On the other now-closed thread, I was asked about my family's history. Now that things have settled down a bit, I looked up the most infamous family member, Mary Corliss Neff. She was the oldest child of George Corliss, an immigrant from England in 1639, from whom I am a direct descendent through the Corliss family to my father's mother.
Is this your ancestor? Explore genealogy for George Corliss born abt. 1617 Exeter, Devon, England died 1686 Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony including research + descendants + 4 genealogist comments + questions + more in the free family tree community.
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Mary married William Neff and after having children of her own, was hired as a nurse by Hannah Dustin, who had birthed a baby daughter just days before their home was raided by Indians sent by the French in Quebec. The rest of the story is in here --
Is this your ancestor? Explore genealogy for Mary (Corliss) Neff born 1646 Haverhill, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony died 1722 Haverhill, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay including ancestors + descendants + 1 genealogist comments + more in the free family tree community.
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On March 15, 1697, when she was a 51-year-old widow, Mary Corliss Neff was serving as a nurse for Hannah Emerson Dustin and her newborn baby. The women and baby were taken captive when Abenaki Indians from Quebec raided Haverhill, killed 27 of the settlers, and took 13 captive. Mary and Hannah were assigned to a family of 13 and sent north; along the way, one of the Indians killed Hannah’s six-day-old baby by smashing it into a tree.
The two women and a 14-year-old captive from Worcester, Samuel Leonardson, killed 10 of the 12 Indians who held them in captivity (two men, three women, and seven children, with one woman and one child surviving) — with Hannah killing 9 out of the 10. They returned to Haverhill with the scalps, to collect the bounty that was in effect for killing Indians. They were rewarded by the colony in both cash and land and became famous through Cotton Mather’s telling of the tale.