The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-05-09
The Gnadenhutten Massacre.

Twelve miles south of New Philadol-
phia, Ohio, we find the picturesque lit
tie village of Gnadenhutten, on the east
bank of the Tuscarawus River, a place
of nearly five hundred inhabitants, SEEM
ing in its beauty and seclusion to be a
haven of rest from the worlds cares
but ninety years ago the eighth day OF
this month, it was the scene of the most
horrible massacre on record, the princi-
pal details of which we give below. At
the time of this dreadful transaction,
and for several years previous, the In
dians composing or forming the Gnad-
| enhutten Moravian Mission, were sub
| iect to suspicion (undeservedly, howev-
| er) from both the Americans and Eng
| lish, and at one time they were per-
suaded, under the mask of friendship, to
leave their settlement, but after endur-
ing untold hardships and many perseeu-
tions, they were exonerated from blame,
and, with thankful hearts, praising God
for they were Christians-the form
ed themselves into several divisions,
numbering about one hundred and fifty
men, women and children, and return
ed to their forsalsen fields, the greater
portion to fall victims to the treachery
| OF U0G Wn1UtS. ub itClOlS III bhio iiOooii-
Gus murder consisted of about one hun
dred men, commanded by Colonel Will
hanson, whose purpose was to destroy
all the Moravian Indians, supposlng
them to have been accessory to the kill
ing of some white families on the Ohio
River, whose clothing had been traded
to them by their wild brethren that had
actually committed the bloody deed. In
nocent of any wrong doing, these civil
lized red men were busy at their usual
avocations, when they were captured by
Williamsons military band, and the
question whether they should be taken
to Pittsburg as prisoners, or put to death,
was presented by the commander to his
company, to be decided by vote. Eighty
against eighteen or twenty determined
the fate of the Indians. One night more
of life was granted them. At the first
intimation of this news they were al
most distracted, but placing implicit
confidence in the Great Being they SO
devotedly served, they offered to Him
their prayers for strength to meet all
that was to come. Tender good byes
We're interchanged, loving words of en-
couragement spoken, infants clasped
closer to mothers breasts and then,
with the coming morning, gray-haired
men, brave women, and little children
were doomed to be sacrificed. Two
houses were chosen, and two at time
they We're led thither, the men to one
and the women and children to the 9TH
er, and as they entered they We're knock
ed down and butchered. A Pennsyl-
vanian killed fourteen Indian men with
; cooper's mallet, and then handed it to
another, saying "Go on in the same
way think have done pretty well. "
One poor woman who had learned to
speak English, on her knees begged the
captain to spare their lives, but her ap-
peal for mercy was fruitless. Even the
bodies after they were dead were dis
figured by their inhuman captors. In
this manner seventy-two were killed,
others were shot, tomahawked and kill
ed in various ways, until the number
reached ninety-six.. One, after being
scalped and mangled, attempted to rise,
but was soon dispatched by the murder
ers. The same night of the massacre
the two slaughter-houses, with all the
other building of the Gnadenhutten set
tlement were burned, and the dead
bodies being but partially consumed
the bones of some remained upon the
ground for twenty years, when they
, were buried by friendly persons. The
perpetrators of the fiendish act departed
by the light of the burning village
whose very ground stands as evidence
{ against them to-day, for visitors al
Gnadenhutten never fail to visit the
{ ground whereon stood the Indian store.
, houses and secure some of the charred
corn, the grains of which are kept
, among the curiosities and relics of many
of our households.
| But two boys of fourteen or tifteer
years of age, made their escape to tel
r the story These two fortunately met
/ each other, and together proceeded tC
Sandusky. The noble martyrs of the
f Indian Moravian Company consisted O
Y forty men, twenty-five women and thir
3 ty-four children.
= The site OF the former Indian village
I of Gnadenhutten, OF about six acres
has been purchased by society tina
was organized in 1913, having for it
object the erection of suitable monu
, ment at this spot, to perpetuate th'
i memory of the nanety-six Indian vic
tins. The exact location of the slaugh
: ter-houses can still be identified
!. Cleceland Herald.