5:5 - New England Connections
Captain Roger Goulding: A Man for Business
The man who is identified as the “possible” brother of Captain Peter Goulding is, on the other hand a well-known character of King Philip’s War. If Roger Goulding and Peter Goulding were indeed brothers, that would mean that the unnamed brother in Virginia was a brother of Roger Goulding as well.
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War or Metacom's Rebellion was an armed conflict that took place in New England between the indigenous peoples and the colonists of that area. The war continued in the most northern reaches of New England until the signing of the Treaty of Casco Bay on April 12, 1678.
The Wampanoag Sachem Massasoit had long maintained an alliance with the colonists but when his younger son Metacom became tribal chief he abandoned his father's alliances after what he considered to be repeated violations by the colonists. When three native peoples were hanged in Plymouth Colony in 1675 for the murder of another Wampanoag, this increased tensions and native raiding parties began to attack homesteads and villages throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maine. The Colonial militia was then called out to retaliate and assembled the largest army New England had yet muster, consisting of 1000 militia and 150 Native allies. Governor Josiah Winslow ordered them to attack the Narragansetts in November 1675 and they burned Native villages throughout Rhode Island territory, culminating with the attack on the Narragansett's main for in the Great Swamp Fight. (King Philip's War)
An estimated 600 Narragansetts were killed during the Great Swamp Fight and their coalition was taken over by the Narragansett sachem Cononchet. They pushed back the borders of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth and Rhode Island colonies and burned towns as they went but the colonial militia fought back and overwhelmed them. By the end of the war the Wampanoags and their Narragansett allies were almost completely destroyed, and on August 12, 1675 Metacom fled to Mount Hope where he was killed by the militia. (King Philip's War)
Captain Roger Goulding played an instrumental part in this war and his presence at the capture and killing of Metacom. Goulding was a mariner, and held the title of Captain and as King Philip's War was coming to an end, he and Major Peleg Sanford discovered the hiding place of the Indian chief at Mount Hope and were given the honor of raiding his headquarters, which they did on 12 August 1676, killing him.
This narrative describes the event:
"On August 1, Captain Benjamin Church spied an Indian across Taunton River and raised his gun to fire. But an Indian in Church's party called out that the man was one of theirs. Church hesitated. The Indian across the way looked up - it was Metacom - and escaped before they could shoot him. They gave chase and captured several of Metacom's party, including his wife and son, who were sent back to Boston. But Metacom got away. No sooner had Church arrived home from this mission than he learned from Captain Roger Goulding, another veteran of the war, that Metacom had returned to his original campsite at Mount Hope. Their informant was none other than a member of Metacom's tribe, who claimed that Metacom had ordered his relative killed for suggesting a truce. This informant had escaped, he said, and would willingly lead Church's and Goulding's men back to Metacom's camp. Church believed the story, and he and Goulding and their men set out for the site.
They approached the camp just after midnight on August 12, 1676. Church posted his men - not enough to be sure of trapping the Indians - while Goulding's men moved around to attack from the other side and drive Metacom's company toward Church. There were no Indian sentries - perhaps Metacom expected to die soon. As Goulding watched and waited for his men to take up their positions, one Indian emerged from their shelter. He stopped and stared in Goulding's direction. Thinking himself discovered, Goulding fired and thus launched the attack before the trap was fully set. His men opened fire. Some Indians were hit, others ran. Metacom himself ran toward two of Church's men, one English and the other an Indian. The white man's gun failed to fire, but the Indian felled Metacom with one shot. After the short skirmish, Church had Metacom's body decapitated and quartered; they carried his head back with them to Boston."
This same account is recorded in a book called MAYFLOWER: A STORY OF COURAGE, COMMUNITY AND WAR by Nathaniel Philbrick (Philbrick, 2006)
"One of the ‘group of messengers’ was Roger Goulding. ‘Church and his men took the ferry to Aquidnect Island. Alice and the boys were now staying in the home of the noted merchant Peleg Sanford in Newport, and Church and half a dozen of his company rode their horses the eight miles to Sanford’s house. When she first glimpsed her husband, Alice was so overcome with surprise that she fainted dead away. By the time she had begun to revive, Church noticed that two horsemen were approaching at great speed. He turned to members of his company and said ‘Those men come with tidings’. They proved to be Sanford and Church’s old friend, Captain Roger Goulding, the mariner who had saved him more than a year ago during the Pease Field fight, and sure enough, they had news. An Indian had appeared earlier that day at the southern tip of the Mount Hope Peninsula. He reported that he had just fled from Philip, who had killed his brother for proposing that they sue for peace. The Indian was now on Aquidneck Island and willing to lead Church to Philip’s camp.’ (Philbrick) The next morning Bridgewater militia on their way to join Church’s company surprised a group of warriors trying to cross the Taunton River on a felled tree. The colonists managed to shoot several and drove the others off, capturing guns and ammunition. One of those killed was Metacom’s uncle, Unkompoin, and members of the militia saw Metacom at the crossing before most of the warriors escaped. The evidence from this skirmish indicated that Metacom and his people, along with some Narrangansetts, were circling in a clockwise direction toward Mount Hope from Nipmuc territory via Bridgewater. Church’s company arrived at Bridgewater that evening and made plans to move in pursuit the next morning with the town’s militia.
Two days later, on the morning of August 1, the colonists again approached a large tree laid across the Taunton River. The boastful Church wrote in his journal, since lost but paraphrased decades later in a book published by his son, that he ‘spyd an Indian sitting on the stump of it on the other side of the River and he clap’d his Gun up, and had doubtless dispatch’d him, but that one of his own Indians called hastily to him, Not to fire, for he believed it was one of his own men; upon which the Indian upon the stump look’d about, and Capt. Churches Indian, seeing his face perceived his mistake, for he knew him to be Philip Metacom immediately jumped down and fled, but Church’s company managed to capture the sachem’s wife Wootonekanuska and his nine year old son. The captain left some men behind with the prisoners and ran after the escaping warriors. While the pursuers were unable to catch the, they found evidence that the Narrangansetts led by unnapin were splitting off and heading for their tribal territory. This meant that Metacm was even more isolated with a smaller force. Some of Church’s Native troops asked if they could continue after the Narrangansetts because they ‘wanted to be revenged on them for killing some of their Relations.’ He agreed and went back to his larger force with the prisoners. The chasers returned the following morning and reported that they had run them down, killed several and taken thirteen prisoners Church’s reunited company resumed stalking the fleeing Wampanoags . His advance guard found and captured a large number of women and children, who had been unable to keep up with the rapidly moving warriors and then at sunset they found, surround, and captured a large group of men. In the morning he sent the prisoners back toward the larger, following force and dispatched two of his Native men forward to scout for the rest of Metacom’s men. But at the same time, Metacom had sent two men back to see where the English lay. Those two saw Church’s scouts and ran back to alert the sachem, who was forced to flee into the swamp without eating the breakfast he and his men had been preparing.
Church then split his force into two parts to run on each side of the swamp and meet at the other end. There they surprised and captured without a fight many men, women and children as they emerged into the clearing, but Metacom was not among them. When the sachem discovered that those in the front had been captured, he and others ‘fled back upon his own Track’. Church had stationed a few soldiers at the end of the swamp, and when the shooting began he and three men ran into the swamp- and were nearly killed for their efforts. Metacom and the others escaped, but the colonists had captured 173 since the previous day. Some of the prisoners told Church that evening that Metacom was ‘ready to dye..for you have now killed or taken all his Relations. That they believed he would now soon have his head, and that this bout had almost broke his heart..’
Church and his men returned to Bridgewater and Plymouth but were soon called out again to chase after Metacom and his remaining warriors, around Dartmouth and then over to Pocasset. At about the same time, an elderly, ill Wampanoag woman came into Sandwich to report that she had been with Metacom’s infamous war sachem Totoson when he had died, supposedly from a broken heart after finding his son sick and near death—but then she died before showing the burial place. A major break came on August 11, when a Wampanoag contacted the English at the fort across from Mount Hope. He told them that Metacom had killed his brother ’for giving some advice that displeased him’, that he had fled to escape the same fate, and that the sachem was at that moment campted on Mount Hope Neck. The colonists sent two men to fetch Church, who went with his company to meet the man. The bitter warrior agreed to direct Church to the sachem on the southwest side of Mount Hope. The small party got into small boats to cross over to the peninsula, and the Wampanoag led them to the edge of the swamp where Metacom was camped. At dawn on the twelfth, Church laid out a trap. A small group at one end would move quietly toward the camp, and at a prearranged moment they would rise up and fire with the goal of alarming the Indians and getting them to flee. He stationed his other men at regular intervals along most of the rest of the swamp, in each case putting a colonist and an Indian together, ‘knowing it was Philip’s custom to be foremost in the fight.’ But as Captain Roger Goulding crawled up to the camp, he suddenly saw a Wampanoag ‘going forth to ease himself’ – to urinate- and, thinking he had been seen, fired his musket. Goulding’s men then fired as well, and Metacom and the others grabbed their weapons and sprinted for safety. But the sachem unknowingly headed right for an ambush. The Englishman’s weapon misfired, but the Indian, Alderman, managed to shoot twice, killing Metacom.” (Mandell, 2010)
In accordance with the custom of that day, the dead sachem was beheaded and quartered. His head was set upon a gibbet at Plymouth, and there it stayed for twenty years. The news of the death of Philip was a cause of public thanksgiving among the English."
Captain Roger Goulding: A Man for Business
Roger Goulding is also mentioned by Church for his action during the Pease Field Fight.
“PEASE FIELD FIGHT and CAPTAIN GOLDING “A man for business” – This engagement took place in 1675, the year before King Philip was killed. Captain Church, surrounded by the enemy has his means of escape cut off. This narrative from an early work, transcribed on a website called the Internet Archive begins on page 34 “While they were thus making the best defense they could against their numerous enemies, that made the woods ring with their constant yelling and shouting, and night coming on, somebody told Mr. Church, they spied a sloop up the river as far as Gold Island, that seemed to be coming down towards them. He looked up and told them “succor was now coming, for he believed it was Captain Golding, whom he knew to be a man for business, and would certainly fetch them off, if he came. The wind being fair, the vessel was soon with them, and Captain Golding it was. Mr. Church, as soon as they came to speak with one another, desired him ‘to come to anchor at such a distance from the shore, that he might veer out his cable and ride afloat’ which direction Captain Golding observed, but the enemy gave him such a warm salute that his sails, colour and stem were full of bullet holes. The canoe came ashore, but was so small that she would not bear above two men at a time, and when two were got aboard, they turned her loose to drive ashore for two more, and the sloop’s company kept the Indians in play the while, but when at last it came to Mr. Church’s turn to go aboard, he had left his hat and cutlass at the well where he went to drink. When he first came down, he told his company he would never go off and leave his hat and cutlass for the Indians, they should never have that to reflect upon him, though he was much dissuaded from it, yet he would go and fetch them. He put all the powder he had left into his gun, and a poor charge it was, and went presenting his gun to the enemy until he took up what he went for.
At his return he discharged his gun at the enemy to bid them farewell for that time, but he had not powder enough to carry the bullet half way to them. Two bullets from the enemy struck the canoe as he went on board, one grazed the hair of his head a little before, another struck in a small stake that stood right against the middle of his breast. Now this gentleman with his army, making in all 20 men, himself and his pilot being numbered with them, got all safe on board after six hours engagement with 300 Indians, of whose number we were told afterwards by, themselves..” (Rhode Island, Retrieved June 10, 2011 from Rhode Island Historical Society Collections)
Captain Roger Goulding was rewarded for his service in King Philip’s War with 100 acres of land. (Stratton)
"The colony's soldiers were rewarded with land, as had been promised by the court. On 10 March 1675/76 the court observed that soldiers sent out on the first expedition had been promised money or land, and, there being no money, certain tracts of land valued at £1,000 would be given them. On 21 July 1676 a list of names of twelve men from Scituate was approved by the Council of War to receive lands ranging in value from £2/1 for William Hatch to £10 for Lt. Isaac Buck. Capt. Roger Goulding of Rhode Island, who had proved to be a constant and real friend in the late war, on 1 November 1676 was awarded 100 acres of land, and on the same day David Lake and Thomas Lake, who had been very useful and of much service to the colony, were given 100 acres, with David, who "hath bine most healpfull," getting sixty, and Thomas the rest.
THE GRAND DEED
To all to whom these presents shall come . . . Josiah Winslow Esq. Gov'r of the colony of new plymouth Major William Bradford Treasurer of the sd coloney Mr Thomas Hinkley and James Cudworth Assistants to the said Governor send Greeting. . . . Whereas wee the said Governor . . . Treasurer Thomas Hinkley & James Cudworth or any two of us by virtue of an order of the general Court of the Colony aforesaid: bearing date November 1676: are Impowered in the sd colony's behalf to make sale of certain lands belonging to the colony aforesd and to make and seale Deeds for the confirmation of the same as by the said order remaining on record in the said court Roles more at large appeareth. Now Know Yee that wee the sd Governor, Treasurer, Thomas Hinkley and James Cudworth: As Agents and in the behalf of the said Collony, for and in consideration of One Thousand one hundred pounds in lawful money of New England to us in hand before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, well and truly paid by Edward Gray of Plimoth, in the Colony aforesd Nathaniel Thomas of Marshfield in the colony aforesaid Benjamin Church of Puncatest in the colony aforesaid, Christopher Almy Job Almy THOMAS WAITE of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Daniel Wilcox of Puncatest and William Manchester of Puncatest in the colony of New Plymouth aforesd . . . with which sum wee the sd Agents do acknowledge to be fully satisfyed and contented and paid and thereof doe acquit and discharge the sd Edward Gray, Nathaniel Thomas, Benjamin Church, Christopher Almy, Job Almy, THOMAS WAITE, Daniel Wilcox and William Manchester, their either & every of their heirs, executors, administrators and afsignes forever: By these presents: Have given, granted, bargained, sould, aliened, enfeofed, and confirmed: and by these presents for us and for the sd Colony of New Plimouth, Doe freely, fully and absolutely give grant bargain, sell, alien, enfeofed and confirm unto the said Edward Gray, Nathaniel Thomas, Benjamin Church, Christopher Almy, Job Almy, THOMAS WAITE, Daniel Wilcox and William Manchester; all those lands Situate, Lying and being at Pocafsett and places adjacent in the Colony of New Plimouth aforesaid: and is bounded as followeth. viz. Northwards and Eastwards by the freemans Lotts, near the fall River: Westward by the bay or sound that runneth between the said lands and Rhode Island, Southward, partly by Succonit bound and partly by Dartmouth bounds, and Northward and Eastward up into the woods till it meets with the lands formerly granted by the court to other men, and legally obtained by them from the Natives, not extending farther than middlebury towne bounded and Quitquiefsett Ponds (only Excepting and Reserving out of this Bargain and saile one hundred acres of land, granted and laid out to Captain Roger Goulding..” (Wait, 2011)
Roger Goulding married the daughter of the Governor of Massachusetts
Roger Goulding married Penelope Arnold in 1702. She was the daughter of Governor Benedict Arnold, the wealthiest man in Massachusetts. The marriage of Penelope to Captain Roger Goulding is recorded in a genealogy her father wrote in which he recorded:
“Benedict Arnold Jr. was Marryed to Mary Turner ye only only Daughter & child of John Turner of Tanton in New England her father being present here March ye 9th being Thursday in ye year 1670. Penelope Arnold was Marryed to Roger Golding January the first, 1672.”
“Goulding was a Deputy in 1685, and Major for the Island (Newport and Portsmouth) during several years from 1685 to 1691. The will of Roger Goulding of Rhode Island "now resident in Barbados" dated 22 Dec 1694 was proved two months later, on 1 March 1694/5. His ship, the Thomas and George, was to be sent home to Rhode Island. Following his death, his widow married Thomas Cutler. On 12 Jan 1702/3 Penelope Cutler, widow of Roger Goulding, was named among the proprietors of common lands as guardian of her son George Goulding, likely her only surviving child.” ("Roger Goulding")
Children of Roger and Penelope Goulding:
i. Damaris, b. Newport 17 March 1676[/7?], d. Newport 13 July 1677, was the first person known to be buried in the Governor Arnold Burying Ground in Newport.
ii. Elizabeth, b. Newport 1678, d. Newport 11 July 1691, has a surviving gravestone in the Governor Arnold Burying Ground.
iii. Thomas, b. say 1680, likely died young
iv. George, b. 30 July 1685, d. 1742, m. (1) 17 Aug 1707 Mary SCOTT, daughter of John Scott and Elizabeth Wanton; m. (2) Mary (AYRAULT) Cranston, widow of James Cranston and daughter of Daniel Ayrault and Mary Robineau.
Penelope Arnold was born on February 1653 in Rhode Island and she died in 1702 at the age of 49. (Descendants of Arnholt, 2011)
A note on The Rhode Island Historical Society Collections (Archive Online) makes the following statement:
Roger Goulding died in Barbadoes
“GOULDING Roger Goulding died in Barbadoes and his will is there recorded, proved 1 March 1694-5.” (See my Barbadian notes in N.E.H.&G. Register, 1913, p. 363: (Rhode Island Historical Society Collections)
Roger Goulding died in Barbadoes but he was buried in the Governor Arnold Burying Ground in Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island, USA. That he is buried in this cemetery comes from the book The Burying Place of Governor Arnold by the Newport Preservation Society (1960), p. 35: "His [Goulding's] own stone, now unmarked, is probably the great thick sandstone slab from which a plaque doubtless bearing the identifying name and the Goulding coat of arms was torn at one time or other. A nail is still fixed in the sandstone slab." ("Roger Goulding")
It is truly tragic that the name and possible coat of arms is missing from his grave, because the Goulding coat of arms is on the gravestone of one of the sons of Peter Goulding, and if the arms matched the inscription on Roger Goulding’s grave, it would be some small confirmation he was of the same family as Peter Goulding.
References
(n.d.). Retrieved from Rhode Island Historical Society Collections: http://www.archive.org/stream/rhodeislandv11to14rhoduoft/rhodeislandv11to14rhoduoft_djvu.txt
"Roger Goulding". (n.d.). Retrieved from Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180877123/roger-goulding
(2011). Retrieved from Descendants of Arnholt: http://www.jacksonsweb.org/arnold.htm
King Philip's War. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Philip's_War#Background
Philbrick, N. (2006). The Mayflower. New York, New York, USA: Penguin Books. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/mayflower00nath
Rhode Island. (Retrieved June 10, 2011 from Rhode Island Historical Society Collections). Retrieved from Archive Online: http://www.archive.org/stream/rhodeislandv11to14rhoduoft/rhodeislandv11to14rhoduoft_djvu.txt
Stratton, E. A. (n.d.). Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691.
Wait, J. (2011). Retrieved from The John S. Wait Family Tree: http://www.genealogy.com/users/w/a/i/John-S-Wait/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0264.html Note: This link is now broken