The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1866-12-06
Thirty Years Captivity ,AmenG
Indians - Remarkable Career
of q BOy. 5s.s iftH .+H'H -

|
TPiy 9nSyIans Years Gastsi,,Si A,msng ,asg;
of q Boy. 'fH .A.H -
Thirty years ago, when Jackson was =
a little hamlet Of two or three hundred r
ipersons, a young woman might have
been seen, one sultry day in kueust,ac-
companied by little boy five Years 1.l
old, vending her way towards a.grove '
in the neighboring town of Blacllman,
for the purpose of enoa 9ihg inithe then
common pastime of picking berries. --se9
The young woman after toiling away -
for while, became annoyed with the
ceascess opportunities Of the chile, 1T
and sent him home. She thought
nothing more Of the matter till; Epon
her return in the evening, she WAS sur
prised to find that the boy had not re-
| turned st's za-se:~2 trrrz T..
In reply to the queries of the anxious ~
parents the girl related the circum-
stahces narrated above, and added that 8
she knew nothing OF the whereabouts i,
of the child. Day after day passed,
and still the missing member of the.
distracted family did not rctnEn, nor.
could any tidings of him be heard by !
his agonized parents. Finally aftfr
every searching party who went out to =,
find the missing one had returned and p,
reported their, mission fruitless, and ),
after all hope of.eyer seeing their darll 77,.<j
! ing boy again had vanished from the. 2
minds of the afflicted dparentr,suspicion, =,
began to fasten upon the young wo
man, who was servant in the family.
She again asserted her innocence,
and that she knew nothing of the mis-
sing boy from the time she had sent -
| him homeward. In spite Of her pro-,
testations, however, she was arrested
for the murder of the boy and incaTcer-
ated in the rude lookup, which had
been erected by the early settlera.3----, -.
Here she was kept for time tilliit be ii
came apparent thatno evidence against &,
her could be obtained, when she. was
| discharged from custody, still assert
| ing her innocence. to the parents Of the
child, who longed for some tidifgs that
would dispel the uncertainty which.
hung over them like cloud Their
hopes were doomed o.disappoint1nen :.
however, as nothing confd be heard -
of the missing one, and he was finally
numbered with the dead, the parents 9:
giving up all hopes Of ever hearing Il
from their lost boy again. fT;?.sG
Years passed, and the little 1hEimlet -
became a large aad fourisling Hcity-t--4it 4
The solitude which formerly. reigned
on the banks of the Grand River was Il !
broken by the mechanic and the arti-:c,
san and the air resounded with the,
busy hum of industry. Nearly all the.,.-,
old settlers had passed away, and an =;
other generation succeeded them:-
Among the many new corners was'a
sun in-law Of the afflicted family, Mr. Ia
j. T. Ballard, our fellow -townsiftat1,,H p
who was greatly surprised, q few days -s''
since, to learn that the boy who had
long been numbered with the dead had y
arrived in the southern part of: this "a
State, and was lpa1iHg inquiries after .7y
his family. The boy had grown to, he!
s stalwart man of thirty fve.l His ceun-,co
tcnance had become bronzed by 9e0n-,~n
tinuous exposure to the ele1nents,s and =
his sinewy framehardened by repeated,
adventures in the " esterll wilds .,-t -
He stated that he had hut a dim rec -
objection Of his. former homo, but vivid, !, > =,
ly remembered the time when two stall
wart forms with red visages crossed his. :.
path, snatcbed him up in their arms
and carried him off amidst his piteous
cries for his loving mother Since :.
that time lie has been constantly with >.
the Indians joined them in their hunt %
ing expeditions, and followed til err trail u
as they journeyed toward the setting "a
SUM- He learned to speak the languag
of the POttaWatomies-for that was. -
the name of the tribe with when the
greater part of his life was ,spept-and
in answer to his repeated Inquiries, his
captors told him that they had stolen
him from Jacksoncounty, and that his
name was Wiley. i &st--
The Indians eonfounded his name
with FiIly, which is the real name of
his father Mr. Ballard went in Guest
Of the missing one, and upon arriving
at the place where he had bcenimalling
inquiries. was told that heshad- gone a.
way, hut wo'd return in 9 fewdays, when
lie will proceed to the home Of his aged
parents, to make glad the hearts of an
afflicted father and mother. Truly,
s'tluth is stranger than fiction. Jack
son (-U1ch.) citizen. 90
THE Legislature of Vermont hast
passed 4 bill making habitual drunken
ness for q IIorip.I of' tuo raeYrcs 30 cyd;,;