Great – Week 14 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Joseph Bond

Life in colonial America had its challenges. According to https://historyofmassachusetts.org, “These early colonists faced many hardships including disease, famine, brutal winters, hot and humid summers, warfare with local Native-American tribes as well as with other countries that were also trying to colonize North America and political struggles due to political instability in England.” This is the world that my 7th great grandfather, Joseph Bond was born into. Joseph’s father John was born in 1624 in England (possibly Bury St. Edmonds) and emigrated to colonial America and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts where he was a proprietor. He married Hester Blakeley on August 15, 1649.  “Joseph ye son of John Bond was borne Aprill 14,” 1653 in Newbury, Massachusetts. (Massachusetts, U.S. Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988)

Joseph married Sarah Williams (daughter of John and Rebecca “Colby” Williams) on November 26, 1679 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. (After Joseph’s father, John died, Joseph’s mother married his wife Sarah’s father so Sarah’s mother-in-law also became her step-mother and Joseph’s father-in-law became his step father.) Joseph and Sarah had 10 children: Abigail (my 6th great grandmother), Esther, John (who sadly drowned in 1721), Sarah, Joseph, Hannah, Sarah, Mercy, Lydia, and Rebecca. The family were Methodists and attended Lynn First Methodist Church.

Defining Moments in History

Per Descendants of John Williams by Cornelia Bartow Williams, “Joseph Bond served in King Philip’s War under Lieut. Benjamin Swett in June and August, 1676. In the assignment of wages for ‘Haverhill-towne’ 24 Aug., 1676, his allotment was £0.13.6. He took the oath of allegiance and fidelity in Haverhill 28 Nov., 1677. In 1680 he was on Thomas Dustin’s garrison, one of the six organized for protection against the Indians. He also was one provided with snow-shoes for the same purpose.”

King Philip’s War (1675-1678) was also known as the First Indian War. King Philip’s War was particularly significant because the colonists went to war and dealt with their adversaries without any support from the British government (or any other European government). Thus, the colonists began to develop an “independent American identity” which therefore enabled them to begin separating from Britain. According to www.history.com “King Philip’s War is considered the bloodiest war per capita in U.S. history. In the space of a little more than a year, 12 of the region’s towns were destroyed and many more were damaged, the economy of Plymouth and Rhode Island Colonies were all but ruined and their population was decimated, losing one-tenth of all men available for public service.” Life in the colonies may have taken a different turn if the British had provided the expected support.

A Twist – Interesting Neighbors In Haverhill, Massachusetts

Joseph Bond, Thomas Dustin (or Duston), and their families all lived in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Both Joseph and Thomas were soldiers under Lieutenant Benjamin Swett in 1676. Joseph later was on Thomas Dustin’s garrison in 1680 as the conflicts against the Indians continued. (King Philip’s War was in 1675-1676 and King William’s War was in 1689-1697.)

Thomas had married Hannah Emerson and according to Find a Grave, they had 10 children. {Hannah had an interesting family background. Her youngest sister, Elizabeth, was hanged for infanticide and both her cousin, Martha Toothaker Emerson and her uncle, Dr. Roger Toothaker were tried at the Salem witch trials after they were accused of practicing witchcraft. Martha was eventually released due to lack of evidence and Roger died in prison.}

In 1697, Hannah Emerson Dustin, had a quite tragic and horrific experience and took matters into her own hands. This gruesome and violent event began when Hannah, her week old baby, the nurse, Mary Neff, and some other neighbors were captured by the Abenaki, a local Native American tribe. (Hannah’s husband, Thomas and the rest of their children fled to the garrison house that Thomas was building.) About two weeks into their capture… “One night when the Indian family was sleeping, Duston, Neff, and Leonardson—who were not guarded or locked up—armed themselves with tomahawks and killed and scalped 10 of the Indians, including six children. They wounded an older woman, who escaped. A small boy managed to run away. Duston and her fellow captives then left in a canoe, taking themselves and the scalps down the Merrimack River to Massachusetts, where they presented them to the General Assembly of Massachusetts and received a reward of 50 pounds.” https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history

“Hannah became a minor celebrity, her story was recorded by Cotton Mather in his Magnalia Christi Americana. The governor of Maryland sent her a pewter tankard to congratulate her on her escape. Her story has been retold in History of Haverhill, in Notable American Women, in Thoreau’s A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, and most recently in Laurel Ulrich’s Goodwives.”  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4667/hannah-duston

Hannah is likely the first American woman to have a statue built to memorialize her.

• 

• 

Life was often difficult for these early colonists, but they persevered. Throughout the year, I will follow the path from Joseph and Sarah to Susanna Osborn (Joseph and Sarah were the great-great-great grandparents of Susanna) and see how her journey led her from Pennsylvania to Virginia to West Virginia to Plum Grove, Kansas which today is a ghost town.