Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1866-11-15
Thirty Years Captivity A.
nlOng the EEdiaEs-Renlark-
able Career of "a SOy.

was little hamlet of two or three
hundred persons, a young woman
might have been seen, one sultry day
IN August, accompanied by a little
boy five years old, vending her way
towards a grove in the neighborine
town of Blackman, for the purpose
of engaging in the then common pas
time of picking berries. The
young woman, after toiling away for
while, became annoyed with the
ceaseless opportunities of the child,
and sent him home. She thought
nothing more of the matter till, upon
her return in the evening. she was
surprised to find that the boy had not
returned.
In reply to the queries of the anx-
ious parents, the girl related the cir
cumstances narrated above, and adj
ded that she knew nothing of the
whereabouts of the child. Day after
day passed, and still the missing
member of the distracted family did
not return, nor could any tidings OF
him be heard by his agonized pa
rents. Finally, after every searching
party who went out to find the mis-
sing one had returned and reported
their mission fruitlcss, and after all
hope of seeing their darling boy
again had vanished from the minds
of the afflicted parents, suspicion be-
gan to fasten upon the young woman,
who was a servant in the family
She again asserted her innocence,
and stated that she knew nothing of
the missing boy from the time she
had sent him homeward. In spite
OF her protestationS, however, she
was arrested for the murder of the
boy and incarcerated in the rude
lookup, which had been erected by
the early settlers. Here she was
kept for time till it became al1la-
rent that no evidence against her
could be obtained, when she was
discharged from custody, stiH asser-
ting her innocence to the parents of
the child, who longed for some IL
dings that wnnld diSpel abe uncer-
tainty which hung over them like a
cloud Their hopes were doomed to
disappointment, however, as moth
Ing could be heard of the missing
one, and he was finally numbered
with the dead, the parents giving up
all hopes of ever helring f".om their
lost boy AGAIN.
fe@.lis passed, and the little hamlet
became alarge and hourishing city
The solitude which formerly reigned
on the banks Of Grand River was
broken by tie mechanic and the arti-
san, and tbe air resounded with the
busy hum of industry. Nearly all
the old settlers had passed away, and
anotb-r generation succeeded them.
Among the many new corners was a
sbn-in- law of the afflicted family, Mr..
j. II. Ballard, our fellow -tOwnsman,
who was greatly surprised, few
days since, to learn that the boy who
had long been numbered with the
dead, had arrived in the southern
part of this State, and was making
inquiries after his family. The boy
had grown to be stalwart man of
thirty-five. His cOuntenance be came
brOnzed by continuous exposure to
The elements, and his sinewey frame
hardened by repeated adventures in
the Western wilds.
He stated that he had but a dim
recollection of his former home, but
wildly remembered the time when
two stalwart forms with red visages
crossed his path, snatched him up in
their arms, and carried him off amid
his piteous cries for his loving moth
er. Since that time he had been
constantly with the Indians-joined
them in their hunting expeditions,
and followed their trail as they jour
reyed towards the setting sun. He
learned to speak the language of the
POttawatOmies--for that was the
name of the tribe with whom the
greater part of his life had been
spent-and in answer to his repeated
inquiries, his captors told rim that
they had stolen him from Jackson
county, and that his name was Viii
ley.
The Indians COMPOUNDED this name
with Filly, which is the real name of
his father. Mr.. Ballard went in quest
OF the missing one, and, upon arri-
wing at the place where he had been
making inquiries, was told that he
had gone away, but would return in
few days, when he will proceed to
the home of his aged parents, to make
glad the hearts of an afflicted father
and mother Truly, truth is stran
ger than fiction. Jackson Mich
Citizen.
a man mainline the cnrDicp Of n