Captured by Indians: The Life of Mary Jemison

by James E. Seaver

Recounts the life of Mary Jemison, who after her capture by the Shawnee was adopted into a Seneca family and lived voluntarily with the Indians for the rest of her life, as she would have told it to her biographer

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Native American, Memoir, American History, Historical

104 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1824

About the author

Dr. James Everett Seaver was the son of Capt. William Sever (1763-1828) and Mary Everett (1765-1815). He lives all his life in the area forming the modern state of New York, living in Hebron & Darien.

He earned a diploma issued by the state of Vermont medical society. A minister, he also practised medicine until his death in 1827.

Dr. Everett is famous for authoring "A Narrative Of The Life Of Mrs. Mary Jemison"- who, at 12, was kidnapped, and adopted by Indians.

Reviews

[Katherine Basto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this narrative 5 stars because of the stark and profound experience that Mary Jemison had to endure. While in her eighties, she gave this account to a Dr. Seaver who wrote down her remembrances. To actually hear of what she endured, her family being massacred by the Seneca(the description of the Indians cleaning off her parents' scalps is heartbreaking...she was but 15 years of age). Life was exceedingly hard for Mary but somehow she adjusted to life with the Senecas, carrying heavy loads on her back with only a burden strap across her forehead to lug corn or babies. It sounds like she rarely complained and was quite passive like the Indian squaws themselves. She was witness to brutal deaths, strange festivals and frolics and lived her years as an Indian on the Genessee River in upstate NY.
The absolute saddest aspect of the story comes in her later life after she births 8 children, 3 boys and 5 girls. They were "half breeds" but she extols the dangers of the "ardent spirits" or "the fire water" that the white man often gave the Indians. When they became intoxicated terrible quarrels would ensue and disaster often followed.
In fact, her middle son John, more Indian than white and accused of being witch at times was more jealous of his 2 other brothers who favored the white ways. He realized that these other brothers were his mother's favorites and tragedy strikes. I will not give what happens away, but it's just about the saddest account I've read about. But still Mary Jemison lives on. Ironically, she only grew to four and a half feet, so short for one of Scots-Irish blood. My own theory is that she was stunted due to the trauma she experienced and part of her would always be that young girl missing her family and longing to be reunited with them.
She had chances to return. Yet she worried about her half breed children and would they be accepted by her relatives? She thought not. This is a short book but she really brings to life some of the characters that come and go in her life. Ebeneizer Allen, a "white Indian" who lives on her land and then becomes a wanted man, her second husband the fierce warrior Hiakotoo. The narrative also helps understand what life was like around the Revolutionary War up near Fort Niagra and that the Seneca favored the French, fought with the British against the Americans and somehow dear Mary survived all these wars...for better or worse.
This is an eye opening account. For all those who think that Indians are peaceful spirits who smoke the peace pipe and pray to Father Sky will be sadly mistaken. The accounts of burning people alive, random and gratuitous killing, celebrating torture, hanging heads on pikes is grimly given in detail. But still it is a part of history that many do not know or understand. The Senecas had a law that if one of their people was killed by the white man, that a white must be captured or a scalp of an enemy must be presented to the mourning Indian. It's clear that the Seneca people were filled with the spirit of revenge and superstition but according to Mary Jemison she was treated with tenderness and mercy by those in the tribe. Informative and very interesting read as part of a little known time in history.

[Lisa]

Mrs. Mary Jemison lived in Western New York State. She was captured by native Americans -probably Senecas - in the early 1800's when still a child. With her whole family killed, she listened to her mother's last words - to be quiet and maybe the Indians would let her live.

Mary was essentially illiterate and she told her story to James Seaver who wrote this book. It was quite interesting. After being adopted by two sisters, Mary adapted well to life with the Senecas. Her story is interesting in that we learn much about native American culture by reading it. Mary had several chances to leave the Indians and return to life with white people, but she chose to remain with the the natives. Her book will tell you why.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this very slender book, first published in 1824, Mary Jemison recounts her long life with the Indians. She began her sojourn near what became Pittsburg but ended up in Geneseo County (near what became Rochester) in western New York. Mary, who became completely assimilated into Indian culture, dress, and ways, dictated her adventures to Reverend James E. Seaver in the fall of 1823, when she was in her 80s — and amazing adventures they were!

Born in 1742, when her parents were en route to America, Mary was kidnapped by Shawnee Indians when she was 12 or 13 years old; her parents and her brothers and sister were killed and scalped during the French and Indian War, but she was spared. Mary ends up with the Seneca Indians, where she lives the rest of her life, rechristened with the Indian name Dickewamis, which translates as “pretty girl.” She goes on to take two husbands, bear eight children, and undergo her share of hardships and heartbreaks. I was moved by her desire to remain with her new Indian family, even when she had chances to return to English civilization, and I was appalled at the brutality and ruthlessness of both the Indians and the whites. An interesting read, especially at the price of $1.99 in the Kindle format.

[Vali Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough to physically read but highly insightful nonetheless. A riveting historical account of one of the most revered pioneers in American history. Strongly recommended for fans of personal narrative and early America.

[Marcie]

I read this book many summers ago as a prerequisite for a PA Governor's Institute for the Social Studies that I attended at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. I'm looking forward to perusing through it and my marginal notes after spending Easter weekend in New York's Letchworth State Park which now includes land once reserved for Dehgewanus, or Mary Jemison, and her burial site.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Won't be for you if you want 21st century biography format; this was written very long ago. A lot of specific and detailed descriptions of land and procedures, and that may not also be for you.

But it was for me. I found it a very interesting and captivating 19th century account of 18th and 19th century lives. Mary certainly lived a life worth preserving and passing down.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting insight into one woman's experience in being captured and raised in a Native (Seneca I believe it was?) American tribe. I felt like she gave great cultural insights into things that would see terribly awful or barbaric, which could be expanded to a better understanding of the differences in relations between the white settlers and the Native counterparts.

[LadyCalico · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently read a James Thom's book Follow the River. Having spent most of my adult life within easy driving distance of the fabulous Letchworth State Park of Western NY, I remembered that Letchworth had its own version of Mary Ingles named Mary Jemison. I decided to search out books about the White Woman of the Senecas, whose lands and tomb I had visited frequently. I found three books, and this one was by far my favorite. For one thing, the other two were kid's books supposedly based on Dr. James Seaver's book but missing a lot, and the worst one adding a lot of made-up silly kiddie drama. I thought I was buying James Seaver's book but instead found that this one was an abridged version--but of a very good kind. The editor edited out the gratuitous stuff that Dr. Seaver had edited into Mary's narrative. The result is a version of Mary's autobiography told in Mary's voice, truer to the narration she gave to Seaver, less about Seaver, and more about Mary. This book proved to be a serendipitous find since Mary's own version of her life's story is what I wanted. I don't know that it would appeal to those who are not lovers of history, lovers of non-fiction, and hikers of the amazingly beautiful Western New York forests, but I am all of the above.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder how I was introduced to this book. It was short and not printed perfectly but I am very glad to have found it. At times the description of torture by the Indians was upsetting and too graphic but Mary Jemison witnessed it and hated it but still accepted her life with the Indians after her capture. Her own children--who were then biracial--were prone to violence--at least the sons were.

I like it when a book sends me to do more research. I looked up some of the villains in the story and found more about them on Wikipedia. It's possible the source was this very book but I think the stories were corroborated by other sources as well.

[Khadijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I looked this book up after visiting Ganondagan State Historic Site. I wonder if it's all in her own wording or partially rewritten by the author. It seems odd to me to call the people you lived with for so long and consider family "savages".

[Jeffrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're suffering from insomnia but do not want to get hooked on sleeping pills, try reading this... You'll be nodding out in no time.

[Cassia Scarborough]

Pre-baby summer read-a-thon!

[Jerrica · Rating 2 out of 5]

her children murdered each other

[Neka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was left disliking Jemison, disliking every indian tribe she describes and basically disliking the entire human race for the atrocities it's capable of.

[Sherri Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

She was an amazing lady and made it through some tough, unbelievable times. I wasn't thrilled with the format of the book.

[Amy]

This was a useful counterpoint to "Indian Captive" by Lois Lenski, a book I adored in childhood and recently found worth re-reading as an adult. This brief volume mainly consists of an edited version of the narrative interview Mary Jemison granted to a white man when she was about 80 years old in 1823.

I disagree with editor Zeinert’s decision to include brief biographical information about Mary Jemison’s second husband based on the word of someone who claimed to be Jemison’s white cousin. I find that claimed relationship highly suspect, given everything we're told in the book about this "cousin" and his lying, thieving ways, and also everything in that description of her husband, as it’s clearly given from a very anti-Indian perspective. I suppose Zeinert was tempted to include it given how little she was able to include in Jamisen's own words about the second husband.

I don't know if I can give this book a rating. I'm tempted to give it 2-3 stars, but how does one rate an edited narrative transcribed by a biased party of an old woman's autobiographical memories? Zeinert is correct to point out that there are surely many things left out of Mary Jemison's narrative. For example, we aren't given any information about her daughters and their sons, or whether more of her children and grandchildren chose to stay within the Iroquois or leave. I happen to know that at least some stayed within the tribe, as I recall seeing interviewees in documentaries with the last name Jemison (Seneca society is matrilineal, so her descendants would have inherited her name if they stayed in the tribe). We get information instead that was of interest to the white man who questioned her, such as abuse of alcohol among Indians, including the role it played in the fratricidal death of her middle-aged sons. I was sorry to read of her experiencing the traumatic death of her adult children, as one would hope that someone who had been through so much would have a peaceful adulthood. I was also disturbed to read how she had been taken advantage of several times regarding loss of her land to white people. That's generally a part of any history of American Indians, but I am always disappointed to read it.

[Karen Koppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written centuries ago (early 1800's) after the revolutionary war. I'm sure the author did his best to accurately account for her life's history, but I'm also sure he inadvertantly reflected some of his own beliefs in the narrative. Even so, the book is an excellent source of information about the attitudes and lives of the native peoples in the New York area during that time.

I can understand why she chose to stay with the natives instead of moving back with her children to a life with the white settlers. She was unsure of how they would be accepted and by that time she was entrenched in the Indian way of life.

Her life was full of tragedy and difficulty living situations. But she had only good things to say about her 2 husbands, and how they treated and respected her. I was sad to read of the terrible effect that alcohol had on her sons and their demise and how she felt sure that it would be the death knell for the native peoples. I'm well aware of the devistating effect it has on native people in particular and that there have been studies supporting this, but her observations were forboding in predicting this very tragic issue to this current day.

Be aware of the gory descriptions of torture and murder that took place during this time by both white settlers, the French and British and the Indians. I'm sure these took place, but it's still difficult reading about them.

[Emily Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The version of this that I read was edited by someone who claimed to have removed Seaver's supposed anti-natives bias from the original version. So, I don't know how much it differed the original. I wish Mary Jemison would've been able to maintain her ability to write so we could've had it in her own words without the biased lens of the interviewer and the editor.

After reading a fictional account of Mary Jemison for kids, my kids wanted to learn more and this was the only other book the library had about her. This reads fairly mild most of the time. But there will just be thrown in the mix a very graphic account of killings, etc. Such details do give a better understanding of the racial relations of the time, but they would catch us off guard as they could be in the midst of a chapter that was fairly innocuous otherwise. So, just prepared for that if you can't stomach such details of brutality.

[Cynthia Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was Indian custom to give to grieving relatives a kidnapped person when one of their family had died by the hands of that kind of people. They could choose to torture and kill or to include the person in the family. Mary was chosen to take the place of a deceased Indian brother while the rest of her family was murdered. The poor child even had to watch her captors prepare her family's scalps. Much of the book is centered on Mary, of course. She tells, in a very stoic way, of times good and bad. In giving descriptions of her own life, she also tells of the people she lived among: her warrior husband, the satisfaction her captors got from extreme torture and prolonging death of enemies, the consequences of alcohol use, war between groups of Indians, their government, how the people believed in witches, how land was given as property, and how allies and enemies were chosen. It is the kind of book that is so intriguing that you wish to be told even more.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as I wanted to learn more about the story of one of my ancestors, Mary Jemison. At about 12 years old, she was captured by a group of Native Americans and French soldiers along with several of her family. Although her other family members that were captured were murdered, she was spared, and proceeded to live the rest of her life with the Senecas, married twice, had several children and a long life. This book was written in 1824 by a man who interviewed Jemison when she was in her 80s.  The language and format of the book was difficult to read. Additionally, I felt there was probably a lot of the author's own thoughts and prejudices imposed on the story, but I cant know that for sure. It was a very interesting narrative, but I don't really know how to "rate it." Note: I did not read the version edited by Jane Namias here, but the edition I read was not in goodreads.

[Vicki Gress · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting to learn the story of Mary Jemison and gain insight into how it was. But the read isn't really enjoyable. It was written may years ago in 1800's. The writing style is the kind that has long sentences (60 words) in some places. There's a LOT of description of the geographic location and description of land, which if you are from that area, may or may not be interesting to you. The most interesting parts were the insights given into Indian culture, beliefs, practices. If you're into that and history you'll like it. But, if you're looking for a book written in story style, this isn't it. The is mostly a compilation of facts.

[Sam Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating document that poses the question “Who is speaking here?” At many points in this putative account from a white woman abducted by Indians, the quality of the rhetoric added to the nature of the opinions voiced demonstrates that Seaver, going far beyond his role as amanuensis, is intruding. Then can this be used to gain insight into Jemison’s mentality or the customs and actions—let alone the words—of the many Indians who play parts in the story? Only with the greatest caution, identifying tropes common in the popular American literature of the first quarter of the nineteenth century and seeking, on the other hand, more reliable accounts that can buttress the claims made here.

[Sherri Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating narrative by an Irish woman who was abducted by Indians in the mid-1700s at the age of 13. The rest of her family was murdered and scalped. She talks about living as an Indian squaw and being married to two different Indian men and having 8 children with them. She talks about her chance to leave the tribe and how she decided against leaving. Just amazing to imagine her life...Would've liked more detail but she was around 80 when she narrated her life story and this is all there is...but it was an excellent glimpse into what she went through.

[Jan Komrska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of a white settler girl whose family was taken from the farm close to Philadelphia and murdered by the Indians. She was adopted by the Indian women who recently lost his son. She survives among Indians and despite opportunities to return back, she decides to stay, have family and raise her children. Interestingly she only enumerated her grandchildren and grand grandchildren in the last chapter, but never described any story of them. She mentions only her 3 sons (who have been all murdered) and three daughters in the last chapter as well.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

✒️ A curiously interesting biography and commentary on a topic I call “People are People.” This is a narrative of the biography of Mrs. Mary Jemison, who was kidnapped by the Indians in 1755 at the age of twelve. She remained with them for decades and relates their violence, kindness, and proof that “people are people,” no matter what culture one belongs to..

📕Published — 1824. In the public domain.
જ⁀🍋 Read on Project Gutenberg.
જ⁀🍇 Kindle.
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[Amanda Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this because she was my 9th Great Grand Aunt and I wanted more information about her life and this seemed as good of a place as any to get the information. She was a strong woman of character. she assimilated to the life of being Indian and apart of the Seneaca tribes.

I dont wanna give her story away so please read this book on her and whatever others you may be able to find <3

[Mark O'Neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often bypass reading stories such as this one because of the sheer tragedy and heartbreak within.
In her remembrance of her life with the native Americans, Mary Jemison shows undeniable courage and fortitude to not only survive and adapt but also to flourish in an environment riddled with hurdles.
How can we really understand and appreciate what this woman endured.
Although her story is short and quickly read it’s certainly not easily forgotten.
What a life, what a woman.

[David Mcelroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful historical narrative. Amazingly informative and wonderful without the artful exuberance of many biographical text. I needed more time to read it because of the extensive geographical references. This would be a great vacation planning guide alone to see the places covered in this short narrative.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true account of a white, girl child who was captured by the Seneca Indians, her family slaughtered, and her living with them for 60 some years. Was very interesting to me as this all took place before-during-and after the Rev. War in the town and area where I was born and spent majority of my growing up years.

[Bernard Holler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over seventy years of experiences among the Indians.

Mary Jamison remaining with the Indians for over 75 years brought her many experiences that most people would not want to live through. All the land she acquired over the years helped her to live among the people.