Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

capacity. He served under Captain
Turner in the Indian fight at Peskeomp-
skut and escaped without injury, died
March 27, 1727, in Deerfield. He married,
April 30, 1689, Judith Smead, born
February 15, 1665, died January 27, 1719,
daughter of William and Elizabeth (Law-
rence) Smead. This marriage is the first
on the records of Deerfield. Their youngest
child, Sergeant John Hawks, the hero
of the French and Indian wars, was born
December 5, 1707, in Deerfield, Massa-
chusetts, was early in the military serv-
ice, and was wounded, May 9, 1746, at
Fort Massachusetts. In August of that
year, he was sergeant in command of the
small force of twenty-two men in that
fortress which was attacked by a force
of seven hundred French and Indians.
After a defense of twenty-eight hours, he
was compelled to surrender because his
ammunition was exhausted. In the last
French war, he was a sergeant and lieu-
tenant and had charge of the Colrain
forts. In 1758 he commanded a company
under General Abercrombie in the attack
on old Fort Ticonderoga. He was a
major under General Amherst, in 1759,
and lieutenant-colonel in 1760. He was
also prominent in civil life in Deerfield,
where he filled various town offices, was
nine years selectman, and was buried
there June 6, 1784. Eliezer Hawks, eldest
son of Eliezer and Judith (Smead)
Hawks, was born December 26, 1693, in
Deerfield, and lived for some years on the
Hawks place at Wapping. In 1743 he
purchased five hundred acres of land at
Charlemont, Massachusetts, where he resided
until after 1762, when he removed
to Deerfield, and died there May 14, 1774.
He married, November 24, 1714, Abigail
Wells, born 1697, died May 7, 1768, proba-
ably a daughter of Ephraim and Abigail
(Allis) Wells, of Colchester. Their
youngest child, Waitstill Hawks, bap-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
60
tized August 30, 1 741, in Deerfield, set-
tled in the portion of that town known as
Turnip Yard, and died February 11, 1811.
He married, April 22, 1771, Anna Spof-
ford, born about 1750, daughter of Jona-
than and Ruth (Sanderson) Spofford, of
Deerfield. The eldest son of this mar-
riage, Silas Hawks, born April 26, 1774,
lived in Charlemont and Conway, but removed
to Deerfield. where he died December
19, 1831. He married, February
28, 1798, Mary Blodgett, born 1780,
daughter of Timothy and Melicent
(Perry) Blodgett. Their seventh son,
James Austin Hawks, born June 3, 1820,
in Deerfield, removed when a young man
to Belchertown, Massachusetts, to learn
the trade of carriage-trimmer, a business
which then flourished in that town. He
married, about 1843, Ruth Peeso, of
Belchertown. She was descended from
an old family with romantic history. Jean
(John) Picot was a descendant of an
ancient and honorable French family. He
was taken from the coast of France when
five years of age and brought to Canada
by sailors. He made his way into the
interior and lived among the Indians, and
engaged in campaigns with the French
and Indians ; finally settled at Brookfield,
Massachusetts. There he married and
reared several children. The name appears
in the early records of Massachusetts
as Peeso, and this was modified by
many of the descendants to Pease, under
which name they are still known. Many
retained the form Peeso, and a son, John
Peeso, who lived in Brookfield, was mar-
ried there October 6, 1763, to Sarah Stratton,
born July 6, 1742, in Watertown,
Massachusetts, daughter of Samuel and
Hannah Stratton. Their eldest child,
John, was born June 20, 1765, and settled
in Belchertown. where he took up land
in Governor Belcher's grant ; built a
house at North Belchertown, which stood