Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection THE LIFE OF MARY JEMISON Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection THE AMERICAN SCENIC & HISTORIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY OLD TRIBUNE BUILDING, NEW YORK, N. Y. Incorporated 1895. A National Society for the protection of natural scenery, the care of public parks the preservation of historic landmarks, and the improvement of cities. Holds prop- erty in fee and in trust. Administers ten public properties, in- cluding six New York State Reservations, in one of which, Letchworth Park, Mary Jemison is buried. Has caused the creation of many other public parks and the erection of many monuments. Its members have given over $6,300,000 for such purposes. List of officers, 1925: Honorary President MRS. EDWARD H. HARRIMAN President GEORGE F. KUNZ, SC.D. Vice Presidents COL. HENRY W. SACKETT HENRY H. BENEDICT, LL.D. REGINALD P. BOLTON REUBEN LESLIE MAYNARD Treasurer Counsel CAPT. N. TAYLOR PHILLIPS REUBEN LESLIE MAYNARD Secretary EDWARD HAGAMAN HALL, L.H.D. Board of Trustees EDWARD D. ADAMS, LL.D. EDWARD L. PARTRIDGE, M.D. PROF. LIBERTY H. BAILEY GEORGE W. PERKINS, JR. HENRY H. BENEDICT, LL.D. CAPT. N. TAYLOR PHILLIPS REGINALD P. BOLTON HON. CORNELIUS A. PUGSLEY D. BRYSON DELAVAN, M.D. HON. HARVEY F. REMINGTON FREDERICK A. EMERICK COL. HENRY W. SACKETT ALGERNON S. FRISSELL COL. WALTER SCOTT NATHAN W. GREEN, M.D. HON. ELLIS J. STALEY HENRY E. GREGORY HON. STEPHEN H. THAYER HON. CHAUNCEY J. HAMLIN MRS. JOHN BOYD THACHER WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY HON. ROBERT H. TREMAN HON. THOMAS P. KINGSFORD ALBERT ULMANN GEORGE F. KUNZ, SC.D. COL. JOHN W. VROOMAN EDWARD H. LETCHWORTH HON. JOSEPH A. WARREN OGDEN P. LETCHWORTH ALEXANDER MCM. WELCH REUBEN LESLIE MAYNARD HON. J. Du PRATT WHITE MAJ. BARRINGTON MOORE FREDERICK G. ZINSSER, PH.D. HON. ADELBERT MOOT Letchworth Park post-office address: Castile, N. Y. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection STATUE OE' MARY JEMISON \T LETCHWORTH PARK Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection A NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF MARY JEMISO THE WHITE WOMAN OF THE GENESEE BY JAMES EVERETT SEAVER, M.D. 'Revised by CHARLES DELAMATER VAIL, L.H.D. late Emeritus Professor of English literature at Hobart Qollege TWENTY-SECOND EDITION 'Presenting the First Edition literally restored together with chapters added to later editions by Ebenezer Mix, Lewis Henry Morgan, LL.D., William Qlement 'Bryant and William "Pryor Letchworth, LL. D. Enlarged with historical and archaeological memoranda and critical notes by modern authorities THE AMERICAN SCENIC £sf HISTORIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY NEW YORK- 1925 Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection Copyright, 1918, 1925, by THE AMERICAN SCENIC AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY New York, N. Y. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection To the Memory of WILLIAM PRYOR LETCHWORTH, LL.D., who gave sanctuary in what is now Letchworth Park to the dust of the remarkable woman whose life forms the subject of these pages, the labors bestowed upon this edition are dedicated by THE REVISER Published by the Fund given by HELEN HALL VAIL in loving remembrance of a long and beautiful friendship with the Letchworth Family Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection FOREWORD TO THE EDITION OF 1918 THE Life of Mary Jemison, the White Woman of the Genesee, is, in all its details, a wondrous story of one of the most remarkable captivities suffered at the hands of the Indians by the early settlers ot this country. Told by herself with extraordinary clearness of memory at the age of 80 years to James Everett Seaver, M. D., it was first published at Canandaigua, N. Y., in 1824; and now, ninety-four years later, after the printing of many editions in this country and England, the popularity of the work is so persistent that this Revised Edition has become necessary. For details of the bibliography of this classic in the Indian history of Western New York, the reader is referred to the chapter on that subject on pages 274- 293 following; but for a proper comprehension of the story as a whole a few general observations may here be made. In the course of the editions preceding this one, the book has received the impress notably of four men, each in turn as editor, namely, James Everett Seaver, M.D., Ebenezer Mix, Lewis Henry Mor- gan, LL.D., and William Pryor Letchworth, LL.D. Dr. Seaver, in his original narrative, brings out with vividness the personality of the White Woman. Her story is full of pathos and tragedy, and still thrills the reader going over its pages for the first time; but Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection h FOREWORD above the pathos and tragedy, the thoughtful person cannot fail to be impressed with the uniformity of elevated character of Mary Jemison herself. She en- dured hardship and suffering with astounding forti- tude. Amidst the hardening surroundings of bar- baric life, she preserved the sensibilities of a white woman. Her natural tender emotions were never ex- tinguished; the atrocities of the uncivilized people among whom it was her destiny to live always shocked her. She cherished a lively sympathy for the suf- ferings of others, and never failed to minister to the needy and unfortunate according to her resources; and a new name, "The Friend of the Distressed," was given to her by common consent. Mary Jemison never failed to stand up for those whom she felt she should befriend, and apparently was absolutely devoid of fear of criticism of whatever she did, living, as she believed, by the rule of conscience. Although she dwelt in the midst of a savage people who had social customs and practices alien to her own, yet by the force of her personality she commanded the respect of her brethren-by-adoption and maintained the standard of private character becoming her origin. The memory of her mother's prayers and teachings, recalled in her last days, as touchingly related by Mrs. Asher Wright, reveals one of the influences which, sub-consciously perhaps, lay back of these manifestations of Mary Jemison's heroic character. It is doubtful if any English work presents a passage of greater dramatic elevation and pathos than is shown when Mary Jemison recovers her memory of the prayer taught her in her childhood by her mother and so many years mourned by her in the night watches as lost. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection FOREWORD i When, in 1842, William Seaver & Son, brother and nephew of James Everett Seaver, the author, repub- lished the work in Batavia, N. Y., they brought Ebenezer Mix* to their aid in the revision. Mr. Mix's special impress on the book is geographical. Mr. Mix was one of the most familiar figures in the early affairs of the Genesee Valley and the Holland Purchase Company. It was a current saying in the Genesee country that Mr. Mix knew more about the lands and holdings of each pioneer than the pioneer himself knew, and that his word about any given transaction could be accepted practically without dispute. Thus it happened that when William Seaver & Son engaged Mr. Mix's service, and, avail- ing themselves of the privilege of family relationship to the deceased author, consented to various altera- tions,—or, as it was the fashion then to say, "im- provements,"—in the text, the alterations tended to give very marked prominence to the history and geography of the Genesee country. Lewis Henry Morgan,* the learned author of "The League of the Iroquois," who was brought into collaboration by D. M. Dewey in the publication of the 1856 edition at Rochester, N. Y., imparted another characteristic to the book. His training and view- point were those of the student of Indian life, customs and language, and the profusion of notes which Dr. Morgan introduced and the chapter on Indian place-names in the Iroquois country which he added, concentrate attention on linguistic and philological characteristics. In 1877 William Pryor Letchworth 4 again touched the keynote which Dr. Seaver had sounded at the beginning. About the time when Dr. Letchworth Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection j FOREWORD conspicuously manifested his interest in the subject of these pages by causing Mary Jemison's remains to be transferred from Buffalo to what is now Letchworth Park, he acquired the publication rights in Mary Jemison's Life. His long work as a philanthropist made him keenly responsive to human suffering and deeply appreciative of noble personal character; and, as might have been expected, the valuable addi- tions which appeared in the edition first published by him in 1877 emphasize again the human charac- teristics of Mary Jemison which were illustrated in Dr. Seaver's original narrative. To this dominating and continuing ideal, Dr. Letchworth gave a noble summation in the bronze statue of the White Woman of the Genesee which he erected over her grave in the last year of his life. In searching for the cause of the enduring vitality and popularity of this book, the reader will find that its appeal to his judgment is threefold—human, his- torical and literary. The first, however, is the real secret of the book. The book lives primarily because of its portrayal of the affecting life and wonderful character of Mary Jemison. And it should be noted that the First Edition, laying emphasis on her personality, estab- lished for the book itself a claim to a place in our English literature as having enriched its permanent stock of great stories, of stories revealing some of the finest traits possible in our human nature.