HAVE You Heard of King Philip’s War – March 11, 2018
Have you heard about King Philips and the war with the Colonists in 1675? King Philips was not English, French or Spanish. He was a Native American from the Wampanoag tribe, who started a war in the New England area in 1675 and continued until 1676.
The Plymouth Colonist’s had made a pact with the Native Americans early during the settling of Salem and Other communities in the New England colonies. Prior to 1676, the French, English and Dutch had wars and conflicts trying to settle and live in North America but not the English. The first major English conflict would pit the Colonies against the Indians and would prove to be deadly to both sides.
The pact with the Massasoit, Chief of the Wampanoag Indians started in 1638 and slowly came apart after 37 years after his son, Metacomet (King Philip) took over the leadership following his father’s death. The early pact would be based on less expansion and based on protecting each other in a war. However, over time as the colonies grew, the English population would grow to about 80,000 people and the land expansion would push many of the Native Americans from their lands.
The trigger for this conflict would be a known Indian convert to Christianity being killed by three Wampanoag Indians, the Indians being tried and convicted of the crime. As with English custom, the men would be swiftly executed by hanging and this angered the Native Americans greatly.
The five tribes of Native Americans attacked the English settlements and brutally killed Men, Women and Children. The brutality by the Indians witnessed by the Colonist was severe. The Indians would dismember bodies and do things that would cause the people both havoc and shock.
The first battles would utterly destroy the villages of Westbrook, Northfield and Deerfield. In the Massachusetts region, twelve villages and towns would be attacked and the Indians were easily overrunning the local Militias. The war rules of Europe were gone and fighting by ambush or behind trees by the Indians would mean a different war was being conducted.
My Ancestors during the war time would be the Rae family (Joshua Ray (Rae) (My 8th Great Grandfather), (Samuel Rae (My 7th Great Grandfather) and Richard Waters (My 9th Great Grandfather) all living in around Salem while the war underway. For the Vest Family, these ancestors would come through Elizabeth Ray who married John Valentine Vest.
After researching a great deal, the only possible relatives that fought in the conflict would be from my Baker lineage through Alma Baker (Vest), my Grand Mother, and that would be John Baker, Thomas Baker, and Timothy Baker who served in the army formed to confront the Native Americans.
On my Mother’s side of the family, there is a Samuel Chapman would fought in the conflicts too and is mentioned in the archives. At this time, I cannot say how or if he is related to me but I will be continuing to search and find out.
The war would continue and as in most wars, the American Colonist would learn to fight similar tactics as the Indians, would form an army consisting of both volunteers and impressed soldiers and would bring the conflict to the Indian tribes. Two tribes, the Mohegans (Mohicans) and the Pequots would come to the aid and support the colonists in the war.
At the end of 1676, Metacomet would be killed and some of his captains would be captured or killed in the conflict. The son of Metacomet would be deported to Bermuda and the tribes would begin to seek peace thus ending the conflict.
The estimates of the death and toll ranges from 800 to 1000 colonist and up to 3,000 of the Native Americans. Over half of the US Colonies cities would be attacked and several villages and towns would be left empty for several years. The war took a great toll on the people living within the English colonies during the time. People had seen horrors and lived in fear wondering if their village would be attacked or not. The loss of crops, animals and life would stem the growth for a period until the people could focus on their lives again.
Amazon Select this link for more books and information about this history of the time.
The following Reference Links are Some to Explore for More Information about King Philip’s War
Olive Tree Genealogy Information
The Olive Tree Genealogy is becoming one my favorite sources for information about history and relatives. If you are into Genealogy and don’t want to pay for a subscription, this is a great source to visit.
Westbrook Historical Commission
Download Book Written Soldiers in King Philips War by George Madison Bodge
They Came For Treasure But Farming Became Their New Life – March 3, 2018
John Moses Vest (1650 – 1735) and Francis Chapman (1598 – 1656) came to the new colonies to start a new life as we have discussed in earlier blogs. The early colonist came to start a new life and search for gold but only found that the key to the new life was farming.
The group that came from England and Germany brought only small tools and livestock. The small tools would be an ax, shovel, chisel, hammer, other tools that were poorly built and the farmers would need to repair frequently. The livestock would include sheep, goats, chickens, horses and cows.
Upon landing at the site, the first priority for the people was shelter. The groups would either pitch a tent or live on the vessel until a crude one room home could be built. Shaping the wood would take time and once the logs were ready the people would build the small home quickly. After two months in a ship, having one room shelter had to feel like luxury.
Unless the colonists were lucky enough to secure an old Native American camp site, the fields were covered in trees and rocks. The land had to be cleared and crops had to be planted. To clear the land of tress with the crude axes was very difficult and the Colonists had worked long days clearing the fields. They were taught by the Native Americans that if a person would cut a groove around the bottom of the tree all the way around the tree, the tree would die. After the tree died over the course of time, one could cut it down easier or burn the tree to the ground. Removing rocks and stumps were another challenge that the farmer had to contend with.
Clearing a site would take a great deal of time and was estimated at an acre every year. Since there was little help to hire due to the minimum number of colonist that were available, the work was tedious, back breaking and presented a challenge clearing the area. Plowing a field was always done by using hand tools to poke holes and cover the soil. Planting would take a great deal of time and help was needed.
The families would have as many children as possible to help tend the farm and these families would as large as ten on occasion. My ancestors, the Vest family would come to the colony with Moses Vest (7th Great Grand Father) and his son, John Valentine Vest (6th Great Grand Father) would have many children
- John Daniel Vest (1705 to 1765) (5th Great Grand Father)
- George Vest (1713 to 1745)
- Elizabeth Ann Vest (1715 to 1775)
- Valentine Vest (1717 to 1759)
- Phillip Vest (1722 to 1816)
The farming would quickly plant corn as taught to the settlers by the Native Americans. Corn would be more plentiful in food amount than barley or wheat and the entire corn stalk and cob would be consumed by either the farmer or the animals. Nothing went to waste and the farmer would learn other ways to produce symbiotic plants within the corn crops. Beans and pumpkins would be planted after the stalks were above the surface and these three plants worked together to produced badly needed food for the families of Virginia.
To keep the animals as bay and out of the crops, crude fences would be built. The early fences would be split rails with a hole bored through on the ends to stack and lock the rails in place. In the areas where there more rocks and stones, complete and partial fences built as stone works would line the property and keep the livestock penned. The stone fences would be found more in the north part of the Virginia colony and wood fences would be prominent.
Last, the farmer would start to build a new home with more rooms. A kitchen would be added and a bedroom or a keeping room would be added to provide more room for the expanding family. Overtime, the home in the fields would take over for the family and the one room in the settlement would go to another family or part of their extended family.
For more information about the Early Colonial Life, please read the reference book where I found the information written. Select the image and you can go to Amazon to order the book if you would like to have additional reading about the subject.
Elizabeth Hope “Ray” Vest Part 2, February 17, 2018
Elizabeth “Ray” Vest was an ancestor of Daniel Rea, Joshua Rea and Samuel Ray and notice the change in the last name during the few generations in the colonies. The Rea family would settle in the Salem area and Daniel, who was born in England came to Plymouth in 1630.
The Massachusetts Colony was becoming home to the Puritans, who came from England to celebrate religious freedom from the Anglican Church. The Puritans believed they were the chosen people and did not believe in Bishops or a high church structure. In England, they group would not be allowed to be left alone or practice their faith in their way.
The group were chaste and very “pure” in their beliefs. They would provide justice to those who did not remain faithful to their religious beliefs. Often, people were killed, punished severely, and chased out of town for infractions against their belief of a chaste person. The people spent a lot of time going to Church and their life was spent trying to remain pure from “worldly” ways. The average Puritan would attend over 7,000 sermon in a year and they were instructed to study the Bible. Most puritan men and almost all of the women could read, which was unusual as to compared to many other colonist coming to the new world.
Other Religious groups such as Catholics, Baptist and Quakers would be asked to leave the Massachusetts’ communities or suffer harm. These groups would move to Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, where the new people would flourish.
The Ray family would settle in the Salem area and would be part of the community. During the 1600’s, the Puritans would be the group to seek out witches and punish the people for fortune telling or casting spells. The most famous witch trials would be held in 1692 during the Salem Witch trials. During 1692, several young teenage children would point out people in the Salem village as witches. Over 18 people would be accused and jailed as a result of the trials.
The trials would be nothing like we know today. The trials would be conducted by a Church Leader who would interrogate the people who had been accused. The whole trial was based on convincing the one leader in the during the first set of witch trials of their innocence and later time the trials would be governed by three leaders. Often what caused people to fail or to be found in league with Satan would be their lack of accurately saying the Lord’s prayer. One missed word could be the meaning of freedom or going to jail. The young girls would attend the trials where their bodies would contort and see images would accuse the people of coming to their homes, riding broom sticks and even having spirits in the room with them during the trial.
How did they find the witches? At first, special cakes were cooked with the inflicted young girls urine and the first person they named after eating the cake was the witch. From there, the people started naming other people as witches and the list grew and grew. During the trials, the people were given a chance to confess but most denied having signed the book of the devil with blood and the Magistrate(s) would ultimately be handed their fate and the accused would be hauled off to jail.
Elizabeth Ray’s Grandmother and Grandfather, Joshua Rae and Sarah Ann “Waters” Rae would be part of the group who signed the petition that Rebecca Nurse was not a witch. For those with the Vest ancestry through John Valentine Vest, this is a relative of ours and Joshua is my 8th Great Grandfather. Rebecca Nurse was 71 years old and denied being a witch. Yet, she was hung along with every other person who denied being a witch. For a great read about the witches of Salem, please use the link below to go to Amazon or try the public library.
After a few years, the number accused of being a witch would subside and after killing a number of people, the people would stop believing their neighbors were “evil” people. What is interesting is that no witches were burned at the stake during this time. Witches could be a child, man, woman and in some cases a dog. When people today think about the trials, they always think that young women were burned at the stake and in most cases, the accused was in middle to late age in life.
Over time, the harsh Puritan environment and treatment of the religiously pure environment would take it’s toll on generations being born in the Massachusetts colony and with more and more people moving to the area with other beliefs things changed over time.
Elizabeth’s Father Samuel (1715), Grand Father Joshua (1710) and Great Grandfather Daniel (1661) would both die in Salem.
The above document shows the failed petition of Rebecca Nurse.
google-site-verification: google2773b8008f44a689.html
Elizabeth Hope “Ray” Vest Part 2
Elizabeth “Ray” Vest was an ancestor of Daniel Rea, Joshua Rea and Samuel Ray and notice the change in the last name during the few generations in the colonies. The Rea family would settle in the Salem area and Daniel, who was born in England came to Plymouth in 1630.
The Massachusetts Colony was becoming home to the Puritans, who came from England to celebrate religious freedom from the Anglican Church. The Puritans believed they were the chosen people and did not believe in Bishops or a high church structure. In England, they group would not be allowed to be left alone or practice their faith in their way.
The group were chaste and very “pure” in their beliefs. They would provide justice to those who did not remain faithful to their religious beliefs. Often, people were killed, punished severely, and chased out of town for infractions against their belief of a chaste person. The people spent a lot of time going to Church and their life was spent trying to remain pure from “worldly” ways. The average Puritan would attend over 7,000 sermon in a year and they were instructed to study the Bible. Most puritan men and almost all of the women could read, which was unusual as to compared to many other colonist coming to the new world.
Other Religious groups such as Catholics, Baptist and Quakers would be asked to leave the Massachusetts’ communities or suffer harm. These groups would move to Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, where the new people would flourish.
The Ray family would settle in the Salem area and would be part of the community. During the 1600’s, the Puritans would be the group to seek out witches and punish the people for fortune telling or casting spells. The most famous witch trials would be held in 1692 during the Salem Witch trials. During 1692, several young teenage children would point out people in the Salem village as witches. Over 18 people would be accused and jailed as a result of the trials.
The trials would be nothing like we know today. The trials would be conducted by a Church Leader who would interrogate the people who had been accused. The whole trial was based on convincing the one leader in the during the first set of witch trials of their innocence and later time the trials would be governed by three leaders. Often what caused people to fail or to be found in league with Satan would be their lack of accurately saying the Lord’s prayer. One missed word could be the meaning of freedom or going to jail. The young girls would attend the trials where their bodies would contort and see images would accuse the people of coming to their homes, riding broom sticks and even having spirits in the room with them during the trial.
How did they find the witches? At first, special cakes were cooked with the inflicted young girls urine and the first person they named after eating the cake was the witch. From there, the people started naming other people as witches and the list grew and grew. During the trials, the people were given a chance to confess but most denied having signed the book of the devil with blood and the Magistrate(s) would ultimately be handed their fate and the accused would be hauled off to jail.
Elizabeth Ray’s Grandmother and Grandfather, Joshua Rae and Sarah Ann “Waters” Rae would be part of the group who signed the petition that Rebecca Nurse was not a witch. For those with the Vest ancestry through John Valentine Vest, this is a relative of ours and Joshua is my 8th Great Grandfather. Rebecca Nurse was 71 years old and denied being a witch. Yet, she was hung along with every other person who denied being a witch. For a great read about the witches of Salem, please use the link below to go to Amazon or try the public library.
After a few years, the number accused of being a witch would subside and after killing a number of people, the people would stop believing their neighbors were “evil” people. What is interesting is that no witches were burned at the stake during this time. Witches could be a child, man, woman and in some cases a dog. When people today think about the trials, they always think that young women were burned at the stake and in most cases, the accused was in middle to late age in life.
Over time, the harsh Puritan environment and treatment of the religiously pure environment would take it’s toll on generations being born in the Massachusetts colony and with more and more people moving to the area with other beliefs things changed over time.
Elizabeth’s Father Samuel (1715), Grand Father Joshua (1710) and Great Grandfather Daniel (1661) would both die in Salem.
The above document shows the failed petition of Rebecca Nurse.
google-site-verification: google2773b8008f44a689.html
February 10, 2018 Elizabeth Hope Ray Vest
Elizabeth Hope “Ray” Vest married John Valentine Vest in Virginia in 1705. She was a second generation of US born family member and she was my 6th Great Grand Mother.
Elizabeth’s family was from the Salem, Massachusetts, and arrived from England in the Plymouth area in the early 1600’s. Elizabeth’s Grand Parents were Rea, which became Ray and Waters families that were settling in this growing community of Salem in the 1600’s.
The history or both families and how they tie to the Vest family is great. There is deep history to explore and I will be sharing it over the next few blog posts.
The voyage from England was certainly a challenge for Elizabeth’s Grand Fathers family. Each ocean vessel was built from wood of over 2500 trees on average and this one reason that finding an abundance of wood in the new world really over whelmed the average Colonist.
Each family that traveled from England had to pack up all of their possessions in trunks, bring food, water, tools and animals that they would need on board of the ship. During the trip, the food would become spoiled and boat was crammed full of people. There would be no private quarters and the smell would have been just horrible. The long journey lasted between 6 to 8 weeks and food shortage plus disease was always an issue on the journey. Many a colonist did not make the whole journey and passed away on the voyage only to be casted over board after their death.
During the early 1600’s, the English settlements had to watch for Spanish and other countries coming and attacking the newly established colony. Colony placement had to be made in strong points. Plymouth would be founded after the fall of Roanoke and the establishment of Jamestown in 1607. A constant watch had to be made over the protection of the community from the Spanish, French, Dutch and the Indians.
With only a little over a 100 people landed at the colony at a time, the people sought shelter on the ship until shelter could be built. The early shelters were tents and later progressed to dug out and wooden structures. The dug out was a technique where the colonist would dig down several feed into the earth for a very small room the size of 20 by 20. Support beams would be added to the corners and boards would be used for the walls. The roof was thatch and sod. This new how had only one door and that door would be made where a person would need to bend down to come into the building. This would make it easier to defend from predators and people trying to get into the home for harm.
The colonist would then begin to setup a community by building farms. Since there was an abundance of trees, land had to be cleared by axe, hoe and ploughs. Once the land was clear, crops could be planted for food and for trading. The tobacco plant has planted in the Virginia region and would be a cash crop for being sent back to England.
Elizabeth was born in Powhatan, Virginia names after a powerful Indian leader and father of Pocahontas.
After marrying John Valentine, she would have the following children, John Daniel Vest, George Vest, Valentine Vest, Elizabeth Ann Vest and Phillip Vest. They would live together until their deaths in 1735.
References
Early American Life in Early America by David Freeman Hawke
American Colonies: The Settling of North America, Vol 1 by Alan Taylor
February 4, 2018 John Moses Vest
John Moses Vest was born in Warendorfer Landkreis, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany in 1650.
What many people don’t realize was that Europe had been struggling with wars, class issues and many people who did not have ample methods of staying fed or advancing into society.
Over 95 percent of the people in the many countries were considered lower middle to low class and they were struggling to make a life for themselves. The new world “United States Colonies” was a means to the end for some people. While most were farmers, many occupations would come to the new world seeking fortune only to find areas needing to be settled and a lot of hard work ahead of them.
There were four reasons people would come to the new world. One was for fortune and fame, the second was due to being a criminal, third was due to indentured service and the remaining reason was for religious freedom. Criminals were given a choice to die or to be sent to the states for a new life.
The major European countries sending Colonists were England, France, Spain and the Dutch and Germany, who followed closely with the Dutch.
John Moses Vest is my seventh great grandfather and he came to the states before 1679, where his son John Valetine Vest was born in Chesterfield, Virginia 1679. John Valentine Vest would marry Elizabeth Hope (Ray) Vest in 1705 in Virginia and will be topic of additional blogging in the near future.
There is not a lot of information about my great grand father Moses but history shows that a large contingent of German settlers who were sick of war and the lack of ability to farm or achieve success at home came to the Chesterfield area to farm. Since ocean voyage was more for hearty travelers, young Moses would have come to Virginia in his early twenties.
Moses would marry Elizabeth Inu, who was a native Virginian and was was born in 1640. After the birth of their son, John they would move to the Jamestown area and live. Jamestown is the oldest English settlement that was founded in 1607. Many people are not aware but of the 104 settlers to come and establish the settlement, only 35 would make it through the first winter. Many scholars believe the people were not prepared for the harsh winter and were spending their time looking for ways to make money. The lack of focus created low food stores and poor housing that led to the demise of unwary settlers.
When Moses and Elizabeth came to the area, it was almost a 100 years after that first poor start. By then Jamestown was better established and the mistakes of the past were gone.
Elizabeth would pass way in 1710 and Moses would pass away in 1735 and both were living and buried in Jamestown, Virginia.