John Sheldon, Jr. had been sleeping in his father’s house with his wife, Hannah, when Deerfield, Massachusetts, was attacked by French soldiers and their Indigenous allies on February 29, 1704. They scrambled out their bedroom window as warriors tried to break through the front door, but in the process Hannah injured her ankle. She urged her husband to go on without her, and he ran to the nearest settlement for help. His wife, along with three of his siblings, were taken captive and were marched to Canada. Hannah remained a captive until 1705. Her return was negotiated by her father-in-law, John Sheldon, who traveled to Canada and then back to Boston and Deerfield a number of times in the years after 1704. Sheldon’s brothers Ebenezer and Remembrance and his sister Mary were redeemed and returned to Deerfield in 1706.
Sheldon, Jr., John. Letter to John Sheldon. August 5, 1706. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l01-113/. Accessed on November 24, 2024.
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