The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-05-07
LOST FOR A LIFETIME.

Some thirty years ago John Quincy
Adams attracted considerable attention
in Congress by q strong speech in favor
of bill introduced by Ii. A. Bidlack of
Pennsylvania, which provided that one
mile square of the land then occupied
by the Miami Indians, embracing the
house and improvements of Frances
Slocum, should be granted in fee to her
and her heirs forever. The bill became
a law, and she occupied this special re-
serve until her death in the spring of
1S47.
The history of this woman was re-
markable. She was the daughter of a
Quaker, who lived in the Wyoming val
ley during the revolution. Several
months after the massacre of 1778 she
was caught up by party of marauding
Delaware Indians who got off before any
attempt could be made to rescue her.
She was five years old at this time
About month later her father was shot
dead by the Indians while ut work in
field near his house. Knowing that he
was gone to his eternal rest, the widow,
in time, became reconciled to her loss,
| but she could never forget her child, the
last sight of which was when she was in
the arms of brawny Indian, struggling
and calling piteously upon her parent to
come to her help.
The sons of Mrs. Slocum be-
came prosperous business men, and
after the close of the revolution they
used every effort to recover their lost
sister. In 1884 two of them visited
Niagara, where large number of In
dams were gathered, made diligent in
quiries, and offered liberal rewards for
any information of her. They prose-
cuted the search for several weeks, and
returned home with the impression that
she was dead.
The mother, however, could not be
persuaded that such was the case, and
four years later the Slocums spent sew
eral months in the West among the In
dian agents and traders, publicly offering
$500 to any one who woull give any
authentic information of tin death of
their sister, but their success was no
better than before. A similar expedi-
ton was undertaken in 1897 by four of
the brothers, with the same result. AS
in the Ross case, the search brought
numbers of stolen children to light, but
none was the one particularly wanted.
Mrs. Slocum never lost faith in her
daughters existence. She believed she
was somewhere waiting to be clasped in
her arms, and she continued the search
with scarcely any intermission until
1907, when she died, her children prom
ising her to use every effort to learn
what had become of the little one alb
Quoted nearly thirty years before. They
faithfully carried out this pledge, and in
1926 made long and expensive journey
to Upper Sandusky to see a woman who,
there was no reason to hope, was the
enc for whom they were searching.
Disappointed again, they finally came to
the conclusion that Frances was dead,
and the search ended.
In the month of January, 1885, Col.
George w. Ewing, gentleman con-
nected with the public service among
the Indians, and able to speak several of
their languages, was benighted near an
Indian town known as The Deaf Mans
Village, on branch of the Wabash.
He applied for lodging, and was hospit-
ably received at a respectable dwelling.
He was fatigued and unwell, and after
eating lay down upon some skins in the
corner. The household consisted of a
venerable woman and a number of chill
dren, all of whom treated her with the
greatest Difference, and who departed to
their own rooms.
As Col. Ewing lay upon his pallet he
watched the old lady moving about, and
noticed particularly the color of her skin
and hair. The result of the scrutiny
convinced him that she was white wo-
man, and he opened conversation with
her. She admitted that his suspicious
were correct. She said that she was
stolen by the Indians when a very small
child, and she had carefully concealed
that fact from those of her own race
whom she met for fear that her relatives
would come and take her away. She
was now so old that she felt she could
not live much longer, and if any of her
friends were living she would be glad to
see them. In short, she was Frances
Slocum, and she remembered distinctly
the name of her father, though her own
given name was forgotten.
Col. Ewing was so impressed with her
narrative that he addressed long letter,
giving the particulars, to the Postmaster
at Lancaster, Pa. He had never
heard of the Slocums, but he judged
from certain answers made by the old
lady that her home was somewhere in
that State.
The letter reached its destination, but
when the Postmaster came to read it he
concluded it hoax and flung it aside,
among some waste papers, where it lay
for two years. AT the end of that time
the Postmaster died, and his widow in
overhauling his effects, came upon Col.
Ewing's letter. She had never heard the
name of Slocum, but thinking there was
something in it, she sent the misssive to
the Lancaster HatelIigencer, copy of
which, containing the letter, fell into
the hands of Rev. Samuel Bowman,
who was intimately acquainted with the
Slocum family, and be mailed paper to
her brother, who lived in Wilkesbarre.
The reception of the letter threw the
whole community into excitement, there
being not particle of doubt as to the
identity of Frances. AS two years had
passed since the letter was written, and
as it stated that the old lady at that time
was under premonition of death, an in
guiry was addressed to Col. Ewing, by
John j. Slocum, the nephew of Frances.
A prompt reply, dated at Logansport,