A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison

by James E Seaver

Overview

Mary Jemison was one of the most famous white captives who, after being captured by Indians, chose to stay and live among her captors. In the midst of the Seven Years War(1758), at about age fifteen, Jemison was taken from her western Pennsylvania home by a Shawnee and French raiding party. Her family was killed, but Mary was traded to two Seneca sisters who adopted her to replace a slain brother. She lived to survive two Indian husbands, the births of eight children, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the canal era in upstate New York. In 1833 she died at about age ninety.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781977931566
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	10/18/2017
Pages:	92
Sales rank:	678,112
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.19(d)

About the Author

James E. Seaver was an American author and historian who lived during the early 19th century. He is best known for his work "A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison," which was first published in 1824. The book is based on the life of Mary Jemison, who was born in 1743 in what is now Pennsylvania. Mary Jemison's life took a dramatic turn when she was captured by a Shawnee raiding party during the French and Indian War at the age of fifteen. She was then adopted by a Seneca family and eventually assimilated into the Seneca tribe, adopting their language, customs, and way of life. Despite opportunities to return to European-American society, Mary chose to remain with the Seneca people, earning the respect and admiration of both Native Americans and European settlers. Seaver's narrative provides a detailed account of Mary Jemison's experiences, offering insights into Native American culture, colonial history, and the complex relationships between indigenous peoples and European settlers during the tumultuous period of American expansion. Seaver's work remains a valuable historical document, shedding light on the experiences of individuals who lived at the intersection of different cultures and societies during a pivotal era in American history.

Editorial Reviews

A reprint of the E.L. Carey and A. Hart edition, 1834. Mrs. Jemison's account of her life with the Senecas--as told to upstate New York Doctor James Everett Seaver in 1824. The story has gone through countless editions, reprints, and retellings before the creation of this rigorous edition by feminist scholar of ethnicity June Namias. The extensive introduction and the bibliography put Jemison and Seaver's Narrative in its ethnographic, historical, and literary contexts, and offer new interpretations of the many earlier editions and of Jemison as a woman both white and American Indian. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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