RARE Book 1824 Narrative Mary Jemison Indian 1st Seaver Exceptional Indian Captive Narrative Upstate NY Start Price USD 3,695.00 Current Price USD 3,695.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, September 17, 2008 End Time Wednesday, December 17, 2008 Location Rochester, NY See more about 'RARE Book 1824 Narrative Mary Jemison Indian 1st Seaver' Description VERY Rare Book   A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison     by   James E. Seaver     1824   First Edition       For offer, a very rare book! Fresh from a prominent estate. Vintage, Old, Original - NOT a Reproduction - Guaranteed !! A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison, Who was taken by the Indians, in the year 1755, when only about twelve years of age, and has continued to reside amonst them to the present time. Containing An Account of the murder of her father and his family, her sufferings, her marriage to two Indians, her troubles with her children, barbarities of the Indians in the French and Revolutionary Wars, the life of her last husband, and many historical facts never before published. Carfedully taken from her own words, Nov. 29th, 1823. To Which Is Added, AN APPENDIX, containing an account of the tradgedy at Devil's Hole in 1763, and of Sullivan's Expedition, the traditions, Manners, Customs, &c. of the Indians, as believed and practised at the present day, and since Mrs. Jemison's captivity ; together with some Anecdotes, and other entertaining matter. By James E. Seaver. Canandaigua [N.Y.] : Printed by J.D. Bemis and Co, 1824. 189 p. complete. 16mo. Scarce. The very rare first edition of "one of the most authentic and interesting of captivity narratives, told by one who spent a long life among the Senecas and was the first white woman to descend the Ohio" according to Howes. Jemison was captured by the Senecas in 1758 at the age of twelve, the rest of her family having been massacred. She was initially taken from near Fort Pitt to eastern Ohio, but after the French and Indian War the tribe moved north to western New York State. This volume includes long accounts of the Revolutionary War in upstate New York, as well as incidents of frontier fights throughout the War of 1812, and Mrs. Jemison's life in the area around Buffalo from the Revolutionary period to 1823. Frederick Strecker, bibliographer of the Jemison narrative, notes that "considerable of the history of the settlers of western New York, has its source in the Jemison narrative." Jemison's account was recorded by Dr. James Seaver when Jemison was seventy- seven, and Seaver transcribed and arranged for the publication of her memoirs. Jemison lived with the Senecas until her death at ninety, having married several times and having continued to live with the tribe even after the Revolution, when she was free to return to white society. Howes 263: states the following: "some copies have no copyr. on verso of t.p., others have separate copyr. leaf, either pasted down on that p. or bound after it." The one offered here has the separate leaf pasted down as stated above. In very good condition. An attractive box was made to protect the book, made of leather and marbled boards. All original; however, it has been professionally repaired with leather at outer hinges (recased). Back board has slight stain, bumped corner; a few areas of light soiling, hardly any foxing (minimal amount in a few areas), light waterstain to edges of a few pages. Collated, complete. Signed by previous owner Wilhelmus Emmes (?), or Emes, with Mary Jemison below it - not sure if it is signed by her, or just handwritten? Please see photos below. NOTE: Looks better than shown in photos below! If you collect 18th / 19th century Native American related history, Americana, Wester, Upstate NY, etc., this is a treasure and one you will not see again soon! Add this to your bibliophile library or paper / ephemera collection. Perhaps some genealogy research importance too. You will Not find this listed anywhere else on ebay! Combine shipping on multiple bid wins! Insurance is extra, international s/h is more.  No reserve. Good luck bidding.  Click the button to see my other items->->         Mary Jemison Mary Jemison (1743–1833) was an American frontierswoman and an adopted Seneca.   [edit] Biography Mary Booty Jemison was born to Thomas and Jane Jemison aboard the ship William and Mary in the fall of 1743 while en route from Northern Ireland to America. Upon their arrival in America, the couple and their new child joined other Scots-Irish immigrants and headed west from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to what was then the western frontier (now central Pennsylvania) and squatted on territory that was under the authority of the Iroquois Confederacy. During the time the Jemisons were establishing their home, the French and Indian War was raging. One morning in 1758, a capturing party consisting of six Shawnee Indians and four Frenchmen captured Mary, her family (except two older brothers) and Davy Wheelock a boy from another family. On route to Fort Duquesne (where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to create the Ohio River in modern-day Pittsburgh, Mary’s mother, father, and siblings were killed and scalped. Mary and the other young boy were spared. Once the party reached the Fort, Mary was sold to two Seneca Indians, who took Mary downriver. The Senecas adopted Mary, giving her the name Corn Tassel then later "little woman of great courage." She married a Delaware named Sheninjee and had a son who she named Thomas after her father. Concerned that the end of the war would mean the return of captives and thus the loss of his young wife, Sheninjee took Mary on a 700-mile (1,100 km) journey to the Sehgahunda Valley along the Genesee River. Although Mary reached this destination, her husband did not. He had left his wife in order to hunt, had taken ill and died. Now a widow, Mary was taken in by Sheninjee's clan relatives and made her home at the Little Beard's Town (present-day Cuylerville, New York. She married a Seneca named Hiakatoo and had eight more children. Much of the land at Little Beard's Town was sold by the Senecas to white settlers in 1797. At that time, during negotiations with the the Holland Land Company held at Geneseo, New York, Mary Jemison proved to be an able negotiator for the Seneca tribe and helped win more favorable terms for giving up their rights to the land in the Treaty of Big Tree In 1823, most of the remainder of the land was sold, except for a 2-acre (8,100 m2) tract of land reserved for Mary's use. Known locally as the "White Woman of the Genesee", Mary lived on the tract until she sold it in 1831 and moved to the Buffalo Creek Reservation. Mary lived the rest of her life with the people of the Seneca Nation until she died on September 19, 1833. She was initially buried on the Buffalo Creek Reservation, but in 1874 was reinterred at William Pryor Letchworth's Glen Iris Estate (now Letchworth State Park in present day Castile, New York. A bronze statue of Mary, created in 1910, marks her grave. Her story is told in a classic "captivity narrative", J. E. Seaver's Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison (1824; latest ed. 1967), considered by many history scholars to be a reasonably accurate narrative.[citation needed] Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison is a fictionalized version of Mary's story for young readers, written and illustrated by Lois Lenski. Place a Bid!