"The Bloody Morning Scout"

I have uncovered a bees nest of information on one of the branches of the Alvord line of our family history. So much that it is a project in and of itself. I'm sure there will be more to come, but just wanted to share a quick story that I came across. The main person involved in this was Sergeant Caleb Chapin who was the maternal gradfather of Thaddeus Alvord and the great grandson of Deacon Samuel Chapin who was one of the founders of Springfield, Massachussetts.

September 8, 1755

"The British force under Col. Williams, sets off down the Lake George-Ft. Edward road. They believe the French to still be in the vicinity of Ft. Lyman. In the meantime, Dieskau has learned from his scouts of Williams' advance south. He hurries north along the road and deploys his forces in the shape of a hook along both sides of the rough road, hoping to ambush the British. The British force had barely set out from the Fort when they found themselves in a trap. It would have been much worse for the British had not the Indians started firing prematurely. Soon, King Hendrick was dead, followed by Col. Williams himself, who was shot in the head."

Along with others, Sergeant Caleb Chapin was wounded and began the retreat with his two sons, Joel and Hezekiah, to Johnson's camp. Caleb's wounds were slowing them down and he knew they would all be killed. He ordered his sons to go on and take care of their mother and the family. They did and they never saw him alive again. When they went back later they found him scalped and with a tomahawk burried in his head. Johnson's camp repulsed the attack and won out in the end, but Caleb gave his life for his sons.

Another interesting tidbit of information that I found in a book written by one Henry W. Cushman was that the tomahawk used to kill Caleb Chapin was kept and later given to Lt. Governor Henry W. Cushman (the author of the book) of the Commonwealth of Massachussetts. Gov. Cushman in turn donated the tomahawk to the American Atiquarian Society. I found out on the phone this morning that in 1910 the American Antiquarian Society deaccessioned all of its artifacts and became less a museum and more a library. I also talked to a really nice lady there and they are going to see if there are any records concerning the deaccessioning of the artifacts, or in short, whether or not the tomahawk can be tracked down. I'm sure it still exists somewhere either on display or burried in some museums collections, but the key is to find out which museum and then hopefully I can go see it.....9 generations later. If that doesn't strike you as cool, then I'm afraid we can no longer be friends. ;-) Just kidding of course.