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The following letter is quoted by Helen Evertson Smith in *Colonial Days and Ways, As Gathered from Family Paper*, 1900, rep 1966 in the American Classic Series by Frederick Ungar Publishing Co, NY, p 47-52. She prefaces it with: "In the diary of Juliana Smith, 1779-81, there exists a copy of a fragment of a reminiscent letter, written in 1699 by the Rev. Henry Smith's son, Samuel Smith of Hadley, Massachusetts, to his son, Ichabod Smith, residing in Suffield, Connecticut, apparently in reply to some inquiries which the latter had made. (P) Juliana writes: "Today my Grandmother Smith gave me to read what is left unburned of a Letter which was written to my great-grandfather by his Father & has permitted me to copy it. The Letter itself belongs to my Uncle Dan because he is my Grandfather's eldest son. A large part of it was burnt when my Grandfather's house in Suffield took fire, and was barely saved from destruction, with the loss of many things, especially Books & Papers. The Bible in which this Letter was found on the next day still smoldering, with more than half of its leaves burnt away, including a part of the Family Record & this Letter:---"
Portion of a letter, written in 1699 by Rev. Henry Smith's son, Samuel Smith of Hadley Massachusetts, to his son Ichabod Smith.
The home took fire, and was barely saved from destruction, with the loss of many things, especially Books & Papers. The Bible in which this Letter was found on the next day still smoldering, with more than half of its leaves burnt away, including a part of the Family Record & this Letter:---"
Hadley, Massachusetts Colony, Jan. ye Firste, 1699
My Dear & Dutiful Sonn;
I was of so tender an Age at the Death of my beloved Father, that I am possessed of but little of the Information for which you seek. My Revered Father was an ordained Minister of ye Gospelle, educate at Cambridge in England, & came to ye Land by reason of ye Great Persecution by which ye infamous Archbishop Land and ye Black Tom Tyrante (as Mr. Russell was always wont to call ye Earl of Strafforde) did cause ye reign of his Majestie, Charles ye First, to loose favor in ye sight of ye people of England. My Father & Mother came over in 1636/37, firste to Watertown which is neare Boston & after a yeare or two to Weathersfield on ye great River, where he became ye firste settled Pastor. Concerning of ye earlie days I can remember but little save Hardship. My Parents had broughte both Men Servants & Maid Servants from England, but ye Maids tarried not but till they got Married, ye weh was shortly, for there was great scarcity of Women in ye Colonies. Ye men did abide better. Onne of em had married onne of my Mother's Maids & they did come with us to Weathersfield, to our grate Comforte for some years, untill they had manny littel onnes of theire Owne. I do well remember ye Face & Figure of my Honoured Father. He was 5 foote, 10 inches talle & spare of builde, tho not leane. He was as Active as ye Red Skin Men & sinewy. His delights was in sportes of strengthe, & withe his owne Hands he did helpe to reare bothe our owne House & ye Firste Meetinge House of Weathersfield, wherein he preacht yeares too fewe. He was well Featured & Fresh favoured with faire Skin & longe curling Hair (as neare all of us have had) with a merrie eye & swete smilinge Mouthe, tho he coulde frowne sternlie eno' when need was.
Ye firste Meeting House was solid mayde to withstande ye wicked onsaults of ye Red Skins. Its Foundations was laide in ye feare of ye Lord, but its Walls was truly laide in ye feare of ye Indians for many & grate was ye Terrors of em. I do minde me yt alle ye able-bodyed Men did work thereat & ye olde & feeble did watch in turns to espie if any Salvages was in hidinge neare & every Man keept his Musket nighe to his hande. I do not myself remember any of ye attacks mayde by large bodeys of Indians whilst we did remain in Weathersfield, but did oftimes hear of em. Several Families weh did live back a ways from ye River was either Murderdt or Captivated in my Boyhood & we all did live in constant feare of ye like. My Father ever declardt there would not be so much to feare if f ye Red Skins was treated with such mixture of Justice & Authority as they eld understand, but iff he was living now he must see that wee can do naught but fight em & that right heavily.
After ye Red Skins ye grate Terror of our lives at Weathersfield & for many yeares after we had moved to Hadley to live was ye Wolves. Catamounts were bad eno' & so was ye Beares, but it was ye Wolves yt was ye worst. The noyse of theyre howlings was eno to curdle ye bloode of ye stoutest & I have never seen ye man ye did not shiver at ye sounde of a Packe of em. What with ye way wa hated em & ye goode money ye was offered for theyre Heads we do not heare em now so much, but when I do I feel again ye younge Hatred rising in my Blood & it is not a Sin because God mayde em to be hated. My Mother & Sister did each of em Kill more yan one of ye gray Howlers & once my oldest Sister shot a Beare yt came too neare ye House. He was a goode Fatte onne & keept us all in meate for a god while. I guess onne of her Daughters has got ye skinne
As most of ye Weathersfield Settlers did come afoat throu ye Wilderness & brought with em such Things only as they did most neede at ye firste, ye other Things was sent round from Boston in Vessels to come up ye River to us. Some of ye Shippes did come safe to Weathersfield, but many was lost in a grate storm. Amongst em was onne weh held alle our Beste Things. A goode many Yeares later, long after my Father had died of ye grate Fever & my Mother had married Mr. Russell & moved to Hadley it was found that some of our Things had been saved & keept in ye Fort wch is by ye River's Mouthe, [Saybrook] & they was brought to us. Most of em was spoilt with Sea Water & Mould, especially ye Bookes & ye Plate. Of this there was no grate store, only ye Tankard, weh I have, and some Spoones, divided among my Sisters weh was alle so black it was long before any could come to its owne colour agen. & Mr. Russell did opine yt had not been so it might not have founde us agen, but he was sometimes a little shorte of ye Charity wch thinketh no Evil, at ye least I was wont to think so when his Hand was too heavy on my Shoulders & I remembered ye sweetnesse & ye Charity of my firste Father, but on ye whole said he was a Goode Man & did well by my Mother & her children & no doubt we did often try his wit & temper "
[The remainder of the letter was burnt in a house fire.]
Based on work done by Smithsonian Institution senior linguist Ives Goddard in researching the use of the term “Red Skin”, the above letter appears to be a work of fiction. Goddard writes: “Reporting his findings in the European Review of Native American Studies, Goddard noted that the first appearance of the word was long thought to have occurred in a 1699 letter written by "Samuel Smith," quoted in a 1900 memoir by his descendant, Helen Evertson Smith, titled "Colonial Days & Ways."
"My father ever declardt there would not be so much to feare iff ye Red
Skins was treated with suche mixture of Justice & Authority as they
cld understand," the purported letter said. Another part of the letter
is quoted in the authoritative Oxford English Dictionary as the
etymological origin of "redskin."
When Goddard studied the letter, however, he concluded it was a
fake: "The language was Hollywood. It didn't look like the way people
really wrote." And it wasn't. In Evertson Smith's papers at the
New-York Historical Society, Goddard found a first draft in her
handwriting: "My father ever declared there would not be so much to
fear if the Indians were treated with such mixture of Justice and
authority as they could comprehend," the draft said. "Samuel Smith's"
supposed letter, Goddard concluded, was "a work of fiction."1699 Letter Written by Samuel Smith
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