February 20, 2013
Here’s a 19th century mystery concerning a certain Matthew Brayton, who disappeared as a small boy, was held an Indian captive for 34 years, then one day reappeared.
But, was it really him?
This is a gripping story about a young boy being kidnapped and then returning home as an adult. You will want to read all of An Indian Captive Reclaimed after Thirty-five Years’ Absence – Incidents of his Life in the Evening Post (New York City, New York), 3 December 1859, page 1.
On 20 September 1825 Matthew Brayton set off from home to gather the family’s cows. He was about eight years old—and wouldn’t be heard from again for 34 years. Kidnapped by the Indians, he was one of thousands of Indian captives in America from the 17th to 19th centuries.
Imagine his family’s joy when he finally turned up again!
A great, heartwarming story of a missing boy finally returned home, except—it apparently isn’t true.
Digging deeper into genealogy records we find Matthew Brayton’s obituary and even his photograph—and the true story comes to light.
Matthew Brayton’s old obituary, printed in the Salem Register (Salem, Massachusetts), 23 February 1863, page 2, gives us the rest of the story.
After returning from his long Indian captivity, Matthew Brayton lived with his supposed father, Elijah Brayton, for the next nine months. Then in June 1860 he told his “father” that he really wasn’t Matthew Brayton at all. Was this a 19th century scam? Perhaps—but Matthew Brayton didn’t give any further details of why he had lied about who he was.
Perhaps he simply didn’t want to “manage the farm that Mr. Brayton had promised to give him.” After telling the Braytons the truth, Matthew left their farm and joined the 4th Michigan Cavalry as “Matthew Brayton.” He died a few years later in 1863 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Here is a photograph of him in uniform.
Genealogy Search Tip: Just because something is in print doesn’t make it true.
Don’t stop at the first story you find about your ancestor. Keep digging and make sure you uncover all of the facts.
Find the stories of your family’s history. Document them, preserve them and pass them down.
Mathew Brayton was my Great, Great Grandfather on my grandmother Jesse Brayton’s side of the family. My father was Ralph Brayton Spencer. I have the gun that Mathew carried during the civil war. I hold the true story of what was Mathew’s real life with the Indians. My Great Great grandmother was the Sioux Indian that Mathew married.
Thank you.
I really am interested in learning more. My name is Adam Keys Brayton and I live in Lima Ohio. My email is adam.brayton@yahoo.com
Rick – that is terrific.
I hope that you will take multiple closeup photos of the gun and put a copy of them along with his story and any other items that your family has online. Get the story and illustrating photos on multiple sites to insure that his story won’t be lost to the family in the future.
If you will send it to us here I will upload them as part of this blog story. Send them to me at: TKemp@NewsBank.com
I am Adam Keys Brayton. I have always wondered about this story. I live in Lima Ohio.
I’m so intrigued by Rick Spencer comment above. I kept wondering about Matthew Brady leaving behind his wife and children.
I’m also not convinced by one obituary that the rest is untrue. I’ve seen plenty of inaccurate obits in my 30 years genealogy research.
I was hoping he somehow reunited with them.
I can certainly see how the prospect of running a farm in his late 30s would not be so appealing after the life he’d led. Maybe going into the war would help him sort things out.
I’ve been researching my family history for about 4 years now, and I’ve just started down the rabbit hole of Matthew Brayton, who is my 4th cousin, 5x removed. I read his account of captivity in “Indian Captive,” but there are a lot of unanswered questions, as I see most of you have voiced. This thread was started in 2014 by Rick Spencer, with many comments up until 2023 but no replies or answers. Has anyone been able to shed more light on this? Also, I have not found any evidence to substantiate that an Indian tribe named the “Copper Heads” ever existed or the name of the Indian chief Owash-kah-ke-naw anywhere in history. I noticed Rick said that his Great-Great Grandmother was the “Sioux” Indian that Matthew married. I’m confused as I read other accounts that it would’ve most likely been the Plains Cree Indian tribe he resided with towards the end of captivity and that the Indian princess he married would’ve been of that origin. I’m hoping that someone here will share more findings.