Joe english amherst nh?

In: Society & Culture › Demographics

For most people these days, Joe English is just a road in New Boston and the hill that stands beside that road. But for the area's early English settlers, Joe English symbolized the brutality and treachery involved in their wars with the Indians. And for later residents of the area, he became a folk hero who represented the adventures the first settlers had in "taming" their new country. Joe was what early histories called a "friendly Indian." He lived in Dunstable (early Nashua) and worked as a guard and guide for the settlers, as did several members of his family in various settlements. He was the grandson of Masconnomet, the "sagamon" or chief at Agawam (now Ipswich, Massachusetts), who had converted to Christianity. Though Joe's real name was Merruwacomet, the settlers called him Joe English because of his affection for them; this association with the English apparently ran in Joe's family, since at least one other member of the family was called English as well. Some histories say that Joe's friendliness toward the settlers stemmed from "an act of kindness done him" by them, but no specifics are given. At any rate, he was well known in the area, particularly as a runner and marksman of great prowess, and he became a legendary figure for his adventures in evading hostile Indians, who resented him for his "collaboration" with the English. He was one of a group attacked by Indians from Canada in 1697. All but four were killed, and Joe English was captured and taken back to Canada. The story has it that he convinced his captors that he was disgusted with the English, telling the Indians that the settlers had deceived him and that he didn't trust them any more. He convinced them to let him lead a raid against the town of Deerfield, Massachusetts, taking a band of warriors and one of the English prisoners with him. Upon arriving at Deerfield, the story goes, Joe told the Indians they should hunt before the attack to make sure they had enough provisions. When they went around the mountain to flush the deer in his direction, Joe ran into Deerfield and warned the English of the attack. The settlers began shooting their guns and beating drums and were able to chase the Indians off. According to Charles J. Fox's History of the Old Township of Dunstable, "He soon after returned to his duty as a soldier at Dunstable, in which employment he took much pleasure, and felt no little pride in the performance of it." Joe was rewarded with a grant of £6 (a decent sum in those days) from the Massachusetts General Court, but, as Fox says, not everyone was pleased with his actions. "The Indians of course felt an inveterate hostility against him, and determined upon securing him. They therefore waylaid all the places where they would be likely to take him, but still he escaped their stratagems." It was one of those escapes that gave Joe English Hill its name. One late afternoon as he was hunting along the Piscataquog River, he was surprised by two Indian hunters, who immediately pursued him. He ran east, toward the hill, which was a gentle slope on one side and an abrupt drop on the far side. Followed closely by the Indians, Joe ran up the hill and slipped over the edge onto a ledge he knew of. By now it was dark; his pursuers. who were not as familiar with the hill, saw him go over the edge and, naturally enough, assumed he had fallen onto the rocks below and died. Another version of the story - there are several variations, as is common with folk legends like this one - has it that the Indian pursuers didn't see the edge of the cliff in time, running straight off it and falling to their deaths. Either way, this escape must have enhanced his reputation as a near-super-natural trickster, and it apparently only made his enemies more determined to eliminate him. The final story of Joe English tells how they succeeded - and how they failed. On July 27, 1706, Joe was escorting a Lieutenant Butterfield and his wife from Dunstable to Chelmsford. As they passed through what is now Tyngsborough, near Holden Brook, they ran into a party of hostile Indians, who shot the horse on which the Butterfields were riding. Knowing that the Indians primarily wanted to capture him, Joe ran for the woods to draw them away from the Butterfields. The chase went on for quite some time, with Joe occasionally stopping to fire at his pursuers. Just as he approached the densest part of the woods, where he could easily hide, one of the Indians shot him in the arm, forcing him to drop his gun, and again in the thigh, bringing him down. "The Indians were highly elated with the prospect of taking vengeance on Joe, and they had already in their minds, prepared the keenest and most excruciating tortures for their victim. Joe was not ignorant of the suffering that awaited him, and wished to provoke them so much that they might despatch him at once. They soon came up to him, and vented their feelings in all the expressions of savage triumph and pleasure - 'Now Joe,' said they, 'we've got you.' Joe immediately made a gesture and a reply of such insulting scorn, that they were highly irritated," says Fox. Another version has it that he pointed out that they might kill him, but Butterfield would warn the garrison at Dunstable or Pawtucket (Chelmsford) and they would surely be captured if they delayed long enough to torture him. At any rate, the end is the same in all versions of the story. "His purpose was answered," ends Fox, "for they despatched him with their tomahawks without further ceremony." Even in his last minutes, the legendary Joe English tricked his enemies and triumphed over them, as he had all his life.