100 Objects
Jacob Miller’s clothes
On Easter Sunday 1782, Jacob Miller and John Hupp were attacked and killed by Shawnee Indians near Dutch Fork Lake while in the woods searching for a stray colt. Left behind at Miller’s Blockhouse were Hupp’s wife, Ann, a handful of women and children and one elderly man. When the Shawnee attacked the blockhouse, Ann held the attackers off by going from loophole to loophole, firing a musket to give the impression of a large number of defenders inside. The Shawnee slowed their attack, allowing time for reinforcements to arrive from nearby Rice’s Fort.
On March 31, 1861, Dr. John C. Hupp, descendant of Ann and John Hupp, wrote:
“Again, in this crisis of terrible trial, Ann Hupp proved equal to the emergency. Encouraging the trembling Ault and the weeping women with the consoling language of hope – nerving her arm and steeling her heart to the severe duties of the moment, she, with true Spartanism, snatching up a rifle fired at the approaching savages, and then ‘ran from porthole to porthole,’ protruding its muzzle in different directions – to convey the idea of great forces in the house – at each presentation causing the savages to cower behind trees or other objects for protection. This happily conceived and promptly executed strategy of this pioneer heroine, without doubt, saved the inmates from what was otherwise inevitable – an immediate and horrible death.”
The hat, vest and breeches featured here are the ones worn by Jacob Miller when he was killed. They are part of the Miller History Collection at the Washington County Historical Society.
Linda Zelch is a volunteer with the Washington County Historical Society and a member of the antiquities committee.