1289) Susanna Cole

Susanna Cole (née Hutchinson; 1633 – 1713). Lone survivor of an American Indian attack in which many of her siblings were killed, as well as her famed mother Anne Hutchinson. She was taken captive following the attack and held for several years before her release.
Susanna Hutchinson was born in Alford, Lincolnshire, England and was less than a year old when her family sailed from England to New England in 1634. She was less than five when her family settled on Aquidneck Island (later Rhode Island) in the Narragansett Bay following her mother's banishment from Massachusetts during the Antinomian Controversy. Her father died when she was about eight years old, and she, her mother, and six of her siblings left Rhode Island to live in New Netherland. They settled in an area that became the far northeastern section of The Bronx in New York City, near the Westchester County line. The family found themselves caught in the middle of Kieft's War between the local Siwanoy Indians and the colony of New Netherland, and they were all massacred in August 1643, except for Susanna. She was taken captive by the Indians, and was traded back to the English three years later.
When Susanna was released from her Indian captivity, she was taken to Boston where her oldest brother and an older sister lived, was re-introduced into English society, and married John Cole at the age of 18, the son of Boston innkeeper Samuel Cole. They lived in Boston for a few years, but moved by 1663 to the Narragansett country of Rhode Island (later North Kingstown) to look after the lands of her oldest brother Edward Hutchinson. Here the couple remained and raised a large family.

- "According to one story, Susanna's red hair spared her from the slaughter..."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanna_Cole

- "Many of those who have researched and told her story believe she was saved by her red hair, for, rather than killing her, the Siwanoy took Susanna captive and renamed her Autumn Leaf."  https://books.google.de/books…

- "Young Susanna Hutchinson was captured by the chief of the Siwanoy and named Fall Leaf because of her red hair, which the Siwanoy had never seen before."  https://books.google.de/books…

- "... the daughter survived because her red hair so marveled the Indians they kept her."  https://books.google.it/books…

Susanna Cole as a child with her mother, Anne Hutchinson, in a bronze memorial at the Massachusetts State House