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Note: From Internet website: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~walkersj/Howe.htm 19. CALEB6 HOWE (NEHEMIAH5, SAMUEL4, JOHN3, JOHN2, EDWARD1)1999,2000,2001,2002 was born December 31, 1723 in Framingham, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts2003,2004,2005,2006, and died June 28, 1755 in Hinsdale, New Hampshire2007,2008,2009,2010. He married JEMIMA SAWTELL2011,2012,2013,2014,2015 Abt. 17462016,2017,2018,2019, daughter of JOSIAH SAWTELL and LYDIA NUTTING. She was born March 07, 1723/24 in Groton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts2020,2021,2022,2023, and died March 07, 1805 in Vernon (then Hinsdale), Vermont2024,2025,2026,2027. He lived for a time in Northfield, Mass., and afterwards in Vernon, Vt. He was in Capt. Phineas Stevens Company 1746-49, and was a sergeant at No. 4, and wrote to Capt. Stevens an account of the attack on that place 20 June 1749. He was mortally wounded 27 June 1755, when Fort Bridgman was taken, and died the next morning at Hinsdale, where his gravestone is still to be seen. His wife and her seven children, the oldest of whom was 11 years and the youngest only six months, were captured by the Indians. The two eldest were daughters by her first husband, William Phipps, the others were her children by Caleb. She and her children were taken to Canada, but she and three of her children were redeemed and brought home before 1760 by Col. Schuyler. She afterwards returned to Canada, and obtained her second daughter, Submit Phipps. She is known as the "Fair Captive" in the stories of the Indian wars. In his oration on New Hampshire (Oct.7, 1853) Edward Everett says, "There is nothing in the Waverley novels that surpasses in interest the subsequent adventures of Mrs. Howe in the captivity of herself and children among the Indians and Canadian French less than a century ago." (Howe Genealogies, John Howe of Sudbury and Marlborough,) Removed with his father to Westmoreland, Little is known about the early life of Caleb and his sisters and brothers in Sudbury, Framingham and Grafton. Apparently the whole family was together when the parents paddled up the Connecticut River in 1741 to No. 2, now known as Westmoreland, New Hampshire, where he was elected town clerk, March 31, 1752. Soon after he removed to Vernon, Vermont, which was formerly a part of the town of Hinsdale, New Hampshire. As Marguerite Allis described so vividly in her historical novel, "Not Without Peril", Caleb took part in many of the Indian battles in the late 1740's. He was in Capt. Phineas Stevens Co. in 1746-9. He was a Sergeant at No. 4 when he wrote Capt. Stevens an account of the attack there in June, 1749. At that time, a son of the Captain was taken captive and Ensign Obadiah Sawtell, a brother of Josiah, Jemima's father, was killed. In 1747 The Indians attacked and burned Bridgeman's Fort on the west side of the river in what is now Vernon, VT, then part of Hinsdale, NH. After it was rebuilt, Caleb's family became members of the garrison family until a peace treaty was signed by the French and English in 1749. Then Caleb's family settled into Sartwell's forthouse, a short distance north of Bridgeman's. The town of Hinsdale, then included both sides of the river, was chartered in Sept. 31, 1753. Caleb was made a constable of the new town at the first proprietors meeting held at the home of Thomas Chamberlain. At a latter proprietors meeting he was made clerk. Peace didn't last long. In 1754, the "last French and Indian War", began when Great Britain's King again declared war against France. When the Indians attacked Charlestown (No. 4) and carried away the Johnson family, the various families in the valley left their farms and took refuge in the forts. Some went to Fort Dummer, some to Hinsdale's and the Hows, Gaffields and Grouts went to Fort Bridgeman. It was quiet during the winter and spring, but on June 27, 1755, Indians suddenly attacked Caleb Howe, Hilkiah Grout and Benjamin Gaffield as they were returning to the Fort from the meadow by the river where they had been hoeing corn. Caleb was on horseback with his two oldest sons. He was shot by the Indians and fell to the ground, where he was peirced with a spear and scalped. The two boys were captured. Gaffield and Grout tried to escape by swimming the river. Grout made it, but Gaffield drowned. The Indians then managed to enter the forthouse. Jemima and the two other women were made captives, along with nine children; three Grouts, one Gaffield, and five Hows. Caleb was found still alive the next morning by men from Fort Hinsdale and was carried back to Fort Hinsdale where he died. He was buried in a field near the fort on the east side of the present day Rt. 119 between Brattleboro and Hinsdale. When the property was purchased as a tobacco field in about 1918, the grave was moved to the Hooker Cemetary in Hinsdale. In company with two others, Hezekiah Grout and Benjamin Garfield, Caleb Howe was engaged in hoeing corn in June, 1755, in the meadow on the east side of the Connecticut river and started on the night of June 27 of that year to return to Bridgman's Fort on the Connecticut river, just below Fort Sartwell. They were attacked by twelve Indians in ambush, and Howe, who had two young lads on the horse with him, was brought to the ground by a shot in his thigh. They also pierced him with spears and tore off his scalp. The next morning he was found by a party from Fort Hinsdale still living, and was carried to the fort where he died. Grout escaped unhurt, and Garfield was drowned while trying to escape. The Indians took the wives of these three men, Jemima Howe, Submit Grout and Eunice Garfield, a child of Garfield, three children of Grout, and seven children of Mrs. Howe, the eldest of the latter being eleven years old, and the youngest six months. The two eldest were children by her first husband, William Phipps, who was also slain, July 5, 1743, by Indians. The Indians plundered and fired the fort. After camping one night six Indians returned to the fort to do more destruction. The next morning they started on the long journey to Canada, and sold their captives in Montreal. Mrs. Howe's youngest daughter was given to Governor De Vaudreuil. Her baby was carried off by a hunting party to Missiquoi, on Lake Champlain, where he died. Mrs. Howe was kindly treated by the French and was finally ransomed and returned home. Her eldest daughter was taken to France and married a Frenchman; the other children were scattered. Burial: Hooker Cemetary, Hinsdale, Vermont2028,2029,2030,2031
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