John Alderman

John Alderman, also known as Isaac and Antoquan, was a Wampanoag praying Indian who shot and killed the rebellious Native American leader Metacomet (King Philip) in 1676, during King Philip's War, while taking part in a punitive expedition led by Captain Benjamin Church. Alderman was a subsachem in the Westport/Dartmouth area of what is now Bristol County, Massachusetts. He was called Alderman because he was considered a close associate and counselor for King Philip. When Philip summarily murdered Alderman's brother in front of him because of his dissension, Alderman changed sides and joined Benjamin Church, an English colonist who had settled in nearby Little Compton. Church was known for his preference of using Indian soldiers to fight other Indians, and later mounted five other expeditions to Maine during Queen Anne's War using Indian soldiers, although no muster roles or records exis...