t had either been
killed or taken prisoner. Among the latter were Grey's wife and his
child, a beautiful little girl of three years old. Grey was an
affectionate husband and father, and he was almost heartbroken by this
catastrophe. Fired with longing for revenge, he joined Colonel
Armstrong's expedition in September against the Indian settlement at
Kittanning on the Ohio, with some hope that his wife and child might be
found among the captives whom, it was rumored, the Indians had carried
there. Colonel Armstrong's onslaught was successful: he succeeded in
burning the village, killed about fifty savages and rescued eleven
white prisoners. Grey gained no information, however, about his family,
and, sick and exhausted by the disappointment and the fatigues of the
campaign, went home to die. He left a will bequeathing one-half of his
farm to his wife and one-half to his child if they returned from
captivity. In case his child should never be given up or should not
survive him, he gave her half of the estate to his sister, who had a
claim against him, having lent him money.

The rumor was true that the Indians had first carried Mrs. Grey and her
little daughter to Kittanning, but afterward, for greater security,
they were given over to the French commander at Fort Duquesne. They
were confined there for a time, then carried into Canada. About a year
later Mrs. Grey had a chance to escape. She concealed herself among the
skins in the sledge of a fur-trader, and was thus able to elude
pursuit. She left her child behind her in captivity, and after passing
through a variety of adventures returned to Tuscarora Valley, and,
finding her husband dead, proved his will and took possession of her
half of his property. Grey's sister was disposed to assert her claim to
the other portion, but Mrs. Grey always maintained that her little
daughter Jane was alive, and would sooner or later, after the French
and Indian wars were ended, be released and sent back. In 1764 a treaty
was made with the Indians enforcing a general surrender of all their
white captives. A number of stolen children were brought to
Philadelphia to be identified by their friends and relations, and Mrs.
Grey (who in the mean time had married a Mr. Williams) made the journey
to this city in the hope of claiming her little daughter Jane. Seven
years had passed since Mrs. Williams had seen the child, who might be
expected to have grown out of her remembrance. But, even taki