James Bly Research

An interesting anecdote regarding the origin of Daniel's father, Jacob, comes from the Hudson-Mohawk Family Memoirs, Vol. II, Hudson-Mohawk Family Histories. It states: "Early in the seventeenth century, Jacob Galusha (then about eight years old) was abducted from Wales by persons interested in an estate to which he was likely to become heir. He was sent to New England, and eventually settled near Plymouth, Massachusetts, where he married and reared two sons, Jacob and Daniel." This story has not been authenticated nor is there any way to be assured this is the same Jacob and Daniel. Another source, Iva Rae Galusha Rogers, of Eddyville, Kentucky, lists a Jacob Galusha, born about 1620 in the Isle of Jersey off the coast of the English Channel. He came to America about 1660 with his eight year old son, Daniel. This is, again, not authenticated but more believable. Per the Dictionaire Genealogique des Families Canadiennes by Tanquay, Vol. 4, page 163:Galuccia, Daniel, born 1652, de le Ile Jersey; d. 16 Nov 1706 a Montreal, prio, en juillet 1706, a la Nouvelle Augleterre. Per The Early Generations of the Founders of Old Dunstable:Daniel Galusha, the ancestor of a numerous family in Massachusetts and Vermont, was a soldier in King Phillip's War. In the summer of 1676, he was one of the men posted at the garrison in Springfield. Records show he was paid L-14-15-00 on 24 Aug 1676. He was also paid L-04-17-06 on the same day. In this war, many of the soldiers assigned their pay to the towns from which they enlisted. Daniel Galusha assigned his pay to the town of Redding (new Reading) but there are no records to show he ever lived there. It is not known when he came to America or where he had lived previous to his service in the war. When discharged at Springfield, he repaired to Chelmsford and there married October 10, 1676, Hannah Goold, born July 18, 1655, daughter of Francis and Rose Goold of Chelmsford and a sister of Samuel and John Goold of Dunstable. He lived in Chelmsford about twenty years and their seven children were born. There is no record of his death in Chelmsford but the record of birth of the youngest child is in these words: Richard, son of Widow Galusha, was born December 4, 1696. The family removed from Chelmsford to Dunstable soon after 1696, and lived near Salmon brook. In Queen Anne's War, the house of the Galusha family was one of the fortified garrisons. The Indians made an attack upon the house on July 3, 1706. The house was burned, and their daughter, Rachel, was slain. Both Penhallow and Pike, who were contemporaneous writers make mention of the event. In the journal of Rev. John Pike, the story is briefly told. "Near about the same time, or soon after, they assaulted another house belonging to one Jacob Guleutia, a Dutchman. The house was burnt, some persons were killed and some escaped." Penhallow, in "Narrative of the Indian Wars" written at the time and printed in 1726, says: "After that small party attacked Daniel Galeutia's house, who held them play for some time, til the old man's courage failed; when on surrendering himself, he informed them of the state of the garrison, how that one man was killed and that only two men and a boy left, which caused them to rally anew, and with greater courage than before. Upon which the boy got out on the back side, leaving only Jacob to fight the battle, who for some time defended himself with much bravery; but overpowered with force, and finding none to assist him, was obliged to quit and make his escape as well as he could; but before he got far, the enemy laid hold of him once and again, and yet with much struggling he escaped himself. Upon this they burnt the house." In this narrative, Penhallow mentions Daniel Galusha calling him an old man in specific terms that challenges the accuracy of the Chelmsford records, which mentions widow Galusha in 1696. That Daniel Galusha, the father, was living in 1706 is confirmed by the testimony on one of his sons. In 1712, Daniel Galusha, born in 1686, petitioned the General Court concerning a gun, the value of which had been deducted from his wages on the pay roll in 1706. He recites: "About six years past, when the Indians attacked and took the house of Daniel Galusha, his father, in Dunstable, he being posted there under her Majesty's pay, and serving there with his own arms, while running hastily to take his own gun, by mistake he took one of the public arms, and the enemy pressing sorely upon him, he was forced to make his escape, the house being burned by the enemy, with his gun and others therein." It will be observed that Pike calls Mr. Galusha a Dutchman, and in the Court Records of Massachusetts he is so designated. It is a tradition among the descendents that he was a native of Wales. After the destruction of their home in Dunstable, the widow, Hannah lived a short time in Brookline, removing to the home of her son, Daniel, in Weston in 1714. Per the Galusha-Galeucia Family by Janet Galeucia Helgemoe:Family legend says the ancestors fled France during the persecution of the Huguenots. They went to the Netherlands, then to the Isle of Jersey. Daniel was put on a ship for America when he was eight years old because he was heir to an estate and someone wanted him out of the way. He landed in Plymouth Colony. No sailing records or records in Plymouth bear out this legend. However, many persons were not on the sailing lists to this country, particularly if they were sailing under difficult circumstances.