John Chamberlain grew up in Groton, Massachusetts during a series of Indian wars. He became famous in 1725 in the battle at Pequawket after a face to face duel with chief Paugus. Thereafter, he was known as Paugus John Chamberlain.

The Colonies were pawns in a war between France and England

King James II of England, inaugurated in 1685, chose to use his official power to convert England back to Catholicism. The people severely opposed his actions. So much so, that after three years he fled England for refuge to the Catholic nation of France. This revolution left the king’s daughter Mary and her husband William to assume the throne. 

In the colonies, King James II revoked some of the colonial charters and sent Sir Edmond Andros to serve as Governor of the “Dominion of New England”. Furthermore, he attempted to stop the colonial drive for independence and to enforce religious conformity.¹

King Williams war, the beginning of the French and Indian Wars

King Louis XIL of France, sympathized with the English King James and denied the right of the people of England to change their sovereignty to King William. A war between the two nations followed. King William rejected an offer of colonial neutrality, therefore, the war soon extended to America. The colonists became pawns in what became known as “King William’s War.”

In the colonies the stakes were great. It involved their right to self govern, religious freedom and the competing expansion of territory and the control of the fishing and fur trades between the French colonies and the English colonies. King William’s War was the first in a series of wars known as the French and Indian wars. Seventy years of intermittent colonial warfare for supremacy in North America.¹

The war began in July 1689 with a series of Indian massacres instigated by Frontenac, the governor of Canada. One night two Indian women came to the home of old Major Waldron in Dover, New Hampshire and begged for a night’s lodging. They were admitted. Consequently, a large number of Indians entered the home in the night and tortured and killed Waldron. The town of Dover, with a population of about fifty, was burned to the ground, about half the residents were massacred and the rest were carried away to Canada and sold into slavery.

Later during the frigid winter of 1690, the French and Indians came on the town of Schenectady where more than sixty were massacred and the town turned to ashes. The towns of Casco and Salmon Falls soon after met a similar fate.¹

Thomas Chamberlain^T3  family time line

9 Jan 1690 Meanwhile, in the Chamberlain family, life goes on. Thomas Chamberlain^T3 married Elizabeth Heald. Thomas^T3 was a wheelwright and a Miller and lived in Chelmsford Massachusetts.²

16 March 1692 In the town of Chelmsford, Thomas^T2, Thomas^T3  and Samuel Chamberlain began rendering services in the garrison to protect the town from the Indians.²

29 March 1692 A baby was born at Chelmsford and they named him John Chamberlain^T4. He was the oldest child of Thomas^T3, who was the oldest of Thomas^T2, the oldest of Thomas^T1 who was the oldest of his father Francis Chamberlain.²

7 Feb 1693 Mary Jones Poulter Parker Chamberlain, second wife of Thomas^T1 died.²

8 May 1696 Edmond Chamberlain died at Woodstock, Connecticut, at the of age 79.³

John Chamberlain was raised with stories and continuous rumors of Indian attacks

At the age of five, little John Chamberlain began to listen to the tales of Indian warfare that were told and retold around the fireside. There was a pervading fear that an attack could hit his own home and family at any time.  John found extreme fascination in heroic tales of bravery. Most noteworthy, the one of Hannah Dustin. 

Hannah Dustin lived with her husband and their baby on a farm near Haverhill, Massachusetts less than twenty-five miles away. On March 15, 1697, the French with their Algonquin and Abenaki warriors launched a surprise attack slaying twenty-seven persons. She saw her neighbors killed, her home burned and her infant child bashed to death against a tree.

The Indians carried her and a friend named Mary Neff away captive into the wilderness. She decided they had to escape. She and her companion and a captive boy arose at midnight. The twelve Indians were asleep around them. She killed ten of them with precise blows sparing only a squaw and a boy. Hence they were able to escape and prevent a pursuit. Hanna returned home with the scalps of the dead Indians.¹

10 March 1699 Thomas Chamberlain^T3  bought a 50 acre farm and a mill at “Baddacook” by Brown Loaf Hill in the town of Groton, Massachusetts where he had moved earlier.²

18 June 1699 Elizabeth Heald Chamberlain, wife of Thomas^T3 died at Groton. Leaving her husband and six children under the age of 8. They were  John, Joseph, Aaron, Moses, Gershom, and Sarah.^2,5 The two youngest children died the same year.

Aug 16, 1699 Thomas Chamberlain^T3 soon remarried his second wife Abigail Nutting at Concord. They had seven more children in the next ten years Elisabeth, Abigail, Thomas, Mary, Jane, Dorothy and Sarah.^2,5

21 Dec 1700 John’s great-grandfather Thomas Chamberlain^T1 died shortly before this date, age 85.²

Queen Ann’s War

Queen Ann’s War, as it is commonly called in America, broke out when England declared war against France and Spain in 1702. As a result, the American Colonies were again drawn into the conflict.⁶ Dunstable was attacked and the minister Thomas Weld was killed within ten miles of John Chamberlain’s home.⁴

29 February 1704 Between 200 and 300 French soldiers and their Indian allies attacked Deerfield, Massachusetts. The unexpected mid-winter attack caught them outside of their fortified garrison. They killed about Fifty English men, women, and children and carried off another 100 residents who were forced to march through heavy snows to Canada.⁶  That same year the attacks reached Groton where one or two men were killed in the south-west part of town.⁴

May 8 1706 A town meeting was held in Groton. Where they did by vote “declare they would and do desire Thomas Chamberlain’s mill may be upheld by soldiers for the good of the town.” (spelling corrected). The youthful John Chamberlain was thereby “cradled and reared in the midst of Indian warfare and vigilant defense.“⁴

11 May 1709 John’s father, Thomas Chamberlain^T3, age 41 was murdered. The circumstances of the crime are not known, nor whether his murderer was ever caught and punished. He was described in the notice simply as Thomas Chamberlain, miller. He had 10 living children and his wife was pregnant at the time of his death.⁵ John, age 17, was now the man of the family.

30 March 1710 The inventory of Thomas Chamberlain’s^T3 estate was taken and John Heald of Concord was appointed guardian to John “a minor in ye 18th year of his age.”⁴

30 June 1713 John had reached his majority and the estate of his father was settled. Abigail, the second wife and widow received her share of her husband’s estate. John received two thirds of the  mill, housing, stream, and lands in Groton; on condition of paying the other ten children 2 Pounds, 17 Shillings, and 6 2/3 pence to each. The mill was situated about 200 yards South of present day (2016) Highway 40 near Brown Loaf on a small stream at the confluence of Martin’s Pond Brook and another now called Paugus Brook.⁹   

Today, (2016) There is a Chamberlain’s Mill Lane, (with six newly built homes), which is east of of School House Road and a stream called Martin Pond Brook. Chamberlain Mill Lane is immediately to the north of Highway 40. Just south of Highway 40 at this location is a hill named Brown Loaf. This location is about an equal distance between the Groton town center to the west and Baddacook Pond to the east.

The Treaty at Portsmouth

13 July 1713 The Treaty of Utrecht which ended Queen Ann’s war earlier in the year reshaped the borders between the French and British colonies but did not properly address Indian claims to the same territory. The Treaty of Portsmouth, signed by representatives of Massachusetts and of eight Wabanake tribes, established boundaries at the Kennebec River with the right to have government trading posts in Wabanake territory which would be under British Sovereignty.¹³

The Wabanake Confederation was a group of allied Indian nations including the Abenaki (Western Abenaki), Penobscot (Eastern Abenaki), Mi’Kmaq, Malisect and the Passamaquoddy .¹⁵

13 October 1713 John Chamberlain married Abigail Woods, daughter of Thomas and Abigail Woods of Groton.⁴

24 March 1720 A son was born to John and Abigail Chamberlain, to whom they gave the name John. He was their third child. John was the baby brother to two sisters, Elizabeth born 27 Oct 1714 and Hanna born 18 January 1716.⁴

England sends Governor Shute to govern Massachusetts Bay Colony

In January 1722 England sent the difficult and contentious Governor Samuel Shute to govern Massachusetts Bay including Maine and New Hampshire. He arrogantly dismissed claims of Wabanake territory infringement by the British colonists.¹⁴ The situation was complicated by the establishment of French Catholic missions in British territory. A Jesuit Priest Sabastian Rasle, who was living among the Indians, was suspected by the British to be a French agent.

Governor Shute sent a military expedition to capture Father Rasle, under the command of Colonel Thomas Westbrook. Rasle escaped, but they found among the priest’s possessions his strongbox. The box had a hidden compartment containing letters which implicated Rasle as an agent of Canada. The documents promised the Indians enough ammunition to drive the English from their settlements.¹³

Governor Shute went back to England in January 1723. Therefore the whole mess was left in the hands of Lieutenant Governor Dummer and the conflict became known as Dummer’s War. (Also known as Father Rasle’s War or Lovewell’s War)

Dummer’s War

1723-24  Grey Lock, an Indian chief and Catholic convert from north-east Maine, led Indian raids into Northfield and Rutland in August killing four. In October, he attacked Northfield again.  He led raids into Deerfield and Northfield in June 1724 and later conducted many more raids. He consistently escaped his pursuers, and acquired the name Wawanolet, meaning “he who fools the others, or puts someone off the track.”¹⁷

23 Aug 1724 The British used whale boats to go up the river to make a surprise attack on Norridgewock. They killed twenty-six combatants including Father Rasle who was firing at soldiers from a cabin. Refusing to surrender, he was shot while reloading.¹⁶

4 September 1724 In Dunstable, when two men did not return from work, ten militia men led by Sergeant Ebeneezer French started a search for them. They examined the location where the men had been laboring. Since some spilled turpentine was still spreading in the soil, they concluded that the men had very recently been carried off by Indians. They decided to begin an immediate pursuit.⁷

Sergeant French and Joshua Farwell disagreed on the course of action. French imputed Farwell’s advice to cowardice, and called out, “I am going to take the direct path; if any of you are not afraid, let him follow me.” The whole party followed. Farwell fell in at the rear.

As they marched up the Merrimack they were waylaid at a place now known as Thornton’s Ferry. The Indians fired upon them and most were killed instantly. A few fled but were overtaken and destroyed. Farwell discharged his rifle from behind a tree and ran. Two Indians pursued him in a vigorous chase until they lost sight of him. Farwell was the only one of the company that escaped.⁷

Captain John Lovewell led three expeditions

17 November 1724 A petition was granted to raise a company to go out in the woods for several months to destroy the enemy. The Indians were led by Paugus, a belligerent chief of an Abenaki tribe located at Pequawket, most often spelled Pigwacket by the contemporary English.  John Lovewell was commissioned as Captain of the expeditions to the North.⁴

Winter 1724-25 Lovewell’s first two expeditions were successful.  A 100 pound bounty per Indian scalp was an incentive given to recruit volunteers. Eighty-seven men participated in his second expedition. About a dozen Indians warriors were killed. They had a supply of extra blankets and snow shoes, evidence that their plan was to return English captives to Canada where they could be sold. Therefore, as a result of the expedition, a planned raid on English settlements had been prevented. Lovewell was an instant hero.¹⁸

16 April 1725 John Chamberlain was among the 47 men of Captain John Lovewell’s third expedition. This mission was to engage the Indians at their headquarters at Pigwacket. Forty-seven was a frightfully small group to attempt such an attack. The difficulties of the first two missions and the perceived unlikely possibility of success in the next was a possible reason that only three of the previous participants returned for more.¹⁸

Lovewell’s effective fighting force reduced to 34 men

The company started at Dunstable, went up Merrimack river then across country passed Squam Lake and then to Ossipee Lake.  Along the journey, three men including the Indian guide Toby became ill and returned to Dunstable.  At Ossipee Lake they build a small fort where they stored some provisions, and left a doctor and a sick man and seven rangers under the command of Sargent Nathaniel Woods.  This reduced the effective fighting force to thirty-four men, which continued on toward Pigwacket to meet the enemy.⁸

6 May 1725 As they neared their destination noises in the dark woods and the reality of their vulnerability created a pervasive level of fear and anxiety. They had a distinct feeling that they were being followed.¹⁸

8 May 1725 In the early morning while prayers were led by Chaplain Joseph Frye, they heard a gun shot and soon saw an Indian hunter on a point of the lake shore. They suspected that he was a decoy to lure them into ambush. A council was held and decision made to proceed as all cost. They said: “We came here to meet the enemy; we have all prayed GOD we might find ’em; and we had rather trust Providence with our lives, yea die for our country than try to return without seeing them, if we might be called cowards for our pains.”^9,18

The Ambush of Lovewell

Lovewell ordered his men to move forward cautiously. After traveling about a mile they neared the spot where they expected to find their target. They halted and left their packs in a pile together and moved forward with as much stealth as possible. They soon came upon the Indian and the silent morning exploded in gun fire. Captain Lovewell and another ranger were wounded and the Indian lay dead. They then turned back with their wounded leader to the area where they had left their packs.⁹  Paugus was waiting.

Paugus and about eighty warriors were returning from a raiding party on English settlements down the Seco River in Maine when they came upon the pile of packs. Counting the packs they knew they had superior numbers and set up a trap.¹⁰

When the English returned they were attacked from their front and their rear immediately killing Captain Lovewell along with eight of his men. The two other officers were wounded and Ensign Wyman took command. With only trees for cover, Wyman gave the order to retreat toward Seco Pond where a wide brook on one side and the lake to their back gave them some protection.

Wyman takes command, but the situation seems hopeless

The rangers were without their packs, and ammunition was not plentiful. It became a waiting game for much of the day. The battle continued with great obstinacy throughout the day with the taunts and war cries of the Indians, and spirited replies from the rangers. Shots were fired occasionally when a person became exposed.⁹

Their position by the lake which gave them cover also prevented any means for escape. They were trapped, low on food and ammunition. In this dire situation the Indians showed them a rope which was an offer to be taken captive rather than die. The English preferred to fight to the end.¹⁸

Duel at the lake

John Chamberlain went to the edge of the pond to clean his musket that had become fouled with use. He there spotted the famed Chief Paugus a short distance away. Paugus was there for the same purpose.⁹ The chief was well known to many of the colonial soldiers. He and John Chamberlain engaged in mutual recriminations and insults.⁸

This is the story about the encounter as it was told in the Spencer Chamberlain family tradition:

Chamberlain shouted “Now Paugus, I’ll have you.” No! Paugus replied, “Me get you.”¹² Both men had unloaded weapons. Paugus had nearly finished loading his gun and was priming it with a powder horn, when Chamberlain struck the breach of his gun on the ground causing it to prime itself resulting in a one second advantage.⁹ Chamberlain got off the first shot with no time to spare. Paugus with his last spark of life fired his gun and shaved the hair from the top of Chamberlain’s head.¹²

After this turn of events the Indians withdrew and two of the rangers went out to find them. Ensign Wyman and Private Chamberlain came upon them gathered in a counsel. Apparent to the two English men, they were there to chose a new leader to replace the fallen Paugus. They were gathered in a circle with one in the center who was supposed by Wyman and Chamberlain to be the new leader. Wyman fired and killed the apparent new chief.⁴ Both men then ran like the wind back to the pond and the rest of the men.

As the sun went down, the forest became dark and silent. Gradually, the company of weary soldiers began to realize they were alone. The Indians were gone! The fight was over and Lovewell’s battered company prepared to make their long journey home.

Two chiefs

The above report given by Groton historian Caleb Butler seems to be verified and clarified by an Abenaki witness.  Apparently, there were two chiefs at the fight. Powack, a chief of the Penobscots, who wanted to make peace with the English. And Paugus, who was not their local chief. He had come to their village to get recruits to make his raids on the English settlements. For many of the local Indians, Paugus was the only reason they were in the fight. When both chiefs were killed, many or all of the remaining Indians left and went back to their village.¹⁰

“Long after moon is up, braves come to village only few. Say Paugus is killed, Powak is killed.”¹⁰

Return to the fort

Solomon Keys had lost a lot of blood and asked Ensign Wyman permission to crawl into the woods to die that he might avoid being found by the Indians. Lt. Johnathan Rogers was injured and could not move. He asked someone to load his rifle “As the Indians will come in the morning to scalp me, I will kill one more of them if I can.” Lieutenant Josiah Farwell, the Chaplain Joseph Frye, Josiah Jones and Eleazer Davis were seriously wounded and couldn’t keep up. They stayed behind with the hope they would be rescued by those who had been left at the fort at Lake Ossipee.

The remaining eleven men, wounded, hungry and low on provisions, began their retreat toward the base at Ossipee lake twenty-five miles away.  When the party reached the fort they were surprised to find it abandoned. Soloman Keyes, who had crawled into the woods to die, met them there. He had found a canoe by which he floated down the river most of the way to fort.

Fortunately there was some bread and pork left behind in the fort and the men were able to replenish their strength. They also found a message written on a piece of bark which read: “Lovewell’s company has been destroyed.”⁸

To be continued..… 

Chapter 7– The Legend of “Paugus” John Chamberlain

The families waiting for their loved ones in Dunstable experienced shock and grief as small groups of men returned one at a time.

Internet historians have raised doubts that John Chamberlain actually had a duel with the Indian Chief Paugus. The Chamberlain Story presents solid evidence that John Chamberlain was the one who shot the Chief.

Also, Fanny Hardy Eckstorm wrote that the Rev. Thomas Symmes purposely falsified the date of the battle. The Chamberlain Story challenges her argument and Chapter 7 will show the true date of the battle.

For more Chamberlain history stories see “Table of Contents”, or please click “Good Bye!”

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the written content of this site without express and written permission from the author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that credit is given to Dennis D. Chamberlain and direction to  www.thechamberlainstory.com.

References:

1. “History of the United States of America” by Henry William Elson, The MacMillan Company, New York, 1904. Chapter VIII p. 162-165. Transcribed by Kathy Leigh.
2. George W. Chamberlain, One Branch of the Descendants of Thomas Chamberlain of Woburn, Worccester Mass, 1897
3. Prentiss Glazier, Chamberlain Families of Early New England, p. 152.
4. George W. Chamberlain, B. S., John Chamberlain, the Indian Fighter at Pigwacket, Reprint from Quarterly of the Maine Historical Society, Jan., 1898.
5. Chamberlain Family-The First Six Generations, http://www.babcockancestry.com/
6. Queen Ann’s War 1702-1713, http://rjohara.net/gen/wars/anne
7. The story of Thornton’s Ferry from The New Hampshire Gazetteer, http://www.bigorrin.org/
8. Father Rasle’s War 1724-26, http://www.bigorrin.org/archive3.htm
9. Samuel A. Green, M. D., Groton During the Indian Wars, Groton Mass., 1883
10. An Abenaki Account of the Battle, https://en.wikipedia.org
11. The Battle of Pequawket, https://en.wikipedia.org
12. Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips, Spencer Chamberlain’s Ancestors,  unpublished
13. Drummers War en.wikipedia.org
14. Samuel Shute, Governor of Providences of Massachusetts Bay and New Hamphire. https://www.geni.com
15. Wabanake Confederation, https://en.wikipedia.org
16.  Battle of Norridgewock (1724), https://en.wikipedia.org
17. Grey Lock’s War, https://en.wikipedia.org
18. Pat Higgens, Lovewell’s Fight, http://www.mainestory.info/maine-stories