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337:, 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
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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
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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
262:(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.
325:
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
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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,
40:
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196:, 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
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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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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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711:"Bloody Spring," PAranormal (and True Crime), January 14, 2016
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Morton Montgomery, "Victims of the French and Indian War"
622:"Chapter 8: Historical and Cultural Resources," in
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Approximate location of the Bloody Springs massacre
694:Year Book of the Pennsylvania Society of New York,
667:Spirit of Berks Book and Job Printing Office, 1881
457:. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
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626:Tilden Township Board of Supervisors, Feb 9, 2022
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453:King of the Delawares: Teedyuscung (1700–1763)
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294:The massacre is frequently confused with the
246:, Pennsylvania's long-time ambassador to the
681:vol 2; Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1916
492:Vol. 1, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896
232:At the time of the Bloody Spring massacre,
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652:Eagle Book and Job Press, Reading PA, 1913
650:The Story of Berks County (Pennsylvania),
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624:Northern Berks Joint Comprehensive Plan,
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16:1757 killings in Pennsylvania, US
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378:"History of Upper Tulpehocken"
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1122:Massacres by Native Americans
472:– via Internet Archive.
382:uppertulpehockentownship.com/
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159:Spatz family, German settlers
511:"An unusual symbol of peace"
274:Massacre of the Spatz family
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775:Battle of the Great Meadows
248:Six Nations of the Iroquois
25:Bloody Springs, Mississippi
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300:Northkill Amish Settlement
252:Upper Tulpehocken Township
186:Berks County, Pennsylvania
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19:Not to be confused with
1107:History of Pennsylvania
888:Battle of Fort Ligonier
883:Battle of Fort Duquesne
867:Bloody Springs massacre
841:Battle of Sideling Hill
422:Anderson, Fred (2005).
395:Anderson, Fred (2000).
289:Royal American Regiment
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49:Bloody Springs massacre
36:Infobox civilian attack
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539:Montgomery, Morton L.
41:considered for merging
1157:Amish in Pennsylvania
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846:Kittanning Expedition
825:Gnadenhütten massacre
810:Penn's Creek massacre
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190:French and Indian War
112:40.84611°N 76.29333°W
56:French and Indian War
1132:1757 in Pennsylvania
862:Hochstetler massacre
428:. New York: Viking.
296:Hochstetler massacre
234:Tulpehocken Township
815:Great Cove massacre
800:Braddock Expedition
488:Clarence M. Busch,
401:. New York: Knopf.
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663:David B. Brunner,
587:Beulah Hix Blair,
1142:Massacres in 1757
1137:Conflicts in 1757
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898:Forbes Expedition
692:Barr Ferree, ed.
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966:Fort Hunter
931:Fort Bigham
754:during the
468:24 February
312:Strausstown
227:Teedyuscung
142:Mass murder
137:Attack type
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90:Coordinates
79:Strausstown
30:‹ The
1101:Categories
961:Fort Henry
936:Fort Depuy
916:Fort Allen
576:0773589899
357:References
200:Background
164:Assailants
103:76°17′36″W
100:40°50′46″N
1041:Fort Pitt
335:tomahawks
204:In 1682,
39:is being
907:Frontier
320:heirloom
260:stockade
170:warriors
74:Location
54:Part of
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285:Reading
219:Shingas
156:Victims
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339:emblem
182:Lenape
168:Lenape
148:Deaths
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267:Amish
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793:1755
763:1754
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459:OCLC
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