Susannah Daggett

  General Notes:

Kingstowne Friends Record-Births and Deaths: COLLINS, Susannah, wife of John, of Charlestown, d. aged 68 years, 11 months, 8 days. 11d 1 m 1753. In Arnold, Vital Records of Rhode Island, Vol. 7, p 215,

Irish (?) in his history of Richmond, RI, tells this story on page 92: " When a small child she was taken to the wigwam of an Indian chief by his squaw who found her lost in the woods. Late at night the chief returned home and told the squaw of a plan adopted to exterminate the whites. She cautioned him saying there is a little pale face sleeping in a bed of skins in the wigwam. The chief then told her the child must die, to which she remonstrated, saying that she had promised to take her home in the morning. The chief, passing a firebrand over the face of Susannah and observing no signs of consciousness, spared her life and she was able afterwards to give her friends timely warning and thwart the plans of the Indians." p8-9

Susannah Daggett's death is recorded in the Kingstown, RI 1753 minutes of the monthly meeting, but a, perhaps, aprocraphal legend survives of her as a small girl in Richmond, Rhode Island. This is recorded in a history of Richmond and the story goes that when she was a small girl she was found lost in the woods by an Indian woman who took her home, fed her and put her to sleep. Later that night the woman's husband returned and began telling his wife about a plan to exterminate the whites in the area. Being cautioned about the sleeping girl, the Indian, who wanted to kill her, passed a firebrand in front of her face to see if she was indeed asleep. Susannah, however, feigned sleep successfully, was taken home in the morning, whereupon she warned her parents about the impending Indian attack. ⁴⁸⁸

Susannah married John (William) Collins, son of John Collins and Abigail Johnson, 13 Jan 1704/05 in Lynn, Essex, MA. (John (William) Collins was born 28 Jun 1679 in Lynn, Essex, MA and died 20 Oct 1755 in Charlestown, RI.)