Saturday, October 31, 2020

 

 E-book and Paperback
by me, Lisa Saunders

First Ranger Benjamin Church: Epic Poem About King Philip's War--Church Believed in Indians, God and Rum, here at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1792891008

In my book, I include a lot of background information and images on the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Mass., as Capt. Benjamin Church is the grandson of Richard Warren of the Mayflower.  

Below is a blurb about my book and an excerpt of my poem:

Considered the first American Army Ranger, Church believed it would take Indians, God and rum to win King Philip’s War in New England (1675-1676). As the grandson of Mayflower passenger, Richard Warren, and the first white main to build in Little Compton, Rhode Island, Benjamin Church understood the value of his Native American friends and neighbors. 

In my book, I retell Church’s account of his fighting days alongside allied Native Americans as an epic poem and include quotes from Benjamin Church such as: “I hope the reader will pass a favourable censure upon an old soldier, telling of the many rencounters [encounters] he has had, and yet is come off alive…”--Colonial Benjamin Church, 1716


Excerpt of poem:


American Army Rangers 
lead the way.
Skilled in stealth, 
they surprise the enemy in the fray.

Their bloodcurdling history 
began in 1675 with carpenter Benjamin Church.
In King Philip’s War, he fought alongside 
Native Americans to knock enemies off their perch.

Surprise raids and other Indian fighting tactics 
were key to Church’s victories in war.
He preferred tracking enemies over building forts,
a task he considered a bore.

When Church was too old and fat 
to mount a horse without aid,
he took off his armor and wrote a military memoir, 
telling of days when the colonists were afraid. 

As a warrior, he recalled: “Through the grace of God I was spirited for that work, and direction in it was renewed to me day by day.”
In the tale that follows, you decide if Church received divine insight on when to chase, flee or stay...

The book also contains more than 40 contemporary photographs including those of Benjamin Church’s sword, grave, and his haunts and homes. See the locations of the Great Swamp Fight, mass grave at Smith’s Garrison, Peas Field Fight, Church's capture of Anawan at "Anawan's Rock", where King Philip’s head was mounted for 20 years in Plymouth, and where King Philip’s War began at Myles Garrison in Swansea, Massachusetts. 

See excerpts of First Ranger Benjamin Church: Epic Poem About King Philip's War--Church Believed in Indians, God and Rum by clicking on "Look Inside": https://www.amazon.com/dp/1792891008



Interested in all things Benjamin Church?


 In researching all things Benjamin Church for her epic poem about him, Lisa Saunders was thrilled to visit his sword! Details about his sword: http://balthazaar.masshist.org/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&BBID=197267

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Native Americans Spared Lives of Westport, MA's first settlers, Richard and Mary Sisson in King Philip's War (1675-76)



FREE E-book Tues-Weds, Nov 3-4, 2020
Click here:
then click on e-book version, "Buy Now" for free. You can either put on your kindle or on any other ios (apple device) device.  You can download the kindle app on your phone.

Excerpt about Richard and Mary Sisson:

Some colonists were spared by Indians allied with King Philip—not
all wanted to see their English friends and neighbors fall.
Richard Sisson, a 1671 settler of Westport, Mass., was warned his
home was to be burned, wife, Mary, and children killed--one and all.

So the Sissons put their valuables in a copper kettle and buried them
under the water at the edge of a pond opposite their house.
In woods just east, the Indians held a war dance under a honey locust tree and set the Sisson home on fire—letting it rage, not to douse.

The Sissons found their house in flames and Indians on burial hill
throwing the feathers from a bed to the wind, laughing at the sport.
The Sissons used that moment of Indian distraction to flee through
woods to find protection in Newport.


Above poem excerpt taken from book, First Ranger Benjamin Church: Epic Poem About King Philip's War--Church Believed in Indians, God and Rum. Click here to read more then click on "Look Inside".

The account of Richard and Mary Sisson in King Philip's War was retrieved from: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dasisson/richard/aqwg01.htm where it states: 

"The earliest Proprietor that I am able to learn of in this vicinity was a Mr. Richard Sisson who owned the South West corner of the 'Head of the River'....It was burned by the Indians during King Philip's war in 1676. A friendly Indian informed Mr. Sisson's family of the Indians' intentions to murder them and burn the house, and they immediately put their valuables into a copper kettle and buried them in the water at the edge of the pond opposite the house. The Indians meanwhile had been holding a war dance in the woods under a Honey Locust tree (East of the House).  When the family returned from the river, the house was on fire and some of the Indians had a feather bed up on the burial hill which they had opened and were throwing the contents to the wind, and laughing at the sport. Mr. Sisson's family escaped through the woods, and took shelter with their friends. Another statement is that they were taken to the blockhouse at Newport for protection--this was probably done." (From "The Growth of Westport," by Curtis Pierce, book in the collection of Westport Free Public Library, Unpublished manuscript, 1893, p. 3.)