. The pictorial sketch-book of Pennsylvania, or, Its scenery, internal improvements, resources, and agriculture, populary described . settlers had fled after the battleand massacre, but here and there a family had remained, or hadreturned soon after the flight. Skulking parties of Indians continuedto prowl about the valley, killing, plundering, and scalping, as op- 260 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. portunity offered. It was at this time that Frances Slocum was cap-tured. The story of hor life fully illustrates the remark, that truthis strange—stranger than fiction. The following, originally pub-lished in


. The pictorial sketch-book of Pennsylvania, or, Its scenery, internal improvements, resources, and agriculture, populary described . settlers had fled after the battleand massacre, but here and there a family had remained, or hadreturned soon after the flight. Skulking parties of Indians continuedto prowl about the valley, killing, plundering, and scalping, as op- 260 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. portunity offered. It was at this time that Frances Slocum was cap-tured. The story of hor life fully illustrates the remark, that truthis strange—stranger than fiction. The following, originally pub-lished in the North American, of Philadelphia, narrates the circum-stances of this singular affair : At a little distance from the present court-house at Wilkes-barre, lived the family of Mr. Jonathan Slocum. The men wereone day away in the fields, and in an instant the house was sur-rounded by Indians. There were in it a mother, a daughter aboutnine years of age, a son aged thirteen, another daughter aged five,and a little boy aged two and a half. A young man, and a boy bythe name of Kingsley, were present grinding a knife. The first. INDIANS CAPTURING THE CHILD OF MRS. SLOCUM. thing the Indians did was to shoot down the young man and scalphim with the knife which he had in his hand. The nine year oldsister took the little boy two years and a half old, and ran out of theback door to get to the fort. The Indians chased her just enough toBee her fright, and to have a hearty laugh, as she ran and clung to CAPTURE OF MISS SLOCUM. 261 and lifted her chubby little brother. They then took the Kingsleyboy and young Slocum, aged thirteen, and little Frances, aged five,and prepared to depart. But finding young Slocum lame, at theearnest entreaties of the mother, they set him down and left captives were then young Kingsley and the little girl. Themothers heart swelled unutterably, and for years she could not de-scribe the scene without tears. She saw an Indian throw her childover his


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade, booksubjectminesandmineralresources