"Brother, we, in behalf of the people of Sawcunk, desire that you will hold fast what you have begun, and be strong.[1] We are but little and poor, and therefore cannot do much. You are rich, and must go on and be strong. We have done all in our power towards bringing about a peace: we have had a great quarrel about you with the French; but we do not mind them. Do you make haste, and be strong, and let us see you again." The said Killbuck is a great captain and conjurer; he desired me to mention him to the Governor, and ask him if he would be pleased to send him a good saddle by the next messenger; and that he would do all in his power for the service of the English.
28th.—We set out from Sawcunk, in company with
twenty, for Kushkushkee; on the road Shingas addressed
himself to me, and asked, if I did not think, that, if he
came to the English, they would hang him, as they had
offered a great reward for his head. He spoke in a very
soft and easy manner. I told him that was a great while
ago, it was all forgotten and wiped clean away; that the
————
- ↑ That is, go on steadily with this good work of establishing a peace.—C. T.?]
Revolution. Finding that impossible, he joined the American cause (1778), and
brought an Indian contingent to the aid of General McIntosh at Fort
Laurens; dying, however, before the attack was made on the Sandusky towns.
He was always a firm friend of the Moravians, and though of small stature
was one of the best and bravest of Delaware chiefs.
There were two chiefs known by the name of Killbuck, the younger of
whom was the more famous. His Indian name was Gelelemend, and he was a
grandson of the great chief Netawatwes. Born near Lehigh Water Gap in the
decade 1730-40, he removed to the Allegheny with the Delawares, and later
to the Muskingum, where was a village called Killbuck's Town. Like White
Eyes, he was a firm friend of peace and of the whites, and his life was imperilled
because of this advocacy. He joined the Moravians, and was baptized as
William Henry, about 1788. Later he removed to Pittsburg to secure protection
from his enemies, but died at Goshen in 1811. A lineal descendant of
Killbuck is at present a Moravian missionary in Alaska.—Ed.
