Killbuck, born circa 1722 and known in Delaware as Gelelemend, or “leader,” was a tribal leader of the turtle clan of the Unami branch of the Delaware Indians who became a chief in 1776 after the death of his grandfather, Newcomer. In the early 1770s, Moravian missionaries including David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder came to the Ohio Country near the Delaware villages to convert natives to Christianity and established missions such as Gnadenhutten, Lichtenau, and Schoenbrunn, asking converts to forsake traditional customs and ways of life. Many Delawares adopted Christianity, while others refused, dividing the people and even Killbuck’s own family; he resented his grandfather for allowing the Moravians to remain because he believed their pacifism deprived the Delawares of warriors needed to resist further white settlement. During the French and Indian War, Killbuck actively assisted the British against the French, and in 1761 he led a British supply train from Fort Pitt to Fort Sandusky for one dollar per day. After the American Revolution began, Killbuck and many Delawares claimed neutrality as they were caught between the British in the West and the Americans in the East. In 1778, he allowed American soldiers to cross Delaware territory to attack Fort Detroit in return for a fort near Coshocton to protect the Delaware Indians from British attacks. Although the Americans agreed, other groups, especially the Wyandot, Mingo, Munsee, and Shawnee Indians, along with the wolf clan of the Delaware Indians, favored the British. When those allied with the British planned to attack Fort Laurens in early 1779 and demanded that the neutral Delawares formally side with Britain, Killbuck warned the Americans, helping save the fort, yet the Americans abandoned it in August 1779. With their protectors gone, the Delawares faced threats from the British, their native allies, and American settlers pouring into the region in the late 1770s and early 1780s, and most Delaware Indians formally joined the British after the withdrawal from Fort Laurens. Under pressure from all sides, Killbuck still hoped neutrality would save his people, but those loyal to him had to relocate with him to a new village on an island in the Allegheny River near Fort Pitt. In 1782, white Americans attacked the village and massacred many inhabitants; Killbuck escaped with some followers, later joined the Moravians in Ohio, was baptized as a Christian with the name William Henry, and died in January 1811.