Samuel and Margaret KARR were farming in the Wyoming Valley of what is now Luzerne Co, PA (but was then disputed between CT and PA) by 1774. Their daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth MAJOR, "often told of the Indians coming to their home at the time of the Wyoming massacre brandishing their tomahawks and scalping knives that were reeking with blood of their innocent victims. She told how her mother met them at the door and forbade their entering; how she arose to her full height and defied them while several children were clinging to her for protection, the Indians meanwhile seizing them and threatening to scalp them alive." Margaret stood firm, pointing heavenward, not attempting to flee. "She told them they could go no further than the Almighty would allow...They tore into fine strips a rich scarlet cloak and thus decorated themselves, parading before a large looking glass, much pleased with their appearance. They rolled up the large looking glass in bedding and carried it away, being much delighted with it. The Indians drove off the stock and having killed the hogs in the pen, they quartered them and carried off the meat with the hair on. "Mr KARR escaped, being in the woods at work. He kept secreted several days fearing the Indians might still be lurking around. Their boy, Walter, being at one of the neighbors, was taken prisoner. They all suposed him dead. For days they searched; the anxious mother with shovel in hand, looked in fields and woods for her dead and mutilated boy, intending to bury him wherever he might be found. She didn't even get any news from him or from the family where he went to play. It was a cruel experience. She was a woman of powerful nerve or she could not have gone through what she did. He was seven years old [sic--actually 10 yrs--cgd] when captured and did not forget his name. At the close of the Revolutionary War his name was advertised with those of other liberated prisoners. When claimed by his father, he did not want to go home with him. The squaw who adopted him hid him under her blanket. He was long enough with the Indians to acquire many of their habits and his friends think his Indian captivity influenced his whole life." There is a tradition among some members of the KARR family that Walter's wife, Any McNEIL, was of Indian descent. --"Grandmother Margaret KARR", by Stephen Major COLEMAN [great-grandson]. Newspaper article from Allegany Co., NY published in late 1800's and included in "NY Family, Bible, and Misc. Records 1700-1940. Daughters of the American Revolution, Vol 60. [FHL microfilm #862,778] / Carolyn G. Depp
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