Hochstetler massacre

In the fall of 1757, either September or October, a farmstead in the Northkill Amish Settlement became the site of a deadly raid known as the Hochstetler massacre. Three members of the Amish community lost their lives there, while three more were carried off as captives. This strike formed part of a broader pattern during the French and Indian War, when Lenape and Shawnee fighters allied with the French repeatedly targeted Pennsylvania settlements. Bound by their faith, the Amish family declined to take up arms in their own defense, leaving every person on the property either slain or seized. Among those taken was Jacob Hochstetler, then 45 years old, who managed to break free after roughly eight months in captivity. His two sons remained held longer, finally coming home when a peace arrangement was negotiated in 1763.

Massacre

On September 19, 1757, according to the family's own account (a date later disputed, as explained further below), neighbors from around Northkill had gathered at the Hochstetler home to slice and dry apples together. Once the visitors had gone home, the family's dog started barking, prompting Joseph Hochstetler to step outside and open the front door. A group of roughly ten Lenape warriors, directed by three French scouts, had slipped into the settlement, and one of them shot him in the leg. Guns kept in the house for hunting purposes were available to the family, and young Joseph and his brother Christian, only 11 and 13 years old, readied weapons to protect everyone inside. Their father, Jacob Hochstetler Sr., held firmly to Anabaptist beliefs about nonresistance, however, and would not permit the boys to turn their firearms on the attackers.

Just after daybreak, the raiders set fire to the dwelling and positioned themselves around it, making any attempt to flee extremely dangerous. As flames spread, the family retreated to the cellar, pouring apple cider onto the boards above them to slow the burning. When smoke began choking the air, they judged that their attackers had withdrawn since none could be seen, and made for the small cellar window as their only way out. Unbeknownst to them, a warrior called Tom Lions had lingered close by, snacking on peaches. He spotted Anna (Lorentz) Hochstetler caught halfway through the window and summoned his companions back. She was stabbed in the back and scalped where she stood. A daughter whose name has not survived, along with young Jacob Jr., also lost their lives in the attack. Jacob Sr. and Christian were seized as captives, and although

Jacob Hochstetler's captivity

Held against his will for months, Jacob Hochstetler finally broke free and made his way to Fort Augusta in May 1758. On May 5 of that year, he sat before Colonel Henry Bouquet at the fort and recounted what had happened to him. According to his account, fifteen Lenape and Shawnee warriors struck his home on October 12, 1757, and carried him off toward Fort Machault, a trek by foot and canoe lasting seventeen days. The next leg of his ordeal brought him to Fort Presque Isle one day later, and three days after that his captors moved him to a native settlement "above Venango" along the Allegheny River, a place later identified as the Seneca village of Buckaloons. There he stayed for roughly eight months, until April 1758.

Eventually his captors grew confident enough to let him hunt on his own, and he seized the chance to flee. Heading east on foot for six days, he came upon the Susquehanna River, which he then tracked for four more days. At that point he built a rough raft out of bark and drifted with the current for five additional days before finally arriving at Fort Augusta. Colonel James Burd later described the moment in a letter to Governor William Denny, explaining that he had spotted Hochstetler adrift on his makeshift raft and sent soldiers to bring him safely to shore. Hochstetler also revealed to those questioning him that during the final stretch of his flight, grass was the only thing he had eaten.

Memorialization

In 1959, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission placed a marker near Hamburg, Pennsylvania to note the Hochstetler massacre for future generations.

Aftermath

At Fort Presque Isle, Jacob's boys were pulled away from him and each ended up sold or given to different Native American families. Jacob would eventually discover that Christian had found a home among the Lenape, adopted by their chief, Custaloga. Seeking to recover his children, Jacob went before Governor James Hamilton on August 13, 1762, asking for help in bringing them home. It was not until Colonel Henry Bouquet brokered a peace treaty with the Lenape that the boys, along with more than 200 other European captives, were finally handed over to British colonial authorities in October 1764.

Joseph's release came shortly after, when he was turned over to British officials at Fort Augusta. As he left, the Native American family who had raised him urged him to come back and visit, calling him "brothers" in parting. It was said that he did indeed make frequent trips back to the village where he had once been held. Throughout his life, Joseph insisted that the attackers would have fled if only their father had let the boys fire back that day.

According to Hochstetler family tradition, Christian's path home began in a village in Ohio. He was released to Colonel Bouquet's troops at their camp along the Muskingum River, then journeyed back toward the Northkill Amish Settlement on his own. He reached his family's home in 1765 just as they were sitting down to eat, and they served him without realizing who he was, so changed was his appearance in Native American clothing and hairstyle. It was only later, outside on a stump, that Jacob Hochstetler recognized his son after Christian spoke his own name aloud in halting German. The community welcomed Christian back fully; he went on to marry, embrace the Schwarzenau Brethren faith, and ultimately serve as one of its ministers.

By the war's end, Berks County had lost more than one hundred and fifty residents to killing, while roughly 150 more had been carried off as captives by Native Americans during the conflict.