The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-05-28
LOST FOR A LIFETIME.

pennsylvania, which provided that one
mile sq1are 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. aud she occupied this special re-
serve until her death IN the spring of
1S47.
The history of this woman was re-
markahle. She was the dau hter of a
Quaker. who lived in the Wyoming val
ley during the revolution. Several
months after the massacre of 177S she
wss 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.
hbout month later her father was
shot dead by the Indians while at work
IA field near his hOuse. Knowing that
he was gone TO his eternal rest. the
widow, 10 time, b came reconciled to
her loss, bUt she could never forget her
child, the last sight Of which was when
she was N the arms of brawnv Indian,
struggling and calling piteousIy upon
her parent to come to her help.
The sons of Mrs. SlOcum became
prosperous business men, and after the
close OF the revolution thev used every
effort to recover their lost sister In
1874 two of them visited Niagara, where
alarge number of Indians were gathered.
made diligent inquiries. and offered
liberal rewards for anv Information of
her. They prosecuted the search for
several weeks, and returned home with
the impression that sae was dead.
The mother however. couId not he
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 offer
ing S3UO to anv one who wOnld give
any authentic information OF the death
ot their sister, hut their success was no
better than before A similar expedi-
ton was undertaken is 1877 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
vas somewhere waiting to be cIasped in
her arms, aud she continued the search
with scarcely any iutermissiOn until
1907, Vhen she died, her children prom !
lsIng her to use every effort to learn |
what had become of the little one alb |
ductfd nearly thirty years before. |
They faithfully carried out this pledge.
and IN 1876 made long and expensive |
journey to Upper Sandusky to see a |
woman who, there was no reason to |
hope, was the one for whom they were /
searching. Disappointed again, they |
finally came to the conclusion that |
Frances was dead. and search ended.
in the NORTH of January, 1885, Col. |
George w. Ewing, a gentleman con |
ncctcd 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 a branch of the |
Wabash. He applied for lodging, and /
was Hospitality received at a respectable |
dwelling. He was fatigued and un-
well, and after eating lay down upon
some skins in the corner. The house
hold consisted of a venerable woman
and number of children, all of whom
treated her with the greatest defer
cnce, and whe 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 scru-
tiny convinced him that she was a white |
"'AAA'LS anu no Optittl Il COuhtTSablOIl
with her. She admitted that his sus-
pIciOns were correct. She sid that she /
was stolen by the Indians when a very
small chil3, and she had carefully con- /
cealed 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 nO' live much longer, and if any
of her friends were living she would be /
glad u see them. in short, she was
Frances SlocunI, and she remembered /
distinctly the name of her father,
though her own given name was for
gotten.
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 some
where IN that state
The letter reached its destination, |
hHt when the postmaster came to read
1t be concluded it a hoax and flung it
aside, among some waste Tapcrs, where
IT lay for tUo years. At the end of that
time the postmaster died, end his wild
ow, IN overhaUling his effects, came
upon Col Ewing's letter. She had
never heard the name of S OCum but
thinking there was something in it, she
sent the missive to the Lancaster Intel.
hgenC T, a COPY of which, containing
the letter, fell into the hands of Rev.
Samuel Bowman, who was intimately
acquainted with the SIocum family, and
he mailed a paper TO her brother, who
lived in WiIke-barre.
The reception of the letter threw the
whole community into excitement, there
being not a particle of doubt as to the
identity % Frances. As two wears had
passed since the letter was written, and
as it stated that the old lady at that
time was under n premOnitiOn of death
an inquiry was addressed TO Col. Ewing.
by John j. SlOcum, the nephew of
Frances. \ prompt reply, dated at IIo-
gansTOr came to hand saying that the
old lady was still alive, and would be
glad to see them. The letter contained
minute directions as to the course they
were to take to reach her. Arrange
ments were at once made to do so. Mr..
Isaac SlOcUm and Mrs. Mary Town,
OF sister of Frances, resided
In Ohio, but not in the same neighbOr-
hood. Joseph Slocum, of Wilkesbarre,
another brother, started in his carriage,
taking his sister, while Isaac went in
advance, it being agreed that they
should meet at Deaf Mans Village.
Isaac reached the place ahead of the
others, and accompanied by an inter-
prefer, m ide a call Uppn the lady. who
received them PLEASANTLY, but evidently
with suspicion. TGe brother found her
to all appearances a perfect Indian, but
he had fixed in his mind an unerring
test of her identity. Previous to being
carried away. fiftv-nine years before,
her brother Ebenezer had crushed the
forehnRer of her left hand with ham
mer. Taking hold of her hand and
raising it, he saw the Disagreement.
''What caused that?" he added. "My
brother struck it with a hammer a long
time ago, was the answer.
He remained some time in conversa-
tion, but the woman did not seem at
ease, and he returned t. the village of
Peru to await the arrival of his brother
and sister When they came the three
made them another visit. She treated
them with the same kindness as before,