Tom Quick the Indian Slayer and the Pioneers of Minisink and Wawarsink (Continued…)

An Original Copy of James E. Quinlan’s 1851 book, ‘Tom Quick the Indian Slayer and the Pioneers of Minisink and Wawarsink’

An Amazon.com description of the book as well as its table of contents is as follows:

One of the most dramatic tales from early pioneer America, the story of Tom Quick and his one-man war against the American Indians still arouses strong emotions to this day—especially amongst the descendants of his victims, to the point where his monument was attacked and taken down as recently as 1997.

Born in 1734 of Dutch ancestry, Tom Quick lived in peace alongside the Indians for the first part of his life, learning their language, hunting with them, and discovering all of their ways. His path ran up and down the Delaware River, and Indians were frequent guests at the Quick household.

The Indians, however, soon realized that increasing white settlement would ultimately deprive them of their land, and decided to attempt the extermination of all the Europeans along the Delaware. The Quick family were some of the early victims, and Tom witnessed his father being brutally scalped while still alive. It was this incident which determined Tom Quick’s future: at his father’s graveside, he took his knife in his right hand and his rifle in his left, and looking up to Heaven, exclaimed:

“By the point of the knife in my right hand and the deadly bullet in my left; By Heaven and all that there is in it and by earth and all that there is on it; By the love I bore my father; here on this grave I swear eternal vengeance against the whole Indian race. I swear to kill all and spare none; the old man with his silver hair; the lisping babe without teeth; the mother quick with child and the maiden in the bloom of youth shall die. A voice from my father’s grave cries, ‘Revenge! Eternal Revenge!’”He acquired the title of “The Avenger of the Delaware” and the rest of his life was caught up waging war against the Indians.

Soon his exploits became legendary—amongst both Indians and whites. Time and time again, he avenged Indian massacres with equal brutality, and somehow, even though often captured, he always escaped to carry on his private war.

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