Me on Penacook Island, New Hampshire, USA(Also Known as Dustin Island)
August, 1997
(The water was warm that day)
It is a little fuzzy as to when this next part happened.
All that history books can say was it was sometime before March 30th 1697.
What happened on March 30th they know about for sure.
Today as I write, it has been ten days since the Indian raid, the killing of the baby, and the killing of at least twelve of Hannah Dustin's neighbors right before her eyes on the trail north.
I personally am sick of thinking about it every day, sick in the sense that it just doesn't seem possible that they have been trudging along in the snow and mud and cold since before I left for Salt Lake.
Take a second to think of all the stuff you have done since March 15th, and picture that instead of all that stuff you did, you were having Hannah's experience.
So what I'm about to tell you about could actually have taken place tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that.
I just personally want to give Hannah a break.
If I am wrong, I hope she will forgive me some day.
And I hope she won't tell me I was a total wimp.
On with the saga:
Up to this point, Hannah and Mary have been forced to travel with the whole raiding group, anywhere from 40 to 80 Indians. Things are about to change.
"Near the junction of the Contoocook and Merrimack rivers, twelve of the Indians, two men, three women, and seven children, taking with them Hannah, Mrs. Neff and a boy of fourteen years, Samuel Lennardson (who had been taken prisoner near Worcester about eighteen months before), left the main party and proceeded toward what is now Dustin Island, situated where the two rivers unite, near the present town of Penacook, N.H.
(Hey, get a load of this! Samuel's still alive! Remember Samuel, the 12 year old boy that got kidnapped from the next town over, that I mentioned in Chapter One of this saga? Yeh, him!
Isn't that cool? He's alive! Oh my goodness, his poor parents...worrying and praying for a year and a half...)
"This island was the home of the Indian who claimed the women as his captives, and here it was planned to rest for a while before continuing on the long journey to Canada.
(It is 58 miles from Haverhill to Penacook Island by freeway today. I've taken a bus between the two places. It is still mostly just forests and hills. I rode with my father, a born Dustin, and assorted distant relatives. For most of us, it was the first time we had even made this journey. I talked with other women. One woman was working on a Master's degree in English, while I was working on my Library degree. We talked about collaborating to write Hannah's story for children. I wonder if I still have her email address. )
"This Indian family, strange as it may seem, had been converted by the French priests at some time in the past, and was accustomed to have prayers three times a day - in the morning, at noon, and at evening - and ordinarily would not let their children eat or sleep without first saying their prayers."
(That is pretty strange, in my opinion. But the Indians apparently didn't mind if their kids saw people being tomahawked to death. As long as everyone said grace before meals and bedtime, they were "Good to go with God" I suppose.)
(I did some research into the French priests, known as "Jesuits", and actually their journals are available on-line, detailing their missionary work among the Abenakis during this time. From the journals, it all seemed rather serene, right down to putting all the prayers into music for the Indians to sing.)
"Hannah's master, (Bampico) who had lived in the family of Rev. Mr. Rowlandson of Lancaster..."
(Wait a minute...Rowlandson? Like the husband of Mary Rowlandson, the captive lady who described in detail what she had eaten as a captive? Yes. That Rowlandson. Bampico had lived with Mary Rowlandson in her home at one point. What on earth had happened? How could Bampico have lived with a relatively famous Puritan minister, whose wife was captured, six year old daughter killed, and two other kids taken by "savage" Indians now be
doing this horrible stuff???)
"... some years before, told her (Hannah) that "when he prayed the English way he thought that it was good, but now he found the French way better."
(Better how? Well, for one thing, the French paid for scalps of English people. And for captive English people. That might have had something to do with it. Or maybe, since Lancaster was a "Praying Indian" town, maybe Bampico had been rounded up as a Praying Indian earlier, survived the ordeal, and had a really bad taste in his mouth about the whole "English", or Puritan way.)
"They (Bampico and his family) tried however, to prevent the two women (Hannah and Mary Neff) from praying, but without success, for as they were engaged on the tasks set by their master, they often found opportunities."
(Which explains how I knew Hannah and Mary were praying. And praying like mad.)
Their Indian master (Bampico) would sometimes say to them when he saw them dejected. "What need you trouble yourself? If your God will have you delivered, you shall be so!"
H. D. Kilgore, Historian
I am being very careful not to put words into Hannah's mouth as I write this saga.
The bolded below is the verse she cited later, (along with one other passage specifically) that she used during this time as comfort:
I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
They compassed me about like bees: they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm 118 : 5-29 (KJV)
2 comments:
"Thy word have I hid in my heart . . ."
Just reading this post today, is a challenge to hide God's word in my heart. How blessed she was that she had that to give her comfort when there was nothing else.
I understand now why it is important to read it in real time. It brings even more reality to an already well told story of Hannah.
"The Joy of the Lord is my strength." There are times when we feel no reason to be joyful, as I am sure did Hannah. That is when drawing only upon Him can we make it through the unbearable times that we know we would not be able to endure.
It is always good to reflect on what God has done in the past. I think about the Israelites, and how God told them to remember how He lead them through the desert, tell their children's children, and celebrate feasts in honour of how He delivered them. As they had no other means of recording (no luxury of digital cameras or blogs!)they had to tell the story. This is what you are doing here. It is important to keep these stories alive so that when our hard times come, we know that our God has "been there, done that" quite successfully before!:)
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