On the very western edge of Berks County sits Christ Lutheran Church in Stouchburg. The stone church was built in 1786 and most well-known for being the location of the grave of Regina Leininger. Her story doesn’t begin in Berks County. In 1755, 9-year-old Regina was living along Penn’s Creek near what is now Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. The Appalachain Mountains were somewhat of the Wild West of the colonial period. Hazardous terrain along with Indian tribes that were less than enthusiastic about Colonial settlers made these regions a precarious place to live in. The Leininger Family arrived in America in 1748 from Reutlingen, Germany and quickly settled in this region.

On October 16th, 1755 Regina’s family was caught in the Penn’s Creek massacre, which is now considered the beginning of the French and Indian War. Her father Sebastian Leininger and brother were murdered on the spot. Regina and her 12-year-old sister Barbara were taken captive by the natives. Only their mother, also named Regina and another brother were spared, as they had gone to the mill and were not home at the time of the raid.

The girls, along with other captive children hiked through the wilderness for weeks until they reached an Indian Village in what is now Ohio and were split up as slaves amongst various natives.

In 1759 Barbara managed to escape her captivity with another girl and boy. After two weeks of walking in the Pennsylvania wilderness they reached Fort Pitt, a major British fort for the war, the site of which is now along the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where the Ohio River is formed in Pittsburgh. They then trekked all the way to Philadelphia to tell of their experiences.

After the war ended in 1763, rogue of groups of defeated Natives were still traversing Penn’s forest. In 1764 Colonel Henri Bouquet had discovered a group of white captives. Regina’s mother got word of the freed captives and made her way to Carlisle to search for her daughters. Due to nearly a decade passing, many of the captives, who were now adults, had lost touch with their culture and only spoke the Indian language. Regina would have now been a woman of 18 years, and the two did not recognize each other. Legend is that Colonel Bouquet suggested to the mother that she sing a song the girl may recognize from her childhood. The mother began to sing the German hymn, “Allein und doch nicht ganz, allein bin ich in meiner Einsamkeit”. (Alone and yet not quite alone am I, in this my solitude). As she did, Regina ran to her and began to sing along, and the two were reunited at last.

Some other fabricated details, including both an Indian and English lover, have embellished the story over the decades for the sake of a good campfire tale. There has also been some confusion in regards to Regina’s identity. Up until the early 1900s it was believed that her name was “Regina Hartman”, as there was a family massacred shortly after the Leininger’s that fit the same description. Only two months after reuniting, the mother and daughter made the journey to Philadelphia to meet the Reverend Henry Muhlenberg so that Regina could relay her fantastic story. Muhlenberg wrote a detailed account in his February 1765 journal, which gave us the closest to the truth we may get involving Regina’s experience. However this journal only began to be published widely in the first half of the 20th century, which led to the discovery of the mistaken identity.

Barbara married and ended up in what is now Lancaster County, but it is unclear if she ever knew of her mother and sister’s whereabouts less than 30 miles to the north. She is buried at Allegheny Union Cemetery in Alleghenyville, Brecknock Township.

The mother and daughter Reginas lived together for the rest of their lives. Neither ever married and it is not exactly known where they eventually settled and why both are buried at the Christ Lutheran Church near Stouchburg.