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The Captivity of Benjamin Gilbert and His Family, 1780-83 is a captivity narrative by William Walton relating the experiences of a Quaker family of settlers near Mauch Chunk in present-day Carbon County, Pennsylvania. The story was originally published in 1784, and has since been republished numerous times under varying titles.
The narrative
In 1780, the Gilbert family was settled near what was then the frontier between encroaching colonists and Native Americans. In a minor action in the American Revolution a war party from the British base at Fort Niagara, under the overall command of Colonel John Butler, swept through the area. The attack was probably in retaliation for the destruction of native towns by the Sullivan Expedition the previous year.
The war party consisted of eleven people:
Roland and John were the sons of Catherine Montour, called French Catherine.
The other five were unidentified Senecas.
The war party took the Gilbert family and some neighbors captive, fifteen people in all:
The group made the trek from Pennsylvania to Fort Niagara on foot and horseback, a journey of about a month. Although threatened with death several times the captives were generally well treated. Harrigar managed to escape en route.
On reaching Niagara, Benjamin and Elizabeth Gilbert, and Jesse and Sarah Gilbert were released through the intervention of John Butler and Guy Johnson, and sent by boat to Montreal. Benjamin died on the way, but the other three safely reached their destination.
The remaining captives were adopted by Indian families and spent time in Niagara and Buffalo Creek. The last were freed in 1782.