In this epic, we enter into history and live it through the loves of generations of the Worthington family. Nicholas, young and idealistic, fought on the side of King Charles I of England against Cromwell. After the king was beheaded, Nicholas was forced to leave his ancestral manor, undertake the perilous sea journey, and start life in a struggling New World. Thus begins the vivid account of frontier life, pioneer hardships, and Indian massacres.
Every important event is authentically documented with copious footnotes. The history vividly spans three hundred years, from the 1600s through the Second World War. The reader not views the reality of all major happenings, such as the Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution, and Civil War, but also witnesses daily life and fun at a husking bee, frontier raising, an early circus, and the St. Louis World's Fair. We see the birth of the automobile, as well as electricity.
George E. Worthington was born in Wisconsin during the Great Blizzard of ‘88, heralding the stormy years ahead, including the two World Wars and the Great Depression. He viewed the world changing with the inventions of the automobile, the airplane, and electricity.
George held high positions in New York City and Washington, D.C. While practicing law in New York, he served as the official greeter, even welcoming the Prince of Wales.
He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court. While working in the Department of Justice, he served as advisor to General McArthur in Tokyo during the initial occupation of Japan. He was author and co-author of several legal works.
Since the death of Jack White, all had been quiet along the river. Nothing had been heard of hostile Indians for a long time. Garrisons had been established from Hartford, north as far as Northfield, Massachusetts. But this was merely the calm that preceded the storm.
Ambushes, Massacres, Pillaging And Burning Of Villages
Suddenly, without warning, on June 24, 1675, the blow fell at Swansea. In a surprise attack the entire population was massacred and the town put to the torch.
Other attacks quickly followed. The Indians would speedily and silently sneak down the river in canoes and attack in the dead of night. In the daytime they would creep noiselessly from the riverbank and ambush the unsuspecting planters as they worked in their fields, followed by the inevitable scalping.
Those returning home safely would be bedeviled by false alarms that took away their appetites by day and robbed them of sleep at night.
Nicholas and his little family even though they were as far down as the settled country around Hatfield and Hadley, began to fear an Indian raid. Barking dogs would rout them out of the middle of the night. He and Tom would take their places by the riverside windows with loaded flintlocks and Sara would hide the frightened children under the bed - and if they slept, it was only to have nightmares. Sometimes the suspense seemed worse than reality, but the Indians were still far away and Hartford was well protected.
Major Andross Thwarted By Captain Bull
Further to complicate Connecticut’s problems was the action of Charles II in awarding to his profligate brother, the Duke of York, all of Long Island as well as the Province of New York. York interpreted his grant to include that part of Connecticut lying west of the River which included Saybrook and environs, and he made Major Andross governor.
Learning of this, the General Court placed the militia under the Command of Captain Thomas Bull and ordered him to take full command of Saybrook and vicinity and thwart any takeover of the Colony by Major Andross.
On July 9, 1675, an armed fleet approached the fort at Saybrook. "The gallant militia...rallied as one man to defend the fort." That morning Captain Bull received a letter from the General Court, stating, inter alia: "And if so be those forces on board should endeavor to land at Saybrook, you are in his Majesty’s name to forbid their landing. Yet if they should offer to land...command them to leave their arms on board..."
The Governor and Council of Connecticut had information that Andross was going to land at Saybrook. Then, after taking possession, he intended to proceed to Hartford, New Haven and other places and establish a government of his own. Learning of this, detachments of militia were ordered to Saybrook and New London and Captain Thomas Bull was appointed to command the garrison at Saybrook.
"Major Andross was permitted to come ashore but Captain Bull forbade the Major’s clerk to read the new patent or the Duke’s commission. Balked in his first attempt, the secretary again attempted to read them. ‘Forbear!’ reiterated Captain Bull in a tone that Andross himself did not think it safe to oppose. Andross saw that it was idle to attempt to overawe the officers or the inhabitants, and that they would overpower him with numbers should he resort to coercion...(so) he took hasty leave of them. With a politeness that could hardly have been agreeable to him, the militia of the town escorted him to his boat. In a few hours, his sloops were out of sight."
Nicholas Recalled Into Service
On August 2, 1675, the Indians destroyed Brookfield, Massachusetts, whereupon all able-bodied men along the river were put on the alert. At Hartford, the dragoons, now commanded by Captain William Turner, were called to active duty. While Nicholas was now past 60, the normal age of retirement from military service, he was called into active service, there being few dragoon officers with extensive battle experience such as he had had in the Cromwellian wars.
Sara was panicked. She had already lost one husband to the Indians, and so had her sister Mary. Her fears plus loss of sleep during the past few days had almost completely unnerved her. She was terrified at the idea of what might happen to her beloved "Nich" and felt helpless at the thought of being left alone with small children.
