Life History

Notes

• [glass jesse sprauge.FTW]     [Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree#5059, Date of Import: Aug 6, 2000]     The son of Francis and AnneSprague, John Sprague was born about 1637, probably in Duxbury,Massachusetts.  In 1655 he married Ruth Basset whose father, WilliamBasset (born about 1590 in England) had arrived in America in 1621aboard the ship FORTUNE (Thomas Barton, Master). John Sprague and hiswife Ruth Basset lived in Marshfield, Massachusetts for a number ofyears before settling at Duxbury around 1668.  Shortly after theirarrival in Duxbury, he became co-proprietor of his father's tavern inDuxbury and remained such until his death. John Sprague apparentlyinherited his fatherus ardent temperament. Described as a "...sparkoff the old flint", he is known to have spent several hours in thestocks on at least one occasion for "...highly misdemeaning himself inthe house of James Cole of Plymouth near unto or on the evening beforethe Sabbath Day, in drinking, gaming and uncivil reveling, to thedishonor of God and the offense of the government, by his gaming andthe bringing of his mare uncivily into the parlor of James Cole,aforesaid." It is believed that he was the John Sprague who was acounselor to Sir Edmund Andros, rather than the John Sprague who wasthe son of William Sprague. John Sprague was killed in the massacre ofCaptain Michael Pierceus Company of English Militia during the KingPhilipus War when, on 26 March 1676, that company of 65 men(supplemented by about 20 friendly Indians) engaged a superior forceof hostiles near the Pawtucket River in Rhode Island, about 5 milesnorth of Providence. According to Douglas Edward Leach in his historyof that war entitled FLINTLOCK AND TOMAHAWK - NEW ENGLAND IN THE KINGPHILIPuS WAR, Captain Pierce, having determined that there was a bandof hostile Indians located near the Pawtucket River, had prepared hismen for battle and had sent a messenger into the nearby town ofProvidence requesting reinforcements before attacking. For some reasonthis messenger, arriving at the time of public worship, chose to waituntil after the service had concluded before delivering CaptainPierceus request.  When the situation was made known, Captain AndrewEdmunds of the Providence Militia immediately set out with a group ofarmed men in order to join forces with Pierceus company. Meanwhile thePlymouth Militia group had unwittingly engaged and become surroundedby an extremely large force of hostile Narrangansett Indians and wereoverwhelmed.  By the time Edmunds and his men arrived, it was toolate. The fact that some 42 of the 55 colonists killed that day wereburied at the site of the battle, including that of John Sprague ofDuxbury, indicates that there were some survivors, or it may indicatethat there were bodies which may not have been recovered. After thedeath of her husband, Ruth Basset later married a man named _____(?)Thomas, date unknown.

Sources

• 1. glass jesse sprauge.FTW
• 2. World Family Tree Vol. 1, Ed. 1
  • Name: Release date: November 29, 1995;
  • Tree #5059