Eunice Kanenstenhawi Williams
Encyclopedia
Eunice Williams, also known as Marguerite Kanenstenhawi Arosen, (17 September 1696 – 26 November 1785) was an English colonist taken captive by French
and Mohawk
warriors as a seven-year-old girl from Deerfield
, Massachusetts
in 1704. Taken to Canada with more than 100 other captives, she was adopted by a Catholic Mohawk family at Kahnawake and became fully assimilated into the tribe. She was baptized Catholic under the name Marguerite and named Kanenstenhawi as an adult. She married François-Xavier Arosen, a Mohawk man, had a family with him, and chose to stay with the Mohawk for the rest of her life. Although never returning to Massachusetts to live permanently, she did visit her family in 1741 and on two later occasions. Her father, the Puritan
minister John Williams
and her brother Samuel made continuing efforts to ransom and to persuade her to return to Massachusetts. Hers was one of the more famous Indian captivity stories.
minister John Williams
and his wife Eunice Mather Williams. On 29 February 1704, the Williams' home was attacked during a raid on the settlement led by French
and allied Abenaki and Mohawk
fighters. Later called the Deerfield Massacre
, the event was part of a series of raids and conflicts between the French and English, and their Indian allies, during Queen Anne's War
in the early 18th century.
The Indians killed numerous settlers in their houses, including Eunice's six-week-old sister Jerusha and younger brother John Williams, Jr. They took captive more than 100 settlers, including 7-year-old Eunice, her parents, and four of her siblings. The captives were taken on a strenuous march northward. The next day, a Mohawk warrior killed her mother after she fell while crossing the icy waters of the Green River. Others of the youngest and oldest captives were killed if they could not keep up with the large party.
Eunice and the surviving members of her family reached Fort Chambly
in Quebec
six weeks later; from there she was taken to Kahnawake, a settlement of Catholic
Mohawks south of Montreal
across the St. Lawrence River. She was adopted by a woman who had recently lost her own daughter in a smallpox
epidemic
. Eunice was given the symbolic name Waongote, meaning "one who is planted like an Ashe", and was instructed in the Mohawk language and customs, and catechized in the Roman Catholic religion. When she converted to Catholicism, she was baptized Marguerite.
When the survivors of Deerfield learned that their captured relatives and neighbors were being held in Quebec, they began negotiations through various intermediaries to ransom them. During these years, Rev. Williams was allowed to meet with Eunice on two occasions; both times he responded to her requests for guidance by telling her to frequently recite the Puritan Catechism
.
Eunice became fully assimilated into the tribe, at age 16 marrying a young Mohawk man, François-Xavier Arosen, age 25. They had three children together. Nonetheless, Rev. Williams, succeeded by his son Samuel, continued through the years to try to ransom and later persuade Eunice to rejoin her New England family.
Eunice, called Kanenstenhawi as her adult Mohawk name, finally returned to New England in 1741, by which time her father had died. Her brother Samuel had kept in touch with her. When Eunice and her husband went to Massachusetts, it was with a guide and interpreter, as they spoke only Mohawk and French. She made two more visits to her Williams family, bringing her children with her and one year staying for an extended period through the winter.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
warriors as a seven-year-old girl from Deerfield
Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,750 as of the 2000 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area in Western Massachusetts, lying only north of the city of Springfield.Deerfield includes the...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in 1704. Taken to Canada with more than 100 other captives, she was adopted by a Catholic Mohawk family at Kahnawake and became fully assimilated into the tribe. She was baptized Catholic under the name Marguerite and named Kanenstenhawi as an adult. She married François-Xavier Arosen, a Mohawk man, had a family with him, and chose to stay with the Mohawk for the rest of her life. Although never returning to Massachusetts to live permanently, she did visit her family in 1741 and on two later occasions. Her father, the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
minister John Williams
John Williams (Reverend)
John Williams was a New England Puritan minister who became famous for The Redeemed Captive, his account of his captivity by the Mohawk after the Deerfield Massacre during Queen Anne's War. He was an uncle of the notable pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards. His first wife Eunice Mather was a...
and her brother Samuel made continuing efforts to ransom and to persuade her to return to Massachusetts. Hers was one of the more famous Indian captivity stories.
Early life and education
Eunice Williams was born on 17 September 1696, the daughter of the PuritanPuritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
minister John Williams
John Williams (Reverend)
John Williams was a New England Puritan minister who became famous for The Redeemed Captive, his account of his captivity by the Mohawk after the Deerfield Massacre during Queen Anne's War. He was an uncle of the notable pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards. His first wife Eunice Mather was a...
and his wife Eunice Mather Williams. On 29 February 1704, the Williams' home was attacked during a raid on the settlement led by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and allied Abenaki and Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
fighters. Later called the Deerfield Massacre
Deerfield massacre
The Raid on Deerfield occurred during Queen Anne's War on February 29, 1704, when French and Native American forces under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville attacked the English settlement at Deerfield, Massachusetts just before dawn, burning part of the town and killing 56...
, the event was part of a series of raids and conflicts between the French and English, and their Indian allies, during Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
in the early 18th century.
The Indians killed numerous settlers in their houses, including Eunice's six-week-old sister Jerusha and younger brother John Williams, Jr. They took captive more than 100 settlers, including 7-year-old Eunice, her parents, and four of her siblings. The captives were taken on a strenuous march northward. The next day, a Mohawk warrior killed her mother after she fell while crossing the icy waters of the Green River. Others of the youngest and oldest captives were killed if they could not keep up with the large party.
Eunice and the surviving members of her family reached Fort Chambly
Fort Chambly
Fort Chambly is a historic fort in the Canadian La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec. The fort is designated as a National Historic Site. Fort Richelieu was part of a series of five forts built along the Richelieu River. Fort Richelieu is at the mouth of the Richelieu River....
in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
six weeks later; from there she was taken to Kahnawake, a settlement of Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Mohawks south of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
across the St. Lawrence River. She was adopted by a woman who had recently lost her own daughter in a smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
. Eunice was given the symbolic name Waongote, meaning "one who is planted like an Ashe", and was instructed in the Mohawk language and customs, and catechized in the Roman Catholic religion. When she converted to Catholicism, she was baptized Marguerite.
When the survivors of Deerfield learned that their captured relatives and neighbors were being held in Quebec, they began negotiations through various intermediaries to ransom them. During these years, Rev. Williams was allowed to meet with Eunice on two occasions; both times he responded to her requests for guidance by telling her to frequently recite the Puritan Catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
.
Later life
When the senior Williams' ransom and freedom were arranged about three years later, he sought to have Eunice reunited with him. The French told an intermediary that this was impossible because the Mohawk people with whom she was living "would as soon part with their hearts as the child.” The French government would not generally interfere when the Mohawk adopted captives, even if they were European. He was able to redeem his other children, who returned to live in Massachusetts.Eunice became fully assimilated into the tribe, at age 16 marrying a young Mohawk man, François-Xavier Arosen, age 25. They had three children together. Nonetheless, Rev. Williams, succeeded by his son Samuel, continued through the years to try to ransom and later persuade Eunice to rejoin her New England family.
Eunice, called Kanenstenhawi as her adult Mohawk name, finally returned to New England in 1741, by which time her father had died. Her brother Samuel had kept in touch with her. When Eunice and her husband went to Massachusetts, it was with a guide and interpreter, as they spoke only Mohawk and French. She made two more visits to her Williams family, bringing her children with her and one year staying for an extended period through the winter.