Newa Cornstalk

Notes:

Claim made by Shawnee Heritage By Don Greene. But his research is a fraud.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Shawnee_Heritage_Fraud

Newa married Lois Sarah See. Lois (daughter of Frederick Michael See and Catherine Vanderpool) was born 1746, Augusta Co. VA; died Aft 1786. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The story of Cornstalk's seizure and murder is one of the dark spots in American history.

Born about 1735 in what is now Ohio, the future chieftain was named "Hokoleskwa," meaning "maize plant"hence the English name "Cornstalk." He was also known as Keigh-tugh-qua and Wynepuechsika.

He may have had at least 8 wives and possibly as many as 30 children.

Little is known of his early life, but by 1763 he had become a Shawnee tribal chieftain and led war parties against several white settlements. He was described as being over 6 ft 6 in. tall with flowing white hair. He was spoke English well and was known for eloquent speeches before colonists.

In 1764, soldiers raided his tribal town and took him captive. He was carried to Fort Pitt as a hostage, but escaped the following year. In the following years, he became Sachem of all Shawnee tribes and finally king of the northern confederacy of Indian tribes, composed of the Shawnees, Delawares, Mingoes, Wyandottes and Cayugas.

On Oct. 10, 1774, he led 1,100 of his braves against an equal number of Colonial troops at Pt. Pleasant and after a violent battle, was defeated. Following his defeat, Cornstalk pursued a peace policy and forbade his braves to molest whites.

But in 1777, with the American Revolution at its height, he returned to Pt. Pleasant with two companions to warn settlers that the British were trying to incite his tribesmen to attack them. Fearing an attack, Colonial soldiers seized Cornstalk and his companions and imprisoned them in Fort Randolph as hostages.

A month later, Cornstalk's son, Ellinipsico, came to the fort to see his father. During his visit, a soldier walking near the fort was killed by an Indian, and other soldiers rushed to Cornstalk's quarters to kill him in revenge.

During the American Revolution the British tried to build a coalition of Indians to fight against the colonists. Chief Cornstalk alone refused to join, although many members of his tribe opposed him. Chief Cornstalk, however, had come to believe that his people's survival depended on their friendly relations with the Virginians. In the spring of 1777, he visited the garrison at Point Pleasant with a small contingent of Indians, and he informed the colonials of the coalition that was forming. While the Virginians waited for reinforcements, the Indians were held as hostages. Following the killing of a white man outside the fort by other Indians, Chief Cornstalk and his men (including his son, Elinipsico) were murdered by the soldiers.

Chief Cornstalk was admired, even by his enemies, as a fine orator and courageous warrior.

Cornstalk, who is described by historians as a handsome, intelligent, and highly honorable man, stood calmly in the doorway to his room and faced his slayers. He was felled by nearly a dozen rifle shots. The soldiers then entered the room and killed Cornstalk's son and two companions. The murder of their chieftain turned the Shawnees from a neutral people into the most implacable warriors, who raided Virginia settlements for 20 years after the incident.

More detailed information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornstalk


Died:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornstalk

In the fall of 1777, Cornstalk made a diplomatic visit to Fort Randolph, an American fort at present-day Point Pleasant, seeking as always to maintain his faction's neutrality. Cornstalk was detained by the fort commander, who had decided on his own initiative to take hostage any Shawnees who fell into his hands. When, on November 10, an American militiaman from the fort was killed nearby by unknown Indians, angry soldiers brutally executed Cornstalk, his son Elinipsico, and two other Shawnees.

Hokoleskwa married Helizikinopo ca 1739. Helizikinopo was born 1715, Pennsylvania; died Aft 1809, Ohio. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Claim made by Shawnee Heritage By Don Greene. This is a fraud.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Shawnee_Heritage_Fraud