Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catherine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763

Like several other Eastern states, the state of Pennsylvania began as a colony. But it wasn't just any colony; it was a special colony, a kind of experiment — William Penn, the man who founded the colony, called it a "Holy Experiment." He was the leader of a group of settlers called Quakers, who wanted Pennsylvania's government to rule according to their religious truths. The Quakers were a Protestant group that had formed in England in the 1600s. Though rooted in Christianity, the early Quakers taught that all people in the world, regardless of their religion, were illuminated by an inner light. They believed that this light was part of God and that it would help guide a person to do what was right.

Penn and the early Quakers insisted that the Lenape Indians, who lived in Pennsylvania, be treated fairly. Thus, for the next 50 years, there was peace between the white settlers and the Lenape. However as the French and English went to war, the Native Americans became caught in the middle and eventually sided with the French. To end the war, the British signed treaties with the Lenape promising protection and compensation for ancestral land. Unfortunately, those promises were not fulfilled once the war was over. In despair, the Native Americans tried to capture English posts and fought with the settlers. At times, Native Americans would even take settlers captive. In the early fall on 1764, English troops destroyed most of the remaining Lenape villages in Pennsylvania. At that time, the Lenape were forced to return all captives that they had taken. A number of captives, however, had formed meaningful bonds with the Native Americans and did not want to return.

Meet Catherine Carey Logan

Catharine Carey Logan was a Quaker girl with the ordinary worries of a young woman in the mid-18th century. Her life, however, took a dramatic turn when she was taken captive by the Lenape and began her life again in this Native American community. She kept a journal, addressing her recollections to the father from whom she has been separated.

When I asked the hunter for the meaning of his name, he told me his Lenape name, Wine-lo-wich, means "Snow Hunter."

A lovely name, I thought.

But, Papa, thee will be surprised to learn mine is even more lovely. Chilili means "Snow Bird" in Lenape. He told me that it was the name of White Owl's younger daughter who died of measles, a disease brought to the forest by the white traders. I am White Owl's new younger daughter, he explained. And Little Cloud's new sister.

A wave of sorrow passed through me. Both for myself and for White Owl and Little Cloud. I can never be their daughter or new sister.