Mary Rowlandson

Mary Rowlandson (c. 1637 in the county of Somerset, England, † 1711 in Wethersfield, Connecticut; native Mary White ) was an English settler in New England, which was taken in 1675 captured by Indians and was known by her 1682 published review about it.

Life

She was born in England but moved in childhood with her parents in the Puritan colony of Massachusetts in New England over to escape religious persecution by the Anglican state church. The family settled first in Salem, later in Lancaster, where Mary Rowlandson married in 1656 Joseph, who was appointed pastor of the church four years later. When an Indian attack on Lancaster during King Philip 's War, it was captured with her three children on 10 February 1675 by Narragansett Indians. Your privation captivity lasted until May 2, when it was bought out by Princeton against payment of a ransom amounting to £ 20. The money was donated, among others, by several women of the colony capital Boston, led the negotiations John Hoar, a citizen of the settlement Concord. The location of her release is now known as Redemption rock ( " Rock of Salvation ").

One of her children did not survive the hostage, the other two were temporarily separated from her, but were later released. Her husband died in 1678 of natural causes, a year later, she married Samuel Talcott. She died in 1711 in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Work

1682 Rowlandson published a report on its captivity. He appeared in the New England Concord under the pious Items The soveraignty and goodness of God, together with the faithfulness of his promises Displayed ( " The rule and goodness of God and the truth of his promises " ), the same year in London as A true history of the captivity and restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson ( " the true story of the captivity and deliverance of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson ").

The book became one of the first best sellers of American literature. The American edition went through a second edition in the same year and was reprinted many times in the 18th and 19th centuries. Rowlandson's report is the first in a series of such reports on the capture by Indians, who soon formed as a " captivity narratives" own literary genre.