Hannah Emerson Duston (1657-1736?), Colonial Heroine Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts Bay Colony, on December 23, 1657, Hannah Emerson was married to Thomas Duston (or Dustin, or Dustan) in 1677. During King William's War (1689-97), the French under Count Frontenac frequently incited Native Americans to raid the English settlements, and on March 15, 1697, a band of Abnakis made such a raid on Haverhill. Twenty-seven women and children were killed in the raid. Less than a week from childbed, Hannah Duston was captured along with her infant daughter and a nurse, Mary Neff. Hannah's husband managed to escape with their seven other children. The baby was brutally killed, and Hannah and Mary were taken northward by their captors. After a march of 100 miles, the party paused at an island (afterward known as Penacook, or Dustin, Island) in the confluence of the Merrimack and Contoocook rivers above the site of present-day Concord, New Hampshire. There the two women were held and told that after a short journey to a further village they would be stripped and scourged. On the island they met Samuel Lennardson (or Leonardson), an English boy who had been captured more than a year earlier. During the night of March 30, 1697, Hannah and the boy secured hatchets and attacked their captors; 10 were killed, 9 of them by Hannah. The three captives then stole a canoe and escaped, but Hannah turned back and scalped the 10 corpses so as to have proof of the exploit. They reached Haverhill safely and on April 21, 1687, presented their story to the General Court in Boston, which awarded the sum of 25 pounds to Hannah Duston and half that to each of her companions. Duston lived out the rest of her life quietly, moving after the death of her husband in 1732 to Ipswich, Massachusetts, where she died, probably in early 1736.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica.
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The Hannah Dustin Story - March 15, 1697 Hannah Emerson Dustin has a monument erected in the center of Haverhill, MA, commemorating the extensive ordeal she endured when she was captured by Indians on March 15, 1697. They killed her 1 week old daughter Martha and forced her to walk for days until they arrived at an island in the middle of the Merrimack river about 6 miles north of Concord, NH. There she met Samuel Lennardson, a young English boy who had been there about one year. They became friends and plotted to find a way of escape. They were soon informed that they were to start traveling again to a distant Indian settlement, so they determined to escape before the journey. On the March 31, 1697, they got up around midnight and killed the ten Indians and escaped down the river to Hudson [Haverhill?], NH, with their scalps to prove their story and collect a bounty.
Below are the four plaques on each side of the statue depicting the ordeal: The taking of the prisoners, the retaliation by her husband, the killing of the Indians, and the return by canoe down the Merrimack river.
To visit the statue in Haverhill, travel on I-495 to exit 50. Turn east on Route 97 (Broadway St.) for about 1 mile passing on the way through a small rotary that surrounds the statue of Lafayette, and arrive a few blocks later at the Haverhill Common/GAR Park. The statue is on the eastern end of the common facing the Haverhill Public Library across the street.
Today you can travel the distance from Haverhill to the island where Hannah escaped her captors in about an hour by car (66 miles). Leaving Haverhill on I-495 southbound from exit 50, travel to exit 40, turn north on I-93 and travel to Exit 17 which is 6 miles north of Concord, NH (you must pass through a toll between exit 16 and 17). Then you travel west on Route US 4 for about 1/2 mile to a Park-and-Ride parking lot beside the Merrimack River. A historical marker greets you at the entrance to the lot. At the west end of the lot there is a paved path leading down to the river and over an old unused railroad bridge to the island. There you are surprised by a very tall monument with a statue of Hannah on the top. The island is situated at a fork in the Merrimack River. It is unfortunate that there is no sign on I-93 Northbound at Exit 17 to let you know about the monument.
Read the detailed story of Hannah's ordeal from the book, "Historical Collections... of every town in Massachusetts" by John Warner Barber, pub. 1839.
Read the original version by Rev. Cotton Mather who interviewed her himself and then wrote the story!
*****
THE STORY OF HANNAH EMERSON DUSTIN On the 15th of March, 1697, a body of Indians made a descent on the westerly part of the town of Haverhill, MA, and approached the house of Mr. Thomas Dustin. They came, as they were wont, arrayed with all the terrors of a savage war dress, with their muskets charged for the contest, their tomahawks drawn for the slaughter, and their scalping knives unsheathed and glittering in the sunbeams. Mr. Dustin at this time was engaged abroad in his daily labor. When the terrific shouts of the blood-hounds first fell on his ear, he seized his gun, mounted his horse, and hastened to his house, with the hope of escorting to a place of safety his family, which consisted of his wife, whom he tenderly and passionately loved, and who had been confined only seven days in childbed, her nurse, Mrs. Mary Neff, and eight young children. Immediately upon his arrival, he rushed into his house, and found it a scene of confusion - the women trembling for their safety, and the children weeping and calling on their mother for protection. He instantly ordered seven of his children to fly in an opposite direction from that in which the danger was approaching, and went himself to assist his wife. But he was too late - before she could arise from her bed, the enemy were upon them.
Mr. Dustin, seeing there was no hope of saving his wife from the clutches of the foe, flew from the house, mounted his horse, and rode full speed after his flying children. The agonized father supposed it impossible to save them all, and he determined to snatch from death the child which shared the most of his affections. He soon came up with the infant brood; he heard their glad voices and saw the cheerful looks that overspread their countenances, for they felt themselves safe while under his protection. He looked for the child of his love - where was it? He scanned the little group from the oldest to the youngest, but he could not find it. They all fondly loved him - they called him by the endearing title of father, were flesh of his flesh, and stretched out their little arms toward him for protection. He gazed upon them, and faltered in his resolution, for there was none whom he could leave behind; and, indeed, what parent could, in such a situation, select the child which shared the most of his affections? He could not do it, and therefore resolved to defend them from the murderers, or die at their side.
A small party of the Indians pursued Mr. Dustin as he fled from the house, and soon overtook him and his flying children. They did not, however, approach very near, for they saw his determination, and feared the vengeance of a father, but skulked behind the trees and fences, and fired upon him and his little company. Mr. Dustin dismounted from his horse, placed himself in the rear of his children, and returned the fire of the enemy often and with good success. In this manner he retreated for more than a mile, alternately encouraging his terrified charge, and loading and fireing his gun, until he lodged them safely in a forsaken house. The Indians, finding that they could not conquer him, returned to their companions, expecting, no doubt, that they should there find victims, on which they might exercise their savage cruelty.
The party which entered the house when Mr. Dustin left it, found Mrs. Dustin in bed, and the nurse attempting to fly with the infant in her arms. They ordered Mrs. Dustin to rise instantly, while one of them took the infant from the arms of the nurse, carried it out, and dashed out its brains against an apple-tree. After plundering the house they set it on fire, and commenced their retreat, though Mrs. Dustin had but partly dressed herself, and was without a shoe on one of her feet. Mercy was a stranger to the breasts of the conquerors, and the unhappy women expected to receive no kindnesses from their hands. The weather at the time was exceedingly cold, the the March-wind blew keen and piercing, and the earth was alternately covered with snow and deep mud.
They travelled twelve miles the first day, and continued their retreat, day by day, following a circuitous route, until they reached the home of the Indian who claimed them as his property, which was on a small island, now called Dustin's Island, at the mouth of the Contoocook River, about six miles above the state-house in Concord, New Hampshire. Notwithstanding their intense suffering for the death of the child - their anxiety for those whom they had left behind, and who they expected had been cruelly butchered - their sufferings from cold and hunger, and from sleeping on the damp earth, with nothing but an inclement sky for a covering - and their terror for themselves, lest the arm that, as they supposed, had slaughtered those whom they dearly loved, would soon be made red with their blood, - notwithstanding all this, they performed the journey without yielding, and arrived at their destination in comparative health.
The family of their Indian master consisted of two men, three women, and seven children; besides an English boy, named Samuel Lennardson, who was taken prisoner about a year previous, at Worcester. Their master, some years before, had lived in the family of Rev. Mr. Rowlandson, of Lancaster, and he told Mrs. Dustin that "when he prayed the English way he thought it was good, but now he found the French way better."
These unfortunate women had been but a few days with the Indians, when they were informed that they must soon start for a distant Indian settlement, and that, upon their arrival, they would be obliged to conform to the regulations always required of prisoners, whenever they entered the village, which was to be stripped, scourged, and run the gauntlet in a state of nudity. The gauntlet consisted of two files of Indians, of both sexes and of all ages, containing all that could be mustered in the village; and the unhappy prisoners were obliged to run between them, when they were scoffed at and beaten by each one as they passed, and were sometimes marks at which the younger Indians threw their hatchets. This cruel custom was often practised by many of the tribes, and not unfrequently the poor prisoner sunk beneath it. Soon as the two women were informed of this, they determined to escape as speedily as possible. They could not bear to be exposed to the scoffs and unrestrained gaze of their savage conquerors - death would be preferable. Mrs. Dustin soon planned a mode of escape, appointed the 31st inst. for its accomplishment, and prevailed upon her nurse and the boy to join her. The Indians kept no watch, for the boy had lived with them so long they considered him as one of their children, and they did not expect that the women, unadvised and unaided, would attempt to escape, when success, at the best, appeared so desperate.
On the day previous to the 31st, Mrs. Dustin wished to learn on what part of the body the Indians struck their victims when they would despatch them suddenly, and how they took off a scalp. With this view she instructed the boy to make inquiries of one of the men. Accordingly, at a convenient opportunity, he asked one of them where he would strike a man if he would kill him instantly, and how to take off a scalp. The man laid his finger on his temple - "Strike 'em there," said he; and then instructed him how to scalp. The boy then communicated his information to Mrs. Dustin.
The night at length arrived, and the whole family retired to rest, little suspecting that the most of them would never behold another sun. Long before the break of day, Mrs. Dustin arose, and, having ascertained that they were all in a deep sleep, awoke her nurse and the boy, when they armed themselves with tomahawks, and despatched ten of the twelve. A favorite boy they designedly left; and one of the squaws, whom they left for dead, jumped up, and ran with him into the woods. Mrs. Dustin killed her master, and Samuel Lennardson despatched the very Indian who told him where to strike, and how to take off a scalp. The deed was accomplished before the day began to break, and, after securing what little provision the wigwam of their dead master afforded, they scuttled all the boats but one, to prevent pursuit, and with that started for their homes. Mrs. Dustin took with her a gun that belonged to her master, and the tomahawk with which she committed the tragical deed. They had not proceeded far, however, when Mrs. Dustin perceived that they had neglected to take their scalps, and feared that her neighbors, if they ever arrived at their homes, would not credit their story, and would ask them for some token or proof. She told her fears to her companions, and they immediately returned to the silent wigwam, took off the scalps of the fallen, and put them into a bag. They then started on their journey anew, with the gun, tomahawk, and the bleeding trophies, - palpable witnesses of their heroic and unparalleled deed.
A long and weary journey was before them, but they commenced it with cheerful hearts, each alternately rowing and steering their little bark. Though they had escaped from the clutches of their unfeeling master, still they were surrounded with dangers. They were thinly clad, the sky was still inclement, and they were liable to be re-captured by strolling bands of Indians, or by those who would undoubtedly pursue them so soon as the squaw and the boy had reported their departure, and the terrible vengeance they had taken; and were they again made prisoners, they well knew that a speedy death would follow. This array of danger, however, did not appall them for home was their beacon-light, and the thoughts of their firesides nerved their hearts. They continued to drop silently down the river, keeping a good lookout for strolling Indians; and in the night two of them only slept, while the third managed the boat. In this manner they pursued their journey, until they arrived safely, with their trophies, at their homes, totally unexpected by their mourning friends, who supposed that they had been butchered by their ruthless conquerors. It must truly have been an affecting meeting for Mrs. Dustin, who likewise supposed that all she loved, - all she held dear on earth - was laid in the silent tomb.
After recovering from the fatigue of the journey, they started for Boston, where they arrived on the 21st of April, 1697. They carried with them the gun and tomahawk, and their ten scalps - those witnesses that would not lie; and while there, the general court gave them fifty pounds, as a reward for their heroism. The report of their daring deed soon spread into every part of the country, and when Colonel Nicholson, governor of Maryland, heard of it, he sent them a very valuable present, and many presents were also made to them by their neighbors.
Source: From "Historical Collections, Being a General Collection of Interesting Facts, Traditions, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, &c., Relating to the History and Antiquities of Every Town in Massachusetts, with Geographical Descriptions" by John Warner Barber, published 1839 by Dorr, Howland & Co.
Hannah Emerson DustinFrom T. F. Waters: "In March [15th]of that year [1697] a band of Indians attacked a Haverhill house and carried away Hannah Dustan, with her infant of a week old, and her nurse [Mary Neff, nee Corliss]. They soon dashed out the brains of the baby against a tree, and tomahawked the captives as soon as they lagged by the way. Mrs Dustan and her companion were able to keep up with their captors for a hundred and fifty miles through the wilderness. They were claimed by an Indian family, which consisted of two stout men, three women and seven children. As they approached Penacook (now Concord), the Indians told the women that when they reached the Indian camp in that neighborhood they would be stripped, scourged and compelled to run the gauntlet. Driven to frenzy, these women resolved to escape at any cost. On the morning of April 30, a little before daybreak, Mrs Dustan roused her nurse and an English lad, helpd captive with them. They armed themselves with the hatchets of the Indians, and killed them where they lay. Only one squaw escaped sorely wounded, and a boy, whom they had spared intending to take with them, awoke and ran away. They took the scalps of ten, and brought them with them on their long and perilous homeward journey. A bounty of fifty pounds was voted them for this bloody deed, and the statue of Hannah Dustan stands to-day in the public square of the City of Haverhill. Six of the Indians who were killed and scalped in their wigwams were children, and Mrs. Dustan was the mother of a large family. Her deed of blood, to which she was driven by fear and a natural desire for revenge, reveals the fierce hatred of the English toward the Indians, and the bitterness of life in those years of anguish."
From "Historical Collections, Being a General Collection of Interesting Facts, Traditions, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, &c., Relating to the History and Antiquities of Every Town in Massachusetts, with Geographical Descriptions" by John Warner Barber, published 1839 by Dorr, Howland & Co.
On the 15th of March, 1697, a body of Indians made a descent on the westerly part of the town, and approached the house of Mr. Thomas Dustin. They came, as they were wont, arrayed with all the terrors of a savage war dress, with their muskets charged for the contest, their tomahawks drawn for the slaughter, and their scalping knives unsheathed and glittering in the sunbeams. Mr. Dustin at this time was engaged abroad in his daily labor. When the terrific shouts of the blood-hounds first fell on his ear, he seized his gun, mounted his horse, and hastened to his house, with the hope of escorting to a place of safety his family, which consisted of his wife, whom he tenderly and passionately loved, and who had been confined only seven days in childbed, her nurse, Mrs. Mary Neff, and eight young children. Immediately upon his arrival, he rushed into his house, and found it a scene of confusion - the women trembling for their safety, and the children weeping and calling on their mother for protection. He instantly ordered seven of his children to fly in an opposite direction from that in which the danger was approaching, and went himself to assist his wife. But he was too late - before she could arise from her bed, the enemy were upon them.
Mr. Dustin, seeing there was no hope of saving his wife from the clutches of the foe, flew from the house, mounted his horse, and rode full speed after his flying children. The agonized father supposed it impossible to save them all, and he determined to snatch from death the child which shared the most of his affections. He soon came up with the infant brood; he heard their glad voices and saw the cheerful looks that overspread their countenances, for they felt themselves safe while under his protection. He looked for the child of his love - where was it? He scanned the little group from the oldest to the youngest, but he could not find it. They all fondly loved him - they called him by the endearing title of father, were flesh of his flesh, and stretched out their little arms toward him for protection. He gazed upon them, and faltered in his resolution, for there was none whom he could leave behind; and, indeed, what parent could, in such a situation, select the child which shared the most of his affections? He could not do it, and therefore resolved to defend them from the murderers, or die at their side.
A small party of the Indians pursued Mr. Dustin as he fled from the house, and soon overtook him and his flying children. They did not, however, approach very near, for they saw his determination, and feared the vengeance of a father, but skulked behind the trees and fences, and fired upon him and his little company. Mr. Dustin dismounted from his horse, placed himself in the rear of his children, and returned the fire of the enemy often and with good suceess. In this manner he retreated for more than a mile, alternately encouraging his terrified charge, and loading and fireing his gun, until he lodged them safely in a forsaken house. The Indians, finding that they could not conquer him, returned to their companions, expecting, no doubt, that they should there find victims, on which they might exercise their savage cruelty.
The party which entered the house when Mr. Dustin left it, found Mrs. Dustin in bed, and the nurse attempting to fly with the infant in her arms. They ordered Mrs. Dustin to rise instantly, while one of them took the infant from the arms of the nurse, carried it out, and dashed out its brains against an apple-tree. After plundering the house they set it on fire, and commenced their retreat, though Mrs. Dustin had but partly dressed herself, and was without a shoe on one of her feet. Mercy was a stranger to the breasts of the conquerors, and the unhappy women expected to receive no kindnesses from their hands. The weather at the time was exceedingly cold, the the March-wind blew keen and piercing, and the earth was alternately covered with snow and deep mud.
They travelled twelve miles the first day, and continued their retreat, day by day, following a circuitous route, until they reached the home of the Indian who claimed them as his property, which was on a small island, now called Dustin's Island, at the mouth of the Contoocook river, about six miles above the state-house in Concord, New Hampshire. Notwithstanding their intense suffering for the death of the child - their anxiety for those whom they had left behind, and who they expected had been cruelly butchered - their sufferings from cold and hunger, and from sleeping on the damp earth, with nothing but an inclement sky for a covering - and their terror for themselves, lest the arm that, as they supposed, had slaughtered those whom they dearly loved, would soon be made red with their blood, - notwithstanding all this, they performed the journey without yielding, and arrived at their destination in comparative health.
The family of their Indian master consisted of two men, three women, and seven children; besides an English boy, named Samuel Lennardson, who was taken prisoner about a year previous, at Worcester. Their master, some years before, had lived in the family of Rev. Mr. Rowlandson, of Lancaster, and he told Mrs. Dustin that "when he prayed the English way he thought it was good, but now he found the French way better."
These unfortunate women had been but a few days with the Indians, when they were informed that they must soon start for a distant Indian settlement, and that, upon their arrival, they would be obliged to conform to the regulations always required of prisoners, whenever they entered the village, which was to be stripped, scourged, and run the gauntlet in a state of nudity. The gauntlet consisted of two files of Indians, of both sexes and of all ages, containing all that could be mustered in the village; and the unhappy prisoners were obliged to run between them, when they were scoffed at and beaten by each one as they passed, and were sometimes marks at which the younger Indians threw their hatchets. This cruel custom was often practised by many of the tribes, and not unfrequently the poor prisoner sunk beneath it. Soon as the two women were informed of this, they determined to escape as speedily as possible. They could not bear to be exposed to the scoffs and unrestrained gaze of their savage conquerors - death would be preferable. Mrs. Dustin soon planned a mode of escape, appointed the 31st inst. for its accomplishment, and prevailed upon her nurse and the boy to join her. The Indians kept no watch, for the boy had lived with them so long they considered him as one of their children, and they did not expect that the women, unadvised and unaided, would attempt to escape, when success, at the best, appeared so desperate.
On the day previous to the 31st, Mrs. Dustin wished to learn on what part of the body the Indians struck their victims when they would despatch them suddenly, and how they took off a scalp. With this view she instructed the boy to make inquiries of one of the men. Accordingly, at a convenient opportunity, he asked one of them where he would strike a man if he would kill him instantly, and how to take off a scalp. The man laid his finger on his temple - "Strike 'em there," said he; and then instructed him how to scalp. The boy then communicated his information to Mrs. Dustin. The night at length arrived, and the whole family retired to rest, little suspecting that the most of them would never behold another sun. Long before the break of day, Mrs. Dustin arose, and, having ascertained that they were all in a deep sleep, awoke her nurse and the boy, when they armed themselves with tomahawks, and despatched ten of the twelve. A favorite boy they designedly left; and one of the squaws, whom they left for dead, jumped up, and ran with him into the woods. Mrs. Dustin killed her master, and Samuel Lennardson despatched the very Indian who told him where to strike, and how to take off a scalp. The deed was accomplished before the day bagan to break, and, after securing what little provision the wigwam of their dead master afforded, they scuttled all the boats but one, to prevent pursuit, and with that started for their homes. Mrs. Dustin took with her a gun that belonged to her master, and the tomahawk with which she committed the tragical deed. They had not proceeded far, however, when Mrs. Dustin perceived that they had neglected to take their scalps, and feared that her neighbors, if they ever arrived at their homes, would not credit their story, and would ask them for some token or proof. She told her fears to her companions, and they immediately returned to the silent wigwam, took off the scalps of the fallen, and put them into a bag. They then started on their journey anew, with the gun, tomahawk, and the bleeding trophies, - palpable witnesses of their heroic and unparalleled deed.
A long and weary journey was before them, but they commenced it with cheerful hearts, each alternately rowing and steering their little bark. Though they had escaped from the clutches of their unfeeling master, still they were surrounded with dangers. They were thinly clad, the sky was still inclement, and they were liable to be re-captured by strolling bands of Indians, or by those who would undoubtedly pursue them so soon as the squaw and the boy had reported their departure, and the terrible vengeance they had taken; and were they again made prisoners, they well knew that a speedy death would follow. This array of danger, however, did not appall them for home was their beacon-light, and the thoughts of their firesides nerved their hearts. They continued to drop silently down the river, keeping a good lookout for strolling Indians; and in the night two of them only slept, while the third managed the boat. In this manner they pursued their journey, until they arrived safely, with their trophies, at their homes, totally unexpected by their mourning friends, who supposed that they had been butchered by their ruthless conquerors. It must truly have been an affecting meeting for Mrs. Dustin, who likewise supposed that all she loved, - all she held dear on earth - was laid in the silent tomb.
After recovering from the fatigue of the journey, they started for Boston, where they arrived on the 21st of April. They carried with them the gun and tomahawk, and their ten scalps - those witnesses that would not lie; and while there, the general court gave them fifty pounds, as a reward for their heroism. The report of their daring deed soon spread into every part of the country, and when Colonel Nicholson, governor of Maryland, heard of it, he sent them a very valuable present, and many presents were also made to them by their neighbors.
4 DUSTON, THOMAS, Haverhill, m. Hannah Duston, 3 Dec.
1677, by whom he had 13 children b. before 1699, one of whom
Martha, was killed by the Indians, 15 March, 1697, at which time
the mother was captured, and the 5 of April following [1697], with Samuel
Lennardson and Mary Neff, performed the exploit on Duston's island,
in Contoocook River, above Concord, N. H., which has rendered
her name so celebrated in the Magnalia, in Hutchinson, Dwight's
Travels, and various other works.
There is a Hannah Dustin statue in New Hampshire located on the island in the Merrimack River from which she made good her escape along with
Mary Neff and the boy, Samuel Leonnardson. The statue, The Hannah Duston Memorial, is a state historic site administered by New Hampshire State Parks. In fact, it is the oldest state park property. The site is located off route 4 near exit 17 on I-93. Parking for the site is in a park and ride parking area. The memorial is a short walk across a bridge from the parking area. Trees block a view of the statue from the parking area and route 4.
There is another statue of her near Penacook, NH, at the junction of the Contoocook and Merrimack Rivers, about 50 miles north of Haverhill where they had been made to walk through ice and snow before they were able to make their escape and kill the Indians.
Hannah Duston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hannah Duston, by Stearns.jpg
Hannah Duston by Junius Brutus Stearns
Born: December 23, 1657
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Died: March 6, 1736, 1737 or 1738
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Known for Escaping from captivity
Spouse(s) Thomas Duston Jr. (1652 - c. 1724)
Parent(s) Michael Emerson, Hannah Webster Emerson
Hannah Duston (also spelled Dustin, Dustan, or Durstan) (born Hannah Emerson, December 23, 1657 – March 6, 1736,[1] 1737 or 1738[2]) was a colonial Massachusetts Puritan mother of nine[Note 1] who was taken captive by Abenaki people from Québec during King William's War, with her newborn daughter, during the Raid on Haverhill in 1697, in which 27 colonists were killed. While detained on an island in the Merrimack River in present-day Boscawen, New Hampshire, she killed and scalped ten of the Native American family members holding them hostage, with the assistance of two other captives. She claimed the Abenaki had killed her baby during the journey to the island.
Duston's captivity narrative became famous more than 100 years after she died. During the 19th century, she was referred to as a folk hero and the "mother of the American tradition of scalp-hunting."[4] Some scholars assert Duston's story became legend in the 19th century only because the United States used her story to defend its violence against Native Americans as innocent, defensive, and virtuous.[5] Duston is believed to be the first American woman honored with a statue.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Early life
Hannah Emerson was born December 23, 1657, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Michael Emerson and Hannah Webster Emerson; she was the oldest of 15 children. At age 20, she married Thomas Duston Jr., a farmer and brick-maker.[12][13] The Emerson family had previously been the subject of attention when Elizabeth Emerson, Hannah's younger sister, was hanged for infanticide on June 8, 1693.[14] One of Hannah's cousins, Martha Toothaker Emerson, and her father, Roger Toothaker, were accused of practicing witchcraft and tried at the Salem witch trials (1692–93).[15]
CaptivityDuring King William's War, Hannah, her husband Thomas, and their eight children were residents of Haverhill, Massachusetts. On 15 March 1697, when she was 40 years old,[16] the town was raided by a group of about 30 Abenaki from Quebec. In the attack, 27 colonists were killed (most of them children), and 13 were taken captive, to be either adopted or held as hostages for the French.[17] When their farm was attacked, Thomas fled with their eight children. The Indians captured Hannah and her nurse, Mary Neff (1646-1722, nee Corliss), set fire to Hannah's home, and forced the two women to march into the wilderness, Hannah carrying her newborn daughter, Martha. According to the account Hannah gave to Cotton Mather, along the way her captors killed six-day-old Martha by smashing her head against a tree:[18]
About 19 or 20 Indians now led these away, with about half a score of other English captives, but ere they had gone many steps, they dash'd out the brains of the infant against a tree, and several of the other captives, as they began to tire in the sad journey, were soon sent unto their long home.[19]
Hannah and Mary were assigned to a family group of 12 persons (probably Pennacooks) and taken north, "unto a rendezvous...somewhere beyond Penacook; and they still told these poor women that when they came to this town, they must be stript, and scourg'd, and run the gauntlet through the whole army of Indians."[19] The group included Samuel Lennardson (1683-1718, also spelled Leonardson, Lenorson or Lennarson), a 14-year-old captured in Worcester, Massachusetts in late 1695.[20][16][21]
Massacre and escapeOn April 29 or 30, at an island[22] in the Merrimack River at the mouth of the Contoocook River,[23] Hannah led Mary and Samuel in a revolt:
...furnishing themselves with hatchets for the purpose, they struck home such blows upon the heads of their sleeping oppressors, that ere they could any of them struggle...they fell down dead.[19]
Hannah used a hatchet to kill one of the two grown men (Lennardson killed the second),[20] two adult women, and six children. According to Cotton Mather's account, Hannah and her partners let one of the children sleep, "intending to bring him away with them," but the boy awoke and escaped.[15] One severely wounded Abenaki woman also managed to escape the attack.[24][Note 2]
The former captives immediately left in a canoe, but not before scalping the dead as proof of the incident and to collect a bounty.[26] They went downriver, traveling only during the night, and after several days reached Haverhill.
RewardA few days later, Thomas Duston brought Hannah, Samuel and Mary to Boston, along with the scalps, the hatchet and a flintlock musket[27] they had taken from the Indians.[21] Although New Hampshire had become a colony in its own right in 1680, the Merrimack River and its adjacent territories were considered part of Massachusetts, therefore Hannah and the other former captives applied to the Massachusetts Government for the scalp bounty. The state of Massachusetts had posted a bounty of 50 pounds per scalp in September 1694, which was reduced to 25 pounds in June 1695, and then entirely repealed in December 1696.[24] Wives had no legal status in those days, so her husband petitioned the Legislature on behalf of Hannah Duston, requesting that the bounties for the scalps be paid, even though the law providing for them had been repealed:
The Humble Petition of Thomas Durstan of Haverhill Sheweth That the wife of ye petitioner (with one Mary Neff) hath in her Late captivity among the Barbarous Indians, been disposed & assisted by heaven to do an extraordinary action, in the just slaughter of so many of the Barbarians, as would by the law of the Province which [only] a few months ago, have entitled the actors unto considerable recompense from the Publick. That tho the [want] of that good Law [warrants] no claims to any such consideration from the publick, yet your petitioner humbly [asserts] that the merit of the action still remains the same; & it seems a matter of universal desire thro the whole Province that it should not pass unrecompensed... Your Petitioner, Thomas Durstun[28]
On June 16, 1697 the Massachusetts General Court voted to give them a reward for killing their captors; Hannah Duston received 25 pounds, and Neff and Lennardson[20] split another 25 pounds:
Vote for allowing fifty pounds to Thomas Dustun in behalf of his wife Hannah, and to Mary Neff, and Samuel Leonardson, captives escaped from the Indians, for their service in slaying their captors. Voted, in concurrence with the representatives, that there be allowed and ordered, out of the public treasury, unto Thomas Dunston of Haverhill, on behalf of Hannah his wife, the sum of twenty-five pounds; to Mary Neffe, the sum of twelve pounds ten shillings; and to Samuel Leonardson, the sum of twelve pounds ten shillings...as a reward for their service.[29]
Later life
Following her return, Hannah gave birth to a daughter, Lydia, in October, 1698.[30] Her neighbor Hannah Heath Bradley, who had also been abducted in the 1697 raid (and two of her children killed), was held for nearly two years before she was ransomed, returning to Haverhill in 1699.[25] During Queen Anne's War Indians raided Haverhill again in 1704 and 1707. In yet another raid on Haverhill (1708), Algonquin and Abenaki Indians led by the French officer Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville killed sixteen, including the town's minister.[15]
Hannah Duston is believed to have died in Haverhill between 1736 and 1738.[31][Note 3] Samuel Lennardson moved to Preston, Connecticut where he married and had five children. He died on May 11, 1718.[20][32][33] Mary Neff died in Haverhill on 17 October 1722.[34] In 1739 Mary Neff's son Joseph was granted two hundred acres of land at Penacook by the General Court of New Hampshire "in consideration of his mother's services in assisting Hannah Duston in killing divers Indians."[31]
LegacyNew Hampshire historical marker (number 49) in Boscawen[35]
Written accounts
Contemporary accounts
The event became well known, due in part to Cotton Mather's account in Magnalia Christi Americana: The Ecclesiastical History of New England (1702).[19] Mather interviewed Hannah after her return to Haverhill, and on May 6, 1697, he preached a sermon celebrating her return from captivity, with Hannah herself in the audience.[15] He later published the story three times in five years: in Humiliations follow’d with Deliverances (1697), Decennium Luctuosum (1699),[36] and in Magnalia Christi Americana (1702). Mather titled the story "A Notable Exploit: Dux Faemina Facti," and compared Hannah Duston's escape to the captivity narratives of Hannah Swarton (captured in 1690)[37] and Mary Rowlandson (captured in 1675).
Hannah's story also appears in the diary of Samuel Sewall,[38] who had heard the story directly from her on May 12, 1697, less than two weeks after her escape. Sewall's account adds the detail that the night before their escape, a friendly Indian showed Samuel Lennardson how to take a scalp:
April 29...is signalized by the achievement of Hannah Dustun, Mary Neff, and Samuel Lennerson, who killed two men, their masters, and two women and six others, and have brought in ten scalps...May 12:...Hannah Dustan came to see us; . . . She said her master, whom she kill'd did formerly live with Mr. Roulandson at Lancaster...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.[39]
Hannah's story is recorded in the diary of John Marshall (1634-1732), a bricklayer in Quincy, Massachusetts,[40] who wrote the following entry for April 29, 1697:
At the latter end of this month two women and a young lad that had been taken captive from Haverhill in March before, watching their opportunity when the Indians were asleep, killed ten of them, scalped them all and came home to Boston. [They] brought a gun[27] with them and some other things. The chief of these Indians took one of the women captive when she had lain in childbed but a few days, and knocked her child in [the] head before her eyes, which woman killed and scalped that very Indian.[41]
Another reference to Hannah Duston is found in the journal of John Pike (1634–1714, son of New Jersey judge John Pike), in the following entry:
March 15: The Indians fell upon some part of Haverhill about seven this morning, killed and carried away thirty-nine or forty persons; two of these Captive women, viz. Dunstan and Neff with another young man, slew ten of the Indians and returned home with ye scalps.[42]
Although Hannah herself never provided a written account of her captivity and escape (there is no evidence that she was literate), the Haverhill Historical Society possesses a letter dated May 17, 1724, addressed to the elders of the church,[43] declaring her desire to be admitted as a full member of the church so that she might take communion with the other congregants, and offering a confession.[Note 4] It seems likely to have been composed from dictation by her minister.[15] In reference to her captivity, the letter states simply:
I am Thankful for my Captivity, twas the Comfortablest time that ever I had; In my Affliction God made his Word Comfortable to me.[45]
Later renditionsAfter Cotton Mather's death, Hannah Duston's story was largely forgotten until it was included in Travels in New England and New York by Timothy Dwight IV, published in 1821.[46][47] After this, Duston became more famous in the 19th century as her story was retold by Nathaniel Hawthorne,[48] John Greenleaf Whittier,[49][17] and Henry David Thoreau.[50][51] From the 1820s until the 1870s, Duston's story was included in nearly all books about American history, as well as many biographies, children's books,[52] and magazine articles. The story was popular among white Americans when the country was engaged in the westward expansion, which increased conflict with the Native American groups living in places where settlers wanted to live. In the 1830s and later, the story was partially sanitized by not mentioning the six children that Duston killed.[16]
Later versions of the story added numerous details (including dialogue and the names of the Indians) not found in any primary source.[53] Haverhill tradition, recorded in Mirick's History of Haverhill (1832),[17] adds the details that Hannah was wearing only one shoe when she was captured, that her daughter was thrown against an apple tree from which local people remembered eating fruit, and that the captives had already started down the river when Hannah insisted that they return to take the Indian scalps.[54]
MemorialsThere are six memorials to Hannah Duston.
Aborted first memorial (erected 1861-1865)
The campaign to build the first monument in Haverhill, Massachusetts, began in 1852, at a time when building public monuments was still a somewhat rare occurrence. The monument chosen was a simple marble column that would cost about $1,350, and by 1861 the necessary funds had been raised. The monument was erected in June 1861, at the site of Duston's capture, but it was never fully paid for. After successfully suing the association, the builders removed the monument in August 1865, erased the inscription, engraved a new one, and resold it to the town of Barre, Massachusetts, where it stands to this day as a memorial to that town's Civil War soldiers.[5][24]
First successful memorial (erected 1874)
Now known as Hannah Duston Memorial State Historic Site, the first Duston memorial actually executed was sculpted by William Andrews, a marble worker from Lowell, Massachusetts. It was erected in 1874 on the island in Boscawen, New Hampshire, where Duston killed her captors. Huge crowds overwhelmed the island on the day of its dedication, with speeches presented all day long. It was the first publicly funded statue in New Hampshire.
Second memorial (erected 1879)
Hannah Duston Monument, by Calvin H. Weeks, 1879
In 1879, a bronze statue of Hannah Duston grasping a tomahawk was created by Calvin H. Weeks (1834–1907) in Haverhill town square (now Grand Army Park), where it still stands. The monument stands on the site of the Haverhill Center Congregational Church, of which Hannah Duston became a member in 1724.[24][15] It depicts Hannah wearing only one shoe, as per Haverhill tradition.[17]
Third memorial (1902)
In 1902 a millstone was placed on the shores of the Merrimack River where Hannah, Mary, and Samuel beached their canoe upon their return to Haverhill.[24]
Fourth memorial (1902)
In 1902 a fourth memorial was placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in Nashua, New Hampshire, at the site of John Lovewell's home (part of Dunstable, New Hampshire in Lovewell's time), where Hannah, Mary, and Samuel spent the night on their way home from captivity.[55]
Fifth memorial (inscribed in 1908)
The fifth memorial was created in 1908, when an inscription was placed on a boulder in memorial to both Hannah and Martha. The boulder was placed on the site of Hannah's son Jonathan's home in Haverhill, where Hannah lived her final years.[31] Hannah Duston died at this location circa 1736, 1737 or 1738. Haverhill public library records say it took 30 horses with 14 drivers to haul the 30-ton boulder to its present location.[24]
Leonardson Memorial (1910)
Hannah Duston and Mary Neff being abducted by Indians, as depicted on the base of the Hannah Duston statue by Calvin H. Weeks.
The Worcester Society of Antiquity sponsored the bronze "Lenorson" tablet (using the spelling they considered correct) and dedicated it on October 22, 1910. The Worcester Sunday Telegram reported it was hung on the 42-foot (13 m) Davis Tower in Lake Park, at the site of the Lenorson boyhood home.[56] It was reported stolen in 1969 and has not been recovered.[24]
Mount Dustan
Mount Dustan in Wentworth's Location, New Hampshire, was named after Hannah Duston sometime before 1870,[57] using an alternate spelling of her last name.[16]
Duston hatchet
The original small axe or hatchet held by Hannah Duston can be found today in the Buttonwoods Museum. The Duston hatchet is not a tomahawk; it is usually called a Biscayan or biscayenne, a common trade item of the late 17th-century New England frontier.[58][59] It is on display with the knife she allegedly used to scalp her victims, along with her letter of confession petitioning to join the Center Congregational Church of Haverhill.[60]
The Dustin House or Dustin Garrison House, built about 1700, is a historic First Period house at 665 Hilldale Avenue in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Commemorative structures
Other commemorations, all in the city of Haverhill, include:
Dustin House, built by Hannah's husband Thomas Duston after the Indians burned his first home,[31] and which is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The former Hannah Dustin Elementary School, which closed in the 1980s[61]
Hannah Duston Healthcare Center[62]
Controversy
Today, Hannah Duston's actions in freeing herself from captivity are controversial. Some Americans celebrate her as a hero, while others are more tempered in their commemoration of her, given the killing of her captors. Some commentators have said her legend is racist and glorifies violence.[63][64][65][66][67][68][69]
Notes Hannah Duston gave birth to 13 children, of whom three died in infancy and one was murdered.[3]
In 1739, Hannah's neighbor Hannah Heath Bradley, who was also captured by the Indians during the March 15th raid, but who was taken to another Abenaki village, testified that "the next night...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 and others seven wounds as she said with a hatchet on her head which wounds were given her when the rest were killed."[25]
Harold Dustin Kilgore lists her date of death as 6 March 1736, adding that her will was proven in Ipswich on 10 March 1736 and recorded in Salem Registry of Essex Probate.[1]
H. D. Kilgore says the letter was found "behind an old gallery pew" in the Center Congregational Church of Haverhill in March of 1929;[1] another source says it was found in a church vault,[44] and others state that it was given to the Haverhill Historical Society in 1909.[15]
References
Hannah Webster Dustin, Indian Captive H. D. Kilgore. "The Story of Hannah Duston", Duston-Dustin Family Association: June 1940.
Derounian-Stodola, Kathryn Zabelle (1998). Women's Indian Captivity Narratives. New York: Penguin Classics. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-14-043671-6.
Hannah Webster (Emerson) Duston (1657 - 1738)
Grenier, John (2005). The First Way of War. University of Cambridge Press. pp. 40–41.
Cutter, Barbara (2008). "The Female Indian Killer Memorialized: Hannah Duston and the Nineteenth–Century Feminization of American Violence" (PDF). Journal of Women's History. 20 (2): 10–33. doi:10.1353/jowh.0.0007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-25. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
Tauber, Alfred I. (2001). Henry David Thoreau and the Moral Agency of Knowing. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-520-22527-5.
Robertson, Patrick (2011). Robertson's Book of Firsts: Who Did What for the First Time (1st U.S. ed.). ISBN 978-1-60819-738-5.
Elshtain, Jean Bethke (1987). Women and War. New York: Basic Books. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-465-09216-1.
Danilov, Victor J. (2005). Women and Museums: A Comprehensive Guide. Lanham, MD; Toronto: AltaMira. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7591-0855-4.
Widmer, Mary Lou (1996). Margaret, Friend of Orphans. Gretna, La.: Pelican Pub. Co. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-56554-211-2.
Faludi, Susan (2013). The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 313. ISBN 978-1-4299-2212-8.
Purvis, Thomas L. (1999). Colonial America to 1763. Infobase Publishing. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-4381-0799-8.
Hurd, Duane Hamilton (1888). History of Essex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men (Vol. 2). J. W. Lewis & Company. p. 1953.
Kearney, Peg Goggin. "The Life and Death of Elizabeth Emerson". University of Southern Maine. Archived from the original on 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
Dustin Griffin (2014). "Cotton Mather and the Emerson Family," Massachusetts Historical Review, 16, 1-48. doi:10.5224/masshistrevi.16.1.0001
Cutter, Barbara (9 April 2018). "The Gruesome Story of Hannah Duston, Whose Slaying of Indians Made Her an American Folk Hero". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
John Greenleaf Whittier, Benjamin L Mirick, 1832, The History of Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1807-1892, A. W. Thayer, Haverhill, MA. Collection: UMass Amherst Libraries.
Peckham, Howard (1964). The Colonial Wars. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 51–52. ISBN 978-0-226-65314-3.
Mather, Cotton (1702). Magnalia Christi Americana: Or the Ecclesiastical History of New England from 1620 - 1698.
Ellery B. Crane, "The Kidnapping of Samuel Leonard," in Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 25, Worcester Historical Society, Worcester, Mass., 1912; pp. 291-302
Emma Lewis Coleman, New England Captives Carried to Canada Between 1677 and 1760 During the French and Indian Wars, Volume 1, 1926. Reprinted by Heritage Books, 2008.
Known today as Sugar Ball Island and located at 43°17?16?N 71°35?28?W
Jay Atkinson, "Retracing a Mother’s Path of Escape Along a Wintry Merrimack," New York Times, Nov. 12, 2015.
Leon W. Anderson, "Hannah Duston: Heroine of 1697 Massacre of Indian Captors on River Islet at Boscawen, New Hampshire." Pamphlet prepared for the New Hampshire State Government, 1973. Reprinted 2007.
Eleanor Bradley Peters, Bradley of Essex County, early records, from 1643 to 1746: with a few lines to the present day, Heritage Books, 1915.
Allitt, Patrick (December 9, 2007). "City on a Hill". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
Hannah Duston's Captured Dutch Trade Flintlock Musket
Robert Boodey Caverly, Heroism of Hannah Duston: Together with the Indian Wars of New England, Russell, 1875; pp. 38-39.
The Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay: To which are Prefixed the Charters of the Province. Massachusetts Wright & Potter, printers to the state, 1892; pp. 153-54.
Jay Atkinson, Massacre on the Merrimack: Hannah Duston's Captivity and Revenge in Colonial America. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. ISBN 1493018175
George Wingate Chase, The History of Haverhill, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1640, to the year 1860, Published by the author, Haverhill, MA; Collection at UMass Amherst Libraries.
The Granite Monthly: A New Hampshire Magazine, Volume XLIII, No. 6, June 1911, p. 182.
Rebecca Valentine, , Travis Thompson, Beyond the Land of Gold: The Life & Times of Perry A. Burgess, Thompson Media, 2010 ISBN 0982708904
Delores Bird Carpenter, Early Encounters: Native Americans and Europeans in New England, from the Papers of W. Sears Nickerson. MSU Press, 1995. ISBN 0870139010
"List of Markers by Marker Number" (PDF). nh.gov. New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. November 2, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
Teresa A. Toulouse, "Hannah Duston’s Bodies: Domestic Violence and Colonial Male Identity in Cotton Mather’s Decennium Luctuosum." In: Janet Moore Lindman and Michele Lise Tarter (ed.): A Centre of Wonders: The Body in Early America. Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY 2001; pp. 193–209.
APPENDIX. A Narrative of Hannah Swarton
Diary of Samuel Sewall, 1674-1729. in two volumes, edited by M. Halsey Thomas. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1973.
Hawthorne in Salem: The Hannah Dustin Story
Anne Andrus Grady ,"Research Notes: Extract and Comment on the Diary of John Marshall, bricklayer, of Braintree, Massachusetts 1697––1711," in Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 90-93.
Samuel A. Green, Extracts from John Marshall's Diary, January, 1689 - December, 1711. Cambridge: John Wilson & Sons, 1900.
"Journal of the Revd. John Pike," Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, vol. 14, p. 76, 1875. Quoted in Peters, 1915.
Hannah Duston's confession of faith, ca. 1724, at the Haverhill Public Library
Hannah Dustin's Letter to the Elders of the Second Church in Haverhill, 1724. Helen deN. Ford, The Starshine of Mrs. Hannah Dustin, Lebanon Graphics, Haverhill MA, 1978
Hannah Dustin's Letter to the Elders of the Second Church in Haverhill, 1724, Haverhill Historical Society.
Dwight, Timothy, Travels in New-England and New York, 1821. New Haven: S. Converse.
"The Thomas and Hannah Dustin Story ," From “Letter XXXIX” in Timothy Dwight’s Travels in New England and New York, 1821-22.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Duston Family," published in The American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge (1836).
John Greenleaf Whittier, "A Mother’s Revenge," in Legends of New England (1831).
Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and the Merrimack (1849).
Robert D. Arner. "The Story Of Hannah Duston: Cotton Mather To Thoreau," American Transcendental Quarterly, 18 (1973). 19-23.
Peter Parley, Peter Parley's Method of Telling about the History of the World to Children, F.J. Huntington, 1836; p. 39.
An example is found in Robert Boodey Caverly, Heroism of Hannah Duston: Together with the Indian Wars of New England, Russell, 1875.
Whitford, Kathryn. "Hannah Dustin: The Judgement of History." Essex Institute Historical Collections. Vol. CVIII, No. 4 (October 1972), 304-325.
Historical Markers - DAR Matthew Thornton Chapter
Then & Now: Davis Tower/Lake Park, Coburn Avenue in Worcester
The Savage and Modern Self: North American Indians in Eighteenth-Century British Literature and Culture, University of Toronto Press, 2018, p. 85. ISBN 1487517955
Biscayne Trade Axes
Development of the American Axe - Part 1: The Biscayne Axe Brant & Cochran, Jun 13, 2017.
Hannah Dustin's Hatchet
Associated Press (November 29, 1997). "Town near Boston hatches plan to name school for 'hatchet lady'". Deseret News. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
"Hannah Duston Healthcare Center". Whittier Health Network. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
Beasley, Erin; Lessing, Uri, Lesson Plan: Western Expansion and the Depiction of Native Americans (PDF), Colby College Museum of Art, retrieved 2012-01-28
Associated Press (1997-11-29). "'Hatchet lady' stirs controversy for school name". Lawrence Journal-World. Lawrence, KS. p. 3.
Perriello, Brad (2006-08-27). "Proposed Hannah Duston Day appalls American Indian leaders". The Eagle-Tribune. Haverhill, MA. Archived from the original on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
Regan, Shawn (2006-10-08). "Hannah Dustin's descendent calls her a heroine; Others say she is a villain". The Eagle-Tribune. Haverhill, MA: Eagletribune.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-21. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
"Of Time and the Merrimack River". New Hampshire Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
Margaret Bruchac (2006-08-28). "Reconsidering Hanna Duston and the Abenaki" (PDF). The Eagle-Tribune. Haverhill, MA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-25.
Associated Press (2008-07-29). "Hannah Duston bobblehead sparks controversy » New Hampshire » EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA". Eagletribune.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
Bibliography
Caverly, Robert Boodey (1990). Heroism of Hannah Duston: Together with the Indian Wars of New England. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books. ISBN 978-1-55613-301-5.
Mather, Cotton (1702). Magnalia Christi Americana: Or the Ecclesiastical History of New England from 1620 - 1698.
Namias, June (1993). White Captives: Gender and Ethnicity on the American Frontier. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-2079-7.
American Captivity Narratives: Selected Narratives with Introduction. New Riverside editions. Gordon M. Sayre (ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2000. ISBN 978-0-395-98073-6.
Weis, Ann-Marie (1998). "The Murderous Mother and the Solicitous Father: Violence, Jacksonian Family Values, and Hannah Duston's Captivity". American Studies International. 36 (1): 46–65. JSTOR 41279557.
Humphreys, Sara (2011). "The Mass Marketing of the Colonial Captive Hannah Duston". Canadian Review of American Studies. 41 (2): 149–178. doi:10.1353/crv.2011.0014. ISSN 1710-114X. Retrieved 2013-01-04.