Scales (1923) tells the fascinating tale of Christine Otis best, and I repeat it: Christine Otis, who married Capt. Thomas Baker, of Deerfield, Mass., in 1715, was born in Dover, in March, 1689, in her father's garrisoned house, which stood on the north side of where is now Milk Street, about half way between Central Avenue and Mt. Vernon street. She was daughter of Richard Otis, Esq., and his second wife, Grizel Warren, daughter of James and Margaret Warren, of Kittery, Me. The Otises and Warrens have an excellent ancestral record. When her father's garrison was burned and he was killed, 28 June, 1689, Christine was an infant, and was taken prisoner, with her mother, to Canada, by the Indians, as was also her half sister Rose, and her half brothers Stephen and John. October 15, 1693, Christine's mother, having been converted to the Romish faith, was married to a Frenchman named Philip Robitaile and never returned to New England, dying in Montreal at the great age of 90 years. Her daughter had been baptized in the First Church at Dover, by the pastor, Rev. John Pike, as Margaret Otis, but when her mother joined the Roman Catholic Church and married a Frenchman, the priest rebaptized the daughter and gave her the name Christine, which name she retained to the end of her life, although good Parson Stoddard of Dover baptized her again when she returned and married Capt. Thomas Baker, in 1715, and gave her the old name Margaret.
In Montreal she was placed in a nunnery and educated in the Romish faith, till she was 15 years old. They tried to induce her to become a nun, and take the veils of the church, but she would not be persuaded; then they compelled her to marry a Frenchman, named La Beau, June 14, 1707; the record of her marriage is on file in Montreal. As the education of women then went she was well educated. She and her husband lived together about seven years, and then he died, leaving her with two or three children.
The first that she saw of Thomas Baker was in 1707, the year she married the Frenchman. Baker had been brought to Montreal, a prisoner, from Deerfield, Mass. He was a frisky young fellow, and tried to escape; the guard caught him, and, as he was about to be shot, a Frenchman intervened and paid a suitable ransom to save his life and permit him to return to his home in Massachusetts. Somehow, during the affair, which of course made a great commotion among the inhabitants, both French and English, Christine Otis Le Beau made the acquaintance of the young man, and gave him her sympathy and probably expressed her admiration for his courage in attempting to escape. It may have been her husband who paid the sum for Baker's ransom. Anyway, they became close friends then, and did not forget it in the seven years that followed.
Thomas Baker returned home, and in time became a Captain, and won fame in the public service. Christine remained in Canada, and in the course of seven years became the mother of three children. Then it came to pass that Thomas, and Christine met again, and under circumstances entirely different from those under which they had parted in 1707.
Massachusetts sent a commission to Canada in 1714, to arrange for ransoming the English prisoners there, Major John Stoddard being at the head of it. Captain Thomas Baker was a member of the Commission, being famous now from his leadership of the Indian campaign in the White Mountain region, in which he secured the scalp of the famous Indian Sachem, Wattanummon and by the deed perpetuated his name for ever in Baker river which joins the Pemegewassett north of Plymouth, N. H. It was near the junction of these rivers that the battle with the Indians took place. Moreover, besides having the river named for him, the General Court of Massachusetts gave him a reward of £20, summa cum laude.
Captain Baker, with the rest of the Commissioners, was in Montreal in March, 1714; they met the prisoners and the officials, and commenced negotiations; it does not seem necessary to speak further of the negotiations other than to say that Christine Otis Le Beau, then and there met Capt. Thomas Baker. She was a handsome widow of twenty-five years, in the bloom of health, sparkling with wit and womanly attractions; he was a bachelor, a few years older, tall, stalwart, and handsome in his military bearing; after they met and exchanged the usual formalities of such an occasion, she resolved in her own mind to return to New England; he resolved in his mind to rescue that handsome widow from the thrawls of popery, and the hated and detested Frenchmen.
Thus matters stood for awhile; negotiations made slow progress; the French would not consent for her to go; if she went must leave her children, and lose all of her property; she attcmpted to smuggle her personal property into a boat, to carry them to Quebec; the French priests discovered her work, and took everything from the boat.
About this time in the negotiations, Capt. Baker was ordred, by Major Stoddard, to go back to Boston and report progress.
He attended to these duties and returned to Canada. The French continued as obstinate as ever in their refusal to let the capt.ive go. The Captain and the widow held a council of war; she decided to leave her children, and all her property, except her wearing apparel and what she could carry in her hands; they secretly embarked on a boat and started on the voyage to Quebec, where Major Stoddard and the other Commissioners were then stationed. Just imagine that trip of 160 miles in an ordinary boat! Talk about romance! Why romance pales before the true story or heroism of this woman who so loved Old Dover, which she had seen only as a babe, and so loved the gallant captain, that she forsook all and trusted her life and her fortune to his care. It is easy enough to look back over 209 years, but what a struggle it must have been for her to look ahead sixty years.
Major Stoddard chronicles their arrival at Quebec in the summer of 1714; later they sailed with others, for Boston, where they arrived 21 September of that year.
From Boston she accompanied the Captain to Deerfield , and good Parson Stoddard took her in hand and soon made a Protestant of her; rebaptized her with her baby name, Margaret, and took her into the church.
The townspeople became interested in her welfare and enthusiastic in their praise of her noble qualities. December 14, 1714, the town granted her a valuable lot of land on condition that she marry Capt. Thomas Baker. She accepted the land and the conditions.
They were married in 1715, and set up housekeep and farming in Deerfield, and remained there two years, leading a peaceful, quiet and happy life. Their first child was born 5 June 1716; in due time good Parson Stoddard christened it Christine having previously baptized the mother by her baby name of Margaret.
In 1717 they removed from Deerfield to Brookfield, where they resided on their farm till 1732. In 1718 she mad e a trip to Canada, with the object in view of getting her French children and bringing them to New England. Her efforts were unsuccessful. The Romish priests would not permit her to see them, much less bring them away; on the other hand they tried to persuade here to stay there; she would not listen to them, and so returned, greaved in heart but determined in spirit.
In 1719 Capt. Baker was elected Representative at the General Court of Massachusetts by the freeman of Brookfiield, being the first to serve from that town. He served his town in that and various capacities, honorably and ably during the next ten years. It was in this town that most of their children were born, one of whom became one of Dover's distinguished men, Col. Otis Baker.
In 1727 Christine received a letter from the prelate who had been her priest in Canada, in which he urged her to return there and reunite with the Romish Church, presenting many theological reasons why he thought she ought to do so.
Instead of returning to Canada she turned the letter over to Gov. Burnett, who wrote an elaborate answer to the theological statements of the priest; both the letter and the Governor's answer are in print in the Massachusetts archives of that period. The French priest never ventured a reply, nor made further endeavors to get her back to Canada.
In 1732 they sold their Brookfield property, which was a comfortable estate, to a speculator, who in some way cheated them out of the whole amount of the sale, and left Capt. Baker and his family in very straightened circumstances.
They lived a while at Mendon, and next at Newport, R. l. On account of the high standing of Captain Baker, and his wife, the General Court of Massachusetts very generously aided them in their efforts to recover their fortunes. The Court was furthermore inclined to do this as Capt. Baker's health had given out, so that he could not do any work that required manual exertion. The Court granted Christine 500 acres of valuable land in York County, Maine. She sold this land for a handsome sum of money, with which she built a house in Dover, to which they removed in 1734.
This house stood at the corner of Silver Street and Central Avenue, where now is the brick block. After she had built and furnished her house, she petitioned the General Court of New Hampshire for a license to keep a public house, which petition can be found in the published Provincial Papers of New Hampshire. Here she kept a public house for many .years, and prospered in her business affairs, although her husband was an invalid all the rest of his years, till his death in 1753, while on a visit to friends in Roxbury, Mass. The record says he died of "the lethagy," which the doctors in the twentieth century would undoubtedly call appoplexy.
Christine died 23 February, 1773, aged 85 years, and her remains were interred in the Col. Baker burial lot on Pine Hill. I know not whether the spot can now be found, but be that as it may, a marker of some kind ought to be placed near the spot, if not on her grave, so that future generations may know and honor it. Her record in Dover is of the best. Her house was a model of neatness, comfort and good cooking. When the Royal Governors passed through Dover they honored themselves by calling at her tavern; they always left with a feeling of good cheer and the highest respect for their hostess.
May 11th, 1735, she united with the First Church, Parson Cushing being pastor; she remained a devout member of this organization to the end of her life; during her last few years she was an invalid, but all her wants were kindly administered to by her son, Col. Otis Baker, and his family. Rev. Dr. Belknap, who was then pastor of the First Church, gave her that spiritual consolation which her four score years must have made her greatly enjoy; and when he closed her eyelids forever at four score and five, he performed the last sad rites over her remains. |
1689 - 1773 (~ 83 years)
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