Susannah Swan

Susannah lost her first husband and her daughter in the 1697 Dustin Massacre, then married John Swan. In 1708, the French and Indians launched a series of attacks against the English, this including raids on Haverhill. From Chase's "History of Haverhill" pages, 222, 223, comes this story of Susannah (Eastman) Swan about one of the raids: "Two Indians attacked the house of Mr. Swan, which stood in the field now called White's lot, nearly opposite to the house of Captain Emerson. Swan and his wife saw them approaching, and determined, if possible, to save their own lives, and the lives of their children, from the knives of the ruthless butchers. They immediately placed themselves against the door, which was so narrow that two could scarcely enter abreast. The Indians rushed against it, but finding that it could not be easily opened, they commenced their operations more systematically. One of them placed his back to the door, so that he could make his whole strength bear upon it, while the others pushed against him. The strength of the besiegers was greater than that of the besieged, and Mr. Swan, being rather a timid man, said our venerable narrator, almost despaired of saving himself and family, and told his wife that he thought it would be better to let them in. But this resolute and courageous woman had no such idea. The Indians had now succeeded in partly opening the door, and one of them was crowding himself in, while the other was pushing lustily after. The heroic wife saw that there was no time for parlaying--she seized her spit, which was nearly three feet in length, and a deadly weapon in the hands of woman, as it proved, and collecting all the strength she possessed, drove it through the body of the foremost. This was too warm a reception for the besiegers--it was resistance from a source, and with a weapon they little expected; and surely, who else would ever think of spitting a man? The two Indians, thus repulsed, immediately retreated and did not molest them again. Thus, by the fortitude and heroic courage of a wife and mother, this family was probably saved from a bloody grave. "

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF STONINGTON, county of New London, Connecticut, from its first settlement in 1649 to 1900, by Richard Anson Wheeler, New London, CT, 1900, p. 610

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KCB2-RB8/susanna-eastman-1673...

Susanna Eastman
5 November 1673–20 March 1772 (Age {age})

When Susanna Eastman was born on 5 November 1673, in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, her father, Philip Eastman, was 28 and her mother, Susanna Pusey, was 23. She married Thomas Wood on 16 May 1693. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 3 daughters. She died on 20 March 1772, in Stonington, New London, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America, at the age of 98, and was buried in Great Plain Cemetery, North Stonington, New London, Connecticut, United States.

Spouse

John Swan
Male
1668–1743

• 

Male

Susanna Eastman
Female
1673–1772

• 

Female
Marriage
1 August 1699
Rowley, Essex, Massachusetts, United States

Children (9)

John Swan Jr.
Male
1700–1781

• 

Male

Ruth Swan
Female
1703–1766

• 

Female

William Swan
Male
1706–1774

• 

Male

Nathaniel Swan
Male
1709–1755

• 

Male

Asa Swan
Male
1712–1751

• 

Male

Ann Swan
Female
1712–Deceased

• 

Female

Elizabeth Swan
Female
1715–1789

• 

Female

Ann Swan
Female
1717–1751

• 

Female

Captain Timothy Swan
Male
1721–1798

• 

Male

Spouse

Thomas Wood
Male
1669–1697

• 

Male

Susanna Eastman
Female
1673–1772

• 

Female
Marriage
16 May 1693

Children (4)

Wood
Male
1694–1697

• 

Male

Susanna Wood
Female
1694–1697

• 

Female

Susannah Wood
Female
1706–Deceased

• 

Female

Susanna Wood
Female
1708–Deceased

• 

Female

Parents

Philip Eastman
Male
1644–1714

• 

Male

Susanna Pusey
Female
1650–1678

• 

Female

Siblings (2)

Susanna Eastman
Female
1673–1772

• 

Female

John Eastman
Male
1676–Deceased

• 

Male