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- It is said that Thomas came to America with his brothers Edward and William in 1636, on a ship with Capt.Parker. Thomas settled as early as 1648, having married and the same year. In 1653 nine persons assembled, being early settlers and organized the town, giving it the name of Lancaster. He was a yeoman by trade and held many town offices in Lancaster. Thomas and the first settlers of Lancaster kept the faith with the Indians and lived in peace with them for twenty years. It is evident that they had nothing to do in bringing on the war with Mettecomet, King Philip, in 1675. The cause of the war rested with the government, and Lancaster being an outpost received the first shock of the war. Among the innocent who suffered, Thomas Sawyer was one of the most prominent, and by his superiorability, sagacity and skill he saved his family and himself from destruction
and death, and thereby became one of the most important bases in the foundation of New England wealth and prosperity. King Philip entered Lancaster in person with a band of 1,500 warriors. They made their attack at five different points at the same time. Many of the people who were out doors and exposed were killed, but their house were of the primitive style, built of hewn timbers piled one above the other, and locked together at the corners. They were naturally garrison houses, having no glass windows; the openings were small and served well for port holes for muskets. They were bullet proof, and the Indians could no approach to set them on fire without being shot down from the port holes The Indians were kept at bay by the defendants in their houses for nearly to days. The garrison house of Mr. Rawlinson, in which there were from forty to fifty persons, some 15 or
more being armed men; the rest woman and children. The Indians could not approach the house without being shot down. At length they got up a strategy; they filled a cart with combustible materials,possible hay, and set it on fire in the rear, then ran it backward against the house, setting the house on fire. The people were driven out by the flames, and general massacre of the men ensued. The men were all slain, except one who escaped and two or three whom the Indians reserved for torture. The woman and children were all led away into captivity. Capt. Samuel Wadsworth, who was stationed at Marlborough, hearing of the distress at Lancaster, hastened to their relief, and stationed his soldiers in the different garrison houses, for the protection of the people. They remained there about six weeks, and could not venture out night or day, without endangering their lives. Marlborough being threatened, Capt. Wadsworth was obliged to return, and the inhabitants all fled away with the soldiers. All the property of the town was then destroyed, except two isolated garrison houses. Thomas Sawyer, whose house was in the most central part of the Indian raid, seems to have escaped with all his numerous family, with the exception of his son, Ephraim, who was killed at or near the house of his grandfather, John Prescott. Lancaster remained desolate for some three years. Where the family of Thomas Sawyer resided during the time is not evident(possibly Woburn, as did the Houghton's). But it is certain that they reappeared on the scene at the rebuilding of the town, and took a conspicuous part in the growth and prosperity of the town during the next 30 years. Amos Carter stated that Thomas Sawyer's descendants were natural mechanics, he has known them as millwrights, wheelrights, blacksmiths, coopersmiths, carpenters, coopers, and the mechanical skill required in New England life. They had a natural proclivity for water-power, many of them owing mills. Every town, village, road, and lane throughout New England bears witness of their skill and industry. Thomas is buried in the Old Settlers Burial Field in Lancaster, where his original cemetery maker has been standing for almost three hundred years, as I have witnessed in 1989(AAB)
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