Ebenezer Preble (1725 - abt. 1758)

In Reply to: Re: Capt. Samuel Harnden /Mary Edgar from Ma <168.html> by Peter Daggett of 199 Bottom of Form 1

Don't know if you ever received an answer to your question but yes they are one and the same. For point of info the daughter that ended up with the Frence family was later found but did not want to return as she had become attached to the new family. Here is some info on Samuel and Mary. He was in the French and Indian War in 1725 under Capt. Heath. In 1720 Kennebeck, Maine. He filed marriage intentions in Boston, MA on 18 Dec 1723 under Sam Arndel & Mary Edgar, a cruel entry is appended "Forbidden by his father" The defied union finely took place 16 Mar 1726 as Sam'l Horndell & Mary Edgar. In his remaining years he made a journey to Montreal, Canada and Quebec for his two grandsons who had been captives there since the Indian assault of 1758.

Ebenezer and his wife were killed by indians, he while working in the fields and she in the home. Their children were taken by the indians to Quebec.

From "History od Woolrich Maine"

As far as we know, the Smith-Hammond property lay vacant for nearly forty years. With new settlements after Dummer's Treaty, purchasers of that tract of land and others merged their rights into a company. It became Nequasset Township. One proprietor was Samuel Harnden, former soldier at Fort Richmond. Upon survey he chose two hundred acres at the end of Long Reach. For defense he built his blockhouse in 1742, the home of the Harndens for nearly fifty years. During those years of peace, Samuel's daughter, Mary, married Ebenezer Preble. In 1758 they were living with their six children on their farm a mile south of the Harnden garrison at Long Reach. There had been rumors of hostilities with the French and Indians. Settlers were retreating to the safety of the forts. The Prebles were preparing to take the family to the Harnden fort, but they were too late. Mary and Ebenezer were killed, and the children were taken captive. The baby, Benjamin, and a servant boy died on the march to Quebec. In 1759, when the army attacked Quebec, two daughters, Rebecca and Mary, were rescued and returned. Two years later Grandfather Harnden made the long journey to Montreal to rescue his grandsons, Samuel and Ebenezer, and Elenor Noble of Swan Island, a captive for eleven years. The third grand-daughter, Mehitable, was taken to France with her foster family and not heard from again. A boulder with a plaque on the point at Day's Ferry, in sight of the Harnden fort, marks the burial site of Mary and Ebenezer Preble.

From: H O Thayer:

The four restored children made homes in town not far from the scene of the tragedy of their childhood. One son became possessor and dwelt upon the farm held at death by his Father. The place of the family residence and murderous assault has been and still is known, a point of land by the Kennebec, the original farm being now owned by Alfred E. Trott. The site of the house was lost as upon the south bank of the cove the soil fell away also by brick making during the years-but near the outline stones of the supporting low foundation the barn were in recent years visible and doubtless are now. A detailed narrative of the entire transactions- the family in Woolwich, the journeys and events in Canada the restoration and subsequent life-is published by the Maine Historical Society in its collections, Third series, Volume 1.

One daughter passing into the custody of a French family was taken to France. For the settlement of Ebenezer's estate by Probate Court, his father Jonathan became administrator in 1758. In 1762, when the safety of the children was secured, the inventory was returned; lots of land 45 & 52 valued 112 pounds, and other property 82 pounds a barn partly boarded, 1900 boards, tools, a gun (Indians failed to get) No division till sons were of age. [Harnden.FTW]

Both Ebenezer and his wife Mary were killed by Indians in 1756. Information on the Preble Fam ily from the "Preble Genealogy" published in 1888. Ebenezer's great-grandson, Capt. George A. Preble wrote the author of "The Preble Genealogy - 1888", that Ebenezer had two sons, Ebenezer and Samuel, and three gaughters Polly, Rebecca and Mehitable, and that he was shot by Indians while at work in the field, his wife was killed in the house and the children all carried away to Quebec, where they remained prisoners four or five years. At the end of the War they were all brought back by their Grandfather, Brigadier General Harnden (761) who went to Quebec for that purpose, except for the oldest daughter MEHITABLE, who was taken by a French Family, and became so much attached to them that she refused to leave them and married in France. The next daughter, REBECCA married Thomas Motherwell and died April 1829. The youngest daughter, MARY, died unmarried at the age of 96 in Woolwich, Maine in December 1843, retaining her health and mental powers unimpared to the last week of her life. She had a distinct recollection of seeing the battle between the Armies of Wolfe and Montcalm on the heights of Abraham, and the capture of Quebec.

General Joseph Sewall's "History of Bath (Maine Historical Collection, Vol. II.) has this account of the Massacre: In 1756 a strong party of Indians landed on the head of the Island of Arrowsic and killed a Mr. Preble and his wife who were out in the field planting corn, and took his son and two daughters captives. Mr. Preble had a firt or block house there, but so sudden was the attack that he could not escape to it. On their return the Indians proceeded to Harnden's Fort in Woolwich, which was near the Bath Ferry, and there took prisoner a Miss Motherwell, a relative of their young captives, a girl about eighteen years of age, who happened to be without the garrison. One of the children of Mr. Preble whom they seized at Arrowsic was an infant, and crying for food as they supposed, they laid it in the lap of the damsel they has last taken, and asked her to impart to it the nourishment of a mother. With compassion for the helpless infant, she replied she was not a mother. The tears that fell from her cheek did not soften the savage beast. He seized the child, and dashing its head against a rock, releived it from further suffering. They carried the other captives to Canada and sold them as servants. After the cessation of Quebec to the British, their Grandfather Brigadier General Harnden went to the Province, obtained the release of the captives and restored them. In 1758, Watts house and one other on the upper end of the Island, occupied by Mr. Preble, were the only dwelling houses in Arrowsic, all the rest having been destroyed by the Indians.