John Williams

The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion John Williams

Originally published in 1853 as 'A Faithful History of Remarkable Occurrences in the Captivity and Deliverance of Mr. John Williams, Minister of the Gospel in Deerfield, Who in the Desolation Which Befel That Plantation by an Incursion of the French and Indians, Was by them, Carried Away, with His Family and his Neighbourhood, into Canada, Drawn up by Himself. To which is Added, A Biographical Memoir of the Reverend Author'. When the frontier village of Deerfield, Massachusetts was attacked by a party of French and Indians near dawn on February 29th 1704, the Reverend John Williams, his family and his entire congregation suffered greatly. Forty-nine were killed, among them William's wife and two of their children. One hundred and eleven were taken off as captives to Canada, including Williams and five of his surviving children. In The Redeemed Captive, Williams recorded with Christian resignation the terror and trauma of the raid, the long march north through snow and ice, and his years of captivity among the French. His account of the enemy invading his sleeping household and ensuing ordeal still speaks of the travails of frontier life and of the New England Puritan character that enabled Williams and his flock to withstand these hardships and to return to Deerfield to rebuild the burned and sacked community.