Editing Gelelemend

{{more citations needed|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox American Indian chief
| name            = Gelelemend
| image           = 
| image_size      = 
| caption         = 
| tribe           = [[Lenape|Delaware (Lenape)]]
| lead            = 
| birth_date      = c. 1737/1741
| birth_place     = Near the [[Lehigh River]] in [[Pennsylvania]]
| death_date      = {{death date and age|1811|1741}}
| death_place     = [[Goshen, Ohio]]
| predecessor     = 
| successor       = 
| native_name     = Killbuck, John Killbuck Jr., William Henry
| nicknames       = 
| known_for       = 
| death_cause     = 
| resting_place   = 
| rp_coordinates  = 
| religion        = 
| party           = 
| education       = 
| spouse          = 
| partner         = 
| children        = 
| parents         = [[Bemino]]
| relations       = Grandson of [[Netawatwees]]
| signature       = 
| footnotes       = 
}}
'''Gelelemend''' (c.1737 of 1741–1811) ([[Lenape]]), also known as '''Killbuck''' or '''John Killbuck Jr.''', was an important [[Lenape|Delaware (Lenape)]] principle Chief during the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name="succession"/> He supported the rebel Americans, known as Patriots. His name signifies "a leader." He became principal chief of the Lenape in November 1778, following the death of White Eyes, a war chief and Speaker of the Delaware Head Council. Gelelemend succeeded his maternal grandfather ''[[Netawatwees]]''.

Due to undifferentiated American attacks against the Lenape during the war, chiefs of other clans switched to ally with the British. After being pushed out as principal chief, Gelelemend led an American attack on a major Lenape town. He retreated to [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]]. After the war, he converted to Christianity at the [[Moravian Church|Moravian]]s’s [[Salem, Ohio]] mission, where he took the Christian name of "William Henry."

==Biography==
''Gelelemend'' was born near the [[Lehigh River]] in [[Pennsylvania]], son of ''[[Bemino]]'' (John Killbuck Sr.) and his wife. His father became a renowned war leader during the [[French and Indian War]]. Under the [[matrilineal]] [[kinship]] system of the Lenape, Gelemend was born into his mother's Turtle clan, which had responsibility for providing hereditary chiefs for the tribe. His paternal grandfather was ''[[Netawatwees]]'' ("Newcomer"), principal chief of the Delaware.

At that time, the Lenape had three clans or [[phratry|phratries]]: Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf. Children were considered born into their mother's clan, which determined their social status in the tribe. The mother's eldest brother was more important to them in shaping their lives than was their biological father. The [[Lenape]] were required to marry outside their clan. Each clan had its own chiefs, councilors, and war captains, as well as a distinct role for serving the tribe.

The Turtle phratry was considered the senior clan, with the role of leading the tribe. Their hereditary chief served as principal chief of the Lenape. By early 1776, the Moravian missionary [[David Zeisberger]] recorded that ''Gelelemend'' had been "designated" as the successor to his paternal grandfather ''Netawatwees,'' who was thought to be close to 100 years old. After Netawatwees died on October 31, 1776, Gelelemend became Chief of the Turkey Clan (Munsee). <ref name="succession"/> 

The British controlled Detroit as well as areas of the Eastern seaboard, where the Patriot rebels were most active. The Delaware tried to remain neutral in the British-American conflict. They were subjected to strong pressure to enter the conflict from the British, the Americans, and other Indian nations (most of whom allied with the British, in the hope of pushing American colonists out of their territories). Under these circumstances, [[White Eyes]], who by 1773 had become Speaker of the Delaware Head Council, was in line matrilineally to become Chief of the Turtle Clan, and principal chief. <ref name="succession">[https://books.google.com/books?id=23upEv7zzkUC&dq=The+Succession+of+Head+Chiefs+and+the+Delaware+Culture+of+Consent&pg=PA31 Wellenreuther, Hermann. "The Succession of Head Chiefs and the Delaware Culture of Consent: The Delaware Nation, David Zeisberger, and Modern Ethnography"], In A. G. Roeber, ed., ''Ethnographies and Exchanges: Native Americans, Moravians, and Catholics in Early America.'' University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008. 31–48.</ref>  With [[White Eyes]] and [[Captain Pipe]] (war captain of the Wolf clan), ''Gelelemend'' signed the [[Delaware Treaty]] with the [[United States]] in 1778. Only after the death of White Eyes later that year, who was murdered on November 5, 1778, by an American militia officer, did Gelelemend become principal chief of the [[Lenape]].<ref name="succession"/>

But the Lenape remained deeply divided over how to respond to the encroachments and war. Following indiscriminate attacks by Continentals against the Lenape, bands led by [[Captain Pipe]] and [[Buckongahelas]] broke away from the pro-American leadership of Gelelemend. They allied with the British for the rest of the war. After the war, they resettled in [[Upper Canada]], where they were granted land by the Crown.

By 1781, Gelelemend had been forced from power. He was commissioned as a [[colonel]]<ref name=Calloway274>{{cite book |last=Calloway |first=Colin G |title=The Indian World of George Washington |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |location=New York |lccn=2017028686 |isbn=9780190652166 |page=274}}</ref> and helped guide Colonel [[Daniel Brodhead]] in an expedition to destroy the Delaware capital of [[Coshocton, Ohio|Coshocton]] in Ohio, where he had lived and served as chief.  The raid found only 15 young warriors, who were bound and killed.  With a few of his followers, Gelelemend returned with the Americans to [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]].  The raid on Coshocton was condemned; Washington court-martialed Broadhead and removed him from command.<ref name=Calloway274 />  Gelelemend had become a man without a country. He lived at Fort Pitt until 1785.

Long interested in [[Christianity]], Gelelemend joined the [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] mission at [[Salem, Ohio]] in 1788. At the [[baptism]] ceremony, he took the name [[William Henry (delegate)|William Henry]], supposedly to honor a man who had rescued him during the French and Indian War.<ref>For an attempt to assess this story, see Scott Paul Gordon, ''Two William Henrys: Indian and White Brothers in Arms and Faith in Colonial and Revolutionary America'' (Jacobsburg Historical Society, 2010), pp. 1–6.</ref> He was the most prominent convert in the Lenape community. Gelelemend died in Goshen Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio in 1811.

==Legacy==
*The village of [[Killbuck, Ohio]] in Holmes County is named for him.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n174 175]}}</ref> (However, the town of [[Kill Buck, New York]] is not.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.salamancapress.com/news/future-of-former-kill-buck-park-discussed-at-town-board/article_45b4ab4e-26c4-11e8-b9f3-df41e9284a49.html|title = Future of former Kill Buck park discussed at town board| date=13 March 2018 }}</ref><ref name=twowordsorone>{{cite news|url=https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/119168806_3219114118184263_4395288855824699083_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=Cj6dqpSuTMoAX-XeKf1&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&oh=25e8a33f3324c537caa3276be15d1dc4&oe=5F8409E1|title=Killbuck or Kill Buck? One word or two? What's proper spelling|first=Rod|last=Hensel|work=Salamanca Press|access-date=September 12, 2020}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>)
*To honor William Henry, many of Gelelemend's descendants were given Henry as a middle name. This included a great-grandson, [[John Henry Kilbuck]], who became a [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] missionary in [[Alaska]]. He named his daughter Katherine Henry Kilbuck in honor of his ancestor.

==References==
<references/>

==Sources==
*[https://archive.org/details/lifewilliamhenry00jordrich Jordan, Francis. ''The Life of William Henry, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1729–1786, Patriot, Military Officer, Inventor of the Steamboat; A Contribution to Revolutionary History.''] Lancaster, Pa.: New Era Printing Company, 1910. Pp.&nbsp;7–18, online at Internet Archive.
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=PT_E18cSEOQC Olmstead, Earl. P. ''Blackcoats Among the Delaware: David Zeisberger on the Ohio Frontier''],  Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press: 1991. Pp.&nbsp;220–23.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070815213103/http://www.jacobsburg.org/jacobsburg_record.html Ballard, Jan. "In the Steps of Gelelemend: John Henry Killbuck"], ''Jacobsburg Record (Publication of the Jacobsburg Historical Society).''  Volume 33, Issue 1 (Winter, 2005): 4–5. 
* Wellenreuther, Hermann and Carola Wessel, eds., ''The Moravian Mission Diaries of David Zeisberger, 1772–1781.'' University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania University Press, 2005.
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=23upEv7zzkUC&dq=The+Succession+of+Head+Chiefs+and+the+Delaware+Culture+of+Consent&pg=PA31 Wellenreuther, Hermann. "The Succession of Head Chiefs and the Delaware Culture of Consent: The Delaware Nation, David Zeisberger, and Modern Ethnography"], In A. G. Roeber, ed., ''Ethnographies and Exchanges: Native Americans, Moravians, and Catholics in Early America.'' University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008. 31–48.
*Gordon, Scott Paul. ''Two William Henrys: Indian and White Brothers in Arms and Faith in Colonial and Revolutionary America.'' Jacobsburg Historical Society, 2010.

[[Category:Lenape people of the Moravian Church]]
[[Category:Native American people in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:18th-century Native American leaders]]
[[Category:Native American military personnel]]
[[Category:Native American people of the Indian Wars]]
[[Category:1730s births]]
[[Category:1811 deaths]]
[[Category:Converts to Christianity from pagan religions]]
[[Category:Lenape people]]
[[Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:People from colonial Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Native American people from Pennsylvania]]