Thomas Dustin was born 1652 in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts to Thomas Dustin (1627-1662) and Elizabeth Wheeler (1618-1696) and died November 1732 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts of unspecified causes. He married Hanna Emerson (1657-1738) 3 December 1677 in Essex County, Massachusetts.
Biography
Thomas Dustin is the husband of famous indian fighter Hanna Emerson (1657-1732).
Emerson was the oldest of the 15 children born to her parents. At age 20, she married Thomas Duston, a local bricklayer and farmer. The Emerson family had previously been the subject of attention when Elizabeth Emerson, Hannah's younger sister, was hanged for infanticide.
1697 Raid on Haverhill
During King William's War, Hannah, her husband Thomas and their nine children were residents of Haverhill, Massachusetts in March 1697 when the town was attacked by a group of Abenaki Native American from Quebec. (In this attack, 27 colonists were killed and 13 were taken captive to be either adopted or held as hostages for the French.) When their farm was attacked, Thomas fled with eight children, but Hannah, her newborn daughter Martha, and her nurse Mary Neff (nee Corliss) were captured and forced to march into the wilderness. According to Cotton Mather's account, along the way, the Native Americans killed the six-day-old Martha by smashing her against a tree. Modern Abanaki representatives claim this is unlikely.
Hannah and Mary were assigned to a Native American family group of 13 persons and taken north. The group included Samuel Lennardson, a 14-year-old captured in Worcester, Massachusetts the year before.
Hannah Duston Memorial at Boscowen, NH.
Six weeks later, at an island in the Merrimack River at the mouth of the Contoocook River near what is now Penacook, New Hampshire, Hannah led Mary and Samuel in a revolt. She used a tomahawk to attack the sleeping Native Americans, killing one of the two grown men (Lennardson killed the second), two adult women, and six children. One severely wounded Native American woman and a young boy managed to escape the attack.
The former captives immediately left in a canoe, but not before taking scalps from the dead as proof of the incident and to collect a bounty. They traveled down the river only during the night and after several days reached Haverhill. The Massachusetts General Court later gave them a reward for killing Native Americans; Hannah Duston received 25 pounds, and Neff and Lennardson split another 25 pounds (various accounts say 50 or 25 pounds, and some accounts mention only Duston's receiving an award).
Family of Thomas and Hanna Dustin
- Hannah Dustin (1678-1732) - md Daniel Cheney, credited with helping to save younger siblings during the Indian Raid of 1697.
- Elizabeth Dustin (1680-1746)
- Nathaniel Duston (1685-1764)
- Mary Dustin (1681-1696)
- John Duston (1686-1690)
- Sarah Dustin (1688-1759)
- Abigail Dustin (1690-1727)
- Jonathan Dustin (1692-1757)
- Mehitable Dustin (1694-)
- Timothy Dustin (1694-1775)
- Martha Duston (1697-1697) - Baby killed in 1697 Haverhill Indian Raid
- Lydia Duston (1698-1764)
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Hannah Dustin (1678-1732) | 22 August 1678 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts | 27 November 1768 Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts | Daniel Cheney (1670-1755) |
| Elizabeth Dustin (1680-1746) | 7 May 1680 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts | 4 January 1746 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts | Stephen Emerson (1674-1758) |
| Nathaniel Duston (1685-1764) | |||
| Mary Dustin (1681-1696) | |||
| John Duston (1686-1690) | |||
| Sarah Dustin (1688-1759) | |||
| Abigail Dustin (1690-1727) | |||
| Jonathan Dustin (1692-1757) | 15 January 1692 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts | 28 December 1757 Salem, Rockingham County, New Hampshire | Elizabeth Watts (1689-1721) Sarah Pattee (1712-1769) |
| Mehitable Dustin (1694-) | |||
| Timothy Dustin (1694-1775) | 14 September 1694 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts | 1775 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts | Sarah Johnson (1695-1735) |
| Martha Duston (1697-1697) | |||
| Lydia Duston (1698-1764) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Elizabeth Dustin (1648-1677) | |||
| Thomas Dustin (1652-1732) | 1652 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts | November 1732 Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts | Hanna Emerson (1657-1738) |
| Mary Dustin (1649-1650) | |||
| Timothy Dustin (1653-) | |||