Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1853-07-08
An American Tradition.


the early history of New England, is the de-
liverance of the frontier town of Hailey,
from an attack of barbarous native tribe
The Indian war of King PhIllip-the sad
dest page in the annals ofthe Colonies-had
just commenced; and the inhabitants of
Hadley, alarmed by the threatening aspect
OF the times, had, on the first of September,
1875, assembled in their humble place of
worship to implore the aid Of the Almighty,
and to humble themselves before Him in
solemn fast. All at once the terrible war
whoop was heard and the church surround
ed by blood-thirsty band of sayaees =
while the infant the aged, the bed-ridden-
all who had been unable to attend service
were at the mercy of the tomahawk and
scalping-knife. At that period, so uncertain
were the movements of the Indians, that it
was customary for select number of the
stoutest and bravest among the dwelers in
| the frontier towns, to carry their weapons
with them, even to the house of PRAYER; and
now, IN CONSERVATION and confusion, these
| armed men of Hadey. sailed forth to de-
fend themselves and families. But, unfor-
tunately, the attack had been too sudden,
and well-planned; the Indians had partly
gained possession of the town before they
surrounded the church, and posted on every
spot OF underground, their bullets told
with fatal effect upon the bewidered and
disheartened Colonists. AT this crisis
there suddenly appeared among them, a man
tall and erect of statue, calm and venerable
in aspect with long gray hair falling on his
shoulders. Rallying the retreating towns
men, he issued brief and distinct orders in
commanding voice, and with cool and sold
iery precision The powerful influence
which, in moments of peril and difficulty,
master mind assumes over his less gifted
fellows, was we'll exemplifed on this occa-
sion. The strangers commands were i'm
plicitly obeyed by men, who, until that in
slant, had never seen him. He divided the
colonists into bodies, placing one in the
most advantageous and sheltered position, to
return the fire of the enemy, and hold them
in check, while the other, by circuitous
| route, he led under cover of the smoke to
desperate charge on the Indian rear
The red men, thus surprised in turn, and
placed between two fires, were immediately
defeated and put to flight, leaving many of
| their painted warriors dead upon the field.
and the town Of HaIley was thus saved
from confagraton, and its inhabitants from
massacre. The first moments after the UNI
expected victory were passed in anxious in
qurlcs affectlonate meetings, and heartfelt
congratulations then followed thanks and
praise to God, and then the deliverer was
eagerly sought for Where was he? All
had seen him an instant before but now he
had disappeared; nor was he ever seen
again. One or two among the people could
have told who he was, but they prudentIy
held their peace.
Amid the dense forests and mighty rivers
of America, the stern piety of the Puritans,
had acquired an imaginative cast, almost I'M
known to the mother country; and thus
unable to account for the sudden advent and
disappearance of the delivering stranger
the people of Hadley believed that he was
an angel, sent from God in answer to their
prayer to rescue them from the heather en-
emy With the traditions of the Indian
war of 1876, that belief has been handed
down to our own day; and it was only
few years ago, on the banks of the pleasant
Kenebec, that fair descendant of the re-
doubtable Capt. Church related to the writer
the foregoing legend as an indisputable in
stance of supernatural dispensat.on Of
Providence.
The story, however, is a historical fact, and
latterly has embellished more than one popu-
lar fiction. Sir Walter Scott, who allowed
little to escape him alludes to it in Peyerile
of the Peak Cooper speaks of it in The
Borders and oliver Newman, the last poem
of Southey, partly founded on the eventful
history of William COTE, the delivering angel
of the inhabitants of Hadley.