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Susannah Willard Johnson (February 20, 1729/30 – November 27, 1810) was an Anglo-American woman who was captured with her family during an Abenaki Indian raid on Charlestown, New Hampshire in August 1754, just after the outbreak of the French and Indian War. Johnson and her family were marched for weeks through the wilderness of New England and Quebec before arriving at the Abenaki village in Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec. The Johnsons were held for ransom until being sold off into slavery to the French. After her release in 1758, Johnson returned to her home in Charlestown. Beginning in 1796, she recorded a full account of her ordeal. The first edition of her narrative was composed by John Curtis Chamberlain (using information from Johnson's oral testimony and notes) and appeared in small circulation later that year; subsequent editions were revised and edited by Johnson and published in 1807, and posthumously in 1814. Her harrowing memoir, although not the first work in the captivity narrative genre, was among the most widely read and studied accounts. It was republished numerous times in following years. Elizabeth George Speare's 1957 historical fiction children's novel, ''Calico Captive'', was inspired by Johnson's story. ==Biography== Susannah Willard was born in Turkey Hills, Lunenburg, Massachusetts〔〔Saunderson (1876), p. 445〕 to Lieutenant Moses Willard, Sr. (c. 1702 – June 18, 1756) and Susanna (''née'' Hastings) Willard (April 4, 1710 – May 5, 1797). Her father, who was killed in 1756 by Indians while repairing a fence,〔Johnson (1834), pp. 76, 143〕 was a descendant of Major Simon Willard, an early settler who had negotiated and purchased Concord, Massachusetts from the local Native Americans.〔Farmer (1822), p. 179〕 Susannah Johnson's mother was a descendant of Thomas Hastings, an English puritan who had immigrated to New England in 1634 during the Great Migration. Susannah had twelve siblings in all: Aaron, John, Miriam, Moses, r., James Nutting, Jemima, Mary, Elizabeth, Abigail, and Huldah Willard. In 1742, Moses Willard and his wife relocated to Fort at Number 4, the northernmost British settlement along the Connecticut River, in what is now Charlestown. His children, including Susannah, joined him at No. 4 in June 1749. By then, only five other families had settled in the sparsely populated area.〔Johnson (1834), p. 14〕 Susannah was married to Captain James Johnson in Lunenburg on June 15, 1747.〔〔Davis (1896), p. 253〕 Following his death, she married a second time in 1762 to John Hastings, Jr. (d. November 21, 1804). At the time of the August 1754 raid, Johnson had three children, but mothered fourteen children in all, having seven children with James and seven with John.〔Johnson (1834), p. 103〕 In order from oldest to youngest, they were: Sylvanus, Susanna, Mary "Polly", and Elizabeth Johnson; and Theodosia, Randilla, and Susanna Hastings, as well as seven other infants who died during birth or from disease. After her release from captivity, Susannah Johnson lived in Lancaster, Massachusetts until October 1759, moving to Charlestown later that month and settling on her late husband's estate. She opened a small store to support her family, which she tended to for two years before marrying her second husband. She died on November 27, 1810 in Langdon〔Saunderson (1876), p. 457〕 and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Charlestown. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Susannah Willard Johnson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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