The Story of Hannah Olds
By: Justin N., Sadie V., Cody P., and Eric N.
Who was Hannah Olds?
What did she do for her youngest son?
Our group
read some stories that have been passed on year after year.We liked the
story about Hannah Olds.This story takes place in the 1770’s in
Ludlow.The Revolutionary War was going on and there were recruiters coming
around to get men to join their company.It goes like this.
Some soldiers come
to Hannah and Jonathan Olds’ house to get Jonathan to join their company.Jonathan
Olds has heard this isn’t a great group of men and he doesn’t want
to join them. He agrees to go but asks if they will give him time to pray
with his family.The soldiers wait outside and notice it’s getting
dark.They go inside the house and find he is gone!He had snuck
out the back door.He ends up going to Springfield and joining another
company of soldiers there.
Later, the soldiers return only to find that Jonathan and Hannah’s sons have also joined in the fight except for her youngest son.They want him to join up.Instead, Hannah tricks the soldiers.She dresses her son in a lacy cap and a grandma’s gown and has him sit in a dark corner of the room.The soldiers tear the house apart but they only see Hannah and an old lady!You can find Hannah’s gravestone today in “The Ould Burial Ground.”
The headstone of Hannah Olds at the "Ould Burying Ground" (East Cemetery) The History of Ludlow, 1912 |
The footstone of Hannah Olds (stones no longer standing) The History of Ludlow, 1912 |