History of Amesbury - Merrill.org

HISTORY OF AMESBURY. IO5
Newbury and Amesbury, about which part seems to have been
his residence as late as the month of July, 1677. On the 9th
of July six Indians were seen to go into the bushes not far
from the garrison of Amesbury. Two days before, several men
had been killed in the neighborhood and one woman wounded,
whose name was Quimby. Symon was the alleged leader of the
party which committed the depredation. Mrs. Quinby was sure
that it was he who 'knocked her on the head,' and she knew
many of the names of the rest with him, and named Andrew.
Geoffrey and Joseph. She begged of Symon not to kill her.
He replied :
' Why, goodwife Quimby, do you think that I will
kill you?' She said she was afraid he would, because he
killed all English. Symon then said :
' I will give quarter to
never an English dog of you all,' and then gave her a blow on
the head—which did not happen to hurt her much—at which,
being a woman of great courage, she threw a stone at him.
He then turned upon her and struck her two more blows, at
which she fell and he left her for dead. Before he gave her
the last blow she called to the garrison for help. He told her
she need not do that, for, said he, 'I will have that, too, by
and by.' Symon was well known to many of the inhabitants,
and especially to Mrs. Quimby, as he had formerly lived with
her father, William Osgood."
Mrs. Quinby was a brave woman, and had she been with
Mrs. Dustin at a later period, would, no doubt, have assisted
her in despatching those sleeping savages.
Who the murdered men were we have no means of knowing,
but Mrs. Quinby's husband, Robert Quinby, died or was killed
about this time, and very likely may have been one of those
spoken of as being killed on the 7th of July.
Administration on his estate was granted to his widow Eliz-
abeth August 9th, which would seem to favor that theory. Tra-
dition has handed down the story of the murder of part of a
Weed family at an early date, and it may have been at this
time. This Weed family lived near the late Ephraim Merrill's,
his farm being part of the homestead of Nathaniel Weed and
his ancestor John.