Mary Jemison Seneca Captive

 

Review by Nathan:

         This book based during the French and Indian War tells the story of a girl named Mary Jemison.  She and her family were taken captive by Indians and forced to march away from their home.  On the march the rest of her family was killed and scalped but Mary was spared.  She was then sold to two sisters who had lost a brother fighting the English. They treated Mary like family and she lived with them for awhile.  

        When she was 17 she was married to an Indian and they lived happily.  But her husband Sheninjee later took sick when she was going for a long visit with her adopted Indian sisters.  After she returned to her village some people tried to get her to come back to live with the whites but she refused even when this meant she would have to hide for periods of time.  

        She eventually remarried to Hogadowah but he went to fight in the Revolutionary War.  Then her village was burned by American Colonial forces.  With her children in tow she set out to a valley where she had found refuge before.  She lived there for many years (over thirty years) until 1831.  She died in 1833.

I enjoyed this story because it was a true story and some of it took place by where I live so I was able to relate.

 

Note: Please use your own discretion for having younger children read this book due to some content (being taken captive, scalping and killing of family, forced marriage, etc.)

Reading age range: 10+  Book Category: Based on a true story
Book format I used: Hardback