THE MANY CAPTIVITIES OF ESTHER WHEELWRIGHT THE LEWIS WALPOLE SERIES IN EIGHTEENTH- CENTURY CULTURE AND HISTORY The Lewis Walpole Series, published by Yale University Press with the aid of the Annie Burr Lewis Fund, is dedicated to the culture and history of the long eighteenth century (from the Glorious Revolution to the accession of Queen Victoria). It welcomes work in a variety of fields, including literature and history, the visual arts, political philosophy, music, legal history, and the history of science. In addition to original scholarly work, the series publishes new editions and translations of writing from the period, as well as reprints of major books that are currently unavailable. Though the majority of books in the series will probably concentrate on Great Britain and the Continent, the range of our geographical interests is as wide as Horace Walpole’s. THE MA NY CAPTIVITIE S OF E STHER WH EELWRIGHT Ann M. Little New Haven & London Published with assistance from the Annie Burr Lewis Fund. Published with assistance from the Mary Cady Tew Memorial Fund. Copyright © 2016 by Ann M. Little. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] (U.S. office) or [email protected] (U.K. office). Set in Baskerville MT type by Integrated Publishing Solutions. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Control Number: 2015956884 ISBN 978-0-300-21821-3 (cloth : alk. paper) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 for Alice This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Timeline: Wars of the Northeastern Borderlands, 1636–1783, ix A Note on Spelling and Terminology, x Genealogy of the John and Mary Snell Wheelwright Family, xii Acknowledgments, xiii Introduction, 1 chapter one Esther Wheelwright, 17 chapter two Mali Among the Wabanaki, 47 chapter three Esther Anglaise, 84 chapter four Sister Marie-Joseph de l’Enfant Jésus, 116 chapter five Mother Esther, 167 chapter six Esther Superior, 198 chapter seven Esther Zelatrix, 228 Notes, 241 Index, 283 viii TIMELINE Wars of the Northeastern Borderlands, 1636–1783 The Pequot War 1636–37 King Philip’s War/Metacom’s Rebellion 1675–76 (to 1678 in northern New England) King William’s War 1688–97 Queen Anne’s War 1702–13 King George’s War 1744–48 Seven Years’ War/French and Indian War 1756–63 War of the American Revolution 1775–83 ix