Person:Moses Jackman (9)

From: genealogybank, 1838-12-25, The New Hampshire Gazette. DEATHS In Boscawen, N.H. Mr. Moses Jackman, aged 92 years and 7 months. In June, 1757, when Mr. Jackman was 11 years old, he was taken captive by the Indians, and carried to Canada; and was imprisoned in Montreal, whilst the Indians, his captors, were employed in disposing of their furs; after which he was sold to a Frenchman, with whom he remained four years. Mr. Jackman at the time of his capture, was on a visit to his uncle in Canterbury, and was surprised by the Indians whilst at work in the orchard, in company with his uncle's black man, who was also captured. They made several attempts to escape, but were taken, punished, and menaced. At the expiration of four years, Mr. J. was released through the efforts of his mother, and returned to his native town.

From: Page 328, HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH.

In the month of June, 1757, four Indians entered the house of Thomas Clough of Canterbury, and after securing some meal fled to the woods, where they secreted themselves for the return of the family absent at the time. In the adjacent field, however, Moses Jackman, a son of Richard Jackman of Contoocook, then a boy of eleven, was at work in company with a negro named Dorset. Discovering the Indians Dorset caught the boy in his arms and started to flee, but he soon lost his hold on him, and in the excitement the couple separated, Moses going toward the barn while the negro ran for the woods. The former stumbled and fell, when he was caught by the Indians, but managed to break away. However, he was seized the second time, and struggled in vain to escape. Meanwhile Dorset was overtaken, and in his desperate resistance he was beaten severely about the head. He yelled at the top of his voice, as much to warn the people in the vicinity of the garrison as from pain, so that he was heard for half a mile. Through this warning those who heard his cries sought protection at the garrison, at the house of Capt. Jeremiah Clough. Though the men went to the rescue of the captives they were too late to render them assistance, and the two were taken by the savages up the usual trail of the red men to Canada. Moses was barefooted, and on this account as well as his youth, one of the Indians carried him much of the way on his shoulders. The boy captive was also furnished with a pair of moccasins before going very far. So rapid was the flight, as it might be termed, of the Indians that by nightfall they had reached Smith River in Hill, where they camped that night.

The rest of the march was made as swiftly until the captors had reached Montreal with their captives, towards whom they had shown considerable friendliness. Busy with the sale of their furs, the Indians placed the captives in confinement for two weeks, at the end of which time they were separated and sold to the French. Moses never saw nor heard from Dorset after that day, while he was taken as a slave by a Frenchman, but he was in reality a prisoner for four years or until the close of the war in 1761. Then he was found by Enos Bishop, who had been sent in quest of him, and escorted home where he was greeted as one from the dead by his relatives and friends. During his long captivity Moses Jackman was treated with kindness by his masters, and he improved the opportunity to obtain a good smattering of the French language,

Moses Jackman was one of sixteen men who, at the news of the Battle of Lexington, immediately started to the front on the 21st of April.

Headstone is in main street Boscawen Cemetary.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Coffin, Charles Carleton. The History of Boscawen and Webster : from 1733 to 1878. (Concord, NH: Republican Press Assocation, 1878)
   Page 557.

   Moses [Jackman], b. 26 April, 1746

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Latter Day Saints. FamilySearch Ancestral File (Jackman), M178. (31 May 1999).
3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Browne, George Waldo. History of Hillsborough, NH. (3 volumes, 1921)
   by George Waldo Browne, page 326, 2 Nov 2007.

   Reference number: MRIN 171

4. ↑ N.R. Bagley & M.O. Vaca, Plymouth NH, 1998. Boscawen Deaths 1755-1864. (Copy in Tuck Library, Concord, NH).