The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1875-06-27

A B1-CESTENN1AL.-A bi-centcnnial
celebration Of no insignificant interest
and importance took place ut Swanzey,
r. l., June %, 1875. The settlement Of
the place was an unusual occurrence in
the history Of the colonies. The lands
occupied by the town We're pnrt of the
territory purchased by the Plymouth
colony OF the great Indian Sachem,
Rev. John Niles, q Baptist Clergyman,
from Wales, and a small body of his
friends, ''who, coming to this country,
sought spot where they could exercise
entire freedom Of conscience" This
they found in the Plymouth colony
alone, and, therefore, purchased lands
and placed themselves under the juris-
diction of the Plymouth court. They
named the town Swanzey, from the home
Of Mr.. Niles, in the old country. Here
the Baptist Church Of America found its
carly foothold, and here, seven years
after the settlement of the town, Philip,
of Pokanoket, grandson Of the great
Sachem Massasoit, commenced that war
which ragged through the colonies of
Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth, and
year, and Mt one time threatened to de-
stroy the entire English settlement in
New England. The incidents of this
war form some of the most tragic chap
ters in our early history. 1t was Mt this
time that the colonists first developed
that martial spirit which served them so
good n purpose in the old French war
and in the war Of dependence
The dinner commenced Mt IL o'clock,
and ut its close the literary exercises
were opened by DR.. Loring, who spoke
more than On hour, giving n sketch of
the settlement of Swanzey, the religious
freedom which prevailed there, and the
scenes Of the terrible conflict known rs
King Philips war. Referring to the
attack on the town, which was the initia-
tion OF the great war, he said: 1t was on
day of fasting and humiliation and of
prayer to Almighty God that He would
avert the horrors of the impending war,
the Oath Of June, 1875, that the savage
made his second attack on the town.
Her people here had been lulled into
confidence and repose by conscious
ness OF their own honest intentions, md
by daily familiar intercourse with the
aboriginal occupants of the wigwams
which crowned these hills and sought
seclusion and protection in these valleys.
The old members had taught themselves
to believe that their gray hairs were safe
and respected; the young men had con-
fdently applied their strength to q better
service than the work of war; the mo-
ther had long since laid aside all fear fcr
the safety Of her child; the child had
not yet learned That the red-skinned
maiden was her natural foe; when the
mask fell from the face of the savage,
and his cruel and Internal designs be-
came manifest.
The doors of the little church had lust
closed and the worshippers were return
ing to their homes, heavy with the
thought of the danger which suddenly
hung over them like a dark, threatening
cloud, when the attack was made. We
are told that one was killed and others
wounded; two men were killed who ere
sent for q surgeon, and near Burns gar
rlson SIX men were murdered, upon
whose bodies the savages exercised more
than british bnrbnrities, beheading, dis
membering and mangling them, and ex-
posing them in the most inhuman man
ner, which gashed and ghastly objects
struck q damp on all beholders. The
war became general Throughout the Mas
sachusetts and Plymouth colonies. Phi
lip, subtle, vindictive, ambitious and
desperate, united all the tribes from the
waters OF the bay to the Connecticut
River, in what lie called desperate
struggle for the land Of his fathers.
-. -
The tomb of Pefc In Chnisc, supposed
the contain the remains Of Abclard and
Inl - la IL