On the Killers and Heroes of the Delaware

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Note: This is a work of creative nonfiction. Any constructive criticism/comments are welcome. Thanks!
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In Milford, Pennsylvania, a statue was vandalized in 1997. In the middle of the night, some person or persons unknown took a sledgehammer to a nine-foot tall carving made of New Jersey zinc; designed as an obelisk, the huge statue featured designs of a tomahawk crossed with a peace pipe, a plowshare (the “blade” part of a plow used for breaking the earth), and a flag. The monument acted as a gravesite; the remains of a man named Thomas Quick were reinterred beneath the statue. Tom Quick died in 1796 and was reburied beneath the monument after its dedication in 1889; undoubtedly all that was left of him to move by that time was merely dust and bones. 2

The person who vandalized the statue was never caught. One wonders if the police bothered to try and catch the perpetrator. By 1997, the times, as Bob Dylan so aptly suggested, were indeed a-changin’. The monument had gone from a source of town pride to a source of contention and embarrassment, an ancient relic celebrating a time of wildness and cruelty, of willful ignorance emphasized with violence and bloodshed. Perhaps the inscription on the square marble base of the statue says it all; “Maddened by the death of his Father at the hands of the savages, Tom Quick never abated his hostility to them until the day of his death, a period of over forty years.” 3

There are many documents written about Tom Quick, many written before the 1900s, but the majority of which seem to suggest that the only difference between a hero and a killer is the passage of time. Tom Quick was born in 1734 to an eponymous father who came to America from Denmark. He is recorded as the first white child born in Milford, Pennsylvania. His father regularly had to interact with the natives of the land; according to "The Original Life and Adventures of Tom Quick, Indian Slayer" he was initially well-regarded by the local natives. The Native Americans in Milford were frequently referred to as “Delaware” Indians, although such a title is a misnomer. The name comes from the river of the same name where they lived; the Delaware river was named for the governor of the Jamestown colony, Lord de la Warr (which is an appropriate-sounding name for the era if I ever heard one). The tribe’s actual name is “Lenape,” which means “the people.” They were the original inhabitants of the land. When Thomas Quick senior moved into the land, he had to interact with the Lenape often, so much so that when the junior Tom Quick was growing up, he often spent his free time playing with the “Delaware Savages” rather than the children of the European settlers. 4

According to the Lenape website, the tribe was originally known as a peacemaking group as they often settled disputes between neighboring tribes. Although they could be fierce warriors, the Lenape preferred to solve their problems without violence. 5

According to "Life and Adventures," the Delaware Indians of Tom Quick’s story had no association with peacemaking. Although the Quick family was said to have fed and clothed them, keeping them close like family members, the Lenape tribe soon grew upset at the number of white settlers encroaching on their land. The author claims that in the 1740s – 1750s, the Indians still had plenty of hunting land and that the bones of their ancestors were respected by the whites, unbroken “by the plow of the paleface.” This, frankly, is doubtful. I find it hard to believe that every white settler in the area was respectful enough to place their farmland according to the Lenape’s wishes. 6

What is slightly more believable, however, are the basic events that happened next. One night, while Thomas Quick and his teenage son Tom Quick were out walking, some members of the Lenape attacked. Thomas Quick was killed almost immediately by a gunshot while Tom Quick fled. Tom was wounded by the musketfire, but not mortally. When he returned to where his father’s body lay, Tom found his father had been scalped. Tom swore revenge. 7

It is after this point that the written story of Tom Quick gets more and more unbelievable, particularly in the actions of the so-called “savages” upon whom Tom Quick aimed his rifle. The text documents many different scenarios where the Lenape had Tom Quick within their grasp, but inevitably Tom Quick always escapes and manages to kill the majority of his attackers just in the nick of time! 8

An example of this:9

Tom Quick was normally a hunter by profession, paying for his lodging with venison and bear meat. One time, however, he was working for a neighbor at splitting logs when several Indians came upon him. By this time, Tom Quick had been indiscriminately murdering any “redskin” who crossed his path, no matter what the situation. More often than not, he came upon the Lenape hunters in the isolated forests, stalking them by the sound of their hunting rifles. Other times, he would meet a Lenape in the company of others and pretend to offer friendship to the man, sometimes offering alcohol. When the Indian was either drunk or had his back turned to Tom, Tom Quick would shoot him with his rifle. 10

So by the time Tom Quick was working as a log splitter, he had developed an infamous reputation as a killer. When six Lenape approached him with their rifles, the story goes that they desired for Tom to return with them alive to their camp, most likely so he could be punished for his crimes by the entire tribe. Tom, being at a disadvantage, agreed, but only under the condition that he would be able to finish splitting his last log. 11

...It is at this point in the story that my willing suspension of disbelief snaps like a bridge cable under too much pressure. According to the story, the Lenape Indians not only agreed to let him do this, but they threw down their rifles and helped Tom finish the log. At Tom’s direction, all of the Lenape willingly thrust their hands into the crevice of the partially-split wood, at which point Tom knocked the wedge out of the log. The wood immediately snapped back together, smashing their fingers in the log and effectively trapping them, giving Tom the extra time to brain them individually with his ax. 12

There is a terribly annoying convention in storytelling that, whenever I see it, makes me want to shoot myself in the face. This most frequently happens in horror movies, particularly serial killer movies, but I’ve seen it in a plethora of genres. The convention I am referring to is the tendency for a lazy writer to want to show the main protagonist of the piece as intelligent. Instead of writing the protagonist as making smart, clever, quick decisions, the lazy writer merely dumbs all the other characters down. This is demonstrated by panicked victims running up the stairs instead of out the back door. This is demonstrated when a police officer doesn’t call for backup when investigating the warehouse of a wanted serial killer known for his booby traps. This is demonstrated when a main character puts himself knowingly at a disadvantage in a dangerous situation for no other reason than to move the plot. This is especially demonstrated when six Lenape warriors are suggested to be so stupid as to throw down their weapons and put themselves at the mercy of a racist serial killer with an ax. 13

This convention shows up again and again in the story of Tom Quick’s exploits. Many times, he is captured by the Lanape and almost brought to justice before the Indians do something incredibly stupid (believe his lies, get really drunk, agree to give him a running start) and allow him to escape. Unfortunately, the “Tom Has Death-Defying Escapes” plotline is only part of his overall narrative. The other parts of his story, the “Indian Slayer” parts, are crueler. 14

Perhaps the best Tom Quick anecdote to demonstrate this is also the worst. The story begins with Tom walking along the side of a body of water, possibly the Delaware river itself, when he spies a canoe out in the distance. He aims his rifle and forces the people in the canoe to steer themselves over to the side of the river where he is waiting. There is only a family of Lenape Indians in the boat; a father, his “squaw” wife, his two older sons and a baby. Tom Quick recognizes the father as one of the Indians who used to associate with the elder Thomas Quick before the murder. The story doesn’t indicate that this man had anything to do with the murder. In fact, the very dearth of detail suggests that the only crime this man had committed was the crime of being born to the wrong tribe. Without any qualms, Tom Quick aims his rifle, presses the trigger, and shoots the father in the head in front of his wife and children. He then shoots the wife. The story grows awfully detailed at this point. The woman, in an effort to protect her children, throws her body over her two sons as the gun goes off, but this doesn’t stop Tom Quick. Taking his ax, he throws the woman’s body off of the canoe and proceeds to brain the two older children. At the baby, he pauses for a moment and, the story suggests, considers giving the infant to a local white couple to raise. This moment of brief moral introspection vanishes almost immediately and he brains the baby, too, with his ax. 15

When Tom was asked why he killed the children, he is quoted as to have said, “Nits make lice.” 16

This was Tom Quick, the hero of the Delaware, with his statue that was only broken in 1997 by someone in the dead of night. This was Tom Quick who was honored as a hero by numerous books, stories, poems, and spoken tales. This was Tom Quick, whose stories my dad used to tell me when talking about the family history. This was Tom Quick, who, because of the time period and the racial animosity, was honored as a great man rather than the serial killer he actually was. 17

In the city of Milford, they are still debating whether or not to put Tom Quick’s statue back up in its place of prominence. The last serious discussion about it was in 2004. Who knows, they may still even be debating. 18

Works Cited19

“In Honor of Tom Quick.; A Monument Unveiled in Memory of the Indian Slayer.” The New York Times. Aug. 29, 1889. 16 Sept. 2009. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=940DE4D61030E633A2575AC2A96E9C94689FD7CF20

“Monument to Indian Killer Stirs Controversy Again.” Blue Corn Comics: Stereotype of the Month. 7 April 2004. 16
Sept. 2009 http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stype443.htm21


Smith, Philip H. “Legends of the Shawangunk and Its Environs.” 1887. 16 Sept. 2009 http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/orange/legends22


“The Delaware (Lenape) Tribe of Indians: Homepage.” Delaware Tribe of Indians. 16 Sept. 2009 http://www.delawaretribeofindians.nsn.us23


“The Original Life and Adventures of Tom Quick, The Indian Slayer.” Globusz Publishing: Free E-Books. 1857. 16 Sept. 2009 http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/TomQuick/index.htm24