Ephraim Winship, II

Stephen Manchester, the slayer of the Indian chief Polin, at New Marblehead, now Windham, Maine, in 1756, and a soldier of the revolution, with his ancestry

On the morning of May 14, 1756, Ezra Brown and Ephraim Winship left the fort for the purpose of laboring on Brown's lot, which was about one mile to the rear, or northeast of the fort. They were accompanied by a guard, consisting of four men and four boys ; the names of the men were Stephen Manchester, Abraham Anderson, Joseph Starling and John Farrow, the names of the boys, Timothy Cloudman, Gershom Winsliip, Stephen Tripp and Thomas Manchester. In going to Brown's lot they had to go through a piece of woods, Brown and Winship being about sixty rods in advance, and in the thickest part of the woods were fired upon by a body of fifteen or twenty Indians, who lay in ambush. The Indians were of the Rockameecook tribe commanded by Polin their king. Brown was shot dead upon the spot, Winship received two balls, one in the eye and another in the arm and fell to the ground where both were scalped by the Indians. Upon hearing the report of the guns part of the guard went back to the fort. The residue, Abraham Anderson, Stephen Manchester, Timothy Cloudman and Gershom Winship determined to pursue the Indians and avenge the blood of their fallen companions or perish in the attempt. Polin the Indian chief, who was concealed behind a tree, was the first to begin the bloody combat. He discharged his musket at Anderson without taking effect. In his eagerness to reload his piece the body of Polin became uncovered and exposed to the view of Manchester, who was about thirty feet on Anderson's right, when Manchester instantly leveled his musket, took deadly aim and fired ; swift as lightning the fatal ball sped its way and Polin, the warrior king of the Rockameecooks, fell to rise no more.

Excerpt from The Maine Historical and Genealogical Register

Ephraim Winship, who was wounded in this fight, was born in Lexington, Mass., May 1, 1709, and there married Mehitabel Cutter, Aug. 28, 1735. They had six children between 1736 and 1747. He was a shoemaker by trade, and settled with the above family in New Marblehead, upon home lot No. 5, in 1750. His wife Mehitabel died April 18, 1753, aged 44 years. Mr. Winship's wounds were so severe that his recovery seems wonderful; for besides the bullet shot in the arm, another bullet destroyed an eye, and, as he possessed a "double crown," the Indians took two scalps from his head, leaving a narrow strip of scalp from the back of his head to the front. In this work they were interrupted by the guards, and one of the savages gave him a hasty, cruel blow with a tomahawk upon the head and left him for dead. He recovered however, and although badly hacked and shot, and having but one eye and less than one-fourth of his original scalp, he married again, Oct. 13, 1759, Mrs. Elizabeth (Roberts) Mathews, widow of Samuel. She had a family of four children by her first husband to join with his six; and then they together had four more, the last being born Dec., 1766, some six months after the father's death, which occurred June 4, 1766. His widow Elizabeth in 1768 married Amos Brown as her their husband, and by him had several children.

Sources:

Stephen Manchester, the slayer of the Indian chief Polin, at New Marblehead, now Windham, Maine, in 1756, and a soldier of the revolution, with his ancestry

References......

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via daughter Isabel Haskell (born Winship) by SmartCopy: Dec 26 2014, 9:06:08 UTC
• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees by SmartCopy: Dec 26 2014, 9:15:14 UTC

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• Marriage to Mehitable Cutter: (28 Aug 1735 — Age: 26) Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA
  • Updated from Ancestry Genealogy by SmartCopy: May 21 2015, 2:01:16 UTC

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• "Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/2H26-S2X : 27 December 2014), Ephraim Winship and Elizabeth Mathes, 1759. [SIC: Mathews]
• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Dec 28 2015, 4:18:58 UTC

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• Ephraim Winship in the Family Data Collection - Deaths Family Data Collection - Deaths NName: Ephraim Winship Death Date: 4 Jun 1766 City: Windham County: Cumberland State: ME Country: USA

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• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Mar 24 2017, 0:39:01 UTC