Peter A. Rhodes of Enfield, Ct.:Information about JOHN SARGENT BOOTH

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JOHN SARGENT BOOTH (b. 06 Nov 1653, d. 06 Dec 1728)

JOHN SARGENT BOOTH (son of RICHARD BOOTH) was born 06 Nov 1653 in STRATFIELD, CT., and died 06 Dec 1728 in STRATFIELD, CT.. He married DOROTHY HAWLEY on 14 Jun 1678, daughter of THOMAS HAWLEY and DOROTHY HARBOTTLE LAMB.

Notes for JOHN SARGENT BOOTH:
John was called Sargeant John:

His title of Sergeant was earned in the Pequot War:

In 1675 King Philip incited a general Indian War against the whites, burning many villages, and killing men, women and children in the Colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth and Connecticut. The Colonists made haste to defend themselves, and raised a thousand men to be placed under command of Col. Thomas Church for an expedition against the stronghold of the enemy in the swamps of Rhode Island, and to make active warfare upon them in their winter quarters there. The town of Stratford, Ct raised one company of troops for this purpose, among them was John Booth, then but 22 years of age. The march to the seat of war was made in the winter, on foot, through snow knee-deep, for nearly 100 miles and through an unsettled country, where they found the enemy entrenched in a fortress in a large swamp, difficult of access, on an island of a few acres in extent, surrounded by a broad ditch of water, the depth of which would reach to hteir armpits. Close alongside of this ditch was a barricade of logs, ten or twelve feet high, and no entrance was discovered only at one place, where a large tree lay across the ditch, capable of allowing only one by one at a time to pass out in single file between two block houses that guarded the entrance. There was no course to pursue but to press quickly forward and drive the Indians from the block house, and obtain possession.
Of the Connecticut troops to cross on the log, the first was another company from their colony; The Indians sent forth a murderous fire from their muskets that killed a large number of that company. The next company close behind them was from Stratford, headed by their Captain, who was shot down as sonn as he began to cross the log, and most of the men next to him. John Booth, one of the soldiers, was in the center of that company in crossing the log. He pushed forward, and, while in the act of raising his low-crowned hat to cheer on the men behind, a musket ball passed through it, just grazing the top of his scalp, and would have pierced his skull had the hat been in its usual place. This hat was preserved in the Booth Family for upwards of half a century, after which it was unaccountably lost. By this time they had succeeded in driving the Indians from the block house, preventing the remainder of the troops from being obstructed by the fire of their guns in crossing to the fort. The tide had turned in their favor; for sometime they fought desperately against the Indians, and before the close of the fight a portion of the Massachusetts troops effected an entreance in the rear-placing the Indians between two fires, killing and wounding numbers of them. The savages were completely routed, and soon disappeared. The wigwams were fired, and the women and children that were in them perished with the strutures. It was hoped that they could have got King Philip, but he escaped at that time, but was afterwards hunted down and shot dead in a swamp where he fled for safety. The tribe having lost a greater part of their number, were completely broken up in their winter quarters.

More About JOHN SARGENT BOOTH:
Date born 2: 06 Nov 1653

More About JOHN SARGENT BOOTH and DOROTHY HAWLEY:
Marriage: 14 Jun 1678

Children of JOHN SARGENT BOOTH and DOROTHY HAWLEY are:

+MARY BOOTH, b. Abt. 1692, STRATFIELD, CT., d. 02 Nov 1740, STRATFIELD, CT..