Native Americans Attack Mendon Settlement in Plymouth Colony

On July 14, 1675, early violence in King Philip's War took place in Mendon, with the deaths of multiple residents and the destruction of Albee's mill.

These were the first settlers killed in this war in the Colony of Massachusetts. A man named Richard Post, of Post's lane, may have been the first settler killed. The town was largely burnt to the ground later that winter in early 1676. The town was resettled and rebuilt in 1680.

In a volley of ferocious and savage attacks, Philip and his warriors (later to include Nipmuks and Narragansetts) hit village after village. First came Swansea in June of 1675. Next came Mendon in July. Thereafter, no town felt immune from impending disaster, and, indeed, the fear became a nightmare as town after town was wholly or partially destroyed, its inhabitants killed, maimed, or carried into captivity. In the now famous narrative of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, a captive who survived, we gain a glimpse of these terrifying days