Some of the details of this event differ, depending on the account. The best source I have found is Captive Histories, edited by Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney, U of Massachusetts Press, 2006, which contains an edited version of Stephen William's account of Daniel Belding's capture, pages 54-62.The Indians attacked Deerfield on 6 September 1696.  They encountered two Englishmen in the woods; one was able to run away and hid; the other (John Gillette), was captured. The first home they came to was the Belden (or Belding) residence. It was not far from the center of town, where a pallisade (called the fort) had been errected around ten houses. Elizabeth Foote (1654-1696), the mother, and 8 Belden children died, were captured, or were wounded: the following children were at home during that time: Nathanlel, Daniel, Sarah, Hester (Esther), Samuel, Abigail (1690), John, and Thankful. Nathaniel (age 21) was captured; Daniel (age 16) was killed; Sarah (age 14) escaped capture by hiding in a tobacco chamber (one account says she was killed, but she survived to marry some years later); Hester (age 13) was taken captive;  Samuel (age 9), resisted by kicking and scratching and was severely wounded with a hatchet to his head but survived; Abigail (age 6) was wounded with a gun shot to the arm, supposed to have come from the "fort" where she was running for shelter, but survived; John (age 3) was killed; and Thankful (less than a year old) was killed. Daniel, Sr. was taken captive with Nathaniel, and Hester; they were taken to Canada. On the way, their party attacked enemy Indians, and one was captured but later escaped. Belding asked the captured Indian what he thought would become of them; he replied that some would be given to the French and some would be kept. When they reached the Mohawk village of Kahnawake on the St. Lawrence River, the male prisoners were forced to "run the gauntlet," and Belding, "being a very nimble or light-footed man, received but a few blows, save at first setting out, but the other two [men] were much abused by clubs, firebrands, and so forth" (58). On Oct. 9, Nathaniel and Gilette were given to the French; Nathaniel was put with the Holy Sisters of St. Joseph at a hopsital (Hotel-Dieu de Montreal). Daniel was sold a year later (9 July 1687) to be a servant in Montreal to the priests at a seminary (mis-reported in one account as Jesuits, but they were the Congregation of Saint Suplice). He reported that he waited on them, cut wood, and worked the garden, and that he was well-treated. In April of 1698, Peter Schuyler and Colonel Abraham Schuyler and some others including a Dutch official from New York came to Canada and won from the French govenor the release of all captives. All those over sixteen were to return home and all those under sixteen were allowed to decide whether to stay or leave. Belden and his son and his daughter and about 20 others were taken to Albany and given hospitality by the Dutch who lived there. His brother John (Norwalk, CT) sent money for them to get new clothes. The Dutch offered to send the family directly back to Deerfield, but after a 3-week stay in Albany they chose to go to New York to a place provided by his brother, and from there they took a boat to Stamford, then Norwalk, where they stayed a while before returning to Deerfield.  It is not clear why Mary (age 19) is never mentioned as she was not yet married.(http://www.members.tripod.com/~Silvie/Belden.html)From the Pane-Joyce Genealogy (http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr05/rr05_423.htm)(Source 167 is the Genealogies and Biographies of Ancient Wethersfield. Source 295 is Abram W. Foote, Foote Family comprising the genealogy and history of Nathaniel Foote of Wethersfield, Conn. and his descendants, Tuttle, Rutland, VT, 1907.)12322. Elizabeth Foote. Born in 1654 in Hadley, MA.167 Elizabeth died on 16 Sep 1696 in Deerfield, MA.167Elizabeth was killed by Indians 16 Sep 1696, and many of her children were captured, wounded, or killed.167Children of Daniel and Elizabeth (Foote) Belden:     i. William, b. 1671;     ii. Richard, b. 1672;     iii. Elizabeth, b. 8 Oct 1673, taken captive by Indians;     iv. Nathaniel, b. 26 Jun 1675, d. 21 Aug 1714;     v. Mary, b. 17 Nov 1677;     vi. Daniel, b. 1 Sep 1680, slain by Indians 16 Sep 1696;     vii. Sarah, b. 15 Mar 1682, slain 16 Sep 1696;     viii. Esther, b. 29 Sep 1683, taken captive;     ix. Abigail, b. 1686;     x. Samuel, b. 10 Apr 1687 at Hatfield, severely wounded;     xi. John, b. at Deerfield, d. 25 Jun 1689;     xii. Abigail b. 18 Aug 1690, wounded;     xiii. John, b. 28 Feb 1693, slain at three years old;     xiv. Thankful, b. 21 Dec 1695, slain before her first birthday.295On 10 Nov 1670 Elizabeth married Daniel Belden, son of William Belden (ca 1622-1655) & Thomasine Sherwood (ca 1630-).167 Born on 30 Nov 1648 in Wethersfield, CT.167 Daniel died in Deerfield, MA, on 14 Aug 1732; he was 83.167Daniel, of Hatfield, but later of Deerfield.167From the Hatfield Town Records:     “Elizabeth, wife to Daniel Beldenye head of the family, together with Daniel Belden, John Belden and Thankful Belden, their ehidren, were all of them slaine by the enemie September 16, 1696.”     “Sept. 16, 1696. The Indians came along from up Green River to the town, and assaulted Mr. Daniel Belden’s house; took Mr. Belden, his son Nathaniel and daughter Esther captive, killed his wife and three ehildren, and wounded Samuel and Abigail, but they recovered, altho’ Samuel had a hatchet stuck in his head, and some of his brains came out at his wound. Samuel was born Apr. 10, 1687.”From Mather's Magnalia:     “The Indians making an Assault upon Deerfield, in this Present War, they struck a Hatchet some Inches into the Skull of a Boy there, even so deep that the Boy felt the force of a Wrench used by ‘em to get it out. There he lay a long while Weltering in his Blood; they found him, they Dress’d him; considerable Quantities of his Brain came out from time to time when they opened the Wound, yet the Lad recovered, and is now a Iiving Monument of the Power and Goodness of God.”