In Search of Col. Benjamin Church, Indian Fighter

In Search of Benjamin Church, Father of American Rangers

Indians, God and Rum

by Lisa Saunders (seen above at burial site of Col. Benjamin Church)

Introduction

Moving to the maritime village of Mystic, Connecticut, from New York in 2010, I now lived closer to my Mayflower roots and my ancestor's encounters with Native Americans—good and bad. Having failed in my first attempt at an epic sailing voyage when I abandoned ship on my new Mystic friends, I have hung my head in Mystic ever since. My daring ancestors must be so ashamed! 

Even my mother was ashamed and scolded, "bad girl!" when I called her from the train ride back to Mystic to tell her. I had imagined my perseverance against all odds including being the last to succumb to scurvy should we become as cast adrift at sea. After all, I descend from surviving Mayflower passenger Richard Warren--one of the eight married men out of 24 to survive that first winter (most died from the effects of scurvy). Richard Warren endured the dismal—and sometimes terrifying—66-day voyage across the Atlantic to New England without abandoning ship. When he passed away in 1628, it was said of him that he “was a useful instrument; and during his life bore a deep share in the difficulties and troubles of the first settlement of the plantation of New Plymouth” (Nathaniel Morton, William Bradford, Thomas Prince, Edward Winslow, 1669, p. 88).

How embarrassing if my headstone states: “She Abandoned Ship,” instead of: “She Was a Useful Instrument.” 

 A freelance writer, I guess I'm more suited to reading and writing about long ago adventures rather than having my own (my sailing disaster is told in my travel memoir, Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Secrets behind the 7 Wonders, Titanic's Shoes, Captain Sisson's Gold, and Amelia Earhart's Wedding).  I love researching dead people--the kind who quietly decompose in marked graves while inspiring me to solve their mysteries. I consider my time with them as a form of time travel. 

Despite my reputation as a coward but knowing of my love of dead people, I was assigned to write Mystic area ghost legends by the editor of a local magazine. I interviewed residents to research all that’s weird and dug out my old $26 electromagnetic frequency (EMF) detector. I had purchased it to measure my TV and microwave oven output, but paranormal investigators use them to look for unusual energy.
The locals suggested I see if Mystic's longest standing property, the Denison Homestead, had any ghosts. Apparently, ghost investigators had recorded some unexplained noises and heard the word “fire.” Although some think that could be referring to the fire on that property, I think it could have been for something else. Located beside the home is the field where Captain George Denison trained 200 men for service in King Philip’s War in 1676. An archaeological dig unearthed musket balls. Was the word "fire" a shout from past echoing into the future? Was it Captain Dension yelling "fire!" during training exercises? 

Knowing nothing about King Philip’s War (also called the First Indian War), I learned there was a lot about it in a book I already owned but hadn't finished--Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick. Picking it  back up,  I couldn’t believe it—I actually had a major connection to that war. I am a descendant of Colonel Benjamin Church (grandson of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren), who was commissioned by the Plymouth Colony governor to form the first ranger force to fight against King Phillip (his Native American name was Metacomet). Benjamin Church, now referred to as the father of American Rangers, raised a band of frontiersmen and allied Indians and trained them in fighting tactics learned from Indians. His memoirs are considered the first American military manual. I promptly ordered his book with the unusual title, Entertaining Passages Relating to Philip's War, and couldn’t wait to find out how war could be entertaining. Perhaps the answer was in Philbrick’s comment that my ancestor portrayed himself as a “swashbuckling knight.” 

Although Church is probably too ashamed to admit to his dead friends that I, an "abandon shipper" descend from him, learning what a controversial figure he is, I may be reluctant to admit to my l living friends he is my ancestor!

But investigating his life is showing me how brave he and his opponents were--what blood curdling tales I'm reliving. Scalping, heads in spikes, and getting drawn and quartered make my sailing adventure seem as scary as taking a bath.  

I have to be honest--when I walked into a Rhode Island swamp searching for the location of the Great Swamp Fight, I heard angry animal calls and grew afraid. Given that native Americans used animal calls to communicate with each other prior to attack, I imagined my arrival had re-awakened the ghosts of the slain Indian warriors along with their women and children who died in the grisly fire afterwards.

Did they know I descended from Benjamin Church? Would they exact their revenge on me? Church had been seriously wounded at the Great Swam Fight but recovered to fight on until he tracked King Philip to his death and had his head mounted on stake. 

I know people who won't admit they descend from Captain John Mason, the leader in what is now called the Mystic Massacre (more on that to follow). But perhaps this is my time to be brave and admit who I descend from--no matter what my research may find...

The entry to the Great Swamp Fight area in South Kingston, Rhode Island

Hearing angry animal calls and fearing ticks, I didn't enter the Great Swamp the day this photograph was taken in 2016.

As I learn more about Benjamin Church and unravel a timeline of events pertaining to him, I will post his whereabouts with his quotes from him memoir plus relevant images if possible. I don't want to retell a complex Indian war--I just want my research adventure to be quest really-- "In Search of Benjamin Church."