| Notes |
- "Sprague Families in America", by Dr. Warren VincentSprague, page 11.
John Sprague and Ruth Bassett Sprague resided for a time inMarshfield, as the birth of their daughter Ruth is recordedthere. This John, more likely than John of William, was aCounsellor of Sir Edmund Andros. He was slain inPierce's fierce fight at Pawtucket in Philip's war, March26, 1676. His estate was appraised in 1676 and wassworn to by the widow Ruth Sprague. She afterwardsmarried ______ Thomas.Ancestral File) (AFN:PT8M-HG; Spouse: Ruth Bassett(AFN:PT8M-JM); Born: [1643].
From George Sawyer.
John of Duxbury succeeded to his father's business in 1669.
"One Bassett Family in America", by Buell Bursett Bassett,page 10.
Ruth (Bassett) and John Sprague, Sr. lived inMarshfield. On June 8, 1655, they were both presentedto Court. John was killed in the "Swamp Fight", KingPhilip's War. NOTE: Please see note below from SkipRiley relative to the location of John's death.
"The American Genealogist", Volume 1965, page 178.
Extensive article on John Sprague.
From Keith Kingman.
John and Ruth (Bassett) Sprague first lived inDuxbury. Then before 1649, they moved to Marshfield,MA (north of Plymouth) where their third child, Ruth, wasborn. They then moved back to Duxbury where in 1670,John succeeded to his father's business of running an"Ordinary" (tavern).
From Sue Bates, correspondent.
The son of Francis and Anne Sprague, John Sprague was bornabout 1637, probably in Duxbury, Massachusetts. In 1655 hemarried Ruth Basset whose father, William Basset (bornabout 1590 in England) had arrived in America in 1621aboard the ship FORTUNE (Thomas Barton, Master).
John Sprague and his wife Ruth Basset lived in Marshfield,Massachusetts for a number of years before settling atDuxbury around 1668. Shortly after their arrival inDuxbury, he became co-proprietor of his father's tavern inDuxbury and remained such until his death.
John Sprague apparently inherited his father's ardenttemperament. Described as a "...spark off the old flint",he is known to have spent several hours in the stocks on atleast one occasion for "...highly misdemeaning himself inthe house of James Cole of Plymouth near unto or on theevening before the Sabbath Day, in drinking, gaming anduncivil reveling, to the dishonor of God and the offense ofthe government, by his gaming and the bringing of his mareuncivily into the parlor of James Cole, aforesaid."
It is believed that he was the John Sprague who was acounselor to Sir Edmund Andros, rather than the JohnSprague who was the son of William Sprague.
John Sprague was killed in the massacre of Captain MichaelPierce's Company of English Militia during the KingPhilip's War when, on 26 March 1676, that company of 65 men(supplemented by about 20 friendly Indians) engaged asuperior force of hostiles near the Pawtucket River inRhode Island, about 5 miles north of Providence.
According to Douglas Edward Leach in his history of thatwar entitled FLINTLOCK AND TOMAHAWK - NEW ENGLAND IN THEKING PHILIP'S WAR, Captain Pierce, having determined thatthere was a band of hostile Indians located near thePawtucket River, had prepared his men for battle and hadsent a messenger into the nearby town of Providencerequesting reinforcements before attacking.
For some reason this messenger, arriving at the time ofpublic worship, chose to wait until after the service hadconcluded before delivering Captain Pierce's request. Whenthe situation was made known, Captain Andrew Edmunds of theProvidence Militia immediately set out with a group ofarmed men in order to join forces with Pierce's company.
Meanwhile, the Plymouth Militia group had unwittinglyengaged and become surrounded by an extremely large forceof hostile Narrangansett Indians and were overwhelmed. Bythe time Edmunds and his men arrived, it was too late.
The fact that some 42 of the 55 colonists killed that daywere buried at the site of the battle, including that ofJohn Sprague of Duxbury, indicates that there were somesurvivors, or it may indicate that there were bodies whichmay not have been recovered.
From Joe, a correspondent, note of June 9th, 2006
In your profile of John Sprague, Sr., you state thatSprague died on March 26, 1676 in the "Swamp Fight" of KingPhilip's War. Then you go on to describe actionassociated with the battle known as "Pierce's Fight."
The "Swamp Fight" and "Pierce's Fight" were two relatedhowever separate incidents. The former occurredon December 19, 1675 in a swamp of Kingston, Rhode Island,while the latter was on March 26, 1676, on the banks of theBlackstone River in what is now Central Falls, RhodeIsland.
I am presently writing an longish article about Pierce'sFight.
From Mary Longstreth, correspondent, note of July 1st, 2008quoting from prior correspondence.
NOTE: The following is not proven to be in anyway connectedwith this Sprague family member:
Mary Longstreth on 6/27/2008: I am looking for confirmationof which Captain Sprague was responsible for the transportof Native Americans prisoners from King Phillip's War asslaves.
Response from Dick Weber dated June 30, 2008: As to yourquestion on "Capt. Sprague" I'm afraid I do not know. There were seven Spragues for whom I have a record ofparticipation in King Philip's War. Only one of themin my records had a title of Capt. I've attached areport on Capt. John Sprague and as you will see it showsevidence of his service but no indication of any role withtransporting prisoners.
Mary's response dated July 1, 2008: You may want to readthe book, "Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick. This is where I found the reference.
Dick's response dated July 1, 2008: As the participation inthe Sprague Project increases each year I'm more and moredependent on others to share the results of their researchfor inclusion in the Sprague family history. If thereis any short quote you can provide from "Mayflower" pleasedo so.
I find it interesting that the Spragues would show up in abook on Mayflower descendants since there were not Spragueson the Mayflower. They did of course within a couplegeneration start marrying descendants
of the Mayflower immigrants.
Mary's response dated July 1st, 2008: From the Epilogue,Page 345:
"As early as the fall of 1675, they had begun to sail fromthe coast of New England: the slave ships. Itbegan in September when a Captain Sprague departed fromPlymouth with 78 Indians. By July of 1676, Plymouthhad formalized the process of removing potentiallydangerous Native men and boys.......The English were not sosure what to do with Phillip's 9 year old son.....Inthe end, Phillip's son, like his mother before him wasshipped off as a slave."The premise is that the action ofshipping the Native Americans as slaves initiated slaveryin America.
The book does not maintain that Spragues were on theMayflower. It's a very interesting discourse on KingPhillip's War and the relationship between Atherton andChurch
From Michele Doty, correspondent, note of December 23, 2011
Because the Great Swamp Fight occurred on December 19 1675and John Sprague, Sr. was killed Mar 26, 1676, the date ofPierce's "Nine Men Misery", I suggest that John may havebeen among the dead in Cumberland, RI with Michael Pierceinstead of the site of the Great Swamp Fight in WestKingston, RI.
From Skip Riley, correspondent, note of November 11, 2014
John Sprague Sr was my maternal 9th great grandfather.Having just read Philbrick's "Mayflower" and its account ofKing Phillip's War it was evident to me that "the GreatSwamp Fight" could not have been where John was killedsince the swamp fight took place near South Kingstown, RIin December, 1765 and John died with Capt. Pierce nearPawtucket on March 26, 1676. [6, 7]
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Abt 1630 - 1676 (~ 46 years)
[2, 3, 4] 
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
