Groups partner in effort to celebrate Mary Jemison
(Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) - 3/11/2008
Historians in Adams County, Pa., have teamed up with officials from Letchworth State Park in Western New York to celebrate the life of a Pennsylvania woman captured during the French and Indian War and taken to New York to live out the remainder of her life with the Native Americans.
April 5, 2008 marks the 250th anniversary of 15-year-old Mary Jemison�s capture from her Gettysburg area home during a raid in 1758. After her capture, �The White Woman of the Genesee� lived in what is now Letchworth State Park until she died at age 90. Officials there have coordinated with an Adams County committee coordinated by Debra McCauslin and Jackie White in helping to celebrate Mary�s life.
�I am very pleased to see that a diverse group of agencies and organizations in New York and Pennsylvania can work together to facilitate this event,� said Richard Parker, General Manager of the Genesee State Park Region. �It is important not only to celebrate Mary Jemison�s life and tell her story, but to advance various efforts to improve opportunities for historic preservation and interpretation, tourism and recreation.�
In Adams County, a remembrance will be held April 5 at the St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church and the Buchanan Valley Fire Company near Gettysburg. The event will include food, music, presentations and exhibits. Organizers plan to represent Mary�s three cultures � Irish, Colonial and Native American. The Biglerville Historical Preservation Society is sponsoring the event.
Several New York representatives, along with some of Mary�s ancestors, will be attending the Pennsylvania event to talk about Mary�s life with the Native Americans. Representatives in both states are urging residents to visit both sites in a project dubbed �Take a Mary Jemison Journey.� In Adams County, a statue at St. Ignatius pays tribute to Mary Jemison and at Letchworth, a statue and a cabin she helped build for her daughter tell of Mary�s heroic story.
�My father took our family to see them when I was a young girl and I have always been captivated by her amazing story of struggles and triumphs,� said McCauslin, of For the Cause Productions and organizer of the Mary Jemison Remembrance in Adams County, Pa. �I�ve returned to show them to others several times since then.�
McCauslin points out that there are interesting attractions in both sites, including the Gettysburg National Military Park and other historic sites in Pennsylvania, and many parks and museums that help educate the public on the Seneca Indians in New York.
More information on Mary Jemison or the Remembering Mary Jemison event is available at www.gettysburghistories.com, www.gettysburg.com/maryjemison or www.letchworthparkhistory.com
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