Mehitable Smead^{[1, 2]}

1668 - 1704  (36 years)

• Name	Mehitable Smead
  Birth	2 Jan 1668	Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA
  Gender	Female
  Death	4 Mar 1704	, , Massachusetts, USA
  	Died as a captive on march to Canada
  Person ID	I786	Master
  Last Modified	21 Feb 2018

  
  

  Father	William Smead, Jr,   b. 1624, Coggeshall, Essex, England d. 1 Jan 1703, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 79 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Lawrence,   b. 15 Sep 1635, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA d. 29 Feb 1704 , Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 68 years)
  Marriage	31 Dec 1658	Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA   [3, 4]
  Family ID	F202	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Jeremiah Hull,   b. 2 Jun 1663, New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, USA d. 11 Dec 1691, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 28 years)
  Marriage	1688	Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA   [5]
  Children	+ 1. Elizabeth Hull,   b. 23 Dec 1688, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA d. 21 Sep 1754, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 65 years)   2. Jeremiah Hull,   b. 15 Jan 1690, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA d. 4 Jan 1694, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 3 years)
  Family ID	F3741	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Godfrey Nims,   b. 1650, , , , England d. 14 Mar 1704, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 54 years)
  Marriage	27 Jun 1692	Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA   [6]
  Children	1. Thomas Nims,   b. 8 Nov 1693, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA d. 10 Sep 1697, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 3 years)   2. Mehitable Nims,   b. 16 May 1696, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA d. 29 Feb 1704, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 7 years)   3. Mary Nims,   b. 28 Feb 1698, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA d. 29 Feb 1704, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 6 years)   4. Mercy Nims,   b. 28 Feb 1699, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA d. 29 Feb 1704, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA (Age 5 years) + 5. Abigail Nims,   b. 27 May 1700, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA d. 19 Feb 1748, Oka, Lac des Deux Montagnes, Québec, Canada (Age 47 years)
  Family ID	F226	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 Jun 2021

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 2 Jan 1668 - Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA Marriage - 1688 - Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA Marriage - 27 Jun 1692 - Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA Death - 4 Mar 1704 - , , Massachusetts, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Mehitable Smead was born in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts on January 2, 1667 to William Smead and Elizabeth Laurence. The family moved to Pocumtuck, now known as Deerfield, Massachusetts. It was a dangerous place to live, being situated on the frontier of New England. In 1675, King Philip's war began. On one side were the English colonists and thier Native American allies, while on the other were the Wampanoag, Anawon, Tuspaquin, Nipmuc, and Pocumtuc tribes, joined together under the leadership of Metacom, chief of the Wampanoags. (The war was named after Metacom, who was given the nickname "King Philip" by the English, who found his mannerisms haughty.) On September 18, 1675, the natives attacked Pocumtuck, destroying homes and forcing many of the inhabitants to flee. Captain Thomas Lathrop was ordered to take his troops to Deerfield, and there, with the remaining townsmen, to retrieve any salvageable grain and bring it to the garrisons at Hadley, Northampton and Hatfield. Among the 80 - 100 men bringing back the grain was Mehitable's older brother, William Smead. He was driving one of the wagons. Captain Mosely and his Pocumtuck garrison sent out scouts ahead of Lathrop, but Captain Lathrop did not send out any vanguard or flankers, even though the trail led through some dense forest, thinking it unlikely that such a large group of English would be attacked. About 5 miles outside of Deerfield, the convoy emerged from the forest into a narrow, swampy thicket. There they slowed down in preparation to cross Muddy Brook. The convoy ended up bunched all together before the brook. It was a particularly hot day. Realizing that it would take time to get everyone across, the soldiers tossed their rifles on top of the wheat and began to relax. Some soldiers began to gather the wild grapes that grew alongside the brook. 700 Native Americans lay in ambush. Metacom was there, leading the Wapanoags and the Nipmuck bands were there under Sagamore Same, Mantaup, One-eyed John, Matoonas, and Panquahow. At a given signal, the warriors sprang their trap. Chaos followed, as bullets and arrows flew at the bewildered English from every direction. Captain Lathrop fell immediately. Within minutes, over 70 of the English were killed, and the scalping began. The sluggish little brook ran red with blood, earning it the name 'Bloody Brook.' Among the dead was 15 year old William Smead. Period writer William Hubbard called it "the saddest day that ever befell New England." Even though much of Pocumtuck was destroyed, the stubborn English settlers built a new town on the site. Shunning the old Native American name, they called it Deerfield. Mehitable remained there, and married another Deerfield resident, Jeremiah Hull, the son of Jeremiah Hull and Hannah Baldwin. They had two children together, Elizabeth and Jeremiah. Her husband died on December 11, 1691. On June 27, 1692, Mehitable married a cordwainer named Godfrey Nims, the widower of Mary Margaret (Miller) Williams. Godfrey had several children from his first marriage, Rebecca, John, Henry, Thankful and Ebenezer Nims as well as two step-children, Mary and Zebediah Williams. The family lived in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where Godfrey bought the lot on which the second church, the town house and the Memorial Hall now stand, and they built a house. On the night of January 4, 1693, tragedy struck. Godfrey's son Henry went upstairs into the bedroom where Mehitable's son Jeremiah and another child were sleeping. He brought a light with him, and accidentally set some flax or tow on fire. The flames quickly spread. Henry carried one of the sleeping children downstairs to safety, but when he came back up for little Jeremiah, it was too late to save him. The entire home burned to the ground that night. Godfrey and Mehitable then purchased the adjoining lot to their old place, and built a new home. They had 5 children together: Thomas, Mehitable, the twins - Mercy and Mary, and Abigail. Sadly, Thomas died on November 6, 1693 at 3 years of age. On September 16, 1696, a small party of Native Americans surprised Mehitable's brother John Smead, and John Gillet, on Green River. They captured Gillet, and pushed on to Deerfield, where most of the inhabitants were collected in the fort attending a lecture. Daniel Belding and his family were late and headed for the lecture when the Native Americans attacked them. Mrs. Belding and three of the children were killed, two others were wounded, while the remaining two children and Daniel Belding were taken captive. The Deerfield residents discovered what was happening and went to their aid. They managed to wound one of the attackers, but they could not rescue the Beldings. Mehitable's step-son Zebediah Williams was wounded in the fighting. By 1703 were still no English settlements west of Deerfield for fifty miles, until the Hudson River and New York. Nor were there English towns north of Deerfield at all. To the east was forty miles of wilderness. It was a time of great anxiety, similar to the time of King Phillip's War. Queen Anne's War had begun, and the New York Govenernor Lord Cornbury had sent word in May that the French soldiers and their Native American allies were heading down from Canada towards Deerfield and the Connecticut Valley. In October, a small Native American force struck, capturing Mehitable's step-sons Zebediah Williams and John Nims. She never saw them again. Deerfield strengthened its fortifications, and the Massachusetts General Court sent soldiers from Boston to help protect the town. All was quiet as winter descended, and Mehitable and her family must have felt some relief, as wars are not usually fought in the cold and snow of a New England winter. However, as a precaution, everyone, including the 20 Massachusetts soldiers, slept in the dozen houses that inside the pallisades of Deerfield, where the Nims home was located, leaving the other thirty or so houses empty. A watchman patrolled the town every night. Two hours before dawn, on the leap-year morning of February 29, 1704, as Deerfield's residents slept, joint French and Native American forces under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville gathered two miles north of town, just across the Deerfield River. De Rouville's forces consisted of 47 French and French-Canadian soldiers, including regular army men and coureur de bois, and 200 Native Americans, mostley Abenaki, Kanienkehaka and Wyandot, as well as a few Pocumtuck. They had made their way south on snoeshoes, walking atop the frozen waterways - up the Sorel River to Lake Champlain, up the Winooski River, and onto the upper Connectiut River. They had left a few of their party, plus the sleds and provisions, some twenty-five miles above Deerfield. Silently, De Rouville's forces they crossed the river and made their way towards Deerfield. They were able to move quietly in the snow that dampens all sound. Heavy snowddrifts piled against the walls surrounding Deerfield - they were so high that the attackers easily scaled the ten to twelve-foot high walls. When they were discovered by the watchman (who has been accused of being unfaithful in his duties that night) he discharged his musket and cried, "Arm! arm!" This was the signal for the assault. Doors and windows were broken down; men, women, and children dragged from their beds, murdered in cold blood, or bound as captives. De Rouville's forces had the advantage, despite the townspeoples efforts to fight back. The main body of the French stood to their arms, firing upon the houses and killing all who resisted, shooting the cattle and sheep, while detached parties were securing "provisions, drink, and cloathing," which were packed up and carried to their rendezvous, others collecting and guarding the prisoners and leading them to the same place. The Native forces attacked the Nims house, where they met with resistance. Godfrey and his family (like the Mattoon, Catlin and Frary families) had had the time to rouse and defend themselves, but not enough time to flee. Compared to theresidents of other homes that were attacked, the members of these four families suffered more members killed outright rather than taken captive, probably due to their resistance. The Natives set the Nims house on fire. Godfrey escaped on foot with Deacon Sheldon and a soldier and made it to Wells's Fort, the picketed house of Capt. Wells, who lived on the Fogg lot. De Rouville's forces soon turned their attention to Wells's Fort, which was fiercely assaulted, but successfully defended. Just after 8:00 a.m., English reinforcementscharged up from Hadley and Hatfield. The French and Natives were driven from the fort. The siege being raised, the brave garrison, with men from Captain Wells, joined their rescuers. There were 57 men in all, and they pursued the retreating enemy across the meadows. De Rouville, noticing their small numbers, halted his front and formed an ambuscade. Into this the English, let on by Sergeant Wait, fell, in spite of a command to retreat by the cautious Captain Wells. Nine men were killed in this trap and the ensuing retreat. De Rouville's forces chased the English back into the stockades, then withdrew to Petty's Plain. Deerfield was destroyed. At the battles end, 22 men, 9 women and 25 children were dead, another 109 had been taken captive, and almost half of the houses were burned down. Mehitable arguably suffered one of the greatest losses that morning. Her 7 year old daughter Mehitable and her five year old twin daughters Mercy and Mary had been hiding in the cellar of the family home when it was set on fire, and they smothered to death as the house burned above them. A similar tragedy unfolded In the home of her brother, Samuel Smead, were Mehitable's mother Elizabeth, Samuel's wife and his two young children hid in the cellar while he went to get help. Their house was also set on fire, and they all perished. Mehitable's her younger sister Thankful (Smead) Hawks, her brother-in-law John Hawks, her two little nieces Martha and Thankful Hawks, her nephew John Hawks, her step-son Henry, her step-daughter Rebecca (Nims) Mattoon, Rebecca's husband Phillip Mattoon and Rebecca Mattoon's newborn baby were all slain in the attack. Her brother John Smead was shot in the thigh, but survived. Mehitable herself, along with her 3 year old daughter Abigail, her daughter Elizabeth Hull, her step-son Ebenezer, her pregnant step-daughter Mary (Williams) Brooks, Mary's husband Nathaniel Brooks, her step-grand-children Mary and William Brooks, her pregnant sister Waitstill (Smead) Warner and her young nieces Sarah and Waitstill Warner were among the 109 captives. They began a forced 300 mile march to Quebec. The winter conditions made the march extremely difficult, and as the captors feared pursuit, the pace was gruelling. As captive Stephen Williams later remembered it "they traveled (we thought) as if they Designed to kill us all." Those who were sick or injured and slowing the group down were sometimes slain by their captors. These tended to be adult women and children under 2 years old (who were vulnerable to the harsh weather and diet.) Older children were valued for adoption into the tribe, and were even carried or drawn on sleds by their captors. On the fourth day of the journey, Mehitable's sister Waitstill was killed. On the fifth day, four women were killed: Hepzibah Belding, Mary Frary, Hannah Carter, and Mehitable. Godfrey, who was not captured in the massacre, died a few months later. Despite a life marked by tragedy and loss, two of Mehitable's children survived. Through little Abigail Nims, a Deerfield captive who lived out her life in Quebec, Mehitable is the ancestor of many French Canadians, including Seguins, Sabourins, Castonguays and Cheniers, and through her daughter Elizabeth Hull, (redeemed from captivity in 1707) who married Mehitable's step-son John Nims after his escape from captivity, she is the ancestor of many Americans, including actresses Lillian and Dorothy Gish.

  
  

• Sources

  [S761] Yates Publishing, Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree. http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=117125034&pid=16 [S761] Yates Publishing, Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree. http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=117125034&pid=25 [S338] Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.). [S1133] Ancestry.com, North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Book Title: A family history : recording the ancestors of Russell Snow Hitchcock : this includes the ancestral. [S32] Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.), Source number: 2196.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: GCH. Birth date: 1665Birth place: Marriage date: 1688Marriage place: [S338] Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.) (Reliability: 3). Name: Godfrey Nims Event Type: Marriage Marriage Date: 27 Jan 1692 Marriage Place: Deerfield, Massachusetts Spouse Name: Mehitable Hull https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5939173:2495?tid=167141933&pid=172171856848&hid=1035901253564