Rachel Parker Plummer was born 200 years ago in March, 1819. She was married at 14 years old and gave birth to her first child when she was 15. At 16 she moved with the Parker clan to Texas which was still a part of Mexico.
Barely a month after Texas won its independence the Parker family fort was attacked by hundreds of Comanches who had approached under a flag of truce. Rachel, her toddler James, her younger brother John, her cousin Cynthia Ann and her aunt Elizabeth were captured and split up among different tribes. The men were murdered and scalped. Her grandmother was raped. She never saw her son again. Rachel, pregnant with her second child at the time of the raid, was only 17 years old. About five months later Rachel gave birth to her son, Luther. At six weeks old her infant was tortured and murdered.
For 21 months as a slave she was constantly abused until finally ransomed by Mexican traders and taken in by a family in Santa Fe. In February, 1838 she was reunited with her family. Emaciated and covered with scars and sores; her once bright red hair was gray. She was now 18 years old.
In January, 1839 she gave birth to her third child. In March of that year after her father had an altercation with another family they fled in the middle of the night. During that torturous trek, on March 19, 1839, Rachel Parker Plummer died. She was three days short of her 20th birthday. Her baby died three days later.
In 1843, her first child James, now 8 years old, was ransomed and returned to the family. At 27 years old he died of typhoid during the Civil War.
Digital illustration. I have seen only one photo of Rachel. Using that one I tried to modernize it. I also changed her hairstyle and blouse but they are based on 1830s fashion.
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