Episode 108: Ann Little, The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright

by Liz CovartNovember 15, 2016

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Colonial America comprised many different cultural and political worlds. Most colonial Americans inhabited just one world, but today, we’re going to explore the life of a woman who lived in THREE colonial American worlds: Frontier New England, Northeastern Wabanaki, and Catholic New France.

Ann Little, an Associate Professor of History at Colorado State University and the author of The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright, leads us through the remarkable life of Esther Wheelwright, a woman who experienced colonial America as a Puritan New English girl, Wabanaki daughter, and Ursuline nun in Catholic New France.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Ann Little, an Associate Professor of History at Colorado State University and author of The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright, leads us on a journey through the remarkable life of Esther Wheelwright, a woman who lived lives in three different colonial American worlds.

During our journey, Ann reveals what life was like in Maine during the late 17th and early 18th centuries; Details about Wabanaki life and the Native American custom of captive taking; And the story of Esther Wheelwright and how she went from Puritan, New English girl to Mother Superior of the Ursuline religious order in Québec, New France.

What You’ll Discover

Esther Wheelwright
Maine in the late 17th and early 18th centuries
Life in early Maine garrisons
Information about the Algonquian peoples of northern New England & Lower Canada
The Wabanaki Raid on Wells, Maine in August 1703
Native American captive taking
Wabanaki customs and life
Québec in the early 18th century
The role of religion in New France
The Ursuline Order
How Esther Wheelwright decided to join the Ursuline religious order
Esther’s life and work with the Ursuline Order
Opportunities Esther had as a nun vs. opportunities she would have had in a secular, colonial American life
The Quebec Act of 1774
Contact between Esther and the Wheelwright Family

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Ann Little
Ann’s Blog, Historiann
Ann’s Twitter handle: @Historiann
The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright
Abraham in Arms: War and Gender in Colonial New England
C. Alice Baker, True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars
Emma Lewis Coleman, New England Captives Carried to Canada
Julie Wheelwright, Esther: The Remarkable True Story of Esther Wheelwright

Episode Sponsor

Cornell University Press

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if the Governor of New France had sent Esther back to her New England family in 1708 or 1709? What do you think her life would have been like? Would it still be one worth knowing about?