Rebecca Kellogg Ashley

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Rebecca Kellogg Ashley (1695–1757) was a girl from the Massachusetts Bay colony who was captured in the Deerfield Raid of 1704 during Queen Anne’s War. She was eight years old and taken with her sister Joanna to the Mohawk town of Kahnawake across the Saint Lawrence River. Eunice Williams and her father, John Williams, were also captured in the raid; John Williams later wrote about his experience.

In Kahnawake, Rebecca and Joanna were adopted by Mohawk families and Rebecca received the name Wausaunia, meaning bridge or connection. She learned Iroquois and French, while still speaking English with her sister. After the war, Rebecca and Joanna did not return home right away. They were married while in Mohawk territory, and Rebecca’s brother Martin Kellogg’s family and status likely affected their choices. Rebecca eventually came back to the English colony in 1729 with her two sons, though her husband’s fate is unclear.

Rebecca later married Ben Ashley in 1745. Her marriage helped explain her role as a translator for missionaries who were working among Native Americans. She worked with Elihu Spencer and Job Strong for the Society for Propagation of the Gospel in New England, and she served as an interpreter for Native groups in the Oneida country in 1748. Her translating helped draw more Native people to the church and brought funding to the missions.

Jonathan Edwards, who preached at Stockbridge, valued Rebecca’s help as a translator. Edwards noted the Mohawks’ strong support for her and their concern when she was not treated well by church leaders. Rebecca’s presence helped Edwards reach both Native and white communities. In 1753, Gideon Hawley came to Stockbridge to continue the work, and Rebecca stayed on as his translator.

The French and Indian War began in 1756. The Iroquois advised Hawley to leave the Indian territory and urged Rebecca to move farther into Native lands to stay safe. Rebecca Kellogg Ashley died in 1757 in Onaquaga and was buried there. In the 1900s, her remains were moved to a safer location, and in 1909 the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a large headstone on a boulder in her memory, noting her as Wausaunia Rebecca Kellogg Ashley.

Rebecca Ashley is remembered as a bridge between Mohawk and white communities. She did not leave written journals of her own, but her life is well documented by the missionaries she worked with. She identified with the Mohawk and played an important role in early 18th-century cross-cultural exchange.