Susannah’s Red Hair: A place of violence in Pelham Bay Park

History: The massacre of Anne Hutchinson and her family in 1643

In August 1643, Anne Hutchinson was massacred along with five of her fifteen children and several servents at her home in what is now Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx by a tribe of Siwony Native Americans. Only Susannah, her ten-year-old daughter was spared because of her red hair, which the Siwony had never seen before. They adopted her into her tribe and named her Autumn Leaf. While the exact location of the massacre is in dispute, legend claims that the massacre occurred near Split Rock or the surrounding area in Pelham Bay Park.


A sketch of an idea I worked on one day in Pelham Bay Park... probably won't continue with the project though I really was interested in the story....