Fall 1757
Dunkard Bottom Is Attacked and Two Eckerlin Brothers Are Captured
During the French and Indian War, a Native war party allied with French forces attacked the Eckerlin settlement at Dunkard Bottom and captured Israel and Gabriel Eckerlin. They were delivered to the French, taken from North America, and later died in captivity. Samuel survived because he was away; after returning with a Virginia militia party, he did not reestablish the settlement. Older local accounts and the roadside marker say the brothers were killed at Dunkard Bottom, but later research documents their capture.
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Where this entry comes from
Library of Virginia, Dictionary of Virginia Biography, “Samuel Eckerlin (1703–1782)”; e-WV, “German Dunkards”; Ephrata Cloister, “The Eckerlin Brothers”
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