Early Life
John Miller Srodes was born on Grant's Hill in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on July 17, 1809. A story from his childhood says that he got angry at his brothers one day and ran away. He was captured by Indians, and his brothers could not find him. He pretended to like the Indians in order to escape. In reality, it seems that he enjoyed living with the Indians since he stayed with them for two or three years. He did finally return home, however, when an opportunity arose to do so. His granddaughter Lida Olive Bickerstaff remembers him telling her stories about when he lived with the Indians and teaching her their language, life, and customs.
Srodes experience living with the Indians probably shaped his life in the following two areas. First, it probably shaped his attitude towards those of other races. Many years later, when his granddaughter Lida saw a "colored" person for the first time, she ran away into the house. But Srodes went inside, picked her up, took her outside, and had her talk with the man. His long journey overland from the Indians to his home also may have set the stage for future journeys he would take. Three times Srodes walked from New Orleans to Pittsburgh after having arrived in New Orleans on a flatboat.
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