From The History of Wayne County, Ben Douglass
"Old Henry" Franks was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He relocated to Chippewa Township in Wayne County, Ohio about 1816 or 1817. He settled a farm just south of Doylestown, the land of which he obtained from the U.S. government. He married Christina Mason, of his native land in Pennsylvania. Together, they had eleven children; six daughters and five sons.
Henry became an quantifiable part of Wayne County history with an event in his early life. According to Douglass, Henry Franks was taken prisoner by Indians along the Ohio River. Being a large, straight and strong specimen, his captors immediately took a fancy to him. He was introduced to the Native American ways, and was eventually "adopted" as an Indian citizen. In the process, he was force to "run the gauntlet", where he was struck repeatedly by his captors, and at the end of which he had to defend his life against the best warrior of the tribe. After dealing a nearly deadly blow to his assailant, Henry became a full-fledged Indian.
As a member of the tribe, Henry witnessed one of the storied incidents of American history. Colonel William Crawford was captured after his assault on Sandusky failed. Although many of his men successfully fled, he stood his ground and was captured. He was singled out as the leader and was tortured for several hours before being burned at the stake, never giving up hope that he would be rescued.
Henry used the distraction of this event to make his attempt to escape his capture. He made his way to the lake (Erie). He found a British vessel and was allowed to board her. He traveled to Montreal, where he disembarked and crossed the border to the U.S. side. Eventually, he made it back to the safe embrace of his family in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.Some links you may want to look at.
http://www.online-literature.com/william-dean-howells/stories-ohio/9/ (carefully consider any of the links here!)
http://www.crawfordcocpcourt.org/Visit%20the%20Courtroom.htm (Crawford County, Ohio official report. Use it with all of the other sources to find your truth.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Crawford_%28soldier%29 (I like Wikipedia. I believe there is truth in numbers. Eventually, given enough time, the truth does come out. Of course, the truth about Henry Franks is not a large enough issue to stand the test of time. So it is --- what it is. Being a descendent, I'd like to believe it is true. You decide for yourself.)
