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Facts and Events
References
- ↑ Nourse, Henry Stedman. Birth, Marriage, and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850. (Clinton, Massachusetts: W.J. Coulter, 1890)
11.
Peter sonne of Nathaniel Joslin, & Mary his wife was borne 22 . 12 1665.
[In 1665, the 12th month was February of what we would now consider 1666, but back then was considered still part of 1665.]
- ↑ Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Leominster, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. (Worcester, Massachusetts: Franklin P. Rice, 1911)
329.
Joslin, Peter, [died] April 18, 1759, a. 94. GS
[Birth about 1665. GS=Leominster Cemetery]
- Wilder, David. The history of Leominster, or the northern half of the Lancaster new or additional grant: from June 26, 1701, the date of the deed from George Tahanto, Indian sagamore, to July 4, 1852. (Fitchburg Mass.: Printed at the Reveille Office, 1990)
page 8-9.
"The civil history of Lancaster from 1680 to 1724, excepting what was preserved by Mr. Harrington, is probably lost; what progress therefore the town made in population and wealth for thirty years after its re-settlement is unknown. It is however certain that during this whole period the Indians continued hostile, and at nine different times made depredations on the inhabitants, killing some, taking others captive, and burning their dwellings and their meeting-house. The first was on the 18th of July, 1692, when a party of the Indians attacked the house of Peter Joslin and murdered his wife, three children, and a widow by the name of 'Whitcomb', who resided in the family. Joslin himself, at the time, was at work in the field, and knew nothing of the terrible calamity that had befallen him, till his return home. Elizabeth How, his wife's sister, was taken captive, but was afterwards returned. Another child of his was put to death by the enemy in the wilderness
"Being a lineal descendant from Joslin on my mother's side, I am able, by tradition, to add some particulars to the above account. One of the little boys in the morning requested leave to go into the field with his father, assigning as a reason that he had seen some red men in the hemp; but the father heeded him not. It was baking day with Mrs. Joslin, and she defended herself against the Indians with the bread-shovel, till she received a death blow from a tomahawk. Elizabeth How was spinning on the little wheel; and probably was spared on account of the sweet melody she was making with her voice. The Indians used to make her sing to them in her captivity. Peter Joslin, who out-lived his fourth wife, died at the house of his son John in this town, April 8, 1759, aged 94 years, and his grave is in the north-east part of the old burying ground."
[The wife killed in this attack was Peter Joslin's first wife Sarah Howe. The "widow Whitcomb" was Hannah, widow of Jonathan Whitcomb, whose niece Joanna Whitcomb who would later become Peter's second wife. The son abducted and later killed was Peter Jr., born 1686]
- Hudson, Charles. History of the town of Marlborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts: from its first settlement in 1657 to 1861 : with a brief sketch of the town of Northborough, a genealogy of the families in Marlborough to 1800, and an account of the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town. (Boston: Press of T.R. Marvin & Son, 1862)
407.
"On the 18th of July, 1692, the Indians attacked the house of Peter Joslin, of Lancaster, while he was at work in the field. He knew nothing of it until he returned to his dwelling, when he beheld the heart-rending spectacle of his wife and three children, with a Mrs. Whitcomb, who happened to be with them, weltering in their blood - having been barbarously massacred by the Indians. Nor were his feelings at all relieved, when he found that his wife's sister and another of his children were carried into captivity. His wife's sister returned, but his child was murdered.
"The person here spoken of was Miss Elizabeth Howe, of Marlborough, who after her redemption was m. to Thomas Keyes, of Marl."
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