Simon Girty was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Simon and Mary (Newton) Girty. In 1751, his father was killed by an Indian, and two years later his mother married John Turner. Of her four sons by Girty, three - Simon, James, and George - were to gain evil notoriety by their alliance with the savages.
Simon, though illiterate, was early regarded as capable and talented.
From 1759, when Girty was surrendered after three years’ captivity among the Indians, until 1774, he seems to have been employed as an interpreter about Fort Pitt. As a scout, he served with Simon Kenton in Dunmore’s War.
In the spring of 1776, he was employed as an interpreter for the Continental Congress, and though shortly afterward discharged for “ill behavior, ” was regarded as loyal and was otherwise employed in the common defense.
With Alexander McKee, later to attain rank in the British militia, and five others, he deserted the American cause and fled March 28, 1778, from the vicinity of Pittsburgh. Reaching Detroit in June, he was employed by Lieut. -Gov. Hamilton as an interpreter, a post he retained, directly or indirectly, till near the close of his life.
On the close of the war, he received a pension. His work, however, kept him almost constantly among the Indian tribes in the Ohio country.
With the British surrender of Detroit in 1796, he returned to his Canadian home, and when Harrison invaded Canada in 1813, he fled to a Mohawk village. In 1816, broken with dissipation, crippled with rheumatism, and totally blind, he again returned.
He died near Amherstburg.
Girty is most famous for not ending the suffering of American Militia Colonel William Crawford while he was being tortured to death by Delaware Indians in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten Massacre a few months earlier in 1782. Though he was influential in saving the life of Simon Kenton and is credited with saving several other lives, he encouraged the torture of captives, and at the burning at the stake of Col. William Crawford, in June 1782, as well as at a number of other burnings, he was a delighted spectator.
Girty strongly opposed all efforts toward peace with the Americans and took an active part in many battles, including those of St. Clair’s defeat and Fallen Timbers.
Girty was five feet nine inches in height, with a heavy frame, short neck, and full, round face. In his prime, he had strength, agility, and great endurance. His character was a complex of many contradictions.
Active in the many forays of troops and Indians against the settlers, his conduct was characterized by savage malignity and atrocious acts of cruelty.
His wife, who because of his drunkenness and cruelty had left him in 1797, ministered to his last wants.
In 1784, Girty married Catharine Malott, a captive, and established a home near the present Amherstburg, on the east side of the Detroit River.
1717 - 1750
1718 - 31 July 1785
1739 - 3 November 1820
1743 - 15 April 1817
1745 - 1812
1764 - 2 January 1852
18 April 1791 - 15 January 1867
1786 - 1 June 1829
20 October 1796 - January 1853
10 February 1788 - 1812
