Elizabeth Catlin

  General Notes:

Elizabeth was killed on the march to Canada after the Deerfield raid, probably on 7 March 1703/4, the seventh day on the march north, on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River between the Williams River and Mill Brook (Carter 1884, 134). Elizabeth his daughter was taken away to Québec for a life of captivity.

Many Deerfield families suffered in the 1704 raid, but none more thanJames's in-laws, the Catlins. Besides the death of his widow, John Catlin, his father-in-law, and Jonathan Catlin, his brother-in-law, were killed when their house was burnt down upon them. His mother-in-law, Mary Baldwin, died on 9 April 1704, undoubtedly still mourning for her family. His brother-in-law Joseph fell in the Meadow skirmish. His brother-in-law John Catlin had his house burnt. His sister-in-law Mary Catlin, the wife of Thomas French, was killed. And his sister-in-law Ruth Catlin was captured in 1704 and not returned to Deerfield until 1707.

No known tombstone was erected for James at the time of his death. However, Charles Corss, a descendant, erected a tombstone for James atthe end of the nineteenth or the beginning of the twentieth century.This tombstone still stands in the Deerfield graveyard. It reads as follows (Baker and Coleman 1924, 19):

In memory of
JAMES CORSE
first of the name in America,
m. in Deerfield abt 1690,
d. May 15, 1696, aged abt 30
ELIZABETH, his wife,
dau. of Mr John & Mary (Baldwin) Catlin
Captured Feb. 29, 1703/4,
k. on the march to Canada, aged abt 34
Children.
EBENEZER, b. Apr. 7, 1692
JAMES, b. Mar 20, 1694
ELIZABETH, b. Feb. 4, 1696
was carried captive to Canada
and never came back.
She m. at St. Lambert, Nov. 6, 1712,
Jean Dumontel
She m. (2) at St. Lambert, Jan. 6, 1730
Pierre Monet.
She was the mother of 15 children
the last (twins) b. Apr. 12, 1737

This is, in sum, the meager facts we have regarding James Corse. Because it appears that James died fairly young, he had very little time to leave his mark and was not recorded often in official papers. His most important contribution to New England and, ironically, New Francewas his offspring.

Elizabeth married James Corse. (James Corse was born about 1665 and died on 15 May 1696.)