Elizabeth (White) Kerley (bef. 1635 - 1676)

Born before 29 Jul 1635 in South Petherton, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Kerley — married 2 Nov 1654 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 10 Feb 1676 after age 40 in Lancaster, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Elizabeth (White) Kerley immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Elizabeth White was baptized in South Petherton, Somerset, England, on 29 July 1635, the daughter of John and Joane (West) White.^[1] The family sailed to Massachusetts in 1638, when she was just 3. Her father was received as an inhabitant of Salem in August 1639, and was granted land in nearby Wenham.

In the spring of 1653, the family moved west to the frontier settlement of Nashaway soon to be incorporated as the town of "Lancaster." Her father was allotted land there, becoming the largest single land owner in the town. Unfortunately her mother died the following year at the age of 48.

Elizabeth married Capt. Henry Kerley/Carley at Sudbury, Massachusetts on 2 Nov 1654.^[2]

Henry was the son of William and Ann Kerley of Lancaster Massachusetts, and a soldier in King Phillip's War. He had gone with the Rev. Mr. Rowlandson to the Bay (Boston) to see about having the town better fortified when the Indians came upon Lancaster and burned and pillaged the place on 10 Feb 1675/76. Capt. Kerley had left his wife and children in the Rowlandson garrison house with her sisters, Mary Rowlandson and Hannah Divoll. Elizabeth, and their sons Henry, Jr., William, and Joseph were all killed in the raid.^[3] Elizabeth was shot dead by the Indians when attempting to leave the burning house; falling back, her body was burned so badly that her husband did not recognize her when he helped to bury the dead on his return. Since some of the women and children had been taken as hostages, he hoped his wife and three sons might still be alive. It was only when the hostages were ransomed that he learned that he had already buried his family members.

Children:

1. Henry Kerley, born 11 Feb 1657; killed 10 Feb 1676
2. William Kerley, born 22 Feb 1658; killed 10 Feb 1676
3. Elizabeth Kerley
4. Hannah Kerley, born 8 July 1663; died young
5. Mary Kerley
6. Joseph Kerley, born 28 Mar 1669; killed 10 Feb 1676
7. Martha Kerley, born 10 June 1672; died before 1708, when father's will was written

Capt. Kerley married second at Charlestown, Massachusetts, on 18 Apr 1677, Mrs. Elizabeth (Ward) Howe, widow of John Howe of Marlborough. Capt. Kerley and his second wife had two daughters born at Marlborough. His will was dated 17 May 1708, and probated 27 Jan 1713/14.

Story of the raid and aftermath from viewpoint of Elizabeth's sister Mary Rowlandson:(needs source citation)

The day of the massacre, 10 Feb 1675/76, Elizabeth's sister, Mary Rowlandson was visiting with her 6 year old daughter. Mary and her daughter were wounded and taken captive. Her daughter died a pitiful death of her wounds within a week after capture; but, Mary was later redeemed. After her redemption she wrote an account of the massacre, captivity and redemption which was published.

Her account told of the Indians attacking the whole village at sunrise; going from house to house, shooting and tomahawking the occupants and carrying away captives. From Henry's house they could see everything that happened, knowing that any minute, they would be next. They saw five persons dragged out of one house; the mother, father, and nursing child "knocked" or tomahawked in the head, the remaining two carried away alive. They saw a man running from them, shot down, begging for his life by promising them money. They answered by knocking him in the head, stripping him naked of his clothes, then slitting his bowels open. The Indians also got on the roof of a barn and from that vantage point, shot many who tried to escape.

Soon they came to attack Henry's house, opening fire upon it with guns. wounded one by one. After about two hours of this, they decided to set the house on fire. They used the straw and flax from the barn to light and throw on the house. The first attempt fizzled; but the second one caught the house ablaze. They had six big dogs inside the house; but none even barked, cowering in the corners. Soon, they were either forced to leave the house into the murderous arms of the Indians or to remain inside and burn alive. As Mary left the house bullets passed through her midsection and into the stomach and through the hand of her daughter, whom she was carrying. William Carley came out, was shot in the leg, which broke; and, the Indians seeing this immediately tomahawked and killed him. Elizabeth was still inside with her son, Henry, telling her that William was dead and Mary wounded. To this she said; "And Lord, let me die with them." This was no sooner said than she was struck down dead by a bullet over the threshold of the house. The Indians told Mary that if she were willing to go along with them they would not kill her. She had told herself many, many times that if this were ever to befall her, she would rather die; but now that the choice was upon her, she chose life. Outside she met with the sight of one man who had been hatcheted in the head, crawling up and down in the dirt in his own blood.

They only moved about a mile away, up on a hill, from where they could still see the scene of horror below. The Indians had no fear of reprisal and spent the night there with their 24 captives. They had slaughtered most of the animals and livestock of the town and proceeded to eat these, feeding the captives nothing. The Indians warned Mary that they would kill Henry if he returned now. She had nothing to give her wounded child for comfort. The Indians rested that whole night, tired from the slaughter. The next morning they moved on. Mary fell down several times with her child so that they finally put her on a horse without a saddle. She and the child fell from the horse which they found comical. Remember that they both had been gut shot and were in much pain by this time. This night, when they came to a stop, it began to snow and Mary was forced to sit in the snow with her wounded child without any refreshment other than cold water. In fact, they were not to have anything to eat from Wednesday until Saturday.

Saturday they came to an Indian town, called Wenimesset. Here she saw another captive, one Robert Pepper of Roxbury, who told her to put Oak leaves against her wound, as he had done and survived. She did this as soon as she could. She spent all of her time sitting with her wounded child in her lap which was moaning night and day with no hope of relief. The Indians started to tell her that her master would knock her daughter on that head as soon as he arrived. This was their attempt at comforting her. The child died before that happened on 18 Feb 1675/76.

Her master was Quinnapin, who was a Sagamore, and married King Philip's wife's sister. She had been sold to him by a Narragansett Indian who had been the first to take her when she came out of the garrison. The Indians buried her child up on hill in this wilderness. She immediately started looking for her daughter Mary, 10 years old, who had been taken from the doorway by a praying Indian; and, afterward sold for a gun. Every time she would see Mary, the child would start to weep, so the Indians went through great pains to keep them separated. As she was lamenting her sorry condition which she now found herself in, her son came to her. With tears in his eyes, he asked her if his sister Sarah were dead, told her that he had seen Mary, and begged her not to worry about him. He had been able to come because his master and the group of Indians he was with had just come from attacking Medfield. Here they had killed 23 people and were showing off the scalps they had taken. There was one Indian, though, who gave Mary a Bible which he had taken as plunder. She found this to be her only comfort for the times to come.

The next day the Indians and their captives broke up into smaller groups and left this place, going in separate directions. Here Mary parted from her daughter, Mary, whom she did not see again until they both were redeemed. She also parted from four cousins and some neighbors whom she never ever saw again.

On that Saturday, she had only had some soup made from boiling an old horse's leg. For the first week she hardly ate anything at all. By the second week she still was having trouble eating the awful things which were offered to her; but, by the third week, these things began to seem sweet and savory. Several more days went by and there came an Indian with a basket of horse liver. She was given a piece of this which she laid in the fire to roast; but they started to try to get it away from her and she was forced to eat it nearly raw. That night they had a mess of wheat for supper.

She went into great detail telling of the victuals of the Indians. They would pick up old bones and boil them to make the maggots and vermin come out, then they would boil them again and drink the liquor. Then they would beat the great ends of them in a mortar and eat them. The chief and commonest food was ground nuts. They would even eat horses' guts and ears. They would eat any animals or birds that they could catch; and, even eat the bark of the trees.

Mary was bought back for twenty pounds; and her remaining children were redeemed later. The money for the redemptions was freely given by others of the colony with great sympathy. Their homes having been destroyed, the captives once released were taken in by these same people and fed and clothed until they got their lives back together.

Sources

1. ↑ "Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812," Ancestry.com database online, image of parish register $ [1]. She had a sister baptized on 12 February 1633/4 who evidently died young.
2. ↑ Vital Records of Sudbury, Marriages, p. 227: "Kerly... Henry and Elizabeth White, Nov. 2, [16]54."
3. ↑ Vital Records of Lancaster, Deaths, p.16: "Victims of the Massacre of February 10, 1676... Elizabeth (White), wife of Captain Henry Kerley... Henry, [18]... William, [17]... Joseph, [7]".

• Almira Larkin White. Genealogy of the Descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1638-1900, Volume 1. Chase Brothers Printers, Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1900. (page 16-17)

• Howe Genealogies by Daniel Wait Howe

• Letter from John Kerley of 05 Feb 2009