Thomas Chamberlain was murdered on May 11, 1709. The circumstances of this crime were unknown in the modern age until FamilySearch filmed the court records in 1972. More recently, the perpetrator was exposed and graphic details of this event revealed when introduced on the world wide web.¹ The killer was Israel Proctor.

Thomas Chamberlain III

Thomas Chamberlain III was born May 30, 1667 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. He was the first son of Thomas born in 1639 and the first grandson of Thomas the immigrant who arrived in Virginia in 1635.² His mother was Sarah Proctor the daughter of Robert Proctor and Jane Hildreth.³

When Thomas was 8 years old, his father was stationed at the garrison in Groton, during the King Phillips Indian war, and served in Captain Joseph Sills expedition to Osipee and Pequawket in September, 1676.⁴

In September of 1691, Indians raided Dunstable. Thomas, his father, and brother Samuel, therefore, began rendering services in the garrison at Chelmsford to protect the town in 1692. Also that year, nearby communities were in turmoil due to the witch trials inflicted upon them. This nightmare affected many residents including members of the Chamberlain family.

Thomas married Elizabeth Heald  January 9, 1690 and they lived in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Their first child, John, was born on March 29,1692. Five more children, Joseph, Aaron, Moses, Gershom, and Sarah, soon followed.² 

Thomas Chamberlain’s Mill

Thomas was a wheelwright and a miller by occupation.  On March 10, 1699, he bought a 50 acre farm and a mill at “Baddacook” by Brown Loaf Hill in the town of Groton, Massachusetts²  Later events would one day make the Chamberlain mill location an historical landmark.

Thomas’ second wife

Elizabeth Chamberlain died at Groton on June 18, 1699, two of their children also died that year. Thomas’s children were all under the age of 8. Two months later on August 16, he married his second wife Abigail Nutting.

Over the next ten years Thomas and Abigail added seven more children to the clan, Elisabeth, Abigail, Thomas, Mary, Jane, Dorothy and Sarah.2,3

On May 11, 1709, there were ten children living in the Chamberlain home and Abigail was expecting another daughter. Sarah was born three months after the death of her father.

Israel Proctor

Israel Proctor was born April 29, 1668. He was the tenth child of his parents Robert Proctor and Jane Hildreth. In 1689, he married his first cousin, Margaret Hildreth. They had two children Lidiah in 1690, and Josiah in 1691⁵ Margaret died in 1693.⁶

Israel’s oldest sister, Sarah Proctor, was Thomas’ mother. Therefore, Israel was Thomas’ uncle. They were, however, about the same age. Though Israel was eleven months younger than Thomas, on the date of the crime both men were 41 years old.

Thomas was a husbandman for Israel at Chelmsford, apparently taking care of his farm at that location.¹ Many of the Chamberlain family still lived in Chelmsford. Thomas, however, moved to Groton more than ten years previous where he ran his mill.

Murder at Chamberlain Mill

It is believed the murder took place at the Chamberlain mill in Groton, though I have not been able to verify this information.⁷

It is hard to imagine the situation that would precipitate the events of May 11, 1709. A group of eight men were together that day, presumably at the mill. Samuel Barnes and Isaac Barnes testified that at the time they departed for home, there was peace among the two men. The other four men, John Read, Sam Chamberlain, Joseph Chamberlain and Timothy Adams were listed in the record as witnesses.⁸

In July, 1709 in the Court at Cambridge Massachusetts, the jury found that “Israel Proctor feloniously and willfully murdered the said Thomas Chamberlain”. This was done with several stabs or strokes of a bayonet or short sword to the body of Chamberlain, on or near the groin right side. The fatal stab “entering so far into the body of the said Thomas Chamberlain that he then and there died instantly of said wound or wounds”¹

The court record lists no motive for the brutal crime. However, they determined malice aforethought, a conscious intent to cause death before the crime, or an evil and depraved state of mind with no concern for the lives of others. “Israel Proctor… not having the fear of God before his eyes but being instigated by the devil and of his malice forethought”.¹

An unusual sentence

The court found Israel Proctor guilty of manslaughter. He was then tied to the gallows for one hour with a rope around his neck. They then took him down and sentenced him to receive thirty stripes upon his naked body, while being tied to a cart’s tail. The court also ordered him to pay compensation to widow Chamberlain for her support. Abigail Chamberlain, at the time, had eleven minor children.⁸

Israel Proctor died at Chelmsford on June 9, 1755. He was 87 years old.

Thomas Chamberlain’s estate

John Heald of Concord, brother of Thomas’ first wife Sarah, took inventory of the estate. He was appointed guardian to Thomas’ oldest son, John “a minor in ye 18th year of his age.”⁹

On June 30, 1713, after John reached his majority, the court settled his father’s estate. They allotted one third to the widow Abigail Chamberlain.  John inherited two thirds of his father’s mill, housing, stream, and lands in Groton. This was on the condition of paying to each of the other children 2 Pounds, 17 Shillings, and 6 2/3 pence, a value equivalent in 2021 of about $225 to each of his ten living siblings.

Paugus John Chamberlain

In 1725, John was among 47 men of Captain John Lovewell’s expedition to engage the Indians at their headquarters at Pigwacket. Chief Paugus had come from a distant tribe to lead the local Indians in attacks on nearby villages. At the battle at Lovewell’s Pond John Chamberlain distinguished himself with a face to face duel with the Indian Chief. John won the duel by a fraction of a second.

Lovewell’s men were out numbered and surrounded. The death of Paugus likely saved the majority of Lovewell’s men, because, after the duel, the Indian band fled the scene. John became an instant hero in Groton, Massachusetts where he became known as Paugus John Chamberlain.

His fame spread far and wide, but after many years, some questioned the story. The Chamberlain Story presents the facts in the case for John Chamberlain in The Legend of Paugus John Chamberlain

Chamberlain mill memorial rock

In the fall, the son of Paugus came looking for John Chamberlain in Groton to avenge the death of his father. A neighbor warned John about the possible attack. The showdown took place at the mill that John inherited from his father.

The mill was situated on Martin’s Pond Brook about 200 yards South of present day (2021) Highway 40 and east of Brown Loaf. In 1883, the location was near School House 9 near the confluence of  Martin’s Pond Brook and a small stream called Paugus Brook.¹⁰

In 1951, the City of Groton engraved a rock to point out the historical site of the Chamberlain mill. The memorial is in a grove of trees south of Hwy 40, and west Lost Lake Road. Today (2021) there is also a Chamberlain’s Mill Lane which enters on to School House Road. This is north of Hwy 40. Brown Loaf Hill is south of Highway 40 near this location, which is about one mile east of Groton town center.

Court record of the trial of Israel Proctor

FamilySearch photographed and recorded this record in 1972. More recently, someone found it and placed it on the internet.¹

Translation into modern English

Middlesex Se: At court of Assize and General goal. Delivery holden at Cambridge for the County the last Tuesday of July 1709.

The Jurors of our Sovereign Lady, the Queen upon their oaths of present Israel Procter of Chelmsford, within the County of Middlesex, husbandman for that said Israel Proctor at Chelmsford, afore said on the eleventh day of May last, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being instigated by the Devil and of his malice aforethought with force and arms, and against the peace, an assault made on the body of Thomas Chamberlain of Groton afore said miller. Then in the peace of God of the Queen, being and with a bayonet or short sword of the value of five shillings, he the said Israel Proctor feloniously made several mortal stabs or strokes on the body of the said Tho. Chamberlain, viz. on or near the groin, ye right side, the bayonet or short sword entering so far into the body of the said Thomas Chamberlain that he then and there instantly died of the said wound or wounds, and so the Jurors, afore said say that the afore said Israel Proctor feloniously and willfully murdered the said Thomas Chamberlain against the peace of our Sovereign Lady the Queen, her crown and dignity and the law.¹

Witnesses: John Read, Sam Chamberlain, Joseph Chamberlain, Timothy Adams.  Abraham Durant Governor.¹

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, All rights reserved. The Chamberlain Story, 2021.

References:

1- FamilySearch, Suffolk County Court: File #7783, (Family Search)

2-George W. Chamberlain, One Branch of the Descendants of Thomas Chamberlain of Woburn, Worcester Mass, 1897

3-Chamberlain Family-The First Six Generations, http://www.babcockancestry.com/

4- William Hubbard, Indian Wars in New England, Roxbury, Mass, MDCCCXV.

5- A genealogy of descendants of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass., Robert Proctor (p.5), Israel Proctor (p.8)

6- Familysearch.org

7- Thomas of Woburn, Third Generation by David C. Chamberlain, www.chamberlain.society.org

8- Steve Dow, My New England Ancestors, The Murder of Thomas Chamberlain, 3-11-2018, Court Record #7713 (warrant for holding Proctor in jail), #25013 (bill of constable Jonathan Hill of Chelmsford, who arrested and delivered Proctor), #27946 (Barnes testimony),  #28051 (testimony on a piece of neckcloth) Superior Court of Judicature, 1700-1714 (film 945843): pages 239-240 (Family Search)

9- George W. Chamberlain, B. S., John Chamberlain, the Indian Fighter at Pigwacket, Reprint from Quarterly of the Maine Historical Society, Jan., 1898.

10- Samuel A. Green, M. D., Groton During the Indian Wars, Groton Mass., 1883