Year: 1859

A correspondent OF the New 0rk EcentRg FOSt,


in a letter dated Nachez, on the 10th of August,


1925, gives The following account of a transaction


which occurred ten fifteen years ago in Indiana,


soon after the first settlement of that country by
7 the whites. The writer states that the story


related to him a short time since by one OF the


parties concerned. William and Mary, the persons


here alluded to, were young iarmer and his


wife, who were very pleasantly situated on fine


farm and with three beautiful children, were in


the enjoyment of blessings which rarely fall to


the lot of the settlers of new country.


"In this situation" says the account, "m matters


stood at the battle of Tippecanoe, when the whole


frontier, and indeed the whole State, was thrown


into commotion and alarm. Many depredations


and massacres were committed by the Indians,
and some deeds of dreadful note were done,


which never could be satisfactorily accounted
for. The brave and humane General Harrison,
who commanded at that time, had erected in
various parts OF the State what were termed lines
of block houses. in which were posted detached
parties of soldiers and militia, who acted


picket guards to the frontier inhabitants they
also served as line of communication from post
TO post, and as place of refuge for the weak and
defenceless against the approach of an enemy.
One of these lines of block houses extended
through the settlement in which William lived,
and most of the inhabitants had taken shelter


within their walls. He, however, from some cause
or other, had neglected to do So as we'll as one of
his nearest neighbors. One morning, William


had taken his rife and gone some miles on bust


ness, promising to return home as early in the


evening as possible. He had not been gone more


than an hour, when Mary, who was few rods


from the house with her children, was alarmed


by the sudden and horrid yell of the savages-


two of them at the came time appearing in the


skirts of wood, few hundred yards distant.
She instantly caught up the two children that


were nearest her, and fed 10 the house: having
placed them within the door, she was returning


for the other, when she with agony that one


H. T,1.a had xa1 h.nr haVl
child while the other was making toward the
house with heightened strides, terrific yells and
uplifted tomahawk What was to be done? There
was no alternative, and she retreated precpitate-
ly within, and scarce moment left to secure the
door on the inside with wooden bar, when the
Indian at it, cndeavoring to force it open;
but finding it much better secured than he had
anticipated, he began to utter the most horrd
execrations, aud called his companion to his as
sistance. They both seemed to speak the English
! language perfectly, which not little surprised
Mary. They made various efforts TO force open
the door all the while uttering the most dreadful
threats, that if she did not open it and let them
in, they would murder her child, and then burn
down the house over her head. Alas, poor Mary
she knew but to well that death was her portion,
and persisted in keeping the door barred. They
at length became desperate, finding themselves
much foiled, and actually dashed the child's
brains out against tree that stood before the
house, while the mother was looking through a
small opening between the logs of the building
A darkness came over her eyes, her heart ceased


to beat for moment, and she sank upon her


knees, for she could support herself no longer,


and had almost tainted. She, however. soon raj


lied her faculties, offered up fervent ejaculation


to that Omnipotent Being who is all powerful to


save, and arose Her first thought was to conceal
her children, open the door, and give herself up
as a sacrifice to their vengeance, in hopes that
her offspring might possibly be saved. This idea,
however vain it might appear, was prevented
from being put into execution, by one OF the In
dians exclaiming that he would come down the
chimney. The Indian who had murdered the
child had ascended the corner of the house by
means of the projecting ends of the logs, and
commenced descending the chimney. In this
extremity, Mary had given up all for lost; she
was STOPPING to embrace her children, as she be-
lieved for the last time, when she thought of her
straw bed. She Immediately flew to 1T with the
strength of an Amazon, tore open the ticking


and threw its contents upon the fire; full col


umn of blaze and smoke ascended the chimney,


while the murderous wretch was about midway


between the top and bottom, and could neither


ascend nor descend to eXtricate himself, before


he had drawn into his lungs that fiery draft, which
instantly sullocated him to death. He fell into
the fire, and rolled upon the hearth black and
lifeless corpse; it now seemed as IL the whole
energy of Mary's mind had burst upon her; she
caught up the tomahawk, which he still held in
bis death grasp and went deliberately and





thinking it was his comrade, entered entirely off
his guard, when the tomahawk Of his accOmplice
was buried in the back of his head, and he fell
dead on the floor. Mary instantly took her two
remaining children in her arms, and fled to the
nearest neig ghbor and gave the alarm. The wo-
man of the house seemed much agitated, and said
her husband had gone out about halt an hour
:; before. She then proceeded on to another set
tiers, about a mile farther and told what she
had done. Three or four men who happened to


De there at the time caught up their rifles, and
{ proceeded Immediately to Williams residence,


when on examination it was found-but it was


too horrible to relate, they found that these
than savage monsters were not Indians, but white
c men and that one of them was Williams nearest
r neighbor, the owner of the house to which Mary
had first fed for protection. 1t would seem, that
. knowing William was possessed of Il few hundred
4 dollars, he, in company with another wretch, who
n had been but few weeks in the settlement,
!, formed the horrid design of numbering the whole
, family in the disguise of Indians, and possessing
i themselves of the money. But a merciful God
. prevented them from entirely accomplishing their
=, object"


. FAME.-Disguse it as we will, this aspiring
= after something higher, nobler, and better, is the
, natural and spontaneous action of every true
. heart 1t is the motor principle that governs
y our actions through life; it grows with our
u growth, aud strengthens with our strength, and


clngs around our hearts like the ivy to the oak
J., from the cradle to the grave. But what avails


it? When our frail mortality is wrapped in cold
u cerements of the grave, and take our last


resting place in the vast charne appointed for all
!. living, will the sleeping dust bear the ringing
peans of fame thrill with rapture at its notes
y of praise Win it throw a halo of glory around
I the dreamy shades of the valley of death, or light
. up the vast uniathomed gloom of eternity? oh
n could we bend our ears TO catch the whisperings


of the viewless, who once dwelt among u.s. the
> whole boundless universe would ring with the


cold response of MOP


BoYH0OD SCENEs.--A cetemporary exclams
y "What must have been the feelings of Napoleon
= when after battle with the Allies in 1914, he
: found himself under the very tree at Briennt
t where he had read Jerusalem Delivered, in hi
: youth lie would no doubt have exchanged al
d the splendors of his turbid existence to recall
those times again. How delighted was johnson