King Philip's War (1675-76) was a reaction by Native Americans to incursions of the Puritans. Charles Hudson, in A History of Marlborough, wrote:
"The horrors and devastation of Philip's war have no parallel in our history. The Revolution was a struggle for freedom; the contest with Philip was for existence. The war lasted only about fourteen months; and yet the towns of Brookfield, Lancaster, Marlborough, Medfield, Sudbury, Groton, Deerfield, Hatfield, Hadley, Northfield, Sprigfield, Weymouth, Chelmsford, Andover, Scituate, Bridgewater, Playmouth, and several other places were wholly or partially destroyed, and many of the inhabitants were massacred or carried into captivity. During this short period, six hundred of our brave men, the flower and strength of the Colony, had fallen, and six hundred dwelling houses were consumed. Every eleventh family was houseless, and every eleventh soldier had sunk to his grave."
My own eighth-great-grandfather, and my only traceable Native American blood so far in my family tree, Chief Gasesett of the Narragansett tribe, died in battle at the hands of the Mohegans (the tribe immortalized by James Fenimore Cooper's novels, especially, The Last of the Mohicans).
The sachem's daughter, Elizabeth Minnetinka Gasesett, married John Corey, Sr. in 1679. The Corey line descended from here directly to my mother, Rose Adelaide Corey. John was the oldest of the 10 children of William and Mary Earle Corey. John and Elizabeth lived their entire lives in Rhode Island.
This public domain picture shows the capture of Brookfield, Massachusetts, in the war.
