[or Dustin]. American pioneer, born about 1660; the wife of Thomas Dustin of Haverhill, MA. In the spring of 1697, Mrs. Dustin, with her infant and nurse, were captured and carried off by the Indians. She was taken by her captors to an island at the junction of the Merrimac and Contoocook rivers, near the present sight of Concord, NH, enduring the greatest of hardships on the long march. Assisted by a lad from Worcester, who had been in captivity for some time, she secured a tomahawk, herself killed and scalped nine of the sleeping savages, and escaped with her companion. To the governor in Boston she presented the trophies of her victory—a gun, tomahawk, and the scalps of the savages. In recognition of her heroism the general court gave to Mrs. Dustin and her companion $250 each. The island mentioned above is now called Dustin’s Island, and there, in 1874, the commonwealths of Massachusetts and New Hampshire erected a granite monument inscribed with the names of Hannah Dustin, Mary Neff, the nurse, and Samuel Leonardson, the English boy.
