DOC Shavetails and Bell Sharps: The History of the U.S. Army Mule by Emmett M. Essin in History

Description

On July 28; 1797; an elderly Lenape woman stood before the newly appointed almsman of Pennsylvania’s Chester County and delivered a brief account of her life. In a sad irony; Hannah Freeman was establishing her residency—a claim that paved the way for her removal to the poorhouse. Ultimately; however; it meant the final removal from the ancestral land she had so tenaciously maintained. Thus was William Penn’s “peaceable kingdom” preserved. A Lenape among the Quakers reconstructs Hannah Freeman’s history; traveling from the days of her grandmothers before European settlement to the beginning of the nineteenth century. The story that emerges is one of persistence and resilience; as “Indian Hannah” negotiates life with the Quaker neighbors who employ her; entrust their children to her; seek out her healing skills; and; when she is weakened by sickness and age; care for her. And yet these are the same neighbors whose families have dispossessed hers. Fascinating in its own right; Hannah Freeman’s life is also remarkable for its unique view of a Native American woman in a colonial community during a time of dramatic transformation and upheaval. In particular it expands our understanding of colonial history and the Native experience that history often renders silent.