Hannah Webster Emerson ( Also known as Hannah Dustin)
1657-1736
Born: Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts, United States
Died: Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts, United States
1657-1736
Born: Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts, United States
Died: Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts, United States
<strong><font size="2" color="#333333">During an incursion made by Indians upon Haverhill, Mass. , on the 15th of March, 1697 , a party attacked the house of Thomas Dustin , captured Mrs. Dustin , in bed with an infant seven days old, and her nurse Mary Neff , dashed out the brains of the infant against a tree, and set fire to the house. The captives were marched through the wilderness to the home of the Indians on a small island at the junction of the Contoocook River with the Merrimac , near where the village of Penacook now is. In the night, when the Indians were asleep, the two captive women, and a boy who had been captured at Worcester, Mass. , some time before, killed ten of the Indians by striking them upon the head, and the three captives escaped, and returned to Haverhill . On the 21st of the following April the three went to Boston , carrying with them the scalps of the Indians and other evidences of the exploit, and received as a reward from the General Court fifty pounds, and from others many valuable presents. Mr. Dustin 's heroic defence of his seven older children is equally deserving of mention. A monument has since been erected to the memory of Hannah Dustin .</font></strong>
<p>The Buttonwoods Museum houses a large collection of Dustin-Duston Family Association Memorabilia. The Dustin-Duston Family Association is over 100 years old and meets the second Saturday in August each year to commemorate their shared ancestress, Hannah Dustin.</p><p>Hannah Dustin was a Colonial Era woman who was captured by a group of Native Americans on March 15, 1697 along with her mid-wife, Mary Neff, and infant daughter. After her daughter Martha was killed, Hannah and Mary were marched on a grueling fifteen day march of over 70 miles through the wilderness in late March of 1697. Hannah and Mary were being held captive on an island in the Concord River by a family of Native Americans when they rose in the night, killed and scalped 10 of the 12 members of the family before fleeing in a canoe downriver to Haverhill. Although Massachusetts had discontinued the bounty on scalps the year before, Hannah’s husband Thomas Dustin was awarded 25 pounds in her name and Mary Neff, a widow, and Samuel Lenardson, a boy captured from Worcester the year before were each awarded 12.5 pounds for their actions.</p><p>Since her escape, Hannah’s story has circulated around the United States and even England and has been the subject of much controversy. Many think she was a villain for her actions. However, many also think she was a heroine. The statue of Hannah Dustin that sits in Haverhill’s GAR Park is the first publicly funded statue of a woman in America. Whatever opinion you have of her actions, you can visit the Buttonwoods to hear more of her story and see some of the heirlooms the Family Association has collected over time. </p>
<p><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="color: black">"On March 9, 1697, Hannah presented her husband with their twelfth child, Martha. Under the care of a neighbor, Mrs. Mary Neff (daughter of George Corliss and widow of William Neff), she was rapidly recovering, and the family must have retired on the eve of March 15, 1697, in a very peaceful frame of mind, while in the woods near by a roving band of Indians was preparing a rude interruption to all their plans. <br> <br>Early the next morning, Thomas, at work near the house, suddenly spied the approaching Indians. Instantly seizing his gun he mounted his horse and raced for the house, shouting a warning which started the children towards the garrison, while he dashed into the house hoping to save his wife and the baby. Quickly seeing that he was too late, and doubtless urged by Hannah, he rode after the children, resolving to escape with at least one. On overtaking them, finding it impossible to choose between them, he resolved, if possible, to save them all. A few of the Indians pursued the little band of fugitives, firing at them from behind trees and boulders, but Thomas, dismounting and guarding the rear, held back the savages from behind his horse by threatening to shoot whenever one of them exposed himself. Had he discharged his gun they would have closed in at once, for reloading took considerable time. He was successful in his attempt, and all reached the garrison safely, the older children hurrying the younger along, probably carrying them at times. This was probably the garrison of Onesiphorus March on Pecker’s Hill.</span></font></p><p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">Meanwhile a fearful scene was being enacted in the home. Mrs. Neff, trying to escape with the baby, was easily captured. Invading the house, the savages forced Hannah to rise and dress herself. Sitting despairingly in the chimney, she watched them rifle the house of all they could carry away, and was then dragged outside while they fired the house, in her haste forgetting one shoe. A few of the Indians then dragged Hannah and Mrs. Neff, who carried the baby, towards the woods, while the rest of the band, rejoined by those who had been pursing Thomas and the children, attacked other houses in the village, killing twenty-seven and capturing thirteen of the inhabitants. </span></font> </p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black"> Finding that carrying the baby was making it hard for Mrs. Neff to keep up, one of the Indians seized it from her, and before its mother’s horrified eyes dashed out its brains against an apple tree. The Indians, forcing the two women to their utmost pace, at last reached the woods and jointed the squaws and children who had been left behind the night before. Here they were soon after joined by the rest of the redskins with their plunder and other captives. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">Fearing a prompt pursuit, the Indians immediately set out for Canada with their booty. Some of the weaker captives were callously knocked on the head and scalped, but in spite of her condition, poorly clad and partly shod, Hannah, doubtless assisted by Mrs. Neff, managed to keep up, and by her own account marched that day “about a dozen miles”, truly a remarkable feat. During the next few days they traveled about a hundred miles through the unbroken wilderness, over rough trails, in places still covered with the winter’s snow, sometimes deep with mud, and across icy brooks, while rocks tore their half shod feet and their poorly clad bodies suffered from the cold – a terrible journey. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">Near the junction of the Contoocook and Merrimack rivers, twelve of the Indians, two men, three women, and seven children, taking with them Hannah, Mrs. Neff and a boy of fourteen years, Samuel Lennardson (who had been taken prisoner near Worcester about eighteen months before), left the main party and proceeded toward what is now Dustin Island, situated where the two rivers unite, near the present town of Penacook, N.H. This island was the home of the Indian who claimed the women as his captives, and here it was planned to rest for a while before continuing on the long journey to Canada. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">This Indian family, strange as it may seem, had been converted by the French priests at some time in the past, and was accustomed to have prayers three times a day, - in the morning, at noon and at evening, - and ordinarily would not let their children eat or sleep without first saying their prayers. Hannah’s master, who had lived in the family of Rev. Mr. Rowlandson of Lancaster some years before told her that “when he prayed the English way he thought that it was good, but now he found the French way better.” They tried, however, to prevent the two women from praying, but without success, for as they were engaged on the tasks set by their master, they often found opportunities. Their Indian master would sometimes say to them when he saw them dejected, “What need you trouble yourself? If your God will have you delivered, you shall be so!” </span></font></p> <p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">During the long journey Hannah was secretly planning to escape at the first opportunity, spurred by the tales with which the Indians had entertained the captives on the march, picturing how they would be treated after arriving in Canada, stripped and made to “run the gauntlet”; jeered at and beaten and made targets for the young Indians’ tomahawks; how many of the English prisoners had fainted under these tortures; and how they were often sold as slaves to the French. These stories, added to her desire for revenging the death of her baby and the cruel treatment of their captors while on the march, made this desire stronger. When she learned where they were going, a plan took definite shape in her mind, and was secretly communicated to Mrs. Neff and Samuel Lennardson. <br><br>Samuel, who was growing tired of living with the Indians, and in whom a longing for home had been stirred by the presence of the two women, the next day casually asked his master, Bampico, how he had killed the English. “Strike ‘em dere,” said Bampico, touching his temple, and then proceeded to show the boy how to take a scalp. This information was communicated to the women, and they quickly agreed on the details of the plan. They arrived at the island some time before March 30, 1697. </span> </font></p><p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">After reaching the island, the Indians grew careless. The river was in flood. Samuel was considered one of the family, and the two women were considered too worn out to attempt escape, so not watch was set that night and the Indians slept soundly. Hannah decided that the time had come. </span></font><br> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black"><br>Shortly after midnight she woke Mrs. Neff and Samuel. Each, armed with a tomahawk, crept silently to a position near the heads of the sleeping Indians – Samuel near Bampico and Hannah near her master. At a signal from Hannah the tomahawks fell, and so swiftly and surely did they perform their work of destruction that ten of the twelve Indians were killed outright, only two – a severely wounded squaw and a boy whom they had intended to take captive – escaped into the woods. According to a deposition of Hannah Bradley in 1739 (History of Haverhill, Chase, pp. 308-309), “above penny cook the Deponent was forced to travel farther than the rest of the captives, and the next night but one there came to us one Squaw who said that Hannah Dustan and the aforesaid Mary Neff assisted in killing the Indians of her wigwam except herself and a boy, herself escaping very narrowly, shewing to myself & others seven wounds as she said with a Hatched on her head which wounds were given her when the rest were killed.”</span></font></p><p><span style="color: black"><span style="font-size: 11pt">Hastily piling food and weapons into a canoe, including the gun of Hannah’s late master and the tomahawk with which she had killed him, they scuttled the rest of the canoes and set out down the Merrimack River. Suddenly realizing that without proof their story would seem incredible, Hannah ordered a return to the island, where they scalped their victims, wrapping the trophies in cloth which had been cut from Hannah’s loom at the time of the capture, and again set out down the river, each taking a turn at guiding the frail craft while the others slept.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <br> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" size="5">General</font></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style">The Story of Thomas and Hannah Dustin Duston</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2">A compilation of stories told over hundreds of years.</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style"> Poem: Recapitulation, 1874, By Robert B. Caverly</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2">Book: "Heroism of Hannah Duston together with the<br> Indian Wars of New England." The Dustin story told as a poem.</font></p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style">History of the Dustin Family Association and the statues</font></p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2">Includes very detailed information regarding the<br> Dustin Association, the statues and who was involved.</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style"> Dustin / Duston Family Genealogy Facts & Excerpts</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2">Gedcom to HTML representation of Thomas and Hannah Dustin and family.</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style"> Dustin/Duston/Cheney Genealogy & History Message Board.</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2">For the discussion of topics related to the Genealogy & History of the <br> Dustin/Duston/Cheney Family. Have a question about your family genealogy, ask it here.</font></p> <p align="center"> New</p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" size="5">"All Things Hannah"</font></p> <p align="center"> </p> <blockquote> <p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt">This is a collection of galleries containing many rare images relating to the Dustin Duston Family of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Some of the subjects include the Hannah Dustin Duston statues in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, old post cards and even some very rare photos of the 1908 Dustin Duston Family reunion in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Special thanks to http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/ and http://www.asweepingvew.com for the use of their excellent photography of the statues. I will be posting a number of new photos over the coming weeks.</font></p> </blockquote> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> Gallery I - Dustin Duston Garrison House, Haverhill, Massachusetts</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> Gallery II - Statues and Markers relating to Hannah Dustin Duston</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> Gallery III - Other images relating to the Dustin Duston family</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> Gallery IV - Dustin Duston Family plot at the Haverhill Burying Grounds</font></p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" size="5">Cheney Resources</font></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> Excerpts from the book, The Cheney Genealogy, 1897, by C. H. Pope</font></p> <blockquote> <p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt">Hannah Dustin (Cheney), the oldest daughter of Thomas and Hannah Dustin, married Daniel Cheney II, the grandson of John Cheney of Newbury Ma. These excerpts from the Cheney Genealogy include the lineage of the Cheney family beginning with John of Newbury and leading down to Daniel II and Hannah Dustin Cheney. During the raid on the Dustin home, Hannah Dustin Cheney would be in her late teens and likely played a critical role in gathering the children and leading them to safety. C.H. Pope also compiled and published a number of very respected books including "Pioneers of Massachusetts" and the "Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire" to name just a few. Copyright expired. </font></p> </blockquote> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt">The Genealogy of Benjamin and Eunice Cheney</font></p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt">My connection with the Dustin family</font></p> <blockquote> <p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt">Surnames connected to this family that I am currently researching include Cheney, Thompson, Clark, Hubbard, Wells, McCulloch, Allison, Burgess, Whitson, and many others. The Cheney family were early Mormon and RLDS Pioneers such as Dr. Levi Cheney, Amelia Mercy Clark, Mansel Cheney, Chester Cheney, Matthew Cheney, Lewis Cheney (Pres. of the Bank of Holden Mo., Boulder Colo. and Gunnison Colo. ) Richard Cheney, Samantha Cheney, Aaron Cheney, Ephraim Cheney, Harriet/ Hariett Law, Aaron Cheney, Elam Cheney, Emma Cheney, Olive Cheney McBride, Benjamin Cheney Jr, Hurd Cheney, Amasa Cheney and many more. It is quite a large area so you will have to look around. If you should have any information or photos relating to the Benjamin Cheney (Wells, Maine) lines please email them to me.</font></p> </blockquote> <p align="center"></p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style"> </font></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2">Haverhill Statue</font></p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2">Photo Courtesy: Prof. Joseph Modugno (Hawthorneinsalem.org)</font></p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" size="4"> My Compilation of Published Material Concerning</font><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="4"><br> <strong>The Dustin / Duston Family </strong></font></p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" color="#ff0000">Various images added by editor for greater interest.</font></p> <font face="Bookman Old Style"> </font> <blockquote> <p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt" color="#000000">The Duston / Dustin Family, Thomas and Elizabeth (Wheeler) Duston and their descendants. <br>Compiled by the Duston - Dustin Family Association Genealogists</font><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> </font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">"On March 9, 1697, Hannah presented her husband with their twelfth child, Martha. Under the care of a neighbor, Mrs. Mary Neff (daughter of George Corliss and widow of William Neff), she was rapidly recovering, and the family must have retired on the eve of March 15, 1697, in a very peaceful frame of mind, while in the woods near by a roving band of Indians was preparing a rude interruption to all their plans. <br> <br>Early the next morning, Thomas, at work near the house, suddenly spied the approaching Indians. Instantly seizing his gun he mounted his horse and raced for the house, shouting a warning which started the children towards the garrison, while he dashed into the house hoping to save his wife and the baby. Quickly seeing that he was too late, and doubtless urged by Hannah, he rode after the children, resolving to escape with at least one. On overtaking them, finding it impossible to choose between them, he resolved, if possible, to save them all. A few of the Indians pursued the little band of fugitives, firing at them from behind trees and boulders, but Thomas, dismounting and guarding the rear, held back the savages from behind his horse by threatening to shoot whenever one of them exposed himself. Had he discharged his gun they would have closed in at once, for reloading took considerable time. He was successful in his attempt, and all reached the garrison safely, the older children hurrying the younger along, probably carrying them at times. This was probably the garrison of Onesiphorus March on Pecker’s Hill. </span></font></p> </blockquote> <div align="center"> <!-- MSTableType="layout" --> <font face="Bookman Old Style"> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2"><br> </font><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 9pt">Image: Escape of Thomas & children.<br>Source: Some Indian Stories of <br> Early New England, 1922<br> </font><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="2"><br> </font> </p> </font> </div> <blockquote> <p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">Meanwhile a fearful scene was being enacted in the home. Mrs. Neff, trying to escape with the baby, was easily captured. Invading the house, the savages forced Hannah to rise and dress herself. Sitting despairingly in the chimney, she watched them rifle the house of all they could carry away, and was then dragged outside while they fired the house, in her haste forgetting one shoe. A few of the Indians then dragged Hannah and Mrs. Neff, who carried the baby, towards the woods, while the rest of the band, rejoined by those who had been pursing Thomas and the children, attacked other houses in the village, killing twenty-seven and capturing thirteen of the inhabitants. </span></font> </p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black"> Finding that carrying the baby was making it hard for Mrs. Neff to keep up, one of the Indians seized it from her, and before its mother’s horrified eyes dashed out its brains against an apple tree. The Indians, forcing the two women to their utmost pace, at last reached the woods and jointed the squaws and children who had been left behind the night before. Here they were soon after joined by the rest of the redskins with their plunder and other captives. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">Fearing a prompt pursuit, the Indians immediately set out for Canada with their booty. Some of the weaker captives were callously knocked on the head and scalped, but in spite of her condition, poorly clad and partly shod, Hannah, doubtless assisted by Mrs. Neff, managed to keep up, and by her own account marched that day “about a dozen miles”, truly a remarkable feat. During the next few days they traveled about a hundred miles through the unbroken wilderness, over rough trails, in places still covered with the winter’s snow, sometimes deep with mud, and across icy brooks, while rocks tore their half shod feet and their poorly clad bodies suffered from the cold – a terrible journey. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">Near the junction of the Contoocook and Merrimack rivers, twelve of the Indians, two men, three women, and seven children, taking with them Hannah, Mrs. Neff and a boy of fourteen years, Samuel Lennardson (who had been taken prisoner near Worcester about eighteen months before), left the main party and proceeded toward what is now Dustin Island, situated where the two rivers unite, near the present town of Penacook, N.H. This island was the home of the Indian who claimed the women as his captives, and here it was planned to rest for a while before continuing on the long journey to Canada. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">This Indian family, strange as it may seem, had been converted by the French priests at some time in the past, and was accustomed to have prayers three times a day, - in the morning, at noon and at evening, - and ordinarily would not let their children eat or sleep without first saying their prayers. Hannah’s master, who had lived in the family of Rev. Mr. Rowlandson of Lancaster some years before told her that “when he prayed the English way he thought that it was good, but now he found the French way better.” They tried, however, to prevent the two women from praying, but without success, for as they were engaged on the tasks set by their master, they often found opportunities. Their Indian master would sometimes say to them when he saw them dejected, “What need you trouble yourself? If your God will have you delivered, you shall be so!” </span></font></p> <p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">During the long journey Hannah was secretly planning to escape at the first opportunity, spurred by the tales with which the Indians had entertained the captives on the march, picturing how they would be treated after arriving in Canada, stripped and made to “run the gauntlet”; jeered at and beaten and made targets for the young Indians’ tomahawks; how many of the English prisoners had fainted under these tortures; and how they were often sold as slaves to the French. These stories, added to her desire for revenging the death of her baby and the cruel treatment of their captors while on the march, made this desire stronger. When she learned where they were going, a plan took definite shape in her mind, and was secretly communicated to Mrs. Neff and Samuel Lennardson. <br><br>Samuel, who was growing tired of living with the Indians, and in whom a longing for home had been stirred by the presence of the two women, the next day casually asked his master, Bampico, how he had killed the English. “Strike ‘em dere,” said Bampico, touching his temple, and then proceeded to show the boy how to take a scalp. This information was communicated to the women, and they quickly agreed on the details of the plan. They arrived at the island some time before March 30, 1697. </span> </font></p> <p align="left"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">After reaching the island, the Indians grew careless. The river was in flood. Samuel was considered one of the family, and the two women were considered too worn out to attempt escape, so not watch was set that night and the Indians slept soundly. Hannah decided that the time had come. </span></font><br> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black"><br>Shortly after midnight she woke Mrs. Neff and Samuel. Each, armed with a tomahawk, crept silently to a position near the heads of the sleeping Indians – Samuel near Bampico and Hannah near her master. At a signal from Hannah the tomahawks fell, and so swiftly and surely did they perform their work of destruction that ten of the twelve Indians were killed outright, only two – a severely wounded squaw and a boy whom they had intended to take captive – escaped into the woods. According to a deposition of Hannah Bradley in 1739 (History of Haverhill, Chase, pp. 308-309), “above penny cook the Deponent was forced to travel farther than the rest of the captives, and the next night but one there came to us one Squaw who said that Hannah Dustan and the aforesaid Mary Neff assisted in killing the Indians of her wigwam except herself and a boy, herself escaping very narrowly, shewing to myself & others seven wounds as she said with a Hatched on her head which wounds were given her when the rest were killed.” </span></font></p> </blockquote> <div align="center"> <!-- MSTableType="layout" --> <font face="Bookman Old Style"> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 9pt"><br> Painting: Julius Stearns<br> Historically incorrect, the painting <br> depicts three women, when in reality there <br> were only two and a young boy.<br> <br> </font> <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black"><br> </span></p> <p align="center"> </p> </font> </div> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style"><span style="color: black"> <span style="font-size: 11pt">Hastily piling food and weapons into a canoe, including the gun of Hannah’s late master and the tomahawk with which she had killed him, they scuttled the rest of the canoes and set out down the Merrimack River. Suddenly realizing that without proof their story would seem incredible, Hannah ordered a return to the island, where they scalped their victims, wrapping the trophies in cloth which had been cut from Hannah’s loom at the time of the capture, and again set out down the river, each taking a turn at guiding the frail craft while the others slept.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt"> </span></span></font></p><p><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="color: black"> Thus, traveling by night and hiding by day, they finally reached the home of John Lovewell in old Dunstable, now a part of Nashua, N.H. Here they spent the night, and a monument was erected here in 1902, commemorating the event. The following morning the journey was resumed and the weary voyagers at last beached their canoe at Bradley’s Cove, where Creek Brook flows into the Merrimack. Continuing their journey on foot, they at last reached Haverhill in safety. Their reunion with loved ones who had given them up for lost can better be imagined than described. Doubtless Samuel was a hero of the younger generation for many days.</span></font></p><blockquote> <p><span style="color: black"> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt">Thomas took his wife and the others to the new house which he had been building at the time of the massacre, and which was now completed. Here for some days they rested. </font> </span></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">In 1694 a bounty of fifty pounds had been placed on Indian scalps, reduced to twenty-five pounds in 1695, and revoked completely on Dec. 16, 1696. Thomas Duston believed that the act of the two women and the boy had been of great value in destroying enemies of the colony, who had been murdering innocent women and children, and decided that the bounty should be claimed. So he took the two women and the boy to Boston, where they arrived with the trophies on April 21, 1697. Here he filed a petition to the Governor and Council, which was read on June 8, 1697 in the House (Mass. Archives Vol 70, p. 350), setting forth the above belief and claiming the reward, pleading that “ the merit of the Action remains the same” and claiming that “ your Petitioner having Lost his Estate in the Calamity wherein his wife was carried into her captivity rendrs him the fitter object for what consideracon the publick Bounty shall judge proper for what hath been herein done”, etc. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black"> The same day the General Court voted payment of a bounty of twenty-five pounds “unto Thomas Dunston of Haverhill , on behalf of Hannah his wife”, and twelve pounds ten shillings each to Mary Neff and Samuel. This was approved on June 16, 1697, and the order in Council for the payment of the several allowances was passed Dec. 4, 1697. (Chapter 10, Province Laws, Mass. Archives.) </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">While in Boston Hannah told her story to Rev. Cotton Mather, whose morbid mind was stirred to its depths. He perceived her escape in the nature of a miracle, and his description of it in his “Magnalia Christi Americana” is extraordinary, though in the facts doubtless quite correct and corroborated by the evidence. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">In Samuel Sewall’s Diary, Volume 1, pages 452 and 453, we find the following entry on May 12, 1697: </span></font></p> <p><font face="Bookman Old Style"> <span style="color: black"> <font size="2"> Fourth-day, May12….Hanah Dustin came to see us:….She saith her master, who she kill’d did formerly live with Mr. Roulandson at Lancaster: He told her, that when he pray’d the English way, he thought that was good: but now he found the French way was better. The single man shewed the night before, to Saml Lenarson, how he used to knock Englishmen on the head and take off their Scalps: little thinking that the Captives would make some of their first experiment upon himself. Sam. Lenarson kill’d him.</font><font size="2"> </font></span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">This remarkable exploit of Hannah Duston, Mary Neff, and Samuel Lennardson was received with amazement throughout the colonies, and Governor Nicholson of Maryland sent her a suitably inscribed silver tankard. </span></font></p><blockquote> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black"> Monuments have been erected on the island (1874) and in Monument Square, Haverhill (1861), commemorating the fame of a women, to be erected in the United States was one to Hannah Duston on June 1, 1861, in Haverhill. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">Samuel Lennardson, on his return to Worcester, found that his father had removed to Preston, Conn., and there he grew to manhood, married Lydia____, and died May 11, 1718, leaving three sons and two daughters. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">Little is known of Hannah’s life or that of Mary Neff after this event. </span></font></p> <p> <font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"> <span style="color: black">And now, let us return to Thomas Duston after his escape with the children. The fear induced by the massacre caused Haverhill to at once establish several new garrison houses. One of these was the brick house which Thomas was building for his family at the time of the massacre. This was</span></font><font face="Bookman Old Style" style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="color: black"> ordered completed, and though the clay pits were not far from the house, a guard of soldiers was placed over those who brought clay to the house. The order establishing Thomas Duston’s house as a garrison was dated April 5, 1697. He was appointed master of the garrison and assigned Josiah Heath, Sen., Josiah Heath, Jun., Joseph Bradley, John Heath, Joseph Kingsbury, and Thomas Kingsbury as a guard."</span></font></p><p> </p> </blockquote><p> </p> </blockquote><p><font face="Bookman Old Style"><span style="color: black"><span style="font-size: 11pt"><br> </span></span></font></p> <div align="center"> <!-- MSTableType="layout" --> <font face="Bookman Old Style"> <p align="center"> <br></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font size="2"><br> </font><font style="font-size: 9pt"><br> </font><font size="2"><br> </font> </p> </font> </div> <p> </p><p> </p>
<p><strong>Hannah Duston</strong> (born Hannah Emerson, December 23, 1657 - c. 1736) was a colonial New England woman who, having been captured during an Indian raid, escaped from her captors by killing them in the night and fleeing in their canoe. She is believed to be the first woman honored in the United States with a statue. (Due to the phonetic spelling of her time, her last name has also been written <strong>Dustin</strong>, <strong>Dustan</strong>, and even <strong>Durstan</strong>.)</p><p>Hannah, her husband Thomas Duston, and their nine children were living in Haverhill, Massachusetts when in 1697 the town was attacked by Abenaki Indians. Hannah, her baby Martha, who was only days old, and her nurse Mary Neff were captured and forced to march into the wilderness. The Indians took the baby from Hannah and killed her by smashing her against a tree. Hannah and Mary traveled with a family group north, during which time they were joined by Samuel Lennardson, a 14-year-old white captive. Along the way, they stopped at an island <span><span><span style="white-space: nowrap">43°17′16″N,</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap">71°35′28″W</span></span><span><span style="display: inline-block; font-size: 0px; background-image: none; vertical-align: middle; border-color: black"></span></span></span> in the Merrimack River at the mouth of the Contoocook River near what is now Boscawen, New Hampshire, where the party stayed some days. Hannah there led Mary and Samuel in a revolt after all were asleep, using the Indians' tomahawks to kill ten of the twelve Indians, including six children.<sup>[1]</sup> (A young boy and a woman escaped.) The former captives immediately left in a canoe, taking with them scalps as proof of the incident and to collect a bounty.<sup>[1]</sup></p><p>They traveled down the river only during the night, and after several days arrived back in Haverhill. The Massachusetts General Court later awarded them a reward for killing the raiders. Hannah received 25 pounds, and Mary and Samuel split another 25 pounds. (various accounts say 50 or 25 pounds, and some accounts allege that only Duston received the award).</p><p>The event became well known, due in part to the account of Cotton Mather in his <em>Magnalia Christi Americana</em>.<sup>[2]</sup> She became more famous in the nineteenth century as her story was retold by Henry David Thoreau and in many genealogical histories. In the 1870s, a statue of Hannah was placed in Haverhill town square, and another on the island in New Hampshire.</p><p>Hannah was the daughter of early colonist Michael Emerson and his wife, the former Hannah Webster.</p>
<div>TITLE: Hannah'a Statue LOCATION: Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts DESCRIPTION: Hannah Dustin Controversy in Massachusetts Hannah_duston_by_junius_brutus_stearns A debate is brewing in Haverhill, Massachusetts, over an appropriate symbol to signify the city's rebirth. City fathers have seized upon the story of Hannah Dustin as a symbol of bravery. Others in the city are not so sure she deserves the honor. Hannah Emerson Dustin, her husband Thomas, and their nine children were living in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1697 when Abenaki Indians attacked the town. Hannah, her one-day-old baby, and her nurse, Mary Neff, were captured and forced to march into the wilderness. Early in the forced march, the Indians took Hannah's baby daughter from the mother's arms and killed the infant by smashing its head against a tree. Hannah and Mary were forced to travel with an Indian family group northwards, during which time they were joined by Samuel Lennardson, a 14-year-old white captive. The Indians and their captives stopped at an island in the Merrimack River near what is now Boscawen, New Hampshire. When the Indians fell asleep, Hannah seized a tomahawk. She and her two co-captives killed ten Indians: six children, two women, and two men. A young Indian boy and a woman escaped. Hannah then scalped the dead Indians as proof of the deed. The former captives jumped into a canoe, taking the scalps with them. They traveled down the river only during the night, and after several days arrived back in Haverhill. The Massachusetts General Assembly later gave them a reward for killing the raiders. Hannah became famous in the nineteenth century when her story was retold by Henry David Thoreau and then was written into many genealogical histories. In the 1870s, a statue of Hannah was placed in the Haverhill town square, and another statue of her was erected on the island in New Hampshire where the killings and scalping took place. Haverhill is now looking for a symbol of revitalization in the old mill city. Some Haverhill residents say that Hannah Dustin is just the sort of figure the city needs because she portrays bravery, tenacity, and vitality. Other city residents don't think Dustin's bloodstained story of brutal savagery is quite the image the city wants. They say Haverhill has other notable figures to choose from, including poet John Greenleaf Whittier and Archie comic creator, Bob Montana. The Abenaki tribe, whose members Dustin killed, says in their version of the story that Dustin is a murderer and not a victim. However, that version seems to nicely ignore the Indians' treatment of Hannah's infant child and the many other white settlers killed by Indians. Indians took more than 1,600 whites as hostage in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Most hostages never returned. Histories are also full of stories about white settlers killing Indians. Both sides obviously practiced violence often in those times. Was Hannah Dustin a murderer or a heroine? Are we reacting in an overly "political correct" fashion today to the harsh realities of frontier life in the 1600s? You can read more about this controversy at http://www.cnhins.com/homepage/editorspicks_story_230051335.html </div>