So Dramatic a Blog

Now Mr. Churches consort, and his then only Son were till this time remaining at Duxborough, and his fearing for their safety there … resolved to move to Rhode-Island; tho’ it was much opposed both by the Government, and by Relations. … Then preparing for his Removal, he went with his small Family to Plymouth to take leave of their Friends; where they met with his Wives Parents, who much perswaded that She might be left at Mr. Clarks Garrison, (which they supposed to be a mighty safe Place)… Mr. Church no ways inclining to venture her any longer in those Parts, and no arguments prevailing with him, he resolutely set out… But by the way, let me not forget this remarkable Providence. viz. That within Twenty-four hours or there abouts, after their arrival at Rhode-Island, Mr. Clarks Garrison … was destroyed by the Enemy.

Thomas Church, “Entertaining Passages Relating to Philip’s War,” in So Dreadfull a Judgment, ed. Richard Slotkin and James K. Folsom (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1978) p. 420

On March 12, 1676, a group of eleven Native men attacked William Clark’s house on the Eel River, about three miles south of the Town of Plymouth and potentially located somewhere on our museum grounds. It was a Sunday; some of the attackers had been friendly with Mr. Clark and knew on this particular day the defences of his “slightly fortified” house would be weakened by the fact that most of the English inhabitants would be attending church. Forty years later, Thomas Church would hold the attack on the Clark Garrison House, and his father’s choice not to tarry there, as an example of God’s protection of his father, mother and Thomas himself (the “then only Son” quoted above).

In the overall narrative of Entertaining Passages, the Clark Garrison House is a minor footnote—one of many incidents and acts of “Providence.” Garrisons, or fortified houses, were extensively used during King Philip’s War (1675-1676) to defend English communities from attack and frequently served as a refuge for a town’s inhabitants. But what is particularly interesting and important about this event is its connection to us here at Plimoth Plantation. In 1941, Harry Hornblower, amateur archaeologist and the future founder of the museum (to learn more about archaeology at Plimoth Plantation click here), conducted the first of a series of digs at what is known today by archaeologists as the R.M. site. So called because of a spoon recovered at the site engraved on the handle with the initials R.M., there is some question as to the precise identity of the excavated remains of a 17th-century structure, or series of structures, and the R.M. to whom the spoon once belonged. (For an analysis of the site by the Plymouth Archaeological Rediscovery Project click here)

One common theory maintains that the R.M. site and Clark Garrison House are one and the same. Several features of the site seem to support this theory. First, the site is located in the general area of William Clark’s property. Second, is the date of the site seems to correspond with the period during which Mr. Clark’s home was used as a garrison and was destroyed. However mundane a pile of clay tobacco pipe stems may seem to a casual observer, their rather distinct evolution of style over the course of the 17^th and 18^th Centuries has made it possible for archaeologists to date a site with reasonable accuracy. The pipe stems located at the R.M. site seem to indicate the date of the site to be approximately 1620 to 1680, with a slightly greater concentration of stems falling between 1650 and 1680. Thirdly, discolored soil found on the site may indicate the structure had been burned. New England ministers Increase Mather and William Hubbard both state in their histories of King Philip’s War, published in 1676 and 1677 respectively, that the garrison’s attackers burned the house.

Brass projectile point, 1600-1650; Colonists traded brass kettles to Native People for fur and other goods. Native People frequently cut the brass into pieces to make projectile points, jewelry, hair combs, and other items.

Buttons, 17th century, silvered bronze with cast rose pattern.

Iron Shot Mold and strips of cast lead shot, 1625-1675. The scissors-like shot mold (one half missing) cast a single piece at a time. Smaller shot was cast in strips. Note the lead sprue that connects them.

March 12. This Sabbath eleven Indians assaulted Mr. William Clarks House in Plimouth, killed his Wife, who was the Daughter of godly Father and Mother that came to New-England on the account of Religion, … and she herself also a pious and prudent Woman; they also killed her sucking Childe, and knocked another Childe (who was about eight years old) in the head, supposing they had killed him, but afterwards he came to himself again. And whereas there was another Family besides his own, entertained in Mr. Clarks house, the Indians destroyed them all, root and branch, the Father, and Mother, and all the Children. So that eleven persons were murdered that day, and under one roof; after which they set the house on fire.

Increase Mather, “A Brief History of the Warr with the Indians in New-England,” in So Dreadfull a Judgment, ed. Richard Slotkin and James K. Folsom (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1978) p. 112

Accounts differ on the number of English killed. Mather and Hubbard both put the number at eleven. However, the records of the Plymouth Colony Court name only one casualty in the attack. On July 7, 1676, three Native men were convicted by the Plymouth Court of raiding William Clark’s house and murdering his wife Sarah. No mention is made of the death of an infant child or the presence of a second family at the home. In fact, a fourth Native man is prosecuted in connection with the raid on July  21, and at his trial he stated that the raiders expected only three people (perhaps Clark’s wife and two children) to be at home. Unfortunately, he says nothing of the number of inhabitants they actually found, nor does the court explicitly connect any other deaths to the raid beyond that of Sarah Clark.

The mystery extends to the R.M. site itself. Before writing this post I had an interesting conversation with our Curator of Collections, Karin Goldstein. In 1941, the R.M. site was located on Hornblower family property. Today that property is now part of the modern living history museum Plimoth Plantation. Karin oversees the artifacts from the R.M. site which are held within the museum’s archeological collections. While discussing some of the questions surrounding the R.M. site she made some fascinating observations that in my mind deepen the mystery even more. She questioned to what extent the site had been burned. Karin pointed out that the Standish site in Duxbury, also 17^th-century, had been so obviously burned that the archeologists had even found melted window glass. On the other hand, if the R. M. site was a garrison house, then the abundance of pipe stems found at the site may indicate that a large number of men were standing around and smoking while on watch.

And what of the R.M. for whom the site is named? Perhaps, it was Plymouth resident Robert Morton. Maybe he was one of the militiamen standing around William Clark’s “slightly fortified” house smoking a clay pipe. Perhaps he forgot his spoon.