Mary Campbell (colonial Settler) - Abduction

Abduction

On May 21, 1758, at the age of ten, Campbell was abducted from a place in or near the town of Penn's Creek, probably the town of that name situated in Cumberland (now Snyder) County, Pennsylvania. Her captors were a band of Lenape, a Native American tribe also known as the Delaware. It is widely believed that during her captivity she stayed in the household of, or with the tribe of, a principal chief of the Lenape called Netawatwees, also known by his English name, Newcomer. According to local tradition, this Native American group brought her to a cliff cavity now known as Mary Campbell Cave near the Cuyahoga River in present-day Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. After a reportedly brief residence in the cave, she is said to have moved to a nearby Lenape village, which may have been along the southern bank of the Cuyahoga River not far from the cave, or else on the flat ground directly above the cave.

Several lines of family tradition, however, say that Campbell lived with the Lenape in a place called Newcomerstown which is further south in eastern Ohio. This tradition tends to confirm Campbell's association with Netawatwees, since Newcomerstown was named after its founder Netawatwees (Newcomer). If, as this suggests, Mary's association with the group headed by Netawatwees is accepted, then both the local tradition of Mary Campbell's stay near Cuyahoga Falls as well as the family traditions which place her in Newcomerstown are probably correct. What is historically known of Netawatwees indicates that he established his people near Cuyahoga Falls from late in 1758 or early 1759. This would correspond with a period early in Mary Campbell's captivity, since she was abducted in May 1758. It is also known that he later moved with his group to eastern Ohio and there founded Newcomerstown.

Some writers have suggested that Campbell may have been adopted by Netawatwees. The adoption into an Indian family, of captives taken in raids, was common practice among the Native Americans of that time period, and Campbell most probably was adopted into a Lenape family according to this custom. Nevertheless, although it seems certain she was a member of the tribal group which followed and moved with Netawatwees, it cannot be definitely established that she was adopted into his own household.