Thursday, March 10, 2016

Remembering the Martyrs of the Gnadenhutten Massacre

by Rev. JR Norwood, PhD

The Gnadenhutten massacre, also known as the Moravian massacre, was the killing of 96 Christian Lenape (28 men, 29 women, 29 children) by colonial American militia from Pennsylvania on March 8 & 9, 1782 at the Moravian missionary village. In an effort to spare their ammunition, the militia men bludgeoned the Indians to death with mallets and the butts of their guns. 

(The following is from www.ohiohistorycentral.org)...

“On March 8 and 9, 1782, a group of Pennsylvania militiamen under the command of Captain David Williamson attacked the Moravian Church mission founded by David Zeisberger at Gnadenhutten. The militia attacked the American Indians in retaliation for the deaths and kidnappings of several white Pennsylvanians, although this particular group of so-called "Christian Delaware" had recently returned from their new outpost at Upper Sandusky to forage for crops, and were not responsible for the Pennsylvania attack. The militiamen attacked the Christian Delaware natives, although these Native Americans had not been involved in the previous incidents. The Christian Delawares had abandoned Gnadenhutten the year before, but some of them had returned to harvest crops that were still in the fields. On March 8, the militiamen arrived at Gnadenhutten. Accusing the American Indians of the attack on the Pennsylvania settlements, the soldiers rounded them up and placed the men and women in separate buildings in the abandoned village overnight. The militiamen then voted to execute their captives the following morning. Informed of their impending deaths, the Christian Delawares spent the night praying and singing hymns. The next morning the soldiers took the Christian Delaware in pairs to a cabin and murdered them. In all, Williamson's men murdered twenty-eight men, twenty-nine women, and thirty-nine children. There were only two survivors, who informed the Moravian missionaries and other Christian American Indians as to what had occurred.”

            As we remember these heroic Lenape ancestors and martyrs of the Christian faith, let us be emboldened by their strength... For in the face of death, they prepared themselves with hymns of praise and prayer.  They faced their destiny with resounding bravery and resolute belief. Let us honor their memory and example by living in a like manner!