Haverhill suffered its most devastating Indian attack in the summer of 1708. The French had conspired earlier that spring in Montreal with a council of Indians that included all the tribes in eastern Canada, plus the Abenakis and one hundred French Canadians to bring a new campaign of terror to English settlements. The original plan was to venture south in two groups to attract scant attention and regroup near Lake Winnipesaukee before descending upon the frontier settlements at Portsmouth and beyond. An accidental killing of one of the Hurons by another of that tribe was seen as a bad omen and caused them to abandon the cause. Then French Mohawks, falsely claming that disease was spreading through their numbers used the excuse to also retreat from the ranks. Undeterred the French pressed on to Winnipesaukee only to find that their eastern Indians allies had also deserted them. With their legions depleted they decided upon a less ambitious offensive to save face, and chose the frontier settlement on the Merrimack as their target.

The settlers of Haverhill, having seen no Indian troubles in recent times were lulled into a sense of false security and returned to the normal routines of frontier life. Even the soldiers that were sent to occupy the garrison homes had become lazy and non-vigilant in their duties having diverted their attentions more often to the young females of the town rather than possible Indian attacks. On the morning of August 29, 1708 as the village slept, a war party of about 150 French and Indians quietly slipped by the frontier garrisons toward the village. A young local named John Keezar who was an early riser was leading his horse from pasture and was near the pound when he spied the invading forces and raced ahead to the village firing a single musket shot to raise the alarm. Suddenly the pre-dawn air was filled with war cries as the savages descended on the town.

The Rolfe Slaughters

The house of the Reverend Benjamin Rolfe where the City Hall and municipal offices stand today was the first to come under siege. Rolfe courageously struggled to brace the door while garrison soldiers who were quartered there stood frozen in fright offering no resistance. Two musket balls passed through the door and one struck him in the elbow after which he retreated out the back door before he was overtaken and tomahawked to death near the well. The stalkers returned to the household where they discovered and slaughtered Mrs. Rolfe and their youngest daughter Mehitible. Two other Rolfe daughters escaped death when a Negro slave named Hagar bravely hid them in the cellar. Ann Whittaker who also lived with the family hid in an apple chest under the stairs and survived unharmed. The cowardly soldiers who had abandoned the defense of the family begged for mercy to no avail.

A short distance west of the meetinghouse Thomas Hartshorne was fatally shot along with two of his sons as they ran from their house to call for help. A third son was tomahawked as he came out of the doorway. Mrs. Hartshorne hid in the cellar with the rest of her children while leaving an infant son in the bedroom for fear that its cries would give them away. The marauders overlooked the hideaways but upon finding the baby callously heaved it out of the window into a pile of shingles. The infant somehow survived the fall and was ultimately rehabilitated to complete health.

John Johnson the blacksmith was seventy-six and a lieutenant in the local militia. His cottage home occupied the corner lot overlooking the river at what is now the junction of Main and Water Streets. Johnson engaged his attackers at his front door where he was shot and died instantly. Katherine Johnson escaped to the garden with their one-year old great granddaughter Lydia before she was set upon and brutally killed. Miraculously, the baby was found unharmed by her great grandmother’s side.

Meanwhile two more Indians were raiding the Swan household, which stood in the middle of a field located approximately where the Trinity Episcopal Church resides today. Swan saw them approaching and barricaded the door to defend his family against the intruders. The force of the attack proved too great, however, and just as Swan began to despair and one of the indians started to squeeze through the narrow doorway Mrs. Swan grabbed a three foot spit from the fireplace and with all the strength she could muster ran it through him putting to end the assault.

Mrs. Wainwright’s Escape

A short distance away another war party was laying siege to the home of Simon Wainwright. Wainwright was the first merchant in Haverhill and the Captain of the village militia. He lived in one of the houses of refuge, which were not full-fledged garrisons but quartered soldiers. From his doorstep on a ridge he could see across the Little River to the west, and beyond the leafy woods toward the village at the east. When he heard the commotion he reacted immediately but was killed by a musket ball fired in the first volley. The soldiers who were garrisoned there continued the defense of the dwelling until Mrs. Wainwright inexplicably opened the door and welcomed the Indians with ceremonial warmth and hospitality, which so stunned them that they momentarily ceased all hostilities. When they demanded money she politely excused herself to comply but instead slipped out the back door with all of her children except for one daughter who was taken captive. The deception enraged the Indians and they began to loot and set fire to the building before the soldiers rearmed their defense and caused them to retreat.

In the West Parish Joseph Bradley was having breakfast when he heard the distress call from a boy who had run the entire three-mile distance to spread the alarm. Bradley was an experienced Indian fighter having staved off more than one attack during his thirty-six years on the frontier. After making sure that the garrison near his house was secure he assembled five men and started east toward Little River, then southerly by Thomas Duston’s house where three more armed men joined their company. It was soon thereafter that they found the packs of provisions and medicines that the enemy had hidden in the woods near Long Hill before commencing their raid on the village. After removing the packs they spread out in the edge of the woods as Bradley positioned them so that they would have the advantage when the enemy forces returned for their supplies.