Jemison, Mary, 1743–1833, American frontierswoman. She was born
at sea while her parents were en route from Ireland to America.
In W Pennsylvania she was captured (1758) by a French and Indian
War party, taken to Fort Duquesne, and given to two Seneca
women, who adopted her. She was married twice (to a Delaware and
to a Seneca) and bore eight children. Known as the White Woman
of the Genesee, Mary Jemison refused to leave the Senecas, and
in 1817 New York confirmed her possession of a tract of land
(given her in 1797) on the Genesee River. Her story is told in a
classic tale of "Indian-capture," J. E. Seaver's Narrative of
the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison (1824; latest ed. 1967). The
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012,
Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.