Hunting was born July 22, 1640, to
John Hunting and his wife, Esther.[2][3][4] He married Hannah[a] on December 24, 1662.[2][3] The couple had ten children, but only three survived childhood.[3] The couple moved to
Chelmsford and then
Charlestown.[2][3][4] Hunting served as a selectman in Charlestown in 1690.[2] He accidentally shot and killed himself on August 19, 1701, in Charlestown.[2][3][4]
During
King Phillip's War, Hunting raised a company of Christian Indians to fight alongside the English settlers.[5][4] They mustered in Charlestown, but that town was never attacked and they marched to Chelmsford instead.[5] When word came that
Sudbury had been attacked on April 21, 1676, they responded, arriving at night and "performed efficient service."[5][4] In that same month, following orders from Governor
John Leverett, Hunting and Lt. James Richardson erected a garrison at
Pawtucket Falls to protect the residents there.[6][4]
Pomham, one of Phillip's chief advisors, was captured in Dedham on July 25, 1676.[7][8] Several Christian Indians had seen his band in the woods, nearly starved to death.[8] Hunting led 36 men from Dedham and Medfield and joined 90 Indians armed with guns from England on a hunt to find them.[8][2][3] Hunting praised the native warriors, who came from
Natick, saying "the said Indians behaved themselves courageously and faithfully to the English interest."[9] A total of 15 of the enemy were killed and 35 were captured.[8] Pomham, though he was so wounded he could not stand, grabbed hold of an English soldier and would have killed him had one of the settler's compatriots not come to his rescue.[8]
Hunting and his men played a large role in bringing the war to an end.[2][3] In the summer of 1676, his men captured or killed 400 enemy soldiers.[2][4]
Notes
^The daughter of Samuel and Catharine Hackborne.[2]
References
^Breen, Louise A. (October 21, 2019). Daniel Gookin, the Praying Indians, and King Philip's War: A Short History in Documents. Routledge. pp. 23, 109–111, 114, 174, 180–182.