- 15 Dec 1675: Veteran of Great Swamp Fight of 1675 ?
- Born in either 1651 or 1660 - Kingstown, Rhode Island
Biography
James Eldred was born 1651 in North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island to Samuel Eldred (1620-1697) and Elizabeth Miller (1622-1711) and died 1687 Stonington, New London County, Connecticut of unspecified causes.
It appears that this James Eldred is the same one featured in the story below about escaping marauding Indians at the Jireh Bull Blockhouse. The Eldred's were a prominent and unique family of English immigrants living in the area, closely associated with the followers of Anne Hutchison. James both lives in the area and is reasonably close to the age quoted.
House Torched in King Philip's War
King Philip's War (1675-1678) was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day New England and English colonists and their Native American allies. The war continued in the most northern reaches of New England until the signing of the Treaty of Casco Bay in April 1678.
The Great Swamp Fight of 1675 (AKA: Great Swamp Massacre or Battle of Narragansett Fort was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett tribe in December 1675. It was fought near the villages of Kingston and West Kingston in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The combined force of the New England militia included 150 Pequots, and they inflicted a huge number of Narragansett casualties, including many hundred women and children. The battle has been described as "one of the most brutal and lopsided military encounters in all of New England's history." Since the 1930s, Narragansett and Wampanoag people commemorate the battle annually in a ceremony initiated by Narragansett-Wampanoag scholar Princess Red Wing.
Jireh Bull Blockhouse
Inscription on stone says: "A FEW RODS WEST OF THIS SPOT STOOD THE STONE HOVSE OF JIREH BVULL BURNED BY THE INDIANS DECEMBER 15, 1675." This marker is beside the approach to Middle Bridge over Narrow River. The site of the house is on private property. --From Gates family tree
The Jireh Bull Blockhouse (RI-926, also known as the Jireh Bull Garrison House or Jireh Bull Block House) is an historic archaeological site on Middlebridge Road in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. In 1657 a blockhouse was built on the site by Jireh Bull, son of Rhode Island Governor Henry Bull (1609-1693). The stone garrison house was burned by the Native Americans in King Philip's War on December 15, 1675, and fifteen of its defenders were massacred. The site was acquired by the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1925.
On December 15, 1675, Narraganset warriors attacked the Jireh Bull Blockhouse and killed at least 15 people. 15 year-old James Eldred escaped from the blockhouse and was pursued a considerable distance; he survived having a tomahawk thrown at him at close range and a hand-to-hand encounter with a Narraganset warrior. This occurred along Indian Run Brook in Wakefield-Peacedale, Rhode Island.[1]
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Elizabeth Eldred (1642-1694) | |||
| Samuel Eldred (1644-1720) | |||
| Mary Eldred (1646-1712) | |||
| Thomas Eldred (1648-1726) | 8 September 1648 Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts | 9 May 1726 North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island | Susanna Cole (1656-1726) |
| James Eldred (1651-1687) | 1651 North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island | 1687 Stonington, New London County, Connecticut | |
| Susanna Eldred (1653-) | |||
| Elisha Eldred (1655-) | |||
| Daniel Eldred (1659-1726) | |||
| John Eldred (1663-1724) | |||
Residences
References
- James Eldred
- Eldred in Washington County, Rhode Island
- ^ Jo Anne Butler. "The Great Swamp Fight". The Rebel Puritan. http://rebelpuritan.blogspot.com/2012/01/great-swamp-fight-of-1675.html. Retrieved 15 Oct 2017.