Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023
Philena Scott was born August 21, 1798, in Bernardston, Massachusetts. Bernardston, initially known as Falls Fight Township, was a settlement created by and for the families of soldiers who had fought in King Philip’s War.
King Philip’s War was an armed conflict in 1675-76 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England settler-colonists and their indigenous allies. The war is named for Wampanoag sachem Metacom, also known as Metacomet or King Philip, the name given to him by the English. Metacom was the Wampanoag leader who adopted the name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Mayflower Pilgrims. King Philip’s War was sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom’s War, Metacomet’s War, Pometacomet’s Rebellion, or Metacom’s Rebellion.
The underlying cause of the war was the settler-colonists’ unrelenting desire for more and more land.
“King Philip’s War has been called United States’ most devastating conflict. One in 10 soldiers on both sides was killed, 1,200 colonists’ homes were burned, and vast stores of foodstuffs destroyed. The effects of the carnage and property damage were felt for years by colonists. The war’s ramifications for Native populations of southern New England included not only loss of life and, for some, enslavement but the continued erosion of sovereignty, land rights, and communities as well,” said Mike Messina at CT History.
In the space of little more than a year, 12 of the region’s towns were destroyed and many more were damaged, the economy of Plymouth and Rhode Island Colonies was all but ruined and their population was decimated, losing one-tenth of all men available for military service. More than half of New England’s towns were attacked. Hundreds of Wampanoags and their allies were publicly executed or enslaved, and the Wampanoags were left effectively landless, according to David Silverman in the book, This Land Is Their Land.
Philena’s parents were Elihu Scott (1764-1840) and Hannah Andrus Andrews Scott (1761-1851). Her grandparents were Captain Moses Scott (1713-1799) and Elizabeth Henry Scott (1726-1815); and Nehemiah Andrews (1746-1813) and Hannah Elizabeth Fox Andrews (1754-1842).
Philena Scott married Charles Davis Newcomb on November 19, 1817, in Bernardston. Charles was born on April 30, 1790. His parents were Hezekiah Newcomb (1747-1821) and Lydia Hunt Newcomb (1750-1834). Charles’s relatives were on the Mayflower, and his great-great-great-great-great-grandparents, Rev. Thomas Hart Hooker V (1553-1635) and Susannah Pym Hooker (1588-1647). The four of their offspring were accused of being a witch during the witch trials of 1692.
Philena and Charles had five children: Charlotte Augusta (1818-1892); Emily Adelisa Newcomb Moore (1820-1884); Charles Goodrich (1823-1876); Henry Clay (1833-1905); and Henrietta Marina Newcomb Waller (1835-1875).
Philena and her family moved from Massachusetts to Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, Charles Davis died, and was buried at the Trenton Cemetery in Barton, Wisconsin on November 3, 1857.
Philena and some of her children moved to Eureka, Dakota County in Minnesota. And then Philena and family moved to Shakopee.
On January 10, 1880, Philena Scott Newcomb died, and she was buried at Valley Cemetery in Shakopee. In 1884, her daughter, Emily Adelisa Newcomb Moore and her husband, Jonathan Moore, were also buried at Valley Cemetery.
Bibliography
Messina, Mike. “America’s Most Devastating Conflict: King Philip’s War.” CT History, 12 Aug. 2014. https://connecticuthistory.org/americas-most-devastating-conflict-king-philips-war/.
Silverman, David. This Land Is Their Land. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. p. 348-353.