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321:, thinking that he was hiding inside it. When Degler returned to his home, the Indians apologized for breaking the chest. As a token of their regained friendship, the Indians repaired the chest top which they had split and carved on it two fish, as a sign that the Deglers gave the Indians food, a heart symbol of friendship, and crossed canoe paddles, an
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over time. They then moved out of Berks County and westward towards Ohio, but were resentful about it. By the 1750s, the French offered support for the Lenape to attack settlers in Berks County in small raiding parties. As conflict between the
English and the French escalated, the Iroquois became the
262:
On
October 1, 1757, Lenape from the Ohio Valley attacked near Fort Northkill in Tulpehocken Township. There are various versions of the Spatz and Degler stories, but no contemporaneous accounts (such as military journals or reports to colonial authorities) have been found. Some sources report that
253:
Berks County residents, who did not believe in violence for religious reasons, were killed when the Lenape attacked their homes. Many women and children were also kidnapped. Kidnapped people would often be ransomed back, but not always. At the end of the French and Indian War, a number of captives
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someone in the Spatz family killed an Indian, and in retaliation his companions killed the entire family of six. The Spatz family and other settlers were killed at a spring near modern-day
Strausstown, probably Little Northkill Creek (sometimes called Degler Spring, a tributary of
246:(approximately 32 feet square) was poorly constructed, and the hastily-built house inside was ill-suited to shelter refugees in inclement weather. By 1757, Lenape warriors were attacking settlers south of the Blue Mountain in the vicinity of the Spatz and Degler homesteads.
309:
Degler maintained a good relationship with Native
Americans in the area, often sharing food with them. When attacks on Pennsylvania settlements began to threaten his community, Degler and his family took refuge at
649:
The
Indians of Berks County, Pa: Being a Summary of All the Tangible Records of the Aborigines of Berks County, and Containing Cuts and Descriptions of the Varieties of Relics Found Within the County,
726:
180:, causing the water to run red with the blood of the family. The story of the massacre has been passed down through the Degler family, whose farm was adjacent to the Spatz homestead.
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Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
Genealogy--family History--biography; Containing Historical Sketches of Old Families and of Representative and Prominent Citizens, Past and Present,
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in today's central New York, directed the construction of forts to protect the German farm families in the northern part of
Tulpehocken Township (now
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One hundred and fifty Berks County residents were killed and about 150 were kidnapped by the Lenape tribe during the French and Indian War.
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After killing the Spatz family, the Lenape
Indians went to the Degler home and ransacked it. They broke open Degler's cedar chest with
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fled southward. The French and Indian War is the only armed conflict in which people were killed within the borders of Berks County.
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had signed a peace agreement with the Lenape tribe, however, German settlers forced the Lenape out of Berks County through the 1737
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Frederick Degler emigrated from
Germany in 1738 and settled on what was then Berks County's northern frontier, near present-day
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had become the frontier in the French and Indian War, as the few
European settlers who had established farms north of the
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Photo of the Bloody Spring historical marker, placed in 1915 at the site of the Spatz family massacre.
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Philadelphia: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, 2/24/2024
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decided to remain with the tribes that kidnapped them because they had integrated into the tribe.
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Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766
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Some early lineages of Berks County, Pa.: Clauser (Klauser)-Hicks (Hix) and associated lines,
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Dan Hochstetler, "The Hochstetler Massacre," Descendents of Jacob Hochstetler website, 2024
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and other land purchases that the Lenape regarded as unfair. The Lenape were pushed up the
553:, Vol. 71 of McGill-Queen's Native and Northern Series; McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2013.
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Setting All the Captives Free: Capture, Adjustment, and Recollection in Allegheny Country
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Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania,
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pivotal tribe for alliance with the British. Some Lenape, led by warriors such as
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Roberta Estes, "The Kobel Massacre," Native Heritage Project, November 29, 2012
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A stone marker was placed at the site of the massacre on June 19, 1915, by the
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Robert B. Bamford, "Strausstown Is Known For The Fighters It Has Produced,"
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of peace. Degler also carved his initials on the chest and the year, 1757.
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The War that Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War
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for help. Captain Oswald sent two lieutenants and forty men from the
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695:"Bloody Spring," PAranormal (and True Crime), January 14, 2016
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Morton Montgomery, "Victims of the French and Indian War"
606:"Chapter 8: Historical and Cultural Resources," in
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Approximate location of the Bloody Springs massacre
678:Year Book of the Pennsylvania Society of New York,
651:Spirit of Berks Book and Job Printing Office, 1881
441:. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
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610:Tilden Township Board of Supervisors, Feb 9, 2022
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437:King of the Delawares: Teedyuscung (1700–1763)
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278:The massacre is frequently confused with the
230:, Pennsylvania's long-time ambassador to the
665:vol 2; Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1916
476:Vol. 1, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896
216:At the time of the Bloody Spring massacre,
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636:Eagle Book and Job Press, Reading PA, 1913
634:The Story of Berks County (Pennsylvania),
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608:Northern Berks Joint Comprehensive Plan,
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525:History of Berks county in Pennsylvania.
300:Upper Tulpehocken Township, Pennsylvania
575:Denver, CO: Riley's Reproductions, 1959
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680:Pennsylvania Society of New York, 1916
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168:warriors on homesteads in what is now
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1131:Massacres in the Thirteen Colonies
335:Historical Society of Berks County
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275:to assist residents in that area.
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16:1757 killings in Pennsylvania, US
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282:, which occurred at the nearby
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433:Wallace, Anthony F.C. (1949).
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362:"History of Upper Tulpehocken"
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1111:1757 in the Thirteen Colonies
1106:Massacres by Native Americans
456:– via Internet Archive.
366:uppertulpehockentownship.com/
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143:Spatz family, German settlers
495:"An unusual symbol of peace"
258:Massacre of the Spatz family
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759:Battle of the Great Meadows
232:Six Nations of the Iroquois
25:Bloody Springs, Mississippi
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595:Monday, 3 April 1939; p. 3
284:Northkill Amish Settlement
236:Upper Tulpehocken Township
170:Berks County, Pennsylvania
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1101:Province of Pennsylvania
19:Not to be confused with
1091:History of Pennsylvania
872:Battle of Fort Ligonier
867:Battle of Fort Duquesne
851:Bloody Springs massacre
825:Battle of Sideling Hill
406:Anderson, Fred (2005).
379:Anderson, Fred (2000).
273:Royal American Regiment
162:Bloody Springs massacre
33:Bloody Springs massacre
523:Montgomery, Morton L.
1141:Amish in Pennsylvania
1096:French and Indian War
1070:Heinrich Zeller House
960:Fort Juniata Crossing
830:Kittanning Expedition
809:Gnadenhütten massacre
794:Penn's Creek massacre
740:French and Indian War
174:French and Indian War
96:40.84611°N 76.29333°W
40:French and Indian War
1116:1757 in Pennsylvania
846:Hochstetler massacre
412:. New York: Viking.
280:Hochstetler massacre
218:Tulpehocken Township
799:Great Cove massacre
784:Braddock Expedition
472:Clarence M. Busch,
385:. New York: Knopf.
101:40.84611; -76.29333
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1035:Fort Prince George
647:David B. Brunner,
571:Beulah Hix Blair,
1126:Massacres in 1757
1121:Conflicts in 1757
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1040:Redstone Old Fort
1030:Fort Presque Isle
882:Forbes Expedition
676:Barr Ferree, ed.
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392:978-0-375-40642-3
286:12 days earlier.
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1060:Fort Venango
1055:Fort Swatara
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985:Fort Loudoun
975:Light's Fort
965:Fort Lebanon
940:Fort Halifax
925:Fort Deshler
910:Fort Bedford
905:Fort Augusta
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1005:Fort McCord
1000:Fort Manada
950:Fort Hunter
915:Fort Bigham
738:during the
452:24 February
296:Strausstown
211:Teedyuscung
126:Mass murder
121:Attack type
99: /
74:Coordinates
63:Strausstown
1085:Categories
945:Fort Henry
920:Fort Depuy
900:Fort Allen
560:0773589899
341:References
184:Background
148:Assailants
87:76°17′36″W
84:40°50′46″N
1025:Fort Pitt
319:tomahawks
188:In 1682,
891:Frontier
304:heirloom
244:stockade
154:warriors
58:Location
38:Part of
447:1428901
269:Reading
203:Shingas
140:Victims
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323:emblem
166:Lenape
152:Lenape
132:Deaths
893:Forts
251:Amish
61:near
860:1758
839:1757
818:1756
777:1755
747:1754
556:ISBN
454:2023
443:OCLC
414:ISBN
387:ISBN
205:and
160:The
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298:in
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