almost totally burned to the ground during an attack in the fall of 1675 and it was time to make the area safe for the colonists and their families.  They may not have known, or may not have cared, that the village that was massacred was not a warrior camp at all.

Edward seems to have suffered no after effects of his ordeal.  He married Sarah Graves, daughter of John and Mary Smith Graves on April 12, 1679 and they had six children together.   He was made a freeman on December 19, 1690, along with over forty other men.  Perhaps they had been so busy rebuilding the town that there had been no time to stop and gain one's "freedom", or right to vote.  Or perhaps the list is not actually when they were admitted, but simply a list of who was a freeman as of that date. 

Edward inherited land from his father, who had died in 1683, and was also granted various tracts during his lifetime.  At various times, he was a constable, surveyor of county highways, selectman several years, and fence viewer, so he was a respected man in the community.  I've not found anything that indicates his occupation but with the various tracts of land he owned, he probably was a "yeoman" farmer.  I also don't know how religious he might have been, and whether he supported the local church. 

Sarah died June 12, 1700 when her youngest child was just 4 years old.  Edward remarried, to Mary Cooper Colton.  Edward died October 31, 1712 in Springfield and Mary lived until 1743. I wonder how long the story of the Indian captivity was part of family story time.  Or was it something he chose to downplay?

I've ordered a copy of a history of Springfield, Massachusetts because so many family names are listed in the 1690 list of freedmen.  This is one of our "hometowns", Allen family! 

The line of descent is

Edward Stebbins-Sarah Graves
Sarah Stebbins-John Roote
Sarah Root-Thomas Noble
Stephen Noble-Ruth Church
Ruth Noble-Martin Root Jr.
Ruth Root-Samuel Falley
Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants