This weekend we are featuring two books that deal with New England captives that were carried off into Canada during the French and Indian Wars. I happen to find this era of American history fascinating, and have found both of these books extremely helpful. Both are offered at 10% off through March 8, or while supplies last.
New England Captives Carried to Canada Between 1677 and 1760 During the French and Indian Wars; by Emma Lewis Coleman; foreword by Donald R. Friary; 455 pp; paper; 6×9; Published: 2012; ISBN: 9780880822923; Item # NE25; 10% Off Through March 8, 2016 – $26.96 – Reg. $29.95 – Click on the links or illustration to purchase.
Originally published in two volumes in 1925, New England Captives Carried to Canada represents decades of research conducted by Coleman and C. Alice Baker (author of True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada, 1897).
This work names all the captives the two women discovered, provides biographical data for each, and paints a detailed picture of the Indian attacks on New England communities over the eighty-year period. Includes sources, a comprehensive index, and an appendix with greater explanation of terms, key people, and places mentioned in the text. For nearly a century, this has been the go-to resource and the it’s said it’s the most definitive work ever published on the subject.
From the Table of Contents:
I. The Wars – Defense
II. Missions and Missionaries
III. Concerning Indians
IV. Redemptions, Ransoms, and Naturalization
V. Hatfield and Deerfield
VI. At the Eastward – Dover
VIII. Salmon Falls, Casco Bay, Sandy Beach (Rye) and River St. John
IX. The Attacks Upon York
X. Oyster River and Groton
XI. The Massachusetts Frontier – Squackig, Billerica, Lancaster, Worcester, Pascomuck, Marlborough, Dunstable, Brookfield, Northampton
XII. The Lower Merrimac and Exeter
XIII. Kittery, Eliot and Berwick
XIV. The Tragedy at Wells
True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars; by C. Alice Baker; 420 pp; Paper; 5.5×8.5, Published: 1896, Reprinted: 2004; ISBN: 1556134207; index; Item # HBB0420; 10% Off through March 8, 2016 – $30.60 – Reg. $34.00 – Click on the links or illustration to purchase..
In a day and age where selecting the perfect title for a book, a movie, or even a magazine article is often more a marketing question than a practical one, it is nice to find books whose titles declare exactly what the contents are. Of course, when I do find such a title it is often the reprint of a book originally published 100 plus years ago. So it is with True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars.
New England Captives was written by C. Alice Baker, and originally published in 1897. In her preface, Baker mentions reading the words “Carried captive to Canada whence they came not back.” These words peeked Baker’s curiosity. What happened to those captives? Curiosity turned to mission and this book is the result of C. Alice Baker’s efforts.
These pages provides detailed accounts of attacks on the following towns:
- Well and York, Maine
- Dover, New Hampshire
- Hatfield, Haverhill, and Deerfield, Massachusetts
These stories focus on the points of view of just a few individuals, but offer extensive genealogical and biographical data. In particular, the following family names are treated:
- Baker
- Nims
- Otis
- Plaisted
- Rishworth
- Rising
- Sayward
- Sheldon
- Silver
- Stockwell
- Stebbins
- Wheelwright
- Williams
From the Table of Contents
Christine Otis (A romance of real life on the frontier as told in the records.)
Esther Wheelwright
Story of a York Family
Difficulties and Dangers in the Settlement of a Frontier Town 1670
Eunice Williams
Ensign John Sheldon
My Hunt for the Captives
Two Captives ( A romance of real life two hundred years ago)
A Day at Oka
Thankful Stebbins
A Scion of the Church in Deerfield,. Joseph-Octave Plessis (Written for the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the church in Deerfield.)
Hertel De Rouville
Father Meriel – Mary Silver
Appendix
Christinr Otis
Esther Wheelwright
Eunice Williams
Ensign John Sheldon
My Hunt for the Captives
Thankful Stennins
Index
