13 - Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison by James E. Seaver

In 1755, twelve-year-old Mary Jemison was captured by Native Americans, marking the beginning of a remarkable journey that would define her life. This compelling narrative recounts the tragic murder of her father and family, her profound struggles, and the complexities of her marriages to two Native men. Mary’s account reveals the harsh realities she faced, the brutalities of the French and Revolutionary Wars, and the historical truths that have long remained untold. Join us as we explore her extraordinary story, as narrated by James Seaver.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve of A Narrative of the Life of missus
Mary Jemison. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
please visit LibriVox dot org. A Narrative of the Life
of Missus Mary Jemison by James E. Seaver, Chapter twelve.

(00:23):
Being now left a widow in my old age to
mourn the loss of a husband who had treated me
well and with whom I had raised five children, and
having suffered the loss of an affectionate son, I fondly
fostered the hope that my melancholy vicissitudes had ended, and
that the remainder of my time would be characterized by
nothing unpropitious. My children, dutiful and kind, lived near me,

(00:47):
and apparently nothing obstructed our happiness. But a short time, however,
elapsed after my husband's death, before my troubles were renewed
with redoubled severity. John Hands having been once stained in
the blood of a brother, it was not strange that
after his acquittal, every person of his acquaintance should shun

(01:08):
him from a fear of his repeating upon them the
same ceremony that he had practiced upon Thomas my son.
Jesse went to Mount Morris, a few miles from home
on business in the winter after the death of his father,
and it so happened that his brother John was there,
who requested Jesse to come home with him. Jesse, fearing

(01:30):
that John would commence a quarrel with him on the way,
declined the invitation and tarried over night. From that time,
John conceived himself despised by Jesse and was highly enraged
at the treatment which he had received. Very little was said, however,
and it all passed off apparently till some time in
the month of May eighteen twelve, at which time mister

(01:53):
Robert Whaley, who lived in the town of Castile within
four miles of me, came to my house early on
Monday morning to hire George Chango, my son in law,
and John and Jesse to go that day and help
him slight a quantity of boards from the top of
the hill to the river, where he calculated to build
a raft of them for market. They all concluded to

(02:16):
go with mister Whaley and made ready as soon as possible,
But before they set out I charged them not to
drink any whiskey, for I was confident that if they did,
they would surely have a quarrel in consequence of it.
They went and worked till almost night, when a quarrel
ensued between Chango and Jesse in consequence of the whiskey

(02:37):
that they had drank through the day, which terminated in
a battle, and Chango got whipped. When Jesse had got
through with Chango, he told mister Whaley that he would
go home and directly went off. He, however, went but
a few rods before he stopped and lay down by
the side of a log to wait, as was supposed
for company. John, as soon as Jesse was gone, went

(03:00):
to mister Whaley with his knife in his hand and
bade him jo go, that is be gone, at the
same time telling him that Jesse was a bad man.
Mister Whaley, seeing that his countenance was changed and that
he was determined upon something desperate, was alarmed for his
own safety and turned towards home, leaving Chango on the

(03:21):
ground drunk, near to where Jesse had lain, who by
this time had got up and was advancing towards John.
Mister Whaley was soon out of hearing of them, but
some of his workmen stayed till it was dark. Jesse
came up to John and said to him, you want
more whiskey and more fighting, And after a few words,

(03:41):
went at him to try in the first place to
get away his knife. In this he did not succeed,
and they parted. By this time the night had come
on and it was dark again. They clinched, and at
length in their struggle they both fell, John, having his
knife in his hand, under and in that situation gave

(04:02):
Jesse a fatal step with his knife and repeated the
blows till Jesse cried out, brother, you have killed me.
Quit his hold and settled back upon the ground. Upon
hearing this, John left him and came to Thomas's widow's house,
told them that he had been fighting with their uncle,
whom he had killed, and showed them his knife. Next morning,

(04:25):
as soon as it was light, Thomas's and John's children
came and told me that Jesse was dead in the woods,
and also informed me how he came by his death.
John soon followed them and informed me himself of all
that had taken place between him and his brother, and
seemed to be somewhat sorrowful for his conduct. You can

(04:45):
better imagine what my feelings were than I can describe them.
My darling son, my youngest child, him on whom I
depended was dead, and I, in my old age, left
destitute of a helping hand. As soon as it was
consistent for me, I got mister George Jamison, of whom

(05:06):
I shall have occasion to speak to, go with his
sleigh to where CHESSI was and bring him home a
distance of three or four miles. My daughter Polly arrived
at the fatal spot first. We got there soon after her,
though I went the whole distance on foot. By this time, Chango,
who was left on the ground drunk the night before,

(05:28):
had become sober and sensible of the great misfortune which
had happened to our family. I was overcome with grief
at the sight of my murdered son, and so far
lost the command of myself as to be almost frantic,
and those who were present were obliged to hold me
from going near him. On examining the body, it was

(05:50):
found that it had received eighteen wounds, so deep and
large that it was believed that either of them would
have proved mortal. The corpse was carried to my house
house and kept till the Thursday following when it was
buried after the manner of burying white people. Jesse was
twenty seven or eight years old when he was killed.

(06:10):
His temper had been uniformly very mild and friendly, and
he was inclined to copy after the white people, both
in his manners and dress. Although he was naturally temperate,
he occasionally became intoxicated, but never was quarrelsome or mischievous.
With the white people, he was intimate and learned from
them their habits of industry, which he was fond of practicing,

(06:34):
especially when my comfort demanded his labor. As I have observed,
it is the custom amongst the Indians for the women
to perform all the labor in and out of doors,
and I had the hold to do with the help
of my daughters till Jesse arrived to a sufficient age
to assist us. He was disposed to labor in the cornfield,

(06:55):
to chop my wood, milk my cows, and attend to
any kind of business that would make my task the lighter.
On the account of his having been my youngest child
and so willing to help me, I am sensible that
I loved him better than I did either of my
other children. After he began to understand my situation and
the means of rendering it more easy, I never wanted

(07:18):
for anything that was in his power to bestow. But
since his death, as I have had all my labor
to perform alone, I have constantly seen hard times. Jesse
shunned the company of his brothers and the Indians generally,
and never attended their frolics. And it was supposed that this,
together with my partiality for him, were the causes which

(07:40):
excited in John so great a degree of envy that
nothing short of death would satisfy it. End of Chapter twelve.