| Channelled information |
Historical Records
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Sochenm said the English
settled
there as it was given to them by King. He did not say the King, we
thought this was a grammarical issue so we did not ask him to clearify.
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The area was granted to
the
soldiers who did work in Canada. The grant was issued
by the General Court of Massachusetts and signed by Samuel King. |
Sochenm said that the
people called the area "New Salem".
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History shows that the
town of Wilton was originally called "Salem Canada" but we found one
document that called it "the new Salem".
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Sochenm said his people
did not live there. They were not from a local tribe, but had come down
to see their chief's son marry the daughter of one of the Pawtucket
chiefs. He said there were about 300 of them if you counted women
and babies camped there. They were not intending to stay.
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History shows that there
were no permanent Indian settlements in Wilton. The people
actually reported that the Natives were not hostile
and did not feel threatened by them. They did not even have their
own garrison house in the town. The nearest was miles away in
Milford.
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Sochenm said that his
people had settled in the area on the hill and around it in the area
near where Vale End is today. He said they were away from
the houses of the whites, and away from the
Sohegan river where the whites were centered at the time.
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History shows that the
original homes in Wilton were built by the river. Later, when
more land was cleared and the town was moved further up hill, the
children of the original settlers built their grander, more permanent
houses uphill in the Vale End area.
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| Sochenm said they had
enough water from small rivers on both sides. |
Maps of the time show that
there are two brooks. One on both sides of the area. Neither is
visible
from the cemetery.
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Sochenm said that the
settlers came to them and asked them if they would leave because the
land belonged to them (the settlers). They brought gifts for the
Indians. Sochenm said it was
explained to the English that the Tribe would be moving on soon.
His words were, "This is where we are now. When we move, you can
have it to yourself again."
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We could find no record of
any meeting between Indians and the people of Wilton.
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According to Sochenm, the
Indians believed the gifts were in exchange for
the meeting,
but in fact, according to the ghost of the Reverend Fisk, the
English
believed that the gifts were payment for the
Indians to leave right now. Sochenm's people did not intend
to
leave until
after the wedding that was being arranged took
place in the fall, then they would winter there, and planned to start
back the next
spring. It was just early summer.
The English went away and did not return for some time. But when
they returned they came at night with a large group of men with what
Sochenm discribed as the loud fire sticks the whites had that could
kill
a man without touching him. He said that they came quickly on
horses and killed every man, woman, and child they could, even to the
point of rounding up those children and old women who were
running away and killing them with blades and sticks. Sochenm's
ghost said that they violated the women, some even after they were
dead.
We asked him if he knew the English year this happened. He said
it was, to the best of his knowledge 1743 or 1744.
The full narration was dramatic and shocking.
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History does not record
any such attrocities being done to any tribe in Wilton. But there
are some interesting clues that may hint that such an event may have
taken place.
For example, in the summer of 1744, the same people who were
quick to mention that the Indians posed no problems for them and they
didn't even need to build a garrison house for their protection,
suddenly petitioned to the British Government to send them
protection against the Indians. The petition stated, "we would
pray your Excellency that we
may
have some assistance from the Government, in sending us some souldiers [sic].
to Guard and Defend us as in your wisdom you shall think proper."
There is no remaining record of how many solders the Government sent or
what they did when they arrived in Wilton.
Could this request have come when the Indians refused to leave the
land? The dates are right. Could these soldiers be part of
the group that attacked the Indians?
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Sochenm said the angry
souls of his people are still walking the area. They are
particularlly angry with white people who go there even today.
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Many people who visit Vale
End feel an intense anger directed towards them. This includes
some of the NEPRS investigators.
Interestingly, investigators who were there that day who have native
blood did not feel this anger. Instead they experienced intense
sadness and unease.
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Sochenm said that the
people built over the land where the slaughter occurred. That
some
time later, over the place where his people's blood once soaked the
land, they started to build the town hall. He said the anger of
his people could not be controlled and they shook the ground and made
the shell of the hall fall. He said it fell like sticks and many
white men were hurt or killed.
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History shows that in
September of 1773 the people of Wilton as well as several families from
neighboring communities turned out to raise a new town hall. The
area where they put it up is not far from where Vale End is
today.
During the construction, without warning, the whole structure
collapsed, killing 5 men instantly, and wounding more than 50.
Some of the wounded died from their injuries at a later date.
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Sochenm said that
later, they once again built on the land, this time the Indians tried
to shake it down like before, but it did not work. He said in
time their anger grew and welled up, all focused on the building
built on their blood. The anger became powerful enough that it
burst through in flames and burned the building down.
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The town hall did burn
down on Dec 8th, 1859. The fire happened so quickly and without
obvious cause that a committee was formed to investigate the
case. Below is a quote from their final report. As you
can see, the fire was so quick and so devastating they concluded it
must have been purposely set with an incendiary.
"In view
of all the evidence presented, your committee are unanimously
of the opinion that the fire was set by an incendiary.
By whom the deed was done they have not the
means of determining, nor of forming a reasonable presumption."
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Sochenm said by this time,
all
the people who were party to the killing of his people were dead, many
buried in the same ground where his people were killed. He said
that the anger of his people would not let them go. They were so
angry that no English man who was party to the attack would ever
rest. His people would make sure of that.
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The graveyard is very
huanted. Could these be the ghosts of the English and the Indians
fighting for eternity?
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We asked him what we could
do to resolve the conflict and bring everyone to peace. He said
he believed it would take a greater chief than any of us, or even
himself to do that. That his people's anger was just and strong
still.
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It has been said that
several mediums have tried to calm the energies at Vale End to no aval.
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It was at this time that
the ghost of a Reverend Fisk approached. Sochenm's ghost seemed to be
annoyed with the mention of the man's name. He pointed to a stone
that was facing away from him and towards the wall, identifying it as
the stone of Rev. Fisk.
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The stone the ghost
channeled by the Medium pointed to was indeed the stone of a Reverend
named Fisk.
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Fisk was given opportunity
to talk and insisted that the Indians were in the wrong. He
insisted that they
had taken payment for the land and had promised to leave it right away
so the people could build a town on the land that was rightfully theirs.
He said that Satan created the Indians. They were not children of
Adam and Eve and they deserved to be removed from the face of
Gods perfect creation.
It seemed that both sides felt their actions were justified and both
were very angry about what was done to them in return.
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It was pointed out that
Fisk was not born at the time of the alleged Indian massacre.
Nevertheless, he did take over from the previous town Reverend who was
there and probably learned the history from him.
Regardless of Fisk's birth date, the personal opinions of the Wilton
settlers of the Indian population were clear. They didn't like
them. They didn't want them around. And many of them felt
totally justified in killing them in the name of God, as shown in
the following
quote from "A History of Wilton":
"Nor were the early
settlers of New
England
altogether innocent in the matter. Many regarded the Indians as
evil,
and in some measure a religious duty to rid them from the
land."
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