1746 September 11 (Thursday). Captain Maynard here to inform me from Dr. Breck that his Sister and my son were well last Friday was Sennight at Hartford: and he tells me he Saw a Copy of a Letter Sign’d by Mr. John Norton late preacher at Hoosuck Fort[1] which informs that the French and Indians besieg’d their fort, slew Thomas Knowlton and captivated all the rest. Read the account of Canada in six Chapters with an appendix lately published. Thomme by the help of Nathan Maynard made Cyder. One of my Oxen still very mischievous.
[1]Reverend John Norton (Yale 1737) was serving as chaplain to the soldiers in various forts in western Massachusetts. At Fort Massachusetts, within the present township of Adams, Norton was taken captive, Aug. 20, 1746. He later published the narrative of his captivity and release. John Norton, The Redeemed Captive (Boston, 1748). See Dexter, Biographical Sketches, 587-88. [Was this related to John Norton, Narrative of the Capture and Burning of Fort Massachusetts by the French and Indians, in the time of the War of 1744-1749, and the Captivity…. Written at the Time by One of the Captives (North Adams, Mass., 1933; originally published 1748)?]