According to The History of Durham, "The Indians seem to have had a special spite against the inhabitants of Oyster River, or their attacks there were so little opposed that they returned often for easy spoils." On July 18, 1694, Ann Jenkins and 48 of her neighbors were taken captive. A year later, June 11, 1695 she gave testimony in the trial of the Indian Chief Bomazeen in Boston. Her deposition follows:

Ann Jenkins, of full age, Testifieth and saith, that at Oyster River, on the eighteenth of July last past, in the morning about the dawning of the day my husband being up went out of the dore, and presently returning cried to me and our children to run for our lives, for the Indians had beset the town: whereupon my husband and myself fled with our children into our corne field, and at our entrance into the field, Bomazeen, whouume I have seen since I came out of captivity in the prison, came towards us and about ten Indians more: and the sd Bomazeen then shot at my husband and shote him down, ran to him and struck him three blows on the head with a hatchet, scalped him and run him three times with a bayonet. I also saw the said Bomazeen knock one of my children on the head and tooke of her scalp and then put the child into her father's armes; and then stabbed the breast.

And Bomazeen also then killed my husband's grandmother and scalped her, and then led me up to a house and plundered it and then set it on fire and carried me and my three children into captivity, together with the rest of our neighbors, whose lives were spared, being at first forty nine: but in one miles goeing, or thereabouts, they killed three children, so there remained forty six captives. and that night the company parted and the captives were distributed, but before they parted I, this deponent, numbered one hundred and fourty of Indians and fourteen frenchmen and then, when I tooke account, there were more firing at Woodmans garrison and at Burnhams garrison, but the number unknown to me.

Myself with nine captives more were carried up to penecook and were Left with three Indians, and that party went to Greaten, Bomazeen being their Commander. In nine days they returned and brought twelve captives; and from thence with their canoes, sometimes a float, and sometimes carried, untill that we came to Norridgeawocke, which took us fifteen dayes, and staid about two months there, then dispersed into the woods, twoe or three families in a place, and kept moving toe and froe, staeing about a week in a place, until they brought us down to pemaquid and delivered us to Capt. March.

Bomazeen was my Master; his wife my Mistriss, untill Bomazeen was taken at pemaquid; after that I belonged to his wife, untill about two months before I was brought down to pemaquid; for then the Indian Minister, called Prince Waxaway, bought me, when I was brought to great weakness and extremity by their bad usage, and showed me great kindhess; by whose means, under God, my life was preserved. My mistriss was very cruel to me and I was cruelly whipt seaven times and they intended so to proceed, once a week, untill they had killed me; but that the Indian Minister had compassion on me and rescued me. That Indian Minister also bought three captives more, and freed them from their hard usage. Their names are Nicholas Frost, Sarah Braggonton and Thomsand Drue.

The mark of W AN JENKINS.

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