Hannah Emerson Dustin - Heroine - First women statue in US

         First woman honored in the United States            with a statue

8th Great-Grandmother on my Hamblin line

Hannah Duston, by Stearns

I have to admire this grandmother.  She exemplifies the adage - "Don't mess with the mother."  She had just given birth when an Indian raid came and they kidnapped her, her baby, and her nurse.  Now this area had been having trouble with Indian raids and kidnappings.  While taking Hannah to the place they planned on holding her the Indians killed her baby because it was slowing them down.  I cannot imagine how horrifying and heartbreaking that would be.  Hannah kept her head and figured a way to escape.  There were other hostages being held too.  She killed and scalped the Indians and took their scalps as proof of what she had done.  Not only did she make it back to her village but it took a woman to stop the Indian raids and kidnapping.  Maybe she is the reason I come from a long line of strong women.

The following are taken from:
http://voices.yahoo.com/17-interesting-facts-indian-captive-escapee-12171756.html

 Henry David Thoreau immortalized Hannah Dustin in his written works. In 1870 a statue of the courageous Hannah Dustin was positioned in the town square. There is also a statue of her in New Hampshire where Hannah and the captives killed the raiders and escaped with the scalps. Hannah's harrowing experience sparked the imagination of her fellow frontier colonists, just as it has endured and appealed to the people of today. Hannah Dustin Memorial statue was the first statue erected in NH using public funds. This occurred long after her death, in 1874.

 John Greenleaf Whittier wrote of Hannah in his Legends of New England in 1831.

 Cotton Mather penned Magnalia Christa Americana, in which Mather shared his respect for Hannah as a fabulous female. He knew Hannah and spoke with her about the frightening incident himself. His version included moral questions which do not take away from the horror, but does speak of using the situation, perhaps, for his own means.

Sources:
http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=characters&FileName=dustin.php
http://wprokasy.myweb.uga.edu/Emerson2.htm
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-story-hannah-dustin-joan-arc-lizzie-bordon-116091.html?cat=37
http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/HannahDuston/MMD2169.html
http://www.nhstateparks.org/explore/state-parks/hannah-duston-memorial-state-historic-site.aspx
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hannah-dustim-statue-boscawen-nh