The Hannah Dustin Story - March 15, 1697

Hannah Dustin statue

Hannah Emerson Dustin has a monument erected in the center of Haverhill, MA commemorating the extensive ordeal she endured when she was captured by Indians on March 15, 1697. They killed her 1 week old daughter Martha, and forced her to walk for days until they arrived at an island in the middle of the Merrimack river about 6 miles north of Concord, NH. There she met Samuel Lennardson, a young english boy who had been there about one year. They became friends and plotted to find a way of escape. They were soon informed that they were to start traveling again to a distant indian settlement, so they determined to escape before the journey. On the 31st, they got up around midnight and killed the ten Indians and escaped down the river to Hudson, NH with their scalps to prove their story and collect a bounty.

Below are the four plaques on each side of the statue depicting the ordeal: The taking of the prisoners, the retaliation by her husband, the killing of the Indians, and the return by canoe down the Merrimack river.

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To visit the statue in Haverhill, travel on I-495 to exit 50. Turn east on Route 97 (Broadway St.) for about 1 mile passing on the way through a small rotary that surrounds the statue of Lafayette, and arrive a few blocks later at the Haverhill Common/GAR Park. The statue is on the eastern end of the common facing the Haverhill Public Library across the street.
Marker Today you can travel the distance from Haverhill to the island where Hannah escaped her captors in about an hour by car (66 miles). Leaving Haverhill on I-495 southbound from exit 50, travel to exit 40, turn north on I-93 and travel to Exit 17 which is 6 miles north of Concord, NH (you must pass through a toll between exit 16 and 17). Then you travel west on Route US 4 for about 1/2 mile to a Park-and-Ride parking lot beside the  Merrimack River.
 

StatueA historical marker greets you at the entrance to the lot. At the west end of the lot there is a paved path leading down to the river and over an old unused railroad bridge to the island. There you are surprised by a very tall monument with a statue of Hannah on the top. The island is situated at a fork in the Merrimack River. It is unfortunate that there is no sign on I-93 Northbound at Exit 17 to let you know about the monument.


Read the detailed story of Hannah's ordeal from the book, "Historical Collections... of every town in Massachusetts" by John Warner Barber, pub. 1839.
Read the original version by Rev. Cotton Mather who interviewed her himself and then wrote the story!

See Artifacts of Hannah Dustin
Go to the Dustin Family Association

Last updated 24-Jul-99