Leonard M. Slack1

b. 1 July 1876, d. 10 November 1945
Family
Birth*1 July 1876Leonard M. Slack was born on 1 July 1876 in Arkansas.1,2 
Marriage*12 December 1899He married Anna E. Fetters on 12 December 1899 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.1,3,2,4 
Census US 1920*31 January 1920Anna E. and Leonard M. Slack were enumerated on the 1920 census taken on 31 January 1920 on Slack Road, Northampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Leonard was 43 years of age and a farmer on his own general farm, and Anna was also 43 years of age. They owned their farm with a mortgage, and their five children were enumerated with them in 1920. Julia V. H. was 19 years old and was working as a teacher in a high school; Elizabeth S. was 17 years old and attending school; Rosanna T. was 11 years old and attending school; Jesse R. was 9 years old and attending school; and Samuel F. was 5 years old.1 
Census US 1930*30 April 1930Anna E. and Leonard M. Slack were enumerated on the 1930 census taken on 30 April 1930 on Street Road, Southampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Leonard was 53 years of age and employed as a laborer on a truck farm, and Anna was 54 years of age. They rented their house for $35 and did not own a radio set. Their Four single children were enumerated with them in 1930. Julia was 29 years of age and worked as a teacher in a public school; Rosanna T. was 21 years of age and also worked as a teacher in a public school; Jesse R. was 19 years old and had attended school within the census year; and Samuel F. was 15 years old and had also attended school within the census year.5 
Death*10 November 1945He died on 10 November 1945 at age 692 
Burial* and was buried in Union Cemetery, Richboro, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.2 

Family

 Anna E. Fetters b. 19 Mar 1876, d. 6 Jul 1972
Children 1.Julia V. H. Slack1,6 b. 18 Oct 1900, d. 6 Apr 1958
 2.Elizabeth S. Slack+1 b. 1902, d. 1995
 3.Rosanna T. Slack7,2 b. 1908, d. 2004
 4.Jesse R. Slack8,2 b. 12 Oct 1911, d. 1 Nov 1982
 5.Samuel F. Slack+9,2,1 b. 12 Aug 1914, d. 31 Aug 2002

Citations

  1. [S73] 1920 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Leonard M. and Anna E. Slack, Northampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1543; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 43. Hereinafter cited as 1920 United States Federal Census.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Leonard M Slack, Memorial# 66499181. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S1816] Pennsylvania, Marriages, 1852-1968, online at www.ancestry.com, marriage of Leonard M Slack and Anna C Fetters on 12 December 1899 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, referencing Film# 001276648. Hereinafter cited as Pennsylvania, Marriages, 1852-1968.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Anna E (Fetters) Slack, Memorial# 66499180.
  5. [S91] 1930 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Leonard M. and Anna E. Slack, Upper Southampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0082; FHL microfilm: 2341742. Hereinafter cited as 1930 United States Federal Census.
  6. [S1814] Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1973, online at www.ancestry.com, death of Julia S Benson of Chalfont, Bucks County, certificate# 34336, age 57, housewife, married to Paul H. Benson, born on 18 October 1900 in Ivyland, Pennsylvania, died on 6 April 1958 in Doylestown Hospital, Doylestown, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA, parents Leonard Slack and Anna Fetters, informant Paul H. Benson, same address, burial on 9 April 1958 in Neshaminy of Warwick. Hereinafter cited as Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1972.
  7. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Rosanna T Slack, Memorial# 66499179.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jesse Rubinkam Slack, Memorial# 101168211.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Samuel F Slack, Memorial# 66499177.

Rosanna T. Slack1

b. 1908, d. 2004
Family
Father*Leonard M. Slack1,2 b. 1 Jul 1876, d. 10 Nov 1945
Mother*Anna E. Fetters1,3 b. 19 Mar 1876, d. 6 Jul 1972
Birth*1908Rosanna T. Slack was born in 1908 in Pennsylvania.1,4 
(Daughter) Census US 192031 January 1920Rosanna T. was enumerated on the 1920 census taken on 31 January 1920 in the household of her parents on Slack Road, Northampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She was 11 years old and attending school.4 
(Daughter) Census US 193030 April 1930Rosanna T. was enumerated on the 1930 census taken on 30 April 1930 in the household of her parents on Street Road, Southampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She was 21 years of age and a teacher in a public school.5 
Death*2004She died in 2004 at about age 961 
Burial* and was buried in Union Cemetery, Richboro, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.1 

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Rosanna T Slack, Memorial# 66499179. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Leonard M Slack, Memorial# 66499181.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Anna E (Fetters) Slack, Memorial# 66499180.
  4. [S73] 1920 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Leonard M. and Anna E. Slack, Northampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1543; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 43. Hereinafter cited as 1920 United States Federal Census.
  5. [S91] 1930 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Leonard M. and Anna E. Slack, Upper Southampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0082; FHL microfilm: 2341742. Hereinafter cited as 1930 United States Federal Census.

Samuel F. Slack1

b. 12 August 1914, d. 31 August 2002
Family
ChartsDescendants of Robert Heaton of Yorkshire, The Immigrant
Father*Leonard M. Slack1,2,3 b. 1 Jul 1876, d. 10 Nov 1945
Mother*Anna E. Fetters1,4,3 b. 19 Mar 1876, d. 6 Jul 1972
Birth*12 August 1914Samuel F. Slack was born on 12 August 1914 in Ivyland, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.1,5 
Name VariationHis full name was Samuel Fetters Slack.5 
(Son) Census US 192031 January 1920Samuel F. was enumerated on the 1920 census taken on 31 January 1920 in the household of his parents on Slack Road, Northampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was 5 years old.3 
(Son) Census US 193030 April 1930Samuel was enumerated on the 1930 census taken on 30 April 1930 in the household of his parents on Street Road, Southampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was 14 years old and had attended school within the census year.6 
World War II*between 7 December 1941 and 9 September 1945Samuel served in the second World War, entering Active Service on 7 July 1941 at Fort Meade, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and serving between 7 December 1941 and 9 September 1945, spending a few months in Domestic Service and from 6 September 1945 through 9 September 1945 in Foreign Service.7 
Marriage*before 8 March 1950He married Sarah V. Yerkes, daughter of Daniel Clifford Yerkes and Flora May Kenderdine, before 8 March 1950, the date he listed Sarah (Yerkes) Slack as his beneficiary on his World War II Veteran Compensation Application.7,8,1 
Relationship Note*Samuel's sister, Elizabeth, had married William H. Yerkes Jr., an uncle of Samuel's wife, Sarah.3,9,10 
(Husband) Death29 March 1998Samuel became a widower when Sarah V. (Yerkes) Slack died on 29 March 1998 at age 78.11,8 
Death*31 August 2002He died on 31 August 2002 in Jenkintown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, at age 881,12 
Burial* and was buried in Union Cemetery, Richboro, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.1 

Family

 Sarah V. Yerkes b. 27 Oct 1919, d. 29 Mar 1998
Child 1.Jule Ann Slack13,12 b. 28 Jun 1953

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Samuel F Slack, Memorial# 66499177. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Leonard M Slack, Memorial# 66499181.
  3. [S73] 1920 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Leonard M. and Anna E. Slack, Northampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1543; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 43. Hereinafter cited as 1920 United States Federal Census.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Anna E (Fetters) Slack, Memorial# 66499180.
  5. [S1967] U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, online at www.ancestry.com, registration of Samuel Fetters Slack of Hatboro, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, USA, age 26, born on 12 August 1914 at Ivyland Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA, registered on 16 October 1940 in Hatboro, Montgomery, Ohio, USA, describing him as 5 10 in height, weighing 175, Ruddy complexion, Gray eyes and Brown hair, other members of his household included Leonard Mann Slack, referencing U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, WWII Draft Registration Cards for Pennsylvania, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947, Records of the Selective Service System, 147, Box 2325. Hereinafter cited as U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.
  6. [S91] 1930 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Leonard M. and Anna E. Slack, Upper Southampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0082; FHL microfilm: 2341742. Hereinafter cited as 1930 United States Federal Census.
  7. [S2111] Pennsylvania, U.S., Veteran Compensation Application Files, WWII, 1950-1966, online at www.ancestry.com, application of Samuel Fetters Slack of 31 North York Road, Hatboro, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA, dated 8 March 1950 and received on 12 May 1950; born on 12 August 1914 in Ivyland, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA; entered active service on 14 July 1941 at Fort Meade, Maryland; separated from active service on 9 September 1945 at the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation Separation Center, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania; dates of Domestic Service: 7 December 1941-21 April 1942; 6 September 1945-9 September 1945; dates of Foreign Service: 22 April 1942-5 September 1945; beneficiary: Sarah (Yerkes) Slack of same address; no children; mother Anna (Fetters) Slack living at 31 North Chester Avenue, Hatboro; father deceased. Hereinafter cited as Pennsylvania, U.S., Veteran Compensation Application Files, WWII, 1950-1966.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Sarah V (Yerkes) Slack, Memorial# 66499178.
  9. [S73] 1920 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of D. Clifford and Flora M. Yerkes, Southampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1543; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 55.
  10. [S34] 1900 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of William H. and Carrie H. Yerkes, Southampton, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1241386. Hereinafter cited as 1900 United States Federal Census.
  11. [S1456] Social Security (U.S.) Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, online at www.ancestry.com, Social Security information for Sarah Virginia Yerkes, born on 27 October 1919 at Davisville, Pennsylvania, child of Clifford D Yerkes and Flora M Kenderdine, died on 29 March 1998, agency notes: Dec 1940: Name listed as SARAH VIRGINIA YERKES; 01 Feb 1995: Name listed as SARAH YERKES SLACK; Name listed as SARAH VIRGINIA SLACK; 07 Apr 1998: Name listed as SARAH Y SLACK. Hereinafter cited as Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.
  12. [S2096] U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current, online at www.ancestry.com, obituary for Samuel Fetters Slack, age 88, husband of the late Sarah (nee Yerkes), father of Jule A. Slack, resided in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, died 31 August 2002, citing The Philadelphia Inquirer, published on 4 September 2002, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Hereinafter cited as U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current.
  13. [S2110] United States Public Records, 1970-2009, online from the Family History Library, www.familysearch.org, index for Jule A. Slack, also Slack, Jule; birth date: 28 June 1953; event type: residence; event date: from 1 April 2004 to 1 June 2005; event place: Jenkintown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States; phone: (215) 887-5072; original event place: Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, United States; previous residence: Jenkintown, Pennsylvania 19046; 2nd previous residence place: Jenkintown, Pennsylvania 19046. Hereinafter cited as United States Public Records, 1970-2009.

John Samuel Slater1

(Executor) Probate18 September 1888The will of Abraham Harding Wright of Evesham, hop and seed merchant, who died at Evesham on 29 June 1888 was probated at the Principal Registry in Worcester, Worcestershire, on 18 September 1888 by Sarah E. Wright, widow, the relict, and John Samuel Slater, surgeon, the Executors. The value of Abraham's effects was estimated at £585 0s 3d.1 

Citations

  1. [S1528] England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995, online at www.ancestry.com, probate dated 18 September 1888 at the Probate Registry in Worcester, England of Abraham Harding Wright, died 29 June 1888 in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Hereinafter cited as England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations).

Alexander Slator1,2

b. 1707, d. 1772
Family
Name-SpellingsSeveral spelling variations of the SLATOR surname have been found in our research, including SLEATER and SLATER.2,1 
Birth*1707Alexander Slator was born in 1707.3 
Marriage*He married Mary Bevan of Cootehill, County Cavan in Ireland.3 
Residence*Mary and Alexander Slator lived at Whitehill, County Longford.3,4
(Grantee) Deed Memorial1 August 1770 On 1 August 1770 Walter Hinds of Corrakane, County Cavan, Ireland, and his son Thomas Hinds made a Memorial Deed, Conveyance and Will agreement with Alexander Slator of Whitehill, County Longford on behalf of his daughter, Anne Sleater. After reciting that a marriage was intended to occur between Thomas Hinds and Anne Sleater and affirming Walter Hinds' love and regard for his son Thomas, Walter officially made a "child's part and portion" transfer by deed, to Thomas, of the Lands of Gortnatrieve and Behy "with all their appurtenances (rights and privileges) in as full and ample a manner" as Walter Hinds "enjoyed and possessed". Next, Alexander Sleater, in consideration of the intended marriage, agreed to pay to Thomas Hinds £800 Sterling as a "marriage portion" and finally, Thomas Hinds agreed that in consideration of the marriage portion, as soon as the marriage had been solemnized, would settle on his new wife, Anne, by proper deed, a jointure of £60 yearly in case there should be no issue from the marriage or in case of issue, £50 yearly. Thomas also agreed that after his death, Anne's jointure would continue and that the Rights and Title of the Lands would descend to the male issue of the marriage and that after Anne's death, her jointure should also return to the male issue of the marriage. In his agreement, Thomas reserved the right "at any time he should think proper" to raise on the Lands the sum of £1000 as portions for younger children. It was further agreed that should there be no male issue of the marriage, then it should be lawful for Thomas Hinds to raise the sum of £2000 from the Lands for the female issue of the marriage and that then, and in that case, the Lands should revert and return to Thomas' father, Walter Hinds, and his heirs. It was further agreed that should Thomas survive Anne and decide to marry a second wife, that then it should be lawful for Thomas to raise on the Lands £40 as a Dower to be settled on the woman at the second marriage. Witnesses to the Articles of Agreement were the Reverend George Carson of Cragham and John Hinds of Corrakane, County of Cavan, and the Memorial was executed, signed and sealed by Thomas Hinds in the presence of John Hinds and Thomas Faris of the City of Dublin, Gentleman. John Hinds made an oath stating that he was a subscribing witness to the Articles of Agreement and to this Memorial, saying that he saw the Articles duly executed by the parties of Walter Hinds, Thomas Hinds and Alexander Sleater and that he also saw the Memorial executed by Thomas Hinds. The final document was received and filed by the Registry of Deeds at 12 o'clock noon on the 12th of Nov 1777, soon after the death of Walter Hinds of Corrakane.2,1 
Death*1772He died in 1772, probably at Whitehill, County Longford, Ireland.3 

Family

 Mary Bevan
Children 1.Anne Slator+2 d. 6 Jan 1816
 2.Mary Slator+5

Citations

  1. [S1402] Interviews and emails exchanged between Michael Walsh (Michael Walsh, The Great House, Llanddewi Rydderch, Monmouthshire, Wales NP79UY), and LHB, on various dates. LHB Computer Files (Summerlin, Nevada), email dated 10 February 2014, noting the final spelling, c1800, of the family surname was "Slator."
  2. [S588] Ireland Registry of Deeds, Transcripts of memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929; on 2687 FHL microfilms. Most are now digitized and available online at www.familysearch.org, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah: 1777; Film number 531693; Volume 321; Page 110; Deed number 213786, the Slator surname spelled "Sleater". Hereinafter cited as Deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929.
  3. [S1402] Interviews and emails, Michael Walsh, on various dates, email dated 10 February 2014.
  4. [S1458] The lands of Whitehill in County Longford Ireland, 1832, a photograph of an original survey map, with a huge thank you for sharing to Michael Walsh (The Great House, Llanddewi Rydderch, Monmouthshire, Wales).
  5. [S1402] Interviews and emails, Michael Walsh, on various dates, email dated 29 June 2015, Graydon and Slator.

Anne Slator1,2

d. 6 January 1816
Family
ChartsDescendants of John Hinds, including our Walters and Ralphs
Father*Alexander Slator2 b. 1707, d. 1772
Mother*Mary Bevan3
Name-SpellingsSeveral spelling variations of the SLATOR surname have been found in our research, including SLEATER and SLATER.2,1 
Birth*Anne Slator was born, probably at Whitehill, County Longford, Ireland.3 
(Wife-to-be) Deed Memorial1 August 1770 On 1 August 1770 Walter Hinds of Corrakane, County Cavan, Ireland, and his son Thomas Hinds made a Memorial Deed, Conveyance and Will agreement with Alexander Slator of Whitehill, County Longford on behalf of his daughter, Anne Sleater. After reciting that a marriage was intended to occur between Thomas Hinds and Anne Sleater and affirming Walter Hinds' love and regard for his son Thomas, Walter officially made a "child's part and portion" transfer by deed, to Thomas, of the Lands of Gortnatrieve and Behy "with all their appurtenances (rights and privileges) in as full and ample a manner" as Walter Hinds "enjoyed and possessed". Next, Alexander Sleater, in consideration of the intended marriage, agreed to pay to Thomas Hinds £800 Sterling as a "marriage portion" and finally, Thomas Hinds agreed that in consideration of the marriage portion, as soon as the marriage had been solemnized, would settle on his new wife, Anne, by proper deed, a jointure of £60 yearly in case there should be no issue from the marriage or in case of issue, £50 yearly. Thomas also agreed that after his death, Anne's jointure would continue and that the Rights and Title of the Lands would descend to the male issue of the marriage and that after Anne's death, her jointure should also return to the male issue of the marriage. In his agreement, Thomas reserved the right "at any time he should think proper" to raise on the Lands the sum of £1000 as portions for younger children. It was further agreed that should there be no male issue of the marriage, then it should be lawful for Thomas Hinds to raise the sum of £2000 from the Lands for the female issue of the marriage and that then, and in that case, the Lands should revert and return to Thomas' father, Walter Hinds, and his heirs. It was further agreed that should Thomas survive Anne and decide to marry a second wife, that then it should be lawful for Thomas to raise on the Lands £40 as a Dower to be settled on the woman at the second marriage. Witnesses to the Articles of Agreement were the Reverend George Carson of Cragham and John Hinds of Corrakane, County of Cavan, and the Memorial was executed, signed and sealed by Thomas Hinds in the presence of John Hinds and Thomas Faris of the City of Dublin, Gentleman. John Hinds made an oath stating that he was a subscribing witness to the Articles of Agreement and to this Memorial, saying that he saw the Articles duly executed by the parties of Walter Hinds, Thomas Hinds and Alexander Sleater and that he also saw the Memorial executed by Thomas Hinds. The final document was received and filed by the Registry of Deeds at 12 o'clock noon on the 12th of Nov 1777, soon after the death of Walter Hinds of Corrakane.2,1 
Marriage*1771She married Thomas Hinds of Bruce Hall, son of Walter Hinds and Martha Faris, in Ireland.4 
WillBefore his death, Anne's husband made his last will and testament which left the lands of Gortnatrieve and Behy to his eldest son, Walter Hinds of Bruce Hall, and the sum of £1000 to each of his six younger children, Alexander Hinds, Thomas Hinds, Isaac Hinds, Martha Hinds, Elizabeth Hinds and Mary Hinds. The will appointed his wife, Anne (Slator) Hinds, son-in-law George Warner and his second son, Alexander Hinds, Executors.4 
(Wife) DeathMay 1794Anne became a widow when Thomas Hinds died in May 1794.5 
Probate*1805When her son Alexander died a young man, his will named his mother as his sole executrix. His will was probated in 1805.6,4 
Death*6 January 1816She died on 6 January 1816 at age 74. She was described as the relict of the late Thomas Hinds Esq. of Bruce Hall, County Cavan.4,7 
Will*Anne left a will naming her son Isaac Hinds her sole executor.4 

Family

 Thomas Hinds d. May 1794
Children 1.Walter Hinds+4
 2.Alexander Hinds4
 3.Martha Hinds4
 4.Thomas Hinds4
 5.Isaac Hinds4 d. 18 Jul 1849
 6.Elizabeth Hinds4
 7.Mary Hinds4 d. b 29 Jun 1821

Citations

  1. [S1402] Interviews and emails exchanged between Michael Walsh (Michael Walsh, The Great House, Llanddewi Rydderch, Monmouthshire, Wales NP79UY), and LHB, on various dates. LHB Computer Files (Summerlin, Nevada), email dated 10 February 2014, noting the final spelling, c1800, of the family surname was "Slator."
  2. [S588] Ireland Registry of Deeds, Transcripts of memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929; on 2687 FHL microfilms. Most are now digitized and available online at www.familysearch.org, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah: 1777; Film number 531693; Volume 321; Page 110; Deed number 213786, the Slator surname spelled "Sleater". Hereinafter cited as Deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929.
  3. [S1402] Interviews and emails, Michael Walsh, on various dates, email dated 10 February 2014.
  4. [S588] Ireland Registry of Deeds, Deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929; on 2687 FHL microfilms: 1821; Film number 467074; Volume 765; Page 539; Deed number 519474.
  5. [S346] Issued to subscribers by Phillimore & Co., London, England, Irish Marriages, being an index to the marriages in Walker's Hibernian magazine 1771-1812: with an appendix of Deaths, volumes I and II, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Anthologia Hibernica, Volume II, pages 39 and 519, #397. Hereinafter cited as Irish Deaths Appendix to Marriage Index - Hibernian 1771-1812.
  6. [S1544] Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland 1536-1810, online at www.ancestry.com. Hereinafter cited as Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland 1536-1810.
  7. [S1628] Tipperary Clans Archive, online at Find My Past, www.findmypast.com, referencing the Freeman's Journal dated 8 January 1816. Hereinafter cited as Tipperary Clans Archive.

Mary Slator1

Family
Father*Alexander Slator2 b. 1707, d. 1772
Mother*Mary Bevan2
Birth*Mary Slator was born probably at Whitehill, County Longford, Ireland.1 
Marriage*1784She married Dr. Thomas Wilson of Bruce Hall, County Cavan, in 1784.1 

Family

 Dr. Thomas Wilson
Children 1.Henry Bevan Wilson1 b. 28 Mar 1785
 2.Elizabeth Jane Wilson+3

Citations

  1. [S1402] Interviews and emails exchanged between Michael Walsh (Michael Walsh, The Great House, Llanddewi Rydderch, Monmouthshire, Wales NP79UY), and LHB, on various dates. LHB Computer Files (Summerlin, Nevada), email dated 10 February 2014.
  2. [S1402] Interviews and emails, Michael Walsh, on various dates, email dated 29 June 2015, Graydon and Slator.
  3. [S1629] Reverend Henry Bidall Swanzy M.A., The Families of French of Belturbet and Nixon of Fermanagh and their Descendants, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Dublin, Ireland: printed for private circulation, 1908), Robert Erskine, pages 194-196. Hereinafter cited as The Families of French of Belturbet and Nixon of Fermanagh and their Descendants.

Jacob Slessman1

b. 5 February 1828, d. 7 April 1914
Family
Father*_____ Slessman2
Mother*Anna __?__2 b. 5 Feb 1800, d. 18 Mar 1873
Birth*5 February 1828Jacob Slessman was born on 5 February 1828 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.3 
(Son) Immigration20 September 1840Jacob Slessman immigrated from Baden-Württemberg, Germany to the United States with his widowed mother and his three brothers, arriving at the Port of New York, on the ship Beaver, on 20 September 1840. Jacob was 12 years old, and the family's destination was recorded as Ohio. Jacob's mother, Anna, was 40 years of age and her occupation was recorded as Seamstress. His brothers, John Michael, Martin and Mathias, were ages 19, 10 and 6 years, respectively. The first name after the Slessman family, on the ship's passenger list, was Peter Mechler who was also emigrating from Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was 20 years old and a Taylor, and his destination was recorded as New York. We wonder about Peter, and what his relationship (if any) was to the Joseph Mechler who was Jacob's mother's second husband.2,4,5,6,3 
(Family Member) Name Spellingsbefore 1850At some point before 1850, another spelling of the Slessman family's surname had become Slusman.7 
(Son) Census US 185016 August 1850Jacob Slusman was enumerated on the 1850 census taken on 16 August 1850 in the household of his mother, Ann (__?__) Slusman Mechler, in Whitley County, Indiana. Jacob was 21 years of age, a laborer, and owned real estate valued at $40.7 
Marriage*27 October 1855He married Lydia Minear on 27 October 1855 in Indiana.8 
(Father-Probable) Relationship Note3 August 1906Kilsoquah and her son, Anthony Revarre, were visited at their home on 3 August 1906 by four historians, which included S. P. Kaler, who asked Kilsoquah many questions about her life and extended family. They recorded her story and it was published in Kaler's History of Whitley County, Indiana. Among her stories was what we think is the answer to one of our questions: Who was George W. Slusman, and where did he come from? Kilsoquah told of being lonely after the deaths of her husband, Antoine Revarre, and then her cousin, Coesse, saying she took her two children and went up to Coesse's family near Columbia City and stayed there a year before returning to her home near Roanoke. She said Jacob Slusman, whose surname was spelled "Slessman" by her listeners, came from Columbia City and moved her up; and that he also moved her back the next summer. She said that Mrs. Louisa Coesse and her family lived on the farm up at Columbia City for about ten years after her husband Coesse's death, and then sold out and moved to Peru. She added that they are now all dead except an illegitimate son and half breed, George, who was born after Coesse's death.1 
Death*7 April 1914He died on 7 April 1914 in Whitley County, Indiana, at age 863 
Burial* and was buried in Greenhill Cemetery, Columbia City, Whitley County.3 

Family 1

 Tah-con-ze-quah b. 1821
Child 1.George W. Slusman1 b. 15 Sep 1855, d. 22 Apr 1931

Family 2

 Lydia Minear

Citations

  1. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907), Kilsoquah, pages 79-83. Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  2. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, citing Original data: Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports, 1789-1919. Microfilm Publication M237, rolls 1-95. National Archives at Washington, D.C., arrival of Anna W. Schlessman of Deutschland, age 40, with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030477, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44. Hereinafter cited as New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Jacob Slessman, Memorial# 176690337. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  4. [S1791] New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online at www.ancestry.com, Anna W. Schlessman, her surname transcribed as "Schlottman" by Ancestry, age 40, a Seamstress, born about 1800, departed on the ship Beaver from Amsterdam, Netherlands with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, and arrived in New York, New York, USA on 26 September 1840; citing The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36. Hereinafter cited as New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
  5. [S1791] New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online at www.ancestry.com, Peter Mechler, his surname transcribed as "Meckler" by Ancestry, age 20, a Taylor, born about 1820, departed on the ship Beaver from Amsterdam, Netherlands and arrived in New York, New York, USA on 26 September 1840, citing The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36.
  6. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, arrival of Peter Mechler of Deutschland, age 20, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030478, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44.
  7. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Ann Mechler, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Whitley, Indiana; Roll: 181; Page: 456b. Hereinafter cited as 1850 United States Federal Census.
  8. [S1566] Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001, online at www.ancestry.com, marriage of Jacob Slusman and Lydia Minear on 27 October 1855 in Indiana, United States, citing page 231 and referencing FHL Film# 001710720. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001.

John Michael Slessman1

b. 1821
Family
Father*_____ Slessman1
Mother*Anna __?__1 b. 5 Feb 1800, d. 18 Mar 1873
Birth*1821John Michael Slessman was born about 1821 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.1 
Name VariationHe also called himself Michael.2 
(Son) Immigration20 September 1840John Michael Slessman immigrated from Baden-Württemberg, Germany to the United States with his widowed mother and his three brothers, arriving at the Port of New York, on the ship Beaver, on 20 September 1840. John Michael was 19 years old, and the family's destination was recorded as Ohio. John Michael's mother, Anna, was 40 years of age and her occupation was recorded as Seamstress. His brothers, Jacob, Martin and Mathias, were ages 12, 10 and 6 years, respectively. The first name after the Slessman family, on the ship's passenger list, was Peter Mechler who was also emigrating from Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was 20 years old and a Taylor, and his destination was recorded as New York. We wonder about Peter, and what his relationship (if any) was to the Joseph Mechler who was John Michael's mother's second husband.1,3,4,5,6 
(Family Member) Name Spellingsbefore 1850At some point before 1850, another spelling of the Slessman family's surname had become Slusman.2 
(Son) Census US 185016 August 1850Michael Slusman was enumerated on the 1850 census taken on 16 August 1850 in the household of his mother, Ann (__?__) Slusman Mechler, in Whitley County, Indiana. Michael was 28 years of age, a wagon-maker, and owned real estate valued at $500.2 

Citations

  1. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, citing Original data: Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports, 1789-1919. Microfilm Publication M237, rolls 1-95. National Archives at Washington, D.C., arrival of Anna W. Schlessman of Deutschland, age 40, with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030477, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44. Hereinafter cited as New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850.
  2. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Ann Mechler, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Whitley, Indiana; Roll: 181; Page: 456b. Hereinafter cited as 1850 United States Federal Census.
  3. [S1791] New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online at www.ancestry.com, Anna W. Schlessman, her surname transcribed as "Schlottman" by Ancestry, age 40, a Seamstress, born about 1800, departed on the ship Beaver from Amsterdam, Netherlands with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, and arrived in New York, New York, USA on 26 September 1840; citing The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36. Hereinafter cited as New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
  4. [S1791] New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online at www.ancestry.com, Peter Mechler, his surname transcribed as "Meckler" by Ancestry, age 20, a Taylor, born about 1820, departed on the ship Beaver from Amsterdam, Netherlands and arrived in New York, New York, USA on 26 September 1840, citing The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36.
  5. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, arrival of Peter Mechler of Deutschland, age 20, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030478, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Jacob Slessman, Memorial# 176690337. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.

Martin Slessman1

b. 1830
Family
Father*_____ Slessman1
Mother*Anna __?__1 b. 5 Feb 1800, d. 18 Mar 1873
Birth*1830Martin Slessman was born about 1830 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.1 
(Son) Immigration20 September 1840Martin Slessman immigrated from Baden-Württemberg, Germany to the United States with his widowed mother and his three brothers, arriving at the Port of New York, on the ship Beaver, on 20 September 1840. Martin was 10 years old, and the family's destination was recorded as Ohio. Martin's mother, Anna, was 40 years of age and her occupation was recorded as Seamstress. His brothers, John Michael, Jacob and Mathias, were ages 19, 12 and 6 years, respectively. The first name after the Slessman family, on the ship's passenger list, was Peter Mechler who was also emigrating from Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was 20 years old and a Taylor, and his destination was recorded as New York. We wonder about Peter, and what his relationship (if any) was to the Joseph Mechler who was Martin's mother's second husband.1,2,3,4,5 

Citations

  1. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, citing Original data: Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports, 1789-1919. Microfilm Publication M237, rolls 1-95. National Archives at Washington, D.C., arrival of Anna W. Schlessman of Deutschland, age 40, with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030477, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44. Hereinafter cited as New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850.
  2. [S1791] New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online at www.ancestry.com, Anna W. Schlessman, her surname transcribed as "Schlottman" by Ancestry, age 40, a Seamstress, born about 1800, departed on the ship Beaver from Amsterdam, Netherlands with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, and arrived in New York, New York, USA on 26 September 1840; citing The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36. Hereinafter cited as New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
  3. [S1791] New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online at www.ancestry.com, Peter Mechler, his surname transcribed as "Meckler" by Ancestry, age 20, a Taylor, born about 1820, departed on the ship Beaver from Amsterdam, Netherlands and arrived in New York, New York, USA on 26 September 1840, citing The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36.
  4. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, arrival of Peter Mechler of Deutschland, age 20, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030478, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Jacob Slessman, Memorial# 176690337. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.

Mathias Slessman1

b. 1834
Family
Father*_____ Slessman1
Mother*Anna __?__1 b. 5 Feb 1800, d. 18 Mar 1873
Birth*1834Mathias Slessman was born about 1834 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.1 
(Son) Immigration20 September 1840Mathias Slessman immigrated from Baden-Württemberg, Germany to the United States with his widowed mother and his three brothers, arriving at the Port of New York, on the ship Beaver, on 20 September 1840. Mathias was 6 years old, and the family's destination was recorded as Ohio. Mathias's mother, Anna, was 40 years of age and her occupation was recorded as Seamstress. His brothers, John Michael, Jacob and Martin, were ages 19, 12 and 10 years, respectively. The first name after the Slessman family, on the ship's passenger list, was Peter Mechler who was also emigrating from Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was 20 years old and a Taylor, and his destination was recorded as New York. We wonder about Peter, and what his relationship (if any) was to the Joseph Mechler who was Mathias's mother's second husband.1,2,3,4,5 
(Family Member) Name Spellingsbefore 1850At some point before 1850, another spelling of the Slessman family's surname had become Slusman.6 
(Son) Census US 185016 August 1850Mathias Slusman was enumerated on the 1850 census taken on 16 August 1850 in the household of his mother, Ann (__?__) Slusman Mechler, in Whitley County, Indiana. Mathias was 16 years old, a laborer, and had attended school within the census year.6 

Citations

  1. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, citing Original data: Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports, 1789-1919. Microfilm Publication M237, rolls 1-95. National Archives at Washington, D.C., arrival of Anna W. Schlessman of Deutschland, age 40, with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030477, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44. Hereinafter cited as New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850.
  2. [S1791] New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online at www.ancestry.com, Anna W. Schlessman, her surname transcribed as "Schlottman" by Ancestry, age 40, a Seamstress, born about 1800, departed on the ship Beaver from Amsterdam, Netherlands with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, and arrived in New York, New York, USA on 26 September 1840; citing The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36. Hereinafter cited as New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
  3. [S1791] New York, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online at www.ancestry.com, Peter Mechler, his surname transcribed as "Meckler" by Ancestry, age 20, a Taylor, born about 1820, departed on the ship Beaver from Amsterdam, Netherlands and arrived in New York, New York, USA on 26 September 1840, citing The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36.
  4. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, arrival of Peter Mechler of Deutschland, age 20, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030478, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Jacob Slessman, Memorial# 176690337. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  6. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Ann Mechler, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Whitley, Indiana; Roll: 181; Page: 456b. Hereinafter cited as 1850 United States Federal Census.

_____ Slessman1

Family
Marriage*He married, as her first husband, Anna __?__ in Germany.1 

Family

 Anna __?__ b. 5 Feb 1800, d. 18 Mar 1873
Children 1.John Michael Slessman1 b. 1821
 2.Jacob Slessman+1 b. 5 Feb 1828, d. 7 Apr 1914
 3.Martin Slessman1 b. 1830
 4.Mathias Slessman1 b. 1834

Citations

  1. [S1843] New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850, online at www.ancestry.com, citing Original data: Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports, 1789-1919. Microfilm Publication M237, rolls 1-95. National Archives at Washington, D.C., arrival of Anna W. Schlessman of Deutschland, age 40, with her four sons, John Michael, age 19, Jacob, age 12, Martin, age 10, and Mathias, age 6, on 26 September 1840 into the Port of New York from Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the ship Beaver, referencing Family ID# 30030477, Microfilm Serial# M237, Microfilm Roll# 44. Hereinafter cited as New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850.

Elizabeth Sliffer1

b. 22 January 1870, d. 16 January 1943
Family
Birth*22 January 1870Elizabeth Sliffer was born on 22 January 1870 in Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio.1,2 
Marriage*6 July 1932She married, as his second wife, Frederick Doerfer in 6 July 1932.1,3,2,4 
Death*16 January 1943She died on 16 January 1943 at the Holmes County Home, Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio, at age 721,2,4 
Burial* and was buried in Plot 16-112 of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church Cemetery, Glenmont, Holmes County.1 

Family

 Frederick Doerfer b. Oct 1857, d. 3 Feb 1943

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Elizabeth (Sliffer) Doerfer, Memorial# 44543864. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S2096] U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current, online at www.ancestry.com, News-Journal, (Mansfield, Ohio), Tuesday, 19 January 1943, page 10, under the headline "Holmes County Home Resident Succumbs at 72", byline Millersburg, reporting the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Doerfer on Saturday; before coming to the Home, she and husband Frederick, whom she married in 1932, lived near Trail; Mrs. Doerfer was born at Bucyrus on 22 January 1870 and lived in Toledo for a number of year; survived by husband who was living at the County Home, a brother, Frank Sliffer, and a sister, Mrs. Emma Swigert, both of Toledo. Hereinafter cited as U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frederick Doerfer, Memorial# 118695288.
  4. [S2096] U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current, online at www.ancestry.com, The Tribune, (Coshocton, Ohio), Monday, 18 January 1943, page 5, under the headline "Former President of Trail Vicinity Dies", reporting the death of Mrs. Frederick Doerfer, 72, died Saturday at the Holmes County Home where she had lived for the past two and a half months; before entering the Home she lived at Trail; born 22 January 1870 at Bucyrus, Ohio, daughter of Frederick and Martha Bonebreak Sliffer; married 6 July 1932 to Frederick Doerfer, who was also living at the County Home; survived by her husband, a brother Frank Sliffer and a sister Mrs. Emma Swigert, both of Toledo; burial in the Catholic Cemetery at Glenmont.

Andrew Sloan1,2

Family
Marriage*He married Arabella __?__.3,4 

Family

 Arabella __?__ b. 1827, d. 18 Feb 1911
Child 1.Andrew George Sloan+1,2 b. 1858, d. 3 Feb 1929

Citations

  1. [S1640] Mairéad Crinion of Evergreen Oak Family Research Services at https://www.facebook.com/…, "Gerrard - Gibney Family Research," e-mail messages exchanged on multiple dates, citing the Church Records, www.irishgenealogy.ie, at https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/…. Hereinafter cited as "Gerrard - Gibney Family Research."
  2. [S1659] IrishGenealogy.ie, online at https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/, Church Records, marriage by licence on 10 August 1898 of Andrew George Sloan of Ballyworken, Portadown, County Armagh, full age, bachelor, solicitor, son of Andrew Sloan, gentleman, and Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Gerrard of 11 Arranmore Avenue, Dublin, full age, spinster, daughter of John Vipont Gerrard, gentleman, at the Parish Church of St. George, Dublin, witnesses J.H. Gerrard and Wilhelmina Carrothers, with the church register page attached. Hereinafter cited as IrishGenealogy.ie.
  3. [S1794] Ireland, Census, 1901, Ancestry Transcription Notes, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew George and Bessie H.B. Sloan as of 31 March 1901, 85 Ballyworken, Portadown Rural, Armagh, Ireland, citing Ancestry's "Web: Ireland, Census, 1901", Class: RG14. Hereinafter cited as Ireland, Census, 1901, Ancestry Transcription Notes.
  4. [S1522] 1901 Ireland Census, online at the National Archives of Ireland, www.census.nationalarchives.ie, household of Andrew George and Bessie H.B. Sloan, 85 Ballyworken, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. Hereinafter cited as 1901 Ireland Census.

Andrew George Sloan1,2

b. 1858, d. 3 February 1929
Family
ChartsDescendants of Thomas Gerrard of Gibbstown, County Meath, Ireland and his Brothers
Father*Andrew Sloan1,2
Mother*Arabella __?__3,4 b. 1827, d. 18 Feb 1911
Birth*1858Andrew George Sloan was born about 1858 in County Tyrone, Ireland.1,2,5,6 
Occupation*Andrew was a solicitor1,2 
Residence* and at the time of his marriage lived at Ballyworkan, Portadown, County Armagh.1,2 
Marriage*10 August 1898He married, by license, Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Gerrard of Dublin, daughter of John Vipont Gerrard and Elizabeth Hesilrige Buckby Walker, on 10 August 1898 in the Parish Church of St. George, Dublin.1,2 
Census Ireland 1901*31 March 1901Bessie H.B. and Andrew George Sloan were enumerated on the 1901 census taken as of the night of 31 March 1901 in 85 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. Andrew was 43 years of age and a solicitor, and Bessie was 38 years of age, with her birth place recorded as Canada. Their son, Gerrard, was one year old. Andrew's mother, Arabella Sloan, age 74 and widowed, was enumerated with her son's family in 1901. Two others resided in the Sloan household. Margaret Preston, age 25, was a domestic servant, and Agnes Soley, age 19, was a domestic servant and nurse. Everyone in the household could read and write except the baby Gerrard, and all were Presbyterian except Margaret Preston who was Church of Ireland.7,4 
Census Ireland 1911*2 April 1911Bessie Hesilrige Buckby and Andrew George Sloan were enumerated on the 1911 census taken as of the night of 2 April 1911 at 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. Andrew was 53 years of age and a solicitor and land agent, and Bessie was 48 years of age and her place of birth was recorded as Canada. They had been married for twelve years and Bessie had given birth to two children, both of them still living and enumerated with their parents in 1911. Gerrard Andrew was 11 years old and Wolsey Cornwall was 8 years old; both were scholars. The family's religion was Presbyterian. Three other individuals were enumerated in the Sloan household in 1911. Ellen Williamson, age 21, worked as a cook and domestic servant and was Church of Ireland, Elizabeth Robinson Stewart, age 56, and Christine Stewart, age 33, were also both Church of Ireland overnight visitors in the Sloan home when the census was taken. Everyone in the household could read and write.5,6 
Probate6 July 1911Probate of his mother's estate, who died on 18 February 1911, was granted on 6 July 1911 at Dublin to her son, Andrew G. Sloan, solicitor. The value of her effects was £88 8s 3d.8 
Death*3 February 1929He died on 3 February 1929 in his home at Ballyworkan House, Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, at about age 71.9,10 
Probate*18 March 1930His estate was granted for probate on 18 March 1930 at Belfast, Counties Antrim and Down, Northern Ireland, to his widow, Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan, John Sydney Bright, solicitor, and Robert John Thornton, merchant and Justice of the Peace. The value of his effects was £12,803 9s 6d.11,10 
Administration*11 September 1958After his wife's death in June 1930 it was discovered that a small portion of his estate was not probated at the time of the original grant on 18 March 1930, and on 11 September 1958 administration of the remainder of his estate was granted at Belfast to his son, Wolsey Cornwall Sloan. The unadministered effects were valued at £10.12,13 

Family

 Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Gerrard b. 1863, d. 11 Jun 1930
Children 1.Gerrard Andrew Sloan5,6 b. 1900
 2.Wolsey Cornwall Sloan5,6 b. 1903

Citations

  1. [S1640] Mairéad Crinion of Evergreen Oak Family Research Services at https://www.facebook.com/…, "Gerrard - Gibney Family Research," e-mail messages exchanged on multiple dates, citing the Church Records, www.irishgenealogy.ie, at https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/…. Hereinafter cited as "Gerrard - Gibney Family Research."
  2. [S1659] IrishGenealogy.ie, online at https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/, Church Records, marriage by licence on 10 August 1898 of Andrew George Sloan of Ballyworken, Portadown, County Armagh, full age, bachelor, solicitor, son of Andrew Sloan, gentleman, and Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Gerrard of 11 Arranmore Avenue, Dublin, full age, spinster, daughter of John Vipont Gerrard, gentleman, at the Parish Church of St. George, Dublin, witnesses J.H. Gerrard and Wilhelmina Carrothers, with the church register page attached. Hereinafter cited as IrishGenealogy.ie.
  3. [S1794] Ireland, Census, 1901, Ancestry Transcription Notes, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew George and Bessie H.B. Sloan, 85 Ballyworken, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. Hereinafter cited as Ireland, Census, 1901, Ancestry Transcription Notes.
  4. [S1522] 1901 Ireland Census, online at the National Archives of Ireland, www.census.nationalarchives.ie, household of Andrew George and Bessie H.B. Sloan, 85 Ballyworken, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. Hereinafter cited as 1901 Ireland Census.
  5. [S1536] 1911 Ireland Census, online at the National Archives of Ireland, www.census.nationalarchives.ie, household of Andrew George and Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan, 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh. Hereinafter cited as 1911 Ireland Census.
  6. [S1793] Web: Ireland, Census, 1911, Ancestry Transcription Notes, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew George Sloan and Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan as of 2 April 1911, 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, in the Electoral District of Portadown Rural, citing Ancestry's "Web: Ireland, Census, 1911", Class: RG14. Hereinafter cited as Web: Ireland, Census, 1911, Ancestry Transcription Notes.
  7. [S1794] Ireland, Census, 1901, Ancestry Transcription Notes, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew George and Bessie H.B. Sloan as of 31 March 1901, 85 Ballyworken, Portadown Rural, Armagh, Ireland, citing Ancestry's "Web: Ireland, Census, 1901", Class: RG14.
  8. [S1663] National Archives of Ireland, Calendar of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1922, online at http://www.willcalendars.nationalarchives.ie, probate of the will of Arabella Sloan, formerly of Portadown and late of Ballyworkan House, Portadown, both County Armagh, widow, who died 18 February 1911 at latter place, granted on 6 July 1911 at Dublin to Andrew G. Sloan, solicitor; effects £88 8s 3d. Hereinafter cited as National Archives of Ireland, Calendar of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1922.
  9. [S2019] PRONI - Search Will Calendars : website of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, online at https://apps.proni.gov.uk/WillsCalendar_IE/WillsSearch.aspx, probate of Sloan Andrew George of Ballyworkan House, Portadown, County Armagh, Esquire, who died 3 February 1929, was granted at Belfast on 18 March 1930 to Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan, the widow, John Sydney Bright, solicitor, and Robert John Thornton, merchant Justice of the Peace; effects £12803 9s 6d, citing D.B.N. P.R. 11.9.58. Hereinafter cited as PRONI - Search Will Calendars.
  10. [S2020] Northern Ireland, Will Calendar Index, 1858-1965, online at www.ancestry.com, probate of Andrew George Sloan, who died 3 February 1929 in Northern Ireland, granted on 18 March 1930 at Belfast, Northern Ireland. Hereinafter cited as Northern Ireland, Will Calendar Index, 1858-1965.
  11. [S2019] PRONI - Search Will Calendars, online at https://apps.proni.gov.uk/WillsCalendar_IE/WillsSearch.aspx, probate of Sloan Andrew George of Ballyworkan House, Portadown, County Armagh, Esquire, who died 3 February 1929, was granted at Belfast on 18 March 1930 to Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan, the widow, John Sydney Bright, solicitor, and Robert John Thornton, merchant Justice of the Peace; effects £12803 9s. 6d., citing D.B.N. P.R. 11.9.58.
  12. [S2020] Northern Ireland, Will Calendar Index, 1858-1965, online at www.ancestry.com, probate of Mr. Andrew George Sloan, who died 3 February 1929 in Northern Ireland, granted on 11 September 1958 at Belfast, Northern Ireland.
  13. [S2019] PRONI - Search Will Calendars, online at https://apps.proni.gov.uk/WillsCalendar_IE/WillsSearch.aspx, administration of the unadministered effects of Andrew George Sloan of Ballyworkan House, Portadown, County Armagh, Esquire, who died 3 February 1929, was granted at Belfast on 11 September 1958 to Wolsey Cornwall Sloan, medical practitioner; unadministered effects £10, former grant Belfast on 18 March 1930.

Gerrard Andrew Sloan1,2

b. 1900
Family
ChartsDescendants of Thomas Gerrard of Gibbstown, County Meath, Ireland and his Brothers
Father*Andrew George Sloan1,2 b. 1858, d. 3 Feb 1929
Mother*Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Gerrard1,2 b. 1863, d. 11 Jun 1930
Birth*1900Gerrard Andrew Sloan was born about 1900 in County Armagh, Ireland.1,2 
(Son) Census Ireland 190131 March 1901Gerrard was enumerated on the 1901 census taken as of the night of 31 March 1901 in the household of his parents at 85 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. He was one year old.3,4 
(Son) Census Ireland 19112 April 1911Gerrard was enumerated on the 1911 census taken as of the night of 2 April 1911 in the household of his parents at 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. He was 11 years old and a scholar.1,2 

Citations

  1. [S1536] 1911 Ireland Census, online at the National Archives of Ireland, www.census.nationalarchives.ie, household of Andrew George and Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan, 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh. Hereinafter cited as 1911 Ireland Census.
  2. [S1793] Web: Ireland, Census, 1911, Ancestry Transcription Notes, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew George Sloan and Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan as of 2 April 1911, 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, in the Electoral District of Portadown Rural, citing Ancestry's "Web: Ireland, Census, 1911", Class: RG14. Hereinafter cited as Web: Ireland, Census, 1911, Ancestry Transcription Notes.
  3. [S1794] Ireland, Census, 1901, Ancestry Transcription Notes, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew George and Bessie H.B. Sloan as of 31 March 1901, 85 Ballyworken, Portadown Rural, Armagh, Ireland, citing Ancestry's "Web: Ireland, Census, 1901", Class: RG14. Hereinafter cited as Ireland, Census, 1901, Ancestry Transcription Notes.
  4. [S1522] 1901 Ireland Census, online at the National Archives of Ireland, www.census.nationalarchives.ie, household of Andrew George and Bessie H.B. Sloan, 85 Ballyworken, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. Hereinafter cited as 1901 Ireland Census.

Wolsey Cornwall Sloan1,2

b. 1903
Family
ChartsDescendants of Thomas Gerrard of Gibbstown, County Meath, Ireland and his Brothers
Father*Andrew George Sloan1,2 b. 1858, d. 3 Feb 1929
Mother*Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Gerrard1,2 b. 1863, d. 11 Jun 1930
Birth*1903Wolsey Cornwall Sloan was born about 1903 in County Armagh, Ireland.1,2 
(Son) Census Ireland 19112 April 1911Wolsey was enumerated on the 1911 census taken as of the night of 2 April 1911 in the household of his parents at 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, Ireland. He was 8 years old and a scholar.1,2 
Probate*18 March 1932Probate of his mother's estate, who died on 11 June 1930, was granted on 18 March 1932 at Belfast to her son, Wolsey Cornwall Sloan, M.D. Her effects were valued at £2,612 18 2d.3,4 
Administration*11 September 1958After his mother's death in June 1930 it was discovered that a small portion of father's estate was not probated at the time of the original grant on 18 March 1930, and on 11 September 1958 administration of the remainder of his estate was granted at Belfast to his son, Wolsey Cornwall Sloan. The unadministered effects were valued at £10.5,6 

Citations

  1. [S1536] 1911 Ireland Census, online at the National Archives of Ireland, www.census.nationalarchives.ie, household of Andrew George and Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan, 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh. Hereinafter cited as 1911 Ireland Census.
  2. [S1793] Web: Ireland, Census, 1911, Ancestry Transcription Notes, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew George Sloan and Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan as of 2 April 1911, 39 Ballyworkan, Portadown Rural, County Armagh, in the Electoral District of Portadown Rural, citing Ancestry's "Web: Ireland, Census, 1911", Class: RG14. Hereinafter cited as Web: Ireland, Census, 1911, Ancestry Transcription Notes.
  3. [S2019] PRONI - Search Will Calendars : website of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, online at https://apps.proni.gov.uk/WillsCalendar_IE/WillsSearch.aspx, probate of Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan of Ballyworkan House Portadown County Armagh, widow, who died 11 June 1930, was granted at Belfast on 18 March 1932 to Wolsey Cornwall Sloan, M.D.; effects £2,612 18s 2d. Hereinafter cited as PRONI - Search Will Calendars.
  4. [S2020] Northern Ireland, Will Calendar Index, 1858-1965, online at www.ancestry.com, probate of Bessie Hesilrige Buckby Sloan, who died 11 June 1930 in Northern Ireland, granted on 18 March 1932 at Belfast, Northern Ireland. Hereinafter cited as Northern Ireland, Will Calendar Index, 1858-1965.
  5. [S2020] Northern Ireland, Will Calendar Index, 1858-1965, online at www.ancestry.com, probate of Mr. Andrew George Sloan, who died 3 February 1929 in Northern Ireland, granted on 11 September 1958 at Belfast, Northern Ireland.
  6. [S2019] PRONI - Search Will Calendars, online at https://apps.proni.gov.uk/WillsCalendar_IE/WillsSearch.aspx, administration of the unadministered effects of Andrew George Sloan of Ballyworkan House, Portadown, County Armagh, Esquire, who died 3 February 1929, was granted at Belfast on 11 September 1958 to Wolsey Cornwall Sloan, medical practitioner; unadministered effects £10, former grant Belfast on 18 March 1930.

Right Honorable Charles Sloane Lord Cadogan1

Deed Memorial*11 October 1787A memorial of an indented deed bearing date and executed on 11 October 1787 was made between the Right Honorable Charles Sloane Lord Cadogan of New Burlington Street in the county of Middlesex of the one part, and William Gerrard of Liscartan in the county of Meath and Kingdom of Ireland, of the other part.

By which indenture of lease the said Charles Sloane, Lord Cadogan, for the considerations therein mentioned, devised, leased, set, and to farm let unto the said William Gerrard, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, all that and those the castles, lands and farm called and known by the name of Liscartan in the county of Meath in the said Kingdom of Ireland, containing 465 acres plantation measure in the whole be the same more or less, together with all edifices, houses, outhouses, stables, barns, mills, mill courses, gardens, orchards, meadows, wears, fishings, waters, water courses, ways, commodities, advantages, profits, emoluments and appurtenances to the said castle, lands and farm, to any part or parcel belonging, or in anywise appertaining.

To hold to the said William Gerrard, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, from the first day of November next ensuing for and during the natural lives of him, the said William Gerrard, Thomas Gerrard, his son aged about 5 years, and the Honorable George Cadogan, son of the said Charles Sloane, Lord Cadogan, aged about 4 years, and during the lives and the life of the longest liver of them, and for and during the life or lives of all and every other the person or persons to be named by the said William Gerrard, his heirs or assigns, in the future leases to be granted by the said Charles Sloane, Lord Cadogan, his heirs and assigns, pursuant to his covenant therein contained in order that the same may be renewable forever, subject to the payment of the yearly rent and performance of the several covenants in the said indenture of lease, as well as the part of the lessors on the part of the lessee in the same indenture of lease, particularly.

Which said lease and the memorial were signed and sealed by Lord Cadogan and witnessed by James Bradfield of the county of Norfolk, gentleman, and Thomas Biggleston of London in the Kingdom of England. The memorial was registered in Dublin on 27 March 1788.1 

Citations

  1. [S588] Ireland Registry of Deeds, Transcripts of memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929; on 2687 FHL microfilms. Most are now digitized and available online at www.familysearch.org, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah: 1787; Film# 532581, Volume 387, pages 330-331, Deed Number 261613, image 509. Hereinafter cited as Deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929.

Benjamin Slocum1

b. 7 December 1770, d. 5 July 1832
Family
Father*Jonathan Slocum1,2 b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 Dec 1778
Mother*Ruth Tripp1,3 b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
Birth*7 December 1770Benjamin Slocum was born on 7 December 1770 in Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island.1 
(Son) Relocation1777He was 6 years old in the summer of 1777 when he moved with his parents, siblings and maternal grandfather from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The family settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.4 
(Son) Religion The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.4 
(Brother) Life Changing Event2 November 1778His sister, Frances, was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.4,5
(Son) Death16 December 1778 On 16 December 1778, six weeks after his sister Frances was stolen, the children's father and maternal grandfather, Isaac Tripp, were both killed by Indians. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. His father, who was 45 years of age, was shot dead, and his grandfather, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. Benjamin's brother William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.4,6,2,7 
Marriage*He married Phebe LaFrance, daughter of Peter LaFrance and Sarah Beach Davis, in Providence Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.8,1,7 
(Son) Death6 May 1807His mother died on 6 May 1807 at age 71 and, "almost with her last breath, she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister."4,7,3 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1826Nearly twenty years after his mother's death, "there came a report that an Indian called Between-the-Logs had been converted at the Wyandot mission, where Sandusky, Ohio, now stands, and that he had a white woman for a wife. Again hope came to the [Pennsylvania] Slocums. This might be Frances." The History of Miami County reported that "James Slocum, accompanied by a nephew, made the journey to the mission in 1826, but it was only to encounter another disappointment." We note that Frances did not have a brother, James, and suspect that this brother may have been, Isaac, who was enumerated in Sandusky County, Ohio, with his family on the census of 1830, remained in Ohio until his death in 1858, and had possibly even settled there before 1826.9 
Death*5 July 1832He died on 5 July 1832 in Tunkhannock, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, at age 611 
Burial* and was buried in Gravel Hill Cemetery, Tunkhannock.1 

Family

 Phebe LaFrance b. 1783, d. 1832

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Benjamin Slocum, Memorial# 73022949. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  4. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  7. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Phebe (LaFrance) Slocum, Memorial# 245978061.
  9. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, naming, on page 55, an implied brother, James, with a nephew who traveled in search of Frances in 1826, however Frances had no brother named James; we have not yet been able to identify "James" with any certainty, although suspect he may have been Isaac.

Ebenezer Slocum1

b. 10 January 1766, d. 25 July 1832
Family
Father*Jonathan Slocum1,2,3,4 b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 Dec 1778
Mother*Ruth Tripp1,3,5,4 b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
Birth*10 January 1766Ebenezer Slocum was born on 10 January 1766 in Kent County, Rhode Island.3 
(Son) Relocation1777He was 11 years old in the summer of 1777 when he moved with his parents, siblings and maternal grandfather from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The family settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.1 
(Son) Religion The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.1 
(Brother) Life Changing Event2 November 1778His sister, Frances, was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.1,6
(Son) Death16 December 1778 On 16 December 1778, six weeks after his sister Frances was stolen, the children's father and maternal grandfather, Isaac Tripp, were both killed by Indians. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. His father, who was 45 years of age, was shot dead, and his grandfather, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. Ebenezer's brother William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.1,7,2,8 
Marriage*3 December 1790He married Sarah Davis, daughter of Dr. Joseph Davis and Obedience Sperry, on 3 December 1790 in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.9,4 
(Son) Death6 May 1807His mother died on 6 May 1807 at age 71 and, "almost with her last breath, she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister."1,8,5 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1826Nearly twenty years after his mother's death, "there came a report that an Indian called Between-the-Logs had been converted at the Wyandot mission, where Sandusky, Ohio, now stands, and that he had a white woman for a wife. Again hope came to the [Pennsylvania] Slocums. This might be Frances." The History of Miami County reported that "James Slocum, accompanied by a nephew, made the journey to the mission in 1826, but it was only to encounter another disappointment." We note that Frances did not have a brother, James, and suspect that this brother may have been, Isaac, who was enumerated in Sandusky County, Ohio, with his family on the census of 1830, remained in Ohio until his death in 1858, and had possibly even settled there before 1826.10 
Death*25 July 1832 While on a business trip to Wilkes-Barre on 25 July 1832, he died suddenly, in the street, of apoplexy at age 66.3,4 
Burial*He was buried in Washburn Street Cemetery, Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.3 

Family

 Sarah Davis b. 31 Aug 1771, d. 1 Nov 1842

Citations

  1. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ebenezer Slocum, Memorial# 53319117.
  4. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #241, Ebenezer Slocum, pages 218-219. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  7. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  8. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Sarah (Davis) Slocum, Memorial# 193733483.
  10. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, naming, on page 55, an implied brother, James, with a nephew who traveled in search of Frances in 1826, however Frances had no brother named James; we have not yet been able to identify "James" with any certainty, although suspect he may have been Isaac.

Frances Slocum1

b. 4 March 1773, d. 9 March 1847
Family
Frances Ma-con-a-quah Slocum, age 67
Father*Jonathan Slocum2,3,4 b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 Dec 1778
Mother*Ruth Tripp2,3,5 b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
Birth*4 March 1773Frances Slocum was born on 4 March 1773 in Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island.3 
(Daughter) Relocation1777She was 4 years old in the summer of 1777 when she moved with her parents, siblings and maternal grandfather from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The family settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.2 
(Daughter) Religion The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.2 
Life Changing Event*2 November 1778Frances was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. From Frances Slocum's Chapter 4 in Volume I of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, we learned that: " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.2,3
Historical Note* Because of the instability, change and uncertainty during the American Revolutionary War and, as the History of Miami County noted, "the unsettled conditions upon the frontier, immediate pursuit was out of the question, and it is not surprising that no efforts were made to recover the little captive."2 
(Daughter) Death16 December 1778Six weeks after Frances was stolen from her family, her father and maternal grandfather, Isaac Tripp, were both killed by Indians on 16 December 1778 in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. Her father, who was 45 years of age, was shot dead, and her grandfather, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. Frances's brother William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.2,6,4,7 
Adoption* Frances was treated kindly by the Delaware Indians, and her auburn hair made her an object of admiration and respect. She was first given to a Delaware named Tuck Horse and his wife, and was adopted as their daughter to replace a child who had died. Soon after, though, Tuck Horse gave her to an old couple who had once had several children, all of whom had died. They gave her the name of We-let-a-wash, which was the name of their youngest child whom they had recently buried. They became her adoptive parents, and their home her home.2 
Miami Custom-Belief* It was the custom and belief among the Native American Indian tribes, including the Delaware and Miami, that when a loved one died, their spirit could not enter the spirit world until a replacement could be found to take their place in the living world. Only then could the spirit of the dead be released. Sometimes a friend who was unattached could be adopted. The most prevalent custom, however, was to raid an enemy camp and capture women and children. These people, as time healed their sorrow, usually adapted to their new lives and would, thereby, become an instrument of release for the spirit of a departed member of the tribe. Frances Slocum, herself a stolen captive, explained the custom this way, "When the Indians thus lose their children they often adopt some child as their own, and treat it in all respects like their own. This is the reason why they so often carry away the children of the white people”.8,2 
Historical Note1783 In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War, Britain transferred its claim of sovereignty over the Northwest Territory which included what is today Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, to the new United States. White pioneers pushed into the Ohio Valley, carving out homesteads and settlements on land the Indian tribes had always considered their tribal territory. The Miami invited the Delaware and Shawnee tribes, which had been displaced by white settlers, to resettle at their Miami Village at Kekionga, now Fort Wayne, Indiana.9 
Frances Slocum Story*1784It wasn't until a few years after the end of the Revolutionary War that the Slocum family was able to begin any kind of systematic search for their missing Frances. In 1784 two of her brothers, as copied from the source, "went to Niagara and made inquiry for their sister, offering a reward of one hundred guineas for information that would lead to her recovery. They thought this sum would tempt some Indian who knew of her whereabouts to tell where she could be found, but they were compelled to return home without any tidings of their lost sister.

"In 1788 the two brothers again made an effort to learn something of the fate of Frances. They made an extended trip into the interior of Ohio, where they secured the sympathy and consideration of Indian agents and traders and spent several months in visiting Indian villages in the hope of finding someone who could tell them what had become of their little sister. They offered a reward of $500 for any information, but in the end were forced to return home without having obtained the slightest clue.

"Still the mother, rapidly aging under the grief caused by the loss of her husband, father and daughter, would not relinquish the thought that her child was still alive. In 1789, when a large number of Indians assembled at Tioga Point, (now Athens, Pennsylvania) in response to the demand of the government to bring their captives there for identification, Mrs. Slocum made a journey to the place, hoping that her missing daughter would lie among the prisoners. For several weeks she remained there, earnestly gazing into the face of every girl sixteen years of age, but found no one that she could recognize as her missing child. She returned home in deep sorrow over the failure of her mission, but could not be persuaded that her daughter was dead."2 
Marriage*1790While the Miamis and Delawares were living together, Frances was married for the first time, in 1790, to a young Delaware brave named Little Turtle, who was not the great Miami chief of that same name. Her husband mistreated her, finally left her, and moved away. She divorced him due to domestic abuse, and moved back home with her adoptive parents.2,10 
Frances Slocum Story*1791"In the early part of 1791, Colonel [Thomas] Proctor was sent by the secretary of war to the Indian tribes living along the shores of Lake Erie, and the Miamis of the Wabash, for the purpose of making peace treaties and establishing friendly relations between them and the whites. Proctor's journal for March 28, 1791, says: 'We proceeded to Painted Post, or Cohocton, in the Indian language; dined and refreshed our horses, it being the last house we should meet with ere we should reach the Genesee river. . . . Here I was joined by a Mr. George Slocum, who followed us from Wyoming, to place himself under our protection and assistance, until we should reach the Cornplanter's settlement, on the headwaters of the Allegheny, to the redeeming of his sister from an unpleasing captivity of twelve years, to which end he begged our intermediate interposition.'

"Frances Slocum had no brother George and the records show that it was Giles Slocum who joined Proctor at Painted Post. Evidently this brother did not prosecute his investigations very long, as Proctor's journal for April 22, 1791, contains the entry: 'To cash paid Francis Slocum, a white prisoner, 7s. 6d.' Although the name Frances is not correctly spelled by Colonel Proctor, it is believed that the 'white prisoner' was the missing girl, and had her brother remained with the expedition until that time he would have no doubt found his sister. It seems strange that Proctor, after having so lately been in communication with her brother, did not make some attempt to restore the girl to her family. [John F.] Meginness, in his 'Biography of Frances Slocum,' pertinently asks the question, 'Was it indifference or stupidity that caused Colonel Proctor to treat her case so lightly?' and adds, 'For he must have known who she was when he named her, after paying her a small sum of money.2' 
Frances Slocum Story*1793"One of the brothers attended the treaty council at Buffalo, New York, but could learn nothing of his sister. Four years later Isaac Slocum and three of his brothers, in response to their mother's entreaties, undertook a more exhaustive search, penetrating the western wilds as far as Detroit and visiting several Indian villages in Canada. Isaac Slocum offered five Indian traders a reward of $300 if they would find his sister and bring her to Detroit, but all in vain. The next year the brothers again made a trip to the northwest, but with no better success."2 
Marriage* Before her adoptive father's death, Frances was given, as his wife, to She-po-con-ah, who was a village chief and who would later become the War Chief of the Miami Indians in the Peru area of Indiana. Upon her second marriage to She-po-con-ah, Frances became a Miami and took the name of Ma-con-a-quah, which meant "a young female bear" or "female lion". From the History of Miami County we learned that her name was probably chosen because of her great strength and athletic ability at the time. She could handle the lariat with great skill and thought nothing of lassoing a pony and bringing him under her control, and she "could run as fast as most of the men of her tribe."1,10,11 
Children*Her second marriage to She-po-con-ah was a happy one, and they had four children together, two sons and two daughters. The two sons died in childhood, and both daughters grew to maturity.2 
(Youngest Daughter) Death6 May 1807Her mother, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, died on 6 May 1807 at age 71 and, "almost with her last breath, she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister."2,7,5 
Historical NoteHer husband, She-po-con-ah, became the tribe's War Chief after John B. Richardville was elected Principal Chief in 1815. During the earlier years, with Chief Little Turtle, the functions of Civil Ruler, or Principal Chief, and War Chief were combined. After Little Turtle's death, and John B. Richardville was elected the Principal Chief, the responsibility of the War Chief was granted to She-po-con-ah, who was later known as Deaf Man, and was the husband of Frances Slocum. Shepoconah was a large, heavy set man and a great warrior until his hearing became affected. His headquarters were at the Osage village, near the mouth of the Mississinewa river. After he retired from the chieftainship, he moved further up the river and built a log house, where a settlement grew up that became known as Deaf Man's village., He died in the early 1830s and was buried on a knoll a few hundred yards from his dwelling.1,12 
(Mother of Bride) MarriageHer elder daughter, Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah, married, as her second husband, John B. Brouillette. He was attentive and devoted to his wife, and had a great respect for his mother-in-law. Although they had no children, their marriage was a happy one.13,14,15,2 
Frances Slocum Story1826Nearly twenty years after her mother's death, "there came a report that an Indian called Between-the-Logs had been converted at the Wyandot mission, where Sandusky, Ohio, now stands, and that he had a white woman for a wife. Again hope came to the [Pennsylvania] Slocums. This might be Frances." The History of Miami County reported that "James Slocum, accompanied by a nephew, made the journey to the mission in 1826, but it was only to encounter another disappointment." We note that Frances did not have a brother, James, and suspect that this brother may have been, Isaac, who was enumerated in Sandusky County, Ohio, with his family on the census of 1830, remained in Ohio until his death in 1858, and had possibly even settled there before 1826.16 
(Miami Chief's Widow) Indian Removal Act Copied in part, with minor changes, from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal:

"Following the arrival of Europeans, the Miami were disrupted by waves of disease, war, and relocation. Beginning in 1795, the Miami were forced to sign treaties giving up ever-increasing amounts of their precious homeland to the government of the United States. By the 1830s, the Miami had only about 500,000 acres, which was surrounded by land controlled by the State of Indiana. Land speculators and settlers wanted this land too.

"In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The goal of this act was to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s, many tribes suffered their own version of the “Trail of Tears” most commonly associated with the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal in 1838. Throughout this period, the Miami resisted giving up their reservation in Indiana."17 
(Mother of Bride) MarriageIn the very early 1830s, Frances Slocum's daughter, O-zah-shin-quah, married Francis Godfroy's son, Louis Godfroy. Their marriage produced two daughters and several grandchildren for Frances Slocum and Francis Godfroy to share.15 
Relationship Note*Frances Slocum and Francis Godfroy were good friends and, after the marriage of their children, Louis Godfroy and O-zah-shin-quah, they also became relatives with a shared grandparent relationship with their children’s children.15 
(Wife) Death1833Ma-con-a-quah became a widow when She-po-con-ah died in 1833 at an advanced age.2,11 
Frances Slocum Story1835From the History of Miami County, "Late in the year of 1834 or early in the year of 1835, Colonel George W. Ewing, an Indian trader, of Logansport. who had a large trade with the Miamis, stopped for the night at the Deaf Man's village, situated on the Mississinewa river a few miles above its mouth. He was given the hospitality of an Indian home, the mistress of which was a respectable Indian woman, and during the evening he noticed that her children and grandchildren treated her with great respect and obedience. Tired out with his day's travel, Ewing retired soon after eating his supper to a bed of skins and blankets that had been prepared for him in one corner of the cabin. But he did not go to sleep. All the members of the family soon after disappeared, except the old woman, who occupied herself for a time in attending to some ordinary household duties. As she moved about the cabin the trader watched her, noticing something peculiarly striking in her appearance, especially her hair, until he began to suspect that this was a white woman. His suspicion was soon afterward confirmed, when one of her arms was accidentally bared and he saw that the skin above the elbow was white. He then began a conversation with her in the Miami tongue—for she could speak but little English—and on gaining her confidence to some extent asked her pointedly if she was not a white woman.

"The question apparently startled her and at first she gave an evasive answer. But Colonel Ewing made her understand that he was her friend and she finally told him her story, or what she could remember of her early life. She said she had been carried away from near some town on the Susquehanna river when she was a little girl, that she thought her father's name was Slocum and that he was a Quaker.

"Upon arriving at his home the next day Colonel Ewing told his mother what he had learned. She advised him to write to the woman's friends in Pennsylvania. This was almost an impossible task, as Frances could not remember where they lived, further than it was near some town on the Susquehanna river, and nearly three score years had elapsed since she had been carried away from her home. He finally remembered that Lancaster was an old town, near the Susquehanna, and decided to write to the postmaster there, hoping that through this medium the relatives of the 'Lost Sister of Wyoming' might learn of her existence. Following is Colonel Ewing 's letter (dated) Logansport, Indiana, January 20, 1835:

"'Dear Sir: In the hope that some good may result from it, I have taken this means of giving to your fellow-citizens—say the descendants of the early settlers of the Susquehanna—the following information; and if there be any now living whose name is Slocum, to them, I hope, the following may be communicated through the public prints of your place:

"'There is now living near this place, an aged white woman, who a few days ago told me, while I lodged in the camp one night, that she was taken away from her father's house, on or near the Susquehanna, when she was very young—say from five to eight years old, as she thinks—by the Delaware Indians, who were then hostile toward the whites. She says her father's name was Slocum, that he was a Quaker, rather small in stature, and wore a large brimmed hat; was of sandy hair and light complexioned and much freckled; that he lived about half a mile from a town where there was a fort; that they lived in a wooden house of two stories high, and had a spring near the house. She says three Delawares came to the house in the daytime, when all were absent but herself, and perhaps two other children; her father and brothers were absent working in the field. The Indians carried her off, and she was adopted into a family of Delawares, who raised her and treated her as their own child. They died about forty years ago, somewhere in Ohio. She was then married to a Miami, by whom she had four children; two of them are now living—they are both daughters—and she lives with them. Her husband is dead; she is old and feeble, and thinks she will not live long.

"'These considerations induced her to give the present history of herself, which she would never do before, fearing that her kindred would come and force her away. She has lived long and happy as an Indian, and, but for her color, would not be suspected of being anything else than such. She is very respectable and wealthy, sober and honest. Her name is without reproach. She says her father had a large family, say eight children in all—six older than herself, one younger, as well as she can recollect—and she doubts not there are yet living many of their descendants, but seems to think that all her brothers and sisters must be dead, as she is very old herself, not far from the age of eighty. She thinks she was taken prisoner before the last two wars, which must mean the Revolutionary war, as Wayne's war and the late war have been since that one. She has entirely lost her mother tongue, and speaks only as an Indian, which I also understand, and she gave me a full history of herself.

"'Her own Christian name she has forgotten, but says her father's name was Slocum. and he was a Quaker. She also recollects that it was upon the Susquehanna river that they lived, but does not recollect the name of the town near which they lived. I have thought that from this letter you might cause something to be inserted in the newspapers of your country that might possibly catch the eye of some of the descendants of the Slocum family, who have knowledge of a girl having been carried off by the Indians some seventy years ago. This they might know from family tradition. If so, and they will come here, I will carry them where they may see the object of my letter alive and happy, though old and far advanced in life.

"'I can form no idea whereabout upon the Susquehanna river this family could have lived at that early period, namely, about the time of the Revolutionary war, but perhaps you can ascertain more about it. If so, I hope you will interest yourself, and, if possible, let her brothers and sisters, if any be alive—if not, their children—know where they may once more see a relative whose fate has been wrapped in mystery for seventy years, and for whom her bereaved and afflicted parents doubtless shed many a bitter tear. They have long since found their graves, though their lost child they never found. I have been much affected with the disclosure, and hope the surviving friends may obtain, through your goodness, the information I desire for them. If I can be of any service to them, they may command me. In the meantime, I hope you will excuse me for the freedom I have taken with you, a total stranger, and believe me to be, sir, with much respect,

"'Your obedient servant,

"'George W. Ewing.2'" 
Biographical Info*John B. Brouillette was the chief helper of his mother-in-law, Frances Slocum. He was most thoughtful of her welfare and attentive to her in every way, and continued to be her trusted advisor and helper until her death in 1847. His appearance and his gallant decorum must have been fascinating to her brothers and other relatives when they first found and visited their missing sister.18,15 
Frances Slocum Story*1837 "Colonel Ewing was somewhat mistaken as to the age of Frances and the time she had been in captivity. At the time his letter was written she was about sixty-two years old and had dwelt among the Indians for approximately fifty-seven years. When the letter was received by Mrs. Mary Dickson, then postmistress at Lancaster and also the owner of a newspaper called the Lancaster Intelligencer, instead of publishing it she cast it aside and for about two years it lay among a lot of old papers that were considered of no value. In March 1837, John W. Forney became one of the editors and publishers of the paper and soon afterward the letter was handed to him by one who had accidently found it a short time before. Mr. Forney published the letter in the Intelligencer, in a 'special temperance edition,' copies of which were sent to every clergyman in Pennsylvania. Reverend Samuel Bowman, an Episcopal minister, who had lived at one time in Wilkes-Barre, and who knew the story of Frances Slocum, mailed one of the papers to Joseph Slocum at Wilkes-Barre."2 
Frances Slocum Story*8 August 1837In a letter dated 8 August 1837, Jonathan J. Slocum, a son of Frances's brother, Joseph Slocum, "wrote to Colonel Ewing as follows:

"'Geo. W. Ewing, Esq.,

"'Dear Sir: At the suggestion of my father and other relations, I have taken the liberty to write to you, although an entire stranger.

"'We have received, but a few days since, a letter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster, of this state, upon a subject of deep and intense interest to our family. How the matter should have lain so long wrapped in obscurity we cannot conceive. An aunt of mine—sister of my father—was taken away when five years old, by the Indians, and since then we have only had vague and indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter we deem to have entirely revealed the whole matter, and set everything at rest. The description is so perfect, and the incidents (with the exception of her age) so correct, that we feel confident.

"'Steps will be taken immediately to investigate the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our power to restore a lost relative who has been sixty years in Indian bondage.

"'Your friend and obedient servant,

"'Jno. J. Slocum.'"

Colonel Ewing had not forgotten the letter written by him in January, 1835, and no doubt had often wondered as to its fate. Upon the receipt of Mr. Slocum's letter he at once sent the following reply:

"'Logansport, Ind., August 26, 1837

"'Jno. J. Slocum. Esq., Wilkes-Barre,

"'Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and in answer can add, that the female I spoke of in January 1835, is still alive; nor can I for a moment doubt but that she is the identical relative that has been so long lost to your family.

"'I feel much gratified to think that I have been thus instrumental in disclosing to yourself and friends such facts in relation to her as will enable you to visit her and satisfy yourselves more fully. She recovered from the temporary illness by which she was afflicted about the time I spent the night with her in January 1835, and which was, no doubt, the cause that induced her to speak so freely of her early captivity.

"'Although she is now, by long habit, an Indian, and her manners and customs precisely theirs, yet she will doubtless be happy to see any of you, and I myself will take great pleasure in accompanying you to the house. Should you come out for that purpose, I advise you to repair directly to this place : and should it so happen that I should be absent at the time, you will find others who can take you to her. Bring with you this letter; show it to James T. .Miller, of Peru, Ind., a small town not far from this place. He knows her well. He is a young man whom we have raised. He speaks the Miami tongue and will accompany you if I should not be at home. Inquire for the old white woman, mother-in-law to Brouillette, living on the Mississinewa river, about ten miles above its mouth. There you will find the long lost sister of your father, and, as before stated, you will not have to blush on her account. She is highly respectable, and her name as an Indian is without reproach. Her daughter, too, and her son-in-law, Brouillette, who is also a half-blood, being part French, are both very respectable and interesting people—none in the nation are more so. As Indians they live well, and will be pleased to see you. Should you visit here this fall, I may be absent, as I purpose starting for New York in a few days, and shall not be back till sometime in October. But this need not stop you : for, although I should be gratified to see you, yet it will be sufficient to learn that I have furthered your wishes in this truly interesting manner.

"'The very kind manner in which you have been pleased to speak of me shall be fully appreciated.

"'There are perhaps men who could have heard her story unmoved; but for me, I could not; and when I reflected that there was, perhaps, still lingering on this side of the grave some brother or sister of that ill-fated woman, to whom such information would be deeply interesting, I resolved on the course which I adopted, and entertained the fond hope that my letter, if ever it should go before the public, would attract the attention of someone interested. In this it seems, at last, I have not been disappointed, although I have long since supposed it had failed to effect the object for which I wrote it. Like you, I regret that it should have been delayed so long, nor can I conceive how anyone should neglect to publish such a letter.

"'As to the age of this female, I think she herself is mistaken, and that she is not so old as she imagines herself to be. Indeed, I entertain no doubt but that she is the same person that your family have mourned after for more than half a century past.

"'Your obedient humble servant,

"' George W. Ewing.2'" 
Frances Slocum Story "In due time Colonel Ewing 's letter reached the waiting members of the family at Wilkes-Barre. Arrangements were at once commenced for Joseph Slocum to go to the home of his sister, Mrs. Mary Towne, in central Ohio, and with her proceed to Peru, Indiana, while his brother Isaac, who lived near Sandusky, was to join them there as soon as possible. As the distance from Sandusky to the Miami village was much shorter than that which Joseph and Mrs. Towne had to travel, he arrived several days in advance of his brother and sister. His anxiety to meet the sister, who had so long been mourned as lost, was so great that he could not wait for the arrival of his brother and sister. Accompanied by James T. Miller as interpreter, he repaired to the house of Frances, where he was received with that stolid indifference peculiar to the Indian. She manifested neither pleasure nor surprise at his coming and seemed rather reluctant to tell anything of herself to a stranger. Before she was captured in her childhood, while she and one of her brothers were playing in the blacksmith shop one day, her brother struck the fore finger of her left hand with a hammer and inflicted such an injury that the nail was completely destroyed. As Isaac conversed with the old woman he kept watching her hands. At last, seeing the marked finger, he took hold of her hand and asked how it came to be in that condition.

"'My brother struck it with a hammer in the shop, a long time ago, before I was carried away,' came the answer, but without any show of emotion.

"Isaac Slocum was now convinced that this was his sister. Sadly he returned to Peru to await the coming of Joseph and Mrs. Towne. They arrived a few days later and the three, with Mr. Miller and James B. Fulwiler, went to the house of the old woman whose long life among the Indians had made her an alien to her own race. Mr. Fulwiler afterward said that Frances was 'as cold as an iceberg,' and that her reception of her relatives so affected him that he was compelled to leave the room. The injured finger was again examined and with much persuasion she was induced to tell them something of her life. Her story corresponded in all the essentials to that she had told Colonel Ewing, nearly three years before. She had forgotten her Christian name and when asked if she would remember it if she should hear it she answered, 'It is a long time; I do not know.'"

"'Was it Frances?' asked one of the party. For the first time during the interview something like emotion seemed to move her hitherto expressionless features, and after a few brief moments a faint smile illumined her face as she exclaimed, 'Yes, Franca, Franca !'”.2 
Frances Slocum Story "All doubts were now removed. This indeed was the little auburn haired sister that had been taken from her home in the Wyoming valley sixty-four years before. The company then proposed to Frances that she, with her son-in-law and daughters, accompany them to Peru, but she declined to give an answer until she could consult Chief Godfroy."2 
Relationship Note After Frances Slocum had been found by her white family and they asked her to accompany them with her daughters and son-in-law to Peru, Indiana, she declined to give an answer until she had consulted her trusted friend, Francois Godfroy.2 
Frances Slocum Story "The chief advised her to accept the invitation and she promised to visit them the next Sunday and dine with them at the hotel. When they arrived and were conducted into the hotel, before any intimacy could be established, it was necessary that a formal pledge of friendship should be given and received, according to the custom of the Miami Indians. One of the daughters therefore advanced to the table and laid upon it a bundle wrapped in a clean, white cloth. Through the interpreter she then explained that it was a pledge of their confidence and friendship. Instructed by Mr. Miller, Mrs. Towne accepted the pledge in the same solemn and formal manner, and when the bundle was opened it was found to contain a hind quarter of a deer, which had no doubt been killed for the occasion. Through the medium of this ceremony, confidence was established and the visitors conversed more freely than when the brothers and sister visited Frances in her home. [John Franklin] Meginness [in his 1891 Biography of Frances Slocum, the lost sister of Wyoming] says: 'The food cooked by civilized methods did not agree with them (the visitors) and they did not relish it. The circumstances and surroundings had a depressing effect upon Frances and she sought relief in accordance with the customs of savage life. She slipped away quietly, and a few minutes afterwards was found with her blanket pulled over her head, lying on the stoop fast asleep.'"

"When it was proposed that Frances' story should be reduced to writing she at first objected, until the reasons for such a proceeding were explained to her by the interpreter. She then told her story, the main points of which correspond to the facts as narrated in this chapter. At the conclusion of her story, her brothers and sister urged her to return home with them, promising her a home and a share of all they possessed.

”'No, I cannot,' said Frances. 'I have always lived with the Indians; they have always used me very kindly; I am used to them. The Great Spirit has always allowed me to live with them, and I wish to live and die with them. Your wah-puh-mone (looking-glass) may be longer than mine, but this is my home. I do not wish to live any better, or anywhere else, and I think the Great Spirit has permitted me to live so long because I have always lived with the Indians. I should have died sooner if I had left them. My husband and my boys are buried here and I cannot leave them. On his dying day my husband charged me not to leave the Indians. I have a house and large lands, two daughters, a son-in-law, three grandchildren and everything to make me comfortable, why should I go and be like a fish out of water?'"

"In this determination she was supported by her son-in-law and daughters, and when her relatives then asked her to go with them merely for a visit, promising to allow her to return to her children, she answered: 'I cannot, I cannot. I am an old tree. I cannot move about. I was a sapling when they took me away. It is all gone past. I am afraid I should die and never come back. I am happy here. I shall die and lie in that graveyard, and they will raise the pole at my grave with the white flag on it, and the Great Spirit will know where to find me. I should not be happy with my white relatives. I am glad enough to see them, but I cannot go, I cannot go. I have done.2'" 
Description*1839During the fall of 1839, Frances was visited in her home near Peru, Indiana by her brother, Joseph Slocum, and his daughter, Hannah (Slocum) Bennett. Her niece Hannah kept a diary of their trip, which included a description of Frances, who was then 66 years of age. Hannah wrote: "My aunt is of small stature, not very much bent; had her hair clubbed behind in calico, tied with worsted ferret; her hair is somewhat gray; her eyes a bright chestnut, clear and sprightly for one of her age; her face is very much wrinkled and weather-beaten. She has a scar on her left cheek received at an Indian dance; her skin is not as dark as you would expect from her age and constant exposure; her teeth are remarkably good. Her dress was a blue calico short gown, a white Mackinaw blanket, somewhat soiled by constant wear; a fold of blue broadcloth lapped around her, red cloth leggings and buckskin moccasins”.2 
Miami Removal*1845 In the Miami treaty of 1838, the Miami National Council had agreed, for the first time, to consider the possibility of a future Indian Removal, and also contained, for the family of Chief John B. Richardville, the first Exemption from Removal. The Miami treaty of 1840 provided for two additional families, those of Meshingomesia and Chief Francis Godfroy, to continue to receive their share of the annuities at Fort Wayne, Indiana, essentially exempting those families also from Removal.

On March 3, 1845, Congress passed a joint resolution exempting the family of Frances Slocum from Removal. Recording her Indian name as, Mahkoonsihkwa, Frances Slocum was exempted along with her daughters O-zah-shin-quah ‘Jane Bundy’ and Ki po ki na mo qua ‘Nancy Brouillette’ and extended family members, as a result of an 1845 Congressional resolution. In 1845, Frances Slocum was about 72 years old, and just as she had not wanted to be removed from her Miami family by her white relatives, she also did not want to be removed from her Miami homeland by the U.S. government. Through her lawyer, A.A. Cole, she petitioned Congress for an exemption, giving three main reasons. First, she emphasized her identity as a Miami woman that “can only enjoy the society of her adopted people, with whom she intermarried, and became the mother of a family, and with whose manners and customs she has assimilated.” She then argued that “she is too old to endure the fatigue of removing; and that, under any circumstances, she would deplore the necessity of being placed beyond the reach of her white relatives, who visit her frequently, and have extended their kindness towards her since she was discovered by them.” And finally, that her daughters owned their own reservation where she and her family could continue to live. In summary, she argued that she was a Miami woman, who would be forced to remove with the Miami Nation, but that she had white American relatives who would be hurt by her removal; and finally, that if they granted her an exemption, she and her family would be able to provide for themselves where they currently lived. At the same time, her family and former neighbors, all “citizens of Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania,” sent a petition to Congress “praying the passage of the joint resolution for the relief of Frances Slocum, of the Miami tribe of Indians.” Her petition was careful to name every person in her family that was to be exempted as the “children and grandchildren of your memorialist, as also your memorialist, and such children as they may receive their annuities at Fort Wayne.…” The petition listed not only Frances Slocum and her lineal descendants but also adoptees and some relatives of her deceased husband She-po-con-ah: Ki po ki na mo qua ‘Nancy Brouillette,’ Naweehkamihkwa, O-zah-shin-quah ‘Jane Bundy,’ Coch-e-no-qua*, Tah-quah-ke-ah ‘Jean B. Brouillette,’ Pakantamwa, Iihkipakinamohkwa ‘Eliza Godfroy,’ Tah-ki-qua*, Wap-pon-noc-shin-quah ‘Frances Godfroy,’ Ki-ki-o-qua* ‘Susan Pimyotamah,’ Kinoosaahkwa ‘Elizabeth Wapshing,’ Teekwaakia ‘George W. Miller,’ Ceenkohšinka ‘Lavina,’ Saakacaahkwa ‘Sarah Miller,’ Pe-tu-loc-a-to-qua*, Pimweeyotamwa ‘Peter Pimyotamah,’ Sho-quang-gaw* ‘William Cass,’ Soowilencihsia ‘John B. Pimyotamah-Walker,’ Wah-pa-pe-tah ‘Peter Bundy,’ Pankihšinohkwa ‘Martha Pimyotamah,’ and Soowilencihsia ‘Samuel Bund.’.19,20,21 
Residence*In 1846, the year of the forced Removal, Frances persuaded her white nephew, Reverend George R. Slocum, to move from Ohio and help her manage her property near Peru, Miami County, Indiana. She and her family lived on a prosperous farm and owned cattle, hogs, chickens and a large herd of ponies. The settlement included her two grown daughters, Nancy Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah Brouillette and Jane O-zah-shin-quah Bundy, their husbands, John B. Brouillette and Peter Bundy and the four children of her younger daughter, Eliza Ke-pa-ke-min-quah Godfroy, Frances Godfroy, Ki po ki na mo qua and Ching-o-shing-quah.22 
(Aunt) Relocation1846 In 1846, her nephew, George Slocum, who was a Baptist minister, and his wife Eliza moved with their children from Ohio to Wabash County, Indiana, so that George could help her, and her extended family, learn to manage their farms. George settled with his family on the Mississinewa near Frances and, after her death in 1847, he continued to live and work among the Indians and pioneers, helping them learn to become successful farmers. He was highly respected and it was largely through his influence that John B. Brouillette and Peter Bundy became Christians and Baptist ministers of the gospel. Many other Indians and pioneers were brought into the church or helped to a higher life by his influence.23,24,25 
Death*9 March 1847Frances Slocum died on 9 March 1847 near Peru, Miami County, Indiana, at age 74, only five months after the Miami Forced Removal began on October 6, 1846. Although her personal benefit from her exemption was minimal, the exemption greatly benefited her children and future descendants. At the time of Removal, 27 members of Frances Slocum's family were exempted.3 
Burial*She was buried in the Slocum Cemetery, Wabash County, Indiana.3 
Frances Slocum Story17 May 1900A monument in honor of Frances Slocum, and her incredible story of captivity, was erected by her Slocum family, and others, who took pleasure in contributing to the $700 monument fund. It was unveiled by them with public ceremonies on 17 May 1900 at the Wabash County, Indiana. More than 3,000 people witnessed the dedication ceremonies that day, many of whom, had traveled from distant places. The Slocum monument is of white bronze, eight feet and six inches in height, and stands upon a stone base four feet square. On the four sides of the monument are the following inscriptions.

"1. Frances Slocum, a child of English descent, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, in March 1773; was carried into captivity from her father's house at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., November 2, 1778, by Delaware Indians soon after the Wyoming massacre. Her brothers gave persistent search, but did not find her until September 2, 1837.

"2. When inclined by a published letter describing an aged white woman in the Miami village here, two brothers and a sister visited this place and identified her. She lived near here thirty-two years with the Indian name---Ma-con-a-quah. She died on this ridge, March 9, 1847, and was given a Christian burial.

"3. Frances Slocum became a stranger to her mother tongue; she became a stranger to her brethren, and an alien to her mother's children through her captivity.

"This monument was erected by the Slocums and others, who deemed it a pleasure to contribute, and was unveiled by them with public ceremonies, May 17, 1900.

"4.She-po-con-ah, a Miami Indian chief, husband of Frances Slocum —Ma-con-a-quah, died here in 1833, at an advanced age. Their adult children were :

"Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah, wife of Rev. Jean Baptiste Brouillette, died March 13, 1847, aged forty-seven years, leaving no children.

"O-zah-shin-quah, or Jane, wife of Rev. Peter Bundy, died January 25, 1877, aged sixty-two years, leaving a husband and nine children."2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.26,27,28,29,30,31,32 

Family

 She-po-con-ah d. 1833
Children 1.Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah2 b. 1800, d. 13 Mar 1847
 2.O-zah-shin-quah+1 b. Oct 1809, d. 25 Jan 1877

Citations

  1. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  2. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  7. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  8. [S2915] LaMoine N. Marks, Kim-qua-tah: The Story of Hannah Thorpe, 1994; a 14-page booklet. LaMoine Marks was born 11 September 1907 in Wabash County, Indiana. He was a member of the Miami Tribe of Indians and made a lifetime study of the tribe, its people and its ways. From the oral history learned from his father, Charles Marks, to his access of research materials gathered for a tribal history, Marks wrote this personal story of his great-grandmother, Kim-qua-tah. He wrote in his foreword: "The people were real -- the story is fictionalized only enough to provide continuity." Viewed on 13 September 2025, beginning at https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/…. Hereinafter cited as Kim-qua-tah: The Story of Hannah Thorpe.
  9. [S225] Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_people. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
  10. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian; and regarding her marriages, recommends page 78 of the 1891 book, "Frances Slocum, the Lost Sister of Wyoming: A Complete Narrative of Her Captivity and Wanderings Among the Indians" by John Franklin Meginness.
  11. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, “Deaf Man” She-Po-Con-Ah, Memorial# 34694557.
  12. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, a site dedicated to transcribing historical and genealogical information helpful to researchers, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…. Hereinafter cited as Genealogy Trails.
  13. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Rev Jean Baptise “Tah-quah-ke-ah” Brouillett, Memorial# 34693804.
  14. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Nancy “Ke-Ke-Na-Kush-wa" "Cut Finger” Brouillett, Memorial# 115146096.
  15. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), John B. Brouillette, pages 23-27. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  16. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, naming, on page 55, an implied brother, James, with a nephew who traveled in search of Frances in 1826, however Frances had no brother named James; we have not yet been able to identify "James" with any certainty, although suspect he may have been Isaac.
  17. [S2788] Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia, online at https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/, Myaamia Removal, https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/contents/section5/readings/…. Hereinafter cited as Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia.
  18. [S3055] Jean Baptiste Brouillette Biographical Sketch, citing the Wabash Weekly Plain Dealer of 18 July 1867, "The Aborigines of the Wabash Valley"; an article contributed to the Lafayette Courier by Mr. George Winter, an artist of Lafayette, who was well acquainted with Brouillette, and with the history of the tribes who formerly occupied the Wabash Valley; online at http://www.nmanchesterhistory.org/…. Hereinafter cited as Jean Baptiste Brouillette Biographical Sketch.
  19. [S3054] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…, article published by Diane Hunter on July 2, 2021, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi- Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  20. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  21. [S3056] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi, a blog serving as a space for Myaamia ‘Miami’ people to connect, reflect, and share. Our primary goal is to provide a platform for conversations about our community, places, ecological observations, and shared pasts. It also serves as a resource for educational opportunities that support a deeper understanding of Myaamia culture, language, and identity. Aacimohtatiiyaankwi is collaboratively authored by a dedicated team from the Myaamia Center at Miami University, the Cultural Resources Office of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and guests from the Myaamia community. Through regular posts, we share insights, stories, research, and observations that reflect the ongoing efforts to support Myaamia knowledge; online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi.
  22. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Bundy, digital pages 123-131. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  23. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990, The "Individual" Miamis, 1846-1895, digital page 60.
  24. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990, Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Bundy, digital page 123.
  25. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, page 27.
  26. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  27. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  28. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  29. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  30. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  31. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  32. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

George Slocum1

b. 1822, d. 1860
Family
Father*Isaac Slocum2 b. 4 Mar 1775, d. 26 Aug 1858
Mother*Elizabeth Patrick2 b. 26 Apr 1780, d. 16 Sep 1839
Birth*1822George Slocum was born about 1822.2 
Name VariationHis full name was George Remington Slocum.2 
Marriage*4 January 1843He married Eliza O. Pierce on 4 January 1843 in Sandusky County, Ohio.2,3,4 
Residence*In 1845, his aunt, Frances Slocum, had been exempted from the Removal Order forcing the Miami from Indiana, and in 1846, the year of the forced Removal, George was persuaded by his aunt to move from Ohio to help her manage her property near Peru, Miami County, Indiana.. She and her family lived on a prosperous farm and owned cattle, hogs, chickens and a large herd of ponies. The settlement included her two grown daughters, Nancy Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah Brouillette and Jane O-zah-shin-quah Bundy, their husbands, John B. Brouillette and Peter Bundy and the four children of her younger daughter, Eliza Ke-pa-ke-min-quah Godfroy, Frances Godfroy, Ki po ki na mo qua and Ching-o-shing-quah.5 
Relocation*1846 In 1846, George and Eliza moved with their children from Ohio to Wabash County, Indiana, so that George could help his aunt, Frances Slocum and her extended family, learn to manage their farms. They settled on the Mississinewa near his aunt and, after her death in 1847, George continued to live and work among the Indians and pioneers, helping them learn to become successful farmers. He was highly respected and it was largely through his influence that John B. Brouillette and Peter Bundy became Christians and Baptist ministers of the gospel. Many other Indians and pioneers were brought into the church or helped to a higher life by his influence.1,6,7 
Religion*Peter Bondy, who had married the younger daughter, O-zah-shin-quah, of George's aunt, Frances Slocum, became a Christian and a Baptist minister under George's preaching. Bondy was a familiar character, not only among the Indians of the Mississinewa, but he also preached frequently for the pioneer churches.8,9 
Death*1860He died of fever in 1860 at his residence in Wabash County, Indiana, at about age 38. He had resided on the farm, where he died, for some ten or twelve years, during which time he enjoyed the reputation of an honest man. He left a wife and several children.2 
Burial*He was buried as George Slocum in Mississinewa Memorial Cemetery, Wabash, Wabash County.2 

Family

 Eliza O. Pierce b. 7 Mar 1823, d. 10 Apr 1891

Citations

  1. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; The "Individual" Miamis, 1846-1895, digital page 60. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Rev George Remington Slocum, Memorial# 39721036. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Eliza O (Pierce) Slocum, Memorial# 136973908.
  4. [S1576] Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, online at www.ancestry.com, marriage of George Slocum and Eliza O Pierce on 4 January 1843 in Sandusky County, Ohio, USA, referencing FHL Film# 000506617. Hereinafter cited as Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993.
  5. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990, Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Bundy, digital pages 123-131.
  6. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990, Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Bundy, digital page 123.
  7. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), page 27. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Rev Peter “Wah-pa-pe-tah” Bondy, Memorial# 34693723.
  9. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, John B. Brouillette, pages 23-27.

Giles Slocum1

b. 5 January 1759, d. 14 November 1826
Family
Father*Jonathan Slocum1,2,3 b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 Dec 1778
Mother*Ruth Tripp1,2,4 b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
Birth*5 January 1759Giles Slocum was born on 5 January 1759 in Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island.2 
(Son) Relocation1777He was 18 years old in the summer of 1777 when he moved with his parents, siblings and maternal grandfather from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The family settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.1 
Religion* The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.1 
(Brother) Life Changing Event2 November 1778His sister, Frances, was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.1,5
(Son) Death16 December 1778 On 16 December 1778, six weeks after his sister Frances was stolen, the children's father and maternal grandfather, Isaac Tripp, were both killed by Indians. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. His father, who was 45 years of age, was shot dead, and his grandfather, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. Giles's brother William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.1,6,3,7 
Marriage*1780He married Sarah Ross, daughter of Jeremiah Ross and Anna Paine, about 1780.8,2,9 
Relationship Note*Giles Slocum and William Slocum were brothers who married 1st cousins. Giles Slocum married Sarah Ross and William Slocum married Sarah Sawyer.8,2,10,11,12,13 
Frances Slocum Story*1791"In the early part of 1791, Colonel [Thomas] Proctor was sent by the secretary of war to the Indian tribes living along the shores of Lake Erie, and the Miamis of the Wabash, for the purpose of making peace treaties and establishing friendly relations between them and the whites. Proctor's journal for March 28, 1791, says: 'We proceeded to Painted Post, or Cohocton, in the Indian language; dined and refreshed our horses, it being the last house we should meet with ere we should reach the Genesee river. . . . Here I was joined by a Mr. George Slocum, who followed us from Wyoming, to place himself under our protection and assistance, until we should reach the Cornplanter's settlement, on the headwaters of the Allegheny, to the redeeming of his sister from an unpleasing captivity of twelve years, to which end he begged our intermediate interposition.'

"Frances Slocum had no brother George and the records show that it was Giles Slocum who joined Proctor at Painted Post. Evidently this brother did not prosecute his investigations very long, as Proctor's journal for April 22, 1791, contains the entry: 'To cash paid Francis Slocum, a white prisoner, 7s. 6d.' Although the name Frances is not correctly spelled by Colonel Proctor, it is believed that the 'white prisoner' was the missing girl, and had her brother remained with the expedition until that time he would have no doubt found his sister. It seems strange that Proctor, after having so lately been in communication with her brother, did not make some attempt to restore the girl to her family. [John F.] Meginness, in his 'Biography of Frances Slocum,' pertinently asks the question, 'Was it indifference or stupidity that caused Colonel Proctor to treat her case so lightly?' and adds, 'For he must have known who she was when he named her, after paying her a small sum of money.1' 
(Son) Death6 May 1807His mother died on 6 May 1807 at age 71 and, "almost with her last breath, she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister."1,7,4 
(Husband) Death22 September 1820Giles became a widower when Sarah (Ross) Slocum died on 22 September 1820 at age 70.8 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1826Nearly twenty years after his mother's death, "there came a report that an Indian called Between-the-Logs had been converted at the Wyandot mission, where Sandusky, Ohio, now stands, and that he had a white woman for a wife. Again hope came to the [Pennsylvania] Slocums. This might be Frances." The History of Miami County reported that "James Slocum, accompanied by a nephew, made the journey to the mission in 1826, but it was only to encounter another disappointment." We note that Frances did not have a brother, James, and suspect that this brother may have been, Isaac, who was enumerated in Sandusky County, Ohio, with his family on the census of 1830, remained in Ohio until his death in 1858, and had possibly even settled there before 1826.14 
Death*14 November 1826He died on 14 November 1826 in Schuylerville, Saratoga County, New York, at age 672 
Burial* and was buried near his wife in Greenridge Cemetery, Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County.2,8 

Family

 Sarah Ross b. 11 Feb 1750, d. 22 Sep 1820

Citations

  1. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Giles Slocum, Memorial# 39186405. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  7. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Sarah (Ross) Slocum, Memorial# 41648453.
  9. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #239, Giles Slocum, pages 216-217.
  10. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Sarah (Sawyer) Slocum, Memorial# 193705178.
  11. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, William Slocum, Memorial# 143052724.
  12. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #240, William Slocum, page 217.
  13. [S2679] Descendants of Thomas Sawyer1616, dated 14 October 2000 and compiled by George E. Sawyer; website contains the following two warnings: 1. This page is old! We are a Museum and an unsorted Archive. This (user-)page was saved from Geocities in Oct-2009. For many questions you can (only) try to contact the author. To report any malicious content: e-mail address). Our archival story at ooCities.org; and 2. This is my compilation of SAWYER family information. I have used several sources to compile this into a family tree. There may be errors in this information but I have tried to make it as accurate as possible. If you find information here that you believe to be incorrect please contact me at e-mail address and I will be more than happy to discuss it. Thank you for visiting my web site, online at https://www.oocities.org/gesawyer/T_SAWYER.htm, #26. Thomas Sawyer and Sarah Ross, reporting their daughter Sarah born on 12 May 1763, married Wiiliam Slocum, although reporting their marriage date incorrectly as 16 March 1833, and reporting her date of death, also incorrectly as 16 March 1833. Hereinafter cited as Descendants of Thomas Sawyer1616.
  14. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, naming, on page 55, an implied brother, James, with a nephew who traveled in search of Frances in 1826, however Frances had no brother named James; we have not yet been able to identify "James" with any certainty, although suspect he may have been Isaac.

Hannah Slocum1

b. 17 April 1802, d. 5 February 1855
Family
Father*Joseph Slocum1,2,3 b. 9 Apr 1777, d. 27 Sep 1855
Mother*Sarah Fell1,3,4 b. 25 Jul 1781, d. 25 Feb 1828
Birth*17 April 1802Hannah Slocum was born on 17 April 1802 in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.1,3 
Name VariationHer full name was Hannah Fell Slocum.3 
Marriage*25 November 1825She married, as his first wife, Ziba Bennett, son of Platt Bennitt and Martha Wheeler, on 25 November 1825.1,5,3 
Description*1839During the fall of 1839, Hannah traveled with her father, Joseph Slocum, to visit his sister, Frances, in her home near Peru, Indiana. Hannah kept a diary of their trip, which included a description of her aunt, who was then 66 years of age. Hannah wrote: "My aunt is of small stature, not very much bent; had her hair clubbed behind in calico, tied with worsted ferret; her hair is somewhat gray; her eyes a bright chestnut, clear and sprightly for one of her age; her face is very much wrinkled and weather-beaten. She has a scar on her left cheek received at an Indian dance; her skin is not as dark as you would expect from her age and constant exposure; her teeth are remarkably good. Her dress was a blue calico short gown, a white Mackinaw blanket, somewhat soiled by constant wear; a fold of blue broadcloth lapped around her, red cloth leggings and buckskin moccasins”.6 
Death*5 February 1855She died on 5 February 1855 in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, at age 521 
Burial* and was buried in Hollenback Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre.3 

Family

 Ziba Bennett b. 10 Nov 1800, d. 4 Nov 1878

Citations

  1. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #244, Judge Joseph Slocum, pages 225-226. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Joseph Slocum, Memorial# 60343465. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Hannah Fell (Slocum) Bennett, Memorial# 112536354.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Sarah (Fell) Slocum, Memorial# 60343611.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ziba Bennett, Memorial# 99828232.
  6. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.

Isaac Slocum1

b. 4 March 1775, d. 26 August 1858
Family
Father*Jonathan Slocum1,2,3 b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 Dec 1778
Mother*Ruth Tripp1,2,4 b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
Birth*4 March 1775Isaac Slocum was born on 4 March 1775 in Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island.2 
(Son) Relocation1777He was 2 years old in the summer of 1777 when he moved with his parents, siblings and maternal grandfather from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The family settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.1 
(Son) Religion The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.1 
(Brother) Life Changing Event2 November 1778His sister, Frances, was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.1,5
(Son) Death16 December 1778 On 16 December 1778, six weeks after his sister Frances was stolen, the children's father and maternal grandfather, Isaac Tripp, were both killed by Indians. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. His father, who was 45 years of age, was shot dead, and his grandfather, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. Isaac's brother William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.1,6,3,7 
Frances Slocum Story*1793"One of the brothers attended the treaty council at Buffalo, New York, but could learn nothing of his sister. Four years later Isaac Slocum and three of his brothers, in response to their mother's entreaties, undertook a more exhaustive search, penetrating the western wilds as far as Detroit and visiting several Indian villages in Canada. Isaac Slocum offered five Indian traders a reward of $300 if they would find his sister and bring her to Detroit, but all in vain. The next year the brothers again made a trip to the northwest, but with no better success."1 
Marriage*11 January 1799He married first Elizabeth Patrick, daughter of Abel Patrick and Elizabeth Hurlburt, on 11 January 1799.8,2,9 
(Son) Death6 May 1807His mother died on 6 May 1807 at age 71 and, "almost with her last breath, she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister."1,7,4 
Children*Isaac and Betsy had twelve children together, all except their first surviving to adulthood. Baby Jonathan was born on 25 July 1800 and died, at not yet 22 months old, on 4 May 1802.9 
Frances Slocum Story1826Nearly twenty years after his mother's death, "there came a report that an Indian called Between-the-Logs had been converted at the Wyandot mission, where Sandusky, Ohio, now stands, and that he had a white woman for a wife. Again hope came to the [Pennsylvania] Slocums. This might be Frances." The History of Miami County reported that "James Slocum, accompanied by a nephew, made the journey to the mission in 1826, but it was only to encounter another disappointment." We note that Frances did not have a brother, James, and suspect that this brother may have been, Isaac, who was enumerated in Sandusky County, Ohio, with his family on the census of 1830, remained in Ohio until his death in 1858, and had possibly even settled there before 1826.10 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1835From the History of Miami County, "Late in the year of 1834 or early in the year of 1835, Colonel George W. Ewing, an Indian trader, of Logansport. who had a large trade with the Miamis, stopped for the night at the Deaf Man's village, situated on the Mississinewa river a few miles above its mouth. He was given the hospitality of an Indian home, the mistress of which was a respectable Indian woman, and during the evening he noticed that her children and grandchildren treated her with great respect and obedience. Tired out with his day's travel, Ewing retired soon after eating his supper to a bed of skins and blankets that had been prepared for him in one corner of the cabin. But he did not go to sleep. All the members of the family soon after disappeared, except the old woman, who occupied herself for a time in attending to some ordinary household duties. As she moved about the cabin the trader watched her, noticing something peculiarly striking in her appearance, especially her hair, until he began to suspect that this was a white woman. His suspicion was soon afterward confirmed, when one of her arms was accidentally bared and he saw that the skin above the elbow was white. He then began a conversation with her in the Miami tongue—for she could speak but little English—and on gaining her confidence to some extent asked her pointedly if she was not a white woman.

"The question apparently startled her and at first she gave an evasive answer. But Colonel Ewing made her understand that he was her friend and she finally told him her story, or what she could remember of her early life. She said she had been carried away from near some town on the Susquehanna river when she was a little girl, that she thought her father's name was Slocum and that he was a Quaker.

"Upon arriving at his home the next day Colonel Ewing told his mother what he had learned. She advised him to write to the woman's friends in Pennsylvania. This was almost an impossible task, as Frances could not remember where they lived, further than it was near some town on the Susquehanna river, and nearly three score years had elapsed since she had been carried away from her home. He finally remembered that Lancaster was an old town, near the Susquehanna, and decided to write to the postmaster there, hoping that through this medium the relatives of the 'Lost Sister of Wyoming' might learn of her existence. Following is Colonel Ewing 's letter (dated) Logansport, Indiana, January 20, 1835:

"'Dear Sir: In the hope that some good may result from it, I have taken this means of giving to your fellow-citizens—say the descendants of the early settlers of the Susquehanna—the following information; and if there be any now living whose name is Slocum, to them, I hope, the following may be communicated through the public prints of your place:

"'There is now living near this place, an aged white woman, who a few days ago told me, while I lodged in the camp one night, that she was taken away from her father's house, on or near the Susquehanna, when she was very young—say from five to eight years old, as she thinks—by the Delaware Indians, who were then hostile toward the whites. She says her father's name was Slocum, that he was a Quaker, rather small in stature, and wore a large brimmed hat; was of sandy hair and light complexioned and much freckled; that he lived about half a mile from a town where there was a fort; that they lived in a wooden house of two stories high, and had a spring near the house. She says three Delawares came to the house in the daytime, when all were absent but herself, and perhaps two other children; her father and brothers were absent working in the field. The Indians carried her off, and she was adopted into a family of Delawares, who raised her and treated her as their own child. They died about forty years ago, somewhere in Ohio. She was then married to a Miami, by whom she had four children; two of them are now living—they are both daughters—and she lives with them. Her husband is dead; she is old and feeble, and thinks she will not live long.

"'These considerations induced her to give the present history of herself, which she would never do before, fearing that her kindred would come and force her away. She has lived long and happy as an Indian, and, but for her color, would not be suspected of being anything else than such. She is very respectable and wealthy, sober and honest. Her name is without reproach. She says her father had a large family, say eight children in all—six older than herself, one younger, as well as she can recollect—and she doubts not there are yet living many of their descendants, but seems to think that all her brothers and sisters must be dead, as she is very old herself, not far from the age of eighty. She thinks she was taken prisoner before the last two wars, which must mean the Revolutionary war, as Wayne's war and the late war have been since that one. She has entirely lost her mother tongue, and speaks only as an Indian, which I also understand, and she gave me a full history of herself.

"'Her own Christian name she has forgotten, but says her father's name was Slocum. and he was a Quaker. She also recollects that it was upon the Susquehanna river that they lived, but does not recollect the name of the town near which they lived. I have thought that from this letter you might cause something to be inserted in the newspapers of your country that might possibly catch the eye of some of the descendants of the Slocum family, who have knowledge of a girl having been carried off by the Indians some seventy years ago. This they might know from family tradition. If so, and they will come here, I will carry them where they may see the object of my letter alive and happy, though old and far advanced in life.

"'I can form no idea whereabout upon the Susquehanna river this family could have lived at that early period, namely, about the time of the Revolutionary war, but perhaps you can ascertain more about it. If so, I hope you will interest yourself, and, if possible, let her brothers and sisters, if any be alive—if not, their children—know where they may once more see a relative whose fate has been wrapped in mystery for seventy years, and for whom her bereaved and afflicted parents doubtless shed many a bitter tear. They have long since found their graves, though their lost child they never found. I have been much affected with the disclosure, and hope the surviving friends may obtain, through your goodness, the information I desire for them. If I can be of any service to them, they may command me. In the meantime, I hope you will excuse me for the freedom I have taken with you, a total stranger, and believe me to be, sir, with much respect,

"'Your obedient servant,

"'George W. Ewing.1'" 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1837 "Colonel Ewing was somewhat mistaken as to the age of Frances and the time she had been in captivity. At the time his letter was written she was about sixty-two years old and had dwelt among the Indians for approximately fifty-seven years. When the letter was received by Mrs. Mary Dickson, then postmistress at Lancaster and also the owner of a newspaper called the Lancaster Intelligencer, instead of publishing it she cast it aside and for about two years it lay among a lot of old papers that were considered of no value. In March 1837, John W. Forney became one of the editors and publishers of the paper and soon afterward the letter was handed to him by one who had accidently found it a short time before. Mr. Forney published the letter in the Intelligencer, in a 'special temperance edition,' copies of which were sent to every clergyman in Pennsylvania. Reverend Samuel Bowman, an Episcopal minister, who had lived at one time in Wilkes-Barre, and who knew the story of Frances Slocum, mailed one of the papers to Joseph Slocum at Wilkes-Barre."1 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story8 August 1837In a letter dated 8 August 1837, Jonathan J. Slocum, a son of Isaac's brother, Joseph Slocum, "wrote to Colonel Ewing as follows:

"'Geo. W. Ewing, Esq.,

"'Dear Sir: At the suggestion of my father and other relations, I have taken the liberty to write to you, although an entire stranger.

"'We have received, but a few days since, a letter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster, of this state, upon a subject of deep and intense interest to our family. How the matter should have lain so long wrapped in obscurity we cannot conceive. An aunt of mine—sister of my father—was taken away when five years old, by the Indians, and since then we have only had vague and indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter we deem to have entirely revealed the whole matter, and set everything at rest. The description is so perfect, and the incidents (with the exception of her age) so correct, that we feel confident.

"'Steps will be taken immediately to investigate the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our power to restore a lost relative who has been sixty years in Indian bondage.

"'Your friend and obedient servant,

"'Jno. J. Slocum.'"

Colonel Ewing had not forgotten the letter written by him in January, 1835, and no doubt had often wondered as to its fate. Upon the receipt of Mr. Slocum's letter he at once sent the following reply:

"'Logansport, Ind., August 26, 1837

"'Jno. J. Slocum. Esq., Wilkes-Barre,

"'Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and in answer can add, that the female I spoke of in January 1835, is still alive; nor can I for a moment doubt but that she is the identical relative that has been so long lost to your family.

"'I feel much gratified to think that I have been thus instrumental in disclosing to yourself and friends such facts in relation to her as will enable you to visit her and satisfy yourselves more fully. She recovered from the temporary illness by which she was afflicted about the time I spent the night with her in January 1835, and which was, no doubt, the cause that induced her to speak so freely of her early captivity.

"'Although she is now, by long habit, an Indian, and her manners and customs precisely theirs, yet she will doubtless be happy to see any of you, and I myself will take great pleasure in accompanying you to the house. Should you come out for that purpose, I advise you to repair directly to this place : and should it so happen that I should be absent at the time, you will find others who can take you to her. Bring with you this letter; show it to James T. .Miller, of Peru, Ind., a small town not far from this place. He knows her well. He is a young man whom we have raised. He speaks the Miami tongue and will accompany you if I should not be at home. Inquire for the old white woman, mother-in-law to Brouillette, living on the Mississinewa river, about ten miles above its mouth. There you will find the long lost sister of your father, and, as before stated, you will not have to blush on her account. She is highly respectable, and her name as an Indian is without reproach. Her daughter, too, and her son-in-law, Brouillette, who is also a half-blood, being part French, are both very respectable and interesting people—none in the nation are more so. As Indians they live well, and will be pleased to see you. Should you visit here this fall, I may be absent, as I purpose starting for New York in a few days, and shall not be back till sometime in October. But this need not stop you : for, although I should be gratified to see you, yet it will be sufficient to learn that I have furthered your wishes in this truly interesting manner.

"'The very kind manner in which you have been pleased to speak of me shall be fully appreciated.

"'There are perhaps men who could have heard her story unmoved; but for me, I could not; and when I reflected that there was, perhaps, still lingering on this side of the grave some brother or sister of that ill-fated woman, to whom such information would be deeply interesting, I resolved on the course which I adopted, and entertained the fond hope that my letter, if ever it should go before the public, would attract the attention of someone interested. In this it seems, at last, I have not been disappointed, although I have long since supposed it had failed to effect the object for which I wrote it. Like you, I regret that it should have been delayed so long, nor can I conceive how anyone should neglect to publish such a letter.

"'As to the age of this female, I think she herself is mistaken, and that she is not so old as she imagines herself to be. Indeed, I entertain no doubt but that she is the same person that your family have mourned after for more than half a century past.

"'Your obedient humble servant,

"' George W. Ewing.1'" 
Frances Slocum Story "In due time Colonel Ewing 's letter reached the waiting members of the family at Wilkes-Barre. Arrangements were at once commenced for Joseph Slocum to go to the home of his sister, Mrs. Mary Towne, in central Ohio, and with her proceed to Peru, Indiana, while his brother Isaac, who lived near Sandusky, was to join them there as soon as possible. As the distance from Sandusky to the Miami village was much shorter than that which Joseph and Mrs. Towne had to travel, he arrived several days in advance of his brother and sister. His anxiety to meet the sister, who had so long been mourned as lost, was so great that he could not wait for the arrival of his brother and sister. Accompanied by James T. Miller as interpreter, he repaired to the house of Frances, where he was received with that stolid indifference peculiar to the Indian. She manifested neither pleasure nor surprise at his coming and seemed rather reluctant to tell anything of herself to a stranger. Before she was captured in her childhood, while she and one of her brothers were playing in the blacksmith shop one day, her brother struck the fore finger of her left hand with a hammer and inflicted such an injury that the nail was completely destroyed. As Isaac conversed with the old woman he kept watching her hands. At last, seeing the marked finger, he took hold of her hand and asked how it came to be in that condition.

"'My brother struck it with a hammer in the shop, a long time ago, before I was carried away,' came the answer, but without any show of emotion.

"Isaac Slocum was now convinced that this was his sister. Sadly he returned to Peru to await the coming of Joseph and Mrs. Towne. They arrived a few days later and the three, with Mr. Miller and James B. Fulwiler, went to the house of the old woman whose long life among the Indians had made her an alien to her own race. Mr. Fulwiler afterward said that Frances was 'as cold as an iceberg,' and that her reception of her relatives so affected him that he was compelled to leave the room. The injured finger was again examined and with much persuasion she was induced to tell them something of her life. Her story corresponded in all the essentials to that she had told Colonel Ewing, nearly three years before. She had forgotten her Christian name and when asked if she would remember it if she should hear it she answered, 'It is a long time; I do not know.'"

"'Was it Frances?' asked one of the party. For the first time during the interview something like emotion seemed to move her hitherto expressionless features, and after a few brief moments a faint smile illumined her face as she exclaimed, 'Yes, Franca, Franca !'”.1 
Frances Slocum Story "All doubts were now removed. This indeed was the little auburn haired sister that had been taken from her home in the Wyoming valley sixty-four years before. The company then proposed to Frances that she, with her son-in-law and daughters, accompany them to Peru, but she declined to give an answer until she could consult Chief Godfroy."1 
Frances Slocum Story "The chief advised her to accept the invitation and she promised to visit them the next Sunday and dine with them at the hotel. When they arrived and were conducted into the hotel, before any intimacy could be established, it was necessary that a formal pledge of friendship should be given and received, according to the custom of the Miami Indians. One of the daughters therefore advanced to the table and laid upon it a bundle wrapped in a clean, white cloth. Through the interpreter she then explained that it was a pledge of their confidence and friendship. Instructed by Mr. Miller, Mrs. Towne accepted the pledge in the same solemn and formal manner, and when the bundle was opened it was found to contain a hind quarter of a deer, which had no doubt been killed for the occasion. Through the medium of this ceremony, confidence was established and the visitors conversed more freely than when the brothers and sister visited Frances in her home. [John Franklin] Meginness [in his 1891 Biography of Frances Slocum, the lost sister of Wyoming] says: 'The food cooked by civilized methods did not agree with them (the visitors) and they did not relish it. The circumstances and surroundings had a depressing effect upon Frances and she sought relief in accordance with the customs of savage life. She slipped away quietly, and a few minutes afterwards was found with her blanket pulled over her head, lying on the stoop fast asleep.'"

"When it was proposed that Frances' story should be reduced to writing she at first objected, until the reasons for such a proceeding were explained to her by the interpreter. She then told her story, the main points of which correspond to the facts as narrated in this chapter. At the conclusion of her story, her brothers and sister urged her to return home with them, promising her a home and a share of all they possessed.

”'No, I cannot,' said Frances. 'I have always lived with the Indians; they have always used me very kindly; I am used to them. The Great Spirit has always allowed me to live with them, and I wish to live and die with them. Your wah-puh-mone (looking-glass) may be longer than mine, but this is my home. I do not wish to live any better, or anywhere else, and I think the Great Spirit has permitted me to live so long because I have always lived with the Indians. I should have died sooner if I had left them. My husband and my boys are buried here and I cannot leave them. On his dying day my husband charged me not to leave the Indians. I have a house and large lands, two daughters, a son-in-law, three grandchildren and everything to make me comfortable, why should I go and be like a fish out of water?'"

"In this determination she was supported by her son-in-law and daughters, and when her relatives then asked her to go with them merely for a visit, promising to allow her to return to her children, she answered: 'I cannot, I cannot. I am an old tree. I cannot move about. I was a sapling when they took me away. It is all gone past. I am afraid I should die and never come back. I am happy here. I shall die and lie in that graveyard, and they will raise the pole at my grave with the white flag on it, and the Great Spirit will know where to find me. I should not be happy with my white relatives. I am glad enough to see them, but I cannot go, I cannot go. I have done.1'" 
(Husband) Death16 September 1839Isaac became a widower when Betsy (Patrick) Slocum died on 16 September 1839 at age 59. Her death was caused unexpectedly by a sad accident. She was in a wagon driven by horses who became frightened, was thrown from the wagon against a tree stump, and died from her injuries.8,9 
Marriage*24 December 1839He married second, as her third husband, Lydia (Norton) Russell Chase, daughter of Abijah Norton and Lucy Cook, on 24 December 1839 in Sandusky County, Ohio.11,2,12,9 
Death*26 August 1858He died on 26 August 1858 in Lyme Township, Huron County, Ohio, at age 832 
Burial* and was buried beside his first wife in Strongs Ridge Cemetery, Strongs Ridge, Huron County.2,9 

Family 1

 Elizabeth Patrick b. 26 Apr 1780, d. 16 Sep 1839
Child 1.George Slocum13 b. 1822, d. 1860

Family 2

 Lydia Norton b. 28 Mar 1777, d. 4 Oct 1876

Citations

  1. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Maj Isaac Slocum Sr., Memorial# 38604457. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  7. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Elizabeth “Betsy” (Patrick) Slocum, Memorial# 38604372.
  9. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #243, Major Isaac Slocum, pages 223-225.
  10. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, naming, on page 55, an implied brother, James, with a nephew who traveled in search of Frances in 1826, however Frances had no brother named James; we have not yet been able to identify "James" with any certainty, although suspect he may have been Isaac.
  11. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Lydia (Norton) Slocum, Memorial# 38604410.
  12. [S1576] Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, online at www.ancestry.com, marriage of Isaac Slocum and Lydia Chase on 24 December 1839 in Sandusky County, Ohio, USA, referencing FHL Film# 000506617. Hereinafter cited as Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993.
  13. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Rev George Remington Slocum, Memorial# 39721036.

Jonathan Slocum1,2

b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 December 1778
Family
Birth*1 May 1733Jonathan Slocum was born on 1 May 1733 in East Greenwich Township, Kent County, Rhode Island.3,2 
Marriage*23 February 1757He married Ruth Tripp, daughter of Isaac Tripp, on 23 February 1757 in Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island.1,3,4,2 
Relocation*1777In the summer of 1777, Ruth and Jonathan Slocum, with their nine children and Ruth's father, Isaac Tripp, moved from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania and settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.1 
Religion* The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.1 
(Father) Life Changing Event2 November 1778His daughter, Frances, was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.1,5
Death*16 December 1778Six weeks after his daughter Frances was stolen, Jonathan Slocum was dead at age 45. He and his father-in-law, Isaac Tripp, were killed by Indians on 16 December 1778 in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. Jonathan was shot dead, and Isaac, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. The Slocum's son William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.1,6,3,2 
Burial*He was buried in the Battle of Wyoming Burial Ground, Wyoming, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.3 

Family

 Ruth Tripp b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
Children 1.Giles Slocum1,7,3 b. 5 Jan 1759, d. 14 Nov 1826
 2.Judith Slocum8,3 b. Oct 1760, d. 12 Mar 1814
 3.William Slocum1 b. 6 Jan 1762, d. 10 Oct 1810
 4.Ebenezer Slocum1,3,9,10 b. 10 Jan 1766, d. 25 Jul 1832
 5.Mary Ann Slocum1,2,11,3 b. 22 Dec 1768, d. 5 Apr 1844
 6.Benjamin Slocum12,3 b. 7 Dec 1770, d. 5 Jul 1832
 7.Frances Slocum+1,5,3 b. 4 Mar 1773, d. 9 Mar 1847
 8.Isaac Slocum+1,13,3 b. 4 Mar 1775, d. 26 Aug 1858
 9.Joseph Slocum+1 b. 9 Apr 1777, d. 27 Sep 1855
 10.Jonathan Slocum Jr.14,3 b. 12 Sep 1778, d. 15 Sep 1842

Citations

  1. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  2. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  7. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Giles Slocum, Memorial# 39186405.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Judith (Slocum) Forsman, Memorial# 131535095.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ebenezer Slocum, Memorial# 53319117.
  10. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #241, Ebenezer Slocum, pages 218-219.
  11. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Mary Ann (Slocum) Towne, Memorial# 231127213.
  12. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Benjamin Slocum, Memorial# 73022949.
  13. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Maj Isaac Slocum Sr., Memorial# 38604457.
  14. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum Jr., Memorial# 94088065.

Jonathan J. Slocum1

b. 1815
Family
Father*Joseph Slocum1 b. 9 Apr 1777, d. 27 Sep 1855
Mother*Sarah Fell1 b. 25 Jul 1781, d. 25 Feb 1828
Birth*1815Jonathan J. Slocum was born on 27 January or 27 February of 1815 in or near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.2,3 
Frances Slocum Story*8 August 1837In a letter dated 8 August 1837, Jonathan J. Slocum, a son of Joseph Slocum, "wrote to Colonel Ewing as follows:

"'Geo. W. Ewing, Esq.,

"'Dear Sir: At the suggestion of my father and other relations, I have taken the liberty to write to you, although an entire stranger.

"'We have received, but a few days since, a letter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster, of this state, upon a subject of deep and intense interest to our family. How the matter should have lain so long wrapped in obscurity we cannot conceive. An aunt of mine—sister of my father—was taken away when five years old, by the Indians, and since then we have only had vague and indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter we deem to have entirely revealed the whole matter, and set everything at rest. The description is so perfect, and the incidents (with the exception of her age) so correct, that we feel confident.

"'Steps will be taken immediately to investigate the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our power to restore a lost relative who has been sixty years in Indian bondage.

"'Your friend and obedient servant,

"'Jno. J. Slocum.'"

Colonel Ewing had not forgotten the letter written by him in January, 1835, and no doubt had often wondered as to its fate. Upon the receipt of Mr. Slocum's letter he at once sent the following reply:

"'Logansport, Ind., August 26, 1837

"'Jno. J. Slocum. Esq., Wilkes-Barre,

"'Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and in answer can add, that the female I spoke of in January 1835, is still alive; nor can I for a moment doubt but that she is the identical relative that has been so long lost to your family.

"'I feel much gratified to think that I have been thus instrumental in disclosing to yourself and friends such facts in relation to her as will enable you to visit her and satisfy yourselves more fully. She recovered from the temporary illness by which she was afflicted about the time I spent the night with her in January 1835, and which was, no doubt, the cause that induced her to speak so freely of her early captivity.

"'Although she is now, by long habit, an Indian, and her manners and customs precisely theirs, yet she will doubtless be happy to see any of you, and I myself will take great pleasure in accompanying you to the house. Should you come out for that purpose, I advise you to repair directly to this place : and should it so happen that I should be absent at the time, you will find others who can take you to her. Bring with you this letter; show it to James T. .Miller, of Peru, Ind., a small town not far from this place. He knows her well. He is a young man whom we have raised. He speaks the Miami tongue and will accompany you if I should not be at home. Inquire for the old white woman, mother-in-law to Brouillette, living on the Mississinewa river, about ten miles above its mouth. There you will find the long lost sister of your father, and, as before stated, you will not have to blush on her account. She is highly respectable, and her name as an Indian is without reproach. Her daughter, too, and her son-in-law, Brouillette, who is also a half-blood, being part French, are both very respectable and interesting people—none in the nation are more so. As Indians they live well, and will be pleased to see you. Should you visit here this fall, I may be absent, as I purpose starting for New York in a few days, and shall not be back till sometime in October. But this need not stop you : for, although I should be gratified to see you, yet it will be sufficient to learn that I have furthered your wishes in this truly interesting manner.

"'The very kind manner in which you have been pleased to speak of me shall be fully appreciated.

"'There are perhaps men who could have heard her story unmoved; but for me, I could not; and when I reflected that there was, perhaps, still lingering on this side of the grave some brother or sister of that ill-fated woman, to whom such information would be deeply interesting, I resolved on the course which I adopted, and entertained the fond hope that my letter, if ever it should go before the public, would attract the attention of someone interested. In this it seems, at last, I have not been disappointed, although I have long since supposed it had failed to effect the object for which I wrote it. Like you, I regret that it should have been delayed so long, nor can I conceive how anyone should neglect to publish such a letter.

"'As to the age of this female, I think she herself is mistaken, and that she is not so old as she imagines herself to be. Indeed, I entertain no doubt but that she is the same person that your family have mourned after for more than half a century past.

"'Your obedient humble servant,

"' George W. Ewing.4'" 
Marriage*12 September 1840He married Elizabeth Cutler LeClere, daughter of Joseph Philip LeClere and Rachel Manning Cutler, on 12 September 1840.1,5 

Family

 Elizabeth Cutler LeClere b. 7 Sep 1821

Citations

  1. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #244, Judge Joseph Slocum, pages 225-226. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  2. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #244, Judge Joseph Slocum, pages 225-226, reporting his date of birth as 27 January 1815.
  3. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #470, Jonathan Joseph Slocum, pages 361-362, reporting his date of birth as 27 February 1815.
  4. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  5. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #470, Jonathan Joseph Slocum, pages 361-362.

Jonathan Slocum Jr.1

b. 12 September 1778, d. 15 September 1842
Family
Father*Jonathan Slocum1,2 b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 Dec 1778
Mother*Ruth Tripp1,3 b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
(Son) Relocation1777In the year before he was born, in the summer of 1777, his parents moved with his nine siblings and maternal grandfather from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The family settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.4 
(Son) Religion The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.4 
Birth*12 September 1778Jonathan Slocum Jr. was born on 12 September 1778 in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.1 
(Brother) Life Changing Event2 November 1778His sister, Frances, was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.4,5
(Son) Death16 December 1778 On 16 December 1778, six weeks after his sister Frances was stolen, the children's father and maternal grandfather, Isaac Tripp, were both killed by Indians. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. His father, who was 45 years of age, was shot dead, and his grandfather, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. Jonathan's brother William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.4,6,2,7 
Marriage*He married Martha Underwood, daughter of Israel Underwood II and Dorothy Benjamin.8,1 
(Son) Death6 May 1807His mother died on 6 May 1807 at age 71 and, "almost with her last breath, she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister."4,7,3 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1826Nearly twenty years after his mother's death, "there came a report that an Indian called Between-the-Logs had been converted at the Wyandot mission, where Sandusky, Ohio, now stands, and that he had a white woman for a wife. Again hope came to the [Pennsylvania] Slocums. This might be Frances." The History of Miami County reported that "James Slocum, accompanied by a nephew, made the journey to the mission in 1826, but it was only to encounter another disappointment." We note that Frances did not have a brother, James, and suspect that this brother may have been, Isaac, who was enumerated in Sandusky County, Ohio, with his family on the census of 1830, remained in Ohio until his death in 1858, and had possibly even settled there before 1826.9 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1835From the History of Miami County, "Late in the year of 1834 or early in the year of 1835, Colonel George W. Ewing, an Indian trader, of Logansport. who had a large trade with the Miamis, stopped for the night at the Deaf Man's village, situated on the Mississinewa river a few miles above its mouth. He was given the hospitality of an Indian home, the mistress of which was a respectable Indian woman, and during the evening he noticed that her children and grandchildren treated her with great respect and obedience. Tired out with his day's travel, Ewing retired soon after eating his supper to a bed of skins and blankets that had been prepared for him in one corner of the cabin. But he did not go to sleep. All the members of the family soon after disappeared, except the old woman, who occupied herself for a time in attending to some ordinary household duties. As she moved about the cabin the trader watched her, noticing something peculiarly striking in her appearance, especially her hair, until he began to suspect that this was a white woman. His suspicion was soon afterward confirmed, when one of her arms was accidentally bared and he saw that the skin above the elbow was white. He then began a conversation with her in the Miami tongue—for she could speak but little English—and on gaining her confidence to some extent asked her pointedly if she was not a white woman.

"The question apparently startled her and at first she gave an evasive answer. But Colonel Ewing made her understand that he was her friend and she finally told him her story, or what she could remember of her early life. She said she had been carried away from near some town on the Susquehanna river when she was a little girl, that she thought her father's name was Slocum and that he was a Quaker.

"Upon arriving at his home the next day Colonel Ewing told his mother what he had learned. She advised him to write to the woman's friends in Pennsylvania. This was almost an impossible task, as Frances could not remember where they lived, further than it was near some town on the Susquehanna river, and nearly three score years had elapsed since she had been carried away from her home. He finally remembered that Lancaster was an old town, near the Susquehanna, and decided to write to the postmaster there, hoping that through this medium the relatives of the 'Lost Sister of Wyoming' might learn of her existence. Following is Colonel Ewing 's letter (dated) Logansport, Indiana, January 20, 1835:

"'Dear Sir: In the hope that some good may result from it, I have taken this means of giving to your fellow-citizens—say the descendants of the early settlers of the Susquehanna—the following information; and if there be any now living whose name is Slocum, to them, I hope, the following may be communicated through the public prints of your place:

"'There is now living near this place, an aged white woman, who a few days ago told me, while I lodged in the camp one night, that she was taken away from her father's house, on or near the Susquehanna, when she was very young—say from five to eight years old, as she thinks—by the Delaware Indians, who were then hostile toward the whites. She says her father's name was Slocum, that he was a Quaker, rather small in stature, and wore a large brimmed hat; was of sandy hair and light complexioned and much freckled; that he lived about half a mile from a town where there was a fort; that they lived in a wooden house of two stories high, and had a spring near the house. She says three Delawares came to the house in the daytime, when all were absent but herself, and perhaps two other children; her father and brothers were absent working in the field. The Indians carried her off, and she was adopted into a family of Delawares, who raised her and treated her as their own child. They died about forty years ago, somewhere in Ohio. She was then married to a Miami, by whom she had four children; two of them are now living—they are both daughters—and she lives with them. Her husband is dead; she is old and feeble, and thinks she will not live long.

"'These considerations induced her to give the present history of herself, which she would never do before, fearing that her kindred would come and force her away. She has lived long and happy as an Indian, and, but for her color, would not be suspected of being anything else than such. She is very respectable and wealthy, sober and honest. Her name is without reproach. She says her father had a large family, say eight children in all—six older than herself, one younger, as well as she can recollect—and she doubts not there are yet living many of their descendants, but seems to think that all her brothers and sisters must be dead, as she is very old herself, not far from the age of eighty. She thinks she was taken prisoner before the last two wars, which must mean the Revolutionary war, as Wayne's war and the late war have been since that one. She has entirely lost her mother tongue, and speaks only as an Indian, which I also understand, and she gave me a full history of herself.

"'Her own Christian name she has forgotten, but says her father's name was Slocum. and he was a Quaker. She also recollects that it was upon the Susquehanna river that they lived, but does not recollect the name of the town near which they lived. I have thought that from this letter you might cause something to be inserted in the newspapers of your country that might possibly catch the eye of some of the descendants of the Slocum family, who have knowledge of a girl having been carried off by the Indians some seventy years ago. This they might know from family tradition. If so, and they will come here, I will carry them where they may see the object of my letter alive and happy, though old and far advanced in life.

"'I can form no idea whereabout upon the Susquehanna river this family could have lived at that early period, namely, about the time of the Revolutionary war, but perhaps you can ascertain more about it. If so, I hope you will interest yourself, and, if possible, let her brothers and sisters, if any be alive—if not, their children—know where they may once more see a relative whose fate has been wrapped in mystery for seventy years, and for whom her bereaved and afflicted parents doubtless shed many a bitter tear. They have long since found their graves, though their lost child they never found. I have been much affected with the disclosure, and hope the surviving friends may obtain, through your goodness, the information I desire for them. If I can be of any service to them, they may command me. In the meantime, I hope you will excuse me for the freedom I have taken with you, a total stranger, and believe me to be, sir, with much respect,

"'Your obedient servant,

"'George W. Ewing.4'" 
(Nephew) Frances Slocum Story1837 "Colonel Ewing was somewhat mistaken as to the age of Frances and the time she had been in captivity. At the time his letter was written she was about sixty-two years old and had dwelt among the Indians for approximately fifty-seven years. When the letter was received by Mrs. Mary Dickson, then postmistress at Lancaster and also the owner of a newspaper called the Lancaster Intelligencer, instead of publishing it she cast it aside and for about two years it lay among a lot of old papers that were considered of no value. In March 1837, John W. Forney became one of the editors and publishers of the paper and soon afterward the letter was handed to him by one who had accidently found it a short time before. Mr. Forney published the letter in the Intelligencer, in a 'special temperance edition,' copies of which were sent to every clergyman in Pennsylvania. Reverend Samuel Bowman, an Episcopal minister, who had lived at one time in Wilkes-Barre, and who knew the story of Frances Slocum, mailed one of the papers to Joseph Slocum at Wilkes-Barre."4 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story8 August 1837In a letter dated 8 August 1837, Jonathan J. Slocum, a son of Jonathan's brother, Joseph Slocum, "wrote to Colonel Ewing as follows:

"'Geo. W. Ewing, Esq.,

"'Dear Sir: At the suggestion of my father and other relations, I have taken the liberty to write to you, although an entire stranger.

"'We have received, but a few days since, a letter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster, of this state, upon a subject of deep and intense interest to our family. How the matter should have lain so long wrapped in obscurity we cannot conceive. An aunt of mine—sister of my father—was taken away when five years old, by the Indians, and since then we have only had vague and indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter we deem to have entirely revealed the whole matter, and set everything at rest. The description is so perfect, and the incidents (with the exception of her age) so correct, that we feel confident.

"'Steps will be taken immediately to investigate the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our power to restore a lost relative who has been sixty years in Indian bondage.

"'Your friend and obedient servant,

"'Jno. J. Slocum.'"

Colonel Ewing had not forgotten the letter written by him in January, 1835, and no doubt had often wondered as to its fate. Upon the receipt of Mr. Slocum's letter he at once sent the following reply:

"'Logansport, Ind., August 26, 1837

"'Jno. J. Slocum. Esq., Wilkes-Barre,

"'Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and in answer can add, that the female I spoke of in January 1835, is still alive; nor can I for a moment doubt but that she is the identical relative that has been so long lost to your family.

"'I feel much gratified to think that I have been thus instrumental in disclosing to yourself and friends such facts in relation to her as will enable you to visit her and satisfy yourselves more fully. She recovered from the temporary illness by which she was afflicted about the time I spent the night with her in January 1835, and which was, no doubt, the cause that induced her to speak so freely of her early captivity.

"'Although she is now, by long habit, an Indian, and her manners and customs precisely theirs, yet she will doubtless be happy to see any of you, and I myself will take great pleasure in accompanying you to the house. Should you come out for that purpose, I advise you to repair directly to this place : and should it so happen that I should be absent at the time, you will find others who can take you to her. Bring with you this letter; show it to James T. .Miller, of Peru, Ind., a small town not far from this place. He knows her well. He is a young man whom we have raised. He speaks the Miami tongue and will accompany you if I should not be at home. Inquire for the old white woman, mother-in-law to Brouillette, living on the Mississinewa river, about ten miles above its mouth. There you will find the long lost sister of your father, and, as before stated, you will not have to blush on her account. She is highly respectable, and her name as an Indian is without reproach. Her daughter, too, and her son-in-law, Brouillette, who is also a half-blood, being part French, are both very respectable and interesting people—none in the nation are more so. As Indians they live well, and will be pleased to see you. Should you visit here this fall, I may be absent, as I purpose starting for New York in a few days, and shall not be back till sometime in October. But this need not stop you : for, although I should be gratified to see you, yet it will be sufficient to learn that I have furthered your wishes in this truly interesting manner.

"'The very kind manner in which you have been pleased to speak of me shall be fully appreciated.

"'There are perhaps men who could have heard her story unmoved; but for me, I could not; and when I reflected that there was, perhaps, still lingering on this side of the grave some brother or sister of that ill-fated woman, to whom such information would be deeply interesting, I resolved on the course which I adopted, and entertained the fond hope that my letter, if ever it should go before the public, would attract the attention of someone interested. In this it seems, at last, I have not been disappointed, although I have long since supposed it had failed to effect the object for which I wrote it. Like you, I regret that it should have been delayed so long, nor can I conceive how anyone should neglect to publish such a letter.

"'As to the age of this female, I think she herself is mistaken, and that she is not so old as she imagines herself to be. Indeed, I entertain no doubt but that she is the same person that your family have mourned after for more than half a century past.

"'Your obedient humble servant,

"' George W. Ewing.4'" 
(Youngest Brother) Frances Slocum Story "In due time Colonel Ewing 's letter reached the waiting members of the family at Wilkes-Barre. Arrangements were at once commenced for Joseph Slocum to go to the home of his sister, Mrs. Mary Towne, in central Ohio, and with her proceed to Peru, Indiana, while his brother Isaac, who lived near Sandusky, was to join them there as soon as possible. As the distance from Sandusky to the Miami village was much shorter than that which Joseph and Mrs. Towne had to travel, he arrived several days in advance of his brother and sister. His anxiety to meet the sister, who had so long been mourned as lost, was so great that he could not wait for the arrival of his brother and sister. Accompanied by James T. Miller as interpreter, he repaired to the house of Frances, where he was received with that stolid indifference peculiar to the Indian. She manifested neither pleasure nor surprise at his coming and seemed rather reluctant to tell anything of herself to a stranger. Before she was captured in her childhood, while she and one of her brothers were playing in the blacksmith shop one day, her brother struck the fore finger of her left hand with a hammer and inflicted such an injury that the nail was completely destroyed. As Isaac conversed with the old woman he kept watching her hands. At last, seeing the marked finger, he took hold of her hand and asked how it came to be in that condition.

"'My brother struck it with a hammer in the shop, a long time ago, before I was carried away,' came the answer, but without any show of emotion.

"Isaac Slocum was now convinced that this was his sister. Sadly he returned to Peru to await the coming of Joseph and Mrs. Towne. They arrived a few days later and the three, with Mr. Miller and James B. Fulwiler, went to the house of the old woman whose long life among the Indians had made her an alien to her own race. Mr. Fulwiler afterward said that Frances was 'as cold as an iceberg,' and that her reception of her relatives so affected him that he was compelled to leave the room. The injured finger was again examined and with much persuasion she was induced to tell them something of her life. Her story corresponded in all the essentials to that she had told Colonel Ewing, nearly three years before. She had forgotten her Christian name and when asked if she would remember it if she should hear it she answered, 'It is a long time; I do not know.'"

"'Was it Frances?' asked one of the party. For the first time during the interview something like emotion seemed to move her hitherto expressionless features, and after a few brief moments a faint smile illumined her face as she exclaimed, 'Yes, Franca, Franca !'”.4 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story "All doubts were now removed. This indeed was the little auburn haired sister that had been taken from her home in the Wyoming valley sixty-four years before. The company then proposed to Frances that she, with her son-in-law and daughters, accompany them to Peru, but she declined to give an answer until she could consult Chief Godfroy."4 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story "The chief advised her to accept the invitation and she promised to visit them the next Sunday and dine with them at the hotel. When they arrived and were conducted into the hotel, before any intimacy could be established, it was necessary that a formal pledge of friendship should be given and received, according to the custom of the Miami Indians. One of the daughters therefore advanced to the table and laid upon it a bundle wrapped in a clean, white cloth. Through the interpreter she then explained that it was a pledge of their confidence and friendship. Instructed by Mr. Miller, Mrs. Towne accepted the pledge in the same solemn and formal manner, and when the bundle was opened it was found to contain a hind quarter of a deer, which had no doubt been killed for the occasion. Through the medium of this ceremony, confidence was established and the visitors conversed more freely than when the brothers and sister visited Frances in her home. [John Franklin] Meginness [in his 1891 Biography of Frances Slocum, the lost sister of Wyoming] says: 'The food cooked by civilized methods did not agree with them (the visitors) and they did not relish it. The circumstances and surroundings had a depressing effect upon Frances and she sought relief in accordance with the customs of savage life. She slipped away quietly, and a few minutes afterwards was found with her blanket pulled over her head, lying on the stoop fast asleep.'"

"When it was proposed that Frances' story should be reduced to writing she at first objected, until the reasons for such a proceeding were explained to her by the interpreter. She then told her story, the main points of which correspond to the facts as narrated in this chapter. At the conclusion of her story, her brothers and sister urged her to return home with them, promising her a home and a share of all they possessed.

”'No, I cannot,' said Frances. 'I have always lived with the Indians; they have always used me very kindly; I am used to them. The Great Spirit has always allowed me to live with them, and I wish to live and die with them. Your wah-puh-mone (looking-glass) may be longer than mine, but this is my home. I do not wish to live any better, or anywhere else, and I think the Great Spirit has permitted me to live so long because I have always lived with the Indians. I should have died sooner if I had left them. My husband and my boys are buried here and I cannot leave them. On his dying day my husband charged me not to leave the Indians. I have a house and large lands, two daughters, a son-in-law, three grandchildren and everything to make me comfortable, why should I go and be like a fish out of water?'"

"In this determination she was supported by her son-in-law and daughters, and when her relatives then asked her to go with them merely for a visit, promising to allow her to return to her children, she answered: 'I cannot, I cannot. I am an old tree. I cannot move about. I was a sapling when they took me away. It is all gone past. I am afraid I should die and never come back. I am happy here. I shall die and lie in that graveyard, and they will raise the pole at my grave with the white flag on it, and the Great Spirit will know where to find me. I should not be happy with my white relatives. I am glad enough to see them, but I cannot go, I cannot go. I have done.4'" 
Children*Jonathan and Martha had at least ten children together, all except one reaching adulthood.10 
Death*15 September 1842He died on 15 September 1842 in Schuyler County, New York, at age 641 
Burial* and was buried in Dolph Cemetery, Montour Falls, Schuyler County.1 

Family

 Martha Underwood b. 11 Jan 1777, d. 6 Feb 1843

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum Jr., Memorial# 94088065. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  4. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  7. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Martha (Underwood) Slocum, Memorial# 94088211.
  9. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, naming, on page 55, an implied brother, James, with a nephew who traveled in search of Frances in 1826, however Frances had no brother named James; we have not yet been able to identify "James" with any certainty, although suspect he may have been Isaac.
  10. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #245, Jonathan Slocum Jr., pages 226-227.

Joseph Slocum1

b. 9 April 1777, d. 27 September 1855
Family
Father*Jonathan Slocum1 b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 Dec 1778
Mother*Ruth Tripp1 b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
Birth*9 April 1777Joseph Slocum was born on 9 April 1777 in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.2 
(Son) Relocation1777He was about three months old in the summer of 1777 when he moved with his parents, siblings and maternal grandfather from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The family settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.1 
(Son) Religion The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.1 
(Brother) Life Changing Event2 November 1778His sister, Frances, was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.1,3
(Son) Death16 December 1778 On 16 December 1778, six weeks after his sister Frances was stolen, the children's father and maternal grandfather, Isaac Tripp, were both killed by Indians. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. His father, who was 45 years of age, was shot dead, and his grandfather, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. Joseph's brother William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.1,4,5,6 
Marriage*1800He married Sarah Fell, daughter of Jesse Fell and Hannah Welding, about 1800.7,2,8 
(Son) Death6 May 1807His mother died on 6 May 1807 at age 71 and, "almost with her last breath, she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister."1,6,9 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1826Nearly twenty years after his mother's death, "there came a report that an Indian called Between-the-Logs had been converted at the Wyandot mission, where Sandusky, Ohio, now stands, and that he had a white woman for a wife. Again hope came to the [Pennsylvania] Slocums. This might be Frances." The History of Miami County reported that "James Slocum, accompanied by a nephew, made the journey to the mission in 1826, but it was only to encounter another disappointment." We note that Frances did not have a brother, James, and suspect that this brother may have been, Isaac, who was enumerated in Sandusky County, Ohio, with his family on the census of 1830, remained in Ohio until his death in 1858, and had possibly even settled there before 1826.10 
(Husband) Death25 February 1828Joseph became a widower when Sarah (Fell) Slocum died on 25 February 1828 at age 46.7 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story1835From the History of Miami County, "Late in the year of 1834 or early in the year of 1835, Colonel George W. Ewing, an Indian trader, of Logansport. who had a large trade with the Miamis, stopped for the night at the Deaf Man's village, situated on the Mississinewa river a few miles above its mouth. He was given the hospitality of an Indian home, the mistress of which was a respectable Indian woman, and during the evening he noticed that her children and grandchildren treated her with great respect and obedience. Tired out with his day's travel, Ewing retired soon after eating his supper to a bed of skins and blankets that had been prepared for him in one corner of the cabin. But he did not go to sleep. All the members of the family soon after disappeared, except the old woman, who occupied herself for a time in attending to some ordinary household duties. As she moved about the cabin the trader watched her, noticing something peculiarly striking in her appearance, especially her hair, until he began to suspect that this was a white woman. His suspicion was soon afterward confirmed, when one of her arms was accidentally bared and he saw that the skin above the elbow was white. He then began a conversation with her in the Miami tongue—for she could speak but little English—and on gaining her confidence to some extent asked her pointedly if she was not a white woman.

"The question apparently startled her and at first she gave an evasive answer. But Colonel Ewing made her understand that he was her friend and she finally told him her story, or what she could remember of her early life. She said she had been carried away from near some town on the Susquehanna river when she was a little girl, that she thought her father's name was Slocum and that he was a Quaker.

"Upon arriving at his home the next day Colonel Ewing told his mother what he had learned. She advised him to write to the woman's friends in Pennsylvania. This was almost an impossible task, as Frances could not remember where they lived, further than it was near some town on the Susquehanna river, and nearly three score years had elapsed since she had been carried away from her home. He finally remembered that Lancaster was an old town, near the Susquehanna, and decided to write to the postmaster there, hoping that through this medium the relatives of the 'Lost Sister of Wyoming' might learn of her existence. Following is Colonel Ewing 's letter (dated) Logansport, Indiana, January 20, 1835:

"'Dear Sir: In the hope that some good may result from it, I have taken this means of giving to your fellow-citizens—say the descendants of the early settlers of the Susquehanna—the following information; and if there be any now living whose name is Slocum, to them, I hope, the following may be communicated through the public prints of your place:

"'There is now living near this place, an aged white woman, who a few days ago told me, while I lodged in the camp one night, that she was taken away from her father's house, on or near the Susquehanna, when she was very young—say from five to eight years old, as she thinks—by the Delaware Indians, who were then hostile toward the whites. She says her father's name was Slocum, that he was a Quaker, rather small in stature, and wore a large brimmed hat; was of sandy hair and light complexioned and much freckled; that he lived about half a mile from a town where there was a fort; that they lived in a wooden house of two stories high, and had a spring near the house. She says three Delawares came to the house in the daytime, when all were absent but herself, and perhaps two other children; her father and brothers were absent working in the field. The Indians carried her off, and she was adopted into a family of Delawares, who raised her and treated her as their own child. They died about forty years ago, somewhere in Ohio. She was then married to a Miami, by whom she had four children; two of them are now living—they are both daughters—and she lives with them. Her husband is dead; she is old and feeble, and thinks she will not live long.

"'These considerations induced her to give the present history of herself, which she would never do before, fearing that her kindred would come and force her away. She has lived long and happy as an Indian, and, but for her color, would not be suspected of being anything else than such. She is very respectable and wealthy, sober and honest. Her name is without reproach. She says her father had a large family, say eight children in all—six older than herself, one younger, as well as she can recollect—and she doubts not there are yet living many of their descendants, but seems to think that all her brothers and sisters must be dead, as she is very old herself, not far from the age of eighty. She thinks she was taken prisoner before the last two wars, which must mean the Revolutionary war, as Wayne's war and the late war have been since that one. She has entirely lost her mother tongue, and speaks only as an Indian, which I also understand, and she gave me a full history of herself.

"'Her own Christian name she has forgotten, but says her father's name was Slocum. and he was a Quaker. She also recollects that it was upon the Susquehanna river that they lived, but does not recollect the name of the town near which they lived. I have thought that from this letter you might cause something to be inserted in the newspapers of your country that might possibly catch the eye of some of the descendants of the Slocum family, who have knowledge of a girl having been carried off by the Indians some seventy years ago. This they might know from family tradition. If so, and they will come here, I will carry them where they may see the object of my letter alive and happy, though old and far advanced in life.

"'I can form no idea whereabout upon the Susquehanna river this family could have lived at that early period, namely, about the time of the Revolutionary war, but perhaps you can ascertain more about it. If so, I hope you will interest yourself, and, if possible, let her brothers and sisters, if any be alive—if not, their children—know where they may once more see a relative whose fate has been wrapped in mystery for seventy years, and for whom her bereaved and afflicted parents doubtless shed many a bitter tear. They have long since found their graves, though their lost child they never found. I have been much affected with the disclosure, and hope the surviving friends may obtain, through your goodness, the information I desire for them. If I can be of any service to them, they may command me. In the meantime, I hope you will excuse me for the freedom I have taken with you, a total stranger, and believe me to be, sir, with much respect,

"'Your obedient servant,

"'George W. Ewing.1'" 
Frances Slocum Story1837 "Colonel Ewing was somewhat mistaken as to the age of Frances and the time she had been in captivity. At the time his letter was written she was about sixty-two years old and had dwelt among the Indians for approximately fifty-seven years. When the letter was received by Mrs. Mary Dickson, then postmistress at Lancaster and also the owner of a newspaper called the Lancaster Intelligencer, instead of publishing it she cast it aside and for about two years it lay among a lot of old papers that were considered of no value. In March 1837, John W. Forney became one of the editors and publishers of the paper and soon afterward the letter was handed to him by one who had accidently found it a short time before. Mr. Forney published the letter in the Intelligencer, in a 'special temperance edition,' copies of which were sent to every clergyman in Pennsylvania. Reverend Samuel Bowman, an Episcopal minister, who had lived at one time in Wilkes-Barre, and who knew the story of Frances Slocum, mailed one of the papers to Joseph Slocum at Wilkes-Barre."1 
(Father) Frances Slocum Story8 August 1837In a letter dated 8 August 1837, Joseph's son, Jonathan J. Slocum, "wrote to Colonel Ewing as follows:

"'Geo. W. Ewing, Esq.,

"'Dear Sir: At the suggestion of my father and other relations, I have taken the liberty to write to you, although an entire stranger.

"'We have received, but a few days since, a letter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster, of this state, upon a subject of deep and intense interest to our family. How the matter should have lain so long wrapped in obscurity we cannot conceive. An aunt of mine—sister of my father—was taken away when five years old, by the Indians, and since then we have only had vague and indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter we deem to have entirely revealed the whole matter, and set everything at rest. The description is so perfect, and the incidents (with the exception of her age) so correct, that we feel confident.

"'Steps will be taken immediately to investigate the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our power to restore a lost relative who has been sixty years in Indian bondage.

"'Your friend and obedient servant,

"'Jno. J. Slocum.'"

Colonel Ewing had not forgotten the letter written by him in January, 1835, and no doubt had often wondered as to its fate. Upon the receipt of Mr. Slocum's letter he at once sent the following reply:

"'Logansport, Ind., August 26, 1837

"'Jno. J. Slocum. Esq., Wilkes-Barre,

"'Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and in answer can add, that the female I spoke of in January 1835, is still alive; nor can I for a moment doubt but that she is the identical relative that has been so long lost to your family.

"'I feel much gratified to think that I have been thus instrumental in disclosing to yourself and friends such facts in relation to her as will enable you to visit her and satisfy yourselves more fully. She recovered from the temporary illness by which she was afflicted about the time I spent the night with her in January 1835, and which was, no doubt, the cause that induced her to speak so freely of her early captivity.

"'Although she is now, by long habit, an Indian, and her manners and customs precisely theirs, yet she will doubtless be happy to see any of you, and I myself will take great pleasure in accompanying you to the house. Should you come out for that purpose, I advise you to repair directly to this place : and should it so happen that I should be absent at the time, you will find others who can take you to her. Bring with you this letter; show it to James T. .Miller, of Peru, Ind., a small town not far from this place. He knows her well. He is a young man whom we have raised. He speaks the Miami tongue and will accompany you if I should not be at home. Inquire for the old white woman, mother-in-law to Brouillette, living on the Mississinewa river, about ten miles above its mouth. There you will find the long lost sister of your father, and, as before stated, you will not have to blush on her account. She is highly respectable, and her name as an Indian is without reproach. Her daughter, too, and her son-in-law, Brouillette, who is also a half-blood, being part French, are both very respectable and interesting people—none in the nation are more so. As Indians they live well, and will be pleased to see you. Should you visit here this fall, I may be absent, as I purpose starting for New York in a few days, and shall not be back till sometime in October. But this need not stop you : for, although I should be gratified to see you, yet it will be sufficient to learn that I have furthered your wishes in this truly interesting manner.

"'The very kind manner in which you have been pleased to speak of me shall be fully appreciated.

"'There are perhaps men who could have heard her story unmoved; but for me, I could not; and when I reflected that there was, perhaps, still lingering on this side of the grave some brother or sister of that ill-fated woman, to whom such information would be deeply interesting, I resolved on the course which I adopted, and entertained the fond hope that my letter, if ever it should go before the public, would attract the attention of someone interested. In this it seems, at last, I have not been disappointed, although I have long since supposed it had failed to effect the object for which I wrote it. Like you, I regret that it should have been delayed so long, nor can I conceive how anyone should neglect to publish such a letter.

"'As to the age of this female, I think she herself is mistaken, and that she is not so old as she imagines herself to be. Indeed, I entertain no doubt but that she is the same person that your family have mourned after for more than half a century past.

"'Your obedient humble servant,

"' George W. Ewing.1'" 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story "In due time Colonel Ewing 's letter reached the waiting members of the family at Wilkes-Barre. Arrangements were at once commenced for Joseph Slocum to go to the home of his sister, Mrs. Mary Towne, in central Ohio, and with her proceed to Peru, Indiana, while his brother Isaac, who lived near Sandusky, was to join them there as soon as possible. As the distance from Sandusky to the Miami village was much shorter than that which Joseph and Mrs. Towne had to travel, he arrived several days in advance of his brother and sister. His anxiety to meet the sister, who had so long been mourned as lost, was so great that he could not wait for the arrival of his brother and sister. Accompanied by James T. Miller as interpreter, he repaired to the house of Frances, where he was received with that stolid indifference peculiar to the Indian. She manifested neither pleasure nor surprise at his coming and seemed rather reluctant to tell anything of herself to a stranger. Before she was captured in her childhood, while she and one of her brothers were playing in the blacksmith shop one day, her brother struck the fore finger of her left hand with a hammer and inflicted such an injury that the nail was completely destroyed. As Isaac conversed with the old woman he kept watching her hands. At last, seeing the marked finger, he took hold of her hand and asked how it came to be in that condition.

"'My brother struck it with a hammer in the shop, a long time ago, before I was carried away,' came the answer, but without any show of emotion.

"Isaac Slocum was now convinced that this was his sister. Sadly he returned to Peru to await the coming of Joseph and Mrs. Towne. They arrived a few days later and the three, with Mr. Miller and James B. Fulwiler, went to the house of the old woman whose long life among the Indians had made her an alien to her own race. Mr. Fulwiler afterward said that Frances was 'as cold as an iceberg,' and that her reception of her relatives so affected him that he was compelled to leave the room. The injured finger was again examined and with much persuasion she was induced to tell them something of her life. Her story corresponded in all the essentials to that she had told Colonel Ewing, nearly three years before. She had forgotten her Christian name and when asked if she would remember it if she should hear it she answered, 'It is a long time; I do not know.'"

"'Was it Frances?' asked one of the party. For the first time during the interview something like emotion seemed to move her hitherto expressionless features, and after a few brief moments a faint smile illumined her face as she exclaimed, 'Yes, Franca, Franca !'”.1 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story "All doubts were now removed. This indeed was the little auburn haired sister that had been taken from her home in the Wyoming valley sixty-four years before. The company then proposed to Frances that she, with her son-in-law and daughters, accompany them to Peru, but she declined to give an answer until she could consult Chief Godfroy."1 
(Brother) Frances Slocum Story "The chief advised her to accept the invitation and she promised to visit them the next Sunday and dine with them at the hotel. When they arrived and were conducted into the hotel, before any intimacy could be established, it was necessary that a formal pledge of friendship should be given and received, according to the custom of the Miami Indians. One of the daughters therefore advanced to the table and laid upon it a bundle wrapped in a clean, white cloth. Through the interpreter she then explained that it was a pledge of their confidence and friendship. Instructed by Mr. Miller, Mrs. Towne accepted the pledge in the same solemn and formal manner, and when the bundle was opened it was found to contain a hind quarter of a deer, which had no doubt been killed for the occasion. Through the medium of this ceremony, confidence was established and the visitors conversed more freely than when the brothers and sister visited Frances in her home. [John Franklin] Meginness [in his 1891 Biography of Frances Slocum, the lost sister of Wyoming] says: 'The food cooked by civilized methods did not agree with them (the visitors) and they did not relish it. The circumstances and surroundings had a depressing effect upon Frances and she sought relief in accordance with the customs of savage life. She slipped away quietly, and a few minutes afterwards was found with her blanket pulled over her head, lying on the stoop fast asleep.'"

"When it was proposed that Frances' story should be reduced to writing she at first objected, until the reasons for such a proceeding were explained to her by the interpreter. She then told her story, the main points of which correspond to the facts as narrated in this chapter. At the conclusion of her story, her brothers and sister urged her to return home with them, promising her a home and a share of all they possessed.

”'No, I cannot,' said Frances. 'I have always lived with the Indians; they have always used me very kindly; I am used to them. The Great Spirit has always allowed me to live with them, and I wish to live and die with them. Your wah-puh-mone (looking-glass) may be longer than mine, but this is my home. I do not wish to live any better, or anywhere else, and I think the Great Spirit has permitted me to live so long because I have always lived with the Indians. I should have died sooner if I had left them. My husband and my boys are buried here and I cannot leave them. On his dying day my husband charged me not to leave the Indians. I have a house and large lands, two daughters, a son-in-law, three grandchildren and everything to make me comfortable, why should I go and be like a fish out of water?'"

"In this determination she was supported by her son-in-law and daughters, and when her relatives then asked her to go with them merely for a visit, promising to allow her to return to her children, she answered: 'I cannot, I cannot. I am an old tree. I cannot move about. I was a sapling when they took me away. It is all gone past. I am afraid I should die and never come back. I am happy here. I shall die and lie in that graveyard, and they will raise the pole at my grave with the white flag on it, and the Great Spirit will know where to find me. I should not be happy with my white relatives. I am glad enough to see them, but I cannot go, I cannot go. I have done.1'" 
(Brother) Description1839During the fall of 1839, Joseph traveled with his daughter, Hannah (Slocum) Bennett, to visit his sister, Frances, in her home near Peru, Indiana. Hannah kept a diary of their trip, which included a description of her aunt, who was then 66 years of age. Hannah wrote: "My aunt is of small stature, not very much bent; had her hair clubbed behind in calico, tied with worsted ferret; her hair is somewhat gray; her eyes a bright chestnut, clear and sprightly for one of her age; her face is very much wrinkled and weather-beaten. She has a scar on her left cheek received at an Indian dance; her skin is not as dark as you would expect from her age and constant exposure; her teeth are remarkably good. Her dress was a blue calico short gown, a white Mackinaw blanket, somewhat soiled by constant wear; a fold of blue broadcloth lapped around her, red cloth leggings and buckskin moccasins”.1 
Death*27 September 1855He died on 27 September 1855 in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, at age 782 
Burial* and was buried with his wife in Lot 430 of Hollenback Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre.2,7 

Family

 Sarah Fell b. 25 Jul 1781, d. 25 Feb 1828
Children 1.Hannah Slocum8,2,11 b. 17 Apr 1802, d. 5 Feb 1855
 2.Jonathan J. Slocum8 b. 1815

Citations

  1. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Joseph Slocum, Memorial# 60343465. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153.
  6. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  7. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Sarah (Fell) Slocum, Memorial# 60343611.
  8. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, #244, Judge Joseph Slocum, pages 225-226.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  10. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, naming, on page 55, an implied brother, James, with a nephew who traveled in search of Frances in 1826, however Frances had no brother named James; we have not yet been able to identify "James" with any certainty, although suspect he may have been Isaac.
  11. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Hannah Fell (Slocum) Bennett, Memorial# 112536354.

Judith Slocum1

b. October 1760, d. 12 March 1814
Family
Father*Jonathan Slocum1,2 b. 1 May 1733, d. 16 Dec 1778
Mother*Ruth Tripp1,3 b. 21 Mar 1736, d. 6 May 1807
Birth*October 1760Judith Slocum was born in October 1760 in Pennsylvania.1 
(Daughter) Relocation1777She was 16 years old in the summer of 1777 when she moved with her parents, siblings and maternal grandfather from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The family settled near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on land that had been inhabited by various tribes of Native American Indians for generations.4 
(Daughter) Religion The Slocum family were Quakers and treated the Indians with great kindness, and in the Wyoming Massacre of July 3, 1778, they were not harmed. Giles Slocum, Jonathan's eldest son, however, had fought against the Indians in that battle of the American Revolution, and when this became known to the Indians they decided to retaliate.4 
(Sister) Life Changing Event2 November 1778Her sister, Frances, was stolen from the family's home in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians when she was five years old. " On 2 November 1778, three Delaware Indians stealthily approached the Slocum dwelling, which stood in the edge of a piece of timber. Sometime before this Nathan Kingsley, a neighbor, had been captured by the Indians and his wife and two sons were staying with the Slocums. The men were away from home, but the two Kingsley boys were engaged in sharpening a knife on a grindstone which stood near the door. The elder boy. a lad some fourteen years of age, wore a soldier's coat, which it is supposed angered the Indians, as one of them quickly leveled his gun and shot the boy dead. Alarmed by the report of the gun, Mrs. Slocum rushed to the door and saw the Indian scalping the Kingsley boy with the knife he had been grinding. With some of her children she fled to the woods, while her daughter, Mary, about ten years old, carried Joseph, the youngest of the family. Little Frances, five years of age, and a lame brother, Ebenezer, concealed themselves under the stairway.

"After the Indians had ransacked the house and were about to depart, one of them chanced to notice the little girl's feet protruding from beneath the stairway. She and her brother were dragged from their hiding place, and with the two children and the surviving Kingsley boy the Indians started for the woods, hoping to make their escape before an alarm could reach the Wilkes-Barre fort, which was but a short distance away.

"When Mrs. Slocum saw the Indians carrying away her children, the mother love triumphed over fear and she came forth from her place of concealment in the underbrush to plead for her little ones. The savages seemed to enjoy her distress and showed no intention of releasing either of the children until the frantic mother pointed to the boy's feet and exclaimed: 'See, the child is lame; he can do thee no good!' The Indian let go of Ebenezer, but seized little Frances, threw her over his shoulder and, with his two companions, hurried toward the timber. The last sight the grief-stricken mother ever had of her daughter was the tearstained face looking back over the shoulder of her captor, one hand brushing away the auburn curls from her eyes and the other outstretched toward her mother, the childish voice calling 'mamma! mamma!' until its echoes were lost in the forest."

A pdf copy of Frances Slocum's Chapter 4, in Volume I, of Arthur L. Bodurtha's History of Miami County, Indiana, is attached, and if you prefer to read it as it appears in his book, the copy may be viewed by clicking the pdf icon here.4,5
(Daughter) Death16 December 1778 On 16 December 1778, six weeks after her sister Frances was stolen, the children's father and maternal grandfather, Isaac Tripp, were both killed by Indians. They had been feeding cattle in the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired upon. Her father, who was 45 years of age, was shot dead, and her grandfather, who was about 76 years of age and described as "an aged man", was wounded, then speared and tomahawked. Both men were scalped. Judith's brother William, who was not quite 17 years old, had also been working with the men in the meadow. He was wounded in the heel by a spent ball, escaped and gave the alarm, although too late to catch the perpetrators. The Indians had already retreated to their hiding place in the mountain.4,6,2,7 
Marriage*1782She married Hugh Foresman, son of Robert Foresman and Jane All, about 1782 in Pennsylvania.8,1 
(Daughter) Death6 May 1807Her mother died on 6 May 1807 at age 71 and, "almost with her last breath, she asserted the belief that Frances was still living and enjoined her children to continue the quest for their lost sister."4,7,3 
(Wife) Death17 December 1811Judith became a widow when Hugh Foresman died on 17 December 1811 at age 63.8 
Death*12 March 1814She died on 12 March 1814 in Ross County, Ohio, at age 531 
Burial* and was buried near her husband in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Kingston, Ross County.1,8 

Family

 Hugh Foresman b. 11 Dec 1748, d. 17 Dec 1811

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Judith (Slocum) Forsman, Memorial# 131535095. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jonathan Slocum, Memorial# 7466153.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Ruth (Tripp) Slocum, Memorial# 25769832.
  4. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Isaac Tripp, Memorial# 126953568.
  7. [S2678] Charles Elihu Slocum, A short history of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, genealogical and biographical, embracing eleven generations of the first-named family from 1637 to 1881 : with their alliances and the descendants in the female lines so far as ascertained. Also the etymology of those surnames, an account of some researches in England concerning their ancestors who bore the parent surname, Slocombe, Etc., downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Syracuse, New York: Charles E. Slocum, 1882), #111, Jonathan Slocum, pages 122-124. Hereinafter cited as A short history of the Slocums.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Hugh Foresman, Memorial# 131534494.