The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-07-14
A STRANGE STORY. {.
How q Man Who Was Stolen by Indians
In Infancy Learned Who Ito Was.

How Man Who Was Stolen by Indians
In Infancy Learned Who Ito Was.
There is q barber in this city, named
Henry Petit, who has rarc tale of adj
venture to tell concerning himself, of
how he was stolen when four years old
by the Indians, ond how he finally
found his father, says % Charlottesville
correspondent Of the Indianapolis Jour
nal Petit was born in 1888 ut the In
dian trading post near Port Huron,
Mich, where his father had an cx-
change store and was well pntrOnizcd
by the Indians. In 1919 Turkey Foot,
chief of the Black Creek Indians, got
into difficulty with the father of Pet
tit, claiming that he had given him u
wildcat" dollar in making change
This was denied by Petit, who would
not take back the money.
Tho Indian went away mud and VOW
ing that he would get even Tho Indi-
ans about this time sold their lands
about Port Huron and were being 10
moved to IL reservation near the present
city of Sundusly. The Indian at once
executed n plan to get revenge on
Petit. The night before Turkey
Foot left nc stole the boy In
Petit was not at home one night, and no
entered the house ut midnight Walking
lightly across the floor he jcrkcd tho
sleeping babe from the arms of the
mother, who awolse in alarm only to
find that her baby was gone. a diligcnt
search failed to find Il trace of the miss
ing boy, and he was given up as dead
The Indian took the lad, now four
years old, to Ohio, where en- old squaw
took charge of him.
There was Il white man with the
tribe named Timothy Croker, whom
the Indians sent back to Port Huron to
tell Petit that his boy had died in Can
ada. Thus the parents were made to
believe that their boy was dead The
lad lived with the Indians until eleven
years Old when man named IIowSer,
of Williamsport, Pa, who was among
these Indians, bought the boy for
small consideration and took him back
to his home. The boy there learned the
barber trade, but as to where the In
dians got him he could not remember.
He was sent TO Il school ut Republic, O.,
where he received a license to teach.
He was there going by the name of
Timothy Croker, and in 1855 he was
married to Miss Catherine Eckcrt, who
lived at Delphi, this state, where he
purchased Il barber shop.
When the war commenced he en-
listed in the Ninth Indiana infantry
While this company was with Sherman
in the "March to the Sea" and in Ala
bama "Crocllcr' was approached by q
man who aslecd him his name.
"CroclScr" told him, and the man de-
MED it, saying that he was the very
counterpart of Il Alr. Petit at Port
Huron, Mich; that he must be the
missing son, long since supposed to be
dead The stranger took the name of
the town where ''Crocller" lived. and
told him that when the war closed
proof would be presented showing that
Timothy Croker was Henry Petit,
the son of Edward Petit. After the
war 'Crocllcr'' settled at Wcstville,
near La Porte, where he soon heard
from the mysterious person who had
told him such a strange story while in
the army. This was soon followed by
n telegram from Edward Petit, of Port
Huron, Mich. saying: Come at once
and lose no time"
NiociNcr "ctit. nurCly Knowing
what to think syvould be the outcome of
his trip. He arrived Ut Port Huron. and
upon stepping from the train ne met
his father face to facc--two men al
most the exact image of each other.
There could be no installing the fact
that one was the father and the other
the son. The mother hal died many
years before.