Susannah Willard Johnson

Susannah Willard Johnson (February 20, 1729/30 – November 27, 1810) was an Anglo-American woman who was captured with her family during an Abenaki raid on Charlestown, New Hampshire, in August 1754, just after the outbreak of the French and Indian War. Johnson and her family were marched for weeks through the wilderness of New England and Quebec before arriving at the Abenaki village in Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec. The Johnsons were held for ransom until being sold off into slavery to the French. After her release in 1758, Johnson returned to her home in Charlestown. Beginning in 1796, she recorded a full account of her ordeal. The first edition of her narrative was composed by John Curtis Chamberlain (using information from Johnson's oral testimony and notes) and appeared in small circulation later that year; subsequent editions were revised and edited by Johnson and published in 1807, and posthumously in 1814. Her harrowing memoir, although not the first work in the captivity narrative genre, was among the most widely read and studied accounts. It was republished numerous times in following years. Elizabeth George Speare's 1957 historical fiction children's novel, Calico Captive, was inspired by Johnson's story.