1773-1847; was captured by Delaware braves in Pennsylvania when she was 5 years old. She was raised by a Delaware couple who settled in the Miami village of Kekionga near present day Fort Wayne, Indiana. The local Frances Slocum Elementary School was named for her at 2529 Curdes Avenue from 1926-1981. The area around the school is known as the Frances Slocum Neighborhood. See Frances Slocum by Tom Castaldi published February 2, 2016 on History Center Notes & Queries blog and Frances Slocum - A Legend at WikiMarion.org a site devoted to the history of Marion, Indiana and surrounding areas, written by students at Marion High School for the Community History Project. Frances Slocum is described as (March 4, 1773 – March 9, 1847) (Ma-con-na-quah, "Young Bear" or "Little Bear") was an adopted member of the Miami people. Slocum was born into a Quaker family that migrated from Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1777 to the Wyoming Valley in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. On November 2, 1778, when Slocum was five years old, she was captured by three Delaware warriors at the Slocum family farm near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Slocum was raised among the Delaware in what is now Ohio and Indiana. With her marriage to Shepoconah (Deaf Man), who later became a Miami chief, Slocum joined the Miami and took the name Maconaquah. She settled with her Miami family at Deaf Man's village along the Mississinewa River near Peru, Indiana. Copied from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Frances Slocumwas an adopted member of the Miami nation. This neighborhood, named in her honor, is home to lush Rivergreenway Trails along the Maumee River, Parkview Hospital, and several diverse restaurants and markets.Visit Fort Wayne
PERU, Ind., April 29.-Dr. E. A. Owens, representing the Electrical Specialty Supply Co., of Chicago, in the city Thursday and while here and in conversation with Attorney Hal C. Phelps, it developed that he was a direct descendant of the late Frances Slocum, who is buried nine miles southeast of the city.
Dr. Owens is the son of Archibald Owens, who was the son of Mary Towne, and Mary Towne was the daughter of Mary Slocum Towne, who was a sister of Frances Slocum. In the year 1837 Mary Slocum Towne came to this county with her two brothers to visit the sister and to induce her to return to her people, but were unsuccessful, the white woman having lived with the Indians for so long a time that she refused to leave the husband and children.
The branch of the Slocum family. to which Dr. Owens belongs was lost sight of and was not located until two years ago, most of them having moved to California some years ago. Dr. Owens' parents came from Pennsylvania and settled in Ohio, removing from that state to California. The doctor is a member of the Chicago firm which he represents, but makes his home at 17 Fourth street in Des Moines, Ia.
Mr. Phelps took the doctor out to the grave of Frances Slocum and from there to the home of the widow of the late Chief Godfrey, where he was shown the dress formerly worn by his relatives while living in the Indian village near Peoria.
Spotlight on Somerset/Waltz Township today ~~ One of the most picturesque cemeteries in Wabash County is the Slocum Cemetery located between CR 800S and the Mississinewa Reservoir (just west of CR 550W). All burials in this cemetery are verified Miami tribe members. Of the 93 graves, about 75% were reinterred from other cemeteries in the early 1960s by the State when the Mississinewa Dam was built. The most prominent monument is that of Frances Slocum. ►Have you ever visited this cemetery? If not, I highly recommend you take the pleasant drive to see it.
FRANCES SLOCUM MONUMENT
East side inscription: Frances Slocum, a child of English descent, was born in Warwick, R. I. March 4th, 1773, was carried into captivity from her father's house at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., November 2, 1778, by Delaware Indians soon after the Wyoming Massacre. Her brothers gave persistent search, but did not find her until September 21, 1837.
West side inscription: Frances Slocum became a stranger to her mother tongue. She became a stranger to her brethren, and an alien to her mother's children, through her captivity. (See Psalm LXIX, 8.) This monument was erected by Slocums and others who deemed it a pleasure to contribute, and was unveiled by them with public ceremonies May 17th, 1900.
North side inscription: When, inclined by a published letter describing an aged white woman in the Miami Indian village here, two brothers and a sister visited this place and the identified her. She lived near here about thirty-two years with the Indian name Ma-con-a-qua. She died on this ridge March 9, 1847, and was given a Christian burial.
South side inscription: She-po-con-ah, a Miami Indian Chief, husband of Frances Slocum - Ma-con-a-quah, died here in 1833 (?) at an advanced age. Their adult children were: Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah, wife of Rev. Jean Baptiste Brouillette, died March 13th, 1847, aged 47 years, leaving no children. O-zah-shin-quah, or Jane, wife of the Rev. Peter Bonda, died January 25th, 1877, aged 62 years, leaving a husband and nine children.
We want to extend a big thank you to the Frances Slocum DAR Chapter for restoring the Frances Slocum marker in Somerset in Wabash County! Thanks in particular to Barbara Amiss for coordinating the project, to Willadean Tschantz for repainting the marker, and to Tammy and Doug Wise for transporting it and reinstalling it!
On this date in 1778, a young girl named Frances Slocum, is taken from her Quaker family in Pennsylvania by a Delaware Tribesmen She would end up being adopted by a childless couple of the Miami Tribe and given the name Maconaquah. She eventually married Shepoconah who was a Miami Chief for awhile, and lived near Peru Indiana along the Mississinewa River in a settlement know as Deaf Man's Village. They would have four children together, two sons who died at young ages and 2 daughters who lived to adulthood. Eventually Maconaquah's Quaker family would find her in 1838 in Peru, but she chose to stay with her Miami family. She passed away March 9, 1847 and is today buried along with Shepoconah in the Francis Slocum Cemetery which is owed by our the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana.
