Who Has a Better Story?

‘Creative nonfiction writers have a complicated obligation to their readers: to entertain like novelists but to educate like journalists.’

Like Gutkind says, I want my story’s narrative to flow with entertainment, yet be informative in order to educate my readers on this particularly interesting historical event.

With all the information I found on the Williams family, I know I want to follow their story to lead the plot forward. However, I am undecided on whether to stick to the whole family or focus more on a single member, namely seven year old Eunice.

The main reason I am thinking of Eunice is due to the uniqueness of her story as she decided to stay with the Natives and decline ransom; whereas most of the other captives went back to Deerfield. I really believe her story would creative an engaging plot line.

Leading on from this, my biggest debate when it comes to narrative is whether to write in a continuous narrative, putting all the events in chronological order or mix it up. I could do this by starting with Eunice’s wedding day, where it could be assumed that she thought of her birth family and perhaps had flashbacks to her capture.

If I decide to follow Eunice's life story, this timeline will be something to keep note of, especially if I decide to write in a chronological order.

 

Planting the Roots of Research

‘Like Whicher, I needed to distinguish the meaningful evidence from the red herrings, and then to put the facts in a sequence that told a story.’

Although I am not working on a detective case but rather a period of history, Kate Summerscale’s point of having to work out the difference between false evidence and facts, rings true to my story due to the many different accounts of the event.

My research has shown me that most of the historical accounts revolve around quotes of Reverend John Williams, whom I have already previously mentioned through his book. I have therefore decided to research further into the Williams family story, while matching their accounts up to other captives.

‘Fact-checking is what makes the (story) trustworthy in the eyes of the reader.’ – Gutkind.

The William’s family consisted of John Williams (who was a current, prominent Puritan minister), and Eunice Mather (who was the cousin of Cotton Mather, a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author, and pamphleteer. Known for his vigorous support for the Salem witch trials.) The eight Williams children; Eleazer, 16, Samuel, 15, Esther, 13, Stephen, 9, Warham, 5, Eunice, 7, John Jr, 1, and Jerusha, 6-weeks.

Eleazer Williams was away at school when the raid’s began and therefore, was the only member of the family to escape captivity. John Jr and Jerusha were killed during the raid while the rest of the Williams family were part of the 112 taken captive. The day after the raid, part of the way through the 300-mile journey to Canada, a Mohawk warrior killed Mather after she fell, crossing the icy waters of the Green River.

As April came around, the Natives took Williams and three of his children - Esther, Samuel and Warham - to Montreal. All four were turned over to the French authorities. Stephen stayed in the woods with the Abenaki for 14 months, until he was ransomed and sent to join his father in captivity. Eunice was taken to live with Catholic Mohawks in a small mission fort near Montreal called Kahnawake. She was adopted by a family that had lost a daughter to smallpox. The family gave her a new name: A'ongonte, meaning ‘she who has been planted like an ash.’ She was also baptized Catholic and given the name Marguerite.

By 1706, five of the Williams family were ransomed and sent home, Eunice stayed with her adoptive family, later marrying a Mohawk Native at 16.

When Murder Becomes Love

“To make scenes authentic and special, writers attempt to include memorable small or unusual details…”

I have decided to research into the Deerfield massacre as due to the large amounts of information in history books I am able to find the small and unusual details to include in my non-fiction story.

The Deerfield massacre was one of many attacks during Queen Anne’s War (The second war in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, Queen Anne’s was between 1702 and 1713.)

The raid was issued under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville, and had been expected in Deerfield yet was not fully prepared for. On February 28^th 1704, 48 French men and 200 Native Abenaki, Iroquois, Wyandot, and Pocumtuc forces (later joined by another 30 to 40 Pennacook) left most of their equipment and supplies 25 to 30 miles north of the town and a closer camp 2 miles from Deerfield where they were able to watch the villagers go inside for the night.

Many of the villagers believed they were safe thanks to the large wall surrounding much of the village that had a night duty guard on standby. It is unsure what happened to the guard, some accounts say he fell asleep allowing the Native’s to get inside while others say he called for the alarm to be sounded yet was not heard.

On the 29th, just before dawn, the raid began burning part of the town, killing 47 villagers, and taking 112 settlers captive to Canada, of whom 60 were later redeemed. Reverend John Williams later recalled in his 1707 book The Redeemed Captive that "with horrid shouting and yelling", the raiders launched their attack "like a flood upon us."

This link shows a list of the villagers who were either killed or captured.

http://www.babcock-acres.com/Misceallaneous/deerfield_captives_of_1704.htm

Map showing the walk captives were forced to make.