Erwin/Jemison Family

from "Geneology of that Branch of the Irwin Family in New York
founded in the Hudson River Valley by William Irwin 1700-1787"

pg 8. Another Erwin in Western New York was Mary Jemison, "the white
woman of the Genessee." Captured by the Indians when a girl of
thirteen she spent her life with them, marrying first a Delaware
brave, by whom she had two children, and later a cheif of the Senecas,
by whom she had six. She was an interesting figure in that part of
the state. A stautue of her has been erected in Letchworth Park,
owned by New York State, near Castile, N. Y., on the Genesee River,
where she is buried. The best account of her life is to be found in
the edition of 1932 of "A Narative of the life of Mary Jemison," by
Dr. James Everett Seaver, published by yhe American scenic and
Preservation Society, New York, NY.
 Mary Jemison was the daughter of Thomas Jemison and Jane Erwin who
 came over from Ulster, Ireland on the ship "Willaim and Mary"
 bound for Philadelphia in 1743. The family settled in Marsh
 Creek, Pa. Three children had been born prior to the migration.
 Mary was born en route, on the Atlantic. Two more sons, Matthew
 and Robert, were born in Pennsylvania. In 1758 their settlement
 was attacked by Indians and the family carried off. The two elder
 sons escaped and later joined their grandfather in Virginia. All
 the rest of the family, except Mary, were killed and scalped on
 the march. She was adopted by the tribe. During the French War
 and the Revolution the six nations sided with the British. When
 peace was finally made between the white man and the Indians in
 New York, in 1783, Mary Jemison refused to accept freedom, but
 continued to live with her Indian family. After 1797 she had
 frequent meetings with the white settlers. She died in 1833 in
 Buffalo, NY, her body being moved later to Letchworth Park.


I took a look at some of the sources on Mary Jemison. Her parents
lived on Marsh Creek, in Franklin Township, Adams county, Pa, about
10 miles north of Gettysburg. There is some dispute about when they
arrived on th "William and Mary." It arrived in Philadelphia from
Belfast
on Oct 6, 1743. But it also sailed from Londinderry on Oct 21, 1742,
bound for
Philadelphia. A source called "White Captives" by June Namias, say in
a note citing "Notable American Women," that the two brothers who
escaped ended up with their grandparents, the Erwins, in Virginia.
Well, the article in "Notable American Women" says no such thing, but
she must have gotten the idea from somewhere. In Chalkley, Matthew
Erwin's will was written in 1755 in Augusta County, Va, when Jane Erwin
Jemison was still alive and thus mentions her, and was probated in 1762,
after her
death in 1758.

**************************************

Bob Erwin
ISCRE@EMORY.EDU

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