Candlemas Massacre of 1692 in York, Maine

HISTORY

After King Phillip’s War of 1675-6, there was another war in the colonies. It was called King William’s War and lasted from 1689-97. It was the first of the French and Indian wars. Not only was it the first of the French and Indian Wars but it was also the first of six colonial wars involving the English and French. It was also the North American theater of the 9 Years War in Europe between France and England with England’s ally, The League of Augsburg.

This brings us to the winter of 1692/3 in York, ME. Maine being near to Canada led to many skirmishes and retaliations. The actual date seems to be somewhat uncertain but is usually considered to be February 2^nd. What is known is that an estimated 150 Abenakis lead by Father Louis-Pierre Thury came at night and massacred about 100 colonists, burned down many buildings, and then captured about 80 and force marched them to Canada. Because of the march many more colonists died. The survivors in Canada were eventually ransomed by Capt. John Alden of Boston.

As mentioned above the date is somewhat uncertain. In the diary of Samuel Sewall he makes mention of it taking place on January 25/6:

"Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1691/2".... This day...news was brought of an Attack made by the Indians on York." 

There is a story about Snowshoe Rock. It’s said that when the Abenakis reached the edges of York they dropped they’re snowshoes at the rock before starting the massacre. It’s also said that a resident of York came across the snowshoes and ran to warn of the coming massacre. Whether it’s true or not is most likely lost in the mists of history.

FAMILY CONNECTION

My 8^th great grandmother, Magdalen Weare (formerly Hilton) was captured by Native Americans in 1693. She was later released but not until after her first husband, Nathaniel Adams died. They had one son, Nat. She then got married to my 8^th great grandfather, Elias Weare. Elias and Magdalen had five children. Shortly after their last child was born, Elias was traveling with a company of friends from Boston to Wells, which is between York and Neddock. It was on this trip that group were attacked by Native Americans and all were killed. My 9^th great grandfathers, Peter Weare and Richard Banks were killed during the Candlemassacre.

In York there is a memorial to the victims of the massacre which is pictured below.

                       

FURTHER REFERENCES AND SOURCES

http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=cb53ee98-fb25-40db-831c-ec10ee562b33&gid=3

http://archive.seacoastonline.com/2001news/2_1maine2.htm Portsmouth Herald Maine News: York commemorates Candlemas Raid

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20010201/NEWS/302019986

http://history.rays-place.com/me/york-me.htm History of York, Maine (1886)

http://www.oldyork.org/ Old York Historical Society

http://www.mainehumanities.org/ Maine Humanities Council

The Fun Of Genealogy: Learning New Information

Part of the fun of genealogy is all the information you learn along the way. I never really knew anything about my dad's side of my ancestry but was helped greatly by my aunt. There's also the inevitable rumors you hear while growing. One rumor I remember as a kid is that on my mom's side, my grandmother's 2nd great grandfather's ancestry traced back to Alsace-Lorraine, France. Through some digging around online and through lots of copies of documents, letters, and a family tree someone made awhile back I found out that my Kolp ancestors actually came from Luxembourg. While I was never told I had Native American ancestry I did find a couple unverified sources claiming a French Canadian ancestor married an Ottawa woman. Most sources claim it was a French woman, which is what I believe. One of the hardest parts about tracing your ancestry other than breaking through the walls is verifying the information you come across.

Back to the fun of learning new information about new ancestors and ones you already knew about. I never knew much about any of my ancestors so this has been an amazing experience. I learned my 3rd great uncle, Peter Sonntag, fought and died in the Civil War. My grandmother has many copies and original photos and letters. It was from those documents that I found this letter below(translated from German) from Peter to his brother, my 3rd great grandfather, Franz Sonntag, just before the Siege of Corinth in Mississippi. Reading the letter was almost heartbreaking because he talks about the battle coming up and saying he believes he'll die. It was dated in April. The siege started the end of April and lasted until the end of May. He died in September but I have found no cause. He is buried in the National Historical Landmark District there.

I've also found that I have a couple direct relations in the Civil War as well but no idea where they may have actually served. Multiple relatives fought in the American Revolutionary War. Peter Sonntag's brother, my 3rd great grandfather was in the Prussian Army in the late 1840's. As mentioned in my 1st post I have many French Canadian ancestors, many who were trappers and traders. 

Finally, my last fun story of this post is about John Dean and Susan Kirke from Scotland. John was the head gardener for John Kirke. While there he and Susan got married. Her parents disowned her. As things were heating up between the French and English, John decided to immigrate to New York where his brothers were living. They sailed on an American ship flying the English flag to avoid trouble. Unfortunately the ship was captured by the English and was sailed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. They overwintered there and decided to make that there home.

There are lots more interesting stories about my ancestors to come. Sit back and enjoy!

Welcome history lovers and ancestry searchers!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Anthony Beals and I've long had a love for history and recently I've developed a deep interest in my ancestry. So in this blog I plan to share my love of historical events, historical fiction and non-fiction, and most of all my ancestry. My hope is that maybe my blog will help distant and close relatives of mine better connect with their ancestry.

First, let's start with my ancestry. As far back as I've been able to trace my ancestry I have found that I have Scottish, English, French, Swiss, German, and Slovakian heritage. On my dad's side I have early ties to Colonial America, Nova Scotia, and French Canadian ancestry in Quebec. Many of those ancestors lived in the colonies of Massachusetts, Conneticut, and Rhode Island. On my mother's side most of my ancestors didn't come over until the mid-1800s.

Next, I'm a huge history buff. Another thing I would to do is to pass along books, movies, and TV shows that I like in the hopes that others find them and come to enjoy them like I do. I'd also like to write about historical events that I'm really interested in.

I always welcome feedback and ideas for future blogs. So comment and pass along this blog to others with an interest in these things.

Below are some photos of three of my great grandparents. Top photo is a photo of the Ackermanns from Germany, my 5th great grandparents. They are Christian (1794-1844) and his wife, Caecilia (born Platz; 1796-1865). The bottom photo is of my great grandfather Benedict Ochaba (later name changed to Orson) from Slovakia (1882-1963).