CHAP. III.] EXPLOIT OF HANNAH DUSTON. 29 early maps of the country of the Ohio, we see marked, "Elephants' bones said to be found here." They were, for some time, by many supposed to have been the bones of that animal; but they are pretty generally now believed to have belonged to a species of animal long since extinct. They have been found in various parts of the country; but in the greatest abundance about the salt licks or springs in Kentucky and Ohio. There has never been an entire skeleton found, although the one in Peale's museum, in Philadelphia, was so near perfect, that, by a little ingenuity in supplying its defects with woodwork, it passes extremely well for such. The tradition of the Indians concerning this animal is, that he was carnivorous, and existed, as late as 1780, in the northern parts of America. Some Delawares, in the time of the revolutionary war, visited the governor of Virginia on business, which having been finished, some questions were put to them concerning their country, and especially what they knew or had heard respecting the animals whose bones had been found about the salt licks on the Ohio River. "The chief speaker," continues our author, Mr. Jefferson, “immediately put himself into an attitude of oratory, and, with a pomp suited to what he conceived the elevation of his subject," began and repeated as follows:-" In ancient times, a herd of these tremendous animals came to the Big-bone Licks, and began an universal destruction of the bear, deer, elks, buffaloes, and other animals, which had been created for the use of the Indians: the great man above, looking down and seeing this, was so enraged, that he seized his lightning, descended to the earth, and seated himself on a neighboring mountain, on a rock of which his seat and the print of his feet are still to be seen, and hurled his bolts among them till the whole were slaughtered, except the big bull, who, presenting his forehead to the shafts, shook them off as they fell; but missing one at length, it wounded him in the side; whereon, springing round, he bounded over the Ohio, over the Wabash, the Illinois, and, finally, over the great lakes, where he is living at this day." Such, say the Indians, is the account handed down to them from their ancestors, and they could furnish no other information. Narrative of the Captivity and bold Exploit of Hannah Duston.—The relation of this affair forms the XXV. article in the Decennium Luctuosum of the Magnalia Christi Americana, by Dr. Cotton Mather, and is one of the bestwritten articles of all we have read from his pen. At its head is this significant sentence-Dux Fæmina Facti. On the 15 March, 1697, a band of about 20 Indians came unexpectedly upon Haverhill, in Massachusetts; and, as their numbers were small, they made their attack with the swiftness of the whirlwind, and as suddenly disappeared. The war, of which this irruption was a part, had continued nearly ten years, and soon afterwards it came to a close. The house which this party of Indians had singled out as their object of attack, belonged to one Mr. Thomas Duston or Dunstan, † in the outskirts of the town. Mr. Duston was at work, at some distance from his house, at the time, and whether he was alarmed for the safety of his family by the shouts of the Indians, or other cause, we are not informed; but he seems to have arrived there time enough before the arrival of the Indians, to make some arrangements for the preservation of his children; but his wife, who, but about a week before, had been confined by a child, was unable to rise from her bed, to the distraction of her agonized husband. No time was to be lost; Mr. Duston had only time to direct his children's flight, (seven in number,) the extremes of whose ages were two and seventeen, and the Indians were upon them. With his gun, the distressed father mounted his horse, and rode away in the direction of the children, whom he overtook but about 40 rods from the house. His first intention was to take up one, if possible, and escape with it. He had no sooner overtaken them, than this resolution was destroyed; for to rescue either to the exclusion of the rest, was worse than death itself to him. He therefore faced about and met the enemy, who had closely pursued him; each fired Hutchinson. * Mr. Myrick's Hist. Haverhill, 86. Eight houses were destroyed at this time, 27 persons killed, and 13 carried away captive. In Mr. B. L. Myrick's History of Haverhill, are the names of the slain, &c. 30 EXPLOIT OF HANNAH DUSTON. [Book I. upon the other, and it is almost a miracle that none of the little retreating party were hurt. The Indians did not pursue long, from fear of raising the neighboring English before they could complete their object, and hence this part of the family escaped to a place of safety. We are now to enter fully into the relation of this very tragedy. There was living in the house of Mr. Duston, as nurse, Mrs. Mary Neff,* a widow, whose heroic conduct in sharing the fate of her mistress, when escape was in her power, will always be viewed with admiration. The Indians were now in the undisturbed possession of the house, and having driven the sick woman from her bed, compelled her to sit quietly in the corner of the fire-place, while they completed the pillage of the house. This business being finished, it was set on fire, and Mrs. Duston, who before considered herself unable to walk, was, at the approach of night, obliged to march into the wilderness, and take her bed upon the cold ground. Mrs. Neff too late attempted to escape with the infant child, but was intercepted, the child taken from her, and its brains beat out against a neighboring apple-tree, while its nurse was compelled to accompany her new and frightful masters also. The captives amounted in all to 13, some of whom, as they became unable to travel, were murdered, and left exposed upon the way. Although it was near night when they quitted Haverhill, they travelled, as they judged, 12 miles before encamping; "and then," says Dr. Mather, "kept up with their new masters in a long travel of an hundred and fifty miles, more or less, within a few days ensuing."+ After journeying awhile, according to their custom, the Indians divided their prisoners. Mrs. Duston, Mrs. Neff, and a boy named Samuel Leonardson, ‡ who had been captivated at Worcester, about 18 months before, fell to the lot of an Indian family, consisting of twelve persons,-two men, three women, and seven children. These, so far as our accounts go, were very kind to their prisoners, but told them there was one ceremony which they could not avoid, and to which they would be subjected when they should arrive at their place of destination, which was to run the gantlet. The place where this was to be performed, was at an Indian village, 250 miles from Haverhill, according to the reckoning of the Indians. In their meandering course, they at length arrived at an island in the mouth of Contookook River, about six miles above Concord, in New Hampshire. Here one of the Indian men resided. It had been determined by the captives, before their arrival, that an effort should be made to free themselves from their wretched captivity; and not only to gain their liberty, but, as we shall presently see, something by way of remuneration from those who held them in bondage. The heroine, Duston, had resolved, upon the first opportunity that offered any chance of success, to kill her captors and scalp them, and to return home with such trophies as would clearly establish her reputation for heroism, as well as insure her a bounty from the public. She therefore communicated her design to Mrs. Neff and the English boy, who, it would seem, readily enough agreed to it. To the art of killing and scalping she was a stranger; and, that there should be no failure in the business, Mrs. Duston instructed the boy, who, from his long residence with them, had become as one of the Indians, to inquire of one of the men how it was done. He did so, and the Indian showed him, without mistrusting the origin of the inquiry. It was now March the 31, and in the dead of the night following, this bloody tragedy was acted. When the Indians were in the most sound sleep, these three captives arose, and softly arming themselves with the tomahawks of their masters, allotted the number each should kill; and so truly did they direct their blows, that but one escaped that they designed to kill. This was a woman, whom they badly wounded, and one boy, for some reason they did not wish to harm, and accordingly he was allowed to escape unhurt. Mrs. Duston killed her master, and Leonardson killed the man who had so freely told him, but one day before, where to deal a deadly blow, and how to take off a scalp. She was a daughter of George Corliss, and married William Neff, who went after the army, and died at Pemmaquid, Feb. 1688. Myrick, Hist. Havl. 87. Their course was probably very indirect, to elude pursuit. Hist. Haverhill, 89 CHAP. III.] DESTRUCTION OF SCHENECTADY. 31 All was over before the dawn of day, and all things were got ready for leaving this place of blood. All the boats but one were scuttled, to prevent being pursued, and, with what provisions and arms the Indian camp afforded, they embarked on board the other, and slowly and silently took the course of the Merrimack River for their homes, where they all soon after arrived without accident. The whole country was astonished at the relation of the affair, the truth of which was never for a moment doubted. The ten scalps, and the arms of the Indians, were evidences not to be questioned; and the general court gave them fifty pounds as a reward, and numerous other gratuities were showered upon them. Colonel Nicholson, governor of Maryland, hearing of the transaction, sent them a generous present also. Eight other houses were attacked besides Duston's, the owners of which, says the historian of that town, Mr. Myrick, in every case, were slain while defending them, and the blood of each stained his own door-sill. Narrative of the Destruction of Schenectady.*-This was an event of great distress to the whole country, at the time it happened, and we are able to give some new facts in relation to it from a manuscript, which, we believe, has never before been published. These facts are contained in a letter from Governor Bradstreet, of Massachusetts, to Governor Hinckley, of Plimouth, dated about a month after the affair. They are as follow:-" Tho' you cannot but have heard of the horrid massacre committed by the French and Indians at Senectada, a fortified and well compacted town 20 miles above Albany (which we had an account of by an express,) yet we think we have not discharged our duty till you hear of it from us. "Twas upon the Eighth of February, [1689-90] at midnight when those poor secure wretches were surprised by the enemy. Their gates were open, no watch kept, and hardly any order observed in giving and obeying commands. Sixty of them were butchered in the place; of whom Lieut. Talmage and four more were of Capt. Bull's company, besides five of said company carried captive. By this action the French have given us to understand what we may expect from them as to the frontier towns and seaports of New England. We are not so well acquainted what number of convenient Havens you have in your colony, besides those of Plimouth and Bristol. We hope your prudence and vigilance will lead you to take such measures as to prevent the landing of the enemy at either of those or any such like place." f We now proceed to give such other facts as can be gathered from the numerous printed accounts. It appears that the government of Canada had planned several expeditions, previous to the setting out of this, against various important points of the English frontier,-as much to gain the warriors of the Five Nations to their interest, as to distress the English. Governor De Nonville had sent over several chief sachems of the Iroquois to France, where, as usual upon such embassies, great pains were taken to cause them to entertain the highest opinions of the glory and greatness of the French nation. Among them was Taweraket, a renowned warrior, and two others. It appears that, during their absence in France, the great war between their countrymen and the French had ended in the destruction of Montreal, and other places, as will be seen detailed in our Fifth Book. Hence, when Count Frontenac arrived in Canada, in the fall of 1689, instead of finding the Iroquois ready to join him and his forces which he had brought from France for the conquest of New York, he found himself obliged to set about a reconciliation of them. He therefore wisely despatched Taweraket, and the two others, upon that design. The Five Nations, on being called upon by these chiefs, would take no step without first notifying the English at Albany that a council was to be called. The blows which had been so lately given the French of Canada, had lulled the English into a fatal security, and they let this council pass with too little attention to its proceedings. On the other hand, the French were This was the German name of a pine barren, such as stretches itself between Albany and Schenectady, over which is now a rail-road. t French ships, with land forces and munitions, had, but a short time before, hovered upon the coast. 32 DESTRUCTION OF SCHENECTADY. [Book I. fully and ably represented; and the result was, the existing breach was set in a fair way to be closed up. This great council was begun 22 January, 1690, and consisted of eighty sachems. It was opened by Sadekanaghtie,* a great Oneida chief. Meanwhile, to give employment to the Indians who yet remained their friends, the expedition was begun which ended in the destruction of Schenectady. Chief Justice Smith wrote his account of that affair from a manuscript letter left by Colonel Schuyler, at that time mayor of Albany; and it is the most particular of any account yet published. It is as follows, and bears date 15 February, 1689:— After two-and-twenty days' march, the enemy fell in with Schenectady, February 8. There were about 200 French, and perhaps 50 Caughnewaga Mohawks, and they at first intended to have surprised Albany; but their march had been so long and tedious, occasioned by the deepness of the snow and coldness of the weather, that, instead of attempting any thing offensive, they had nearly decided to surrender themselves to the first English they should meet, such was their distressed situation, in a camp of snow, but a few miles from the devoted settlement. The Indians, however, saved them from the disgrace. They had sent out a small scout from their party, who entered Schenectady without even exciting suspicion of their errand. When they had staid as long as the nature of their business required, they withdrew to their fellows. Seeing that Schenectady offered such an easy prey, it put new courage into the French, and they came upon it as above related. The bloody tragedy commenced between 11 and 12 o'clock, on Saturday night; and, that every house might be surprised at nearly the same time, the enemy divided themselves into parties of six or seven men each. Although the town was impaled, no one thought it necessary to close the gates, even at night, presuming the severity of the season was a sufficient security; hence the first news of the approach of the enemy was at every door of every house, which doors were broken as soon as the profound slumbers of those they were intended to guard. The same inhuman barbarities now followed, that were afterwards perpetrated upon the wretched inhabitants of Montreal. "No tongue," said Colonel Schuyler, can express the cruelties that were committed." Sixty-three houses, and the church, § were immediately in a blaze. Enciente women, in their expiring agonies, saw their infants cast into the flames, being first delivered by the knife of the midnight assassin! Sixty-three || persons were put to death, and twenty-seven were carried into captivity. 66 A few persons fled towards Albany, with no other covering but their nightclothes; the horror of whose condition was greatly enhanced by a great fall of snow; 25 of whom lost their limbs from the severity of the frost. With these poor fugitives came the intelligence to Albany, and that place was in dismal confusion, having, as usual upon such occasions, supposed the enemy to have been seven times more numerous than they really were. About noon, the next day, the enemy set off from Schenectady, taking all the plunder they could carry with them, among which were forty of the best horses. The rest, with all the cattle and other domestic animals, lay slaughtered in the streets. One of the most considerable men of Schenectady, at this time, was Captain Alexander Glen. He lived on the opposite side of the river, and was suffered to escape, because he had delivered many French prisoners from torture and slavery, who had been taken by the Indians in the former wars. They had passed his house in the night, and, during the massacre, he had taken the alarm, and in the morning he was found ready to defend himself. Before leaving the village, a French officer summoned him to a council, upon the shore of the river, with the tender of personal safety. He at length adventured down, and had the great satisfaction of having all his captured friends and relatives delivered to him; and the enemy departed, keeping good their promise that no injury should be done him. [] Sadageenaghtie in Pownal on the Colonies, I. 398. Charlevoix calls him The Sieur Coudre. Spafford. + Hist. N. York. Colden, 115. CHAP. III.] DESTRUCTION OF SCHENECTADY. 33 The great Mohawk castle was about 17 miles from Schenectady, and they did not hear of the massacre until two days after, owing to the state of travelling. On receiving the news, they immediately joined a party of men from Albany, and pursued the enemy. After a tedious pursuit, they fell upon their rear, killed and took 25 of them, and did them some other damage. Several chief sachems soon assembled at Albany, to condole with the people, and animate them against leaving the place, which, it seems, they were about to do. From a speech of one of the chiefs on this occasion, the following extract is preserved : "Brethren, we do not think that what the French have done can be called a victory; it is only a further proof of their cruel deceit. The governor of Canada sent to Onondago, and talks to us of peace with our whole house; but war was in his heart, as you now see by woful experience. He did the same formerly at Cadaracqui,* and in the Senecas' country. This is the third time he has acted so deceitfully. He has broken open our house at both ends; formerly in he Senecas' country, and now here. We hope to be revenged on them." Accordingly, when messengers came to renew and conclude the treaty which had been begun by Taweraket, before mentioned, they were seized and handed over to the English. They also kept out scouts, and harassed the French in every direction. We will now proceed to draw from Charlevoix' account of this affair, which is very minute, as it respects the operations of the French and Indians. Notwithstanding its great importance in a correct history of the sacking of Schenectady, none of our historians seem to have given themselves the trouble of laying it before their readers. Governor Frontenac, having determined upon an expedition, gave notice to M. de la Durantaye, who then commanded at Michilimakinak, that he might assure the Hurons and Ottawas, that in a short time they would see a great change in affairs for the better. He prepared at the same time a large convoy to reinforce that post, and he took measures also to raise three war parties, who should enter by three different routes the country of the English. The first assembled at Montreal, and consisted of about 110 men, French and Indians, and was put under the command of MM. d'Aillebout de Mantet, and le Moine de St. Helene, two lieutenants, under whom MM. de Repentigny, d'Iberville, DE Bonrepos, de la BROSSE, and DE MONTIGNI, requested permission to serve as volunteers. This party marched out before they had determined against what part of the English frontier they would carry their arms, though some part of New York was understood. Count Frontenac had left that to the two commanders. After they had marched five or six days, they called a council to determine upon what place they would attempt. In this council, it was debated, on the part of the French, that Albany would be the smallest place they ought to undertake; but the Indians would not agree to it. They contended that, with their small force, an attack upon Albany would be attended with extreme hazard. The French being strenuous, the debate grew warm, and an Indian chief asked them "how long it was since they had so much courage." To this severe rebuke it was answered, that, if by some past actions they had discovered cowardice, they should see that now they would retrieve their character; they would take Albany or die in the attempt. The Indians, however, would not consent, and the council broke up without agreeing upon any thing but to proceed on. They continued their march until they came to a place where their path divided into two; one of which led to Albany, and the other to Schenectady: here Mantet gave up his design upon Albany, and they marched on harmoniously for the former village. The weather was very severe, and for the nine following days the little army suffered incredible hardships. The men were often obliged to wade through water up to their knees, breaking its ice at every step. * See Book V. |