Peter Weare [55098]

   Cause of his death was Killed in the Candlemas Raid.

  General Notes:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~chute/gp3590.htm#head6

Peter Weare, Ruth Gooch Weare and Mary Weare:

"Peter Weare, b. in England, 1618, came over to America about 1638, and was settled at York, Maine, about 1650. He is said to have been a prominant man at York, recorder of deeds, 1667, etc., and may have been a brother or cousin to Robert of Dedham, and the same also of Nathaniel of Hampton, N.H. And it is possible that they came of a family that has lived in Devonshire and Somersetshire, England, since the 14th century. Peter married Ruth, daughter of John and Ruth (Hammond) Gooch; she died about 1664; he married 2nd, Mary, daughter of Dep. Governor John Davis of York, Maine, 1666, and was killed or captured by Indians, January 25, 1692, when over 100 of the settlers perished. The widow died January 28, 1718-19, aged 85."
Source: A Genealogy and History of the Chute Family in America: With Some Account of the Family in Great Britain and Ireland, with an Account of Forty Allied Families Gathered from the Most Authentic Sources
William Edward Chute, published Salem Massachusetts, 1894
Page ccxxiii

"His father was probably another Peter of Charfield. Was here approximately 1638 when he and Thomas Brooks, alias Basil Parker, bought John Wilcox's land at Great Works. In early years he traveled to Winnipesaukee and the Merrimack for furs, settled at York by 1643, and on the homestead on Cape Neddick River by 1650. Favoring Mass., he was often a storm center and is now considered unqualified for some of his public positions, but York evidently found him useful, as he was chosen selectman 18 times 1653-1683. Trial jury first time 1640, grand jury 1645; York commisioner (in place of selectman) 1657, 1660, 1664; town clerk; Representative 1660, 1665, 1669; Recorder; County Treasurer Imprisoned by the Royalists in 1668, and had been in prison for some reason in 1675 when George Norton sued the prison keeper for letting him out. In 1685, as the executor, he went to England to prove the will of his brother Thomas of Charfield. In 1688 had Cape Neddick ferry license.
In 1730 administration on Peter Weare's estate was given to heirs of son, Elias, heirs of older sons having declined, Elias' heirs to pay the others' shares, each £41, 6s. 7p."
Source: The Noyes Family
Author/Researcher: Paul M. Noyes
Comments: "In part based on the two-volume set by Col. Henry E. Noyes, Genealogical Record of Some of the Noyes Descendants of James, Nicholas and Peter Noyes, published in 1904. Nearly 700 additional sources have been added over the years with literally thousands of citations to these various sources."
URL: <http://noyes.rootsweb.com/wga167.html>
Note that son Elias was reported to have died during an Indian attack on the road between Cape Neddick and York.

There is considerable discrepancy on the names, birthdates and places and dates of marriage of the two wives of Peter Weare. Some sources identify Weare's second wife as "Mary Purrington" or "Puddington", the daughter of John Purrington or Puddington. WEC has identified her as Mary Davis, the daughter of Deputy Governor John Davis (I then needed to assume that her first husband may have been a Purrington or Puddington.) As to his first wife, some sources have given her place of birth as "Slymbridge" or "Slimbridge" in York County, Maine, but I suspect the town in question was actually located in Gloucestershire, Great Britain, in the same county where Peter Weare was born. Given the uncertainty as to when and where the two marriages occurred, it is also uncertain as to which child is connected with which mother. Son Elias has been attributed to both Ruth and Mary in different records. I've attributed him to Ruth here, but this is not a confirmed connection, by any means - his mother may have been Mary.


The Candlemas Raid/Massacre, January 25, 1692, York, Maine
The incident related by William Edward Chute, "when over 100 of the settlers perished" is also known (depending on who is speaking) as the "Candlemas Raid" (or, as the settlers called it, "The Candlemas Massacre") which took place on January 25, 1692. At that time, the area of York, Maine was under the control of the Massachusette Bay Colony, and was considered the "frontier" of Massachusetts. Twenty years earlier, Massachusetts had been the site of one of the bloodiest wars in their history, King Philip's War <np3.htm> - James Chute, Sr. <gp10.htm> had participated in this battle - and settlers in the frontiers of Massachusetts were uneasy.
By "Indians", he is referring to a confederation of Algonquin tribes, the Wabanaki Confederacy (consisting of the Abenaki, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Mi'kmaq, and Penobscot) which, prior to the arrival of Europeans, had often banded together against the Iroquois. Many of these tribes had already been decimated by diseases brought by European mariners, and by this point were also banded together in an effort to survive. They had been pushed to the breaking point by, among other things, an order issued by Governor John Leverett of Massachusetts: tribes along the frontier of Massachusetts were to be forcibly disarmed. This was essentially a death sentence - how could they hunt for food without arms? - and the tribes reacted angrily. In fairness, the colonists who had lived side-by side with the Wabanaki Confederacy also argued with the Massachusetts Governor on their behalf:
"Sir, these Indians amongst us, live amongst us by hunting as your honor well know it. I do not see how we can take away their arms whose livelihood that depends upon it they may be forced to go to the French for relief, or to fight against us." Commander Thomas Gardiner, Pemaquid, to Governor John Leverett of Massachusetts
Governor Leverett did not rescind his order, and it was Madockawando, a Penobscot, who chose to fight, rather than ask the French for aid and it was he who led the war party from the Wabanaki Confederacy into battle against the garrison settlement at York. The colonists viewed it as a massacre. The Wabanaki viewed it as a raid to regain their own confiscated arms and supplies. Of Madockawando, Bruce Bourque, Maine State Museum Chief Archaeologist, says,
"Madockawando should have the status of all the usually important native Chiefs and warriors in North America. But because consciousness of the frontier only rose in the American psyche after American colonists began to spill over the Alleghenies all of the conflicts east of the Alleghenies kind of got rolled up into this folklore Indian Wars category. And the remarkable individuals who played roles in that are sort of forgotten to history. Madockawando's clearly one of them."
The tragedy of this incident is that, to some degree, the residents of the York settlement, who had lived in relative peace with the Wabanaki Confederacy, actually supported the Indian right to bear arms, and were taken by surprise when they were attacked. Governor Leverett, in ignoring the frontier colonists' requests to revoke the order, helped to set this tragedy in motion. Peter Weare was one of the colonists who probably died (or he may have been taken into slavery, although this is extremely unlikely as he was in his 70's) when Madockawando's war party attacked. Other Chute and Allied family members impacted by this event: Richard Bankes or Banks <gp3590.htm>, ancestor of many of our Banks allied family members.
Compiled from:
Transcript of The Frontier Wars | Violence on Maine's Frontier
Part of the PBS series, "The Story of Maine". Additional information from The Maine State Museum and Northeast Historic Films.
URL: <http://www.mainepbs.org/homestom/p10transcript.html>.

"York commemorates Candlemas Raid". Author Nancy Cicco, Portsmouth Herald. 1 FEB 2001

The Sarah Orne Jewett Text Project, Terry Heller 2003-2004. Information on the York garrison was provided by the Michelin Guide to New England, 1993.
URL: <http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/poe/york.htm>.

Research by Emerson W. Baker and James Kences (from Maine History, Volume 40, Number 3, Fall 2001, pages 159-189) of the North Shore Community College suggests that the Candlemas Raid may have had a direct impact on the outbreak of the Salem Witch Trials, which took place later that same year.
URL: <http://hawthorneinsalem.org/ScholarsForum/MMD1705.html>.

Abenaki History©, written by Lee Sultzman. Latest Revisision 9.29.04.
URL: <http://www.tolatsga.org/aben.html>.

Abenaki Tribal History, Culture, Language and Information
URL: <http://www.native-languages.org/abenaki.htm>.
For further information on Madockawando:
<http://www.famousamericans.net/madockawando/>.
<http://www.judhartmanngallery.com/port_madockawando.html>.
<http://nativenewsonline.org/history/hist0125.html>



Type:Family Genealogical Database
Title:The Noyes Family Web Site
Author/Researcher:Paul M. Noyes
Comments:"In part based on the two-volume set by Col. Henry E. Noyes, Genealogical Record of Some of the Noyes Descendants of James, Nicholas and Peter Noyes, published in 1904. Nearly 700 additional sources have been added over the years with literally thousands of citations to these various sources."
URL as of 11/26/2000:http://genweb.net/~paul noyes/wgal18.html#I4277 <http://genweb.net/~paul noyes/wgal18.html>. (Link no longer works)
URL as of 8/31/06:http://genweb.net/~paul noyes/wgal18.html#I4277 <http://genweb.net/~paul noyes/wgal18.html>.

Record Type: Chute Family History/Book
Title: A Genealogy and History of the Chute Family in America: With Some Account of the Family in Great Britain and Ireland, with an Account of Forty Allied Families Gathered from the Most Authentic Sources
Author: William Edward Chute
Published: Salem, Massachusetts, 1894
Comments: Copy originally owned by George Maynard Chute, nephew of William Edward Chute with his signature on the flyleaf; handwritten notes in margins; passed to George Maynard Chute, Jr. who published an updated addendum to this work in 1968; passed to George Maynard Chute, III; passed to Jacqueline Irene Chute.
Location: Privately held

  Noted events in his life were:

• Emigrated: from Great Britain to American Colonies, Abt 1638.

• Relocating: to Massachusetts Frontier (now York, Maine, USA), Abt 1650.

• Occupation: Recorder of Deeds, 1667, York, York County, Maine, Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Peter married Ruth Gooch [55099] [MRIN: 551614347], daughter of John Gooch [55100] and Ruth Hammond [55101], about 1644 in American Colonies. (Ruth Gooch [55099] was born about 1627 in Slymbridge, Gloucestershire, England, Great Britain and died about 1664 in York, York County, Maine, Massachusetts Bay Colony.)