Henry R Stebbins Jr

The Dead 1704. Henry R Stebbins Jr

A unique, personal perspective concerning two brothers in the Stebbins family who find themselves in a clash of racial, religious, and political events in Colonial New England. Benoni and John Stebbins were landowners and active residents in the establishment of Pocumtuck, and its abandonment in King Phillips War. Later, the town was re-established as the frontier town of Deerfield, with the brothers playing primary roles. John Stebbins was one of four survivors at the Bloody Brook massacre in 1675. In March 1704, his family was among the captives that were force marched to French Canada. Benoni fought in the Turner's Falls massacre, avenging Bloody Brook. As a militiaman and selectman, he served in many capacities in Colonial Deerfield. In the 1704 raid, he and the other defenders in his fortified house received the following distinction from the chronicler, George Sheldon: "There is not a more gallant act recorded than this defense of an unfortified house, by seven men and a few women, for three hours, against, not only the fury and wiles of an unorganized horde of savages, but also a large force of French soldiers, under officers of the line trained in the wars of France.