North Adams Historical Society to Mark Fort Mass Seige
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Historical Society will mark the 268th anniversary of the siege of Fort Massachusetts on Saturday, Aug. 16, at 2 p.m.
The observation of the event, which occurred over Aug. 19 and 20 in 1746, will be held in the Barracks Room replica on the third floor of the North Adams Museum of History and Science, in Building 5A at Western Gateway Heritage State Park.
Park Ranger and museum designer Robert Campanile will share facts about the siege. If their schedules permit, eyewitnesses Col. Benjamin Simonds and Mary and Captivity Smead, and poet Annie McMillin, who wrote "Captivity," may put in an appearance.
The room is also open during regular museum hours: Thursday-Saturday from 10-4 and Sunday from 1-4.
A 9-minute audio narrates the details of the siege; three models of the fort made and donated by local artisans are on display; excerpts from the diary of Chaplain Rev. John Norton, an eyewitness, are posted; and docents are on hand to answer questions.
Or those interested can also visit the site of Fort Massachusetts behind the Price Chopper parking lot and view the replica chimney with its historical marker provided by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission via a grant obtained by Lauren Gaherty, and read the plaque installed by the Daughters of the American Revolution on the commemorative stone. Price Chopper employees faithfully spruce up the site.
On Aug. 19, 1746, 900 French and Indians of the St. François tribe under the command of Gen. Pierre Rigaud de Vaudreuil besieged Fort Massachusetts, then a frontier outpost in East Hoosuck (now North Adams). The 45 colonists surrendered the next day. The fort was burned to the ground, the prisoners marched off to Canada, including Mary Smead and her infant daughter, Captivity, carried all the way by caring warriors. The survivors, less than half, were ransomed in a prisoner exchange and returned to Boston the following year.
This is a significant part of local history; many area communities never had the flag of France flying over them as North Adams did.
Th Rev. Norton's complete account is available for purchase in the museum gift shop. Museum admission is free as is entry to this special commemoration.
