It's not that often you come across a statue of a woman, and far less often that the woman is wielding a weapon. But here we have Hannah Duston with an axe. The words and images around the statue tell the story.
Duston looks more fiercesome close up.
The first panel was impossible to read in full at the time because of the foliage in front of it, although it tells of Hannah's capture in Haverhill by the Indians in 1697.
'HER HUSBANDS'S DEFENCE
OF THE CHILDREN
AGAINST THE PURSUING
SAVAGES.'
'HER SLAYING OF HER
CAPTORS AT CONTOOCOOK
ISLAND MAR. 30, 1697,
AND ESCAPE.'
'HER RETURN.'
Although not at all relevant to a post on Hannah Duston, it would perhaps be a mistake to exclude this about Haverhill: as Wikipedia says, '[Haverhill] was for many decades home to a significant shoe-making industry, by the end of 1913 Haverhill boasted one tenth of the shoes produced in America and because of this the town was known for a time as the "Queen Slipper City." There's a big one to illustrate this:
Hannah Duston is my 10th great grandmother on my grandma's side. I'm proud to be her decendent. She stood up to her captors, used her head, and saved others in the process. She is representative of the backbone of this country- male/female, color of skin, level of wealth, etc. I pray her statue will remain in Haverhill as a tribute to her strength, intelligence, problem solving ability, and perseverence.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr. Shaw for recognizing her.
Sincerely,
Ms. Caverly
And many thanks for this contribution Ms Caverly.
ReplyDelete