Dealing with the Darkest Day in Ohio History

Gnaddenhutten

If you google “Darkest Day in Ohio History,” the first result is October 10, 1987, the date that the Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 31 - 10. Then OSU coach Earle Bruce called that loss the darkest day in Ohio history. (Ohio State fired Bruce a month later.)

But growing up in Ohio, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, I learned that the Moravian Massacre at Gnaddenhutten was by far the darkest day in the history of the state, although at the time of the massacre statehood for Ohio was still twenty-one years away.

Ohio children are (or were when I was a kid) required to take “Ohio History.” It was taught in 7th grade. Our teacher, Mrs. Terry, was a strict ‘no nonsense’ type who had high expectations for her students. The culmination of the class was the “Ohio History Scrapbook” that we each put together, then proudly exhibited in the foyer of the school for all, parents and community, to see. That class was one of my favorite, and instilled a curiosity and love of history that still continues.

Engraving of the Gnadenhutten massacre from 1852, from Henry Howe's book "Historical Collections of the Great West". Artwork description: "Massacre of the Christian Indians. - Of the number thus cruelly murdered by the backwoodsmen of the upper Ohio, between fifty and sixty were women and children - some of them innocent babes."

The darkest chapter of Ohio History was Gnaddenhutten. Even to say the name aloud brings shame to anyone who knows the story. Gnaddenhutten stands as a stark mark of horror and revulsion in the history of Ohio and the old Northwest Territory. Mrs. Terry made sure we knew about Gnaddenhutten.

When I wrote Chapters 17 and 18 of Four Hundred Years in America, published this week, I was loath to do more than mention the fact that Gnaddenhutten was most likely the stimulus for the Indian attacks on the Washington County, Pennsylvania pioneers who lived at Dutch Fork. I wrote:

“In the Spring of 1782 Indian hostilities began earlier than usual across the western frontier.  On March 8, 1782, Col. Williamson and his rangers brutally massacred the peaceful Christian Indians living at Gnadenhutten, Ohio.  Hordes of Shawnee Indians began crossing the Ohio River threatening the settlements on the other side of the river.  In the face of these threats the settlers along Buffalo Creek and Dutch Fork moved their families into the forts and blockhouses they had built for protection.” Chapter 17, Four Hundred Years in America.

I left out a few things, though. First, I left out the details of the massacre itself. The facts were just too horrible to recite. I forgot that not everyone had Mrs. Terry for Ohio History.

Second, I failed to mention that most likely one of my direct ancestors was at Gnaddenhutten. I knew that the men who lived at Dutch Fork during the Revolution, including my ancestors, were part of the Pennsylvania Militia. And I knew that it was the Washington County Pennsylvania militia who were involved in the massacre at Gnaddenhutten. But I couldn’t bring myself to address such things in my book.

After my son properly questioned my objectivity on the subject, however, I have reexamined things. I am going to add another chapter to my book, retroactively, to cover the details of the massacre and the involvement, if any, of ancestor Jacob Miller, Jr., whom pay records seem to indicate was present at the massacre, or at least was a member of the militia who went to Gnaddenhutten.

I must confess, however, that I am holding out some hope. Today, while trying to get the pay records of the militia, I found reference to a small 39 page book, available only at the Ohio Genealogical Society and the LDS Library in Salt Lake, that lists the names of those in the militia, and also the names of a few of the 18 men who, at the time, opposed the massacre. And Jacob Miller is listed as one of those who opposed it. We will see.

The 2016 article, “The Forgotten Survivors of Gnaddenhutten”, by Alan D. Gutchess, Western Pennsylvania History Magazine, states in footnote 5:

“A recent well-researched attempt to compile a comprehensive list of all of those Militiamen on the campaign was done by George C. Williston. … Williston lists other potential dissenters as … Jacob Miller…”.

I spoke with the Ohio Genealogical Society today and hope to have a copy of the small article soon. Whatever the results of my research, I am determined to dig deeper into this story.

Was the clash of the Europeans with the Native Americans inevitable? It is hard to imagine a scenario in which the land-hungry Europeans could be kept away from the rich lands west of the Appalachians. Even if the Atlantic had been more of a barrier, the Russians had already started to colonize the continent from the west by 1784 with the permanent settlement of Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island.

The Three Saints Bay Settlement off Gregory Shelikhov on Kodiak Island, public domain.

The Russian excursions into North America from the west did not go well. In 1802, Tlingit warriors destroyed several Russian settlements, including Sitka (then Redoubt St. Archangel Michael). Eventually of course the Russians sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million (equivalent to $157 million today).

Perhaps eventually there may have been a peaceful way to integrate the Native American cultures with those of the Europeans. The Spanish and Portuguese colonizations to the south certainly didn’t go well for the Native Americans. I just don’t think it was possible to reconcile two such different cultures peaceably.

But genocidal massacres such as those seen on both sides during the American Revolution can never be excused, nor should they be overlooked. Mrs. Terry never did.