Sarah Strong (1656–1733), daughter of Elder John Strong (abt. 1610–1699) and Abigail Ford (1619–1688), married a second time after her husband Joseph Barnard (1650–1695) was killed by Indians. She married Captain Jonathan Wells who, at age 16, had become known as the “boy hero” at the fight of Turner’s Falls.
Deerfield Raid 1704
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The raid itself was not as well coordinated as other raids of the time. A few men climbed up the snow drifts and were able to cross the palisade. They opened the north gate of the fortified town. The attackers swept through the north gate and worked from house to house.
Sarah and her family lived in a fortified house at the other end of town — and thus she and the Barnards survived.
Illustration by Howard Pyle showing the journey back to Canada
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For the 109 English captives, the raid was only the beginning of their troubles. The raiders intended to take them to Canada, a 300 miles (480 km) journey, in the middle of winter. Many of the captives were ill-prepared for this, and the raiders were short on provisions. The raiders consequently engaged in a common practice: they killed those captives when it was clear they were unable to keep up. Only 89 of the captives survived the ordeal; most of those who died of exposure or were slain en route were women and children.
The Reverend John Williams wrote a narrative about his experience, published in 1707, still in print today. His book is the reason the Raid on Deerfield is so famous, far more so than the many other similar raids of the time.
“Historic Deerfield” preserves a portion of the original village as a living history museum. You can see the Barnard Tavern and homes of other early settlers. They have preserved a door bearing tomahawk marks from the 1704 raid. (If I recall correctly, the door came from the Barnard Tavern — but I might not be correct on that!)
Additional reading — and quite interesting:
- Raid on Deerfield an excellent, very readable, article walking you through the history and how it became part of our American Frontier tradition
- Historic Deerfield with photograph of Barnard Tavern
- Historic Deerfield buys 1703 letter that predicts attack
- Raid On Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704 from the Deerfield History Museum. “Explore this website and hear all sides of the story — then you decide.” For 10,000 years a Pocumtuck homeland. For 30 years an English settlement. For 300 years a controversy.