Mary Rowlandson

   By: Gabi Rodriguez

     Mary White (Rowlandson) was born in Somersetshire, England in 1637. Mary and her family settled in Salem and then moved to Lancaster in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. There, her father was the richest man in the city and was one of the founding fathers. Mary married Reverend Joseph Rowlandson, a congregational minister in Lancaster, and later had four children. The first child died young. Mary and her three children were captured by Indians, Narragansett, Wampanoag and Nashaway/Nipmuc Indians while her husband was away from Lancaster trying to convince the Colonies leaders to provide military support for the towns that were being attacked by the Indians. Years later, Mary was ransomed for £20 that was paid by the brave John Hoar. Through this experience, Mary described it as repetition of a similar story from the Bible (Israelites by Egyptians). Mary later published a narrative about her captivity which became America's first best seller. It was unusual at the time, for a woman to be an author.

    Mary Rowlandson wrote A Narrative of the Captivity and Resoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. This very strategic diary decribes her experience through being captive by the Native Americans. Her diary goes through the time she was captive till the time they released her for ransom. The captivity spanned about 11 weeks. She observes this abrupt experience in relation to the Bible and God. Rowlandson saw this as a sign from God which she must endure with faith in order to survive and remain a true, pure Christian woman in the eyes of the Puritan society. She wrote her diary in terms of having others read it.

Here's a link to The Narative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson:

https://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/rownarr.html

Works Cited:

https://rowlandson.nrsd.net/index.php?id=47  https://rosenbach.blogspot.com/2011/02/february-10-bad-day-for-mary-rowlandson.html

https://jadesmg.hubpages.com/hub/Review-of-Mary-Rowlandsons-captivity-narraive