John Williams

John Williams (10 December 1664 – 12 June 1729) was a New England Puritan minister who was the noted pastor of Deerfield from 1688 to his death. He and most of his family were taken captive in the Raid on Deerfield in 1704 during Queen Anne's War. He was held by the French in Montreal for more than two years, who wanted a high-ranking French pirate in exchange. After being released in late 1706, Williams became even more notable for The Redeemed Captive (1707), his account of his captivity. It became a well-known work in the genre of captivity narratives. Four of his five surviving children were also released in 1706 and ultimately returned to Deerfield. But his youngest daughter Eunice, seven when captured, had been adopted by a Mohawk family at Kahnawake and became thoroughly assimilated. The French would not take by force captives adopted by their Mohawk allies. She married a Mohawk man and had three children with him. Williams was a central voice in the smallpox inoculation controversy of 1721. He was an uncle of the notable pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards. Early life, education and marriage John Williams was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1664, the son of Samuel Williams (1632–98) and Theoda Park (1637–1718). His grandfather Robert had immigrated there from England with his family about 1638. John had local schooling. Later he attended Harvard College, where he graduated in 1683.