Hannah Duston & Mary Corliss Neff

In my book, Ebey’s Landing (Witch of Whidbey Series, Book 1), the actions of Hannah Duston and Mary Corliss Neff have a lasting negative effect on the Ebey family.

It is also the story of Ebey and the Corliss families that will take a fatal twist for them both as George Corliss and his wife are at the Ebey home the night Isaac is murdered. And, as history will show, sometimes fate follows regardless of how far one runs as the George and his wife are then murdered in California.

Are the murders related? Read Ebey’s Landing to see the story unfold.

Probably telling about this piece of history is that Nathaniel Hawthorne referred to Hannah Duston as an “awful woman.” While that may have been true, it should also be noted that Hannah Duston was an Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne had a complicated friendship with her probable relation, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Also, Hannah’s cousin, Mary Toothaker Emerson and her father, Roger Toothaker, were both accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials. This is also of note because Cotton Mather was in favor of and supported the Salem Witch Trials, but also was quite a vocal supporter of Hannah Duston.