Hope Atherton


Rev. Hope Atherton
was a colonial clergyman. He was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Harvard Class of 1665. He was the minister of Hadley, Massachusetts. He served as a Chaplain in the King Philips War and got separated from troops during the Battle of Great Falls in 1676. He died months after the battle, aged 30.

Early Years

Atherton was the tenth child of twelve and fourth son of Major General Humphrey Atherton and Mary Kennion. He was baptized on August 30, 1646 in First Church of Dorchester.
He was one of the youngest of the large family whose patriarch, Humphrey Atherton, held prominent public, judicial, and military positions.
His father and members of the congregation had established first elementary school supported by public money in the New World in 1639. A school that both he and his siblings would have attended.
His father suddenly died in an accident in 1661, when he was just 15 years of age.

Teacher and Clergyman

At the age of 22 he was recorded as the only teacher in his native town of Dorchester, most likely at The Mather School. However, he was destined to soon leave the environs of Boston and venture westward to the Connecticut Valley.
Atherton was already serving as a minister in Hatfield during the fall of 1668. However, on May 17, 1669, the people of Hatfield, formally invited him to settle there as their minister. Dorchester records, from a few weeks later, read:
The Town of Hatfield, originally an outlying section of Hadley on the western bank of the Connecticut River, was incorporated on May 31, 1670. On August 8th, at the very first town meeting, it was recorded:
The formation of the church and Atherton's ordination took place during March 1671. He was made a freeman of the town in May 1672.
Hatfield was without minister from the death of Atherton in 1677, until the call of Rev. Nathaniel Chauncey was accepted in 1683. The poverty brought by the King Philips War meant that a settlement of £40 for his widow Sarah was not released until 1679; three years after his death.

Battle of Turner’s Falls

Hostilities flared in 1675 across Massachusetts. This was the era of King Philip’s War and Mohawk incursions from New York. The spring of 1676 saw several skirmishes between garrisoned troops in the Connecticut valley and Native American tribes of the region. Towns were attacked as far south as Windsor, CT and as far north as Deerfield, Massachusetts, where his cousin Rev.Samuel Mather had been a minister. During the month of March the Northampton stockade was breached and Atherton’s town of Hatfield was now threatened. By early May, between seventy and eighty cattle were stolen from the new settlers, from fields north of Hatfield by a group of Native Americans who then encamped to celebrate and feast at Peskeompskut, later called Turners Falls.
On May 18, 1676, a force of 141 men, gathered at Hatfield for a march northward under Capt. William Turner to attack the Native American encampment north of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Atherton accompanied the expedition as its chaplain. After an all-night march, the English militia and volunteer settlers achieved their goal of surprise and at daybreak of the 19th attacked and massacred scores of Native Americans; some warriors but mostly women and children. However the sound of the falls masked the arrival of a much larger group of warriors and a counter attack commenced, with the militia loosing 42 men, including Capt. Turner.
Atherton was among a half a dozen who were separated from the main body during the chaotic retreat. This event would be marked in history as the Battle of Turner's Falls; however it is also referred to as the Peskeompscut massacre.
Atherton eventually found his own way back to Hadley. However many of the settlers were highly skeptical of the exceptional experiences he recalled, especially in regard to the Native Americans fleeing upon his attempted surrender and the mystery of how he crossed the Connecticut River to eventually stumble into Hadley.
Contemporary historians refer to this event as the Battle of Great Falls, instead of attributing the event solely to Captain William Turner.

Atherton’s sermon

Compelled to respond to those who doubted his story of wandering in the wilderness, near starvation and trying to evade capture, Atherton shared his experiences in a sermon, which he delivered in the Hatfield church on May 28, 1676:
Atherton was not alone; Jonathan Wells, a 16 year old boy, also part of the expedition, was left bed-ridden for a full year and by his own account it took him up to four years to fully recover from the battle and its aftermath.
Atherton’s health never fully recovered from the exposure he suffered while lost in the woods. and he died June 8, 1677 at age 30.

Personal

Atherton married Sarah Hollister, the daughter of John Hollister and Joanna Treat from Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1674. They had 3 children:
He was buried at Hill Cemetery,
Hatfield, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. There is no gravestone or marker.

Family and Legacy

His widow, Sarah, married Lieutenant Timothy Baker of Northampton and with her two children, Joseph and Sarah moved to live with him. Sarah became the mother of 7 more children; Timothy, John, Edward, Grace, Prudence, Deliverance; and of the much celebrated Captain Thomas Baker, who married Christine Otis, who had been captured by Native Americans as a child. Captain Baker’s war record mentions the release of English civilians including the Otis family.
Sarah Baker, Atherton’s wife, died December 8, 1691 in Northfield, Hampshire County, Massachusetts.
Atherton has been referred to a “Hopestill”, instead of “Hope” in the Suffolk County Probate Records
His son Joseph Atherton was involved in the historical capture of his father’s involvement in 1717.