250th anniversary of Sluss Family Massacre remembered by descendants

CERES, Va. (WVVA) -Although some historical accounts differ on the exact date, it is believed that this year is the 250th anniversary of the Sluss Family Massacre, in which a family were attacked by the Shawnee tribe, resulting in the death of the mother and multiple children, one as young as four. The exact number changes on the account, but there were survivors, whose descendants are still alive today.

“My third great grandfather was out in the field working. He went running for help, so he was a survivor. A four-year-old boy managed to escape and get to the nearby fort at the time...” says Steve Sluss, descendant of Henry Sluss, one of the survivors of the tragedy, “...one of the interesting things about it was that the mother had a baby, and she had swaddled the baby and hid her under the bed and the Shawnee missed her.”

Steve Sluss says his family rose up again following the tragedy, soon spreading across the country with multiple generations of large families. It wasn’t until around a decade ago that the family reconnected over Facebook and for the first time met distant cousins, distant in both relation and geography, with some as far away as Michigan and California.

“We’re not just cousins anymore; we’re sisters... because this is how we click. This is our family now...” says Donna Sluss Ryan, descendant of James David Sluss, a young boy who escaped the massacre after being pushed over the fence by his sister, who is reported to have died in the effort, “...Some of us have never met...”

“Until today,” adds Lisa Sluss Burke, another descendant of James David Sluss.

“...Meeting new people... like, I didn’t know nobody here but him, and now I know quite a few people and got to talk to new people and hear their backstories...” says Maddison Taylor, one of the younger attendees of the reunion.

“We’ve always grown up in an isolated family thing, so... to meet family from other states and other places, it’s amazing...” says Douglas Sluss, another descendant of Henry Sluss.

The family visited the site of the massacre and the field where some of the survivors ran to safety where the baby who was hidden under the bed is now buried, having lived to the age of one hundred and four.

While the massacre is a somber history for the Sluss family, to those gathered here, it is an inspiring story of survival, a survival that continues to this day.

“To us, it’s not a tragedy... in a different way as it was back then... " says Donna Sluss Ryan, “...turn around, Lisa. Our shirt says, ‘Sluss Family Milestone, celebrating two hundred fifty years, coming back strong.’ This is what today means to us. You know, we’re here because of what happened back then.”

Douglas Sluss gives thanks to the Bland County community for welcoming the Sluss family back to their historic home and for helping to keep the memory of their past alive for future generations.

The Sluss family gives some advice for those wanting to research their own family’s past. Talk to parents and grandparents and use websites like ancestry.com. However, Ryan adds that you should be careful about believing everything you read.

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