  mary rowlandson, nÃ©e white, later mary talcott (c. 1637january 5, 1711) was a colonial american woman who was captured by native americans  during king philip's war and held for 11 weeks before being ransomed. in 1682, six years after her ordeal, the sovereignty and goodness of god: being a narrative of the captivity and restoration of mrs. mary rowlandson was published. this text is considered a seminal american work in the literary genre of captivity narratives. it went through four printings in 1682 and garnered readership both in the new england colonies and in england, leading it to be considered by some the first american "bestseller." == biography == mary white was born c. 1637 in somersetshire, england. the family left england sometime before 1650, settled at salem in the massachusetts bay colony and moved in 1653 to lancaster, on the massachusetts frontier. there, she married reverend joseph rowlandson, the son of thomas rowlandson of ipswich, massachusetts, in 1656. four children were born to the couple between 1658 and 1669, with their first daughter dying young. thumb|upright|left|site of rowlandson's capture (lancaster, massachusetts) at sunrise on february 10, 1675,although rowlandson writes that her captivity began on february 10, 1675, she was following the julian calendar. as neal salisbury points out, the date according to the georgian calendar this would now be february 1676 (see old style and new style dates). neal salisburgy (ed) the so
1630s_births 1710_deaths 17th-century_American_writers 17th-century_women_writers Captives_of_Native_Americans North_American_colonial_women_in_warfare Women_in_17th-century_warfare Writers_of_captivity_narratives