On March 8, 1782, 160 American volunteers from Pennsylvania, under the command of Col. David Williamson, surrounded the Moravian mission town of Gnadenhutten in the Tuscarawas Valley, home to Christian Delaware Indians. The Christian Delaware were targets of the British, the Americans and other Native American tribes during the Revolutionary War because they strove to remain neutral. The residents of Gnadenhutten were removed to "Captive Town," an area thought to be by Lake Erie, by British troops and Indian warriors in the fall of 1781. A party of Delaware were permitted to return to Tuscarawas to gather food and belongings in February 1782. On March 8, they were surrounded by the Pennsylvania militiamen and falsely accused of raiding American settlements and aiding warriors. The next day, 28 Delaware men, 29 women and 39 children were killed - each by a blow to the head with a heavy mallet. Two boys escaped to tell the story.

Rebecca Goodman

Ohio Moments will appear here daily during 2003. Have a suggestion? Contact Rebecca Goodman at rgoodman@enquirer.com or 768-8361.