Ohio's Forgotten Land Grants for Christian Native Americans #ohiohistory #history #genealogy

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]In 1782, American militia massacred 96 unarmed Christian Munsee and Lenape men, women, and children at Gnadenhutten, Ohio.

[00:00:12]A decade and a half later, Congress tried to make partial amends. In 1798, the federal government granted three tracts of land back to Christian Indians and the Moravian Church: Schoenbrunn, Gnadenhutten, and Salem in modern Tuscarawas County.

[00:00:31]Each tract was 4,000 acres. Small, specific, documented.

[00:00:38]If your ancestry includes Moravian Church members, Lenape or Delaware, or Munsee converts in Eastern Ohio, the records here are unique.

[00:00:49]By 1824, most of the land was sold back to the federal government, but the original grants, congregation rolls, missionary diaries, and resident lists survive.

[00:01:03]Check the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the Ohio History Connection. A small tract, a painful story, and often irreplaceable records.

[00:01:16]If this helped break through a brick wall, share it with someone researching their family tree. I'm Brick Walls and Buckeyes, and every Ohio ancestor has a story waiting in the records.