Customer Reviews

The Bell Keeper: The Story of Sophia and the Massacre of the Indians at Gnadenhutten, Ohio, in 1782

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This is a children's book of about 70 pages. It is a fictionalized story of a real person, "Sophia," dealing with the events surrounding the Gnadenhutten massacre of peaceful Christian Indians in Ohio in 1782. Considering the title, "The Bell Keeper: the story of Sophia and the massacre of the Indians at Gnadenhutten, Ohio, in 1782," this was a little disappointing in that there were only about 2 pages dealing with the actual massacre, that told in a narrative by a survivor of the massacre. This leaves many unanswered questions about why the massacre actually happened. However, this is a childrens' book, and as such, it may be better to not go into too much detail.
The book deals mainly with the girl Sophia and how her world is turned upside down in the events surrounding the Revolutionary war. It is a decent children's story about the girl and her life at the time, but not really a very good story about the Gnadenhutten massacre. That said, it is still a worthwhile book for those who want to give their children a taste of history. It may lead them to become interested in finding out more about the massacre.
Another good "historical novel" about this event is "Tuscarawas," by Carter Kissell, although this book is for an older audience-and probably hard to find.
Or for even more history surrounding the Massacre, see "That Dark and Bloody River," by Allan Eckert. This book, however, covers a great deal of history of the Ohio Area, but does give a very good history of the Gnadenhutten massacre. This isn't a children's book, however.
In any case, while the "The Bell Keeper" is not a great work of history, and I think it could have been better; it is a decent fictionalized account of Sophia's life at the time, and reasonably well written. Even with my criticisms, I would recommend this book to those interested in having their children gain some knowledge of history.