John was a soldier and was with Hull at Detroit when the troops were surrendered to the British. He once had a very narrow escape from death at the hands of the Indians. On one occasion he was wearing the breast-plate which he had removed from a dead Indian chief. When being searched and on the point of being put to death, he remembered that he had some silver money under the breast-plate. He hastily drew this forth and handed it to his captors, which they took as a token of his magic power, and placed his clothing back on him and set him free. An old Indian woman who had lost her son took charge of him and adopted him into her family as her own son. After years of absence from his home he returned wearing the Indian costume, and was the object of much interest to his friends who came to see and hear him tell of his experiences and adventures among the Indian
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