Hannah Emerson Duston/Dustin

Sunday February 14, 2021

Hannah Emerson Duston, was a heroine of the early Indian wars in New England. At the time of the attack on Haverhill MA., Mar 15, 1697, the Indians captured Hannah and her nurse, Mary Neff, and killed the youngest Duston child, Lydia, who was only a week old. Thomas, with their other seven children, managed to escape death. The captives were assigned to an Indian family of 12 persons and led to a larger village. On an island, now called Duston's Island, near Concord New Hampshire, Hannah and her nurse, assisted by a captive English boy, Samuel Leonardson, killed and scalped all of their captors except one squaw and a small boy. Afterward they reached their homes in safety. Their exploit has furnished the theme for much romance and verse. The name is also spelled Dustin and Dustan.