News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-09-13
FAMOUS ESCAPES.
INTERESTING: ACCOUNTS OF ESCAPES
FROM THE INDIANS.
some Notable stories of Life in the Colonies
Many Years Ago.

DR.. Edward Eggleston's illustrated
paper in the September Century On"ln-
dian War in the Colonies, " recOunts the
following exploits: "Stories of marvel
Gus and ingenious escapes were the ro-
nance of the colonies, and such adven-
lures date back to the earliest Indian
war in Virginia, where a man and his
wife, who had been spared in the whole
sale slaughter, found their opportunity
while the Indians were dancing for Joy
over the acquisition of white mans
boat that had drifted ashore. These
captives got into canoe and soon after
ward surprised their friends in the set
Elements, who had believed them to be
dead. Very like this was the escape of
Anthony Bracket aud his wife in Maine.
They were left to follow on after their
captOrs, who were eager to reach q plum
derin9 party in time to share i'll the
spoil. Brackets wife found a broken
bark canoe, which she mended with a
needle and thread; the whole family
then put to sea i'll this ricketv craft, an
at length reached Black Point, where
they got on board a vessel. A little lad
of eleven years named Eames, taken in
Philips war, made his way thirty miles
or more to the settlements. Two sons
of the famous Hannah Bradley, effected
an ingenious escape, lying all the first
day i'll q hollow log and using their pro
visions to make friends with the dogs
that had tracked them. They jOurneyed
in extreme peril and suffering for nine
days, and one of them fell down with
exhaustion just as they were entering a
white settlement. A young girl in Mas
sachusetts, after three weeks of captivity,
! made a bride of bark, and after catch
ing horse rode all night through the
woods to Concord Mrs. Dean, taken at
Oyster river III 1894, was left, with her
daughter, in charge of an old Indian
while the others finished their work of
destruction. The old fellow asked his
prisoner what would cure pain in his
head. She recommended him to drink
some rum taken from her house. This
put him to sleep, and the woman and
child got away. Another dOwn-east
captive with the fitting name of Too
good, while his captor during an attack
on a settlement was disentanglirg a
piece of string with which to tie him,
jerked the Indians gun from under his
arm and, leveling it at his head, got safely
away.
Escaping captives endured extreme
hardshIps. One Bard, taken in Penn
sylvania, lived nine days on a few buds
and four snakes. Mrs. Inglis, captured
in the valley Of Virginia, escaped in COM
pany with a German woman from place
far down the Ohio river. After narrowly
avoiding discovery and recapture, they
succeeded in ascending the south bank
of the Ohio for some hundreds Of miles.
When within few days travel of settle
ments, they were so reduced by famine
that the German woman, enraged that
she had been persuaded to desert the In
dian tleshpOts, and crazed with hunger,
made an unsuccessful attack on her COM
paniOn with cannibal intentions.
''Ihe most famous of all the escapes
of New England captivcs was that of
Hannah.Duston, Mary Neff, and a 10y,
Samuel LaonardsOn. These three were
carried off, with many others. in 1857,
i'll the attack on Haverhill, Mrs. Dus-
tons child having been killed by the m
dams. When the captoTs had separated
the party to whom the two women and
the boy were assigned encamped ON all
island in the Merrimac river. At mid
night, the captlves secured hatchets and
killed ten Indians-twO men, two women
and six childrcn-Onc fayOrite boy. whom
they meant to spare, and one badly
wounded woman, escaping. After thoy
had left the camp, the fu9itives remem-
bered that nobody in the settlements
would believe, without evidence, that
they had performed so redoubtable an
action; they therefore returned and
scalped the Indians, after which they
scuttled all the canoes on the island but
one, and in tl.is they escaped down The
Merrimac, and finally reached Hayer-
hill. This was such an exploit as made
the actors Immediately famous in that
bloody time. The Massachusetts, Gen
eral Court gave Mrs Duston twenty five
pounds and granted half that amount to
each of her companions. The story of
their daring deed was carried far to the
southwark, and Governor Nicholson, of
sent a valuable present to the
prisoners"