AMERICA THE GREAT MELTING POT
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Direct descendant is highlighted in red
Nathaniel Sutcliffe see FAMILY TREE
Born: 1638
Married: 31 Jan 1665 to Hannah Plympton, Medfield, MA
Died: 19 May 1676 Fighting Indians at "Fall Fight" near Deerfield.
FATHER
Abraham Sutliff Jr.
WIFE
CHILDREN
1.
Hannah Sutcliffe
b. 19 Dec 1665 Medfield, Norfolk, MA
m. 10 Oct 1686 to Thomas Wheadon, Branford, CT
d. 25 Nov 1743 Branford, New Haven, CT
2. Judith Sutcliffe
b. 7 Jul 1669 Medfield, Norfolk, MA
3. Nathaniel Sutcliffe
b. 27 Jul 1672 Medfield, Norfolk, MA
m. 1691 to Sarah Savage
d. 1 Apr 1732 Durham, Middlesex, CT
4. John Sutcliffe
b. 1674/75 Deerfield, Franklin, MA
m. 1698 Hannah Brockett
d. 14 Oct 1752 Waterbury, New Haven, CT
Biography of Nathaniel Sutcliffe
by Susan Brooke
April 2020
Nathaniel Sutcliffe appears to be a son of Abel Sutliff who "was appointed
constable of Scituate and qualified in Plymouth at the same time as did Governor
Bradford. (1) In 1661 Nathaniel was taxed for school purposes for property
he held in Dedham. The History of Medfield states that in 1663 Nathaniel
Sutcliffe and John Bullard sawed 450 feet of lumber to use about the enlargement
of the meeting house. (1) He must have built his home about this time too.
It was about 100 rods westerly of the Plympton homestead. Nathaniel Sutcliffe
married Hannah Plympton on Jan 31, 1665. (1) He was of Medfield when he and his
father-in-law, John Plympton, signed a petition for the building of a new college which became
Harvard University. (2) In 1668 he had applied for
permission to buy land in the new territory of Pocamtuck. In 1659 this
territory had been divided by Dedham into large separate tracts. They were
called "common rights" instead of acres. A goat or sheep common was equal
to five "cow commons." (1) He took possession of six "cow commons"
in 1672 just as the area became Deerfield. Upon their removal to
Deerfield with the Plymptons in the spring of 1673, their home was sold to
Joseph Bullard. At the "burning of Medfield" in Feb 1676 the house
was burned by the Indians and was never rebuilt. (1)
In 1675 King
Philip's War broke out and the Indians attacked Deerfield. A company of
volunteers, mounted upon their own horses, and armed as each might be able, -
took up the in the line of march in the evening of May 18, 1676 from Hatfield
toward the Falls, twenty miles away - past the ruins of Deerfield. -
A heavy thunder shower during the night greatly aided the secrecy of the march.
-- About daybreak, leaving the horses under a small guard, they pushed on
through Fall River and up a steep hill, and silently awaited daylight above the
sleeping Indian Camp.
King Philip appeared with a thousand warriors and panic ensued. Captain
Turner pushed forward and was shot. Thirty seven men were killed - among
them "Nathaniel Sutliff of Deerfield." The battle and the leader are
perpetuated in the name, "Turner Falls," (1) or "Falls Fight."
Nathaniel Sutcliffe and his family had lived in Deerfield before this battle.
Apparently his home survived the Indian raids since in March 1666/7 "the court
allowed Hannah the homestead at Deerfield, which did belong to her former
husband Sutlief, for herself and children by him." (3) She had remarried
to Samuel Harrington by this point and moved to Hatfield. Around 1679/80 she
and her new husband moved to Branford, New Haven, CT.
Several years later in 1734 the men and or heirs of the soldiers received land
in gratitude for their service. Nathaniel Sutliff of Durham received his
father's share. (4)
Sources
(1) Genealogy of the Sutcliffe-Sutliffe family in America from before 1661 to 1903 by Bennet Hurd Sutliffe 1903
pg 9. The first mention of him is found in the records of Dedham, Mass.
It states that Nathaniel Sutcliffe paid 3s. 4d. for his County rate for Coledge,
2-10 month, 1661.
The History of Medfield, Mass., states that in 1663 Nathaniel Sutcliffe and John
Bullard sawed 450 feet of lumber to use about the enlargement of the
meeting-house. This was done by hand "at a saw pit." The residence
of Nathaniel Sutcliffe was about 100 rds. westerly of the Plympton homestead, on
the road to the Long Causeway. Upon their removal to Deerfield, Mass.,
with the Plymptons in the spring of 1673, this place was sold to Joseph Bullard.
At the "burning of Medfield," the house was burned by the Indians, and was never
rebuilt.
The History of Deerfield says that Nathaniel Sutliffe ("c" omitted) was a
settler there in 1673 on the Col. Asa Stebbins lot, and that he was killed with
Capt. Turner at the Falls fight (Pesheomsaket), May 19, 1676. There is a
tradition that he was burned at the stake by the Indians.
(2) A History of the American and Puritanical Family of Sutliff or Sutliffe, spelled Sutcliffe in England, by Samuel Milton Sutliff, Jr. 1909
pg. 16 While John Plympton and Nathaniel Sutlliff were residents of Medfield, a subscription list was circulated among its inhabitants for the purpose of raising a fund to further educational matters and the erection of college building for a new college -- Harvard,, now Harvard University. There is still in existence a list of seventy five names of persons who were subscribers to this fund and amongst them were both John Plympton and Nathaniel Sutliff.
John Plympton, as well as his son-in-law, Nathaniel Sutliff having applied to Pocomtuck for the privilege of becoming a settler therein, a town meeting was held on December 14, 1671, at which, after a vote was taken, the inhabitants authorized a sale of land to him "provided the said John Plympton doe settle them" which he did.
On the same year after John Plympton and Nathaniel Sutliff had settled at Pocomtuck (1672) the town held a meeting, when after a vote, they signed and presented a petition to the general court of Massachusetts for the establishment of a township, and among the signers were John Plympton and Nathaniel Sutliff. The petition was soon granted and the town of Pocomtuck thereafter became know as Deerfield.
When King Philip's war began in 1675, John Plympton, being the chief military officer in Deerfield, joined the army and served throughout with honor and distinction. At a time when the war, as all then living thought, was practically over, and after Deerfield had been destroyed by the Indians, he returned to rebuild his home, when on September 19, 1677 (two years and one day after his son Jonathan was killed - September 18, 1675); he with Mr. Stockwell and Mr. Dickerson, three women and fourteen children, were taken captive by a band of Indians under Ashperton, carried to Canada where he was burned at the stake, at a point near Chambly; nearly all of the other captives being permitted to be ransomed. During the war he attained the rank of captain, which was one of the highest military ranks to be attained at that time in the province or state. Prior to the war he was affectionately known to his townsmen as "Old Sergeant Plympton." He left a widow and thirteen children.
pg. 18 Nathaniel Sutliff also took part in King Philip's war, and was under Lathrop at Bloody Brook Bridge. In addition, on May 19, 166, Nathaniel Sutliff of Deefield served as a soldier under Captain Turner at the battle of the Falls, where he was killed.
A grant of land was made by the town to the children of Nathaniel Sutliff, Sr., presumably for his services in the late Indian war. -- Oldest child was but ten years of age, while the fourth and youngest one, John, was a babe of less than two years. The widow married Samuel Harrington, who had been wounded at the attack of September 18, 1675, and with him the wife and children of Nathaniel Sutliff, Sr. moved to Hadfield, a neighboring town, and there resided for a few years. == (son) Nathaniel went to live with relatives, at Rehoboth, where he remained until after he was married and until after the birth of his first child, returning to Deerfield about 1694.
(3) A History of Deerfield, MA by George Sheldon pg. 184
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(4) Petition of Samuel Hunt -
A petition of Samuel Hunt, of Billerica, for himself and other survivors of the
officers and soldiers that belonged to the company of Capt. Turner, and the
representatives of those that are deceased, shewing that the said company in
1676 engaged the Indian enemy at a place above Deerfield, and destroyed above
three hundred of them, and therefore, praying that this Court would grant them a
tract of land above Deerfield suitable to make a township."
In the House of Representatives Nov. 28, 1734 "Voted that the prayer thereof be so far granted, as that the petitioners have leave by a surveyor and chain-man upon oath to lay out a Township of the contents of six square miles, to the Northward of the town of Deerfield, etc."
One of the claimants: "Nathaniel, son of Nathaniel Sutliff, Durham."