Fergus County argus., 1901-01-30
A ROMANTIC HISTORY
Life of Frances Slocum, the "Lost
Child of Wyoming"
Monument to Mark Her Grave In
Wabash County, Indiana
Memorial 10 n Faith
full Woman.

A very interesting monument is soos
TO be dedicated on the high knoll over.
looking the valley of the Mississncya
river, in Wabash county, Indiana. The
monument will mark the burial place
of woman OF singular and romantiC
history, known as Frances Slocum
among the white people and as White
Rose among. the lEdians-who was
stolen from Quaker parents in the
Wyoming valley of Pennsylvania in
iIis, and brought up among the In.
dians in the West. Her parents were
jonathan and Nary Slocum Of Con.
Ucc ,iciJ. who had moved 10 Wilkes
barre. Pennsylvania. when that was o
small frontier settlement. There. when
Frances was n young girl, their dwell.
ing was attacked Icy Delaware Indians.
Two or three members ul The family
were killed, and lit,le Frances was car
ried away. first to Ohio, and later -
Indiana and Michigan. Soon after her
capture her father was killed by the
Indians, but her mother, aided by
Frances brothers and ether white men,
made persistent search for Frances.
who became known in those parts Us
the lost child of Wyoming" She was
not found.
For, meantime, the Indians had car.
ried her far away, over mountains and
through forests. They treated her
kindly. giving her blankets TO sleep
upon at night in beds of leaves. ~
length, too, they gave her a horse to
ride and dressed her in garments oi
buckskin, decorated With bright beads.
All this pleased her; she dried her tears
and became happy in her new life.
She was taught TO fear and hate the
white man, and Whenever she saw one
she ran away. None of the white m5 tn
who visited her tribe suspected, there.
fore. that they had a white child among
them. She ltara,d to shoot well with
The bow and arrow. When the Dc!a-
wares had a war with the whites, she
was run of into the north with the
other women and children. She did
hot lament this.
When she was 1G years old she was
married to a Delaware chief, Little
Turtle. lie treated her cruelty, and
she left him. and aftcrward was mar
ried 10 the Usage chief Chepokcnah, or
Deaf Man" lie was good 10 her, and
She remained with him through long
life.
She remembered the wars of the In
dians against Gen. Wayne and Gen.
Harrison, and in both her sympathies
were with the Indians. .Aftcr the last
war her husband and his people settled
on the Misaissincya. at place called
Deaf Mans Village.
To this place in 1S3j-ffty-seven
years after Frances had been carried
away from the Wyoming vaIlcy-there
came one night trader named George
Ewing; bclltcd on the road. be- sought
a nights lodging. The old chief took
him into his cabin, The chiefs wife
busted herself about the room, and a.
the ttadcg waited for his supper he
watched her. lie noticed that she
looked like a white woman. Once she
raised her arms for something; her
loose sloaNcs ioil away, revealing arms
that were 81 piciously white.
The trader could speak the Indian
tongue. and as she made no response
when he addressed her in English. he
questioned her in thai language. She
admitted that she was white woman
and had been stolen in her girlhood
She remembered her name and the
names of her father and mother. as
we'll as that of the place from which
She had been taken.
Ewing, much interested. wrote to the
postmaster OF Wilkesbarre. asking il
there were any people Of the name OF
Sloeum still living in that vicinity. II
took two years for his letter 20 fan
into the hands of Frances surviving
relatives. but nj last il reached item.
In due time her brothers and sisters
,ame to her cabin. An affecting inter.
view took place between her and .hein.
aud they were instantly satisfied thai
she was indeed their long-lGst sister.
They implored her to go home with
shem. but she refused.
81 am old" she said. "and have lived
nj my life with these people, They are
my people. love my husband and am
lappy with him"
She even refused to go with them as
'ar as the ncighboring town of Peru,
apparently suspecting trap. They
gcGt awny surrowful. Not long after
Sard her husband died. Her relatives
,ame again. once more imploring her
q 60 home with them to Pennsylvania.
3ut now she declared that she could
rot leave her bones elsewhere than by
he side OF her husbands. She lived
here until 1871, when she died.
Her story is often told in Indiana,
and the monument to her memory will
Ne not only reminder Of romantic
history, but the memorial Of people
who had won her love as well as her
oyalty.