USA > Indiana > Miami County > History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 8
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Mrs. Slocum died on May 6, 1807, aged seventy-one years, but almost with her last breath she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister. Nearly twenty years later there came a report that an Indian called Between-the-Logs had been converted at the Wyandot mission, where Sandusky, Ohio, now stands, and that he had a white woman for a wife. Again hope came to the Slocums. This might be Frances. James Slocum, accompanied by a nephew, made the journey to the mission in 1826, but it was only to encounter another disappointment.
In the meantime how fared it with the little captive ? Frances was treated with the utmost kindness by the Indians. Her red hair made her almost an object of veneration among them. When she was first taken from her home the three braves took turns in carrying her, and when they stopped at the first Indian encampment she was fully protected by her captors from abuse. Meginnis says this stopping place was undoubtedly Tioga Point, at the mouth of the Chemung river, where Athens is now situated, and continues :
"Here the little captive was probably kept for some time; and it was here, perhaps, that she was first decked out in gaudy Indian costume, as a means of distracting her thoughts as soon as possible from her home and those she had left behind. Soon after this she was turned over to Tuck Horse and his wife, and adopted as his daughter to supply the place of one of similar age who had died. It is much regretted that there is nothing on record to show who this Indian was who bore such a peculiar name. We are informed that he was a Delaware, but it is not likely that he was an Indian of much distinction, or we would have heard more about him."
It seems that she did not remain long as a member of this family, as in telling her own story she says: "Early one morning this Tuck Horse came and took me, and dressed my hair in the Indian way, and then painted my face and skin. He then dressed me in beautiful wampum beads, and made me look, as I thought, very fine. I was much pleased with the beautiful wampum. We then lived on a hill, and I remember he took me by the hand and led me down to the river side to a house where lived an old man and woman. They had once several children, but now
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they were all gone-either killed in battle, or having died very young. When the Indians thus lose their children they often adopt some child as their own, and treat it in all respects like their own. This is the reason why they so often carry away the children of the white people. I was brought to these old people to have them adopt me if they would. They seemed unwilling at first, but after Tuck Horse had talked to them awhile, they agreed to it, and this was my home. They gave me the name of We-let-a-wash, which was the name of their youngest child, whom they had lately buried."
The Indians always treated her kindly. While the Miamis and Dela- wares were living together Frances was married to a Delaware brave, but he mistreated her and finally left her, going with a portion of his tribe to the new reservation west of the Mississippi river. Subsequently she became the wife of She-po-con-ah, a Miami chief, commonly called the Deaf Man, and by this marriage she became the mother of two sons and two daughters. The two sons died in childhood, but the daughters both grew to maturity and married, Ke-ke-nok-esh-wa (Cut Finger) becoming the wife of Rev. Jean Baptiste Brouillette, and O-zah-shin-quah (Yellow Leaf) the wife of Rev. Peter Bundy.
Upon her marriage to She-po-con-ah, Frances became a Miami and took the name of Ma-con-a-quah, which means "a young female bear," or a "female lion," and was probably adopted on account of her great strength and activity at that period. She could handle the lariat with great skill and thought nothing of lassoing a pony and bringing him under subjection, and could run as fast as most of the men of her tribe.
Late in the year 1834, or early in the year 1835, Colonel George W. Ewing, an Indian trader, of Logansport, who had a large trade with the Miamis, stopped for the night at the Deaf Man's village, situated on the Mississinewa river a few miles above its mouth. He was given the hospi- tality of an Indian home, the mistress of which was a respectable Indian woman, and during the evening he noticed that her children and grand- children treated her with great respect and obedience. Tired out with his day's travel, Ewing retired soon after eating his supper to a bed of skins and blankets that had been prepared for him in one corner of the cabin. But he did not go to sleep. All the members of the family soon after disappeared, except the old woman, who occupied herself for a time in attending to some ordinary household duties. As she moved about the cabin the trader watched her, noticing something peculiarly striking in her appearance, especially her hair, until he began to suspect that this was a white woman. His suspicion was soon afterward confirmed, when one of her arms was accidentally bared and he saw that the skin above the elbow was white. He then began a conversation with her in the Miami
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tongue-for she could speak but little English-and on gaining her con- fidence to some extent asked her pointedly if she was not a white woman.
The question apparently startled her and at first she gave an evasive answer. But Colonel Ewing made her understand that he was her friend and she finally told him her story, or what she could remember of her early life. She said she had been carried away from near some town on the Susquehanna river when she was a little girl, that she thought her father's name was Slocum and that he was a Quaker.
Upon arriving at his home the next day Colonel Ewing told his mother what he had learned. She advised him to write to the woman's friends in Pennsylvania. This was almost an impossible task, as Frances could not remember where they lived, further than it was near some town on the Susquehanna river, and nearly three score years had elapsed since she had been carried away from her home. He finally remembered that Lancaster was an old town, near the Susquehanna, and decided to write to the postmaster there, hoping that through this medium the relatives of the "Lost Sister of Wyoming" might learn of her existence. Follow- ing is Colonel Ewing's letter :
"Logansport, Ind., Jan. 20, 1835.
"Dear Sir: In the hope that some good may result from it, I have taken this means of giving to your fellow-citizens-say the descendants of the early settlers of the Susquehanna-the following information ; and if there be any now living whose name is Slocum, to them, I hope, the following may be communicated through the public prints of your place :
"There is now living near this place, an aged white woman, who a few days ago told me, while I lodged in the camp one night, that she was taken away from her father's house, on or near the Susquehanna, when she was very young-say from five to eight years old, as she thinks- by the Delaware Indians, who were then hostile toward the whites. She says her father's name was Slocum, that he was a Quaker, rather small in stature, and wore a large brimmed hat; was of sandy hair and light complexioned and much freckled; that he lived about half a mile from a town where there was a fort; that they lived in a wooden house of two stories high, and had a spring near the house. She says three Delawares came to the house in the daytime, when all were absent but herself, and perhaps two other children; her father and brothers were absent working in the field. The Indians carried her off, and she was adopted into a family of Delawares, who raised her and treated her as their own child. They died about forty years ago, somewhere in Ohio. She was then married to a Miami, by whom she had four children; two of them are now living-they are both daughters-and she lives with them. Her husband is dead; she is old and feeble, and thinks she will not live long.
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"These considerations induced her to give the present history of her- self, which she would never do before, fearing that her kindred would come and force her away. She has lived long and happy as an Indian, and, but for her color, would not be suspected of being anything else than such. She is very respectable and wealthy, sober and honest. Her name is without reproach. She says her father had a large family, say eight children in all-six older than herself, one younger, as well as she can recollect-and she doubts not there are yet living many of their descend- ants, but seems to think that all her brothers and sisters must be dead, as she is very old herself, not far from the age of eighty. She thinks she was taken prisoner before the last two wars, which must mean the Revolution- ary war, as Wayne's war and the late war have been since that one. She has entirely lost her mother tongue, and speaks only as an Indian, which I also understand, and she gave me a full history of herself.
"Her own Christian name she has forgotten, but says her father's name was Slocum, and he was a Quaker. She also recollects that it was upon the Susquehanna river that they lived, but does not recollect the name of the town near which they lived. I have thought that from this letter you might cause something to be inserted in the newspapers of your country that might possibly catch the eye of some of the descendants of the Slocum family, who have knowledge of a girl having been carried off by the Indians some seventy years ago. This they might know from family tradition. If so, and they will come here, I will carry them where they may see the object of my letter alive and happy, though old and far advanced in life.
"I can form no idea whereabout upon the Susquehanna river this family could have lived at that early period, namely, about the time of the Revolutionary war, but perhaps you can ascertain more about it. If so, I hope you will interest yourself, and, if possible, let her brothers and sisters, if any be alive-if not, their children-know where they may once more see a relative whose fate has been wrapped in mystery for seventy years, and for whom her bereaved and afflicted parents doubtless shed many a bitter tear. They have long since found their graves, though their lost child they never found. I have been much affected with the disclosure, and hope the surviving friends may obtain, through your goodness, the information I desire for them. If I can be of any service to them, they may command me. In the meantime, I hope you will excuse me for the freedom I have taken with you, a total stranger, and believe me to be, sir, with much respect,
"Your obedient servant, "GEORGE W. EWING."
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Colonel Ewing was somewhat mistaken as to the age of Frances and the time she had been in captivity. At the time his letter was written she was about sixty-two years old and had dwelt among the Indians for approxi- mately fifty-seven years. When the letter was received by Mrs. Mary Dickson, then postmistress at Lancaster and also the owner of a news- paper called the Lancaster Intelligencer, instead of publishing it she cast it aside and for about two years it lay among a lot of old papers that were considered of no value. In March, 1837, John W. Forney became one of the editors and publishers of the paper and soon afterward the letter was handed to him by one who had accidently found it a short time before. Mr. Forney published the letter in the Intelligencer, in a "special temperance edition," copies of which were sent to every clergyman in Pennsylvania. Rev. Samuel Bowman, an Episcopal minister, who had lived at one time in Wilkes-Barre, and who knew the story of Frances Slocum, mailed one of the papers to Joseph Slocum, at Wilkes-Barre. Under date of August 8, 1837, Jonathan J. Slocum, a son of Joseph, wrote to Colonel Ewing as follows :
"Geo. W. Ewing, Esq.,
"Dear Sir: At the suggestion of my father and other relations, I have taken the liberty to write to you, although an entire stranger.
"We have received, but a few days since, a letter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster, of this state, upon a subject of deep and intense interest to our family. How the matter should have lain so long wrapped in obscurity we cannot conceive. An aunt of mine-sister of my father- was taken away when five years old, by the Indians, and since then we have only had vague and indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter we deem to have entirely revealed the whole matter, and set every- thing at rest. The description is so perfect, and the incidents (with the exception of her age) so correct, that we feel confident.
"Steps will be taken immediately to investigate the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our power to restore a lost relative who has been sixty years in Indian bondage.
"Your friend and obedient servant,
"JNO. J. SLOCUM."
Colonel Ewing had not forgotten the letter written by him in January, 1835, and no doubt had often wondered as to its fate. Upon the receipt of Mr. Slocum's letter he at once sent the following reply :
"Logansport, Ind., August 26, 1837.
"Jno. J. Slocum, Esq., Wilkes-Barre,
"Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and in answer can add, that the female I spoke of
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in January, 1835, is still alive; nor can I for a moment doubt but that she is the identical relative that has been so long lost to your family.
"I feel much gratified to think that I have been thus instrumental in disclosing to yourself and friends such facts in relation to her as will enable you to visit her and satisfy yourselves more fully. She recovered from the temporary illness by which she was afflicted about the time I spent the night with her in January, 1835, and which was, no doubt, the cause that induced her to speak so freely of her early captivity.
" Although she is now, by long habit, an Indian, and her manners and customs precisely theirs, yet she will doubtless be happy to see any of you, and I myself will take great pleasure in accompanying you to the house. Should you come out for that purpose, I advise you to repair directly to this place; and should it so happen that I should be absent at the time, you will find others who can take you to her. Bring with you this letter ; show it to James T. Miller, of Peru, Ind., a small town not far from this place. He knows her well. He is a young man whom we have raised. He speaks the Miami tongue and will accompany you if I should not be at home. Inquire for the old white woman, mother-in-law to Brouillette, living on the Mississinewa river, about ten miles above its mouth. There you will find the long lost sister of your father, and, as before stated, you will not have to blush on her account. She is highly respectable, and her name as an Indian is without reproach. Her daughter, too, and her son- in-law, Brouillette, who is also a half-blood, being part French, are both very respectable and interesting people-none in the nation are more so. As Indians they live well, and will be, pleased to see you. Should you visit here this fall, I may be absent, as I purpose starting for New York in a few days, and shall not be back till some time in October. But this need not stop you ; for, although I should be gratified to see you, yet it will be sufficient to learn that I have furthered your wishes in this truly interesting manner.
"The very kind manner in which you have been pleased to speak of me shall be fully appreciated.
"There are perhaps men who could have heard her story unmoved; but for me, I could not; and when I reflected that there was, perhaps, still lingering on this side of the grave some brother or sister of that ill- fated woman, to whom such information would be deeply interesting, I resolved on the course which I adopted, and entertained the fond hope that my letter, if ever it should go before the public, would attract the attention of some one interested. In this it seems, at last, I have not been disappointed, although I have long since supposed it had failed to effect the object for which I wrote it. Like you, I regret that it should have been delayed so long, nor can I conceive how any one should neglect to publish such a letter.
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"As to the age of this female, I think she herself is mistaken, and that she is not so old as she imagines herself to be. Indeed, I entertain no doubt but that she is the same person that your family have mourned after for more than half a century past.
"Your obedient humble servant, "GEORGE W. EWING."
In due time Colonel Ewing's letter reached the waiting members of the family at Wilkes-Barre. Arrangements were at once commenced for Joseph Slocum to go to the home of his sister, Mrs. Mary Towne, in central Ohio, and with her proceed to Peru, Indiana, while his brother Isaac, who lived near Sandusky, was to join them there as soon as possible. As the distance from Sandusky to the Miami village was much shorter than that which Joseph and Mrs. Towne had to travel, he arrived several days in advance of his brother and sister. His anxiety to meet the sister, who had so long been mourned as lost, was so great that he could not wait for the arrival of his brother and sister. Accompanied by James T. Miller as interpreter, he repaired to the house of Frances, where he was received with that stolid indifference peculiar to the Indian. She manifested neither pleasure nor surprise at his coming and seemed rather reluctant to tell anything of herself to a stranger. Before she was captured in her childhood, while she and one of her brothers were playing in the black- smith shop one day, her brother struck the fore finger of her left hand with a hammer and inflicted such an injury that the nail was completely destroyed. As Isaac conversed with the old woman he kept watching her hands. At last, seeing the marked finger, he took hold of her hand and asked how it came to be in that condition.
"My brother struck it with a hammer in the shop, a long time ago, before I was carried away," came the answer, but without any show of emotion.
Isaac Slocum was now convinced that this was his sister. Sadly he returned to Peru to await the coming of Joseph and Mrs. Towne. They arrived a few days later and the three, with Mr. Miller and James B. Fulwiler, went to the house of the old woman whose long life among the Indians had made her an alien to her own race. Mr. Fulwiler afterward said that Frances was "as cold as an iceberg," and that her reception of her relatives so affected him that he was compelled to leave the room. The injured finger was again examined and with much persuasion she was induced to tell them something of her life. Her story corresponded in all the essentials to that she had told Colonel Ewing, nearly three years before. She had forgotten her Christian name and when asked if she would remember it if she should hear it she answered, "It is a long time ; I do not know."
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"Was it Frances ?" asked one of the party. For the first time during the interview something like emotion seemed to move her hitherto expressionless features, and after a few brief moments a faint smile illumined her face as she exclaimed, "Yes, Franca, Franca !"
All doubts were now removed. This indeed was the little auburn haired sister that had been taken from her home in the Wyoming valley sixty-four years before. The company then proposed to Frances that she, with her son-in-law and daughters, accompany them to Peru, but she declined to give an answer until she could consult Chief Godfroy. The chief advised her to accept the invitation and she promised to visit them the next Sunday and dine with them at the hotel. When they arrived and were conducted into the hotel, before any intimacy could be estab- lished, it was necessary that a formal pledge of friendship should be given and received, according to the custom of the Miami Indians. One of the daughters therefore advanced to the table and laid upon it a bundle wrapped in a clean, white cloth. Through the interpreter she then ex- plained that it was a pledge of their confidence and friendship. Instructed by Mr. Miller, Mrs. Towne accepted the pledge in the same solemn and formal manner, and when the bundle was opened it was found to contain a hind quarter of a deer, which had no doubt been killed for the occasion. Through the medium of this ceremony confidence was established and the visitors conversed more freely than when the brothers and sister visited Frances in her home. Meginnis says: "The food cooked by civilized methods did not agree with them (the visitors) and they did not relish it. The circumstances and surroundings had a depressing effect upon Frances and she sought relief in accordance with the customs of savage life. She slipped away quietly, and a few minutes afterwards was found with her blanket pulled over her head, lying on the stoop fast asleep."
When it was proposed that Frances' story should be reduced to writing she at first objected, until the reasons for such a proceeding were explained to her by the interpreter. She then told her story, the main points of which correspond to the facts as narrated in this chapter. At the con- clusion of her story, her brothers and sister urged her to return home with them, promising her a home and a share of all they possessed.
"No, I cannot," said Frances. "I have always lived with the Indians ; they have always used me very kindly; I am used to them. The Great Spirit has always allowed me to live with them, and I wish to live and die with them. Your wah-puh-mone (looking-glass) may be longer than mine, but this is my home. I do not wish to live any better, or anywhere else, and I think the Great Spirit has permitted me to live so long because I have always lived with the Indians. I should have died sooner if I had left them. My husband and my boys are buried here and I cannot leave
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them. On his dying day my husband charged me not to leave the Indians. I have a house and large lands, two daughters, a son-in-law, three grand- children and everything to make me comfortable, why should I go and be like a fish out of water ?"
In this determination she was supported by her son-in-law and daugh- ters, and when her relatives then asked her to go with them merely for a visit, promising to allow her to return to her children, she answered :
"I cannot, I cannot. I am an old tree. I cannot move about. I was a sapling when they took me away. It is all gone past. I am afraid I should die and never come back. I am happy here. I shall die and lie in that graveyard, and they will raise the pole at my grave with the white flag on it, and the Great Spirit will know where to find me. I should not be happy with my white relatives. I am glad enough to see them, but I cannot go, I cannot go. I have done."
It was this positive refusal of Frances to return to the home of her brothers and sisters that inspired Mrs. E. L. Schermerhorn to write the following poem, which was published under the title of "The White Rose of Miami :"
"Let me stay at my home, in the beautiful West, Where I played when a child-in my age let me rest ; Where the bright prairies bloom and the wild waters play, In the home of my heart, dearest friends, let me stay.
"O, here let me stay, where my Chief, in the pride Of a brave warrior youth, wandered forth by my side ; Where he laid at my feet the young hunter's best prey, Where I roamed a wild huntress-O, friends, let me stay !
"Let me stay where the prairies I've oft wandered through, While my moccasins brushed from the flowers the dew- Where my warrior would pluck the wild blossoms and say His White Rose was the fairest-O, here let me stay !
"O, here let me stay ! where the bright plumes from the wing Of the bird that his arrow had pierced, he would bring; Where, in parting for battle, softly would say, ' 'Tis to shield thee I fight'-O, with him let me stay !
"Let me stay, though the strength of my Chieftain is o'er, Though his warriors he leads to the battle no more ; He loves through the woods, a wild hunter to stray, His heart clings to home-O, then, here let me stay !
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"Let me stay where my children in childhood have played, Where through the green forest, they often have strayed ; They never could bend to the white man's cold sway, For their hearts are of fire-O, here let them stay !
"You tell me of leaves of the Spirit that speak ; But the Spirit I own, in the bright stars I seek ; In the prairie, in the forest, the water's wild play, I see Him, I hear Him-O, then, let me stay !"
In the fall of 1839 Joseph Slocum, accompanied by his two daughters -Hannah and Harriet-the oldest and youngest of his seven children, again visited Frances at her home near Peru. This time the "lost sister" received her relatives with more cordiality. A colored man lived on her place as interpreter and they learned more of her history. Hannah was the wife of Ziba Bennett and kept a diary in which she recorded the principal events of the journey. The following extract from this diary gives this description of Frances Slocum at that time :
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