The Bell Keeper—The Story of Sophia and the massacre of the Indians at Gnadenhutten, Ohio, in 1782, by Marilyn Seguin, ISBN 9780828320092, $12.95, 72 pages
Gnadenhutten (Tents of Grace) was a pretty town built upon the banks of the peaceful Muskingum River in Ohio County. The villagers were mostly Indians, converted to Christianity by the Moravian missionaries, whose beliefs included complete pacifism—even in the brewing conflict of the American Revolution. Young Sophia led a quiet and happy life until the summer of 1781, when suddenly she found herself and her family caught up in the fierce struggle between the American Long Knives and the British. What happened at Gnadenhutten in the spring of 1782 has been called one of the most atrocious crimes ever committed upon the Indians. Sophia was one of the few survivors. In the face of grief, hunger, cold, and the loss of all she held dear. Sophia sustained her faith and belief in the essential goodness of life. This is the story of her courage.
