4 Boys Were Captured By 'Indians,' 3 Stayed: Westborough History

WESTBOROUGH, MA—In a recounting that perhaps you have never heard about in Westborough history, apparently four boys were captured and one murdered by "Indians" right after Queen Anne’s War had broken out.

In this fascinating piece from the New England Historical Society, it tells the fate of five Rice boys who were working on a hot August day in 1704 spreading flax in a field in what is now Westborough when 10 "Indians" rushed from nearby and seized them. The youngest, Nahor, had his head bashed in on a rock, and the others, ages 7-10, were taken away.

Sons of Thomas Rice - Asher, 10, and Adonijah, 8- and sons of Edmund-Silas, 9, and Timothy, 7, were taken to a territory in Canada. Eventually, Asher was returned after a ransom was paid. The other three stayed.

Read about this piece of American history here.

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