King Philip’s War was a bloody and costly series of raids and skirmishes in 1675 and 1676 between the Native American people and the colonials. King Philip was the Native American leader Metacom.
Nathaniel Hunn was born in 1650 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. According to The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume 3 by R. C. Anderson, G. F. Sanborn and M. L. Sanborn
, the
Nathaniel Hunn who married Priscilla Kitchen of Salem was not a descendant of George Hunn, the immigrant.
In 1672/73 he was ordered not to frequent the ordinaries or spend his time and estate tippling, until the end of King Philip's War.
Nathaniel was killed in June, 1677 in the Battle at Moore's Brook at Scarborough. The town was destroyed during King Philip's War. The Massachusetts militia with Captain Swett of Haverhillm was sent to secure the town for resettlement. On June 29, 1677, the company was ambushed by warriors under Chief Squando. The company was made up of untrained recruits. Only a few men stood while the rest ran. The officers and about forty soldiers, including Nathaniel Hunn, were killed.
1677 Map of New England
click to enlarge
Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.
Suffolk County, Massachusetts was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643. It initially contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth.
European and indiginous American fought fierce battles, sometimes called the Indian Wars, as the Europeans expanded their territory.
Priscilla Kitchen, Quakeress of Salem, Mass., and Kent County, Del., and Her Family by George Valentine Massey II, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume CVI. January, 1952, pp. 38-50.
There is little concerning the Hunn family, except that Nathaniel in 1672-3, with others, was ordered not to frequent the ordinaries nor spend his time and estate tippling, until the end of King Philip's War. In June, 1675, the citizens of Swansea, Mass., were attacked by Indians on leaving a Fast Day service. This began the bloody massace named for that powerful chief, Philip of Pokanoket, who headed the league of tribe from Maine to Connecticut.
The war did not end at once. In June, 1677, Captain Swett of Haverhill was sent to Blackpoint, the storm center. Nathaniel Hunn, of Salem, was in his company which comprised chiefly untrained recruits. This latter fact proved disastrous. Next morning after landing Captain Swett attacked the Indians. A few men with the officers stood, the bulk of recruits ran. The officers and about forty soldiers, including Nathaniel Hunn, were killed, among those "few resolute men of courage who bore the brunt of the service."
Early Quakers were persecuted. In the Massachusetts Bay colony, Friends were banished on pain of death.
