Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-12-26
F. A. Griswold of Randolph Saoh.
ems Great Great Grandson.
indian Love story Of Early Days
Settler Married the Maid Who
Saved Ills Life-~She M%inistercd
10 the Sick Many Years.


arrer" blood, as the old settlers used
to call 1t, and of being a lineal ie
scendant of an Indian chief. He is of
the Pcquot tribe. the great-great-
grandson Of a once mighty sachem;
his nickname is Brave. and his resi-
dencc in the outskirts of Randolph
village he calls The Reservation.
Joseph Griswold, the first man Of
that name to settle in Ran folph. Yves
born in 172S in the southern part If
England, but with his W brother
cmigratcd to America about 1850. TIL,
brothers. being married, settled IN
Connecticut. Two years after their
arrival Joseph was seized vita a
cramp while swimming In the Con
necticut river, and n young man with
him dragged him to the shore.
AS his efforts to restore Joseph were
fruitless. he hastily covered the un-
conscious fellow with his ~clotaes and
ran to the wigwam Of an Indian medi.
cine man for aid. The medicine man
was not at home. but his daughter,
MarEerY, offered her services and af
tor n long time succee led in rcsusci-
tating the almost drowned young man.
Joseph was so weak and helpless that
It was many days before he was able
TO leave the wigwam. and Margery
was mis- constant nurse and compan-
Ion.
DAUGHTER SKILLED DOCTRESS.
Her father was skilled in all the lore of
the indian pnd. being the younger broth
er of a great sachem. was much respect
ed. not only by his own tribe, but by the
r-hft. g.t,I,,s -, .I,, 90; 80 tl. oA,,,
try, who frequently resorted to his medi-
cal skill for help in illness. Margery was
his only chile and he had instructed her
in all the arts for which nv was famous.
After his recovery, Joseph Griswold fire.
quently visited the Indian girl, and at
length, IN opposition to his brothers
counsel and without her fathers knowl-
edge, he married her and they moved
to Chicopcc. Mass. where they lived
many years. Her father finally became
rcconciled to the union and used to visit
them. Griswold was not. however. very
prosperous, and his wife began to practice
her fathers profession and to ride far
ma near in attendance upon the sick.
AS physicians grew more numerous ana
ridiculed the simple arts If the Indian
doctress. She lost much of her practice
and the income upon which her family
depended. Disheartened by mlsfortunes.
Joseph Gr!swold took his wife and six
children into m and made "A pitch
in the northern part of Randolph. They
packed their goods in a cart drawn by a
yoke of oxen, and with an old white
mare, a present TO Margerv from her IA
, ther, and one COW, they ~joIirneyed out of
Connecticut to a new home. whore in II
few years they began to accumulate prop
artv.
SACHEM WOULD NOT FOLLOW.
Dame Margery's uncle, the sachem. died
and her father succeeded him, but the
name was only a sinecure; for the
glory of the once powerful tribe had de-
parted and its few members were soon
dispersed. The chief, or Dogerill. as
the English called him. would not fol-
low his daughter and her family into the
Green mountains, but chung to the homes
and graves of his forefathers.
once in two years, however, he visited
his daughter and children, for whom he
seemed to feel the warmest affection and
in whose increasing prosperity he rejoiced.
His last visit was in the autumn of l79S
and ii was a wcarisome Journey to him.
Dispirited and sick. he reached his daugh-
ter's house. and when he left it again.
one week later. he was carried in the
dead Of NIGHT, dressed In his chieftain's
regalia, and laid in the south field.
Margery and her husband followed the
lonely grave and, with the help of their
two oldest sons. laid that proud head of
the old chief down, with his gun and
hunting knife by his side and his toma-
hawk in his hand.
Margery continued her illustrations
upon the sick and she and her old white
mare were made welcome for miles
around. In 1904. during n severe snow.
storm, she was sent for and. though hel
husband and son protested against hei
going. she prepared her saddlebags and
started with the messenger who had com,
for her.
ANSWERS HER LAST CALL.
Before she had gone n mile, her mar,
fell exhausted in the snow; then She
deliberately ordered the man off from his
horse and, mounting in his place, rode on
When the road became so drifted tina,
the horse refused to go farther, she dis.
mounted and proceeded on foot the last
/ quarter of a mile, She cared for the sick
one, but 1t was her last ministration
for she was carried home the next day
took to her bed and never rose again.
Her faithful old mare, the gift of he
father. was found dead in the snow
Dame Margery ;efused all medical ale
and the night before her death she madt
her son, benjamin., take a solemn oatt
that the grav of her father should al.
ways be kept sacred and that the huge
stones which protected 1t should never b,
removed.
Then she pronounced a curse upon her
posterity If the oath should be broken
She died gazing upon the sacred spot, and
her husband followed her in lsc6, havina
lived IS years.
OATH AND CURSE FORGOTTEN.
TIL oath and the curse were botl
forgotten, and in time the tombstone
or the ndian chief We're converted into
a stone fence, and the pillow of the white
man ohliterated every vestige of the hol-
lowed ground whore slept the last sachen
or the Pequot tribe. Nargcry and her nus
band rest in the cemetery at Randolph
Center and their graves are marked by
two stones.
John, son of joseph and Margerv Girls
void, married RoNiana Glazier. and their
son, Ahira, was the father of Frank \,
Griswold, the last brave of that line. His
granddaughter bears the name of tho
indian ancestress and is the Margery
frlswold OF the present. IA bright little
school girl, who may yet turn ont to be a
doctor of "A more modern school than one
of herbs.