The Hochstetler family who was attacked by
Indians while living on the frontier in Berks County, Pennsylvania.This happened early on the morning of
September 20 or 21, 1757. The Indians
killed Mrs. Hochstetler, one son, and a daughter, and took the husband and
father, Jacob, and two sons, Joseph and Christian, captive.In addition, the Hochstetlers had a son and
daughter, John and Barbara, who had already married and no longer lived at
home.
When
attacked, Jacob forbade his sons to fire their rifles back at the Indians. As an Anabaptist, he would have heard and
taught his family about their history where people had suffered and died for
their faith. It is not only the stories
of persecution in Europe, but also the stories from the frontier of America
where we can see love and non-resistance in action. Our shared history as
Anabaptists forces us to ask ourselves the same questions that Jacob faced
early that September morning.
After
burning the cabin, the small band of Indians, who were led by a French military
officer, took Jacob and his two sons and fled westward into the Blue
Mountains. Joseph, the oldest son, was
13 years old, and Christian was 10 or 11. The Indians most likely limited the movement of their captives for the
next approximately 24 days as they moved nearly 430 miles westward to the south
shore of Lake Erie near present-day Presque Isle, Pennsylvania.One wonders what thoughts these three
experienced as they watched, walked with, and were fed by the very men who had
killed their family. How traumatic to
lose family in this way, and then be forced to see them victoriously wave the
scalps of your spouse, children, mother, and siblings as trophies!
The three
were separated and taken to other villages where they were carefully watched
and monitored. The father, Jacob,
escaped the following spring (May, 1758). Jacob found a river and made a raft that he used to float down river
until, nearly dead, he was rescued by a group of soldiers. He was taken to
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was interviewed and then allowed to return to
his home. One wonders what Jacob felt as
he returned to the farm, as he met his living children and grandchildren. What was it like to see the blackened ruins
where so much pain lay in the ashes of a previous life?
Meanwhile,
the two sons were more fully integrated into Indian life. Both were in their formative years as early
teenagers and as was often the case, were able to adapt to this difference
better than adults. Yet Jacob did not
forget his sons. In 1762 he wrote a
letter of petition to the then governor of the Colony, Governor Hamilton. In it he asks for the Colonial agents who
were negotiating prisoner releases and exchanges with the Indians, to inquire
about his sons. It would go until the
spring of 1765 before Christian and Joseph were released in an exchange of
prisoners.
One wonders
what they felt as they approached their familial homestead? Both likely looked and acted more Indian than
Amish, or even white. Both had been
trained to hunt and live the Indian life. Particularly for Christian, who had spent all his teen years with his
Indian family, this transition back to his birth family and church was
difficult. Both eventually married, with Joseph marrying and remaining Amish,
while Christian joined the Dunkard church. But the stories of history inform us that both struggled to fit into
this world. Both loved to hunt and
struggled with land ownership and traditional farming methods.
When we look back at these stories
of history, we must never glorify or vilify them with our perspective. This was a hard time. Losing one’s family, whether blood or
adopted, in death or separation is traumatic and life-shaping. We must consider
that in not being willing to fight back, these people were martyrs and allow
their story to speak to us today. A
recent set of books on these events by author Ervin Stutzman give life to this
piece of our history.While
fictionalized, they give strength to the ideas that shaped their world and
especially the difficulty in the losses and the trauma of separation. They also, like the stories of the martyrs
from our history, help shape our beliefs today. Could we, or would we, do what Jacob did in the
face of suffering and pain?
Below is a Link to another website that has more information
Webiste: http://www.berkshistory.org/
Link to Article
http://www.berkshistory.org/multimedia/articles/hochstetler-massacre/
Article by C.Z. Mast