Edward KNEELAND
Biography

Edward Kneeland Jr, along with his brother Joseph, and their father Edward Sr. were captured by Indians in the Royalton War of 1780. They had left Colchester, Connecticut to take up a tract of land in Royalton Vermont where they had built a house for Joseph and his family.

It was October 16, 1780, a group of roughly 300 Indians from various tribes including Canadian Mohawks and Abenakis descended upon Royalton Vermont led by five British and French-Canadian soldiers. They entered homes and killed and scalped many before burning the entire town to the ground. Joseph Kneeland was killed in retaliation of the death of an Indian killed by an American.

Edward Kneeland Sr. was sent back home to warn the citizens that the captives would be killed should an attack be made upon them. Young Edward Jr, about 13 years of age, was held captive in Quebec and adopted by an Indian Chief. During his captivity, he became skilled in the ways of the Indians becoming an expert in woodcraft. Eight years later, upon the death of the Indian Chief, he was sold to a Frenchman who allowed him to return home around 1788. He settled in Hadley, Massachusetts where he married Elizabeth Peck and had a family of 12 children. It is said the he maintained many of the Indian characteristics until death.

Children:
1. Deborah Kneeland (1757- )
2. Joseph Kneeland (1759-1780)
3. Lucinda Kneeland (1766- )
4. Edward Kneeland (1767-1829)

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