Quentin Stockwell was an early American colonist. He was one of the first settlers of Dedham, Massachusetts [1] and then Deerfield, Massachusetts. [2]
While in Dedham, he lived near the saw mill in what is today Walpole, Massachusetts. [3] His wife, Abigail, was a first cousin of Mary Bullard, the wife of John Farrington. [1] Both families were early residents of Dedham and Deerfield. [1]
After moving to Deerfield, the village was destroyed in King Phillip's War. [1] While attempting to rebuild his farm, he was taken captive with 24 others by the native peoples and marched to Canada. [2] [4]
He was set to be burned at the stake and, on the night before his execution, was sent to gather wood for the pyre. [5] While doing so he discovered his captors were sleeping, and carefully gathered their weapons to kill them all with his fellow prisoners. [5] He lost his nerve, however, and put all the weapons back where he found them. [5] His master chose not to execute him. [5] He had a second opportunity to kill his captors when he was left with a sick guard. [5] Fearing for the safety of those left behind, he did not. [5]
After being ransomed, [2] his wrote an account of his experiences that was published by Increase Mather. [6]