Wheelwright, Esther (Mother Marie-Joseph de l’Enfant Jésus) (31 Mar. 1696–28 Nov. 1780), religious leader and Indian captive, was born in the town of Wells in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Maine), the fourth of eleven children of John and Mary Snell Wheelwright. Her Anglo-American parents supported their large family by running a sawmill, tavern-keeping, and trade with Native Americans. John Wheelwright also served as a justice of the peace, as his father had before him....
