THE CHARLEMONT BUTTONWOOD 



family, he visited his property in company 

 with his sons, for the purpose of clearing 

 a portion of land for meadow, and build- 

 ing a house. This journey gives us the 

 basis in history for the part which the 

 buttonwood plays in the story. A state- 

 ment has been handed down by Sylvanus 

 Rice, son of the Captain, to Mrs. Fuller, his 

 daughter, a later inhabitant of Charlemont, 

 that "he had slept under the Buttonwood 

 tree when there was not another white per- 

 son in town." 1 



In spite of the bitter struggle which began 

 in 1744 between the British and French, 

 in which the Indians took an active part, 

 Captain Rice and his family remained in their 

 exposed position unmolested until August, 

 1746, and their house was a favorite stopping 

 place for the soldiers and wayfarers on the 

 border. On the 20th of August 1746, Fort 

 Massachusetts was invested by the French 

 and Indians, and Captain Rice moved his 

 family to Rutland just in time to avoid a 

 massacre. Upon his return he found his 



1 From Joseph White's "Charlemont as a Plantation." 



105;] 



