Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameJohn SHATTUCK 
179
179Birth Date4 Jun 1666
Birth PlaceWatertown, Massachusetts
Death Date8 May 1709
Death PlaceGroton, Massachusetts
FlagsKilled by Indians, Queen Anne’s War (1702-13)
FatherSgt. John SHATTUCK (1647-1675)
MotherRuth WHITNEY (1645-)
Misc. Notes
Shattuck’s Memorials180 provides the following information on the life of John Shattuck: “10. JOHN SHATTUCK, son of John, (p. 71,) was b. in Watertown, June 4, 1666, and was killed by the Indians, in Groton, May 8, 1709, ae. 42 y. 11 m. 4 d. He was a farmer, and occupied the homestead, which had before belonged to his father-in-law, [p. 78] James Blood, and which, after his death, was set off to the widow, as her portion of the real estate, and by her sold to Mr. Shattuck. It was situated on the ‘Nod Road,’ so called, which runs north-easterly from the Stony-Ford-Way at Hollingsworth’s paper-mills. The Shattucks and Bloods owned large tracts of land on both sides of Nashua River, in the vicinity of these mills. At the time of Mr. Shattuck’s death he was one of the selectmen of Groton -- an evidence of the respectibility of his social standing.
“Few persons, now-a-days, can have an accurate conception of the toil, suffering, and danger endured by the early settlers of our frontier New England towns. The workmen as they went forth to their labors were not sure of returning again in safety to their homes, or, if they did, that they should find the loved ones they left there alive. The tomahawk, scalping-knife, and other deadly weapons, were in the hands of foes whose approach was often invisible, and when they were least expected. Groton, a town in Middlesex County, about forty miles northwesterly from Boston -- which has ever been the residence of some of our family or their connections -- was particularly unfortunate in this respect. It was first settled in 1660, but on the 13th March, 1676, was burnt by the Indians; and such of its inhabitants as escaped death or captivity were compelled to abandon their estates, and seek protection in Concord, Watertown, and other older and more secure towns nearer Boston. In 1678, after the cessation of hostilities, Groton was resettled, and the Indian neighbors remained peaceable for several years. But about 1690 they again began to be troublesome, and for the subsequent fifteen or twenty years continued their depredations, by occasionally murdering the inhabitants, burning their houses, destroying their crops, or killing their cattle. In 1691, as a means of protection and safety, eight houses, in different parts of the town, were fortified and established as garrisons.* [original footnote: “*The author of this work communicated to Caleb Butler, Esq. an account of these garrisons and a considerable amount of other information, published in his History of Groton.”] Into these houses the neighboring inhabitants gathered at night; and they were guarded by armed men as soldiers, ever wakeful as sentinels to warn the inmates of any approach of danger. One of these houses, situated in what is now the fifth School District, (the precise locality is not known) was occupied by Mr. Shattuck and his relatives and neighbors; [p. 79] and they seem to have experienced with most crushing force the calamities of the times.
“Sept. 13, 1692 [the text here reads Oct. 13, but this is corrected on p. 385 to Sept. 13], James Blood, father-in-law of Mr. Shattuck, was the first victim. ‘He was killed,’ says the record, ‘by the French and Indian enemy.’
“July 27, 1694, William Longley, -- an uncle of Mrs. Shattuck, -- his wife and several of his children, were killed, and three others of the family were carried into captivity. At the same time James Parker, Jr., a distant relative, and his wife and children, were killed or captured.
“Enoch Lawrence, the step-father of Mr. Shattuck, in an engagement with the Indians, was wounded in the hand, and disabled for life. In consequence of which, in 1702, a pension of £3 per annum was granted him by the Province.
“About 1706, three of the children of Thomas Tarbell -- John, Zachariah, and Sarah, cousins of Mrs. Shattuck, -- were stolen and carried to Canada, where they lived, it is said, the remainder of their lives. Their father, in his will, executed in 1715, makes them the residuary legatees of his estate, ‘upon their return from captivity.’
“The period of 1690 to 1710, might well be called the Reign of Terror, and the Dark Age of New England. The inhabitants of Groton became so much wearied out and impoverished, that they petitioned the government several times for relief. In one of these petitions, dated in 1703, the people say: ‘we spend so much time in watching and warding that we can do little else; and truly we have lived almost two years more like soldiers than otherwise.’ In another, dated July 9, 1707, the selectmen name several families that had been obliged to leave the town, and others ‘that are considering of going,’ being ‘unable to subsist any longer,’ on account of the Indian troubles. Among the latter were the three brothers, -- John, William, and Samuel Shattuck, -- and twenty others of their connections and neighbors, some of whom did actually remove, either for a temporary period or permanently. John Shattuck, however, remained. But on the 8th of May, 1709, two years afterwards, he and his eldest son, then in his 19th year, were both murdered by the Indians. Tradition says that this massacre occurred while they were crossing the Nashua River, in the vicinity of the Stony-Ford-[p. 80]Way, near Hollingsworth’s mills, on the return of Mr. Shattuck from his lands on the west side of the river.
“The deaths by accident and violence in two successive generations in this branch of the family, prematurely removing two worthy and respectable men, fathers and protecting guardians of their children, were great calamities, and materially affected their condition, their fortunes, and their history. And these calamities were magnified by the times, and under the circumstances existing when they occurred. If these fathers had lived to the ordinary age of their kindred, how much could they have done for their families!
“Mr. Shattuck m. MARY BLOOD, b. Sept. 1, 1672, dau. of James Blood and Elizabeth Longley, and granddau. of Richard Blood and Wm. Longley. [A long footnote on the Longley family appears here.] She remained a widow 47 years, and d. March 4, [p. 81] 1756, ae. 83 y. 6 m. 3 d. Her husband joined the church in 1707, and she in 1721. He died leaving her, as his own father had left his own mother, at a dark and perilous period, to rear and provide for a large family of young Children, the youngest not then three months old. To her heroic virtues, and to her excellence as a woman and a mother, her posterity owe a large debt of gratitude.”
“Few persons, now-a-days, can have an accurate conception of the toil, suffering, and danger endured by the early settlers of our frontier New England towns. The workmen as they went forth to their labors were not sure of returning again in safety to their homes, or, if they did, that they should find the loved ones they left there alive. The tomahawk, scalping-knife, and other deadly weapons, were in the hands of foes whose approach was often invisible, and when they were least expected. Groton, a town in Middlesex County, about forty miles northwesterly from Boston -- which has ever been the residence of some of our family or their connections -- was particularly unfortunate in this respect. It was first settled in 1660, but on the 13th March, 1676, was burnt by the Indians; and such of its inhabitants as escaped death or captivity were compelled to abandon their estates, and seek protection in Concord, Watertown, and other older and more secure towns nearer Boston. In 1678, after the cessation of hostilities, Groton was resettled, and the Indian neighbors remained peaceable for several years. But about 1690 they again began to be troublesome, and for the subsequent fifteen or twenty years continued their depredations, by occasionally murdering the inhabitants, burning their houses, destroying their crops, or killing their cattle. In 1691, as a means of protection and safety, eight houses, in different parts of the town, were fortified and established as garrisons.* [original footnote: “*The author of this work communicated to Caleb Butler, Esq. an account of these garrisons and a considerable amount of other information, published in his History of Groton.”] Into these houses the neighboring inhabitants gathered at night; and they were guarded by armed men as soldiers, ever wakeful as sentinels to warn the inmates of any approach of danger. One of these houses, situated in what is now the fifth School District, (the precise locality is not known) was occupied by Mr. Shattuck and his relatives and neighbors; [p. 79] and they seem to have experienced with most crushing force the calamities of the times.
“Sept. 13, 1692 [the text here reads Oct. 13, but this is corrected on p. 385 to Sept. 13], James Blood, father-in-law of Mr. Shattuck, was the first victim. ‘He was killed,’ says the record, ‘by the French and Indian enemy.’
“July 27, 1694, William Longley, -- an uncle of Mrs. Shattuck, -- his wife and several of his children, were killed, and three others of the family were carried into captivity. At the same time James Parker, Jr., a distant relative, and his wife and children, were killed or captured.
“Enoch Lawrence, the step-father of Mr. Shattuck, in an engagement with the Indians, was wounded in the hand, and disabled for life. In consequence of which, in 1702, a pension of £3 per annum was granted him by the Province.
“About 1706, three of the children of Thomas Tarbell -- John, Zachariah, and Sarah, cousins of Mrs. Shattuck, -- were stolen and carried to Canada, where they lived, it is said, the remainder of their lives. Their father, in his will, executed in 1715, makes them the residuary legatees of his estate, ‘upon their return from captivity.’
“The period of 1690 to 1710, might well be called the Reign of Terror, and the Dark Age of New England. The inhabitants of Groton became so much wearied out and impoverished, that they petitioned the government several times for relief. In one of these petitions, dated in 1703, the people say: ‘we spend so much time in watching and warding that we can do little else; and truly we have lived almost two years more like soldiers than otherwise.’ In another, dated July 9, 1707, the selectmen name several families that had been obliged to leave the town, and others ‘that are considering of going,’ being ‘unable to subsist any longer,’ on account of the Indian troubles. Among the latter were the three brothers, -- John, William, and Samuel Shattuck, -- and twenty others of their connections and neighbors, some of whom did actually remove, either for a temporary period or permanently. John Shattuck, however, remained. But on the 8th of May, 1709, two years afterwards, he and his eldest son, then in his 19th year, were both murdered by the Indians. Tradition says that this massacre occurred while they were crossing the Nashua River, in the vicinity of the Stony-Ford-[p. 80]Way, near Hollingsworth’s mills, on the return of Mr. Shattuck from his lands on the west side of the river.
“The deaths by accident and violence in two successive generations in this branch of the family, prematurely removing two worthy and respectable men, fathers and protecting guardians of their children, were great calamities, and materially affected their condition, their fortunes, and their history. And these calamities were magnified by the times, and under the circumstances existing when they occurred. If these fathers had lived to the ordinary age of their kindred, how much could they have done for their families!
“Mr. Shattuck m. MARY BLOOD, b. Sept. 1, 1672, dau. of James Blood and Elizabeth Longley, and granddau. of Richard Blood and Wm. Longley. [A long footnote on the Longley family appears here.] She remained a widow 47 years, and d. March 4, [p. 81] 1756, ae. 83 y. 6 m. 3 d. Her husband joined the church in 1707, and she in 1721. He died leaving her, as his own father had left his own mother, at a dark and perilous period, to rear and provide for a large family of young Children, the youngest not then three months old. To her heroic virtues, and to her excellence as a woman and a mother, her posterity owe a large debt of gratitude.”
Spouses
Misc. Notes
Shattuck’s Memorials181 reports that Mary (Blood) Shattuck “remained a widow 47 years, and d. March 4, [p. 81] 1756, ae. 83 y. 6 m. 3 d. Her husband joined the church in 1707, and she in 1721. He died leaving her, as his own father had left his own mother, at a dark and perilous period, to rear and provide for a large family of young Children, the youngest not then three months old. To her heroic virtues, and to her excellence as a woman and a mother, her posterity owe a large debt of gratitude.”
Marr Dateabt 1690182
