Legends of the Shawangunk2 JR.pdf - Friends of the Sabbath ...

Captivity of Mrs. Coleman. 95
over at the mountains where his white squaw and half-breed boys resided, but he never
dared venture into their vicinity. As Polly’s identity was established beyond cavil, the
property of her father was placed in her possession, which was sufficient, with judicious
economy, to provide for her wants.
The two boys grew up tall and slender, but both died before reaching manhood. Polly
lived to a good old age, and often related, to groups of eager friends, the story of her
captivity among the Delaware Indians.
CAPTIVITY OF MRS. COLEMAN.
DURING the perilous times of the French and Indian war the settlements east of the
Shawangunk were not exempt from visits of scalping parties of Indian hostiles. It was at
this stormy period that two brothers by the name of Coleman occupied a double log
house with their families a short distance south-east of the present village of Burlingham.
On a Sabbath afternoon one of the brothers went into the woods to search for a span
of horses that had strayed from home. While there he was sur-
DEATH OF COLEMAN.
prised by a war-party of Indians lying in ambush, and was shot and scalped. The savages
then proceeded to the house, where the other brother was sick, and confined to his bed.
There was a crevice between the logs next [to] the bed on which the sick man lay,
through which the Indians could insert the muzzles of their guns. The first intimation of
danger the family had, was the startling report of fire-arms, the belching flames of
gunpowder from the walls of their cabin and the piercing death-shriek of the brother as
the fatal bullet penetrated his brain. The next moment the painted demons burst into the
house, dragged the corpse from the bed to the door and tore away the scalp with savage
exultation. The women and children looked on, paralyzed with horror, and in