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Raid on Oyster River, also known as Oyster River Massacre
July 18. The Indians fell suddenly & unexpectedly upon Oyster River about break of Day. Took 3 Garrisons (being deserted or not defended) killed & Carried away 94 persons, & burnt 13 houses- this was the f[i]r[st] act of hostility Committed by [them] after ye peace Concluded at Pemmaqd. -- Journal of the Rev. John Pike, of Dover, N.H.
In 1693 the English at Boston had entered into peace and trade negotiations with the Abenaki tribes in eastern Massachusetts. The French at Quebec under Governor Frontenac wished to disrupt the negotiations and sent Claude-Sébastien de Villieu in the fall of 1693 into present-day Maine, with orders to "place himself at the head of the Acadian Indians and lead them against the English.
The English settlement of Oyster River (present day Durham, New Hampshire) was attacked by Villieu on July 18, 1694 with about 250 Abenaki Indians, composed of two main groups from the Penobscot and Norridgewock under command of their sagamore Bomazeen (or Bomoseen). A number of Maliseet from Medoctec took part in the attack. The Indian force was divided into two groups to attack the settlement, which was laid out on both sides of the Oyster River. Villieu led the Pentagoet and the Meductic/Nashwaaks. The attack commenced at daybreak, with the small forts quickly falling to the attackers. In all, 104 inhabitants were killed and 27 taken captive,[5] with half the dwellings, including the garrisons, pillaged and burned to the ground. Crops were destroyed and livestock killed, causing famine and destitution for survivors.
Source: Wikipedia
For a full account, see The Great Massacre of 1694
Killed in the Attack
Requires additional research. 104 people killed. Surnames include Adams, Davis, Dean, and Drew.
Captives Carried to Canada
27 people taken captive
- Mercy Adams
- Two daughters of John Davis
- John Dean's wife and child
- Peter Denbow
- John Derry
- Deliverance Derry
- John or Joseph Derry
- Thomas Drew
- Thomas Drew
- Thomas Edgerly, Sr.
- Joseph Edgerly
- A daughter and some children of Thomas Edgerly, Jr.
- Judah (Davis) Emerson
- Ann Jenkins and three children
- Samuel Rand
- Remembrance Rand
- Mrs. Hannah Watson
- Joseph Watson
- Abigail Willey/Willis, daughter of William Pitman of Dover
- others
Resources
- Craig J. Brown, The Great Massacre of 1694, accessed May 8, 2015.
- The Oyster River Massacre, 1694 (and two lucky uncles at Nutfield Genealogy, accessed May 8, 2015.
- Oyster River Massacre at Miner Descent (Feb. 1, 2013).
- Wikipedia: Raid on Oyster River.
- Wikipedia: Oyster River HIstorical Marker (On July 18, 1694, a force of about 250 Indians under command of the French soldier, de Villieu, attacked settlements in this area on both sides of the Oyster River, killing or capturing approximately 100 settlers, destroying five garrison houses and numerous dwellings. It was the most devastating French and Indian raid in New Hampshire during King William's War.)
- “ Digging into the Oyster River Massacre.” < link > SEACOASTNH.com