Sources: History of Herkimer Co., NY, ed. by George A. Hardin, assit. by Frank H. Willard, D. Mason & Co. Publishers, Syracuse, NY 1893, pg. 40-45/ Early Families of Herkimer Co., NY, Descendants of the Burnetsfield Palatines, by William V.H. Barker, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., Baltimore, 1986.
page ix: " At 3 a.m. on November 12, 1757, disaster struck German Flats in the form of a surprise raid by a French & Indian war party under the command of Lt. M. de Bellestre, whose later report indicated 40 killed & 150 prisoners & much booty taken. No listing of the casualities of that said raid exists, however the absence of certain names afterwards permits speculation as to the identity of some of the forty persons who lost their lives that November morning---."
Page 93: " In the 1757 French & Indian raid on German Flats, the wife of Henry FRANK (Catherine), her 18 month old son (Joseph), & five (children) were captured & taken to Canada (Montreal), where they were held prisoners several years."
Henry FRANK was my 5th gggrandfather & one of the children (Lawrence) was my 4th gggrandfather. Catherine & the children were ransomed after the end of the war & returned to German Flats. Lawrence was later in the Revolutionary War & is buried at Busti, NY. The 18 month old boy Joseph lived to be 21 & volunteered in the American Army. He fought in the War of 1812 protecting Buffalo from the British. The Americans were overpowered & ran. Joseph was shot & scalped by the Indians & buried with other soldiers in a community grave.---Jack FRANK.
Return to Indian Captives Main Page