Spencer Phips

Born Spencer Bennett, he was adopted by Massachusetts Governor Sir William Phips, his uncle by marriage, whose name he legally took.

His father, David Bennett, was a local physician,[1] and his mother Rebecca's sister Mary was married to Sir William Phips,[2] who became the first governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1692.

[7] The provincial assembly generally dominated affairs, led by fiscally conservative leaders such as House Speaker Thomas Hutchinson, who were opposed to the inflationary issuance of paper money.

[9][10] During parts of 1754 to 1756, Shirley was often out of the province on military business associated with the French and Indian War, and gubernatorial duties fell to Phips during those periods.

[11] The principal issue during this time was the arrival in November 1755 of several ships containing Acadians, who the British authorities had begun deporting from Nova Scotia after the Battle of Fort Beauséjour.

[14] Phips was one of a group of landowners of a large tract of land on the central coast of modern Maine, then part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

[15] The indigenous Abenaki people objected to these settlements, claiming that their leaders who had made the original land grants had done so without proper authority.

The perceived failure to serve justice heightened tensions with the Abenaki, some of whom embarked on a series of raiding expeditions against frontier communities.

Massachusetts authorities were able to smooth over relations by satisfying Abenaki demands for justice by providing valuable gifts to the affected families.

[19][20] In November 1755, while Shirley was absent from the province, Phips issued a proclamation declaring a war of extermination on the Penobscot, civilians included, offering scalp bounties.

[20] Following a major raid against St. George in spring 1758,[21] Governor Thomas Pownall in 1759 took possession of the Penobscot River and the tribe's homeland "by armed force".