Quentin Stockwell was an early American colonist. He was one of the first settlers of

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

and then

Deerfield, Massachusetts Deerfield is a New England town, town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. ...

. While in Dedham, he lived near the saw mill in what is today

Walpole, Massachusetts Walpole is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Walpole Town, as the Census refers to it, is located about south of downtown Boston and north of Providence, Rhode Island. The population of Walpole was 26,383 at the 2020 censu ...

. His wife, Abigail, was a first cousin of Mary Bullard, the wife of John Farrington. Both families were early residents of Dedham and Deerfield.

King Phillip's War

After moving to Deerfield, the village was destroyed in

King Phillip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

. While attempting to rebuild his farm, he was taken captive with 24 others by the native peoples and marched to Canada. He was set to be burned at the stake and, on the night before his execution, was sent to gather wood for the pyre. While doing so he discovered his captors were sleeping, and carefully gathered their weapons to kill them all with his fellow prisoners. He lost his nerve, however, and put all the weapons back where he found them. His master chose not to execute him. He had a second opportunity to kill his captors when he was left with a sick guard. Fearing for the safety of those left behind, he did not. After being ransomed, his wrote an account of his experiences that was published by

Increase Mather Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and president of Harvard College for twenty years (1681–1701). He was influential in the administrati ...

References

Works cited

* * Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony People from colonial Dedham, Massachusetts People from Deerfield, Massachusetts Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{Massachusetts-stub