The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 31

Author: Warner, Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

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In the meantime, the Christian Indians, without the least thought of danger, were busily at work, night and day, in gathering and husking corn and secur. ing it in the woods. They had now been here several weeks and were about ready to depart. The 7th of March was fixed as the day of departure. They were not, however, in ignorance of the excited state of feeling on the border. "Four Sandusky warriors," says Heckewelder, "who, on their return from the Ohio settlements, had encamped on a run some distance from Gnadenhut- ten, gave them notice where they had been, and added, that having taken a woman and child prisoner, whom they killed and impaled on this side of the Ohio River, and supposing that the white people, in consequence of what they had done, might make up a party and pursue them ; they advised them to be on their guard and make off with themselves as soon as possible." De Schweinitz says: "Soon after this (their arrival on the Tuscarawas), the war-

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riors that had murdered the Wallace family passed through Gnadenhutten and warned the inhabitants of the peril to which they were exposing themselves. Carpenter, with noble magnanimity, did the same, pointing out its imminency, however peaceable their intentions. 'My captors,' he added, ‘will undoubt- edly be pursued and tracked to this place.'" Rondthaler, in his Life of Hecke- welder, states: "They received intelligence in all the settlements of the approach of the murderers in time for them to have saved themselves by flight ; for a white man, who had narrowly escaped from some savages, warned them with great earnestness to fly for their lives." The Christians, however, could not realize their danger. Though somewhat concerned for their safety at first, they soon dispelled their fears, knowing that their consciences were clear of even evil thoughts against the whites, and believing the latter would not wreak vengeance on innocent parties. Col. Gibson, in command of Fort Pitt, learn- ing of the expected attack upon the converts, hastily dispatched a messenger to warn them of their impending fate, but he arrived too late.

Williamson's command reached the neighborhood of Gnadenhutten on the evening of the 5th and encamped for the night about one mile from the village without being discovered. On the morning of the 6th, preparations were com- menced for an immediate attack. The men were formed into two divisions, one of which received orders to cross the river to the fields on the western side, where the scouts had reported Indians. The second division was to advance upon the village by a circuit through the woods.

On reaching the Tuscarawas, the first division found no canoes ; but what appeared to be one was seen moored on the other side. One of the men swam the river and brought back not a canoe but a sugar trough, large enough to accommodate two persons. In order to hasten their passage, a number of men stripped off their clothes, placed them in the trough and holding fast with one hand swam across with the other. Sixteen had crossed the river when Joseph Schebosh was seen approaching. One of the two scouts who were thrown ahead fired at him, breaking his arm. He was soon surrounded, and though he begged for his life and represented that he was the son of a white Christian man, was cruelly murdered. They then pressed on to the planta- tions, where most of the Indians were at work, and finding them widely scat- tered over the corn fields, hailed them as friends and informed them they had come to relieve them from the distress, occasioned by the enemy, on account of their being friends to the American people. The Christian Indians, ignorant of the death of Schebosh, and not doubting their sincerity, welcomed them and soon crossed over with them to the village, of which the other division of the whites had in the meantime taken possession. killing one Indian who was crossing the river in a canoe to the plantations.

This latter murder was witnessed only by Jacob, a brother-in-law to the unfortunate Schebosh. He was tying up corn sacks about 150 yards from the town, and saw the white party approach "so near him " he said, "that he might have seen the black in their eyes had they looked in that direction." He recognized some of the men as the same who had captured the Christian In -

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Edward. C. Lamis . MD .

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dians the autumn previous at Schonbrunn, and was about to hail them when they shot the Indian crossing the river. At this he fled precipitately, not stopping till he had placed several miles between himself and them. He re- mained concealed in the woods for a day and then escaped. Had he not lost his presence of mind, but given the alarm, many of the converts might have been saved.

John Martin, a national assistant, and his son, had been conveying corn to deposit in a distant part of the forest, and on their return were surprised to find the fields empty and numerous tracks of shod horses. Mistrust- ing something was wrong. they mounted a hill on the west side of the river, which commanded a full view of the town. Boholding the whites and Indians mingling freely together, the fears of Martin were allayed, and send- ing his son across to the village, he himself bore the news to Salem, there ad- vancing the opinion that God had sent these people to relieve their wants. This view was accepted by the simple-minded Indians, and they appointed two of their number, Adam and Henry, to return with Martin to Gnadenhutten to verify the opinion. Arriving, they found the Indians hospitably entertaining the militia, and learned that they were not to return to Sandusky, but that a place of safety was to be provided for them at Pittsburgh. This plan had been accepted by the Gnadenhutten Indians, who cheerfully delivered their guns, hatchets and other weapons to the whites, they promising to take care of them, and in Pittsburgh to return every article to its rightful owner. The Indians even showed them all the implements which they had concealed in the woods, assisted in packing them up, and emptied all their beehives for their pretended friends.

A body of the white men now advanced with the messengers to Salem to bring the inhabitants and their effects to Gnadenhutten. They were received in friendship, and under the guise of good will and affection the converts were 'easily persuaded to return with them. Some of the white men seemed deeply interested in religion. They asked many questions concerning it, and lis- tened with profound attention to all that was said to them, frequently exclaim- ing, " You are, indeed, good Christians." The converts surrendered their arms " for safe keeping," without a shadow of doubt, and freely expressed their opinions and sentiments on whatever topics were discussed. Preparations for the journey were soon completed, and the entire party took up the march for Gnadenhutten. In the meantime, the defenseless Indians at that village had been suddenly attacked, driven together, and, without resistance, seized and bound. The Salem Indians soon met the same fate. As they approached Gnadenhutten the scales began to fall from their eyes. On the sands of the river bank they saw the remains of a pool of blood, and a blood-stained canoe close by. They were then seized, bound and conveyed across the river, where they found the other Indians confined in two houses and closely guarded.

The words of peace and friendship gave place to accusations and reproaches. They were no longer called Christians, but enemies and warriors. They were accused of aiding the British in the war against the Americans; of harboring r

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and feeding British Indians on the march to the American frontiers ; of steal- ing horses from the Americans, inasmuch as their horses were branded ; of stealing various articles of clothing, children's caps, tea-kettles and other household equipments, for these were to be found among white people only, and not among Indians.

These charges were all refuted by the prisoners. They spoke of their suc- cessful efforts to maintain the Delaware neutrality for years, while other nations about them were engaged in war. They explained the necessity which com- pelled them to entertain the British Indians passing through their town, and showed that they had induced many a war party to turn back, and that they had also furnished Col. Brodhead with provisions. They reminded them that they had turned from savage life, and were now a civilized, agricultural people, and used the same household utensils, mechanical tools, branding irons and other devices employed by the whites.

It was asserted by the militia, on their return, that they found among the clothes of the converts the blood-stained garments of the murdered Mrs. Wal- lace, whose husband recognized them. This has been disputed; but whether so or not, the finding of the dress was by no means conclusive evidence of the complicity of the Christians in that murder, and no justification of the massacre of the Moravian Indians. It was known that the band of savages that perpe- trated that outrage encamped close to Gnadenhutten, while the Christians were there, and held communication with them. Although it was a rule among the converts not to purchase booty of the marauding parties, some one of the Indians may have bought the dress secretly, or more probable still, it may have been left by hostile warriors in one of the houses of Gnadenhutten, unknown to the in- mates, with intent to fasten suspicion upon the Christian Indians.

A council of war was now called to determine the fate of the prisoners. The officers, unwilling or unable to decide the question, submitted the ques- tion to the detachment. The men were drawn up in a line, and Col. William- son stepping forward, put the question, "Shall the Moravian Indians be taken prisoners to Pittsburgh, or put to death," requesting all in favor of sparing their lives to advance in front of the line. Only sixteen men, or, according to other reports, eighteen, advanced out of the line. In this manner was their fate decided. It is supposed the commander himself did not vote, nor is it known what disposition of the prisoners he favored, but his method of obtain- ing the vote operated in favor of their death, for it left all the indifferent and wavering men, and there may have been many such, in the ranks of those who favored the harshest measures. The few who were guided by feelings of hu- manity protested that the innocence of the converts was clearly evinced, but finding they could not move the majority, they " wrung their hands," says Heck- ewelder, "calling God to witness that they were innocent of the blood of these harmless Christian Indians."

The mode of execution was now discussed. Some were for setting fire to the houses they were in, and burning them alive; others wanted to take their scalps home with them as trophies of victory. This latter plan prevailed at last, and the prisoners were notified that they must die.

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"It may easily be conceived," says Loskiel, "how great their terror was at hearing a sentence so unexpected. However, they soon recollected themselves, and patiently suffered the murderers to lead them into two houses, in one of which the brethren, and in the other the sisters and children, were confined like sheep ready for slaughter. They declared to the murderers that though they could call God to witness that they were perfectly innocent, yet they were prepared and willing to suffer death; but as they had, at their conversion and baptism, made a solemn promise to the Lord Jesus Christ that they would live unto Him, and endeavor to please Him alone in this world, they knew that they had been deficient in many respects, and therefore wished to have some time granted to pour out their hearts before Him in prayer and to crave His mercy and pardon. This request being complied with, they spent their last night here below in prayer and in exhorting each other to remain faithful unto the end. One brother, named Abraham, who, for some time past, had been in a lukewarm state of heart, seeing his end approaching, made the following public confession before his brethren: "Dear brethren, it seems as if we should all soon depart unto our Savior, for our sentence is fixed. You know that I have been an untoward child, and have grieved the Lord and my brethren by my disobedience, not walking as I ought to have done; but still I will cleave to my Savior, with my last breath, and hold Him fast, though I am so great a sinner. I know assuredly that He will forgive me all my sins, and not cast me out." The brethren assured him of their love and forgiveness, and both they and the sisters spent the latter part of the night in singing praises to God their Savior, in the joyful hope that they would soon be able to praise Him without sin.

Early on the morning of the 8th of March, some of the band came to the houses where the prisoners were confined, engaged in singing and praying, and impatiently inquired if they were not yet ready to die, to which the brethren replied that they were all prepared, "havingcommended their immortal souls to * God, who had given them that divine assurance in their hearts that they should come unto Him and be with Him forever." The militia selected two buildings which they denominated " slaughter-houses," one for the murder of the men, the other for the massacre of the women and children. The carnage then be- gan. The victims were bound and led two and two together to the slaughter houses and there brutally murdered and scalped. They bore themselves through the terrible ordeal with uncommon patience, and met death with cheer . ful resignation. Tomahawks, mallets, war-clubs, spears and scalping knives were used to effect the slaughter, and only a portion of the militia took an active part. Abraham, whose long, flowing hair had the day before attracted notice and elicited the remark that it would " make a fine scalp," was the first victim. One of the party, seizing a cooper's mallet, exclaimed, "How exactly this will answer for the business." Beginning with Abraham, he felled four- teen to the ground, then handed the instrument to another, saying, "My arm fails me; go on in the same way! I think I have done pretty well." When all the men and boys were slain, the slaughter of the women and small children commenced in the other house, whither they were led, two by two, as before.

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Judith, a venerable and pious widow, was the first to suffer death here. Chris- tina, another widow, who had been an inmate of the Bethlehem Sister's Home in her youth, and spoke both English and German fluently, fell on her knees before Col. Williamson, and besought him to spare her life, but was told that he could not help her. Thus the cold-blooded butchery continued until ninety- two victims were slaughtered, when it ceased only because there were not other helpless women and children to kill. Thus was consummated one of the foul- est deeds that has ever stained American history.

Besides these ninety-two, four others were killed before-Schebosh. as nar- rated above, one young convert shot down in the canoe, and two young Indians, Paul and Anthony, who were shot down under the bank of the river while seek- ing to escape. The borderers returned home with ninety-six scalps. De Schweinitz states that only ninety Moravian Indians perished; twenty-nine men, twenty-seven women, and thirty-four children. The other six were prob- ably visiting Indians at Gnadenhutten. Among the slain were six national assistants, or Indian ministers, including the noble spirited, fearless and faith- ful Isaac Glickhican.

Only four of those who were gathering corn at Gnadenhutten and Salem escaped. Jacob, mentioned above, who witnessed the shooting of the convert in the canoe, a little boy named Benjamin, eight years old, saved by a kind- hearted frontiersman, who privately took him home with him, where he grew to manhood, and then returned to the Indian country, and two youths sixteen or seventeen years old, whose escape seemed almost miraculous. One of them disengaged himself from his bonds, and slipping unobserved from the crowd crept through a narrow window into the cellar of the house in which the women were executed. Their blood penetrated the flooring and ran in streams into the cellar. At nightfall he escaped from his horrible prison by climbing the wall, creeping through the window, and escaping to a neighboring thicket.

Thomas, the other lad, received only one blow on the head from the men, who then took his scalp and left him. After some time, he recovered his senses, and saw himself surrounded by bleeding corpses. Among these_he observed one brother, named Abel, moving and endeavoring to raise himself. But Thomas remained lying still as though he were dead, and this caution proved the means of deliverance; for soon after, one of the murderers coming in and observing Abel's motions, killed him with two or three blows. Thomas lay quite still till dark, though suffering the most exquisite torment. He then vent- ured to creep toward the door; and observing no one in the neighborhood, arose and escaped into the woods, where he concealed himself till night. These two youths afterwards met, and made a safe journey to Sandusky; though they purposely took a long circuit, and suffered great hardships and danger.

After the massacre was accomplished, the men spent the day in securing their plunder, then setting fire to the "slaughter-houses " filled with the man- gled corpses and to the whole village.

The believing Indians at New Schonbrunn escaped providentially. The missionaries at Sandusky had received orders to forsake their congregations

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and remove to Detroit. Wishing to see the converts again before departing, a messenger was dispatched on the 3d of March to request the converts, gather- ing corn on the Tuscarawas, to return at once. The messenger reached New Schonbrunn on the 6th, the same day Williamson's party entered Gnadenhut- ten. Being exhausted from his long journey, two of the New Schonbrunn In- dians were sent to Gnadenhutten to convey the news to the Indians there. When within a mile or two of the village they were surprised to see many tracks of shod horses on and beside the path. Cautiously ad- vancing, they soon espied the mangled body of the murdered Schebosh. Has- tily burying it and thinking all the people of Gnadenhutten had probably suffered the same fate, they returned quickly to New Schonbrunn. Believing the murderers would soon advance upon them, preparations were made for a hurried flight. Yet they were in doubt as to what direction to take. Schon- brunn lay on the west side of the river, while Gnadenhutten was on the east. The opinion prevailed that it would be best to cross the'river to the east side, pass up the valley above the mouth of Sugar Creek, and there cross again. Early in the evening, all had crossed at New Schonbrunn to the east side, and in the darkness they. proceeded about two and a half miles, when they halted till the light of the morning would enable them to travel again. In their hurry the canoe was forgotten; without it there would be no means of crossing the river above with their families, as the waters were high. Early the next morning, before daybreak, several of them returned for the canoe, and had scarcely taken it 300 yards from the town and were in plain sight of it, when, hearing the tramp of horse's feet down the river, they saw the vil- lage surrounded with horsemen looking for Indians and plunder. Hastily screening themselves, they watched the movements of the party, particularly to observe if they attempted to cross the river, which fortunately could be done now only by swimming. The band examined the woods around the town to discover which way the Indians had gone, but finding no tracks, they plun- dered and set fire to the village, and returned the same way they came. It was remarkable that the Indians paddling the canoe were not observed, for . they were at first in plain view. Had the men but crossed the river, they would have come upon the track of the fleeing converts, and by following the trail met them all in a body on an extensive prairie, only two and a half miles from where they were looking for them. Sorrowfully the little band of surviving Indians turned their faces westward and continued their journey. They had hurried away without even a sufficiency of provisions for the march, and suf- fered greatly from hunger, besides enduring many other hardships before reaching Sandusky. They had been persecuted for their religion by their sav- age neighbors, driven from their quiet homes at the approach of a severe win- ter season, plundered of all their goods and provisions, and when about to suffer death from starvation in a barren and inhospitable country, as a last forlorn hope, made a wearisome journey to the scenes of their former happi- ness to gather, with their neighbors who accompanied them, whatever fruits of their labor had remained undestroyed. Then fell the pitiless blow that

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crushed them to the earth; two-thirds of their number inhumanly murdered by those whom they had always treated as friends, and the remnant fleeing empty- handed and horror-stricken to new hardships and privations. Truly their trials were severe enough to test the stanchest faith, and it is little wonder that many forsook their religion and turned again to the worship of their fathers.

Having burned the three villages, Williamson's band started home with about fifty horses, a number of blankets and other articles, and ninety-six scalps. They marched to Pittsburgh, and fell upon a few peaceful Indians who had recently settled on the north side of the Ohio, opposite the fort, and under the protection of the American Government. A number of them, including a promising young Delaware' Chief, fell a sacrifice to the blood- thirsty crew, and others, among whom was the Delaware Chief Gelelemend, saved their lives by fleeing across the river to the town.

When this expedition against the Christian Indians was planned, it was well known to those who joined it that the Indians had been forcibly removed to the Sandusky country, and that they had returned. The object of the raid was the Moravian villages, and though there may not have been any previous definite understanding as to the fate of the Indians if captured, the determina- tion to spare none doubtless took possession of the minds of most of the men engaged in it. The expedition was deliberately planned, and the massacre delib- erately perpetrated, not in the sudden heat of passion or flush of battle, for not the slightest opposition was made by the trusting, guileless Indians, but their submission was attended with such surrounding extenuating circumstances call- ing for mercy and forbearance, that nothing but a deep-seated, blood-seeking disposition could have permitted the men to consent to the terrible tragedy. It must ever be regarded as one of the most atrocious acts that has disgraced the American name.

Whatever may be said by way of palliation or mitigation has been summed up by Rev. Dr. Joseph Doddridge in his " Notes on Western Virginia," at the close of his account of the bloody affair, and his comments are here presented:

" The pressure of the Indian war along the whole of the Western frontier,"

· he says, " for several years preceding the event under consideration, had been dreadfully severe. From early in the spring until the commencement of winter, from day to day, murders were committed in every direction by the Indians. The people lived in forts, which were in the highest degree uncom- fortable. The men were harassed continually with the duties of going on scouts and campaigns. There was scarcely a family of the first settlers who did not, at some time or other, lose more or less of their number by the merci- less Indians. Their cattle were killed, their cabins burned, and their horses carried off. These losses were severely felt by a people so poor as we were at that time. Thus circumstanced, our people were exasperated to madness by the extent and severity of the war. The unavailing endeavors of the Ameri- can Congress to prevent the Indians from taking up the hatchet against either side in the Revolutionary contest contributed much to increase the general indignation against them; at the same time that those pacific endeavors of our

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Government divided the Indians amongst themselves, on the question of war or peace with the whites. The Moravians, part of the Delawares, and some others, faithfully endeavored to preserve peace, but in vain. The Indian maxim was: 'He that is not for us is against us.' Hence the Moravian mis- sionaries and their followers were several times on the point of being mur- dered by the warriors. This would have been done, had it not been for the prudent conduct of some of the war chiefs.

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The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 31

Author: Warner, Beers & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Warner, Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017