INDIAN MASSACRE TOOK PLACE IN 1813 IN NORTHERN MIAMI COUNTY...Pg 3

Frontier justice was not long in coming. Gardner Bobo, formerly a militia captain in the Revolutionary War and a friend of the Dilbone family, secured the services of William Richardson. Richardson was happy to help as he was the brother in law of Barbara Dilbone. Together they lay in wait for Mingo George where the present Miami-Shelby county line crosses the Miami River. He appeared at dusk as he was returning from the grist mill on the Miami River. They shot the Indian and punched his body into a quagmire near the river bank with a long pole.

Peace returned to the area. Heart broken neighbors raised the Dilbone children. Priscilla died at age 13. Margaret married Samuel Lindsay, Jr. and lived nearby. John lived to an old age, and eventually owned most of the family farm again. William also made a living as a farmer. He subsequently moved to Shelby County and owned land in Perry Township.

When workers were paving the old Piqua-Urbana Road in 1918 (now U.S. route 36), they uncovered human bones one and a half miles west of Fletcher. Cory Henman, a descendant of the Dilbones, was called to the scene to verify the location. A memorial was erected there in December of 1949 to commemorate the final resting place for the victims of the last Indian massacre in Western Ohio. At the dedication, local historian Leonard U. Hill closed the ceremony with the following words: "May all who view this marker be reminded that: the present day comforts of life, the ease of acquiring a living and our assurance of security were not always thus. All of our pioneering ancestors endured many great hardships and a few, as the Dilbones, made the supreme sacrifice." The author wishes to thank the Dilbone family for the research materials and the photograph they provided for use in the preparation of this article.

Elba, David and Ocie are children of David and Sally Covault .