A Lenape Among the Quakers: The Life of Hannah Freeman - Paperback

by Dawn G. Marsh (Author)

"Marsh makes commendable use of the scant documentary evidence to piece together Hannah Freeman's life. Her painstaking efforts to give Hannah a voice are impressive." ―Thomas Britten, The Historian

Fascinating in its own right, Freeman's life is also remarkable as a unique account 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.

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 final removal from the ancestral land she had so tenaciously maintained. Thus was William Penn's "peaceable kingdom" preserved.

Author Biography

Dawn G. Marsh is an associate professor of history at Purdue University.