John
His story is told in the following petition which he sent in 1738 to the General Court; he, then a lieutenant at the Truck House above Northfield, says: "That about the beginning of Queen Anne wars your Petitioners ffather living then at Worcester had the misfortune with your Petitioners mother & one Brother to be killed by the Indian enemy at which time your Petitioner with five of his Brothers & Sisters were taken & carryed into Captivity where your Petitoner Remained Twelve or thirteen years dureing which time your Petitioner underwent ... hardships & Difficultys at the end whereof by the good providence of God, he was inclined to Return home and tho' he mett with great opposition as well from the Jesuits as Indians yet he came home and was at the sole cost of his Redemption. That upon his arrivall into his Native Country he was put into ye service under Capt Kellog & so Remains at this time. That he has been three times at Canada In ye service of the province since his Redemption in which he suffered greatly especially in the last Journey."
Daniel, son of Digory, was given by the Indians to the governor and,
"On Sunday, 6th Nov. 1707 was baptized by me, undersigned Priest, a little English boy named in his country, Daniel Sergeant born at _____ of Aogust 1699 of the marriage of the late Dickery Sergeant, inhabitant of _____ and of Marie Oben both Protestants, who having been taken at the said place, the _____ has been given by the savages to High and mighty Seigneur Messire Philippe de Rigault Gouverneur General of New France. His name of Daniel was changed to Louis Philippe. His godfather was Robert de Poitier, Ecuyer, Sieur de Buisson, clerk in the department of the Navy at Montreal with whom he is now living, and his godmother Damoiselle Francoise Bouthier, daughter of the late mr Guillaume Bouthier, who have signed with me.
Long after the other planters had fled from the perils of the conflict that raged around them, Serjent remained with his children, the solitary occupants of the town, resisting all importunity to seek safety by desertion, and resolving with fearless intrepidity to defend from the savage the fields his industry had redeemed from the waste.
During the summer of 1702, his residence was unmolested. As winter approached, the committee, alarmed by his situation on the frontier of danger, sent messengers to advise his removal to a place of security. As their admonitions were disregarded, they at length dispatched an armed force of twelve men under Capt. Howe, to compel compliance with the order. At the close of day the party arrived at a garrison near the mills. Here they halted for the night, which grew dark with storm and snow, and kindling their fires, laid down to rest, while one of the band watched the slumbers of his comrades. In the morning they went onward, and reached the house of Serjent on Sagatabscot, at the distance of nearly two miles from the post where they had halted. They found the door broken down, the owner stretched in blood on the floor, and the dwelling desolate. The prints of many moccasins leading westward, still visible through the snow, indicated that they had been anticipated by a short time only in the object of their mission. Having pursued the trail of the murderers a little way, they returned and buried Serjent at the foot of an oak, long since decayed. On retracing their course to the spot of their repose, they found the prints of feet going from the fort towards Wachuset. After the war was ended, the Indians, when they revisited the settlers, declared that six of them had entered the building for shelter from the tempest, when the near advance of the English was discovered, too late to permit escape from a force so considerable, and they secreted themselves in the cellar. The soldiers had spread their blankets and laid down over the trap door, thus securing their foes, until the morning march gave opportunity for flight.
It was soon found that the children of Serjent were living in Canada. On the release of the eldest, she related the particulars of the fearful catastrophe they had witnessed. When the Indians, headed by sagamore John, as is said, surrounded the house, Serjent seized his gun to defend his life, and was fired on. As he retreated to the stair way, a ball took effect and he fell. The savages rushed in, with their tomahawks completed the work of death, and tore off the scalp from his head, as the trophy of victory. They seized the mother and children, John, Daniel, Thomas, Martha and Mary, and having discovered the neighborhood of the white men, commenced a rapid retreat westward. The wife of Serjent, fainting with grief and fear, and in feeble circumstances, faltered and impeded their progress. The apprehension of pursuit induced the Indian to forego the terrible pleasure of torturing his victim. As they ascended the hills of Tataesset, a chief stept out from the file, and looking around among the leafless forests as if for game, excited no alarm in the exhausted and sinking captive, and awoke no cry of horror to betray their course. When she passed by, one merciful blow from the strong arm of the sachem removed the obstruction of their flight. The children, they carried away, reached the northern frontier in safety, and were a long time in Canada. Daniel and Mary, preferring the wild freedom of their captors to the restraints of civilized life, adopted the habits and manners of the Indians....