Mary Field Carter was born about 1643 in Harford, Connecticut to Zachariah and Mary (Stanley) Field. She married Joshua Carter, Jr. on October 4, 1663 and they resided in Deerfield. Some sources list her death as June 18, 1675 at the age of 32.
Deerfield was the northernmost Colonial settlement in Massachusetts and was vulnerable to attack from hostile tribes. In 1675, King Philip's War erupted between some Native American tribes and Massachusett Bay colonists. Though tensions had been brewing for years, the immediate cause of the war was the killing of John Sassamon, a liaison between the Wampanoag and the Colonists.
In June 1675, the hostilities escalated to a series of mutual settlement burnings and attacks between Natives and Colonists. Suspicions multiplied. The fury of the attacks drove settlers to abandon their homes in Deerfield by September. However, the settlers were left without food and supplies for the winter.
As the memorial of the Battle of Bloody Brook tells it:
"Lacking food for winter, the settlers dispatched some eighteen teamsters, under the guard of Captain Thomas Lothrop and about seventy newly recruited soldiers, to retrieve a gathered harvest of grain from their fields. Joshua Carter, Jr., Mary's husband was one of the teamsters.
The men loaded the harvest without incident and possibly began to feel too safe. On September 18, 1675, they attempted to haul the grain back to Deerfield. After traveling some distance, the convoy stopped to rest. The inexperienced soldiers laid their firearms in the carts of grain and picked some wild grapes nearby to eat...While the colonial troops rested, the Native Americans attacked. As many as ninety colonial soldiers and teamsters were killed. Many, but not all, of their names have been preserved...
The battle took place near Deerfield Village on the banks of Muddy Brook, afterward called Bloody Brook. The dead soldiers and teamsters were buried in a mass grave nearby. The bloodshed led the remaining settlers swiftly to abandon Deerfield. For years after the war's end, settlers' attempts to reclaim the land provoked attacks by Native Americans. The settlers gradually prevailed...The mass grave was marked in 1838 with a flagstone bearing Lothrop's name and an inscription about the event..."
Deerfield was the northernmost Colonial settlement in Massachusetts and was vulnerable to attack from hostile tribes. In 1675, King Philip's War erupted between some Native American tribes and Massachusett Bay colonists. Though tensions had been brewing for years, the immediate cause of the war was the killing of John Sassamon, a liaison between the Wampanoag and the Colonists.
In June 1675, the hostilities escalated to a series of mutual settlement burnings and attacks between Natives and Colonists. Suspicions multiplied. The fury of the attacks drove settlers to abandon their homes in Deerfield by September. However, the settlers were left without food and supplies for the winter.
As the memorial of the Battle of Bloody Brook tells it:
"Lacking food for winter, the settlers dispatched some eighteen teamsters, under the guard of Captain Thomas Lothrop and about seventy newly recruited soldiers, to retrieve a gathered harvest of grain from their fields. Joshua Carter, Jr., Mary's husband was one of the teamsters.
The men loaded the harvest without incident and possibly began to feel too safe. On September 18, 1675, they attempted to haul the grain back to Deerfield. After traveling some distance, the convoy stopped to rest. The inexperienced soldiers laid their firearms in the carts of grain and picked some wild grapes nearby to eat...While the colonial troops rested, the Native Americans attacked. As many as ninety colonial soldiers and teamsters were killed. Many, but not all, of their names have been preserved...
The battle took place near Deerfield Village on the banks of Muddy Brook, afterward called Bloody Brook. The dead soldiers and teamsters were buried in a mass grave nearby. The bloodshed led the remaining settlers swiftly to abandon Deerfield. For years after the war's end, settlers' attempts to reclaim the land provoked attacks by Native Americans. The settlers gradually prevailed...The mass grave was marked in 1838 with a flagstone bearing Lothrop's name and an inscription about the event..."
Mary Field Carter was born about 1643 in Harford, Connecticut to Zachariah and Mary (Stanley) Field. She married Joshua Carter, Jr. on October 4, 1663 and they resided in Deerfield. Some sources list her death as June 18, 1675 at the age of 32.
Deerfield was the northernmost Colonial settlement in Massachusetts and was vulnerable to attack from hostile tribes. In 1675, King Philip's War erupted between some Native American tribes and Massachusett Bay colonists. Though tensions had been brewing for years, the immediate cause of the war was the killing of John Sassamon, a liaison between the Wampanoag and the Colonists.
In June 1675, the hostilities escalated to a series of mutual settlement burnings and attacks between Natives and Colonists. Suspicions multiplied. The fury of the attacks drove settlers to abandon their homes in Deerfield by September. However, the settlers were left without food and supplies for the winter.
As the memorial of the Battle of Bloody Brook tells it:
"Lacking food for winter, the settlers dispatched some eighteen teamsters, under the guard of Captain Thomas Lothrop and about seventy newly recruited soldiers, to retrieve a gathered harvest of grain from their fields. Joshua Carter, Jr., Mary's husband was one of the teamsters.
The men loaded the harvest without incident and possibly began to feel too safe. On September 18, 1675, they attempted to haul the grain back to Deerfield. After traveling some distance, the convoy stopped to rest. The inexperienced soldiers laid their firearms in the carts of grain and picked some wild grapes nearby to eat...While the colonial troops rested, the Native Americans attacked. As many as ninety colonial soldiers and teamsters were killed. Many, but not all, of their names have been preserved...
The battle took place near Deerfield Village on the banks of Muddy Brook, afterward called Bloody Brook. The dead soldiers and teamsters were buried in a mass grave nearby. The bloodshed led the remaining settlers swiftly to abandon Deerfield. For years after the war's end, settlers' attempts to reclaim the land provoked attacks by Native Americans. The settlers gradually prevailed...The mass grave was marked in 1838 with a flagstone bearing Lothrop's name and an inscription about the event..."
Deerfield was the northernmost Colonial settlement in Massachusetts and was vulnerable to attack from hostile tribes. In 1675, King Philip's War erupted between some Native American tribes and Massachusett Bay colonists. Though tensions had been brewing for years, the immediate cause of the war was the killing of John Sassamon, a liaison between the Wampanoag and the Colonists.
In June 1675, the hostilities escalated to a series of mutual settlement burnings and attacks between Natives and Colonists. Suspicions multiplied. The fury of the attacks drove settlers to abandon their homes in Deerfield by September. However, the settlers were left without food and supplies for the winter.
As the memorial of the Battle of Bloody Brook tells it:
"Lacking food for winter, the settlers dispatched some eighteen teamsters, under the guard of Captain Thomas Lothrop and about seventy newly recruited soldiers, to retrieve a gathered harvest of grain from their fields. Joshua Carter, Jr., Mary's husband was one of the teamsters.
The men loaded the harvest without incident and possibly began to feel too safe. On September 18, 1675, they attempted to haul the grain back to Deerfield. After traveling some distance, the convoy stopped to rest. The inexperienced soldiers laid their firearms in the carts of grain and picked some wild grapes nearby to eat...While the colonial troops rested, the Native Americans attacked. As many as ninety colonial soldiers and teamsters were killed. Many, but not all, of their names have been preserved...
The battle took place near Deerfield Village on the banks of Muddy Brook, afterward called Bloody Brook. The dead soldiers and teamsters were buried in a mass grave nearby. The bloodshed led the remaining settlers swiftly to abandon Deerfield. For years after the war's end, settlers' attempts to reclaim the land provoked attacks by Native Americans. The settlers gradually prevailed...The mass grave was marked in 1838 with a flagstone bearing Lothrop's name and an inscription about the event..."
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