The Tom Lion Legend
By Ivan L Miller, DBH 6879Editor's note: One of the many interests of Ivan was the Tom Lions story. Several years ago he compiled from many published sources a lengthy composite account. As it was too long for the Newsletter, J. Virgil Miller has condensed this version of it. It is presented as a legend, not an historical account. There art no sources or documentation given. It is also clearly told from the viewpoint of white people. Unfortunately, Tom is not here to give his own autobiography. We hope no one takes offense at this attempt to put a name and face to one of the many Native Americans which our colonial foreparents encountered
The earliest mention of Tom Lions dates back to Sept 19 and 20,1757, when the horrible massacre of the Jacob Hochstetler family occurred at their home in Berks County, PA. Had it not been for this nefarious figure, the massacre and captivity might have been averted. Tom was an Indian brave, who flits in and out of our family history. He was known as Tom Lions, (sometimes spelled Lyon). Tom Lions can be seen in the background, lurking in the shadows and the Hochstetler story would not be complete without including him. OId Tom Lions lived among the people he had fought against, after warfare between the whites had ceased. There are many stories about him, some true and some surely not.
While the Hochstetler family in 1757 was huddled in their cabin basement with their home burning, beating back the fires, the Indians were waiting on the outside for the family to emerge. Meanwhile it was morning, daylight was approaching, and the Indians were reluctant to subject themselves to being fired upon, unless under cover. Knowing the fire and smoke would attract settlers; they began to leave the scene and disappeared into the woods. The family, thinking the Indians had all left, emerged through a basement window. Tom Lions, a member of the raiding party, about 18 years of age, had lingered behind to pick ripe peaches, and saw them escaping from the burning building. He gave the alarm, and the departing Indians quickly returned and surrounded the Hochstetler family. The mother, a daughter, and a wounded son were quickly murdered and scalped. The father, Jacob, and two teenage sons, Joseph and Christian, were taken captive. Again, if it hadn't been for Tom Lions lingering behind, it is likely that the Hochstetlers would have escaped the massacre and captivity.
During this time the Amish-Mennonite people were living in northern Berks County, PA., south of the Blue Mountains along three streams, the NorthkiII, Iris Creek, and Maiden Creek. The Indians raided the settlements, during the French and Indian War, in which they were on the side of the French, coming through gaps in the Blue Mountains and the wall of rock extending north of that area. During the Revolutionary War and the years following, all the Amish-Mennonites left, some moving south to Lancaster, Chester and Lebanon Counties, others moving two hundred miles west to Somerset and Cambria Counties (all in PA.) from Johnstown south to the Maryland line. The U.S. was very young then, and Indians were still on the land. Although they had ceded the land to the U.S. government by then, the Indians did not leave until long after the first settlements were made by the whites. The westward migration was slow, but it was sure, though the atrocities continued until in the next century. By 180O - 1815, a goodly number of our ancestors lived in central and western PA, and even in eastern Ohio.
After most of the Indians had retreated westward, even including the ones who were Christianized by the Moravian Missions, Old Tom Lions remained in eastern Ohio. During the years 1808 and 1812 the earliest settler's found Tom Lions, who had already pitched his hut in a small ravine approximately a half-mile west of U.S. 62, between Berlin and Bunker Hill in Hokes County. Through this ravine flows Lions Run in a southeastern direction emptying into Doughty Creek. Most of the Indians had moved westward, while Old Tom Lions just "stayed". One record describes Old Lions' dwelling place as not a wigwam, but rather two cabins made of buckeye logs, with a small ground spot or area in between, and a loop covered with a balsa wood bark.
From 1757 to 1808, there are few references to Tom Lions, but he certainly was a member of Indian raiding parties who attacked many white settlers in Pennsylvania during those 50 years. In the latter part of his life he would boast and tell of his experiences, especially when under the influence of whiskey. Without a further history of Tom Lions among the white settlers, the history of Holmes and adjoining counties would be incomplete.
In his later years, Old Tom Lions gave the impression that he, though a minor chief, was not on friendly terms with other Indians. It was also said that even in his old age, he never overcame his savage lust for blood of the whites and his hatred for them. He had a very mean disposition, both with the whites and with other Indians. One report describes Tom Lions as a very aged, full-blooded, ugly looking savage. He was dark and large for an Indian, of coarse features, high cheekbones, and large protruding lips. When ornamented with a silver clevis and doubletrees in each ear and on his nose, and smoking from a bowl and through the handle of his tomahawk, he had a grotesque look. He was feared by the whites, and considered extremely repulsive.
He hunted, trapped and often begged corn meal from white settlers, sometimes traded wood ladles and woven baskets for meal and also threatened whites when not given provisions. He claimed to have a rawhide upon which were strung 99 dried tongues of enemies he had killed. He threatened people that theirs might become the 100th of those tongues. However, some people said they were deer tongues. Some believed that by stringing the 100th tongue on the rawhide, Tom would be immune to a white man's bullet. On some occasions Tom would boast of his achievements. He said he had been in many battles on the border and had taken many scalps. He related some of the barbarities inflicted on wives and children of border settlers. He would tell of his stealthy approach of cabins in the dead of night, when the inmates were asleep and as silently as possible push a hole in the clay mortar of the chimney into the fireplace. He would attach a charge of gunpowder to his ramrod and push it on the embers. When the gunpowder would ignite and illumine the inside, he could count the inmates. If there was more than one man, he would hurriedly withdraw, but if only one, he would shoot the man, and then kill the women and children. He boasted of entering houses and murdering German women. They would scream and repeat "Herr Yessus, Her Yessus" as he killed them. Another time he told of entering a white family's cabin and finding a baby lying in a cradle. When the baby looked up at him, he smiled, and could not kill it. He then kicked the cradle over and the baby cried. He could then kill it.
Lions could also tell of tomahawking so many people "till his arm was sick." He also gave a graphic account of his in the Battle of Fallen Timbers against Gen. Anthony Wayne. "Wayne, he great chief. He be one devil to fight. He hear his dinner horn way over there go 'Toot, toot'. Then his soldiers run forward-'shoot, shoot.' Indian run, no stop. Old Tom see too much fight to be trap-he keep run till he clear out of danger. Wayne great fight-brave white chief. He be no devil." Another time, Lions denounced Gen. Wayne as a "bad man, swear that he could be heard three miles." While describing the fight, Old Tom gestured and grinned as if in the midst of battle, impressing the whites.
Superstitions arose about Tom Lions. It was believed that he was lead-proof, and no one could even aim a steady sight on him with an ordinary rifle. There is a report that one of Jacob Hochstetler's great-grandsons, upon seeing Lions in Shanesville, raised his rifle and drew a sight on Lions. The Indian seemed to sense this, turned around and said quickly, "Au, mustn't do that." The Hochstetler descendant was asked later if he could have shot Lions. His reply was, "I could have shot him down like a buck." Old Tom Lions disappeared around 1820,when he was about 80 years old. It is not certain how he died. He was in the habit of leaving his hut for long periods of time. After being absent for a longer time than usual, settlers living nearby made an examination of the premises. They found nothing disturbed, nothing missing, indicating that he expected to return. It is not known just how Lions came to his death, but it seems certain that only two eyes saw him to his death, and they were the eyes of a white man. His boasting and stories made him many enemies; no one missed him or mourned his passing.
Some legends about the death of Tom Lions:
| 1) | It was reported that, on leaving a tavern, Old Lions was killed by a gang of toughs, probably drunk. |
| 2) | Another tradition says he was killed by a white person and his body thrown in a swamp. |
| 3) | Some say a 16 year old boy became so enraged at Lions' boasting that he heft gun to his shoulder and shot him. |
| 4) | Others say Jacob Miser shot him. |
| 5) | Some say Christian Olinger, a witch doctor, shot him with a silver bullet, because he was invulnerable to ordinary ones. |
And there are many other legends about the death of Tom Lions, and it remains a mystery to this day. For many years after the disappearance of Tom Lions, children in northeastern Ohio were quieted by merely mentioning his name. The superstitious fear by people in that area lasted for several generations after his death.
Legend condensed by. Virgil Miller, 1997.
