Hannah’s Tale

25 July 1757  

On this date in 1757...

A war party of more than sixty Shawnee warriors attacked farms along the James River in Virginia. At the Dennis family farm they killed Joseph Dennis and his child, then took his young wife, Hannah as a slave along with several other captive white women to the Shawnee village of Chillicothe. After some time, Hannah Dennis gained the trust of the Shawnee and they began to accept her. She eventually escaped and her tale became well known throughout the American colonies. Since that time, numerous novels and movies have been inspired by Hannah Dennis’s ordeal.

Other Years:

• 1729 - North Carolina became an English royal colony.
• 1805 - Aaron Burr visited New Orleans with plans to establish a new country, with New Orleans as the capital.
• 1861 - The Crittenden Resolution, which called for the War of Northern Aggression to be fought to preserve the Union and not for slavery, was passed by the U.S. Congress.
• 1940 - John Sigmund began an 89 hour 46 minute swim in the Mississippi River.
• 1979 - A Texas state record of 109 cm (43”) of rain fell at Alvin, Texas.

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