Phillipston

From Wikipedia and the Town Of Phillipston website: Phillipston is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Phillipston was first settled in 1751, and incorporated as the town of Gerry on October 20, 1786, after separating from Templeton.It was named after Elbridge Gerry. The town's name was changed from Gerry to Phillipston on February 5, 1814, after lieutenant governor William Phillips, Jr. The Town of Phillipston is located in Central Massachusetts, about 20 miles west of Fitchburg and is bisected by Route 2. Rural and remote, Phillipston is marked by forests, winding roads and historic stonewalls; it serves as the northern entrance to the Quabbin Reservoir. Its one village - the historic town center - is comprised of a town common ringed by numerous municipal buildings, a school and 19th century homes.

Littleton

From Wikipedia: Littleton (historically Nipmuc: Nashoba) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Littleton was the site of the sixth Praying Indian village established by John Eliot in 1645 consisting of mainly Native Americans of the Nipmuc and Pennacook tribes. It was called Nashoba Plantation, on the land between Lake Nagog and Fort Pond. The term "Praying Indian" referred to Native Americans who had been converted to Christianity. Daniel Gookin, in his Historical Collections of the Indians in New England, (1674) chapter vii. Says: “Nashobah is the sixth praying Indian town. This village is situated, in a manner, in the centre, between Chelmsford, Lancaster, Groton and Concord. It lieth from Boston about twenty-five miles west north west. The inhabitants are about ten families, and consequently about fifty souls.” At the time of King Philip's War between the English and Native Americans, the General Court ordered the Indians at Nashoba to be interned in Concord. A short while later, some Concord residents who were hostile to the Nashoba solicited some militia to remove them to Deer Island. Around this time, fourteen armed men of Chelmsford went to the outlying camp at Wameset (near Forge Pond) and opened fire on the unsuspecting Nashoba, wounding five women and children, and killing outright a boy twelve years old, the only son of John Tahattawan. For much of the war, the English colonists rounded up the Praying Indians and sent them to Deer Island. When increasing numbers of Massachusetts Bay officers began successfully using Praying Indians as scouts in the war, the sentiment of the white settlers turned. In May, 1676, the Massachusetts General Court ordered that Praying Indians be removed from Deer Island. Still, many died of starvation and disease. Upon their release, most survivors moved to Natick and sold their land to white settlers. The town was settled by Anglo-European settlers in 1686 and was officially incorporated by act of the Massachusetts General Court on November 2, 1715. It was part of the Puritan and later Congregational culture and religion of New England.