Susanna Cole

Susanna Cole

Susanna Cole as a child with her mother, Anne Hutchinson in a bronze memorial at the Massachusetts State House
Born baptized 15 November 1633
Alford, Lincolnshire, England
Died by 1713
North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Other names Susanna Hutchinson
Occupation Indian captive
Spouse John Cole
Children Susanna, Samuel, Mary, John, Anne, John, Hannah, William, Francis, Elizabeth, Elisha
Parents William Hutchinson and Anne (Marbury) Hutchinson

Susanna Cole, born Susanna Hutchinson (1633 - c. 1713), was the only survivor of an Indian attack in which many of her siblings, her famed mother, Anne Hutchinson, and other household members were killed. Following the attack, she was taken captive, and held by her captors for several years before her release.

Born in Alford, Lincolnshire, England, she was less than a year old when her family sailed from England to New England in 1634, and less than five when her family settled on Aquidneck Island (later Rhode Island) in the Narragansett Bay following her mother's banishment from Massachusetts. Shortly after her father's death, when she was about eight years old, she, her mother and six of her siblings left Rhode Island to live in New Netherland, settling in an area that became the far northeastern section of the Bronx in New York City, near the Westchester County line. Caught in the middle of severe tensions between the local natives and the Dutch, the family, except for Susanna, was massacred in August 1643. Susanna was taken captive, and raised by the Indians, later to be traded back to the English.

Taken to Boston where her oldest brother and an older sister lived, she was re-introduced into English society, and at the age of 18 married John Cole, the son of Boston innkeeper, Samuel Cole. They lived in Boston for a few years, but by 1663 had moved to the Narragansett country of Rhode Island (later North Kingstown, Rhode Island) to look after the lands of her oldest brother, Edward Hutchinson. Here the couple remained and raised a large family. Susanna was still alive in 1707 when given administration of her husband's estate, but was deceased by December 1713 when her son William took receipts concerning his parents' estate.

Contents

Early life

Baptized in Alford, Lincolnshire on 15 November 1633, Susanna Hutchinson was the youngest child of William and Anne Hutchinson to accompany her parents on the voyage from England to New England in 1634.[1] She was the 14th child of her parents, of which 11 survived to make the trip to the New World, with one more born in New England.[2] The family settled in Boston, and lived across the street from magistrate John Winthrop, who would take the lead during a civil trial in 1637 that led to her mother's banishment from the Massachusetts colony.[3] Her mother had hosted very popular religious discussions at her home, and held some religious views at odds with the rigid orthodoxy of the Puritan ministers, creating a major division in the Boston church, and an untenable situation for the colony's leaders.[4] Forced to leave Massachusetts, the family settled with many of her mother's supporters on Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay, establishing the settlement of Portsmouth, which soon became a part of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.[5] Susanna was about five years old when the family left Boston, and was only eight when her father died in Portsmouth.[6]

Frightened at the prospect of Massachusetts gaining influence or control over Rhode Island, Susanna's widowed mother took her six youngest children, an older son, a son-in-law, and some servants and moved to the part of New Netherland that would later become the Bronx in New York City.[7] The Dutch and native Siwanoy were engaged in Kieft's War during the Hutchinson's tenure there, and in August 1643 the household was attacked by the Indians, and all members of the family were killed, except for nine year old Susanna. According to one story, Susanna was spared from slaughter because of her red hair,[8] while another account related that she was out picking blueberries and went to hide in the crevice of Split Rock when the attack occurred a distance away at the house.[9] Susanna was then taken captive by the attackers, being held for two to six years (accounts vary.)[10]

Susanna's captivity ended when she was traded back to the Dutch, then to the English, and then returned to unnamed friends or family members.[10] Her known living siblings at the time of her return were her oldest brother, Edward Hutchinson, another brother, Samuel, and her two oldest living sisters, Faith, the wife of Thomas Savage, and Bridget, the wife of John Sanford.[11] All of these siblings lived in Boston except for Bridget who lived in Portsmouth.[10][12] Susanna returned to Boston, and likely stayed with her oldest brother and his family. On 30 December 1651 she married John Cole, the son of Samuel Cole who owned Boston's earliest inn, the Three Mariners.[10]

Adult life

Susanna and John Cole began raising a family in Boston, but by 1663 they had gone to look after her brother's land in the Narragansett country, which was then in disputed territory, but later became North Kingstown, Rhode Island.[12] Here the Coles lived for the remainder of their lives, rearing many children.[12] In April 1667, John Cole deeded their house in Boston to Susanna's two older brothers, Edward and Samuel, signifying that they intended to remain in Narragansett.[12] They lived in the vicinity of Wickford, which area was claimed by both Connecticut and Rhode Island.[12] Many of the Wickford inhabitants preferred to be under the jurisdiction of Connecticut, and in the late 1660s Susanna's husband became a magistrate and commissioner for the area under the auspices of the Connecticut government.[12] Eventually, following many years of dispute and tension, Rhode Island was given control over the Narragansett lands, and in 1682 John Cole was made a conservator of the peace under the Rhode Island government.[12] By 1707 John had died, and Susanna and her son William were given administration of his estate during that year.[12] Susanna had died by 14 December 1713 when her son, William, "took receipts from heirs for their full proportion of estate of deceased father and mother..."[12]

Family and legacy

Susanna and John Cole had 11 children, at least nine of whom grew to maturity. Their oldest daughter, Susanna, married Thomas Eldred, but the fate of their oldest son, Samuel is not known.[12] Mary lived into her 60s, never marrying, and John, Jr. died as a youngster.[12] Ann married Henry Bull, the son of Jireh Bull, and grandson of Rhode Island colonial governor Henry Bull.[13] A second John grew to maturity, Hannah married Thomas Place, and William married Ann Pinder.[12] Francis grew to maturity, Elizabeth married Robert Potter, and Elisha married Elizabeth Dexter and was for many years a Deputy or Assistant in the Rhode Island colony.[12]

There have been numerous books and articles written about Susanna's famous mother, Anne Hutchinson, most of which mention Susanna. One book has been written about Susanna, Trouble's Daughter by Katherine Kirkpatrick, which presents a fictionalized account about Susanna's life with the native Americans who captured her, but also presents some of the limited historical information that is available about her.[14]

A bronze statue placed in front of the Massachusetts State House in Boston in 1922 displays an assumed likeness of Susanna as a youngster, and her mother, Anne Hutchinson.

Ancestry

Some of Susanna's ancestry on her father's side was published by John D. Champlin in 1913,[15], and much of her ancestry on her mother's side he published in 1914.[16]

See also

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References

  1. ^ Anderson, p. 481.
  2. ^ Anderson, pp. 477-81.
  3. ^ LaPlante, p. 73.
  4. ^ LaPlante, pp. 44-5.
  5. ^ Bicknell, p. 975.
  6. ^ Anderson, pp. 479-82.
  7. ^ Kirkpatrick, p. 227.
  8. ^ Kirkpatrick, pp. 3,11.
  9. ^ LaPlante, p. 239.
  10. ^ a b c d Kirkpatrick, p. 228.
  11. ^ Kirkpatrick, p. vi.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Austin, p. 50.
  13. ^ Austin, pp. 264-5.
  14. ^ Kirkpatrick, pp. 1-230.
  15. ^ Champlin (1913), pp. 2-3.
  16. ^ Champlin (1914), pp. 17-26.

Bibliography

External links