AND THE CHRISTIAN IisTdIAJvIS New England FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY //n V/,/////'/ <>^' %i,Ki QfPRII^ OCT 12 1931 kV- 1^, SAMSON OCCOM ^m 8EW\:^ AND THE CHRISTIAN INDIANS OF NEW ENGLAND BY W. DeLOSS love, Ph.D. .\UTHOR OF "THE FAST AND THANKSGIVING DAYS OF NEW KNGLANI BOSTON (Etje pilgrim press CHICAGO Copyright, 1899, By W. DeLOSS LOVE TO PROFESSOR EDWARD NORTH, L. H. D. Honored and Beloved In Remembrance of the Twentieth Reunion OF the Class of 1873 Hamilton College This Volume is Inscribed PREFACE At the memorial services on the reinterment of Isaac Paris, Prof. Edward North, l. h. d., of Hamilton College, expressed the follow- ing sentiment: "After this day's memorial has been completed, an effort should be made to find the lost grave of Rev. Samson Occum, whose fame as a fervid Indian preacher lives in the early history and traditions of Oneida county." These words came to the author's notice as he was examining a portion of Occom's diary among the manuscripts of the Connecticut Historical Society. In this he found reasons to believe that an Indian cemetery was located on the farm of Occom's brother-in-law, David Fowler, where most naturally the famous Mohegan would rest. A class reunion shortly afterwards made it convenient to visit Deansville, N. Y., June 20, 1893, when the early burial-place of the Christian Indians was discovered. Out of the interest then kindled this volume has grown. Samson Occom will always be regarded as the most famous Chris- tian Indian of New England. Hitherto he has been but dimly known. Herein we have written the story of his life, woven as it is into Indian history, and particularly into the fortunes of that tribe which he created and named. We are able thus to follow these Indians in de- tail from barbarism along the trail of civilization for a century and three quarters, an opportunity which is afforded by no other North American Indians. Our historical resources have been almost wholly unprinted manuscripts. These are widely scattered, and in some cases have been unexplored by historians. We name them that others may be spared our pains : Wheelock Papers, Occom's Diaries, Whitaker Papers and. Sergeant's Journals— Dartmouth College Library; Indian Papers, including manuscripts of Samson Occom and Joseph Johnson, Mohegan and William Samuel Johnson Papers— Connecticut Histori- cal Society; Records of the Society for Propagating the Gospel— N. E. Hist, and Gen. Societv, Boston; Town, Court, and Supcrin- VI PREFACE tendent's Records of the Brothertown Indians, Brothertown, Wis. ; Letters and Journals of Samuel Kirkland— Mr. Thornton K. Lothrop, Boston; Stiles MSS. — Yale College Library; Records of the Suffolk and Albany Presbyteries; Connecticut Archives, Hartford; Massa- chusetts Archives, Boston; New York Archives, Albany; Trumbull Papers — Massachusetts Historical Society and Connecticut Historical Society; Solomon Williams^ Letters — Mrs. B. E. Hooker, Hartford; Town Records — Farmington, Montville, New London, Groton, Ston- ington. Conn., Charlestown, R. I., etc. ; Land Kecords, Utica, N. Y. ; and other sources less important. Such references have been given as may be most helpful, but the evidence on many facts in the narrative could not be cited. To all who have rendered their courteous assist- ance we make acknowledgment, and especially to the Brothertown Indians, in whose homes many items have been gathered. It may seem to some that an Indian genealogy is more a curiosity than a contribution to history. Even so, it is not every tribe that can furnish such evidence that it is of the pure blood, which, in a study of Indian civilization, is essential. We have by means of it, however, condensed many facts of tribal and town history, identified families of Indians whose names the student will meet with in records, added notes which would have cumbered the text of our narrative, and perhaps rendered some service in establishing the property rights of many in the tribal inheritance. May we not also hope that such a record will quicken the conserving influences within the tribe and help them on into an honorable future? W. D. L. Hartford, Conn.. October, i8qq. CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE NEW ENGLAND FATHERS AND INDIAN CIVILIZATION 162O-1723 The Civilization of the Indian a Problem. — A Missionary Purpose in all Puritan Charters. — It is Adopted by our Forefathers. — Their Plan to Civilize. — The Evangelizing Method. — Eliot's Indian Town.— His Educational Work.— The Seed Scattered Abroad. First Century of Indian Missions CHAPTER II A MOHEGAN YOUTH 1 7 23- 1 749 Samson Occom of Mohegan. — Early Attempts to Christianize his Tribe. — The Visit of Experience Mayhew.— A School Estab- lished. — Influences from Natick.— Ben Uncas and his Son.— North" Church, of New London.—" The Great Awakening."— .Conversion of Occom.— Eleazar Wheelock.— The Indian at School CHAPTER III THE INDIAN TEACHER AT MONTAUK 1.7 49-1 761 The Montauk Indians.— A Schoolmaster and his Salary.— Successful Methods.— Occom's Religious Work.— Hardships of Wigwam Life.— A License to Preach.— The Cherokee Mission.— Ordina- tion as a Presbyterian Minister.— His Marriage to Mary Fowler. —Some Good Fruits of his Work at Montauk .... vii VI 11 CONTENTS Mt CHAPTER IV WHEELOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL I754-I77O Wheelock's Plan to Educate Indian Missionaries. — Two Pupils Ar- rive at Lebanon. — Prospects of Support. — The Gift of Joshua More, — Missionary Headquarters on a Connecticut Hilltop. — Joseph Johnson. — David Fowler. — Pupils from the Mohawk and Oneida Tribes. — New England Indians at the School. — Death of Tobias Shattock. — Samuel Ashbow 56 CHAPTER V OCCOM's MISSIONS TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS I761-I764 Missions among the Six Nations. — "Good Peter." — Occom's Call to Service. — Departure of the First Missionaries. — An Indian's Diary. — The Oneidas Receive the Gospel. — A Second Mission. — Wheelock's Memorial to the Connecticut Assembly. — Corre- spondents of the Scotch Society. — Occom's Appointment Among the New England Indians. — His House at Mohegan ... 82 CHAPTER VI SAMUEL KIRKLAND AND HIS INDIAN FRIENDS 1 765-1 768 Samuel Kirkland Goes to the Senecas. — Indian Schoolmasters Sent Out from Lebanon. — David Fowler, the Teacher at Kanawa- rohare. — Trials Among the Heathen. — Some of his Letters. — . A " Missing Rib " Found. — Kirkland and Fowler Among the Oneidas. — The Cabin of a Missionary. — Famine in the Land. — Kirkland is Rescued by his Indian Friend 105 CHAPTER VII THE MOHEGAN LAND CASE AND SAMSON OCCOM I 764-1769 Failure of a Westward Mission. — The " Mason Controversy." — Posi- tion of an Indian Councilor. — Robert ClelUpd, the Schoolmaster at Mohegan. — Jealousy of David Jewett. — Occom's Opinions Offend the Whites. — A Meeting of the Connecticut Correspond- ents. — The Indian is Reproved. — Jewett's Retraction . . .119 CONTENTS ix CHAPTER VIII THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND I765-I76S Whitefield's Project to Assist the Indian Charity School. — Nathaniel Whitaker to Accompany Occom. — Opposition from the IJoston Commissioners. — Talents of the Indian Preacher. — Arrival in England. — Occom in Whitefield's Tabernacle. — He Creates a Sensation and Sees the Sights. — Some Notable Friends. — Atti- tude of the Church of England. — Success in Scotland. — The "Trust Fund." — Opinions Favorable to Occom. — Portraits of the Indian Preacher i 30 CHAPTER IX DARK DAYS AT MOHEGAN 1768-I77I Samson Occom's Disappointment. — His Family Trials. — Wheelock is Reproved for Neglect. — Removal of the School to Hanover. — The Indians are Offended at their Patron. — Occom's Fall into Intemperance. — Examined and Acquitted by the Suffolk Pres- bytery. — His Subsequent Reputation. — Some Indian Prodigals Return 152 CHAPTER X occom's sermon, HYMNS AND HYMN F.OOK 177^-1774 Moses Paul Executed at New Haven. — Occom's Sermon on Intem- perance. — His Utterance on Slavery. — Singing among the Indi- ans. — Hymn-writers among Occom's Friends. — "A Choice Col- lection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs." — " Indian Melodies."— Some Hymns ascribed to Occom. — "Awak'd by Sinai's .Awful Sound" '69 CHAPTER XI SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRI.STIAN INDIANS I717-I776 The Tribes of Southern New England.— Early Mi.ssions among the Narragansetts. — Joseph Park and Samuel Niles. — Edward Deake and his School. — The Groton Pequots.— Instruction of the Stonington Indians.— Work among the Niantics.— Christian- X CON-TENTS izing the Natives at Farmington. — The School at Montauk. — Later Missions at Mohegan i88 CHAPTER XII THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA I77I-I776 Occom's Design to Unite the Christian Indians. — Missionary Purpose in the Emigration. — Joseph Johnson Enlisted in the Service. — He Secures Lands at Oneida. — Adoption of the New England Indians. — Wheelock Approves the Plan. — Departure of the Emi- grants. — The Revolutionary War. — Influence of the Christian Indians Over the Oneidas. — The Messenger of Washington. — Occom's Plea for Neutrality. — Death of Joseph Johnson . . 207 CHAPTER XIII INDIAN FRIENDS AT STOCKliRIDGE I734-I783 The Emigrants Retreat to Stockbridge. — Missions among the Housa- tonic Tribe. — Labors of John Sergeant. — Defect of His Plan. — Stockbridge Indians in the Revolution. — Three Prominent Coun- cilors. — Experiences of the Refugees. — They Influence Their Friends to Emigrate. — Lands Secured from the Oneidas . . 231 CHAPTER XIV THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS I783-I789 The Return to Oneida. — Indian Pilgrims Set Sail from New Lon- don. — Occom in Charge of the Removal. — His Visit to Oneida in 1785. — The Founding of Brothertown. — Preaching to the Stockbridge and New England Indians. — Another Visit to His People. — Jacob Fowler's Death. — The Season of 1787. — Oc- com's Own Removal.— His Ministry in New Settlements. — An Indian Presbyterian Church 247 CHAPTER XV THE TRIALS OF OCCOM'S LAST DAYS I785-I792 Occom's Views on Indian Civilization. — Educated Indians at Brother- town. — The Defense of their Title. — Factional Disputes. — Eject- CONTENTS XI ing Trespassers. — Action of the New York Assembly. — A Vic- tory for the Indians. — The Death of Samson Occom. — His Funeral and the Place of His Burial 283 CHAPTER XVI INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT I785-1842 The Connecticut Town their Model. — Appointment of Superintend- ents. — Indian Peacemakers. — Laws of their Town. — Progress in Agriculture. — Public Improvements. — Religious Affairs after Occom's Death. — The Superintendents Select an Agent. — Thomas Dean and His Services 299 CHAPTER XVII THE LAST REMOVE I 809-1 898 The Embassy of Hendrick Aupaumut — Failure of the White River Enterprise. — Eleazar Williams. — Lands Secured in Wisconsin. — "New York Indians vs. the United States." — A Claim to Honor. — Emigration to the West. — The New Indian Settlement. — Or- ganization and Experiences. — The Last Stand of the New Eng- land Indians 316 APPENDIX Family History of the Brothertown Indians 335 ILLUSTRATIONS Picture of Samson Occoni Frontispiece Samson Occom's House at Mohegan and the Mohegan Chapel, 1831 Page 102 Facsimile of the Title Page of Occom's Hymn Book and Indian Melodies " 180 The Narragansett Church " 194 Map of Brothertown ........ " 334 Burial-place of the Christian Indians " 298 Headmen of the Brothertown Indians •• 330 SAMSON OCCOM CHAPTER I THE NEW ENGLAND FATHERS AND INDIAN CIVILIZATION 1620-1723 The civilization of the American Indians, to whom our land from sea to sea once belonged, is an endeavor nearly three centuries old. At no time since the forefathers came to New England have they or their descendants been wholly unmind- ful of this obligation. Heroic lives have been devoted to evan- gelizing the Indians, teachers have sought to educate them, laws have been enacted in their behalf, and a paternal govern- ment has expended vast sums in their maintenance. Although the results of all wisely ordered efforts have been better than is generally supposed, the ultimate issue is still undetermined. There seem, indeed, to be some reasons for believing that the race itself is gradually dying away toward the setting sun. All the movements of this extended period have been due primarily to the spirit of Christian missions, to the histories of which we leave what more particularly exhibits the achieve- ments of religion. We purpose rather to treat the subject as a problem of civilization. It has always been recognized as such. The main inquiry has been whether the Indian is capa- ble of being permanently established in the ways of civilized life; and, if so, what conditions will best accomplish this end. He has been known in our literature chiefly as a savage. What may he become if he is Christianized, brought into 2 SAA/SOA^ OCCOM church estate, educated in industrial pursuits, invested with rights in the land which supports him, and trusted with the responsibilities of government? Historical studies may throw some light upon this problem by tracing the experiences of a tribe which was collected from the Christian remnants in New England and has been seasoned in the beneficent influences of generations, traversing the distance from heathenism to American citizenship. The Indian missions of New England during the first cen- tury furnish an interesting story which has been often told. We would call the reader's attention to the noble purpose of the fathers and the methods by which they hoped to accom- plish the civilization of the Indian, as seen in the facts else- where stated by many historians.^ An examination of the case seems to us to show more creditable aims, plans and results than we have been led by some writers to suppose. Especi- ally is some review of this period desirable, because the work of the second century, in which Samson Occom was engaged, was the later harvest of this early seed-sowing. One of the aims of the New England fathers in crossing the sea was the conversion of the natives to Christianity. Some writers have made much of this well-known fact, and have brought against them a charge of neglecting this labor throughout the early years of their settlement. The truth is, they deserve high praise for adopting such a philanthropic pur- pose when it was suggested to them. Those who have cited the language of their charters, as though they made preten- sions which were soon forgotten, have misjudged the fact. This profession was not peculiar to them. All charters of the time contained it. The letters patent which King James gave to the Virginia Company, April lo, 1606, based the privileges 1 See especially Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's article on " The Origin and Early Progress of Indian Missions in New England." — Avt. A^itiq. Soc. Proc, No. LXI, pp. 16 ff. NE W ENGLAND FA THERS— INDIAN CI VI LIZ A TION 3 granted upon their undertaking " a work which may, by the Providence of Almighty God. hereafter tend to the glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to human civility and to a settled and quiet government."^ In the Virginia charters of 1609 and 1611-12, the same design is an- nounced.^ A sermon was preached before these adventurers, April 25, 1609, by Rev. William Symondes of Southwarke, the Epistle Dedicatory of which is addressed to the "right noble and worthie Advancers of the Standard of Christ among the Gentiles." When a similar discourse was delivered by Rev. William Crashaw, February 21, 1609-10, on the departure of Lord De La Warre, the governor was admonished to remem- ber that he was going to commend religion to the heathen. The Virginians subsequently undertook this work, but the desire was never sufficiently strong in their religious life to make it successful. The great patent of New England, dated November 3, 1620, has been repeatedly quoted as though it contained unusual missionary pretensions. In that the king declared that "the principall effect which we can desire or expect of this action, is the conversion and reduction of the people in those parts into the true worship of God and Chris- tian religion." This precise language, however, is found in the Virginia charter of 1609, from which we may suppose it was taken. The Massachusetts Bay charter, dated March 4, 1628-29, directed that the people "male be soe religiously, peaceablie and civilly governed as their good life, and order- lie conversacon maie wynn and incite the natives of the coun- try to the knowledg and obedience of the onlie true God and Savior of mankinde and the Christian fayth, which, in our 2 Charters atid Constitutions, II, 188S. i Ibid., II, 1902. 4 S A A/so AT OCCOM royall intencon and the adventurers free profession, is the principall ende of this plantacon." But this language should be interpreted in the light of the fact that several other nearly contemporary patents contain like expressions. This was, then, a common article in the emigrant's creed. It meant more or less according to his character. The late Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull, to whom every writer on the Indian must be indebted, has called attention to Thomas Thorowgood's state- ment in his tract on the " Jewes in America," which sum- marizes the facts thus: "The mutuall and interchangeable fact and covenant of donor and receiver is, in all those char- ters and patents, the conversion of the heathen." The dis- tinguishing characteristic, therefore, of the New England col- onists was not in unusual pretensions made in their charters. We shall see that it was rather in the sincerity of this profes- sion and their earnestness in endeavoring to fulfil it. The missionary purpose was grafted into the life of the Pilgrims. The works of their leader, John Robinson, exhibit only the remotest interest in the evangelization of the heathen. Ecclesiastical freedom was his uppermost thought. But so early as 1617, when they were contemplating emigration under the auspices of the Virginia Company, and very likely because they had noted the above clauses in the charter, the Pilgrims declared their intention of crossing the sea "that they might be means of replanting the Gospel amongst the heathen."^ One of their enemies had suggested in ridicule that they "remove to Virginia and make a plantation there in hope to convert infidels to Christianity," but they had adopted this purpose in earnest. Thus they made fast to what had been only a stereotyped expression in the ventures of those Puritan times. As they thereafter pondered over the matter, the idea was strengthened within them. It is frequently referred to in their writings. Bradford mentions it among their reasons for < Hanbury's Historical Memorials^ I, 36S. NE IV ENGLAND FA THERS— INDIAN CI VI LIZA TION 5 removal, thus: "Lastly (and which was not least), a great hope & inward zeall they had of laying some good founda- tion, or at least to make some way therunto, for ye propagat- ing & advancing ye gospell of ye kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of ye world ; yea, though they should be but even as stepping-stones unto others for ye performing of so great a work." ^ The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony adopted the same design. They put life into a formal profession. As their governor was pledged by his oath to this work, he reminded the colonists of their obligation in his instructions. *' That these pledges might be had in perpetual remembrance," says Dr. Trumbull, "on the seal provided in England for the colony, an Indian with extended hands raised the Macedonian cry, ' Come over and help us.' " These New England col- onists should be credited, therefore, with an extraordinary reception of the missionary impulse. They committed them- selves to an enterprise which had so engaged no other emi- grants of the time. The utterances of earlier charters were taken into their hearts and lives with all the solemnity of a creed. It has been asserted also that the forefathers wholly neglected this work for a score of years. Here again they have been misjudged. The error arises from an ignorance of the particular method by which they hoped to civilize the Indian. The plan adopted was the one then current, and just what we should expect the Puritan life to depend upon — that of winning the heathen by the exhibition of their civi- lization and Christian institutions. Robert Cushman put it thus: "To displaie the efficacie & power of the Gospell both in zealous preaching, professing, and wise walking vnder it, before the faces of these poore blinde Infidels." The ^ Bradford's Hist., p. 24. See also Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, pp. 243, 257, 258, 271, 274, 328, 329, 339 n., 383. 6 SAAfSOA^ OCCOM opinion then prevailed that it was necessary to reduce the natives to some measure of " civility " ere they could be Christianized. The later method of evangelization was not contemplated. It was not in discussion until about 1640. The forefathers had prominently in mind the giving up of a wandering life in the forest, the acquisition of the English language, and an education in the customs of civilized society. Hence, the main feature of their plan was the training of Indian youth in the Puritan household. In 1618 the Virginians, with similar opinions, had under- taken this method of bringing native children to "true religion, moral virtue, and civility," Their first legislative assembly the year following ordered that every plantation should procure such youth by just means for this purpose. This plan was explicitly approved in England. No one there had thought of any better, not even those who afterwards charged New England with neglect. It was, indeed, a very sensible procedure, which has never since been outgrown, and the only method possible in the early years of the col- onies. The Pilgrims began with Squanto and Hobomok, both of whom died "leaving some good hopes." Winslow declared that they had special interest in providing tutors for the Indian children of both sexes. So early as 162 1, when Cushman w^as at Plymouth, they were entertaining great ex- pectations in this direction, as we may infer from these words concerning the " younger sort " : " If we had means to apparel them, and wholly to retain them with us, as their desire is, they would doubtless in time prove serviceable to God and man, and if ever God send us means, we will bring up hun- dreds of their children, both to labor and learning."^ Among the Puritans of the Bay Colony this same plan was in mind as most feasible. Governor Cradock, in his letter to Endicott, Feb. 19, 1628-29, when he reminded him of this end of their '•• Young's Chron. of the Pilgrims, p. 260. NE W ENGLAND EA THE RS— INDIAN CIVILIZA TION 7 plantation, wrote thus : " Endeavour to get some of their chil- dren to train up to reading and consequently to religion whilst they are young." This was done, so far as it was possible, in both colonies and more generally than has been supposed. Winthrop informs us that this disposition was made of the captives in the Pequot war : " Ye women tSc maid children are disposed aboute in ye towns." At a later time the youth were apprenticed by law to the English. Many who were able had Indian servants in their households, where daily, painstaking religious instruction was given after the Puritan custom. The results of all this early labor are dwelt upon with satisfaction in the record made in 1642 of " New England's First Fruits." A better summary cannot be presented than is there given : " Divers of the Indians Children, Boyes and Girles, we have received into our houses, who are long since civilized, and in subjection to us, painfull and handy in their businesse, and can speak our language familiarly ; divers of whom can read Eng- lish, and begin to understand in their measure, the grounds of Christian Religion ; some of them are able to give us account of the Sermons they heare, and of the word read and ex- pounded in our Families." This, then, was the early scheme for Christianizing the natives. For twenty years, whilst the colonists were engaged in the trials incident to their settle- ment, they could not hope for more than this plan promised. The results in many known instances were salutary. It was, moreover, the very best preparation for the later work. Many Indians became well acquainted with the religion and life of their neighbors. A general desire was awakened among them to know the God of the English and imitate their government and institutions. Those who knew most about the later plan of evangelization affirmed that this familiar intercourse in the English home was one reason for their subsequent success. This early work furthermore promoted an interest in the acquisition of the Indian language. Out of this fact the later 8 SAMSON OCCOM movement arose. The fathers had entertained this hope from the first, but they had not imagined its outcome. Francis Hig- ginson had written in 1629, "We purpose to learn their lan- guage as soon as we can, which will be a means to do them good." " Roger Williams within a few years went to lodge in their wigwams that he might '' gain their tongue." Some dis- cussion soon arose as to whether more could not be accom- plished by a new plan involving the use of the native lan- guage. Henry Dunster, the president of the college at Cam- bridge, was urgent in advocating this novel proposition. In 1641 Thomas Lechford wrote of him, " He hath the platforme and way of conversion of the Natives indifferent right He will" make it good that the way to instruct the Indians, must be in their owne language, not English, and that their language may be perfected." ^ This idea, notwithstanding some opposition, gained in favor. John Eliot and Thomas Mayhew adopted it with enthusiasm. It was a long step for- ward and opened the way to a new type of Indian civilization. The evangelizing method then became possible. Instead of bringing the natives into the colonists' homes to be Anglicized, it sent the English out into the Indian villages to teach, and there Christianity could work out a civilization in the natural environment where it was compelled to subsist. The study of their language and its reduction to form could not but result, as it did, in the translation of sundry tracts and the Bible itself as necessary agencies in this evangelization. Thus the work which Eliot is generally thought to have originated was developed out of a previous design and endeavor. It does not detract from his honors as the " Apostle to the Indians " to say that he was himself a product of the New England peo- ple. 'I'he Puritan in heathendom was bound to be a mission- ary. In him was that spirit, that love for education, out of ' Young's Chron. of the Pilgrims, p. 258. ^ Lechford's Plain Dealing, p. 53. NEW ENGLAND FA l^HERS— INDIAN CI VI LIZA TION 9 which civilization was certain to arise. Others were affected as Eliot was by the condition of the savage tribes about them ; but he was facile priticeps because he excelled them all in comprehending the problem, in creating adequate agencies, and in missionary zeal. The movement was general and except for the results of the earlier work it would not have been so successful. The story of Eliot's missionary labors is familiar to all readers. We call particular attention to his plan and its development. He began about 1643, it is supposed, to study the Indian language. His tutor was a certain Long Island Indian, a captive in the Pequot war, who had been made a servant in the family of Mr. Richard Calicott of Dorchester.^ The aforementioned tract, "New England's First Fruits", was published in England that same year, and Roger Will- iams' "Key unto the Language of America" appeared a few months after it. This revived interest manifested itself in 1644, by the action of the General Court, ordering that the Indians in the several counties be " instructed in the know- ledge and worship of God." The year following the rever- end elders were explicitly requested to consider means to this end. Thus the problem was thrust upon them, and Eliot, with others, had it under consideration some months .before he began his mission. ^° On the 28th of October, 1646, he went to Nonantum with several others, and there preached his first Indian sermon in Waubun's wigwam. His success probably influenced the decision of the ministers in favor of the new plan. At that visit the Indians expressed a desire to have land given them near at hand that they might " build a town together," at which the Englishmen were greatly pleased and promised to speak for them to the General Court. That body assembled in a few days and probably upon a report See Cockenoe-de-Long Island, by W. W. Tooker. '0 Winthrop's Hist., II, 326 ; The Day-Breaking, etc., p. 3. lO SAMSON OCCOM from the reverend elders, supplemented by a second visit, took important action in the matter, " Considering yt inter- pretation of tongues is an appointment of God for propagat- ing the truth," it was ordered that two ministers be chosen annually "to make knowne ye heavenly counsell of God among ye Indians." A law was passed prohibiting their powwows, which the elders had judged to be great obstacles to their conversion. But the most far-reaching action was the appointment of a committee to purchase lands for the prospective Indian town, where Shepard, Allen and Eliot should advise, and make rules for improving and enjoying the same. The Indians of Waubun's company were- much inter- ested in this project. They at once adopted ten laws for their moral improvement. The lands at Watertown Mill were bought and there at Nonantum the first experiment was made in this novel plan of Indian civilization. The ultimate design of John Eliot was to raise up native missionaries. He recognized from the first the fact that "God is wont ordinarily to convert nations and peoples by some of their own countrymen who are nearest to them, and can best speak and most of all pity their brethren." In order to this, however, he thought it necessary riot only to evan- gelize them but also to establish them in the ways of civilized life. Hence he conceived the idea of a jcommunity, formed wholly of Christian Indians, and in a measure self-governing, where educational, industrial and religious privileges might hope to accomplish most in a favorable environment. This was precisely the idea upon which Samson Occom built, more than a century afterwards. Eliot found the natives anxious to imitate the civilization of the whites. The plan was favor- able to his hopes of giving them a Christian literature. So he wisely fostered every suggestion the natives made in this direction, and the General Court endorsed* his measures. In 1647 th^ magistrates were empowered to hold quarterly courts NE W ENGLAND FA THERS— INDIAN CI VI LIZA TION 1 1 among them, and their sachems were authorized "to keep a court of themselves every month if they see occasion, to determine small causes of a civil nature, and such smaller criminal causes as the said magistrates shall refer to them."^^ Such powers would have been dangerous except under Eliot's leadership. They enabled him to put the Indian government in the hands of his trusted converts. Schools were soon established. The children were regularly catechized. All their industrial ambitions were furthered. The men began to fence their fields and cultivate them after the English manner. The women took up spinning. Ttade between them and the whites was encouraged. All these measures wrought together to assist Eliot in evangelizing them. He correctly judged that the results of such a colonizing scheme would be more per- manent. The experiment at Nonantum had not been two years under way before Eliot discovered that an enlargement of his plan was necessary. The grant of land was not large enough, and it was too near the English. Moreover, it was not a suitable place to gather his converts from other native villages and tribes in-to the Indian town which had come to be his ideal. This latter fact was important. So early as 1649 his original design had grown to a hope of founding a community where all the Christian Indians should be governed after the theo- cratic ideal of the Scriptures. He seems to have been impressed with the notion, then entertained by many, that the American Indians were the lost tribes of Israel. He even thought that such an assembling of dry bones might be a ful- filment of prophecy.^^ At all events, with this problem in view, he sought to ascertain what form of government was approved in the Bible. The result was the writing soon afterwards of ^^Mass. Col. Rec, II, i88; The Clear Sunshine, etc., pp. 15, 16, 28. 12 The Light Appearing, etc., pp. 23, 24 ; Glorious Progress, etc., Appendix ; Strength out of IVeal-ness, p. 10 12 SAMSON OCCOM that condemned book entitled " The Christian Commonwealth," and some application of his theory among the Indians. ^^ In his letters he declared his purpose in this language: "The present work of God among them is to gather them together to bring them to political life, both in ecclesiastical society and in civil, for which they earnestly long and enquire." "Touch- ing the way of their government ... I intend to direct them according as the Lord shall please to help and assist, to set up the kingdom of Jesus Christ fully, so that Christ shall reign both in church and commonwealth, both in civil and spiritual matters ; we will, through his grace, My to the Scrip- tures for every law, rule, direction, form, or whatever we do." " His project, however, was delayed. The corporation entitled " The President and Society for [the] Propagation of the Gos- pel in New England " was constituted by act of Parliament July 27, 1649,^^ but no funds were then at hand for its work. "3 See preface to The Christian Commonwealth, John Eliot. ^* The Light Appearing, etc., pp. 23, 28. 15 The following societies, all of which were engaged in Indian missions, have been frequently confounded: (i) The corporation entitled "The President and Society for [the] Propagation of the Gospel in New England " was constituted by an act of the Long Parliament in 1649. The commissioners of the United Colonies were its agents in New England. It died at the Restoration, May 29, 1660. (2) " The Com- pany for [the] Propagation of [Propagating] the Gospel [amongst the Heathen Natives of] in New England and the Parts Adjacent in America" was incorporated by Charles II, February 7, 1661-2, and was the successor of the former. The com- missioners of the United Colonies were its agents until 1685, after which a Board of Commissioners at Boston was constituted. They called themselves " Commissioners of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England." This was also called the "London Society." It cut off remittances to New England May 31, 1779, excepting arrearages and the Daniel Williams legacy, which was paid to the Presi- dent and Fellows of Harvard College to 1787. This society is still in existence as " The Mew England Company" of London, and conducts Indian missions largely in Canada. (3) The " Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge " was formed in England in 1698. It sent over some books for use in Indian missions, (4) "The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts " was chartered by Will- iam III, June 16, 1701. This was a sectarian society of the Church of England. It conducted some Indian missions in early days among the Oneidas. See David Humphreys' Historical Accou?tt, etc., and a series of anniversary sermons. (5) The NE W ENGLAND EA THERS— INDIAN CI VI LIZ A TION 1 3 Eliot consulted the ministers, who advised him to proceed. A tract of about six thousand acres was decided on and secured. In the spring of 165 1, the town was laid out and the Indians with great zeal began the work of construction. They named the place Natick. On the 6th of August, the Indians met and after Eliot had expounded the eighteenth chapter of Exodus, upon which his theocratic government was based, they elected their rulers — one over a hundred, two over fifties, and ten " tith- ing men." Each Indian chose which " ruler of ten " he would be under. The 24th of the following month was observed by fasting and prayer, and toward its close they entered, not into a church estate, as some have supposed, but into a civil coven- ant to be the Lord's people. ^^ Eliot saw thus his desire real- ized as to their government. He found, however, that the form of it was impracticable. It was not adapted to Indian life. A ruler in civil affairs, which their tribal instincts approved and the General Court had authorized, was all that the Indian town needed. To that the scheme finally came under Eliot's wise guidance. When he was permitted in 1660, after years of patient preparation and some opposition, to form a church among them, the ruler and the religious teacher or pastor became the two sources of authority in their Christian- ized communities. Meanwhile the movement had spread. " Society in Scotland for Propagating Cliristian Knowledge " was formed in 1709. It is usually called the " Scotch Society." A Board of Correspondents at Boston was appointed in 1730, but was suspended in 1737. In 1756 it was revived and con- tinued operations thereafter for many years. Another Board of Correspondents was constituted at New York in 1741, which in 1769 gave place to a board composed of the trustees of the College of New Jersey at Princeton. The Connecticut Board of Correspondents was formed at Lebanon July 4, 1764, and continued in existence about five years. (6) A "Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge" was incorporated Feb. 11, 1762, by the Massachusetts government, but its charter was not ratified in England \^Acts ajid Resolves of Mass., iv : 520-523]. (7) " The Soci- ety for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and others in North America" was incorporated by the General Court of Massachusetts, November 19, 1787. It has conducted various Indian missions in New England, New York, and the West. ^^' Strength out of Weakness^ pp. 9-13. 14 SAMSON OCCOM The plan of Indian town government had been adopted by- Thomas Mayhew and others. Eliot gave up the idea of gathering all the Christian Indians at Natick. After that model other towns were formed. Industry and education advanced. The results began to appear, particularly in the work of the converts he had raised up. His earlier problems were lost to view in the greater religious success, which was always his main purpose and which won for him the merited title, "Apostle of the Indians." As we have already suggested, the educational work of John Eliot was a prominent feature. A Puritan could not do other- wise than make it such, and the sequel proved his wisdom. At the beginning of his mission, the Indians expressed a desire that their children might be taught. Some of them were given over to English families for instruction after the older custom. Schools were established under white masters. It soon be- came evident, however, that an education in English was not best adapted to his purpose, nor easiest for the Indian children to acquire. He was preaching to them in the Indian lan- guage, and he felt that he must give them the Bible in their native tongue and they must be taught to read it. This he had determined upon so early as 1649, and his catechism was printed in 1653 or 1654. Parts of the Scriptures followed, and the famous " Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwee Up-Biblum God " appeared in 1663. The results of this work were visi- ble from- the first. Eliot found that the children and adults were very quick to learn in Indian. Even three years before the whole Bible was printed about one hundred of his Chris- tian Indians had been taught to read. His helpers were greatly multiplied and some from the older towns went out in a humble way to teach other tribes. A careful examination of the progress shows that this Indian literature gave a new impetus to the work. The greatest success came during the ten years following. Eliot was moved by it, furthermore, to NE IV ENGLAND FA THERS— INDIAN CI VI LIZA TION 1 5 see the necessity of the educated Indian teacher. The well- fitted native accomplished more than the inexperienced Eng- lishman. In 1670 he wrote, " And seeing they must have Teachers amongst themselves, they must also be taught to be Teachers ; for which cause I have begun to teach them the Art of Teaching, and I find some of them very capable. "^^ The claim has been made that the Indian Bible was of no service to the natives because it was not intelligible.^^ One of Eliot's biographers says, " It failed to answer the pious pur- pose for which the translator labored in preparing it."^-' Dr. Trumbull, than whom no one was more competent to judge, in answering these claims has given this opinion : '' There is abundant evidence that many of the praying Indians did acquire the art of reading with facility books printed in their language."-*^ We emphasize further in reply this fact: it was because of Eliot's discovery that the Indians made easy prog- ress in their own tongue that he was led to do the greater part of his work as a translator. He witnessed the good results even before he had finished his Bible. The volume was not only intelligible to the Indians, it was a valuable means of spreading his work. Whatever permanent quality that had was largely due to this native literature. We do not doubt that more good would have been accomplished by this agency had it not been for King Philip's War, which was an over- whelming disaster to the Indian missions of New England. Most writers on the work of John Eliot have seemed to think that its results sank away like water in desert sands. Such was not really the case. The stream has been flowing onward in^the shadows since those early times. Indians are now livins: whose enli^rhtened estate mav be attributed re- '' Brief Narrative, etc., p. 5. 18 North American Rev., Oct., i860. 1" Francis' Life of Eliot, pp. 237, 238. 20 Am. Antiq. Soc. Proc, No. LXI, pp. 3; ff. 1 6 SAMSON OCCOM motely to that good man who has been more than two centu- ries in his grave. As his settlements of praying Indians in the Massachusetts Bay Colony began to die out, the seed, scat- tered abroad, sprang up in other places where it was nour- ished. The Christian influences of Nonantum in 1647 spread in three directions, northward, westward and southward, and can be followed from town to town."^^ Eliot's first convert, Waubun, was, says Thomas Shephard, " the most active Indian for stir- ring up other Indians to seek after the knowledg of God." He is known to have carried the news in advance of Eliot to several distant Indian settlements. Indeed, the work so wisely conducted by the Mayhews on Martha's Vineyard, although it may have had an independent origin, was very closely associ- ated with Eliot's by visitation and correspondence; and the success in the Plymouth Colony and on Cape Cod was due to the latter rather than the former. To the northward there arose Nashobah (Littleton) and Wamesit (Lowell), into which those at the upper falls of the Pawtucket were afterwards gath- ered. The latter lived until the uncivilized Indians joined the St. Francis tribe and the Christians retreated to Natick. Thither also those of Concord and Sudbury finally came. To the westward Christian Indians went from Natick and estab- lished a town at Hassanamesit (Grafton), where a church was formed in 1671. This was the center of all the preaching sta- tions in that vicinity — Okommakamesit (Marlboro), Pakachoag (Worcester), and VVaeuntug(Uxbridge) — until in King Philip's War they were all swept away and the Christian remnants were absorbed at Natick and Dudley. The work at the latter place. Chabanakongkomun, was begun in 1672, by Indians of the 21 See Series of " Eliot Tracts ; " Daniel Gookin's Historical Account, etc., Ar- chceologia Americana, II, 423 ff; Articles on "Early Indian Missions," by Dr. H, M. Dexter, in The Sabbath at Home, 1868; Mass. Hist. Soc.ColL, I, vol. x, p. 129; Mather's Magnalia, 1853, II, 422 ff ; and MS. Rec. Soc. for Prop. Cos., with N. E. Hist, and Gen. Soc. NEIV ENGLAND FATHERS— INDIAN CIVILIZATION 17 Grafton church. It survived the war, took in that at Man- chaug (Oxford), and other abandoned towns westward, and lived under the labors of Revs. Perley How, Charles Gleason and others for three quarters of a century. Some of the sur- vivors at last moved southward into Connecticut and Rhode Island. The several settlements in Woodstock, Conn., Maa- nesit^ Quinnatesset and Wabquisset, where Eliot visited in 1674, were absorbed by Connecticut tribes along the Thames river. To the southward Punkapoag (Stoughton) continued for many years under the patronage of the whites. A grand- son of their first Indian ruler was ministering to them in 1729, and a few remained even until after the Revolution. "At Titi- cut (Middleborough), whither Waubun carried the gospel in 1648, religious privileges were maintained for nearly a cen- tury. They had a succession of native ministers and English lecturers. Thither Indians from surrounding settlements gathered, until the reduced remnant joined the south- ward movement which ended at Marshpee. So early as 1647 Eliot made a journey to Yarmouth and visited the Indians on Cape Cod. He afterwards sent some of his converts in that direction. Within a few years Christian set- tlements became numerous thereabouts. Richard Bourne labored to the south and east of Sandwich from 1666 to his death in 1685. " He was a man of that discernment," said Rev. Gideon Hawley, " that he considered it as vain to propa- gate Christian knowledge among any people without a terri- tory where they might remain in place from generation to gen- eration." This idea resulted in the Marshpee reservation, where in time the surviving Indians of the Plymouth Colony were gathered. After him Simon Popmonet, an Indinn min- ister, labored in the same field for nearly forty years. He was followed in turn by Joseph Bourne, Solomon Briant, an Indian, Gideon Hawley, Phinehas Eish, and William Apes, the well- known native author of Marshpee. Here was, therefore, a 1 8 SAMSON OCCOM continuation of the work down to recent times. To the north and west of Sandwich Captain Thomas Tupper began mission- ary labors about 1654, which he carried on until he was inca- pacitated by old age. A small meeting-house was built at the expense of Samuel Sewall on the hill east of Herring River (Bournedale), and there a church was formed. In after years his grandson, Eldad Tupper, and .his great-grandson, Elisha Tupper, were ministers to the Indians there and throughout that region. Further to the eastward in Eastham, Samuel Treat began his work in 1672, which was in a flourishing con- dition twenty years later, and was maintained largely by native ministers until about the middle of the next century. Here \yere, therefore, some centers in which the missions of the fathers survived for generations. At the end of the first cen- tury there were in the old fields, not including Martha's Vine- yard, " twenty or thirty congregations of Christianized Indians, whereto there belong some thousand souls. These had ten English preachers who gave them instructions and assistance, and between twenty and thirty Indian teachers by whom the exercises of the Lord's Day are mostly maintained." -^ The history of Natick, which is so familiar, is too frequently taken as illustrating the permanent value of that early work. Greater success attended that in the Plymouth Colony. It did not suffer so much during King Philip's War, and it was more di- rectly under the supervision of white ministers. The proximity of Mayhew's mission on the islands resulted in frequent visita- tions of zealous Indian ministers. Their lands, too, were not so generally coveted by the English, and they were out of the emigration current of the time. This made greater perma- nency possible. The Indians of Massachusetts slowly moved toward the south. Some who had been born at Natick left descendants at Marshpee. The mother church in its early years was constantly giving out Indian teachers who settled -'-India Christiana^ p. i"] ; Mather's Early History, p. xxxiii. A'EW ENGLAND FATHERS— INDIAN CIVILIZATION 19 permanently elsewhere, and it therefore deserves an honor which its later history would not suggest. It is difficult to measure the results of this first century movement toward civilization. Still, it has always been mis- judged because the accounts of it after King Philip's War are not so detailed or familiar as those of earlier times. Thousands, however, became nominal adherents to Chris- tianity. The census of 1674 numbers these as about four thousand in Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies, including those under Mayhew on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. At that time many of the early converts had died. The ingathering afterwards in missions at the southward was con- siderable. A careful estimate, based upon the history of individual congregations and churches, makes the number of Christian Indians in New England during this period about seven thousand. Comparatively few of these became church- members, and the type of Christian living was at no time very high ; but they were reduced to law and order and dwelt together in peace. Many, of course, lapsed into intemperance, but we have good evidence that a characteristic of the Chris- tian Indian was that he sought to recover himself. On the other hand, some families maintained their respectable char- acter for generations. As the years went by, their numbers decreased at an extraordinary death-rate, or, in the words of Cotton Mather, "by a strange Blast from Heaven confusing them." During the first half of the eighteenth century they melted away like snow^ in the springtime. The methods adopted by the fathers for civilizing the Indian were all that we could fairly expect. They had no experience to guide them. Such missions were in their infancy. On the whole their efforts met with a success which is an honor to their piety, wisdom and zeal. In the endea\'ors of this first century we have in the germ nearly all the ideas which have since been developed and are now in use. The 20 SAMSON OCCOM fathers considered the Christian training of Indian youth as of the greatest importance. They exalted the necessity of education. In this work they tried both the separation of the native from his heathen environment and the instruction of the tribal schoolhouse. One of their fundamental problems was whether the Indian should remain such or be Anglicized. They employed both the English and the Indian languages. The white teacher and the native helper were both known to them. They recognized the value of industrial pursuits as adapted to bring the savage into the ways of civilized life. By the action of their General Court the reservation was brought into existence. There Eliot set up the first experi- ment in Indian self-government after the customs of civiliza- tion. They contended with the difficulties attending the hold- ing of lands, and experienced the evils of government aid. The Indian agent was one of their creations. All which could be accomplished by the missionary in evangelization they attempted. The native churches which they founded were not unlike many that have since existed. Although the fathers were by no means above reproach in their treatment of the Indians, they did much in the ways that were open to them to fulfil the obligation which their religion prompted and their royal charters had imposed. CHAPTER II A MOHEGAN YOUTH 1723-1749 On some unknown day in the latter part of the seventeenth century, an Indian of the Mohegan tribe, who had dwelt in the region between the Shetucket and Quinebaug rivers, moved southward and set up his wigwam west of the river Thames in the vicinity of Uncas Hill, the ancient home of his sachem. The name of this Indian, as given in a document of 1738, was " Tomockham alias Ashneon," and he was the grandfather of Samson Occom.^ At this time the tribe had not gathered to any extent in villages. In 1725 they were said to number 351, and Jonathan Barber stated in 1738 that there were then only 19 males above 16 years of age who lived at Mohegan, and only 30 who had a permanent location on the Mohegan lands. Their territory, by the survey of 1705,' had for its corner bounds Lyme, Stonington, Pomfret and Bolton.-^ Throughout this region or beyond it they wandered in the avocations of the forest and their canoes crossed the waters to the fishing-grounds of Montauk. It may have been some fortune of war which led to this removal of Tomockham. ^The earliest written form of this ladian's name is "Tomockham" which is also spelled " Tomockam," "Tomocham," and " Tomocum.'' The name of Occom's father is written " Joshua x Ockham,"' "Joshua x Aucum " and " Joshua x Maw- cum." Although the manuscripts show many spellings of the son's name, such as Ockam, Alcom, Aukum, Aucum, Occum, and Aucom, he himself wrote it Samson Occom. As the name " Tomockham " was sometimes written " Tom x Maucum," and one of the family wrote his own name " Thomas Occom," we conjecture that the original Indian name was " Ockham " (Aukum, etc.) meaning "on the other side," and that he adopted the prefix " Tom," which had possibly been given him by the English. 2 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, vol. IX, p. So ; Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., V, 6. 21 22 SAMSON OCCOM Zachary Johnson, an aged councilor of the Mohegans, after- wards testified in enmity that Occom's grandfather was orig- inally from a town at or near Union, that he came and fought the Mohegans at Massapeak, and later lived at Niantic. There is no doubt that Tomockham was a Mohegan, as much so as any who were gathered by Uncas in the formation of that clan of Connecticut Indians. Of his family little is known. He was an aged man in 1738 when he and two sons, " Tomoch- am Jun' " and "John Tomocham," signed a document declar- ing their loyalty to Sachem Ben Uncas, and probably he died soon thereafter. Joshua Ockham, another and doubtless older son, was then living about a mile north of Uncas Hill, near the place where his famous son, Samson, afterwards built his house, and by the latter's testimony his "father was the first that ever lived there." Here in the course of time an Indian village sprang up, which in the wider fame of the place was called Mohegan. In the tribal quarrel between Ben and John Uncas, rivals for the sachemship, this village became known as " Ben's town" in distinction from " John's town," which was situated about one-half mile south of it, both being east of the road from Norwich to New London. In the wigwam of Joshua Ockham the son Samson was born in the year 1723, on a certain day which our hero never knew. His mother's name was Sarah and she is said to have been a descendant of the famous Mohegan chief, Uncas. ^ This may have been true, not- withstanding the statement of her son that she was a Groton Indian, and on account of her marriage had been adopted into the Mohegan tribe. Uncas himself was a Pequot, as were the Indians of Groton, and he had descendants whose names do not appear in the royal genealogy. Occom's references to the Wauby family as his kindred and particularly to Roger Wauby lead us to conjecture that these were relatives on his mother's side, and that her maiden name was either Wauby or 2 Life and Times of Selina, Cou7iiess of Huntingdon, I, 411 A MOHEGAN YOUTH 23 Sampson. At all events she was above the average as an Indian mother in intelligence, industry and affection. When in due time she became a convert to the Christian faith and a member of the church, she exercised a powerful influence over the life and character of her son. There were at least four children in the family, though Joshua, the eldest, may have been a son of Ockham by a former marriage. Sarah had Sam- son, Jonathan, who outlived the experiences of the French War and the Revolution in which he was a soldier, and Lucy, who became a woman of pious character, married John Tan- taquidgeon, and died in 1830 at the age of ninety-eight."* The father of this family was a " mighty hunter," wandering abroad during the season of the chase and returning to Mohegan when the winter snows began to fall. On the ist of July, 1742, the sachem, Ben Uncas, made choice of twelve coun- cilors and among them were Joshua Ockham and his son Sam- son, then only nineteen years of age. This is the last trace we have of the father, and in a memorial to the General Assembly, May 17, 1743, it is stated that all these councilors were living " except onely Joshua Aucom who is lately dead."' Thus the home which had only been a humble hunter's wig- wam at Mohegan was broken up and the care of the family fell to " Widow Sarah Occom." Twenty-five years later, when Samson Occom was thinking of preparing an autobiography, he wrote a few pages concerning his early life which have been preserved.*"^ In this manuscript he speaks thus of his heathen home : I was Born a Heathen and Brought up in Heathenism till I was between 16 and 17 years of age, at a Place Called Mohegan, in New Lon- don, Connecticut in New England. My Parents lived a wandering life as * Her daughter Lucy married Peter Teecomwas, and she and her daughter, Cynthia Hoscott, gave the land on which the Mohegan chapel is built. Bostonian, Marcli, 1895, P- 679- , ^Conn. Archives, Iiuliniis, I, 248, 249. ^Wheelock Papers, Dartmouth College, MS., Sept. 17, 1768. 24 SAMSON OCCOM did all the Indians at Mohegan. They Chiefly Depended upon Hunting, Fishing and Fowling for their Living and had no connection with the English, excepting to Traffic with them in their small trifles and they strictly maintained and followed their Heathenish ways, customs and Reli- gion. Neither did we cultivate our Land nor keep any Sort of Creatures, except Dogs which we used in Hunting, and we Dwelt in Wigwams. These are a sort of Tent, covered with Matts made of Flags. And to this Time we were unacquainted with the English Tongue in general, though there were a few who understood a little of it. There is no doubt that at the time of Occom's birlh the Mohegans were heathen. Rev. James Fitch of Norwich had, indeed, long before endeavored to Christianize some of them.' This was in 1671, when he gathered a few in his own house once a fortnight and delivered to them a lecture on Christian doctrines. At first he was encouraged by Uncas and his son Oweneco ; but as they became familiar with the demands which the new religion made upon their lives they resisted his efforts. The General Court moved the commissioners of the United Colonies as agents of the missionary society to assist him, which they did. It also announced its purpose to favor those who would listen to their teacher. Fitch had a com- pany of about thirty in 1674, which was increased to forty the year following. In the hope of getting them to live together in one place he is said to have gjven them three hundred acres of land. All his efforts, however, came to little, though we cannot say what might have been but for King Philip's War. He died in 1702. Nothing further was attempted until 17 13, when Rev. Experience Mayhevv of Martha's Vineyard, at the desire of the commissioners, set out from Chilmark on the 1 2th of October to make a tour among the Indians of southern New England. On the 21st of September, 17 14, he started on a second tour. The journals of both are in print. ^ ' DeForest's Indians of Connecticut, pp. 274-279; Co)iti. Col. Rec, II, 157, 158; Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, vol. i, pp. 191, 192, 208, 209 ; Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc, Nov., 1879 ; Nezv England Company, p. 44 ; and Conn. Archives, Indians, I, 33. ^ New England Company, London, 1896, pp. 97-127. A MOHEGAN YOUTH 25 He was accompanied in the former as. far as the Narragansett country by William Simons, an Indian minister of Dartmouth, who had been ordained by Japhet of Martha's Vineyard.'' After a short stay at Ninegret's settlement he passed on to Stonington, whence he was conducted by Rev. James Noyes and others to the Pequot reservation. Here he had a meet- ing a few days later with all he could gather of the tribe. Thence he went to New London, thinking to arrange a meet- ing with the Mohegans. In this he failed, the Indians being off hunting, but he wrote an address "to the Mohegin and Nahantick Indians" informing them of the object of hi^ visit, which Governor Saltonstall communicated to them later. On his second tour he visited the Pequots at North Stonington and Groton, being assisted by their overseer, Captain James Avery, who could act as his interpreter. At this time he went to Mohegan, where the Indians were gathered in a large double wigwam in the presence of Major Ben Uncas, uncle of the sachem, Caesar, and, in an address an hour and a half long, Mayhew commended unto them the Christian religion. He received their thanks for the interest of the English ; but as for their religion the Indians denied the necessity of it, pleaded that they had their own way of worship, declared that in Fitch's time their fathers had found it too hard, and asserted that the English were no better for it, as they would cheat the Indians of their land just the same. So he left them, having some hopes in further efforts to be made by Governor Saltonstall and Rev. Eliphalet Adams. It was doubtless to this occasion that Cotton Mather referred when he wrote in 1715 : "There "Japhet was born at Chilmark about 163S, and was ordained by Hiacoomes in 1683, as teacher of the first Indian church of Martha's Vineyard, and the successor of Tackanash, the associate of Hiacoomes. He ordained WiUiani Simons in 1695. Both of them had preached some to Wamsuttan's company of Rhode Island Indians. Japhet died July 29, 1712, and Simons continued the work at intervals. See Report of 1698, Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, vol. x, p. 129; Mayhew's Indian Converts, pp. 10, 15? 44- 26 SAMSON OCCOM has been Something done to Christianize the Mohegins, and other Indians in the Colony of Connecticut; but, Lord, who has believed ! They have been obstinate in their Paganism ; however their obstinacy has not put an End unto our Endeavours." 1'^ One incident of these tours is worthy of note, namely, Mayhew's acquaintance with Joseph and Benjamin Garret, the sons of Catapezet (Kottupesit), and grandsons of the famous Hermon Garret or Wequash Cook (Wequashcuk). The former was his interpreter, his assistant in translating the Lord's Prayer into the Pequot tongue and the ally of his efforts — "of very good quality among the Indians," who "gave him [me] some hopes that he would become a Christian himself." Joseph Garret had been chosen by the Niantics of Lyme as their sachem, and his daughter was the wife of Caesar, sachem of the Mohegans. Mayhew also met his brother Benjamin, who understood some English and had a son then seven years old whom he was "willing to devote to learning that so he may be a minister." That boy became the Benjamin Garret of later times, the father of Hannah Fowler, who kept the cabin of Samuel Kirkland in Oneida. The ear- liest known grand sachem of the Niantics had been Momo- joshuck, and here we see the flow of his royal blood through his son Hermon Garret, Catapezet, Benjamin Garret, Ben- jamin, Jr., Hannah, the wife of David Fowler, who was Samson Occom's brother-in-law and companion in the first westward mission from Connecticut, James Fowler, a judge in the Indian Peacemaker's Court, David Fowler, the hon- ored deacon of their church, to Lathrop Fowler, the intelli- gent American citizen. But we anticipate our story. The greatest good which resulted from Mayhew's tours was the new interest he awakened in Indian missions in southern New England. Governor Saltonstall and his pastor, Rev. Eliphalet Adams, were especially aroused to their duties. His ^° Mather's Just Commemorations, p. 53. A MO H KG AN YOUTH 27 Excellency gave himself to a careful examination of the condi- tions, and communicated his interest to the General Assembly of Connecticut. That body, in May, 17 17, recorded its belief that something should be done toward "gospelizing the Indians," and referred the matter to the governor and council. At the next session the governor proposed certain measures to that end, the most important of which was that the Indians should be gathered in villages '* where they might have dis- tinct properties and these secured to the use of their respect- ive families," and might receive instruction from a school- master." These measures were duly enacted, and village life among the Mohegans and the Connecticut tribes generally dates from that time. The very year of Occom's birth Captain John Mason, the guardian of the Mohegans, who had some acquaintance with their language, received permission from the General Assem- bly to live among them, and it was recommended that he set up a school and acquaint the Indians with the Christian religion. -^^ This he attempted with the assistance of the assembly, under the patronage of the " Society for Propagat- ing the Gospel," which thereafter maintained such privileges as they had. Probably at first he taught a few children in his own hut; but in 1727 a schoolhouse was occupied and he was established as schoolmaster. This building was an unpreten- tious one, only twenty-two feet by sixteen, and had been erected by the colony at a cost of ^60.^=^ The following year his pupils were examined by two neighboring ministers, Eliphalet Adams of New London and Benjamin Lord of Norwich. It was found that they could "spell very prettily," and some could read "pretty tolerably without spelling" from their primers and psalters. "They could say the Lord's " Conn. Archives. Indians, I, 86; Conn. Col. Rec, VI, 15, 31, 32. 12 Conn. Col. Rec, VI, 429. 13 Conn. Col. Rec, VII, 7s ; Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., IV, S2, ^1,, 389, 390. '^8 SAMSON OCCOM Prayer, the Ten commandments and a pretty deal in Mr. Cotton's Catechism Milk for Babes. "^* This was not very advanced education, but under the circumstances it was encouraging. Captain Mason kept this school for about seven years, when a revival of the Mohegan land troubles turned the Indians against him and the school was discon- tinued. During this time also Rev. Eliphalet Adams was employed by the missionary society to deliver occasional lectures among them, following the Puritan example of John Eliot. As a means of religious instruction these may not have been very fruitful, but they made the Indians acquainted with one of the foremost ministers of the region — one whom they loved and trusted, and who ever remained their firm friend. To him more than any other individual the mainte- nance of educational and Christianizing privileges at Mohegan was due. He was always consulted by the missionary society, and his judgment was received without question. One of Mason's pupils was the young Ben Uncas, the third of the name, only son of the sachem. He proved to be so proficient that in 1729 he was taken into Mr. Adams's home, and for five years he remained under his care, being in 1731 about to be " put upon grammar learning " to qualify him for a preacher, which he and his family wished. ^^ In the summer of 1734 he was brought by Rev. Oliver Peabody to his home in Natick, and on the 14th of November was apprenticed to Thomas Russell of Sherburn, cardwainer. He did not remain throughout his full term, however, but was sent for in 1737 in pursuance of a political purpose, and married to Ann, daughter of the late Sachem Casar.^^ Here we may see how those lingering influences of John Eliot at Natick were propagated at Mohegan. At Mason's 1* Conn. Archives, College and Schools, I, 69; Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., IV, 107-112. 15 MS. Rec. Soc. for Prop. Cos. ^''' Ibid.; Conn. Archives, Indians, I, 236 ; Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., \ , 204 ; Mohegan Case, p. 210. A MO H EG AN YOUTH 29 request a Christian Indian of that town, Thomas Pegun by name, was sent to the Mohegans in 1732 "to introduce among them family worship and the observation of the Lord's Day," and the Natick missionary. Rev. Oliver Peabody, visited them a few weeks later, bringing back such a report to the commis- sioners of the missionary society that it was decided to send a minister to labor there. After some search for a proper person, Mr. Jonathan Barber of Springfield was appointed at a salary of i^ioo a year, and about the middle of August, 1733, he commenced his work.^^ He was a licensed preacher, and began at once to gather the Indians for religious instruction. When Mr. Peabody in 1734 took the young Uncas to his home, he had been at Mohegan to encourage this mission. He made a favorable report, and everything seemed promis- ing. Mr. Adams continued his lectures, and supervised the work in behalf of the society. In 1736 an attempt was made to revive the school under one Samuel Avery as master, but after one year he was displaced for neglect, and the school was put under the charge of Mr. Barber. Meanwhile, how- ever, the controversy between the Indians and Captain Mason had been increasing animosities. Unfortunately their teacher seemed to the Indians to side with Mason against them, and his early influence waned. The children would not attend school, and their parents refused to hear their enemy preach. So the mission failed, and Barber was dismissed by the society June 22, 1738. "Jonathan Barber was born in West Springfield, Mass., Jan. 31, 1712-13, being the son of Thomas and Sarah, (Ball) Barber. He graduated at Yale College in 1730, studied theology, and was licensed to preach by the Hampshire County Asso- ciation. He labored a short time among the Indians at Agawam, Mass., before he went to Mohegan. After his dismissal in 1738, he preached at Oyster Ponds, L. I., and was in 1740 made superintendent of Whitefield's Orphan House in Georgia. He returned to Long Island in 1747, and was ordained at Oyster Ponds. Nov. y, 1757, by the Suffolk Presbytery, Rev. Ebenezer Prime preaching the sermon, which is in print. On Nov. 3, 1758, he was installed pastor of the Congregational Church in Groton, Conn., where he labored until 1765, when he became insane. His princi- 30 SAAfSOJV OCCOM These attempts to civilize the Mohegans did not make any impression upon the youth, Samson Occom. In the manu- script already referred to, he gives the following pithy account of them : Once a Fortnight in ye Summer Season a Minister from New London [Rev. Eliphalet Adams] used to come up and the Indians to attend ; not that they regarded the Christian Religion, but they had Blankets given to them every Fall of the year and for these things they would attend. And there was a Sort of a School Kept, when I was quite young, but I believe there never was one that ever Learnt to read anything. And when I was about ten years of age there was a man [Jonathan Barber] who went about among the Indian Wigwams, and wherever he could find the Indian Children would make them read, but the Children used to take Care to keep out of his Way : and he used to Catch me some times and make me Say over my Letters and I believe I learnt some of them. But this was Soon over too, and all this Time there was not one amongst us that made a Profession of Christianity. The most prominent friend of the Christian religion during this period was the sachem, Ben Uncas, 2d. Whatever his motive may have been, and however much his subsequent conversion may be questioned, he was certainly favorable to the introduction of Christianity into his tribe. So early as 1729, when he sent his son to live with Rev. Eliphalet Adams, he expressed the desire to have his children instructed in the Christian religion. His interest increased. At his request the missionary had been sent to Mohegan, and the testimony at that time was that he had been " of late greatly reformed," and both he and his wife had begun to learn to read. In 1736 he made a declaration of his acceptance of Christianity, at which the General Assembly expressed their satisfaction, and presented him with a hat and greatcoat — on more than one pal delusion was that he was a leper. In 1768 his pastorate was dissolved, but he lived on at Groton, dying Oct. 8, 1783. He married Nov. 2, 1740, Sarah Noyes, daughter of Rev. James Noyes of Westerly, and granddaughter of the Stonington minister. She was born Nov. 17, 1714, and died May 30, 1761. They had nine children. — Dexter's Yale Biographies, I, 410, 411. A MO II EG AN YOUTIJ 3 1 occasion the attire in which the fathers arrayed their Indian converts for the heavenly course. ^^ This event more than any other gave occasion for the action of the General Assembly in May, 1736, noting the revival of Indian missions, and ordering a general collection therefor in the churches on the next Thanksgiving Day. Mr. Adams se^ms to have had confidence in the sachem's sincerity, and on the 31st of October, 1742, upon their making " profession of the Christian faith," he baptized " Benjamin Uncas, sachem of the Mohegan Indians, and his son Benjamin with his wife Ann also Lucy Uncas," whose names were duly entered in the records of the First Church of New London.^'' Probably they did not thus become communicants, for it had long been customary to baptize Indians who professed Christianity. So far as we know, however, this sachem lived a reformed and creditable life. He died in 1749, and his will, like that of the white man, recommended his soul to God, " trusting in Christ for the free and full pardon of all his sins."^*' The son who succeeded him was Adams' pupil. In 1739, after an examination in which his proficiency had been proven, he had been placed in the schoolmaster'^? chair at Mohegan. We know^ nothing about the school he kept, but he was no doubt successful, as he remained in charge for nearly ten years and his salary was increased by the mission- ary society to ^^"80 a year. Now the time had come for him to surrender the school for the sachemship. Thus the chief '^ Conn. Col. Rec, VIII, 72, 72, ; C^^'^- ^''^- ^''- ^^^^•' ^^'' 354 ; and T/ic Church Review, Hartford, November, 1X98. r^Lucy Uncas married, Oct. 23, 1744, Samuel Pye. Two younger children of the sachem, Esther and Mary, and a son of Ben. Uncas, Jr., Benjamin, were baptized at the same time. Other children of the sachem's son were baptized as follows : May I 1741;, " Benjamin Uncas Jr. child Ann and his wife her child Mary;" Aug. 13, 1744, Josiah; April 10, 1748, Esther; April 23, 1750, " Isaiah-Mercy child Mercy." The first wife Ann died before 1750, and Ben. Uncas, Jr., married Mercy, who sur- vived him. 20 DeForest's Indians of Connecticut, pp. 447, 448- 32 SAMSON OCCOM of the Mohegans, during the next quarter-century, was both a nominal adherent to Christianity and a missionary school- master. Another important factor in Mohegan affairs was the North Church of New London, now in the town of Montville*. Here, in 1739, Rev. David Jewett was settled as minister.-^ He inter- ested himself from the first in the condition of his Indian neighbors. An attempt had been made before his coming to remove the meeting-house one mile to the eastward, nearer the Indian settlement, and unite them in one parish with the Eng- lish, the " Society for Propagating the Gospel " to contribute the share of the Indians. This plan was favored by the commis- sioners, but it failed, for the location of a meeting-house was always a troublesome question and much more so under these conditions. However, the young minister felt a responsibility in the matter and had a sincere desire to do what he could for the heathen at his door. When Mr. Jewett had been settled about a year, the great religious awakening of the time began. It is unnecessary to give here an account of this movement. The Mohegan Indians were located in the midst of a region where its impres- sions were most positive. It was the day of Rev. George Whitefield, who felt so keenly the power of a missionary motive and imbued his followers with the same spirit. Some ministers of eastern Connecticut had already met him. In the spring of 1741 Rev. Gilbert Tennent visited New London and preached there and at Lyme. Soon after him there came Rev. James Davenport, the enthusiast, who labored earnestly in the 2^ David Jewett was born in Rowley, Mass.. June 10, 1714, being the son of Stephen Jewett. He had a twin brother Daniel. After his graduation at Harvard College in 1736, he studied theology and was ordained pastor of the North Church in New Lon- don (Montville), Oct. 3, 1739. In 1756 he was chaplain of a Connecticut regiment raised for the expedition to Crown Point. He married (i) Patience Philips of Boston, who died Nov. 14, 1773, aged 66, and (2) Mary, widow of William Prince, who survived him. He died in office June 5, 1783. A MO H EG AN YOUTH 33 neighborhood and stirred up the ministers, particularly con- cerning their obligations to the Indians, many of whom went to hear him preach. The desire of Mr. Jewett was kindled to a flame. Davenport's brother-in-law% Rev. Eleazar Wheelock of Lebanon Crank, the Second or North Parish of the town, now Columbia, Rev, Jonathan Parsons of Lyme, Rev. Ben- jamin Pomeroy of Hebron, and other ministers thereabouts were deeply moved. Thus it happened that the way was pre- pared for the subsequent missionary enterprise of Dr. Whee- lock. His neighbors were born into the same interest. As friends of Whitefield they made him a friend to their Indians. He afterwards visited the locality more than once, and in 1745 he held a great meeting of Indians at Mohegan.-^ The result- ing evangelistic efforts were not confined to that tribe. Min- isters labored among the Pequots at Groton and Stonington, the Western Niantics in Lyme, and the Eastern Niantics or Narragansetts in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Of these we shall speak more particularly later ; we now note that the foun- dations of this work were laid in the "Great Awakening." The people of Mr. Jewett's parish shared in this new inter- est in the Indians. The movement for a union was revived, but again nothing was effected. In 1742 an effort was made to settle a minister at Mohegan over the Indians, but this also failed. The result was that the Indians came under Mr. Jew- ett's pastoral care, for which he was paid by the missionary society. Bibles, psalters, primers and catechisms were secured and distributed among them. Such as were inter- ested attended worship at his church. In the course of time some who gave good evidence of fitness were admitted to fellowship with his people, and among them was the Widow Sarah Occom.-'^ 22 Caulkins' History of Norwich, p. 321 . 23 These members were as follows: Cyrus Junco and his wife; Sarah J unco and Lucy Junco, sisters to Cyrus ; Widow Shokket ; Peggy ; Henry Cocquid ; Joshua Nonesuch and Hannah Nonesuch: Andrew Tantapah : Joseph Tanner; Widow 4 34 SAMSON OCCOM Samson Occom was converted, according to the testimony of Doctor Wheelock, "by the blessing of God on the labors of Rev. Mr. Davenport." The account of his experience can be best given in his own words : When I was i6 years of age, we heard a strange Rumor among the English that there were extraordinary Ministers Preaching from Place to Place and a Strange Concern among the White People. This was in the Spring of the .Year. But we saw nothing of these things till Some Time in the Summer, when Some ministers began to yisit us and Preach the Word of God; and the Common People also came frequently and exhorted us to the things of God which it pleased the Lord, as I humbly hope, to Bless and accompany with Divine Influences to the Conviction and Saving Conver- sion of a Number of us, amongst whom I was one that was Impresst with the things we had heard. These Preachers did not only come to us, but we frequently went to their meetings and Churches. After I was convicted I went to al Ithe meetings I could come at, & continued under Trouble of Mind about 6 months, at which time I began to Learn the English Letters, got me a Primer and used to go to my English Neighbours frequently for Assistance in Reading, but went to no School. And when I was 17 years of age I had, as I trust, a Discovery of the way of Salvation through Jesus Christ and was enabled to put my trust in him alone for Life & Salvation. From this Time the Distress and Burden of my mind was removed, and I found Serenity and Pleasure of Soul in Serving God. By this time I just began to Read in the New Testament without Spelling, and I had a Stronger Desire Still to Learn to read the Word of God, and at the Same Time had an uncommon Pity & Compassion to my Poor Brethren Accord- ing to the Flesh. I used to wish I was Capable of Instructing my poor Kin- dred. I used to think if I could once Learn to Read I would Instruct the poor Children in Reading and used frequently to talk with our Indians Con- cerning Religion. Thus I continued till I was in my 19th year, and by this Time I could Read a little in the P.ible. It was at such a crisis in the life of this Mohegan youth that he came under the influence of Rev. Eleazar Wheelock of Leb- anon, who became his instructor and friend — a relationship Bette Occom; Lizze Nimrod; Lucy Cochegan ; Widow Anna Uncas ; John Nan- nipoon and Hannah Nannipoon ; Sarah Occom ; Anna Uncas, wife of the sachem ; Widow Hannah Cooper, and Samuel Ashpo. — Manual of the First Congregati >nal Churchy Montville, Conn., 1875, p. 19. A MO HE G AN YOUTH 35 which was no less important in the career of the teacher tlian in that of the Indian pupil. The biography of this minister has been fully written and must be sought elsewhere.^'* A few facts will tell his story to this date. He was born in Wind- ham, Conn., April 22, 17 11, being the son of Deacon Ralph Wheelock, a farmer in that town, and Ruth, daughter of Mr. Christopher Huntington of Norwich. Having become a Chris- tian at the age of sixteen, he entered Yale College with the design of preparing himself for the ministry. After his gradu- ation in 1733, he studied theology, was licensed to preach in 1734, and on the 4th of June, 1735, was ordained as pastor of the Second Congregational Church of Lebanon. The same year he married Sarah, daughter of Rev. John Davenport of Stamford, Conn., and widow of Captain William Maltby, after whose death, in 1746, he married Mary Brinsmead of Milford, Conn. By his first wife he had six children, among them his son Ralph, and by his second wife, five, among whom were Mary and Abigail, whose husbands. Prof. Bezaleel Woodward and Prof. Silvanus Ripley, became assistants in his work, and his son John, who followed him in the presidency of Dartmouth College. We are thus introduced evidently to the home of a Connecticut minister, where learning, piety and culture were bred. The father was a superior scholar. He had also the teacher's gift, which inspired the youth about him with zeal in their studies. In addition to his pastoral duties and occa- sional labors in revivals, he had found time to instruct a few pupils gathered in his family. Of his personal appearance, his biographer has said: "He was of a middle stature and size, well proportioned, erect and dignified. His features were prominent, his eyes a light blue and animated. His complex- ion was fair, and the general expression of his countenance pleasing and handsome. His voice was remarkably full, har- 2< McClure's Memoirs of Wheelock ; Chase's Hist, of Dartmouth College; Dexter's Yale Biographies, I, 493-499 ; and Sprague's /4«;/a/j, I, 397-403. ^6 SAMSON OCCOM monious, and commanding."^^ This description, however, does not make mention of that personal magnetism which was char- acteristic of him as a teacher. The Indians especially felt the power of this gift and remarked upon it. His winsome pres- ence impressed them. Savage natures sometimes came easily under his control. A desire for a new life was awakened within them by his tender words. Thus they became attached to him, and in this friendship between teacher and pupil is ta be found in large measure the secret of his success. Surely in the home of this minister an ambitious young Indian could hope to find his opportunity. It has been generally supposed that Doctor Wheelock dug Samson Occom as a rough diamond from the earth. Evidently this was not the case. It was already glittering before he met with it. We have Occom's own account of the way their acquaintance came about. In his manuscript he says: At this time my Poor Mother was going to Lebanon, and having had some knowledge of Mr. Wheelock and Learning that he had a number of English Youth under his Tuition I had a great Inclination to go to him and to be with him a week or a Fortnight, and Desired my Mother to Ask Mr. Wheelock whether he would take me a little while to Instruct me in Read- ing. Mother did so, and when she came Back, she said Mr. Wheelock wanted to see me as soon as possible. So I went up thinking I should be back again in a few Days. When I got up there, he received me with kind- ness & compassion, & instead of staying a Fortnight or 3 weeks, I spent 4 years with him. It should be said to the honor of Doctor Wheelock, the father of Indian missionaries, that he thus, without hope of remuneration or other aim than to do good, took this young Mohegan into his care and home. It proved to be an event in the history of Indian missions. In listening with compas- sion to the plea of this mother who stood at his door, he was hearing a cry from Macedonia. A man less benevolent or sympathetic or appreciative of the value of education would -° McClure's Memoirs of Wheelock, p. 131. A MO H EG AN YOUTH o^ have hesitated. Wheelock opened the door and a youth who was to become the foremost of his race entered with a new hope. So it was Occom who sought out Wheelock and not Wheelock who sought out Occom. The teacher recognized at once the slumbering talents of his pupil. He began with patience and wisdom to develop them. The youth's progress was encouraging. He had his reading lessons from the Bible and thus advanced at the same time in Christian knowledge. In writing he copied passages set for him by his teacher. One specimen of that early time has been preserved among the Wheelock Papers at Dartmouth College, and is reproduced underneath his portrait in our frontispiece. On the sheet the pupil had wTitten the Lord's Prayer in Latin, Greek and French, and then, as school-boys are w^ont to do, he inscribed on the reverse in his best pen- manship " Samson Occom, The Indian of Mohegan, Ejus Manus." It was customary at that time to begin early with the study of the classics. The young Indian was soon en- gaged in Latin, attempting to compose sentences in that lan- guage. So the days went by. Occom became acquainted with family life in the Wheelock home and its refining infiuences were a great blessing to him. As he was associated with other pupils he noted the deficiencies of his heathen training and was quick to profit by the examples set before him. It is known that he soon became a member of Doctor Wheelock's church, but the church rolls are lost which recorded the date of his profession of faith, as that of other Indian pupils in later years. A few names have been recovered from the min- ister's manuscripts. It was the 6th of December, 1743, when Samson C)ccom went thus to live with Doctor Wheelock. He was then twenty years of age. On that day he began to keep a diary, which he wrote in an easy and distinct hand — a practice which he continued throughout his life, though parts of it are not 38 SAMSON OCCOM known to be extant ^^ which would be of great interest. He seems to have had in mind at first mainly his own pleasure and profit ; but later when he became a beneficiary of the " Society for Propagating the Gospel " it was necessary for him to keep some account of his life upon which to make report. In his subsequent missionary labors this was insisted on, and to this fact we owe much information concerning his career. He naturally chronicles more particularly his journeys to and fro, the meetings he attended, his sermon texts and the like. We have to thank him for the omission of the tedious medita- tions so commonly found in ministers' diaries of that time ; but we should have been grateful for more details of his obser- vations among the various Indian tribes he visited, the condi- tion of frontier settlements and withal for an opportunity of studying more closely this most remarkable Indian character. However, we are able thus to follow him through many criti- cal periods of his life. As we have stated, Doctor Wheelock took Occom into his home without any expectation of receiving assistance in his support. The widowed mother could not contribute anything except possibly her own labor. She may have attempted to do this, as Indian women frequently did in English families, for the son made this entry in his diary under February 23, 1744-45 : " Mater mea et Duo Libri Ejus Venierunt ad Domi- num Wheelock manere ibi Tempori." There is a tradition at Columbia that Occom lived some of the time in a hut which he built in the woods some distance from the minister's home. This is not unlikely. Soon the teacher acquainted some of 2'' The following parts are at Dartmouth College: Dec. 6, 1743-Nov. 29, 1748; June 21, 1750-Feb. 9, 1751 ; June 28, 1757-Sept. 7, 1760; May 30, 1761-July 7, 1761; Nov. 21, 1765-July 23, 1766; July 8, 1774-Aug. 14,1774; May 8, 1784-April 26, 1785; May I, 1785-Oct. 2, 1785 ; Oct. 4, 1785-Dec. 4, 1785 ; Dec. 5, i 785-Jan. 22, 1786; June 26,4 786-Nov. 13,1786; Dec. 11, 1786-April 7, 1787; April 7, 1787- July 3, 1787; Sept. 20, 1787-Dec. 4, 1787; Dec. 10, 1787-Aug. 9, 1788; May u, 1789-Sept. 18, 1789. The Connecticut Historical Society has one part, July 5, 1787 to Sept. i6, 1787. A MO H EG AN YOUTH 39 his friends with the case and his benevolent purpose, which resulted in some contributions, mostly of clothes — " Some old and some new clothes," in the language of the recipient. Finally the "Society for Propagating the Gospel" became in- terested, and in 1745 the commissioners granted an allowance of £(iO old tenor per annum for his maintenance. This they continued while he was pursuing his studies. During one year, 1744-45, on account of circumstances in Mr. Wheelock's home, the school was kept at Hebron by Alexander Phelps, who had just graduated from Yale College. His course was also interrupted from time to time by journeys to visit the Indians at Longmeadow, Windham, Niantic, Groton and Long Island, among whom he held meetings with an evangelistic purpose. One reason for this was doubtless the necessity for relief from constant study, to which he had not been accus- tomed. Indeed he at length so overstrained his eyes by his earnest application to his books that he was unable to take the course which had been designed in preparation for the ministry. On the lOth of November, 1747, after nearly four years of instruction, he left Lebanon to take charge of a school in some part ^of New London. This he taught during the winter. In the following spring, by the ^advice of the neigh- boring ministers with whom he was a protege, and with the encouragement of the missionary society, he came under the care of Rev. Benjamin Pomeroy of Hebron, that he might be further instructed, particularly in Hebrew. How much of this language he actually acquired we do not know. It is said, however, that he was able to translate passages with ease, and his Hebrew Bible, which has survived, bears some evidences of use,-^ After nearly a year of such study it became evident 2' Benedict Theological Library, First Church, Plainfield, Conn. The Bible is in two volumes, printed at Amsterdam in 1705. The covers of deerskin were doubt- less Occom's own work. At some time, and probably after the owner's death, the volumes came into the hands of Rev. Joel Benedict, D. D., of Plainfield, by whom they were given with his library to the church. They were deposited in the library 40 SAMSON OCCOM that his eyes would not permit him to take a college course. Still it was hoped that he might study theology under some minister, and Rev. Solomon Williams, of Lebanon, was solicited by the missionary society to undertake this service. He would have done so, being always a faithful friend, but unfortunately just at this time, in the winter of 1748-49, Occom was compelled by his health to give up all study for a time. This proved to be the last of his education except such as he acquired by him- self. He had foreseen for some time that such would be the result, and though it somewhat depressed his spirits, he was not without hope that he might find some field in which to labor for his degraded people. His restless ambition had not been quenched. A missionary zeal was still aflame in his soul. Probably it received an additional impulse when, in November, 1748, he visited the Christian Indians at Natick, and heard from Deacon Ephraim, with whom he lodged, the story of John Eliot's labors. He must then have learned about that famous Indian town, its founding and earlier use- fulness, and have seen but too clearly the evidences of its decay. We may wonder whether that visit was not the means of suggesting to him the Indian town which he established years afterwards. It must at least have set him to thinking upon the problem of civilizing his people in New England, who were being hemmed in on all sides by the whites. As to the education which Samson Occom had thus ac- quired it is not possible to speak as one might now, after the completion of a course of study in our schools. He certainly had an ample preparation for Yale College, whither it was pro- posed to send him. Rev. Samuel Buell says of him : He made such "Progress in Learning that he was so well fitted for Admittance into College (which was designed) that he doubt- of the Connecticut Historical Society for safe keeping in 185 1, and were reclaimed in 1890. Occom's Hebrew Grammar is in Dartmouth College Library— the work by Judah Monis, Boston, N. E., printed by Jonas Green in 1735. ^^ ^'^'^ evidently used by Occom in 174S. A MO H EG AN YOUTH 41 less would have entered upon his Second year at his first admission."^* His knowledoje of the languages and mathe- matics was probably limited to what he learned in Doctor Wheelock's family school. He is known also to have studied music, which was a daily exercise in the minister's home. In his letters and sermons he shows a familiarity with English grammar and composition which it was difficult for an Indian to acquire. Yet it must not be supposed that Occom was a scholar judged by present standards, or even by the English youth of his day. His main attainment was a knowledge of the Scriptures, which he had studied with a living interest. He had not gathered any treasures of theology with which to fill his discourses ; but he understood and held with intel- lectual vigor and clearness the principal doctrines of the Christian faith. In these it had been his teacher's aim to establish him. This was the education which was demanded in his life's mjssion. With his native aptitude at illustrating these truths he was fitted to become a useful teacher among his brethren. -* Buell's Sertnon at the Ordination of Occom ; Letter, p. vii. « CHAPTER III THE INDIAN TEACHER AT MONTAUK 1749-1761 The eastern extremity of Long Island, known as Montauk, has been from time immemorial a favorite resort of Indians. Its famous fishing and hunting grounds made subsistence easy, and in the season attracted the natives from a distance. Here the Montauk tribe, well known in the early history of the New England Indians, made their home. It was their privilege, about the middle of the eighteenth century, to live at large on the lands anciently possessed by, the tribe, but they seemed to have a particular title to a tract west of the Great Pond, called "North Neck," and to another east of the same called " Indian Field," which now is only peopled with lonely graves. In 1741 a census was taken of these Indians, and they were reported to comprise thirty-two families and one hundred and sixty-two souls, which is about the same as a statement made by Rev. Solomon Williams to Secretary Willard ten years later.^ The prominent families had then assumed surnames such as Pharaoh, Fowler, Peter and Charles. Except in a few cases they were unable to speak the English language, and lived according to their heathen customs. Since 1741 some missionary service had been done among them at intervals by Rev. Azariah Horton, who was principally engaged with the Shinnecock Indians under the patronage of the New York correspondents of the " Society in ^Mass. Hist Soc. Coll., I, vol. x, p. no. MS. Lett., July 24, 1751, in posses- sion of Mrs. B. E. Hooker, Hartford. 42 THE INDIAN- TEACHER AT MONTAUK 43 Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge."^ He had followed in the wake of Rev. James Davenport, already men- tioned, who as minister at Southold had occasionally preached among the Indians. Mr. Horton's work declined as the years passed, notwithstanding his faithfulness, and in 1750 he was ready to surrender his field to another. In the month of November, 1749, Samson Occom, then in his twenty-seventh year, began a work at Montauk as school- master, preacher and judge, which continued for nearly twelve years. His service was greatly blessed to the permanent elevation of some in that tribe who have a prominent place in our story. He had previously sought for employment as a teacher at Niantic and Narragansett ; but at the former place they had a schoolmaster and at the latter they were quite indifferent in the matter. Occom had visited Montauk while he was yet a pupil at Doctor Wheelock's school. He had some acquaintance with the Indians there and their language was his own. It chanced, however, that he went thither in the summer of 1749, with some of his tribe on a fishing excursion. He was something of a fisherman himself; but he was more interested in men just then than in the denizens of the briny deep. So he left his companions at their employment and went among the wigwams to hold meetings. He was kindly received and continued some weeks in this service. Ere the time came for the party to return, the Indians had invited him to come and set up a school among them. The only support offered him was such as they could contribute themselves, and they were very poor. He immediately com- ^Azariah Horton was the son of Jonathan and Mary (Tuthill) Horton, and was born in the " Old Castle," at Southold, L. I., March 20, 1715. He graduated at Yale College in 1735, studied theology, and for a time preached at New Providence, N. J. In 1 741 he was ordained by the Presbytery of New York with a view to his mission which he began in August of that year. He continued in this work until i75i,andthe year following was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in South Hanover (Bottle Hill), N. J., where he labored to his death, March 27, i777-— Dexter's Yale Biographies, I, 536, 537; Prime's Hist, of L. /., pp. 104-110; and Whitaker's Hist, of Southold, pp. 265-269. 44 SAMSON OCCOM municated with Doctor Wheelock, expressing his fear that the commissioners, being displeased at his leaving his studies, would not favor his engagement or grant him their assistance. On the loth of July, as appears from their records, they had " voted that inasmuch as Samson Occom is taken off from his studies by a pain in his eyes, Mr. Williams of Lebanon be asked to advise in the affair as lo his keeping school or engaging in manual labor and on his recovery they would be willing' to help him and in the meantime allow what is neces- sary toward effecting a cure." In view of this action Doctor Wheelock replied to Occom on the 6th of September advising him to take the school for six months pending his restoration and on. the same sheet Mr. Williams wrote to the same effect.* Thereupon Occom agreed with the Indians to return soon and teach a school for six months as an experiment. We are thus particular because there was a misunderstanding in the matter. Occom and his advisers thought the missionary society would grant him an allowance in this work, but the commissioners were not intending to do so. During the first two years he received nothing from them towards his support. Then at the earnest solicitation of friends, among them Messrs. Williams of Lebanon and Buell of Easthampton, L. I., and upon the testimony of Mr. Horton as to the value of his labors, they made him a beneficiary of the society. Occom afterwards wrote that during his years at Montauk they granted him in all ;^i8o. This will explain the trials of his early experiences. His circumstances were those of poverty. During the first term of six months the Indians gave him besides his board £\o York money, to which some English friends added about forty shillings. His annual salary from the missionary society was only ^20. The young Uncas at Mohegan had received three times that sum. We shall not wonder, therefore, at find- ing that he became involved in debt, in which the missionary ^Wheelock Papers, Lett., Sept. 6, 1749. THE INDIAN TEACHER AT MONT AUK 45 society at the entreaty of his friends generously aided him. More especially, however, do we refer to this matter because Occom always felt that he did not receive an adequate sup- port. It seems to have been a sore point with this sensitive Indian that white missionaries doing the same service were given larger salaries. He thought he ought to receive at least half as much as his white brother and expressed himself as "willing to leave it with the world as wicked as it is, to decide." The saints, however, never came to his view of the matter. They gave him such remuneration as they had other native teachers. Thus his feelings were wounded by the suspicion that a dis- tinction was made against him because of his race. He was compelled to toil on, as he did throughout all his days, in pov- erty. Sometimes, he says, he was in actual need of the neces- saries of life. He had a large measure of Indian pride which would not permit him to beg. In consequence he was at times diverted from his service to engage in manual labor. At the same time it should be said that Occom was not an economical manager of his affairs. The Indian instinct was strong in him to eat while he had the means and leave the future to provide for itself. He profited much by his expe- rience in all these respects as he grew in years and became settled in the ways of civilized life. Yet this inadequate provision for his support at Montauk did not discourage him. He took up his work with zeal and wisdom. The first winter he gathered about thirty scholars into his school, and instructed in the evening such as could not attend during the day. As a teacher he was always suc- cessful. He had a kindergarten method of his own in teach- ing the alphabet. Finding that the children could distinguish the letters by ear, but could not so well by sight, he cut let- ters out of paper, pasted them on cedar chips, and at his word the one named would be brought to him out of the pile. Such ingenuity was characteristic of him in his teaching. By 46 SAMSON OCCOM * these means he soon aroused an interest in learning among his pupils, and under his native patience they progressed rapidly, advancing from the primer to the reading of the Bible. In addition to his labors as schoolmaster, he began religious ministrations among the Indians, in which he shortly suc- ceeded Mr. Horton. On the Sabbath he conducted three services for worship, and a wigwam meeting was also held every Wednesday evening. In these assemblies he prayed, expounded the Scriptures in his native tongue, and led in the singing of Christian hymns, which he taught old and young. This work was a means of educating him for his missionary life. It concentrated his interest in the study of the Bible, which was about the only book he then owned. Even in 1756, Wheelock wrote Whitefield that Occom had " scarce any books but what he borrowed," and asked for a copy of Poole's Annotations. This was given him, and the same year he received from the missionary society a " Commonplace book to the Bible," and Cruden's Concordance. As was natural, the natives soon came to regard him as their minister. He visited their sick and attended their funerals. As they had letters to write or legal documents to draw up they went to him. So great was their confidence in his character that they frequently made him a judge over them to settle matters in dispute. This was a similar office to that which Eliot had established among his Christian Indians, and possibly Occom imitated this custom. Thus he soon attained a great influence among all the natives in those parts of Long Island. Occom lived while at Montauk in the same simple manner as the Indians thereabouts. His home was a wigwam. In the summer season it was near the planting-grounds, and in the winter he removed with the tribe so as to be near the woodland. His household effects were no great embarrass- ment to a sudden and easy migration — the simple utensils of Indian cookery, a few clothes, well worn, except the suit THE INDIAN TEACHER AT MO NT A UK 47 which he reserved for appearances among the whites, the dozen books, more or less, which he could easily carry in his saddle-bags, and the odds and ends of an Indian's wigwam life. All these, to which he doubtless added as he came to have a family, he lost at sea afterwards when he removed to Mohegan. Many times in his life he had occasion to remark upon the " adverse providences " which depleted his store of worldly possessions. We read, with some amusement, the seri- ous narration of his experiences. He bought a mare with which to travel to and fro among his Montauk parishioners, but she fell into a quicksand. He purchased another, but some rogue stole her from him. The third died of the distemper. The fourth had a colt and then broke her leg, and " present- ly after the colt died also," whereupon he gave up the attempt to maintain such luxury, and traveled afoot. The understand- ing when he began 4iis work was that the Indians would take turns in providing him with food. Doubtless this plan left him to keep too many unappointed fast days, for he tells us he was compelled to resort to hunting and fishing to supply the necessary food to his family. In both of these ojccupa- tions he was expert, and it was well for him on many an occa- sion of his life that he was. He also worked in wood, making spoons, ladles, gun-stocks, pails, piggins and churijs. A tract of land was assigned to him, and this he also tilled, sometimes with the assistance of his pupils. In 1755, he tells us, he had "four acres of good corn." His most novel employment, however, was that of binding old books for the English people at Easthampton and other settlements. If any of the books of Rev. Samuel Buell have survived, there is doubtless, among them a specimen of his work, the value of which would be enhanced if it could be identified as from this wigwam bookbindery. So he labored, many a time at night by the light of a smoking torch, that he might keep the wolf from the door. 48 SAMSON OCCOM After Occom had been at Montauk nearly six months, the question arose as to the continuance of his mission there. He wrote Doctor Wheelock on the matter, and received the following reply : [My Dear] Samson Yours by the Bearer [came] to my Hand the n'ght before last. I 've wrote to Mr. Horton what I know & can say in y"" case of your continuance in Y school 6 months longer. I perceive the Hon^*^ Com* are very unwill- ing to give up the purpose of your being fitted for the ministry if it may be & so is Mr. Wi.liams — & my own disposition you have known has al along been so. If you are well to persue your studies I cant but think it advisable to return to them, if otherwise you may safely continue in the school. D' Child, watch against pride & self esteem. Pray much. Accept Love from me & all my family. I am Yours affectionately Leb" Apr 3, A. D. 1750. Eleaz^ Wheelock.* So it happened that Occom continued another six months at Montauk, and at the expiration of that time he engaged him- self again. When he had been there a year and a half Rev. Aaron Burr, acting in behalf of the New York correspondents of the " Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowl- edge," invited him to come to New Jersey and labor in the mission then under the care of Rev. John Brainerd and go on a journey to Susquehanna. The consent of the commissioners at Boston was secured, with their pledge of support, but hostil- ities among the Indians in those parts made it necessary to abandon the plan. By this time the success of his work had become known. The missionary society came to his assist- ance. President Burr became so interested in him that he secured a pledge from a merchant of Philadelphia, Mr. Grant, *' a dear, honest Christian," to do very considerable towards his support if he would qualify himself to become a licensed preacher to the Indians." Occom would gladly have accepted •• Conn. Hist. Soc. Indian Papers. G Conn. Hist. Soc. Indian Papers^ Jonathan Badger to Samson Occom, April 19 1755- THE INDIAN TEACHER AT MONTAUK 49 the offer had he thought his health sufficient for the study. He had come to see that he must have more out-of-door service. This he had at Montauk. He was also unwilling to leave a work so promising. The Indians there had measurably ad- vanced in civilization. They had begun to want houses, to clothe themselves like the whites, to live orderly and sober lives. A revival of religion brought some to avow Christian- ity. Mr. Horton testified that Occom's sensible view of the nature of true religion was the means of quenching the wild notions of some foolish exhorters, holding the opinions then so prevalent in southern New England.^ The Christian Indians of Occom's day were strongly inclined to Separatism, as we shall have occasion to notice. Throughout his life, as well as thus early at Montauk, Samson Occom was never the victim of any idiosyncrasies of religion. On the 1 2th of November, 1756, the commissioners of the '' Society for Propagating the Gospel " having before them Occom's case, passed the following vote : " Inasmuch as said Sampson is represented to be a person of virtuous life and use- ful as a preacher to the Indians, the commissioners would rec- ommend to Rev. Mr. Wheelock, Mr. Pomeroy, and other min- isters of the same Association to consider of the expediency of his being ordained to the pastoral office and to proceed to do it as they shall think best."^ This step was suggested on many accounts. It had been all along Occom's desire. He was then doing the service of a minister, and his ordination would bring him into fellowship with his brethren and friends for his profit. Moreover, it was foreseen that a larger field than the Montauk village would soon claim him and to that end his ordination was considered preparatory. The Windham Asso- ciation considered the matter as requested. On the i3lh of July, 1757, they met at the house of Rev. Solomon Williams in « McClure's Mevi. of Wheelock, p. 17 ; Wheelock'' s Narrative, 17^13, p. 29. ^ MS Rec. Soc. for Prop. Cos. 5 50 SAMSON OCCOM Lebanon. Their records contain no notice of this meeting, but Wheelock referred to it and in his diary Occom makes the following entry concerning it : They came together about one o'c P. M.— and there I Passed an Examina- tion Before the Rev^ Messrs Solomon Williams, Eleazar Wheelock, Benja- min Pomroy, Nathan Strong, and Stephen White, — and they were so far satisfied as to Conclude to proceed to an ordination hereafter. This was equivalent to a license to preach if not actually such, and with this encouragement Occom resumed his work at Montauk. The winter following was one of great awaken- ing among the Indians. It spread from the Montauks to other neighboring tribes.^ This led Rev. Samuel Davies of Virginia, afterwards president of the College of New Jersey, to urge his ordination with a view to his undertaking a mission among the Cherokee Indians, under the patronage of the New York cor- respondents of the Scotch Society, which had also been con- templated by the London Society. The former board also considered the ordination question and referred it to the Pres- bytery of Long Island, two of whose members, Rev. Messrs. Buell and Brown, had warmly commended Occom to them. Hence there were cross-purposes and delays, the candidate wondering meanwhile that there should be so much discussion over the ordination of one poor Indian. The Boston commis- sioners rather wished to make a Congregationalist of him, and so referred the matter to the Windham Association. They subsequently agreed, however, to release Occom for the Cher- okee mission or they would increase his salary to ^30 if he re- mained at Montauk. The Association had no hesitation as to ordaining Occom, as one might infer from their records, but they thought it best for him to unite with the Presbytery if he was to engage under Presbyterians in the Cherokee mission. The Indian was willing to be ordained by either body and ^ Wheelock Papers, Lett. July 22, 1758. THE INDIAN TEACHER AT MONTAUK 51 labor under any board ; but he felt his obligations to his friends in- the Windham Association, and would not proceed without their approval. Finally that body met at Lebanon on the 15th of May, 1759, and Occom was present to hear their decision. Of this meeting their records contain the following minute : The Association being by Mr. Wheelock requested to ordain Mr. Sam- son Occum, Indian, a Minister at large for the Indians, thought it inexpe- dient for them, but recommended the doing of it to the Long Island Pres- bytery if they think best. They also wrote a letter to that body which Occom carried to his friend. Rev. Samuel Buell. Thus it came to pass that this Indian minister became a Presbyterian, which has been thought strange. It was in fact merely incidental to his ex- pectation of going on a mission to the Cherokees under the Scotch Society. The Presbytery appointed the 29th of August as the time for his ordination, and Easthampton as the place. A few days before that time news came of warlike disturbances among the Cherokees, which overturned the contemplated scheme. Had those Indians only dug up the tomahawk a few months earlier, Occom would have been without doubt a Congrega- tionalist and a member of the Windham Association. How- ever, the Presbyterian fathers had another plan of sending him to the Mohawks, which seemed thus providentially brought forward, and so the ordination went on according to pro- gram. The following account of the occasion is given in their records : Suffolk Presbytery, East Hampton, August 29, 1759. Sampson Occum candidate for the Indian Mission having had a Text given him to compose a Trial Sermon upon, and a Subject for an Exegesis, now offered himself upon Examination with a view to ordination. The Presbytery entred upon the Preliminaries of his Ordination and having examined him in the learned languages, enterd upon Theology, and heard his Trial Sermon from Psalm 72. 9. 52 SAMSON OCCOM August 30th 8 o'clock Resum'd the Examination of Mr. Occum — And having attended his Exegesis, and finish'd his Trials in Divinity, with other Things relative thereto, Inquir'd into his Acquaintance with experimental Religion together with his Ends and Views in desiring to be introduced into the Work of the evangelical Ministry by Ordination &c — And then upon an Interloquitur, the Question being put by the Moderator — Whether this Presbytery approves of Mr. Occum as one in any good Measure quali- fied for the Work of the Gospel Ministry, especially among the aboriginal Natives of this Land or not? Resolved in the Affirmative. Then proceeded to the Ordination of Mr. Sampson Occum in the Meeting-House, a numer- ous assembly, upon Notification given, attending. Mr. Buell began the publick Worship with Prayer — and preach'd the Ordination Sermon from Gal. i. 16 — Mr. Browne introduc'd the Solemnity of the Ordination and made the Ordination Prayer during the Imposition of Hands — Mr. Barker gave the Right-hand of Fellowship — Mr. Prime gave the charge and made the concluding Prayer — Mr. Occum, the candi- date ordain'd, pointed out the Psalm and pronounced the Blessing. This ordination was certainly at that day an interesting occa- sion. It was remembered years afterwards by many who were present as most impressive. There had never been there- abouts such a vivid portrayal of the missionary idea as the people beheld when the ministers present laid hands on the head of the young Mohegan teacher. Some of his Indian converts were conspicuous in the audience — a solemn justi- fication of the act. Many of his English friends were there, with whom he was decidedly popular. The ministers them- selves looked upon it as a new departure in the history of Indian missions. In after years, when Occom had attained some fame, he was welcomed many times in the meeting-house at Easthampton and those friends of Tiis early ministry were ever dear to him. It should here be noted that the examination to which Occom was subjected was no mere formality. He must have had some creditable knowledge of the "learned languages" to have passed any sort of an examination before the assembled divines. The text of his " Trial Sermon " was most fitting, "They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him ; and THE INDIAN TEACHER AT MONTAUK 53 his enemies shall lick the dust." It was trial enough for an Indian to preach at all before a Presbytery, yet he is said to have acquitted himself well. What he said on the text that day we do not know ; but he afterwards chose it on more than one occasion in discoursing to large audiences in England and America. He was probably relieved when the occasion was over, for in noting the facts in his diary he adds, "Thus the solemnity ended, Laus te Denm.'' The ordination sermon, preached by Mr. Buell, was printed in 1 761, as a means to excite interest in the Oneida mission, which Occom was then about to undertake.'' A letter is added to the sermon giving some account of his early life. All the references to him are creditable. His talents seem at that time to have been recognized by all who knew him. " In short," says Mr. Buell, "he is an ornament to the Christian Religion and the glory of the Indian nation." Ere we end our review of this period of Samson Occom's life we .must make the acquaintance of some of his Indian friends. One of the most influential Indians at Montauk when Occom went there to begin his work was James Prowler. His father or grandfather had doubtless taken the English name of some white family, as the custom was even before the year 1700. The census of 1741 mentions James Fowler as the head of a family of eight. At least half of these were children, and others were afterwards born to him and his wife Elizabeth. Some of. his descendants continued to live at ••The Excellence and Importance of the saving knowledge | of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel-Preacher, | plainly and seriously represented and enforced: And I Christ preached to the Gentiles in Obedience to the Call of God. | A | Sermon, | preached at | East-Hampton, August 29, 1759; | at the | Ordination | of | Mr. Samson Occum, | A Missionary among the Indians. \ By Samuel Buell, M. A. | Pastor of the Church of Christ, at East-Hampton, | Long-Island. | To which is Prefixed, | A Letter to the Rev. Mr. David Bostwick, Minister | of the Presbyterian Cinuch, in New York, giving | some Account of Mr. Occunvs Education, Character, &c. I .... I New York : | Printed by James Parker, and Company, | M. DCC. LXL | S° pp. xvi, viii, 38. 54 samsojv occoa/ Montauk down to quite recent times. One of them was doubtless William Fowler, who was well known at the ancient home of his tribe by all visitors, and whose house stood as a landmark for many years and was only lately destroyed. In this family of James Fowler, then a heathen, living in an In- dian wigwam, Occom found a welcome in 1749. The chil- dren attended his school, and he took unusual interest in them, for they were ambitious to learn. As there was a daughter in the family, Mary by name, intelligent, virtuous and comely, it was natural that a friendship should spring up between her and the young schoolmaster. His diary shows that his attention in the spring of 1751 was somewhat divided between the Epistles to the Thessalonians and this Indian maiden. When he visited Rev. Solomon Williams that sum- mer, he mentioned the affair, but was advised "to be cautious in choosing a wife lest he should put himself in such circum- stances as might render him less able to answer the design of his education, being uncertain where the commissioners would employ him." Occom answered, however, that "his marrying there would not prevent his readiness to go where the com- missioners should please to send him either on the Island or on the main." ^*^ Soon after his return to Montauk, in the autumn of 1751, he was married, and Mary Fowler was there- after a partner in the trials and toils of his missionary life. The family of James Fowler received a lifelong impression through the instruction of the Montauk schoolmaster. They became thoroughly civilized. The parents accepted the Christian faith, lived to age, and died in it — the father at Montauk and the mother in the home of her son David on the Oneida hillside. Another daughter, Phoebe, married Ephraim Pharaoh — of a second family at Montauk who owed much to Occom— and they were staunch supporters of the missionary's subsequent plans for the Christian Indians. But the most ^^ MS. Lett. Solomon Williams, Oct. 7, 1751, in poss. of Mrs. Hooker. THE INDIAN TEACHER AT nrONTAUA' 55 conspicuous of the Montauk pupils were the two sons of James Fowler, David and Jacob, who henceforth become actors in our story. David was born in 1735, and was there- fore fourteen years of age when the schoolmaster began his work. Jacob was born in 1750 — a babe whom Occom often carried in his arms. These two lads, whom he taught to read in the Bible, his brothers-in-law, became the dearest friends of his life, and their services are interwoven with his to the end. CHAPTER IV WHEELOCK's INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 1754-1770 The success of Samson Occom in acquiring an education, and the prospect of his usefulness, first suggested to the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock the introduction of Indians into his family school. A missionary zeal all aflame in one so recently a savage was an awakening fact. Missionary motives were kin- dled in the teacher's mind. As his pupil seemed to prosper in the school at Montauk and advance steadily toward the life of an Indian missionary, supported by existing societies, and gather- ing to the cause friends among the whites, the question naturally arose, why could not others be brought to follow his example ? Thus Doctor Wheelock was led to devise a plan for propagating the gospel among the Indians which he thought with good reason was most feasible. In its prominent feature it was different from all other schemes which had been attempted in New England. His ideal, like that of John Eliot, was the native missionary. He recognized the many advan- tages arising from the Christianized Indian, who understood the temper, customs and language of his people, would dis- arm their prejudices, and could live anywhere with little expense. The great "Apostle to the Indians" had builded his work on this corner-stone. The distinguishing feature of Doctor Wheelock's plan was that he proposed to cultivate this Indian teacher in the nursery of the Christian family, and establish under his own personal instruction a school for the special training of missionaries. In his opinion, which had doubtless been formed in his experience with Occom, there 56 WHEELOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 57 was also an advantage in having these Indians trained with whites who were interested in the same work. So he wished to gather the most promising youth of all tribes out of their heathen environment, under a master who would instruct them in civilized life, where they would have mutual acquaintance, and after years of seasoning in Christian truth be fitted to return as examples and leaders to their own people. Girls as well as boys were to be brought into this school and instructed in domestic concerns. Thus he hoped by natural means to introduce among distant tribes a native Christian family. In early New England history many Puritan homes had done such a service with some success, as we have seen ; but Doctor Wheelock's plan, based on the same principle as to the value of a civilized environment, was of larger extent and added other features. Eliot had placed great emphasis on commu- nity life. Hence he had sought to further civilization by self- government in his Indian towns and the organization of churches. Wheelock depended rather upon the high ideal which he hoped to produce in the individual. Hence he sought to gather the fittest apart where they might after years attain it. There was wisdom in both principles, and they are essential to each other. Both are to some extent illustrated in the methods of the present day. Indian civilization will never flourish unless the educated individual is placed in a favorable environment. That was precisely what Samson Occom afterwards sought to secure by his scheme of gather- ing the Christian Indians of New England in a town away from demoralizing influences. Doctor Wheelock did not sufficiently consider the corresponding perils attending the young native teacher when returned to his heathen surround- ings. Others have made the same mistake since his day. The strongest could with difficulty stand against such tempta- tions. Apostasies have always arisen thus in the history of Indian missions. He entrusted the faith to mere youth, gave 58 SA3/S0JV OCCOM them a measure of authority, sent them far away from the pro- tection of his school, and then was easily discouraged if they failed to stand the test. His plan w^as nevertheless a good one. If it did not accomplish all he anticipated for the Indians the reason was rather in the circumstances which he could not control. Still we shall hope to show the reader that the influences of his " Indian Charity School " were more salutary and permanent than any have thought or than he himself lived to see.^ Having, therefore, after careful deliberation, resolved upon his experiment. Doctor Wheelock wrote in May, 1754, to Rev. John Brainerd, then employed among the Delaware Indians under the New York correspondents of the Scotch Society, requesting him to send to Lebanon two promising Indian boys. Before they arrived, he had awakened the interest of his ministerial friends in the Windham Association. He had, moreover, unfolded his purpose to Rev. George Whitefield, as we learn from later references, and had received his encour- agement. We doubt not that this was a prominent topic of conversation when they met at Wheelock's house, even as the boys were on the way. Thus he made Whitefield an adviser and supporter in his work at the very outset. On the i8th of December, 1754, there arrived at Lebanon John Pumshire, aged fourteen, and Jacob Woolley, aged eleven, both of the Delaware tribe. The former continued there to November 14, 1756, when he was sent home on account of his failing health, and died, January 26, 1757. The latter, being a good scholar, advanced so rapidly in his studies that he could " read Virgil and Tully and the Greek Testament very handsomely " in 1758. He entered the college of New Jersey in May, 1759, but during his last year, in 1762, was returned in disgrace to Lebanon, where he studied for some time the Mohawk tongue. Later, he went back to college, but ran away, and so he drops ' On Wheelock's plan see his Narratives^ 1763, pp. 10-29, i\ : 1771, pp. 18-22. WHEE LOCK'S JiYD/AN CHARITY SCHOOL 59 out of our story. These two Delawares were Wheelock's only Indian pupils until February 8, 1757. He could not take others until he had ascertained what assistance he might expect in their support. At this time, there were two mis- sionary societies engaged in such work, namely, the '' Society for Propagating the Gospel," having commissioners at Boston, and the " Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge," having boards of correspondents at New York and at Boston.- J3oth of these societies assisted him during the twelve years before the " Trust Fund " was raised. He also had help from the Sir Peter Warren legacy, through the General Assembly of Massachusetts, from the General Assem- bly of the Province of New Harnpshire, and from donations and legacies of individuals at home and abroad. In the later years of this period he was forced to depend mainly on collec- tions made in the churches, for which legislative authority was obtained in Connecticut. The " Society for Promoting Chris- tian Knowledge " made him several grants of books. These were the sources of the school's income outside of the country parish in which it was located. When the two Indian pupils appeared at Lebanon, the min- ister's family school assumed at once the character of an institution. Subscriptions were made for its maintenance, contingent upon its incorporation, to the extent of ^^500, each subscriber agreeing, meanwhile, to pay the interest on his pledge. Amid this aroused interest. Doctor Wheelock visited Mr. Joshua More, a farmer of Mansfield, Conn., who was pleased to purchase for the school, at a cost of ^^500, old tenor, a place contiguous to the minister's mansion, contain- ing about two acres, and having upon it a "small dwelling- house and a shop or schoolhouse." This property he deeded, July 17, 1755, to Colonel Elisha Williams, Esq., "late rector of Yale College ''— w^hose service ended with his death on that - See Chapter 1, note 15. 6o SAMSO.V OCCOM very day — to Rev. Samuel Mosely of Windham, and Rev. Ben- jamin Pomeroy of Hebron, who, with Doctor Wheelock, were to hold it in trust "for the Educating such of the Indian Natives of any or all the Indian Tribes in North America or other poor Persons." The institution was to bear the donor's name, which he spelled " More," but the usual title became " Moor^s Indian Charity School." It happened, however, that Mr. More died, October 2, 1756, without making further pro- vision for the school, as was expected ; that the deed was held to be defective ; that Wheelock failed to secure incorporation from the crown, and so the property was eventually held by Doctor Wheelock himself by a new conveyance from the widow, Dorothy More, dated May 10, 1763. This deed thus describes the property : One certain Messuage or Tenement situate in s*^ North Society in s*^ Leb- anon, bounded & Described as follows (viz) beginning at a stump on the west side of Hartford Road & which is the Eastwardly corner of Land belonging to the Heirs of Philip Judd Deceased, thence running by s"^ Land Southwardly about 22 Rods to an heap of stones in the Dam-Brook adjoin- ing to Jehiel Rose's Land, thence running down the brook in the Line of s*^ Rose's Land 12 & an half Rods to a stake with stones about it on the East side of s*^ Brook, thence running North easterly with a Stone wall 20 Rods to Hartford Road, thence North westerly by Hartford Road 17 & ^ Rods to the first mentioned Bounds, being in quantity about Two Acres of Land. While the institution remained at Lebanon, it was usually styled " Wheelock's Indian Charity School," but the earlier title was afterwards restored. Mr. Frederick Chase, in his " History of Dartmouth College," has pointed out the fact that this property was bought from Moses Barrett, " late school- master in Lebanon," and conjectures that the new school supplanted an earlier one. The first "master" of Doctor Wheelock's school was a young man of that name, whose posi- tion may have had some place in the transfer. If this is true, the schoolhouse was already prepared for use, and the " man- WHEELOCK\S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 6l tion house " was suitable for a dormitory. Evidently this gift gave the enterprise a substantial character, which was essen- tial in its plea for pecuniary assistance. Here, then, was a little group of buildings— the center of a country parish — in which Doctor Wheelock could con- veniently carry on his work. The meeting-house stood on the green where the two main roads crossed, one leading from Hartford to Norwich and the other from Middletown to Windham and Providence. It was a simple structure, forty- six feet by sixty-four, built in 1748, and at this time it was covered with a coat of sky-blue paint. As an encouragement to the school, the parish voted in 1755 ^^ set apart for the boys "the pew in the gallery over the west stairs," and in 1761 it gave the "Indian girls liberty to sit in the hind seat on the woman's side below." At times these pews must have been filled to overflowing. Some of the pupils, both boys and girls, became members of this church. On several occasions the congregation gathered here on the Sabbath was honored with the presence of Indian chiefs from distant tribes be- decked in royal attire. Thither missionaries returned with stories of adventurous experience — Samson Occom from his pioneer visit to the Oneidas, and Samuel Kirkland, the first white charity pupil of the school, from his hazardous attempt to carry the Gospel to the Senecas. Surely that little sky-blue meeting-house was the place of many an interesting service ! Southward from the church was the Barrett dwelling-house, transformed to serve as a home for the charity pupils. Here successive masters presided in turn after Moses Barrett : Chandler Robbins, Ralph Pomeroy, Benjamin Jrumbull, Edmund Davis, John Huntington, John Leslie. John Lothrop, Aaron Kinne, Ralph Wheelock, Bezaleel Woodward, Samuel Wales, and David McClure. In that house the newly-arrived and half-clad Indian boy spent his first homesick night in civilization. "We reposed on Straw Beds in Bunks," wrote 62 SA.VSOJV OCCOM . David McClure in his diary, '' and generally dined on a boiled dish & an Indian pudding." The two acres round about offered the Indian his first lesson in the science of agriculture. The schoolhouse was near at hand. It was such a building as the reader has many times seen at the crossroads in the country, and its frame is said to survive to this day in the dis- trict schoolhouse of the place. Here or in the hall of the min- ister's house the pupils were gathered with their instructors for morning and evening prayers — for a time by the sound of a bell " decently hung " thereon, which had been presented by Rev. George Whitefield.^ Later their signal was the blowing of a shell. In this schoolhouse they attended upon their studies during the day. Northward from the sky-blue meeting- house, facing the green, was the minister's home, a very respectable mansion for that day, having ample room in its twenty-acre lot. A gigantic pine-tree, which the minister may have planted in front of his house, now marks the place, and is all that remains of those early days except the sacred dust in the graveyard. In this home many distinguished divines lodged on their journeys to and fro. In its study meetings were held, from time to time, of the Windham Association and later of the board of correspondents which stood as trustees toward the humble missionary school. One can scarcely imagine, without a perusal of Doctor Wheelock's voluminous correspondence, how many letters were written there and how many important messages were dispatched thence to all quarters. The country round about was wholly devoted to 3 Wheelock wrote Mr. Dennys DeBerdt of London, " The Schoolmasters Com- plain of the. want of a Bell that May be well heard about a mile. Indian children are inclined to ramble in play time & it is difficult to get them together." — Wheelock Papers, Lett. Nov. i6, 1761. He wrote Whitefield later, " I have received the Bell which you sent and it is decently hung on the House which I have devoted to the Service." — Wheelock Papers, Lett. Sept. i6, 1762. This bell, which weighed eighty pounds, was broken within two years, and having been sent to Elizabeth town, N. J., to be recast was returned broken as it went. — Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., p. 27. WHEELOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCIIOOI 63 farming. There was no village — only this group of buildings where two highways of travel crossed. Yet here was a school which had a purpose and a name, honored in its day through- out New England, to the southward, and beyond the sea. We are not intending to repeat the story — so well told in the " History of Dartmouth College " — of Doctor Wheelock's hopes, trials and labors in connection with his "Indian Charity School." Our desire is rather to make the acquaint- ance of the Indian pupils instructed there, whose names have been all but lost to notice, but whose lives are associated with the career of Samson Occom. Who, then, were thosls pupils, and what became of them ? The third Indian to attend this school, and the first of the New England tribes, was Samson Wauby, whose name is also spelled Wobby, Wobi and Woyboy. He was a Pequot of Groton, a relative and probably a cousin of Samson Occom through his mother. Of his early life we only know that he had been brought up in an English family. He had sufficient education to enable him to teach the Indian school at Mush- antuxet in Groton for a time ; but was finally forced to give it up because they needed one who could " write and cipher " better than he. On the 3d of February, 1757, Rev. Jacob Johnson of Groton wrote Doctor Wheelock that Wauby had done well in the school, but he should have further instruction. So he became a pupil at Lebanon on the eighth of that month. He remained only nineteen weeks, having some " bodily infirmities of long standing " which unfitted him to pursue an extended course of study. The commissioners at Boston again appointed him teacher of the Mushantuxet school October 8, 1759, and in the following year he had charge of the Stonington school. Soon afterwards he became a sol- dier, serving in 1762 in the company of Captain John Wheatley. He died within a few years, possibly while still in military service. His brief attendance at the Lebanon school 64 SAMSON OCCOM did not profit him much ; but his friendly relations with Doc- tor Wheelock continued, and his kinsman, Roger Wauby, became associated with the later life of Samson Occom. The fourth and fifth pupils were Delawares, Joseph Woolley and Hezekiah Calvin, who arrived April 9, 1757. The former is described as "of middling capacity, naturally modest and something bashful," and the latter as " a smart little fellow, who loves play, and will have his hat in one place and his mittens in another." They remained at the Indian school for eight years, and were among those examined, March 12, 1765, by the Connecticut correspondents of the Scotch Society and approved as schoolmasters. Joseph Woolley had gone to the Six Nations with Samuel Kirkland in the autumn of 1764, and during the following winter he taught an Indian school at Onohoquaga on the Susquehanna river. He returned thither in 1765. His service did not continue long, but he was faith- ful unto the end and died of consumption in his mission, November 27, 1765, greatly mourned by the Indians. Heze- kiah Calvin taught among the Mohawks at Fort Hunter and was so engaged for two years. He eventually disgraced his name, however, and in 1769 Doctor Wheelock wrote of him, "he is turned drunkard and apostate." He is said to have reformed, but his later life is unknown. The next five pupils were New England Indians, who entered as follows: Joseph Johnson, December 7, 1758; David Fowler, April 12, 1759; Aaron Occom, April 28, 1760 ; Isaiah Uncas, November 26, 1760; and Amy Johnson, June 2, 1 76 1. Fowler was Occom's pupil at Montauk and the others were Mohegans. Isaiah Uncas was that babe who had been baptized by Rev. Eliphalet Adams in 1750, the son of Sachem Ben Uncas, 3d, once the Mohegan schoolmaster. He was supported by the " Society for Propagating the Gospel " for about two years. Being the chief's son great hopes of his usefulness were at first entertained; but he proved to be "a IVHEELOCKS INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 65 youth of feeble health and dull intellect." He left the school, though he was afterwards " taken back to work on the farm." As his father died in 1769, he was heir to the sachemship, and received some friendly attentions from the colony. When he married Mary Sowop at North Stonington, November 30, 1769, he was recorded as the " Mohegan Chief," but he did not live to be recognized generally as such, dying in 1770, the last male of the Ben Uncas line. Aaron Occom was another dis- appointment. His parents brought him to Lebanon in great hope, and his father thus recorded his entrance in his diary ; " Delivered up my little son Aaron to Rev. Mr. Eleazar Wheelock to be Brought up by him." He remained there until October, 1761, entered a second time December 8, 1765, and a third time November 9, 1766 ; but he had no taste for learning, and his life was something of a trial to his father, as related elsewhere. Joseph Johnson and Amy, his sister, were of a prominent Mohegan family. Their parents were Captain Joseph and Betty Johnson, and the \\ ell-known councilor, Zachary John- son, was their uncle. The father had been a captain of Indian scouts in the French war, and he is doubtless the soldier in Captain Nathan Whiting's company who died September 4, 1758, as his death occurred about that time.^ Thus being left *The following commission is among the Wheelock Papers, Dart. Coll. — By Lieu- tenant Colonel John Young at the Royal-American Regiment : Whereas, Daniel Webb Esquire, Major-General of his Majesty's Forces, hath authorized me to send a Detachment of our faithfull Indians, And being well assured of the Fidelity and Courage of Joseph Johnson, I hereby authorize him to chuse^out of the Indians now in our Camp, to the Number of Six and Twenty ; whom he is to command, and who are to obey him, not only upon the present Scout, but upon any other he may be employed [on] during the Course of this Campaign (if so long a Time is necessary) But that the said Joseph Johnson and his said Party, shall be at full Liberty to return to their respective Companies and Habitations, either after the present expedi- tion, or when the Time of their present Engagement is expired. Given under my Hand, at the Camp by Fort Edward, this Second Day of August '757- , ,. John \ oi:ng, Mr. TosEi'H Johnson. 1-t Col Koyal American Regt 6 66 SAMSOA^ OCCOM fatherless in his seventh year, Joseph entered the Indian Charity School. He continued there until, " in the third month of his fifteenth year," he was sent out as a school- master to the Oneidas, and his life thereafter is a part of our story. While at school he was a bright, mischievous boy, quick to learn but not very fond of study. His sister Amy left the school early in 1766. She lived in various families, and was employed at Captain Bull's tavern, the " Bunch of Grapes," in Hartford, when David Fowler contemplated mak- ing her his wife. Later she returned to Mohegan, and is lost to us. David Fowler had two advantages when he entered the school — he was older than the other pupils had been, being then in his twenty-fourth year, and he had been trained at Montauk by his brother-in-law, Samson Occom. He was not an exceptional scholar, but he was practical and faithful in every form of service. Doctor Wheelock wrote of him to Mr.- William Hyslop, treasurer of the Boston correspondents of the Scotch Society, under date January 29, 1761 : "I have one now with me from Montauk whom Mr. Occom taught to read and who is zealously pursuing his studies with a single view to a distant mission if God pleases; who, I apprehend is as promising and every way tempered and turned for that busi- ness and as likely to be useful as any I have seen or heard of." The sequel proved the truth of this opinion. Many a time David Fowler was called into important service. He was very skilful in the use of tools and had some knowledge of farming. Hence he became very useful to Doctor Wheelock, as he acknowledged, overseeing the work in the fields which sometimes engaged the Indians. This labor was beneficial also to Fowler. It furnished him an experience in agricultural matters and mechanics which was greatly needed in his after life. It is part of our purpose to follow him to his grave. On the I St of August, 1761, three Mohawk boys were WHEELOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 67 received at the school, Joseph, Negyes and Center. The first was well-clad in Indian fashion and could speak a little Eng- lish, but the other two were nearly naked. Center became ill and Negyes was sent home with him in the autumn. The for- mer died soon afterwards. The latter did not return to the school, but married and is heard of no more. Joseph's career needs not to be recorded here, for he was the celebrated Mohawk chief Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, brother of Mary Brant, the Indian companion of Sir William Johnson, and his bio- graphy has been fully written.^ He remained at the school until July 4, 1 763, during which time he made commendable progress in his studies and is said to have been converted to Christianity. He was the guide of Samuel Kirkland in his journey west- ward in the autumn of 1761, became his instructor in the Mo- hawk language, and was ever his pow^erful friend. His former schoolmates were many times entertained at his home and he assisted them in their missions. When he left the school he had set out as the interpreter of Rev. Charles J. Smith on a mission which an Indian war interrupted, and Joseph remained among his people. After the lapse of nearly forty years, when his home was in Canada, two of his sons, Jacob and Joseph, were sent to Hanover to school in affectionate remembrance of his own school-days. During the years while the Indian school was at Lebanon, fifteen other Mohawks became pupils. Moses and Johannes entered November 27, 1761 ; Abraham Primus or Major, Abraham Secundus or Minor, and Peter, July 18, 1762 ; W'ill- iam Primus, William Secundus, and Elias, November 30, 1764 ; Susannah, Katharine, and Mary, June 12, 1765 ; John (Jreen, January 11, 1766 ; Paulus and Margaret, September 28, 1766 ; and Seth, December 8, 1766. The first five of these were examined at Lebanon by the Connecticut correspondents of the Scotch Society, March 12, 1765, and were approved as '^ Life of Joseph Brant, \Vm. L. Stone. 2 vols., N. V., 1S3S. 68 SAMSON OCCOM " well accomplished for schoolmasters," but on account of their youth they were appointed to serve as " ushers " in the mission schools. There was less dignity in this office, but they did the same service as their superiors. Moses taught at Lake Utsage [Otsego] at the head of the Susquehanna river; and Abraham Primus and Abraham Secundus among the Mohawks, where also Peter was established, but did not long continue on account of illness. In 1766 "Little Abraham" was invited to teach a school at " a new settlement of Indians about eight or ten miles below Fort Stanwix " called Willheske.^ Johannes went out as an interpreter for Theophilus Chamber- lain, in which capacity he afterwards served Aaron Kinne and other white missionaries. The rest of these Mohawks were not at the school long enough to receive much education. William Primus was the natural son of Sir William Johnson. Of him Doctor Wheelock wrote, " William is a very good Genius and capable of making a very likely man, but his Pride and the Violence of his Temper have sometimes rendered him troublesome and obliged me to be severe with him." He was sent home December 10, 1766. Afterwards he was engaged against the Americans in the Revolution and lost his life in the struggle. All the girls returned January 9, 1767, except- ing Susannah, who remained some months longer. Paulus also returned with the girls. "Little Elias " was hurt and unable to continue. John Green was probably the Mohawk chief's son taken home by his father February 16, 1767. At the same time Doctor Wheelock sent home Seth, who was "so fired with having been to the wars and killed some Indians that the house was scarcely good enough for him to live in." We have a record of eight or more Oneidas who attended the school. Dawet entered June 12, 1765; Mundius and •J This settlement was Oriskany, which is said by Belknap to have been a corrup- tion of 01 hiske, a place of nettles. Gridley, in his History of the town of Kirkland, spells the Indian word Ockrisk or Orisca. Samuel Kirkland spelled it Oriske. WHEELOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 69 Jacob, October 5, 1765 ; and William, one of David Fowler's pupils, June 27, 1766. When Ralph Wheelock returned from his tour among the missions, October 25, 1767, he brought " Little Peter," son of the deceased Oneida chief, Gawke, a girl and two boys whose names are unknown, and Jacob, who had been kept at home since the spring by his "bad aunts." In his tour the following spring he received five children, three Oneidas, a Tuscarora, and one of the " Uriskee " In- dians, besides the son of the Seneca chief, Tekananda, the " Black General," who visited New England with Samuel Kirk- land."^ These were to be sent after him by Thomas, the pious Oneida deacon, who arrived about the first of July, 1768, and probably brought them. His own daughter, Hannah, became then or earlier a pupil. Mundius, having been very ill, was returned by him, and another died at Lebanon. Thus the number decreased so that w^hen Thomas came, January 20, 1769, to remove all the Oneida children, there were only six and none of them had been three years in the school. There were, therefore, not less than twenty-six, and possi- bly thirty-two, pupils at the school from the Western tribes. Excepting the eight who came before 1763, they were not there long enough to become civilized. Many of them learned to read, but that was all. We do not know what manner of lives they afterwards lived ; Dr. Wheelock did not. They certainly should not be counted as failures of the school. Of the schoolmasters, some, at least, continued faithful. Who were the remainder of the pupils at this Indian Char- ity school ? Miriam Stores was a Delaware, who entered in September, 1761. She remained until 1764, but her subse- quent career is unknown. p:noch Closs and Samuel Tallman were also Delawares who came July 22, 1762, intending to learn trades. The former ran away in 1765. Samuel Tall- ' Wheelock' s Narratives, 1767, pp. 53- 5^, 11 i '769. PP- 46-54 : Conn. Col. Rec, XII, 468 ; McClure's Mefn. of Wlieelock, p. 270. 70 S A A/so AT OCCOM man became a carpenter, lived among the New England Indians, being at one time at Stockbridge, and was eventually associated with them in the westward emigration. All the others were New England Indians, numbering twenty-five, who are known by name. It is said that seventy Indians attended the school while it was at Lebanon. This division accounts for the entire number — thirty-one from New Eng- land, thirty-two from the Western tribes, and seven Delawares. By this detailed study, it is shown that the school accom- plished greater results among the Indians in its immediate neighborhood. When its removal was contemplated, Samuel Kirkland and Samson Occom both advocated its location among the Six Nations for this very reason. This, too, was one consideration which moved Kirkland afterwards to found Hamilton On«ida Academy. At Hanover the school had to depend upon remote tribes, which was one cause of its decline. The Western pupils entered the Lebanon school as savages, and returned to their native environment. The New England Indians went from their reservation schools, and even though some of them did not remain long, they had the encourage- ment of a civilized element on returning home. They were lost to Doctor Wheelock, but the influence of the school remained as a potent factor in their after lives. Samson Occom perpetuated it and gathered up the fruits. Of the twenty-five New England Indians who entered the school after those already mentioned, most are well known to us. Daniel Mossuck entered July i8, 1762. He was of the Tunxis tribe at Farmington, and his father, Solomon Mos- suck, was one of the prominent Christian Indians in that town, of whom more is related elsewhere. He only remained a few months at the school, but he afterwards led a worthy life, became a soldier in the Revolution, and engaged himself in Occom's emigration movement. Jacob Fowler, the younger brother of David, who was born in 1750, entered the school IVHEE LOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 71 November 20, 1762. He was, of course, one of Occom's pupils at Montauk, and continued at the school uAtil he went forth on a mission, as the reader will presently learn. He was more of a scholar than his brother and made excellent progress in his studies. Some of these pupils were girls. Sarah Wyoge, who entered April 20, 1762, and Patience John- son, who entered August 24, 1762, were Mohegans, and both were dismissed in 1764. Hannah Nonesuch, whb came March II, 1768, was also of that tribe, and her parents, Joshua and Hannah, were members of Rev. David Jewett's church. She is said to have Christian descendants now living. Hannah Poquiantup, who entered in September, 1763, was of Niantic, and a relative of Occom. The Narragansett tribe furnished the remainder, excepting Nathan Clap, a Cape Cod Indian, who was possibly at the school a short time and turned out badly. ^ Five of these were children of one family, having a pious mother, Sarah Simons, a widow. Emanuel entered April 10, 1763; Sarah, December 13, 1765; James, in 1767, and Abraham and Daniel in 1768 or 1769. This mother wrote Doctor Wheelock thus when she sent up James : " I have sent my Lettel Son up to you, take him to your self and keep him in subjection. Keep him as Long as you pies til you think that he shall be capabel of bisness."^ All these children were con- verted at the school. Sarah is known to have joined Doctor Wheelock's church in November, 1767. Emanuel became a soldier in the Revolution and a settler later at Brothertown. Abraham and Daniel were the only two pupils who removed with the school to Hanover, and we shall meet theni both again. Mary Secutor, who entered December 17, 1763, and John, her brother, who entered in 1767, were children of John Secutor, a prominent man in the tribe, and both were enlisted in Occom's emigration plan. James Niles, who was a pupil ^Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., p. S3 : Wheelock's Narrative, 1769, p. 4;. ^ Wheelock Papers, Lett. Oct. 12, 1767. 72 SAAfSON OCCOM in 1768, was doubtless a nephew of Rev. Samuel Niles, the Indian minister of the Narragansetts, and Samuel Niles, a pupil in 1767, was his son. James became a soldier in the Revolution and removed westward with the Christian Indians. John Matthews was a pupil in 1768 and 1769. He became a member of Wheelock's church, went among the Oneidas with Levi Frisbie in 1769, learned the language under Samuel Kirkland, and in 1772 went on a mission thither with his cousin, Abraham Simons. ^*^ Hannah Garret entered the school December 17, 1763. She married David Fowler and her descendants have kept the faith for five generations. Of Charles Daniel, who entered December 14, 1765, we know nothing except that he was the son of John Daniel, a promi- nent Indian at Charlestown, R. I. Abigail and Martha came April 3, 1767, but as we have not their family names, we are unable to follow them. Two of these Narragansett young men became conspicu- ous in their tribal affairs, and have an interesting story. John and Tobias Shattock were brothers, and their father was John Shattock or Shaddock, who opposed the sachem I^inegret in selling their lands. They entered the school December 16, 1766. "Toby" was at that time married, and his wife and child also came to Lebanon soon afterwards. They had been pupils of Edward Deake in the Narragansett school where they had already acquired a fair education. Doubtless their purpose was to fit themselves for some mission, as both are known to have been earnest and consistent Christian Indians. It was, however, interrupted by their participation in the land controversy.^^ One or both of them made several trips to Sir William Johnson in the interest of the tribe, bearing Doctor Wheelock's hearty recommendation. Finally the Indian ^° Wheelock^s Narrative, 1773, pp. 7, 8. " See A Statement of the Case 0/ the Narragansett Tribe of Indians, by James N. Arnold, Newport, 1896. WHEELOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 73 council, despairing of relief from the Colonial government, determined to appeal to the king, and to send John and Tobias Shattock to England in their behalf. They therefore wrote Doctor Wheelock a letter expressing their thanks for his efforts, and their regrets at being compelled to take the young men from the school. ^^ This was on the 8th of Decem- ber, 1767, and they had been pupils about a year. In this letter they say, " we have none so capable of doing business as they are." Having been offered a free passage in the ship of Captain William Chase, they sailed from New York early in January, 1768, and arrived safely at Greenock, Scotland. They bore a letter from Rev. Doctor Clark to Mr. Alexander Moubray, a merchant of Edinburgh, commending them to his care as "some fruits'* of Doctor Wheelock's school. On the 15th of April they arrived at Edinburgh, and arrangements were made to forward them on a ship sailing the i8th to London. Mr. Moubray lodged them next door to his home, and they ate at his table. A storm delayed the ship, and on the 2 1 St, as they were at Leith about to sail, John showed symptoms of the smallpox. They were taken back to Mr. Moubray's home, where both were soon at the height of the disease. The best physicians in the city attended them. Nurses were provided, and the merchant's wife "laid aside all concern in her family in order to attend them." The news awakened the compassion of many godly people, who were anxious to do something for the Indian strangers. Rev. Charles Beatty of Philadelphia chanced to be in the city, and with Doctor Erskine ministered to them. On the 6th of May, at about 4 o'clock in the morning, Tobias died. He had been four days blind, but knew the voices of his friends to the last. When he was dying his 'brother, who was less zealous in the Christian life, was told of his condition. The sad announce- ment had such an effect upon John that Tobias was com- '2 McClure's Mem. of Wheelock. p. 277. 74 SAMSON OCCOM forted. On hearing it he exclaimed, " Good news 1 good news !" and fell asleep. Those Good Samaritans of Edinburgh dressed the dead Indian in " a Suitt of fine Mournings," and at 6 o'clock the next evening they bore him to his burial in Grayfriars churchyard, Mr. Moubray carrying his head, Mr. Beatty his right shoulder, Doctor Erskine his left, and a num- ber of ministers and gentlemen following round about the pall. " The best people in town," it is said, " were invited and attended the funeral." Thus says Mr. Moubrav, in his letter to Doctor Wheelock detailing this event, " in our Churchyard was Interred the first Christian Indian that ever we heard of, very near the place where is Interred the bodys of those who suffered for the word of Christ's patience in Scotland against Oppressing powers."!^ One Christian Indian of New England at least received a proper burial far away from the graves of his fathers ! His mound has, however, long since been leveled by time, and we bring out his forgotten story from the wasting yellow sheet. This was indeed the first Christian Indian who had died in Edinburgh, which is doubtless the meaning ; but they knew of another, Samson Occom, who had aroused the interest of Christians throughout England, and who had preached in their churches the year before. The sequel of this journey is soon told. Tobias, when it was certain that he could not live, made over his right to rep- resent the tribe to his brother, and the assignment received the seal of the mayor of Edinburgh. John went on to London with Mr. Beatty, where his mission was a failure, as so many others were in those days. He returned to America in the September following, and became one of the head men of the Narragansetts. Samuel Ashbow, the last in our catalogue, was connected with the school only about six months, but he deserves more extended notice, as he became a prominent Indian preacher. He " Wheelock Papers, Lett., May 14, 1768. IVHEELOCKS INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 75 was born at Mohegan in the year 17 18, and his epitaph records the fact that he was " one of the royal family." What his title to this honor was we do not know. The Mohegan councilor, Zachary Johnson, testified before William Williams that the grandfather of Samuel came from Springfield and fought in the war with the Pequots ; but it was acknowledged that " his right in the tribe was as good as that of Ben Uncas." His father was probably the Indian Ashobapow, named in a list of 1692, abbreviated afterwards to Ashpo or Ashbow. Samuel was one of the pupils of Jonathan Barber in the Mohegan school, and was converted about the time Samson Occom was. He seems to have known Doctor Wheelock before the Indian school was established, for he first united with his church. In 1753 he was teaching the Indian school at Mushantuxet, under the patronage of the commissioners at Boston, in whose records he is erroneously called John Ashpo. This school he taught until 1757, when he went into the government service as inter- preter. At that time he fell into intemperance. Doctor Wheelock says : "^ He behaved very well several years till he got into a bad company of sailors at New London and got drunk. He soon after came and with tears informed me of his fall and seemed much affected, and desired to make a public confession, and has never tasted since. "^"^ In 1759 he returned to Mushantuxet, where he taught the school and exercised his gifts as an Indian preacher. Soon after his conversion he had come under the influence of certain lay exhorters of the Sep- aratist school by whom he had been examined and ordained in their way. " He was not," says Doctor Wheelock, " one of the most bitter, sensorious, furious and uncharitable sort, but he has imbibed such independent and Brownistic principles as I find many good sort of people zealous to defend. ''^^ Rev. Jacob Johnson says he taught the school very well, but like Samson ^*Wheelock Papers, Lett, to Rev. Gideon llawley, June, 1761. 76 SAMSON OCCOM Wauby, who succeeded him in 1757, he could not write and cipher well enough, from which testimony we may judge of his education. ^^ He made his home among these Groton Indians for many years until he returned to Mohegan. In a census of 1762 he is called their minister, and was living in a house, hav- ing a wife and six children. We conjecture that he had mar- ried Hannah Mamnack of the Wangunk tribe, for in 1765 they seem to be among those who had rights in the Mattabesett lands. Most of his children were sons, of whom four, Sam- uel, Simeon, James and John, died as soldiers in the Revolu- tion. It was in the year 1760 that he first entered the mis- sionary service, going to Onohoquaga. On his return he lodged at Doctor Wheelock's house. He brought news of " a great concern " among the Indians at Jeningo, to whom he was ready to go as a missionary. At that time Doctor Whee- lock was projecting such a venture ; but he hesitated in send- ing out one of Separatist notions. Ashbow, therefore, first made his peace with the orthodox fold by returning to his *' Duty and Privilege " in the North church of New London, to which he had taken a letter from Lebanon, agreeing to " de- sist from preaching until approved by those who may be ap- pointed to examine his qualifications."^^ Meanwhile he had been to Jeningo, and the Indians had invited him to become their minister. On the 29th of July, 1762, a small council met at Mohegan, consisting of Rev. Messrs. Wheelock, Jewett, Whitaker and Powers. They examined him " concerning his principles and knowledge in Christianity, and enquired into his moral character; and were so far satisfied as to advise that he be devoted to the study of divinity under the care and tui- tion of some divine for some convenient space of time, and then submit to another examination." In writing Rev. George Whitefield of this council, Wheelock said, " they advised to his 10 Ibid., Lett, to Wlieelock, Feb. 3, 1757. '' Wheelock Papers, Lett., Jewett to Wheelock, Nov. i, 1761. WHEELOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL 77 being fitted as fast as may be for a mission, and accordingly I expect him to this school. "^^ He entered on the 25th of Sep- tember following, and studied under Doctor Wheelock during the autumn and winter, retaining his residence at Mushan- tuxet, and ministering to the Indians. At the annual "Con- vention of Ministers," held at the house of Rev. Elnathan Whitman in Hartford, May 12, 1763, a committee was ap- pointed to examine him with reference to a mission at Jeningo. He was approved and received this testimonial that he was a " Man of good Understanding in the most important Doctrines and Principles of Christianity, considering the great Disad- vantages he has been brought up under, and he appears to have a truly religious Turn of Mind and to be inspired with a well tempered zeal to introduce and spread the Knowledge of the true God and Saviour among his Savage lirethren in the Wilds of America." The committee accordingly approved of his " Preaching the Gospel among the Indians where the Prov- idence of God shall open the Door for it."^^ Doctor Whee- lock had meanwhile fitted him out for his mission, and he imme- diately set forth. He was, however, only away six weeks, being obliged to retreat on account of a rupture among the Indians in that region. In the spring of 1764, preparations were made to send him to the Onondagas. He went to Je- ningo in the summer of 1766, and remained there during the winter. It is said that he again fell into intemperance, but he reformed, and for years, upon the discontinuance of Whee- lock's missions, he labored among the New England Indians, especially at Niantic. His later affiliations were with the Bap- tists, and he never got rid of his Separatist opinions. ^"^ In his latter days he visited Occom's settlement at Brothertown, but he did not remove thither. So far as we know his life in his 18 Wheelock Papers, Lett. Sept. 12, \'j(-,2. J" Wheelock Papers, May 12, 1763. 20 Diary of David McClure, pp. i?9, 190. 78 SAMSON OCCOM age was above reproach. Many of the whites knew and re- spected him. Sometimes he preached in their rural communi- ties. He died at Mohegan, and in the neglected burial-place, west of the Norwich and New London highway, about half a mile from the Mohegan church, his grave is marked by a stone bearing this epitaph : " In memo/y of Rev'^ Samuel Ashbow one of the Royal Family who died Nov' 7"' 1795 in the 77"' year of his age." Mrs. Hannah Ashbow, his wife, died July 10, 1801. This Mohegan minister was no doubt as useful as his education and circumstances would permit. He certainly had some talent as an exhorter and exercised consid- erable influence among the Indians whose religion was of the erratic and emotional type. This introduction we give to the pupils of Wheelock's Indian Charity School. It has always been said that this institution was a failure. The immediate results were not, in some cases, encouraging. Doctor Wheelock, who had de- pended on charity for their support, felt this most keenly. He surrendered, in consequence, his early purpose, and turned to the whites. Yet he himself, in his first Narrative, had said : "If the one half of the Indian Boys thus educated shall prove good and useful men, there will be no reason to regret our toil and expense for the whole." Of those who remained a suffi- cient time at the school to receive its impressions, the larger proportion led useful lives, and some of his disappointments afterwards brought him joy. The New England Indians, at least, justified his efforts in their behalf. The history of the Brothertown tribe is the sequel to his Indian Charity School. It must be remembered, moreover, that the foremost white missionaries of the time were among his pupils. The heroic life of Samuel Kirkland and some other ministers received an impulse in that school at the country crossroads. ^^ He never 21 We have not seen any list of the white pupils at Wheelock's school while it was at I-ebanon. In 1762, he had three, in 1765, five, and others later. Those who are WHEELOCK'S IiXDIAN CIIARirV SCHOOL 79 professed to establish a school for Indians alone. Coeduca- tion with the whites was a feature of his plan. This he endeavored to perpetuate, when, in 1770, the school removed to Hanover, N. H., and was incorporated with Dartmouth College. Some account should be given, in conclusion, of the manner in which this Indian school was conducted. Two descriptions have survived. One is Doctor Wheelock's own, as given in his first Narrative. Of the scholars, he says : They are obliged to be clean, and decently dressed, and be ready to attend Prayers before Sun-rise in the Fall and Winter, and at 6 o'clock in the Summer. A Portion of Scripture is read by several of the Seniors of them : And those who are able answer a Question in the Assembly's Cate- chism, and have some Questions asked them upon it, and an Answer expounded to them. After Prayers, and a short Time for their Diversion, the School begins with Prayer about 9, and ends at 12, and again at 2 and ends at 5 o'clock with Prayer. Evening Prayer is attended before the Day- light is gone &c. They attend the publick Worship, and have a Pew devoted to their Use in the Kouse of God. On Lord's-Day Morning, between and after the Meetings, the Master, or some one whom they will submit to, is with them, inspects their Behaviour, hears them read, cate- chises them, discourses to them &c. And once or twice a AVeek they hear a Discourse calculated to their Capacities upon the most important and interesting Subjects. And in general they are orderly and governable : They appear to be as perfectly easy and contented with their Situation and Employment as any at a Father's House. I scarcely hear a Word of their going Home, so much as for a visit, for years together, except it be when they first come.-- The Other account is found in a letter from Mr. John Smith, a Boston merchant, who was interested in the school, and known to have been pupils there are : Samuel Kirkland, Samuel Gray, David Avery. Phineas Dodge, Eleazar Sweetland, David McClure. Levi Frisbie, Augustine Hib- bard, Allyn Mather, John McClarren Breed, Josiah Dunham, John Hall, and Josiah Pomerov. We conjecture that Sylvanus Ripley and Ebenezer Gurley may also have studied there. Gray, Frisbie, and Ripley graduated at Dartmouth College in 1771, Gurley and Hibbard in 1772, and Sweetland in 1774. [Chapman's Alumni of Dart. Co//.] McChu-e, Avery, and Hall graduated at ^■ale College in 1769, Dreed in 176S. Pomeroy in 1770, and Dunham died while in college. -^IV/iee/ock's Narrative, 1763, p. 36 ; Cf., Diary of David McClure, p. S. 8o SAA/SOJV OCCOM visited it in 1764. He found, before reaching the place, that Mr. Wheelock had the reverence of a man of God, and that his school was held in high esteem. His description is as fol- lows : I reached his house a little before the evening sacrifice, and was movingly touched on giving out the psalm to hear an Indian youth set the time, and the others following him and singing the tenor and bass with remarkable gravity and seriousness; and though Mr. Wheelock, the schoolmaster and a minister from our Province (called, as I was, by curiosity) joined in Praise, yet they, unmoved, seemed to have nothing to do but to sing to the Glory of God. I omit Mr. Wheelock's prayer, and pass to the Indians; in the morning when on ringing the schoolhouse bell they assemble at Mr. Wheelock's house about five o'clock with their master, who named the chapter in course for the day, and called upon the near Indian, who read three or four verses, till the master said " Proximus," and then the next Indian read some verses, and so on till all the Indians had read the whole chapter. After this, Mr. Wheelock prays, and then each Indian parses a verse or two of the chapter they had read. After this they entered succes- sively on Prosodia, and then on Disputations on some questions pro- pounded by themselves in some of the arts and sciences. And it is really charming to see Indian youths of different tribes and languages in pure English reading the word of God and speaking with exactness and accu- racy on points (either chosen by themselves or given out to them) in the several arts and sciences; and especially to see this done with at least a seeming mixture of obedience to God, a filial love and reverence to Mr. Wheelock, and yet with great ambition to excel each other. And indeed in this morning's exercises I saw a youth degraded one lower in the class who before the exercises were finished not only recovered his own place, but was advanced two higher. I learnt that my surprise was common to min- isters and other persons of literature who before me had been to visit this school, or rather College, for I doubt whether in colleges in general a better education is to be expected; and in mentioning this to a gentlemen in this town who had visited this Seminary, he acquainted me that he intended at his own charge to send his son to obtain his education in mix- ture with these Indians. There were 4 or 5 of these Indians, from 21 to 24 years of age, who did not mix with the youth in these exercises ; these I learnt were perfected in their literature, and stand ready to be sent among the Indians to keep schools and occasionally to preach as doors open. On my return, Mr. Wheelock accompanied me a few miles; and on passing by one house, he said, here lives one of my Indian girls, who was, I hope con- WHEELOCK'S INDIAN CHARITY SCIIOOI 8l verted last week ; and calling to the farmer, he, unperceived, brought the young girl into our sight; and the pleasure was exquisite to seethe savage- ness of an Indian moulded into the sweetness of a follower of the Lamb.-'^ Such was the school which these Indian pupils attended — unpretentious in its buildings, without charter or other trus- tees than its friends, dependent wholly upon the charity of a few, and the meager assistance of burdened societies — a school created, maintained and governed by a country min- ister of Connecticut, who had an idea and a will to carry it out.. 23 Wheelock Papers, Lett. May i8, 1764. CHAPTER V OCCOM'S missions to the ONEIDA INDIANS 1761-1764 The most attractive field for the missionary enterprise of New England about the middle of the eighteenth century, was among the Six Nations of New York. The influence of this alliance of savages had long been recognized, and their con- version to Christianity had been years before the fond dream of the Jesuits. Among them, too, the Episcopal church had labored through "The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." ^ But interest in these tribes had been revived in consequence of the French and Indian War. On the 2d of June, 1747, the commissioners of the "Society for Propagating the Gospel," meeting at Boston, appointed a committee to look up a suitable person to go among the Six Nations, the same to be supported by the benefaction of Rev. Dr. Williams. Rev. Elihu Spencer was finally secured, and in the autumn of 1748 he was established on the Susquehanna river. He returned the next year and was released.^ In 1753 1 Humphreys's ///.r/<7;'/V(7/ Account ; Hawkins' Historical Notices of the Missio7is of the Church of England ; Anderson's Colonial Churchy III, 286 ff ; and Prof. A. G. Hopkins in Trans. Oneida Hist. Soc, tS86, 2 Elihu Spencer, the son of Isaac and Mary (Selden) Spencer, was born Feb. 12, 1721, at East Haddam, Conn., being a second cousin of David and Jolin Brainerd. He graduated at Yale College in 1746, studied theology, was with John Brainerd among the Indians in the winter of 1747, and with Jonathan Edwards the following summer, and was ordained with a mission in view, Sept. 12, 1748, at Boston. After leaving the mission he was in the Presbyterian ministry at Elizabeth, N. J., Jamaica. L. I., and Trenton, N. J. He died Dec. 27, 1784. — Dexter's Yale Biographies, II, 89: Sprague's Annals. Ill, 165 ; Hopkins's Hist. Mem. of the Housatitnnuk Indians ; and MS. Rec. Soc. for Prop. Cos. 82 OCCOIirs MISSIONS TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS 83 the same society sent out Rev. Gideon Hawley, who labored at Onohoquaga until 1756. He then became the Indian mis- sionary at Marshpee, though he visited his old field in 1761 and 1765. Mr. Hawley was the most successful missionary who had hitherto labored in that region. ^ He hid the good seed at least in a few hearts where it germinated. One of his converts was Gwedelhes Agwerondongwas, or "Good Peter," who grew in strength like an oak, and in whom the charter of the faith was safely kept for many a day."* To him and his fellow laborer, Isaac Dakayenensere, a reference is made in Kirkpatrick's letter which we shall presently quote. 3 Gideon Hawley, the son of Gideon and Hannah Hawley, was born in Stiatfield, Conn., Nov. 5, 1727. He graduated at Yale College in 1749, and was licensed to preach by the Fairfield East Association, May i, 1750. In February, 1752, he became instructor in the Mohawk School at Stockbridge, Mass. At the suggestion of Jona- than Edwards, he went in May, 1753, on a mission to Susquehanna, having Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Ashly as interpreters. Having engaged in this service for a year, he was ordained as the missionary there under the Society for Propagating the Gospel, July 31, 1754, at the Old South Church in Boston. He continued in this field until 1756, served as chaplain of Col. Richard Gridley's regiment in the expedition against Crown Point, and in 1757 was engaged as missionary among the Indians at Marsh- pee, where he was installed April 8, 175S, and labored until his death, Oct. 3, 1807. — Dexter's Yale Biographies^ II, 205 ; Sprague's Annals^ 1, 497 ; Doc. Hist, of N. K, 8°, III, 1031 ; and MS. Rec. Sac. for Prop. Cos. * Gwedelhes Agwerondongwas [Agwelentongwas] as Wheelock spelled the name, or " Good Peter " [Domine Peter, Peter the Priest, Petrus the Minister] was a chief of the Oneida tribe and belonged to the Eel Clan. He was born early in the century on the Susquehanna River, and was one of the prominent friends of Hawley's mis- sions there. After his conversion he acquired some education and could read and write fairly well. His greatest gift was in Indian oratory, in which he had no equal among the Six Nations. After Hawley left the field he carried on the work alone, preaching and making missionary tours among his people ; and throughout his life he was foremost in all such efforts. The universal testimony is that he was judi- cious, sober, faithful and consistent as a Christian, and did much to enlighten his people. Rev. Eli Forbes testified that he was as eminent a Christian as any among the English. Rev. Samuel Kirkland, in a letter of Dec. 26, 1792, records his death at Buffalo Creek while attending the Grand Council there, and adds this tribute: " The Oneidas have sustained an almost irreparable loss in tlie death of Good f'eter. His equal is nowhere to be found in all the five nations." He had been one of Kirk- land's deacons. A portrait of him is said to have been once exhibited in Mr. Stew- ard's museum in Hartford, and John Trunibull's miniature painted in 1792 is in the Yale Art School. 84 SAMSON OCCOM The attention of the New York correspondents of the Scotch Society having been turned toward Samson Occom as a suitable person to undertake a mission to some distant tribe, they were only awaiting a favorable opportunity to send him forth. This Indian minister, though continuing at Montauk after his ordination, was uneasy there, having hopes of larger usefulness than that small tribe offered him. A call to service soon came by a letter which he received in the last days of 1760. It is given in full from the manuscript in the Con- necticut Historical Society : — New York, Novf 25*11 1760 Rev*! Sir. Having been called, in this last Summers Campaign, to act in the Capacity of Chaplain to the N. Jersey Regim^ commanded by Col. Peter Schuyler, I think it my Duty to inform you — That, in our March from Fort Stanwix to the Oneida Lake, we happend to meet with a Number of the Oneida Indians, who seemed to pay a great Respect to that sacred Character, which, from my Apparrel, they easily imagined I sustained — and upon entring into Conversation with them, they agreably surpriz'd me by discovering an earnest Desire of having a Minister setled among them — They informed me that they had collected together (I think) 300 Dollars for erecting an House of Worship, which would be applied to that Purpose as soon as they cou'd get a Minister — They likewise informed me that they had their Children baptized by Ministers in their occasional Visits— and desired me to marry a Couple which I complied with — They appear to have considerable Notions of a Supreme Being, and of Revealed Religion— and there are two Indians of their Nation who attempt something like Preach- ing on the Sabbath Days. I was further informed by them that not only their own Nation of the Oneidas, But also their Cousins, the Tuscaroras were willing to join in this Affair — and they pressed it upon me to endeavor to send them a Minister, and promised, if I did, they would be Kind to him. I came under Obligations to use my Influence to have their Desires in this Respect fulfilled. In consequence therefore of my Promise I now write to you — As I have been informed, Sir, you have lately enter'd into the Doors of the Sanctuary, and stand waiting for Employment in any Part of God's House where he shall providentially call you, therefore I hope you will be easily induced to engage in this important Mission — I hope, Sir, your own zeal and forwardness in the Cause of God and for the Salvation OCCOArs MISS/OiVS TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS 85 of the Heathen supersedes the Necessity of using any Argum.'" I sho'd however add a few were it not that I write in the greatest Hurry, and prin- cipally as a Historian of these undoubted facts — for other Argum.'s and Encourag.ts in this Affair I refer you to M' Bostwick's Letter, and in the greatest Hurry subscribe myself. Rev.^ and dear Sir. Your Bro"" and Fellow Labourer in the Work of the Gospel Ministry W. KiRKPATRICK. [To Rev. Samson Occom] The hurried visit which Rev. William Kirkpatrick had paid to the Oneidas led him to write in too sanguine a strain of their condition. It appears that, on his return to New York, he had mentioned the affair to Rev. David Bostwick, president of the correspondents of the Scotch Society, who had inspired the above letter and who also soon wrote Occom, giving some encouragement of the necessary support if he would go on this mission. Rev. Samuel Buell was greatly interested. It was such a field as he had hoped his Indian friend would find. The time had come for him to print his sermon, preached at Occom's ordination. This he did and he added his own letter to Mr. Bostwick. He referred to Mr. Kirkpatrick's letter when he wrote : " We receive the information as well authenticated that the Oneida Indians (to whom Mr. Occom is going) make the first motion themselves and earnestly request that a gospel minister may be sent among them." He also wrote to Doctor Wheelock, January 13, 1761, saying "Several letters have come to hand (I mean to Mr. Occum and myself) from gentle- men westward ... a glorious door seems opening for their [Six Nations] being evangelized and for promoting your important school."" This letter arrived at Lebanon on the 29th instant with one from Occom on the same subject. Doc- tor Wheelock was thus led to add a postscript to the letter which, on that day, he had written to Mr, William Hyslop of Boston so warmly commending David Fowler. In this he 5 McCliire's Mem. of Wheelock, p. 226. 86 SAMSON OCCOM said, "I am informed y* in consequence of the Invitation of a number of ministers at the westward (I suppose the Corres- pondent Commissioners in N, Jersie) Mr. Occom has deter- mined to go early next spring on a Mission to the Oneida Indians. He has wrote me desiring that David Fowler, his Brother in Law, the Indian of whom I wrote in ye foregoing Letter may go with him a few months."^ Moved, therefore, by the desire to send Fowler with Occom to secure some Mohawk youth for his school, Doctor Wheelock visited Boston and met the correspondents of the Scotch Society. Upon his representation they voted, May 7th, " That the Reverend Mr. Wheelock of Lebanon be desired to fit out David Fowler, an Indian Youth, to accompany Mr. Sampson Occom, going on a Mission to the Oneidas, that said David be supported on said Mission for a Term not exceeding 4 Months, and that he endeavour on his Return to bring with him a Number of Indian Boys, not exceeding three, to be put under Mr. Wheelock's Care and Instruction."^ Thus encouraged, David Fowler was made ready. Occom was intending to start about the middle of May, but he was delayed at Montauk by illness. Fowler was sent to Mohegan to see if they had news of him.^ Every- thing was ready and delay at that season might be disastrous. On the 30th of May Occom left his home at Montauk, went to Easthampton to bid his friend Mr. Buell farewell, tarried a day at Mohegan with his mother and on the 8th of June arrived at Lebanon. On the loth of June, at three o'clock in the afternoon, an interesting group was gathered before Doctor Wheelock's house opposite the Lebanon sky-blue church. It was one of those historic scenes which might inspire the artist — the dig- nified Connecticut minister, the comforting presence of his '' Wheelock Papers, Lett. Jan. 29, 1761. '' Wheelock'' s Narrative, 1763, p. 39. ^ Conii. Hist. Soc, Lett. Wheelock to Occom, May 27, 1761. OCCOM'S MISSIONS TO THh ONEIDA INDIANS 87 matronly companion, a few Indian boys and the young man from a neighboring minister's household, known by name as Samuel Kirkland, but then unknown to fame. Two horses are led out and two Indians leap to their backs, the one a Mohe- gan in his prime, the other an athletic young Montauk— and thus they set forth to carry the gospel and civilization to the Oneida Indians. These were the first missionaries sent out under the auspices of Connecticut people. The day had come of which Wheelock had often dreamed — that country parson whom an Oneida chief once called " The Great Minister that takes the care of Indians." Samson Occom shall give his own account of his journey: Wednesday June y^' 10 about 3 P. M. Ihother David and I took Leave of Mr Wheelock and his Family and Sot out on our Journey for Onoyda by way of New York — Reach'd Heartford about 9 at Night, Lodg'd [at] Cap*^ Daniel Bulls, and were very kindly Treated— the Man seems to be Truely Religious, keep very good order in his House. Thirdsday June y^ 11 about 9 in the Morning we Sot out on our Journey, and got about 6 miles Westward of N. Haven and Lodg'd at one Wood- roffs — Fryday June y*' 12. Sot [out] Early in the Morning, got to Stanford at Night Lodgd at a Certain Tavern — Saturday June y*^ 13. Went on our way, got within 5 miles of the City of New York, and turn'd in to one M"" Goldsmiths. Sabbath June y« 14 taried at Goldsmiths, we did not go to the City to Publick Worship for fear of the Small Pox, being Informed very Brief [rife .''] there — But I never Saw a Sabbath Spent so by any Christian Peo- ple in my Life as some Spent it here. Some were Riding in Chairs, some upon Horse Back orthers traveling foot. Passing and Repassing all Day long, and all Sorts of Evil Noisps Caried on by our [door] Drunkards were Realing and Stagaring in the Streets, others tumbling off their Horses, there were others at work in their farms, and [if] ever any People under the Heavens Spoke Flells Language, these People did, for their Mouths were full of Cursings, Prophaning Gods Holy Name — I greatly Mistake if these are not the sons and Daughters of Belial. O thou God of Heaven, thou y^ Hast all the Hearts of the Children of men in thine Hands, Leave me not to Practice the Works of these People, but help me, O Lord to take warning and to take heed to my self according 88 SAMSON OCCOM to thy Holy Word, and have mercy upon the Wicked, Convince and Con- vert them to thy Self, for thine own glory. I have thought there was no Heathen but the wild Indians, but I think now there is some English Heathen, where they Enjo}' the Gospel of Jesus Christ too, Yea, I believe they are worse than y<^ Savage Heathens of the wilderness, — I have thought that I had rather go with the meanest and most Dispis'd creature on Earth to Heaven, than to Go with the greatest Monarch Down to Hell, after a- Short Enjoyment of Sinful Pleasures with them in this World — I am glad there is one defect in the Indian Language, and I believe in all their Languages they Can't Curse or sware or take god's Name in Vain in their own Tongue. Monday June y^ 15, to the City, and were Conducted to M"" Well's at fresh waters and were Very Kindly receiv'd by him and by all his Family. I believe the Fear of God [is] in their House and this was our Home as long as we Stay'd in the place. The People of the City were Extreamely kind to us there was not a Day Scarsly, but that I was invited to Dine with one Gentleman or other. The Ministers of all Sects and Denominations were uncommonly kind to me — my Friends Increased Daily while at New York. Thirdsday June y^ 25 we left New York and went on our Journey, Reach'd Peekskills at Night — Fryday June 26 Sot out very Early in the Morning and we made it Night at Rynbeck. Saturday June y^ 27 Sot out very Early, and made it Night between Claverack and Kinderhook — Sabbath June y^ 28. Went to Kinderhook about five Miles, and there Stopt all Day, — but did not go to Publick Worship, Because the People were Barbarians to us and we to them, in our Toungs, they were Dutch. Monday June y'' 29 left the Place very Early, and got to Albany about 12 o'c and were Conducted to one M' Hants Vn Santvoord & taried there and the People in Albany were very kind to us, I went to wait upon his Excel- lency, Gen.i' Amherst the After Noon after we got to Albany, but he was busy and I Coud not see him, one of his waiters Came out to me, and told me I should have the Generals Assistance and I should make my Appear- ance about 10 in the Morning. Tuesday June y*^ 30. I made my Ap])earance before his Excellency at the Time Apointed according to orders, his Excellence Met me at the Door and told me he had wrote a Pass for me, and he unfolded it and Read it to me, and when he had Read it, he Delivered it to me, and gave me good Advice and Counsel and wish'd me success in my undertaking & I return'^ unfeigned Thanks to him and then took my leave of him &c — The Pass which he gave me was very good one indeed, which I will coppy Down here OCCOM'S^M/SS/OXS TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS 89 By his Excellency Jeffery Amherst & Esq* Major General, and Com- mander in Chief of all His Majestys Forces in North America &c &c &c — To All Whom it may Concern Whereas the Correspondents of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, have Acquainted me that the Bearer hereof, the Revd M"" Occom, is sent by them, as a Missionary to Reside amongst the Indians about the Onoyda Lake, These are to order and direct the offi- , cers Commanding at the Several Posts, to give him any Aid or Assistance he may Stand in need of to forward him on his Journey, and on his Arival at y** Onoyda Lake, the officer Commanding there will grant him all the Protection and Countenance he may want, in the Execution of his Duty &c Given under my Hand & Seal at Head Quarters in Albany, this 29^'' Day of June 1 761 By his Excellencys •Command Jei'F- Amherst Arthur Muir Wednesday July y'^^ i left Albany about 10 in the Morning, got to Scenec- tady about 3 in the after Noon. Stayed there one Night. Thirdsday July 2 Went from Senectady In Company with Colo' Whit- ing and Di" Rodman, they Seemed to be Quite Friendly gentlemen to us, we got about Seven miles westward of Sir William Johnsons. Fryday July y*^ 3 went to See Sir William at his Farm Seven Miles out off the Road, in the Wilderness, got there about 9 in the Morning, and were very Kindly Entertained by his Honor. I Showed him my Recom- mendatory Letters, and a Pass from Gen' Amherst, he Promised me his Assistance as Need Should Require, he was exceeding free with me in con- versation — But we stayd there but about two Hours, for he was geting in Readines to go on our way on the Next Day towards Detroit with five Bat- tows Laden with Presents for the Indians, he said he wou'd overtake us on the Morrow before Night— We took Leave of his Honor and went our way, after we had got to the Main Road, we Call'd in at Certain House, and there vfe were Detained one Night by a Storm. Saturday July y'' 4. Went on our Journey and Reach'd the German flats at Night, and we Turn'd in at one M"" Frank's, a Tavern Keeper- Sabbath July ye 5 we stay'' at M^ Franks, but did not go to Publick Wor- ship with the People, because they Spoke unknown Toungue to us. But it did Seem like Sabbath by the appearance of the People- July the 6— Sir William came to us at M' Franks Tuesday July y'^^ 7. Sir William and the Chiefs of the Onoyda Indians Met at this Place, to make up a Breach, which one of the Indians made lately, by Killing a Dutchman, they talked about an Hour at this Time, 90 SAJ/SOJV OCCOM and then Brok up. Towards Night they Met together again, and talk'd together about 3 quarters of an Hour, then finaly Brock up without being fully Satisfied on both sides for, the Indians Insisted upon an old agree- ment that was Settled between them and the English formerly, that if any Such Acident Should ever happen between them in Peaceable Times, they Shou'd make it up in an Amicable manner without sheding of Blood. But Sir William told them it was the Comand of General Amherst, that the murderer Sho'^ be delivered up to Justice — but the Indians said, that [the] murderer was gone off no body knows where &c.^ What further transpired during Samson Occom's first mis- sion to the Oneida Indians must be gathered from other sources, as the diary suddenly breaks off. It appears that the correspondents at New York, though they had urged Occom to undertake this service, had not made ready to support him. His own account is given in a letter to Doctor Wheelock : Nf.w York, Tune ye 24, 1761. Revd Sir. We reached New York y« 15 Inst and to my Surprize, the Gentlemen had concluded not [to] send me at all, and all the Reason that they can give is, they are affraid the Indians will kill me. I told them, they cou'd not kill me but once, and told them I intended to Proceed on my Journey and if I Perish for want of Support I perish. But I intended to use your Money Sir that David has with him, and when they Perceived my Resolu- tion, they Emediately Consulted the Matter and Concluded that T should go, and a Collection should be made for me, and Recommendations shou'd be sent by me to Gen^ Amherst and to Sir William. And the whole Matter is Acomplished to my Surprize beyond all my expectations. The Last Sabbath after the afternoon Service was over at M"" Bostwick's Congregation, they ma'de a Collection for me and my Family's support, and it mounted to ;^6o, s. 15, d. 7, and Monday Evening the Baptists made a Collection for me at their Meeting Plouse and it mounted to £1'}^. And my Recommendations are done by the Most Noted Gentlemen of this Place, not only to the generals, but to other gen" of their Acquaintance, from this City to the furthermost English Settlements. The People are uncommonly kind to us in this great City. But we live in y*^ suburbs with one Obediah Wells an old Disciple. I am Invited to the City every Day to Dine with Some gentleman or other. Some times Two or three Invitations at once. Especially the Ministers of all Sects and " Occom'' s MS. Diary, Dartmouth College. OCCOM'S MISSIONS TO THE ONE ID A INDIANS 91 Denominations are Extreamly kind to me — Yesterday 3 o'c P. M. I was Intr[oduced] to wait upon his [Excellency] Colden, President and Com- mander in Chief in the Province of N. York, and [he] wished me good Success and Gave me good advice and Counsil — I believe tomorrow Morn- ing we Shall [set] out from here on our Way to Onoyda. Please to remember us in your Fatherly Pray' Continually. Except Duty and Sutable Regards to the Family from Your Most Obedient Indian Son Samson Occom.^^ To Revd Mr. \Vhp:elock The recommendations to which reference is made were signed by Hon. William Smith, Rev. David Bostwick, Mr. P. V. B. Livingston, IMr. David Vanhorne, and William Liv- ingston, Esq. These, with the passport of General Amherst and letters which he bore from Doctor Wheelock and others to Sir William Johnson, were a guarantee of favor and protection. In response to Doctor Wheelock's request. Sir William John- son sent on from German Flats, where he then was on his way to Detroit, the three Indian boys, who arrived on the ist of August.^^ One of these was Joseph Brant. Fowler was going on farther, partly to accompany Occom, but also in the hope of conducting other boys whom Sir William Johnson intended to secure farther west. He had even been authorized to go as far as the Senecas, but he tarried with Occom among the Oneidas. From German Flats they went on with Sir William Johnson to Oneida Old Castle, where they arrived on the i6th of July. We have in Johnson's diary the following entry as to that day : Thursday i6th.— Sent off the baggage boat, and went up in a whale boat toward the Oneida Old Castle, iii order to meet with the chiefs of that place, who were sent for the night before; but they not being at home, I delivered what I had to say to one of their chiefs in the presence of several of their women, and tlie Reverend Mr. Oaum, whom I very strongly rec- ommended to them, as I did, also, a friendly behavior toward all their 10 Wheelock Papers. 1' McClure's Mem. of Wheelock, p. 228. 92 SAMSON OCCOM brethren, that I might hear no more complaints against them on my return, nor from them against the officers, soldiers or others as usual. i- This was a very auspicious introduction which Occom and Fowler thus had to the Oneidas. The best account we have of their labors is in a letter which Doctor Wheelock wrote to Rev. George Whitefield.-^^ It is as follows : My black Son M"" Occom has lately returned from his Mission to the Onoyadas, and the last week I had the Pleasure to see him with one of that nation (who designs to winter with him and learn the English Language & teach M^" Occom Mohawke) and I was agreeably entertained with M' Occom's Journal, I can only suggest to you a few things most material in it. And to begin where I left off in my Last. When he first came among them they seemed shy of him thro' a Jealosie that something was designed by the English against them, but when Gen^ Johnson had read his Letters Recommendatory, they appeared well satisfied & much pleased, and as ^ Testimony of it the Kings of the Onoydas and Tuscaroras, & many others of their Chiefs came & shook hands with him and bid him wellcome among them. Their Chiefs then held a Council to fix upon the best methods to accomodate him with that which was necessary for his comfortable subsist- ance among them, and you would not wonder that their Chiefs held a coun- cel upon this Head if you knew how extreamly poor they are, having scarce anything that may be called Bread or anything else except what they get by hunting to subsist upon. They proposed to M"^ Occom to Chuse where to Live, and whether to live in a house already Built. He chose the Place and let them know y^ he chose to live with David (my Indian Schollar) and to live by themselves. They immediately built him a House the structure of which, could the Form & Workmanship thereof be truly represented, might gratify not a little the curiosity of a Brittain, though there was noth- ing in it yt resembled the Temple of old save that there was not the noise of axes or Hammers in the Building of it. The Materials were the simple Product of nature, the Remains of the Oakes & chestnuts fell many years ago by the violence of wiad. Many of them attended his Ministry & appeared attentive. Numbers from distant Nations came to hear him, and some seemed really desirous to understand and know the truths which most nearly concerned them. And when he was about to leave them their chiefs held another council. The consequence of^ which was that Old Connoquies (who had been King among the Onoyadas but had now resigned by Reason of Age) the King of the Tuscaroras and other Chiefs, presented ^2 Stone's Life and Times of Sir William Johnson, II, 432. »3 Wheelock Papers, Leit. Nov. 25, 1761. OCCOAPS MISSIONS TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS 93 him a Belt of Wampum to these Instructions which he received from old Connoquies, viz. I — We are glad from the inside of our Hearts that you are come hear to teach the right way of God. We are also thankful to those who sent you, and above all to God 2 — We intend by the help of God to repent of all our sins and all our heathenish ways & customs. We will put them all behind our Backs, and will never look on them again but will look strait forward and run after thristianity. 3 — If we shall try to set up a School we beg the Assistance of the Eng- lish if they see fit. 4 — We desire that strong Drink may be prohibited, that it may not be brought among us for we find it kills our Bodies and Souls; and we will try to hinder it here. 5 — We desire to be protected on our Lands, that none may molest or encroach upon us. 6 — This Belt of Wampum shall bind us fast together in perpetual I>ove and Friendship. Mr. Occom delivered it to those Gentlemen to whom it was directed, but obtained their Leave to bring it hither to gratify my Curiosity, and a curi- ous Girdle it is. M"" Occom says it could not be made for less than £\^ sterling.i'^ This address was delivered to Occom in the council-house after an hour's deliberation, and in the presence of " a great number of Indians." He regarded the occasion as significant — the Oneidas' formal welcome to Christianity.^^ As this meeting was on the i8th of September, the night before he ^* The whereabouts of this famous wampum belt is now unknown to us. Two years afterwards the Indians wished it returned, thinking themselves neglected. yNarra- tive, 1767, p. 28.] Doctor Wheelock had sent it back to New Vorl:. When Occom went to England, Doctor Whitaker wrote for it, as follows: " Mr. Occom says yt w'l he was in N. York last fall, he saw the religious belt of Wampom sent by him to New York when he returned from his Mission among the Oneidas, which belt was to be sent to Scotland. He says it was then in Judge \Vni Smiths. . . . This would be of great use to us as Mr. Occom remembers the Speach. Pray procure it and send it to us in all haste" [Wheelock Papers, Lett. December 3, 1765]. They received it either before they sailed or after reaching London, and it was used in pre- senting the cause to the General Assembly and churches in Scotland [Communica- tion in the New London Gazette, Sept. 25, 1767, dated at Edinburgh, July S, 1767]. 15 W/ieelock's Narrative, 1767, pp. 27, 28. The date here sliould be the iSth instead of the 8th, as we learn from other sources. 94 SAMSON OCCOM left them, he had been there about nine weeks. A part of the time Edward Johnson had been his interpreter; but such a method of communication was unsatisfactory. Therefore, he took a young Oneida Indian home with him as his tutor in the language during the winter. He and Fowler soon learned to speak in the Oneida tongue with fluency, and to some extent they acquired the languages of other tribes. While Occom was at Oneida, he wrote a letter, it seems, to Mr. Bostwick, giving some account of his experiences. There- upon the president of the correspondents addressed a commu- nication to the directors of the society in Scotland, September 23d, which was printed in connection with the anniversary sermon of Thomas Randall in 1763.-^^ From this we quote Mr. Bostwick's opinion of the mission and the missionary : He has met with a very favourable reception ; perhaps the more so, on account of his being an Indian, He writes, That there are four considera- ble towns on the Oneyda lake : That they have already built a house for religious worship, where he preaches every Lord's day : That he has bap- tized five or six persons this summer; and that there are many adjacent tribes among whom he intends to make excursions. He has retained his mother-tongue, and can speak the language of his own tribe (which is the Mohegon) something better than he can the English. But the Oneyda lan- guage differs so much from the Mohegan, that he is obliged to use an inter- preter for the present, tho' doubtless he would learn their language well in a little time, could he reside among them. He is married to an Indian woman, who is also esteemed truly pious, and has six children, with whom he would gladly dwell in the wilderness if he could be supported as a Mis- sionary, and very easily might his children be educated in that language — He v/ell understands the bissiness of farming, having chiefly supported his family by it, while he preached to the handful of Indians upon Long Island ; and therefore, could instruct the Indians in cultivating their lands, which are very good. He has acquired a tolerable acquaintance with Latin, Greek and Hebrew, with the sciences &c. and is really a good Divine. His 16 Supplement to Randall's sermon on "Christian Benevolence," preached Jan. 3, 1763, with the title "An Account of some late Attempts by the Correspondents of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge to Christianize the North American Indians. Edinburgh. Printed in the Year M.DCC.LXIII." 8° pp. 12. OCCOAPS MISSIONS TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS 95 piety is unquestionable, having been manifested by a more than ten years exemplary conduct. His temper is very amiable and Christian like, full of humility and meekness. His heart is much set on preaching the gospel to the Indians, and he seems willing to spend and be spent, to do or suffer any- thing for their conversion and salvation. In short, nothing is wanting to fix him there, but a support. He purposes to come down this autumn and spend the winter with his family (yet on Long Island), and 'tis likely he will try to remove his family to the Oneyda lake in the spring. We shall endeavour to support him by contribution till some surer method can be found or assistance be obtained from some charitable Society in Scotland or England. I therefore humbly request, as this event has opened so agreeable a prospect for spreading the gospel among the Heathen, that the Society would receive Mr. Occom as their Missionary with proper instruc- tions, and liberty to draw upon them for such salary as they shall fix ; and would commit the ipanagement of said mission to those of the Correspond- ents who reside in this city, as we are most convenient to write to, or receive intelligence from that part of the wilderness. His journey homeward was begun on the 19th of September from Kanawarohare via Tuscarora and Old Oneida. At the latter place he preached on the following Sabbath to a large assembly of Indians. On the 25th they were at Fort Herki- mer, and Occom was compelled to remain there several days because his horse strayed. He was then somewhat broken in health. The life in the wilderness had so affected his eyes that he had been unable to read or write for some weeks. During his mission he had received no word from Doctor Wheelock, though several letters had been sent. Fowler probably left him there, going directly to Lebanon, and Occom returned by the way of New York to Montauk, where he arrived on the 22d of October. Thus ended his first mis- sion to those Oneida villages where Samuel Kirkland after- wards spent his life. He set out on his second mission in the month of June. 1762. That season he did not have the companionship of David Fowler. This Mercury of the Indian missions made a trip to Johnson Hall in behalf of the school, and return.-.] ih,- 96 SA A/so AT OCCOM i8th of July with three Indian youth. ^^ The best account we have of the Oneida mission that season is in a letter from Doctor Wheelock to Rev. George Whitefield : Lebanon 16 Sep*" 1762 My very dear and Hon'i Sir. David, my Indian Scholar returned July 18 from the Mohawk Country, where I informed you in my last I sent him, and bro* with him 4 Indian Boys, three Mohawks and one of the Farmington Tribe. The Boys and Girls which I expected from Onoyada were detained by their Parents on accot of a Rumour, & Suspicion of a War just comencing between them and the Nations back of them and in such a case they %^ they did not chuse to have their Children at such a distance from them, but perhaps they were Suspicious y* they should be obliged to Joyn those Nations against the English. The English youth of which I informed you, who has been a Captive with the Senecas till he is Master of their Language, and which I sent for with a view to fit him for the Interpreter to that Nation, was under such ingagements to a Trader at Block Fort as that he could not get released for the present. I have again wrote to Gen^ Johnson who was not at Home when David was there till the Night before David came away, to procure and send y*^ youth if he esteems him likely to answer the Design. M^" Occom writes me a very meloncholly Letter, viz, that by an untimely Frost last fall their Indian Corn was all cut off — y' the Onoyadas are almost starved havS nothing to live upon but what they get by Hunting — that they had then just come in from their Pigeon Hunt — and were going a fishing — as soon as they return from that they will go after Deer — that he followed them, but found it very Difiicult to get a number of them together to preach to them — that by hard living (tho' they were as kind as they could be) and especially lying upon the wet ground his old Disorder, (viz Rhumatic) returnd, and he was apprehensive he must return before the Time appointed — that he lived in fear of being killd, tho' the Indians had promised him in case a war should break out, they would send him under a Sufficient Guard, down as far as the English Settlements. But there was Something good in his Letter, viz. that there were visible good Effects of his Labours among them last year & especially a Reforniation among them as to their Drinking. . . . ELEAZAR WllEELOCK.l^ ^"i Wheelock Paper s,\.t.\X'=>. July 6, 1762, and Aug. 20, 1762. Doc. Hist, of N. K, IV, 313. The date of Fowler's return, in Doctor Wheelock's letter, is the i8th, though he enters the pupils in his list on the 2Sth. ^^Whcelock Papers^ Lett. Sept. 16, 1762. OCCOAPS MISSION TO THE OX EI DA INDIANS 97 Occom returned earlier that autumn than was intended "on account of the present ruffle which y'' Oneidas are in, being engaged in a war with some of the natives back of them." This condition of affairs .also affected the Indian mission at Onohoquaga.^^ (Jn his way home he preached in the white settlements along the Hudson river wherever he could gather a congregation. His ministry was very acceptable, particu- larly in the region about seventy miles above New York, where there was considerable religious interest. This fact was made known to the Suffolk Presbytery, meeting at Huntington on the twenty-eighth of October, whereupon they passed the following minute : " A great Number of People adjoining or near to the North River, being Destitute of a preached gospel as Rep- resented to the Presbytery by Mr. Sacket, together with a pros- pect of Mr. Occum being greatly serviceable among them, the Presbytery doth Recommend it to Mr. Occum to go & Labour among sd People in the work of the gospel Ministry as much of the Ensuring Winter as his Circumstances may 1' The mission at Onohoquaga (Colesville, Broome Co., N. V.) had been resumed in 1 761 by the Boston commissioners of the London Society. They voted July 13th to send Hawley thither with Amos Toppan on a visit. They went and returned in October. In 1762 Rev. Eli Forbes and Asaph Rice [Sprague's Annals I. 493] were sent out, some say by the London commissioners and others by the Boston cor- respondents of the Scotch Society. The fact is, this was a union mission, entered into by the commissioners, correspondents and authorities of Harvard College, in view of the incorporation, Feb. 11, 1762, of the "Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge among the Indians of North America" by Massachusetts, which was intended to combine these agencies, and whose charter failed. The Scotch Society took the lead and was assisted by the otiiers, hence the confusion. Messrs. Forbes and Rice started June ist and arrived at Onohoquaga about the middle of the month {Conn. Hist. Soc, Lett. Forbes to Occom, July 26, 1762.]. They established schools and formed a church. Mr. Forbes returned in September, and his place was to be filled by Rev. Joseph Bowman, ordained Aug. 31, 1762 (ordination ser- mon by Dr. Chauncey in print), who was delayed by illness. The wars then inter- rupted this mission. In 1765 it was resumed under the Boston commissioners, who sent out Rev. Ebenezer Moseley (son of Rev. Samuel Moseley of Windham [Hamp- ton], Conn.), with James Dean as interpreter and Rev. Gideon Hawley to introduce them. Mr. Moseley remained in this mission until Feb., 1772, when he was succeeded by Rev. Aaron Crosby, who continued there until August, i 777. S 98 SAMSON OCCOM admit." Undoubtedly he went. It was his first experience as an itinerant preacher in the region where he was after- wards a frequent and welcome visitor. Again, in the season of 1763, Occom made a visit to the Oneida country. He was, however, soon compelled to return on account of the Pontiac War. The same calamity befell the mission that year undertaken by Rev. Charles Jeffry Smith, with Joseph Brant as guide and interpreter, upon which they set out on the fourth of July. Mr.. Smith had been a tutor at the school and was ordained at Lebanon on the thirtieth of June, Doctor Wheelock preaching the sermon, which was printed in London in 1767.^° That season, also, Rev. Samuel Ashbow was turned back from Jeningo, whither he had gone on the 6th of August. In consequence of the war all missionary opera- tions were suspended. Meanwhile Doctor Wheelock, at the suggestion of the Min- isters' Association which met in Hartford, May 12, 1763, had memorialized the General Assembly of Co*nnecticut, requesting that a brief be issued for collections in the churches. This request was granted. The brief contained the following state- ment of the case : " And seriously considering the present new and extraordinary Prospect (by the Blessing of Heaven on his Majesty's Arms) Doth greatly encourage an Attempt to pro- mote Christian Knowledge and Civility of Manners among the Indian Nations of this Land."'-^^ This public approval seemed 20 Charles Jeff ry Smith, the son of Henry and Ruth (Smith) Smith, was born in Brookhaven, L. I., in 1740, and graduated at Yale College in 1757. After studying theology for some years at Mew Haven, he assisted Doctor Wheelock in his school during the winter of 1762 and further prepared himself for an Indian mission. Upon the failure of his mission in 1763, he returned to Long Island where he had a con- siderable estate. Subsequently he preached about in Virginia and the south, whither he purposed to remove in 1770, but on the loth of August he was killed by the dis- charge of his gun, either by accident or intent while temporarily insane. Rev. Samuel Buell preached a sermon on the death of his friend which is in print.— Dexter's Yale Biographies, H, 495-497. 2" Wheelock Papers^ MS. and Broadside, which was printed at New London by T. Green. The Conn. Hist. Soc. has the broadsides of 1763 and 1766. Se& Conn. Col. Rec.X.11, 151, 152. Conn. Archives, Coll. and Schools, II, i, 2. OCCOM'S MISSION TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS 99 encouraging. Governor Fitch even promised to mention the matter in his Thanksgiving proclamation. But before the brief had been published in all the churches, the Indian War had caused a reaction in popular sentiment unfavorable to such ventures. The General Assembly, therefore, in the Octo- ber session, at the suggestion of some who had not contrib- uted, ordered the discontinuance of the publication. ^^ Three years afterwards, that body at its May session, upon Doctor Wheelock's memorial, ordered a second brief.'^^ He received from the first about £\o, and from the second about ;z^i55, which proved of great assistance in his accounts. The failure of Doctor Wheelock hitherto to secure a charter for the Indian school had led him to look for some organized board in which to vest the responsibility. His enterprise needed the confidence of the public, which no private manage- ment could long retain. He had enemies at Boston among the correspondents of the Scotch Society. It was also evident that the commissioners of the " Society for Propagating the Gospel" would aid him only to a limited extent. He saw that the appropriation from the Sir Peter Warren legacy would soon cease, as it did in 1765. In his perplexity he turned to his friends abroad, and made application to the " Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge " for the estab- lishment of a Board of Correspondents of that society in Con- necticut similar to those in New York and Boston.^"* This re- quest was granted and such a board was constituted by a vote of the parent society, March 13, 1764.^^ The following men, nominated by Doctor Wheelock, were appointed to comprise it : Jonathan Huntington, Esq., of Windham, Elisha Sheldon, Conn. Col. Rec, XII, 193; McClure's Mem. of Wheelock, pp. 236, 237. 23 Conn. Col. Rec, XII, 490, 491. 24 Wheelock seems to have made an application March 24, 1762, which was not re- ceived, and to have renewed it September 21, 1763. — Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., p. 35. Cf. McClure's Mem. of Wheelock, p. 242. 25 See the commission in McClure's Mem. of Wheelock, pp. 34-36. lOO SAMSON OCCOM Esq., of Litchfield, Mr. Samuel Huntington of Norwich, Rev. Messrs. Solomon Williams of Lebanon, Joseph Fisk of Ston- ington, William Gaylordof Norwalk, Samuel Moseley of Wind- ham, Eleazar Wheelock of Lebanon, Benjamin Pomeroy of Hebron, Richard Salter of Mansfield, Nathaniel Whitaker of Norwich, and David Jewett of New London. These names are given to make evident the fact that most of them were his personal friends and in fact members of the Windham Associ- ation, which had long fathered his school. The purpose of this board, as expressed in its commission, was "to receive dona- tions from well-disposed persons, and to employ the same for promoting Christian knowledge, in such manner as shall be directed by the donors, and failing such direction, to devise schemes for propagating our holy religion among the Indians, and to carry them into execution." This commission was for- warded March 15, 1764, by Doctor Wheelock's friend. Rev. John Erskine, of Edinburgh, was received in June, and on the fourth of July the correspondents met for organization. Rev. Solomon Williams was chosen president, Mr. Jonathan Hunt- ington, treasurer, and Doctor Wheelock, secretary. By this board the standing of the schopl was greatly improved. The secretary wrote Doctor Erskine, " I feel my hands strengthened, and heart encouraged thereby ; and account it a great token of God's favour towards the general design." After the discouragements of 1763, Samson Occom, seeing no prospect of doing service among the Six Nations, -turned to his friends, the commissioners at Boston, who had hitherto sup- ported him. On the twenty-third of February, 1764, they voted to employ him as missionary to the Niantics, " apprehending that he might serve them as also the Mohegans and other Indians in that neighborhood," fixing his salary at £2^0 per annum, as they had proposed in 1759. This was a service much to Occom's desires. He knew these tribes and was re- spected among them. Doctor Wheelock wrote Whitefield say- OCCOM'S MISSION TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS lOI ing, " He is zealous, preaches to good acceptance, y« Indians at Mohegan and Nihantic are all to a man attached to him, his assemblies much crowded with English as well as Indians & I think a good prospect of his usefulness. "^^ He accepted this ministry on the third of April, and at once set about removing his family from Montauk to Mohegan. It was then that he " lost by distress of weather a considerable part of what he had." This was partly made up to him by his friends. At Mohegan was his tribal inheritance. His mother, his brother Jonathan and his sister Lucy were then living there. He held, according to the customs of his tribe, a tract of land containing several acres. Probably it was the very place in "Ben's town " where his father had lived. Here he set about building a house for the accommodation of his large family. It stood on the hillside about half a mile north of the present Mohegan chapel and east of the Norwich and New London highway. He has left us no record of its dimensions, but it was well built and clapboarded with cedar. The cost was something over ;^ioo and the account shows that much of the labor on it was perfgrmed by his fellow Indians. This house survived until quite recent times. It became a famous land- mark and was frequently visited by those who were interested in the tribe or knew the story of the Mohegan minister. In 1772 Messrs. McClure and Frisbie tarried there over night, and the former wrote in his diary : " His house was a decent two-story building. We lodged in a good feather bed in a chamber papered & painted ; adjoining was his Library of a handsome collection, brought by him, principally from Great Britain." The well-known sketch of this house, here reproduced, was made by John W. Barber when on his tour in that region and was published in his volume of Connecticut Historical Collec- '^^Wheelock Papers, Lett. May 18, 1764. I02 SAMSON OCCOM tions.2^ Doctor Wheelock wrote Whitefield about it, " Mr. Occoms house is covered and likely to be made comfortable for his Family this winter. The expense of which is much more than I expected. "^^ Occom intended to do much of the work himself, but he was called away by Wheelock, as we shall presently see, and the house was not completed that sea- son. Moreover, the bills were not paid as Wheelock had agreed when Occom went into his service. As matters turned out for the Indian, the building of this house was a providen- tial circumstance. It gave him a home in the midst of his acres at a time when he had not much beside to depend on. He was thus established in the midst of the Indian settle- ments of Connecticut where he afterwards labored. Thither many of them went to seek his counsel. Even the white man, as he traveled along the turnpike road from the north or the south, turned aside to greet the Indian preacher. We have the words of one who met him there in the May of that very year : " In passing . . . through the Mohegan country, I saw an Indian man on horseback whom I challenged as Mr. Occom, and found it so. There was something in his mien and deportment both amiable & venerable; and though I had never before seen him, I must have been sure it was he."^^ It will be noted that Occom had only been at Mohegan a few weeks before the commission constituting the Connecticut correspondents of the Scotch Society was received. At their first meeting they voted to take him into their service if the commissioners at Boston would release him. This they did on the twenty-fifth of July, on condition that the correspondents would employ him in a mission westward. The release was received on the third of August and three days afterwards the "^"^ Conn. Hist. Coll., -p. 340; De Forest's Indians of Conn., p. 463,; Bostonian March, 1895, p. 677. 28 Wheelock Papers, Lett, Oct. 10, 1764. 2" Wheelock Papers, Lett. John Smith, May 18, 1764. THK M OH EG AN CHAPEL, 1831 SAMSON OCCOM's HOUSE AT MOHEGAN OCCOM'S MISSION TO THE ONEIDA INDIANS IO3 correspondents met. They agreed to send him to the Mohawk country as soon as possible, to teach and preach as he had opportunity, and to go on the way to Lake Ontario until he met Sir William Johnson, then returning from Detroit, with a view to offering missionaries to the Western Indians who were in his company. He was also to prepare the way for the schoolmasters whom Wheelock was intending to send to the Six Nations the following season. David Fowler was to be again his companion and they were to bring back fifteen or twenty Indian youth. This move was a mistake and in some respects a serious one. It was, however, the means of strange developments, which altered the course of Occom's life and eventually affect- ed the future of the Indian school. The Connecticut corres- pondents had no means to forward this mission. Doctor Wheelock was already in debt for the maintenance of his pupils. He presumed to depend upon the efforts of Rev. George Whitefield, then in New York, through whom he had only shortly before received ;^i 20, York money. On the seventh of August he wKote Whitefield a letter in which he said, " We have done this without money on the credit of the great Re- deemer." His patron did not look at the matter in that light. Occom and Fowler did not. Armed with letters to General Gage and Sir William Johnson, they set out August 27th by boat from Norwich to wait on Whitefield at New York, " by whom or some other means " they had been led to expect their mission would be supported. Occom doubtless summed up his thoughts on the voyage when he wrote, " It looks like Pre- sumption for us to go on a long Journey thro' Christians with- out Money, if it was altogether among Indian Heathen we might do well enough " — a characteristic remark which he did not intend to be humorous. They reached New York safely and met Whitefield. He was greatly displeased at the plan, not a little offended at Wheelock's course, and declined to aid 104 SAMSON OCCOM in forwarding the mission. Thus the scheme of reaching the Indians of the far West was crushed. Occom was returned home to Mohegan, and Fowler resumed his place in the school. This ended Occom's connection with the Oneida missions. He only made a hasty journey the next season to Sir William Johnson to obtain testimonials which he might take to Eng- land. He had done a worthy service in the early dawn of a brighter day for Kanawarohare. CHAPTER VI SAMUEL KIRKLAND AND HIS INDIAN FRIENDS 1765-1768 Among all the English youth who devoted their lives to Indian missions, and went out from NeiW England to the Six Nations, Samuel Kirkland was the foremost.^ His name will always be honored in that region of New York where once the Oneidas roamed through the primeval forest, and where now he sleeps under the protection of Hamilton College with the Christian chief Skenandoa by his side. His ancestors were among the original settlers at Saybrook when that romantic colony was planted in 1635, and thence his father, Daniel Kirtland, went to Yale College to prepare for his ministry of thirty years over the Newent Society in Norwich, now the First church of Lisbon, Connecticut. Here the son, Samuel, was born December i, 1741, being the fourth in a family of eleven children. He seems to have had his thoughts turned in his youth toward a missionary life, and possibly through an ac- quaintance with Samson Occom, who was known in every min- ister's household of the region. Having at least this purpose distinctly in view he entered the Indian Charity School, October 31, 1760. He there formed those friendships with the Indian pupils which were of great service to him and to them through- out his life. Prominent among these was Joseph Brant, of » See on the life of Samuel Kirkland, Life of Kirkland, Sparks' Am. Biog., Vol. XXV ; McClure's Mem. of Wheelock; Grid!ey's Hist, of Kirkland ; Jones' Annals of Oneida County; Chase's Hist, of Dartmouth College; Sprague's Annals, I, 623; Ded. of Monument to Samuel Kirkland, Utica, 1873 ; ^*SS. Wheelock Papers, Dart. Coll.; New York Arch., Albany ; Conn. Hist. Soc. Indian Papers; dind Papers of Mr. Thornton K. Lothrop. Io6 SAMSON OCCOM whom he began to learn the Mohawk language, and with whom he set out November 4, 1 761, on a journey to Sir William John- son, returning on the twenty-seventh of the same month. On the third of November the year following he entered the sopho- more class of Princeton College, on that day opening what he called his " Accompt with the Christian World." Here he was largely supported by charity. The reason why he left college before his graduation, which has never been fully stated, was twofold — the difficulty of obtaining the funds to continue him there, and the need Doctor Wheelock had of sending just such a man into active missionary work. So the young college student, who had taken the fancy of spelling his name Kirkland, was despatched November 20, 1764, to the savage Senecas, having the Delaware, Joseph Wooley, as a companion part of the way. The Indian then began his work at Onohoquaga, whence he shortly passed to his reward. Sam- uel Kirkland went on to the Senecas, where he was engaged for a year and a half in the most adventurous mission of the time. It raised him at once to the front rank as a missionary to the Indians. Doctor Wheelock wrote of this service to the- Countess of Huntingdon thus: "This bold adventure of his, which considered in all the circumstances of it, is the most extraordinary of the kind I have ever known, has been attended with abundant evidence of a Divine blessing."*^ The season of 1765 was the most eventful in the history of Doctor Wheelock's Indian missions. It seemed to him that the time had come to prove that his pupils were fitted for usefulness. On the twelfth of March the Connecticut Board of Correspondents met at Lebanon to examine his cafndidates. It- was a memorable day. At the very hour of their meeting there arrived from Onohoquaga " Good Peter" after a journey of three hundred miles through the deep snow — the envoy of the Oneidas to ask for a minister. Within half an hour Elisha 2 McC lure's Mem. of Wheelock, p. 264. SAMUEL KIRK LAND AND HIS INDIAN FRIENDS IO7 Gunn knocked at the minister's door. He was an interpreter of ten years' experience by whom they were enabled to under- stand the message of Good Peter. Doctor Wheelock was im- pressed with this coincidence, that the Indian, the interpreter and the minister designed for that very place should thus meet " without any previous appointment or the least knowledge of each other's design." Messrs. Titus Smith and Theophilus Chamberlain were examined, and on the 24th of April ordained.* David Fowler, Joseph Wooley and Hezekiah Calvin were ap- proved as schoolmasters. Jacob Fowler, Moses, Johannes, the Abrahams and Peter were thought fit to be ushers. Our story has to do mainly with the Fowlers and Joseph Johnson — subsequently approved as an usher — though others were em- ployed in the Western missions during the next four years. ^ 3 Titus Smith was born in Granby, Mass., June 4, 1 734, and graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1764. After his brief missionary service he lived at South Hadley, Mass., and New Haven and Danby, Conn. He became a Sandemanian and a Tory, and took refuge after the war in Nova Scotia, where he died in 1807. [Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., p. 43 n. i.] He started with Chamberlain June 19, 1765, having Elisha Gunn as interpreter, and was destined for Onohoquaga ; but famine scattered the Indians there and Smith with Moses went to Lake Utsage (Otsego), where they remained some weeks.. In August he went to Onohoquaga, but his purpose failed through the jealousy of the commissioners who had sent Moseley thither and he returned home.— Chase's Hist, of Darttnouth College, p. 43; Narrative, 1767, p. 44. Theophilus Chamberlain, son of Ephraim Chamberlain, was born in Northfield, Mass., Oct. 20, 1737. He was in Capt. John Burke's company at Fort William Henry in 1757, and was taken prisoner by the Indians. On his release he entered Yale College and graduated in 1765. Doctor Wheelock put him in charge of the Mohawk schools, where he continued in service until he was released, July i, 1767. He is said to have lived afterwards at New Haven and Danby, Conn. * David McClure, the son of John and Rachel (McClintock) McClure of Boston, was born in Newport, R. I., Nov. 18, 1748, and entered Wheelock's school in June, 1764. In 1765 he went to Yale College, where he graduated in 1769. He was absent on a mission to Oneida from July 7, 1766, to Dec. 8, 1766, teaching in the place of David Fowler. After his graduation he became the master in the Indian school, removing with it to Hanover, and was ordained there May 20, 1772, with Levi Frisbie. They started June 19th on a mission to the Delaware Indians at Muskingum, and returned Oct. 2, 1773. [Narr., 1773, pp. 44-68.] McClure was subsequently settled at North Hampton, N. H., from 1776 to 17S5, and at East I08 SAMSON OCCOM David Fowler was appointed to teach a school at Kanawa- rohare. His testimonial from Doctor Wheelock spoke of him as " a youth of good abilities, whose activity and prudence, fortitude and honesty have much recommended him. . . . He goes to settle down among the Oneidas as school master, and has a design to set them an example of agriculture for support, and do what he can to recommend that manner of living to the Indians." This industrial feature of the mission seems to have originated with Fowler. He, at least, was its warmest advocate. His experience in superintending such affairs at Lebanon had disposed him to consider it as impor- tant. It certainly was a feature favorably received by the In- dians, as their letters show.*^ He set out on the twenty-ninth of April, carrying a letter to Sir William Johnson informing him Windsor, Conn., from 1786, to his death there, June 25, 1820. — Sprague's Annals II, 7-9 ; Diary of David McClure. Aaron Kinne was born in 1744, in Newent (Lisbon), Conn., and graduated at Yale College in 1765. He went out July 7, 1766, to teach the school at Old Oneida and returned in October. Again he was sent to supply Kirkland's place in May, 1768, and returned August i6th. He was ordained in 1770 at Groton, Conn., and settled there until 1798. His death occurred at Talmadge, Ohio, July 9, 1824. — Allen's Biog. Diet. David Avery was born at Norwich Farms (Franklin), Conn., April 5, 1746, being the son of John and Lydia (Smith) Avery. He entered Wheelock's school Jan. 2, 1764, and afterwards Yale College where he graduated in 1769. The summer of 1768 was spent in teaching the school at Canajoharie. In 1770 he began preaching at Smithtown, L. I., and thereabouts, and was ordained at Hanover, N. H., Aug. 29, 1771, to be sent out as an assistant to Kirkland; but he left the service the year fol- lowing on account of his health. He was a well-known chaplain in the Revolution, and had settlements at . Gageborough (Windsor), Mass., and Bennington, Vt. He died Feb. 16, 1818. — Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll.; Sprague's Annals I, 697; and Jennings' Mem. of Bennington. Hi= manuscript diaries are in the possession of his descendant, George A. Clark, Esq., of Utica, N. Y. Phineas Dodge was sent out in the autumn of 1 767 to assist Kirkland and teach Fowler's school. He returned with Kirkland the following spring. Allyn Mather went with Ralph Wheelock in his journey in the spring of 1768. Augustine Hibbard went on a similar journey in 1767. [A'arr., 1769, p. 138; Chapman's Alumni of Dart. Coll.] Samuel Johnson, of Yale College in the class of 1769, was also employed in these missions. ' Wheelock' s Narrative, 1767, pp. 46-48. SAMUEL KIRKLAND AND HIS INDIAN FRIENDS 109 of the design, money and letters for Samuel Kirkland, and an address from Doctor Wheelock to the Indian sachems.® He reached Johnson Hall on the eleventh of May, met there with Kirkland, and they journeyed westward together. To secure Indian youths, he went to Onohoquaga, but in this he failed. He then began his school at Kanawarohare, where he had been with Samson Occom in 1761. We will let him tell his own story in two of his letters :' Onoyda, May 29^'^ 1765 Revd & Hond Sir After much Fatigue and Discouragement by the Way I reach'd here last Sabbath Day in the Morning. I got up to Johnson Hall nth instant, deliver'd all what you sent by me both money and Letters to Mr Kirtland, — His Honour Sir William Johnson was in such great Business that we could not speak to him under five Days. — I have been down to Onoho- quawge to get those Boys Joseph appointed to go down to School, but I could get none of them. Some said, they had too much Work to do and others said that I came away too soon, and some said they will let their Children go [to] School there [a] little while and they'll send them. I suppose they would send their Children if I waited two or three weeks, but I was unwilling to tarry so long for the Gentlemen's motion. I have settled Joseph Wooley with his Help, as School Master at Onoho- quawge, he is greatly belov'd there, it will be best for him to return as soon as possible. He has done nothing there worth mentioning besides learning their Language. — We heard how he was settled last Fall. I understood when I was down that there was no such thing mentioned. — Mr. Kirtland is gone up to Seneke Country again : he sot out from this Place 24th instant and with a heavy Heart : things go on contrary to his Mind.— I am greatly concernd about him. — He took my Horse up with him, he told me that he would bear all the Blame, for he should kill himself if he carried all what he wanted upon his Back.— I believe he will send the little Creature very soon by those men whom Sir William sent to fetch down the English Pris- oners from that Place. I understood so much about our Ministers when I was down to Onohoquawge I think it will not do for them to go together, they must be separate, one of them must come up here, and the other to Onohoquawge. If they should go together from Place to Place their com- ing will be to none affect : Because they expect the Ministers will settle & ^Doc. Hist. ofN. K, IV, 356 ; McClure's Mem. of Wheelock, pp. 259-263. - Wheelock Papers. Another letter, of June 15th, is in print, Narrative, 1767. pp. 38, 39. Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., p. 44. no SAMSON OCCOM tarry with them. — They are suspicious People. They '11 soon get some- thing another against them if they don't tarry in one Place that will strike off all their Affections from them. If they lose the Affections of these People it is over with them. — I can't express myself by writing as I could by talking.— I live like a Dog here, my Folks are poor and nasty. I eat with Dogs, for they eat & drink out of the same as I do. — I shall need ten Dollars more. It would best for Calvin to come here, here is one pretty Town just by me and good many Children. I must go down to German Flats to get Provision, after that I shall set down to my School. Here are great Number of Children, but I cant tell how many Scholars I shall have. I believe my singing School will exceed the other in Number. I cant get but one Boy here. — You will know why I could get no more by the Speach I send you. Joseph Wooley is almost nacked. I am oblig'd to let him have one of my Shirts. I shall be glad [if] you would send me another Sir, I hope you won't let this Letter be seen. I have no Table to write upon, besides I have not writ so long my Hand is out of order. — Please to give my kind Respects to Madam, Master and Ministers. Please to accept much Love & Duty from Your affectionate though unworthy Pupil David Fowler Hon'i and Revd Sir. Oneida, June 24. 1765 I now write you a few Lines just to inform you that I am well at present^ and have been so ever since I left your House. Blessed be God for his Goodness to me. I am well contented here as long as I am in such great Business. My Scholars learn very well. I have put eleven into a, b, ab, &c. I have three more that will advance to that place this Week, & some have got to the sixth page. It is ten thousand pities they can't keep together. They are often going about to get their Provision. One of the Chiefs in whose House I keep told me he believed some of the Indians would starve to Death this Summer. Some of them have almost consumed all their Corn already. I came too late this Spring. I could not put any Thing into the Ground. I hope I shall next year. I believe I shall persuade all the Men in this Castle, at least the most of them to labour next Year. They begin to see now that they would live better if they cultivated their Lands than they do now by Hunting & Fishing. These Men are the laziest which, failing in its duty, was succeeded by another ordered January 8, 1741-42. This latter commission was composed of Cadwallader Colden, Philip Cortland, John Rod- man, Daniel Horsmanden, and Robert H. Morris. After reviewing the case at length the majority decided in favor of the Colony, Horsmanden and Morris dissenting, and so the decree, which had stood in support of the Mohegan claim for thirty-eight years, was reversed, except as to the aforementioned five thousa«d acres. 122 SAMSON OCCOM Meanwhile the Indians had become divided on the matter. The action of the General Court in supporting the claim of Major Ben Uncas for the sachemship against Mamohet in 1723, had naturally created a party favorable to the Colony, who were willing to accept the settlement of 1721. On the other hand, the tribal attachment to the Masons and the hopes of redress won many to their cause. Thus, in view of a final decision on the Mason appeal to the king, the Indians., and the whites round about were in a turmoil when Samson Occom returned, in 1764, to Mohegan. As to the case itself, which, notwithstanding the attempts of sixty years, had never received a fair and full trial, the' decision was against the Indians. It was said that a desire to conciliate the Colony in a distracted time had much to do with this result. Occom wrote, "It is a pure favour." This long-standing contest, or the revival of it in his time, had a great influence over the subsequent opinions of Samson Occom, as to the Indian's relation to his land. It educated him in such matters. He saw the necessity of a compact tribal organization ; recognized the weakness of his people in foolishly selling their lands ; realized the dangers of allowing the whites to settle among them ; and concluded that the Indians would never advance greatly in civilization until they were forced to cultivate the soil for support. We shall see how he used his knowledge and experience for the benefit of the New England Indians. Most of all, this dispute led Occom to see and to assert, as he did many times, that his people would never accept the Christian religion until they were treated with more justice by their neighbors. One of the New England fathers, the best known judge of the Massachu- setts Bay courts, once wrote : " It will be a vain attempt for us to offer heaven to them, if they take up prejudices against us, as if we did grudge them a living upon their own earth." This was an opinion which Samson Occom formed in conse- MOHEGAN LAND CASE AND SAMSON OCCOM 123 quence of his acquaintance with the Mohegan Land Case and which he expressed in almost the same words. He believed that his tribe had been cheated, and doubtless he said so. His family had long been loyal to the Ben Uncas claim to the sachemship. Yet he was one of that party, among which were the most intelligent of the tribe, who thought that the over- seers, as agents of the Colony, were using the sachem as a tool for their own ends. He refused to surrender his opinion or compromise by any agreement with the overseers. This brought him at least under suspicion of antagonism to the Colony. He seems never to have expected redress. At the same time he entertained no animosity toward the Colony or the whites. He knew well that they had done much for his people. When the final decision came at last, he wrote as follows: " The grand controversy which has subsisted between the Colony of Connecticut and the Mohegan Indians above seventy years, is finally decided in favor of the Colony. I am afraid the poor Indians will never stand a good chance with the English in their land controversies, because they are very poor, they have no money. Money is almighty now-a-days, and the Indians have no learning, no wit, no cunning : the English have all." ^ There was a sequel to this controversy in the life of Sam- son Occom, to which we now turn. The school at Mohegan had been kept since 1752 by a Scotchman named Robert Clelland, under the patronage of the Boston commissioners. His salary was not large — only ;^2o a year — but, in his own words, his " Scots spirite was bigger than his salary." He had lived in a tenement attached to the schoolhouse or near it,^ and by means of his noonday distributions of bread, paid for by the Colony, he had succeeded in maintaining the cause ^Caulkins' Hist, of Norwich, p. 269. 3 This was the schoolhouse of former years, and stood, we tliink, where the one does at present. It had been repaired in 1742 and 1752. In 1757 the teacher's house was repaired. — Cojin. Archives, Coll. and Schools, I, 109, 125. 124 SAMSO.V OCCOM of education. Rev. David Jewett, as minister of the Indians in the town, was lecturing to them at ^15 per annum, and overseeing the school. Messrs. Jewett and Clelland were friendly to the colony in the land case. The former would lose all his acres if the Indians should win — so it was re- ported. Remember now that Ben Uncas was considered to be a tool of the Colonial party, in consequence of which the majority of the tribe were alienated from him, and we have a situation out of w^hich trouble w^as sure to arise. It began w^hen Occom expressed an unfavorable opinion of the school- master, and cast some blame on Mr. Jewett for keeping him in the place. The fact was that the commissioners themselves were not fully satisfied, and had questioned him in the matter. He did make the following charges against Clelland : that he took so many English youth that the Indians were crowded out, that he had no government and did not teach carefully, that he did not pray in his school nor teach the Indians English manners, that he neglected the school and did not furnish the dinners according to agreement, and that he used the Indians' horses without their leave.* These seemed to him to be good grounds for dismissing the schoolmaster ; but his action awakened great opposition. When later he went to Boston, Ben Uncas wrote, " Samson is an uneasy, restless man, he is gone to Boston to get the commissioners to dis- miss our school-master."^ This was not true. Clelland had already been dismissed by their vote of September 19, 1764. He did not seem to understand this or he did not receive their notice, and was again dismissed the 5th of July, 1765, having served for thirteen years. ^ Mr. Jew^ett had some feel- * Cotin. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers, Doc, April 26, 1764. ^ Conn. Archives, Indian Papers, II, 258. 6 Clelland continued to live at Mohegan some years. The society aided him in his " old age " in 1770, and he petitioned again in 1775. He was succeeded by VS^illard Hubbard, who taught until operations were suspended by the Revolution. — MS. Rec. Soc. for Prop. Gos. MOHEGAN LAND CASE AND SAMSON OCCOM 1 25 ing toward Occom on account of this affair. He considered that he was the authorized supervisor of the school, and that Occom had interfered. On the other hand, the Indian resented the meddlesomeness of the whites, and the English minister in particular, in their tribal affairs. He was a councilor. His influence was great. He openly expressed his views on the land case and advised his people. Probably also he had something to say about Mr. Jewett's own land interests. Yet all this was not so great a cause for trouble as the success which Occom met with as a preacher when he removed to Mohegan. The Indians had long been considered as belong- ing to Mr. Jewett's parish. Some of them, it will be remem- bered, were members of his church. Occom began to hold services in the schoolhouse, and at once all the Indians of his party and some of the whites gathered to his standard. He was n^ot at fault in this, — it was the work he had been com- missioned to do for the Indians, and he made no effort to in- fluence the English. However, the white minister quite naturally became jealous. Doctor Wheelock wrote thus to Whitefield : ^ The Breach between Mr Jewett & M"" Occom grows wider — M^ Jewett's People and a great Number from other neighbouring Parishes flock to hear M"". Occom on Lord's Days at Mohegan &c the Effect of which you may easily guess. And M"" Jewett is like to lose all his Land in his Parish, if the Indians there should gain their point in their Suit against the Govern- ment in an old affair called Mason's Case lately revived. And M'' Occom can't avoid being considered as a Party while he continues there. The affair is too long (if I were enough acquainted with it) to give you such a particular acco^ as perhaps will be best you should have if you should take M' Occom to England with you. This together with their Controversy with their School Master has made a great Ferment among them, and Ml" Occom is blamed by some that he will advise the Indians, that he will suffer the English to flock to hear him &c ' This was an affront which a minister could hardly bear in those days of his autocratic power. Here was a prophet, and •Wheelock Papers, Lett. Oct. 10, 1764. 126 SAMSON OCCOM he an Indian, who had some honor in his own country. But Doctor Wheelock did not tell the whole story. Those who flocked to hear Occom were mostly such as sympathized with the Indians in their contest against the Colony. The conse- quence was that a storm of popular feeling was raised against Occom. It grew to such proportions that "one scarcely dared to mention his name." He was called an enemy of the Colony, a "bad, mischievous and designing man," and other names which a pious person of that time could consistently use against an Indian. Mr. Jewett also wrote the commissioners at Boston, making charges against him. We do not doubt that Occom resented this treatment. He may have used some expressions which were not altogether to his credit. When the excitement had somewhat subsided, the newly- organized Connecticut Board of Correspondents, meeting at Lebanon on that eventful day when "Good Peter" unex- pectedly arrived, took up the matter with the design of sifting the charges and effecting a reconciliation. Occom and Jewett were present. We give the result in the words of Doctor Wheelock, the secretary : At a Meeting of the Board of Correspondents in the Colony of Connecti- cut on the 1 2th day of March, A. D. 1765 at the Rev^ M»" Wheelock's House in Lebanon — Upon a public and loud Clamour of the Rev^^ M'' Samson Occom's Misconduct in a Number of Instances relative to the Separations in and about Mohegan, and ill Conduct towards the Overseers in the Affair of leasing the Indian Lands, and some proud and haughty Threatenings to turn Episcopalian and Unsettledness respecting the Constitution of our Churches and Infant Baptism, and disrespectful Treatment of the Rev'! M"" Jewet and illegal proceedings against the School Master at Mohegan, and engaging in the Mason Cotitroversy (so called) against the Government : And, the Glory of God, M*" Occom's Character and Usefulness and particu- larly the Reputation of Indian Affairs, requiring that these Reports should be publicly looked into, that his Innocence or Guilt therein might thereby publickly appear: Wherefore, the Rev^ M^ Jewet, at the Desire of some of this Board, exhibited a Charge consisting of a Number of Articles against the said M"" Occom which were deliberately heard with Evidences and Pleas on both Sides. And upon most carefully weighing the whole MOHEGAN LAND CASE AND SAMSON OCCOM 127 Controversy, Mr Occom was not found guilty of any of the charges laid against him, excepting that of the Masofi Cofitroversy in which he was blamed only agreeable to the Tenor of what follows — " Although, as a Member of the Mohegan Tribe and, for many years, one of their Council, I thought I had not only a natural & civil Right but that it was my Duty to acquaint myself with their temporal affairs; Yet I am, upon serious and close Reflexion, convinced, that as there was no absolute Necessity for it, it was very imprudent in me, and offensive to the Public that I should so far engage as of late I have done, in the Mason Controversy: which has injured my Ministerial Character, hurt my Usefulness, and brought Dishonor upon M"" Wheelock's School and the Correspondents. For this imprudent, rash and offensive Conduct of mine, I am heartily sorry, and beg Forgiveness of God — of this honorable Board of Corre- spondents, of whom I ought to have asked farther Advice — and of the Public; determining that I will not for the future act in that affair, unless called thereto and obliged by lawful Authority." This Submission, being offered to this Board, by the Rev'i Mr Occom, was accepted. Moreover M^ Occom desired that a copy of the Letter which the Rev^ M"" Jewet wrote to the Commissioners at Boston some time last Fall, in which he thinks there are several Things injurious to his Character, might be laid before the Board. Which being read and con- sidered the Board are of Opinion that it is M*" Jewet's Duty, in Justice to M"" Occom's Character, to write said Commissioners of the Satisfaction which he now professes to have received from M"" Occom's defence ; and that a copy of said Writing should be laid before this Board at their next Meeting for their Approbation, which M"" Jewet agreed to do^ Occom's conduct at this meeting was very creditable. It won him new esteem from his old friends. Doctor Wheelock reported that "he made a bold and truly manly and Christian defence in a spirit of meekness, and vindicated his conduct to have been judicious, prudent and becoming a Minister of the Gospel." The reverend company must have been a little amused at the outcome of some of the charges. Occom admitted frankly that he had proceeded against the school- master. He urged that Clelland's usefulness was evidently at an end when none of the Indians would send their children to his school. On examination, it appeared that Mr. Jewett enter- tained the same opinion. Occom denied that he had spoken 8 Wheelock Papers, Doc, March 12, 1765. 128 SAMSON OCCOM disrespectfully of Mr. Jewett ; he had only written the school- master that because Mr. Jewett called him bad names it was no reason he should do so. He had, in fact, used these words : " If Mr. Jewet has called me a Serpent I dont See that you have any Business to call me so." As to his " proud and haughty threatenings to turn Episcopalian," he admitted that he had, in jest, said he would turn Churchman, because some of his meddling ministerial neighbors were a nuisance. After this manner all the charges melted away except one. That was a serious matter. The company, as loyal ministers of the colony, frowned upon this Mohegan councilor who said he had advised his ignorant brethren in their affairs. They argued that he had thus injured his ministerial character, and brought dishonor upon Indian missions! He had done that which was " offensive to the public ! " So Samson Occom, who was morbidly sensitive, loaded this sin upon this honest soul, and humbly asked forgiveness. We have no doubt that the Almighty granted him a full pardon. The correspondents did, and so did the Colony of Connecticut when the case was decided in its favor. There was, professedly, a reconciliation between Jewett and Occom. The former said he was satisfied, and they shook hands. In the ample fireplace of the minis- ter's study they burned up so many valuable papers on the case that the doctor was afraid they would set his house afire. Nevertheless, l^octor Wheelock wrote, " I fear the injury done Mr. Occom's character will not soon nor readily be wholly undone." Mr. Jewett went home. Weeks grew into months, and still he did not write the commissioners at Boston the letter he had promised. Occom very justly felt aggrieved. "I wonder," he afterwards. wrote, " what ails that good, bad man." Finally, on the twentieth of June, Doctor Wheelock wrote his white brother a " sharp letter," in which he said : '' If you have noth- ing against Mr. Occom more than you said to us, I advise you MO FI EG AM LAND CASE AND SAMSON OCCOM 129 to settle according to your agreement." This brought out from Mr. Jewett the promised letter to the commissioners, dated June 26th, which was laid before the correspondents on the second of July, and accepted. So the trouble ended. It was not much, after all — a conflagration kindled by a little fire. At the time, however, it created a widespread feeling against Samson Occom and his Christian Indians. The consequences in his life might have been serious, had he not soon been called to make the Indian's plea in England. When he returned, it was with honor. The people forgot that he had ever been an enemy of their Colony, and his old neighbors were proud to own him. 10 CHAPTER VIII THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 1765-1768 The idea of sending Samson Occom to England in behalf of the Indian Charity School was first suggested by Rev. George Whitefield. He knew the times and the cause, and was well acquainted with the temper of the English people. So early as 1760, he wrote: "Had I ,a converted Indian scholar that could preach and pray in English, something might be done to purpose."^ At that time, however, nothing in a missionary way had been accomplished. The early Oneida missions gave Occom a story to tell, and when the plan was actually in operation several of Wheelock's pupils were engaged in the work. Moreover, the wars of the time, in which the Indians were so important a factor, made the cause somewhat unpopular. So matters stood until 1764, when Whitefield visited New England. He then had a better opportunity of making the acquaintance of Occom, who attended him on his journey through part of Connecticut, riding one of the horses of his chariot.- A new interest also was kindled in the mind of the great evangelist by his meeting with the Indians here and there, and by his long and earnest conversations with Doctor Wheelock concerning the Indian school. Whitefield was then so certain of the success of the plan that he proposed to take Occom to England with him on his return. His later consideration of the matte;; led him to determine otherwise, and doubtless his conclusion was in the interest of a larger success. It was thought better to send 1 McClure's Mevi. of Wheelock^ p. 223. 2 Larned's Hist, of Windham County, II, 39. 130 THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 131 Occom in the care of some white minister who had been asso- ciated with the school or Indian missions. Here difficulties and delays arose. An application was made to the New York correspondents of the Scotch Societ)^ endorsed by the Con- necticut board, March 12, 1765, for the assistance of Rev. John Brainerd in this capacity. It was denied. He could not be spared. At another meeting, held at John Ledyard's, in Hartford, on the loth of May, it was voted to send Rev. Charles Jeffrey Smith. He would have been a good man, but for various reasons he declined. Meanwhile, Doctor Wheelock, with Occoni and Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker, pastor of the church at Chelsea in Norwich,^ went eastward on a soliciting tour. They visited Boston, Salem, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Exeter, Portsmouth and other places. They also appeared before the New Hampshire legislature. About ;^3oo sterling were collected. Mr. Whitaker had been on a similar journey the year before, and had met with some suc- cess. It then became more than ever evident to Doctor Wheelock that the presence of the Indian preacher was calcu- lated to convince an audience of the usefulness of his enter- prise. He determined to send Occom to England, at once, with some one. He would like to have gone himself, but he could not leave in a year so critical. Finally the Connecticut correspondents, at a meeting held July third, voted to commit the mission to Mr. Whitaker. Preparations were immediately begun for their departure. ^'A Continuation of the Narrative " was prepared and printed 2 Nathaniel Whitaker was born Feb. 22, 1732, on Long Island. After his gradua- tion from Princeton College in 1752, he studied theology, and until 1759 was pastor of the Presbyterian church at Woodbridge, N. J. He was installed at Norwich, Feb. 25, 1761, and on account of some difficulties attending his ministry there he was dismissed in 1769, shortly after his return from England. From 1769 to 1784, he was pastor of the Tabernacle church in Salem. Mass., from 1784 to 1790, he ministered at Skowhegan, Maine, and he was subsequently at Taunton, Mass. He died, Jan. 21, 1795, in Virginia. — Q,\vA.'i€'% Hist, of Dart. Coll. ^■^. 60; Caulkins' //z\f/. of Norwich y pp. 460-465. 132 SAMSON OCCOM at Boston. Occom was sent to Sir William Johnson to secure his written endorsement. Mr. Whitaker went to Smithtown, L. I., where the Suffolk Presbytery met on the twenty-first of August, to obtain from them a recommendation for Occom. Appar- ently they did not approve of the plan. It doubtless seemed absurd, as it did to many. They could not see their way clear to give him a recommendation, as he was to be sent under the auspices of another body ; but they agreed to give him a dis- mission and testimonials if he wished to sever his connection with them. This Occom did not care to do. At a later meeting, October 30, 1765, they voted to recommend him "as one they ordained with special relation to the Indians and cer- tify that he is of good moral life and of good standing." At the same time they gave their consent to his employment under the Connecticut Board of Correspondents. This cleared the way so far as Occom was concerned. Mr. Whittaker also went southward as far as Philadelphia and later to the eastward to secure testimonials. To a letter^ which had been prepared by Doctor Wheelock, he obtained the signatures of sixty-nine gentlemen prominent in Church and State in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New Hamp- shire. Three ministers of the Church of England signed this testimonial — Samuel Seabury, afterwards the first bishop of Connecticut, Thomas B. Chandler, and Jacob Duche. There was only one Massachusetts name in the list, though probably some would have signed had they been asked. The reason will presently appear. Governor Fitch of Connecticut also granted his endorsement, warmly commending the purpose of the Indian Charity School. The ministers of eastern Connecticut added their testimony, among them being Rev. Matthew Graves, missionary of the Episcopal Church at New London. This minister was especially interested in Samson Occom, and they were on most friendly terms. In a letter of commendation which he then gave he THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 1 33 speaks thus of his Indian brother : " He has shewed himself a Pattern of good Works, of blameless Conversation, a Lover of good Men, sober, just, holy, temperate, gentle to all, commend- ing himself to every Man's Conscience in the Sight of God. He is of a most catholic Spirit, prudent and exem- plary in his Behaviour. The Dissenting Ministers, to my Knowledge, allow him in his Clerical Capacity to be a Person ^ justly deserving their greatest Esteem. And I faithfully be- lieve there are few of greater Credit to their Function." This was the clergyman in whose presence the Indian had in jest said he would turn Episcopalian. He really seems to have had some hope of Occom, as he^wrote him after he had reached England expressing the wish that his Indian friend would ^' come home with Episcopal ordination." We conjecture also that he wrote to some church dignitary in a similar strain, which gave rise to the overtures Occom received from that quarter. Evidently Whitaker and Occom had testimonials enough to command the attention of all England. Robert Keen afterwards wrote that " Whitaker's recommendation looked like Ezekiel's scroll, full on both sides from one end to the other." They were all published in "A Brief Narrative of the Indian Charity School," issued after their arrival in England, and printed in London in 1766, of which a second edition, with an Appendix, was printed the year following. Whitefield is believed to have written the introduction to this narrative, and Whitaker to have edited it. Copies were distributed throughout the kingdom, and thus a complete and interesting statement of the work was made. Doctor Wheelock's " Memorial to the People of God in England, Scotland and Ireland," which it contained, was itself a most winsome plea. The commissioners of the " Society for Propagating the Gospel " at Boston were earnestly opposed to this venture. Among them were some who had long been unfriendly to Doc- 134 SAMSON OCCOM tor Wheelock's plan of conducting missions. His education of Indian youth was one thing, which they had to a limited extent approved ; but the sending out of missionaries on his personal responsibility was quite another. Even the forma- tion of the Connecticut Board of Correspondents had not wholly satisfied their objections.- Probably they thought also that such a mission to England would throw their substantial work into the shadow and injure their prestige in the mother country. It would be likely to divert contributions of which they were in need. How general such a sentiment was we do not know. This, however, was the reason why no effort was made to secure testimonials in Massachusetts. Indeed, the scheme was well under way before the commissioners were aware of it. As it finally came to them, Occom was to be sent over as an Indian who had been converted from heathenism and particu- larly as the fruit of Dr. Wheelock's work. To this they very properly objected, for they had long supported a school at Mohegan and had maintained Occom while he was being edu- cated. Some credit, they thought, was due to their society. This Indian preacher is often spoken of at the present time as one who was educated at the Indian Charity School, whereas he was the means of its establishment. At all events the com- missioners wrote a letter to Jasper Mauduit, governor of the com- pany in England, dated October 2, 1765, which was decidedly prejudicial to Occom's mission. They asserted that the Indian preacher had been brought up in the midst of Christian influ- ences in their school, and that he had not been converted from heathenism at all. The inference from this statement was untrue. They had indeed supported a school at Mohegan ; but Occom's conversion and education were in no way due to it. Doctor Wheelock was greatly distressed over this letter when he heard of it. The commissioners' records show that it was read to him and he replied to it, but this was after his emissaries had departed and their success was assured. The THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND I 35 commissioners, moreover, made their disapproval known round about. It came thus to the ears of the Connecticut corres- pondents, so that Whitaker and Occom went to England fore- warned in the matter. On their arrival in Boston, as they were about to sail, they met the commissioners and endeavored to adjust the trouble, but they failed. We are indebted to this attack on Occom for a statement of facts concerning his early life which he drew up at Boston on the 28th of November. He intended later to amplify this into an autobiography — a pur- pose which he unfortunately never carried out. He wrote thus to Doctor Wheelock, December 6th : " The Honorable Com- missioners here are still very strong in their opposition to your Scheme. They think it is nothing but a Shame to send me over the great Water. They say it is to impose upon the good Peo- ple. They further affirm I was bro't up Regularly and a Chris- tian all my Days. Some say I cant Talk Indian. Others say I cant read. In short I believe the old Devil is in Boston to oppose our Design, but I am in hopes he is almost superan- nuated, or in a Delireum. ... I have a struggle in my mind at times, knowing not where I am going. I dont know but I am looking for a spot of ground where my bones must be buried and never see my poor Family again, but I verily believe I am called of God by [a] strange Providence and that is enough.""^ This opposition increased the discouragement of the good man at Lebanon who carried the burdens. He was not very sanguine of success himself, and the unkind words, amounting even to ridicule, which were heaped upon him still further depressed him. In a letter to Whitefield, he wrote : " I am concerned for Mr. Occom. He has done well and been useful as a missionary among his Savage Brethren, but what a figure he will make in London I cant tell."^ Some of his friends were more confident. Rev. Charles Jeffrey Smith said : "Wheelock Papers, Lett. Dec. 6, 1765. = Ibid., Lett. Nov. 11, 1765. 136 SAA/SO.V OCCOM " An Indian minister in England might get a Bushel of money for the School.'' The doctor would have been satisfied with a few handfuls. Mr. John Smith, the Boston merchant and old friend of the school, was then in London. He heard there of an attempt by another society to anticipate Occom with a converted Indian, who is said to have been sent over and to have been ordained in the Episcopal order at Bristol. There- upon he wrote urging haste in the following words : " He must not stay to put on his wigg but come in his night cap. All that's wanted is to have Mr. Occom here. He is expected & waited for by many. I know an influential nobleman that ex- pects him and has asked me after him."^ So the plan was finally to be put to a test. On the 2ist of November, 1765, Occom set out from Mohe- gan for Boston, having reverently committed his family to the care of Almighty God. He reached there on the twenty-third, and on the twenty-seventh Mr. Whitaker returned from a jour- ney to Portsmouth, having collected almost enough money to pay their expenses. After a delay of several weeks waiting for a ship, they finally embarked on the packet Boston, John Mar- shall, master, on the twenty-third of December. The price of their ocean passage was twenty guineas, and among the many good works of that worthy patriot, John Hancock, who was part owner in the ship, was his contribution of his share, be- ing one fourth.'^ The Indian preacher who had thus gone to storm the Chris- tian people of England, was no ordinary man for such a work. It is confessed that he had some attainments as a preacher. President Dwight, who heard him twice, says : " His dis- courses, though not proofs of superior talents, weie decent, and his utterance in some degree eloquent." It would be a mistake to infer from this opinion that Occom was quite like ^Wheelock Papers^ Lett, Sept. ii, 1765. "^ Ibid., John Marshall's Receipt, Feb. 25, 1766. THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 1 37 the average English minister of his day. He was neither a logician nor a theologian. His sermons were always simple. They had, however, the indescribable scent of the forest in them. He could of course speak best in his native tongue, not only because he could better command the language, but also because of his familiarity with the figures of speech so popular in all Indian oratory. One who knew him well said he was " vastly more natural and free, clear and eloquent" when addressing the Indians. But this habit of figurative ex- pression passed over into his English speech. He had many apt illustrations of his points, some of which have survived and are sometimes heard in this distant day. One can easily imagine how this characteristic would charm an English audi- ence. He made thus a clear and close application of the truth which impressed his hearers. His mission also afforded him an opportunity of extemporaneous preaching, in which he ap- peared to the best advantage. The few surviving manuscripts of his sermons are those of his early life. Later he rarely wrote and never read from his notes. He had no need of the variety of a settled ministry, and, going from place to place, he doubtless often repeated the substance of his sermons. So it was in England. He had substantially the same story to tell everywhere. This he had soon mastered and could deliver with interest and effect. He seems also to have come under the influence of Whitefield's fervor. After his return from England this impression remained. It contributed largely to his success as an evangelist, which indeed he was. In truth, this Indian preacher was no novice. He had been already be- fore large audiences in Boston and New York. Yet, of course, the secret of his power was in the fact that he was himself the em- bodiment of his cause — a native Indian of no mean tribe, who had risen to the highest station of any Indian preacher in the century. He was in earnest, and never once did he forget the main object of his long journey. Withal, his manners 138 SAMSON OCCOM were such as intercourse with some of the best New England families could cultivate, for he had been often a welcome guest in their homes. Calm, dignified and self-possessed, as many an Indian chief was wont to be, he exhibited those qualities which were esteemed in a minister of that day. Surely he was as well equipped for his mission as any Indian could hope to be. The voyagers sighted land on the second of F'ebruary and the next day they were taken ashore in a fishing boat at Brixham, about two hundred miles from London. On horseback they went to Exeter, thence by night coach to Salisbury, and on the sixth instant they arrived safely at the house of Mr. Dennys DeBerdt in London, where they lodged. Their host had been for years a warm friend of their cause, and he was a gentleman of some means and influence. Mr. John Smith of Boston was also awaiting them. He had writ- ten that " Occom on coming should shut himself up in a coach and come directly to Mr. Whitefield's in London." In ac- cordance with this plan, shrewdly devised by Whitefield him- self, that they might be properly launched in their mission, the visitors were conducted the next morning by Mr. Smith to the minister's home. There they remained two weeks. After a few days in retirement, during which we may be sure their host was quietly preparing the way for their introduction to London society, they were carried by Whitefield to be pre- sented to the Earl of Dartmouth, whom Whitefield called the " Daniel of his age." So well is this nobleman known in his- tory that we need give no account of him. He was without a doubt the main pillar of the enterprise, and his honored name deserves to be kept in remembrance in the American college which bears it. Surely if he had then opposed we should have heard little more of the Indian Charity School. Occom only says of the visit to him in his diary: "He appeared like a worthy Lord indeed." We learn from other sources that he THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 1 39 was the nobleman who had anticipated Occom's coming and that he gave him a cordial reception. Then they were taken to pay their respects to the aged and noble Lady Hotham, the wife of Sir Charles Hotham, who became a trustee of the fund and died before Occom's return. After several days they had met most of the " religious nobility " and many of the distin- guished ministers of London. The time had now come for the Indian preacher's debut. It was on the sixteenth of February, in Whitefield's tabernacle. At the appointed hour of service the edifice was thronged. Many of the nobility were present, and indeed out of a genuine inter- est in the occasion. England had heard a great deal about the North American Indians, especially during the recent wars ; but one had never been heard before in the pulpit. We can imagine the interest and stillness of the congregation as the stalwart figure of the Mohegan appeared before them. He was then forty-three years of age. His face, while distinctly that of an Indian, had a nobility of expression which some must have remarked on then, as many do who now gaze upon his picture. His flowing locks reached almost to his shoul- ders. In attire he was becomingly clad in ministerial black, with vest of colonial cut and knee breeches. Alas ! we do not know where his text was, or if he had one. He himself only iioted the " great multitude." Whitefield wrote that he preached with "acceptance." The indications are, however, that he made a decided and very favorable impression. From that time, at least, his success was assured, and so his friends wrote to Doctor Wheelock, awaiting the result with anxiety in his home on a Connecticut hilltop. Whitefield saw that a movement, which he hoped would appeal to all denominations and sects, would do better if it preserved an attitude of independence. He arranged there- fore that Occom should '-go round the other denominations in a proper rotation." He also engaged for Whitaker and 140 SAMSON OCCOM Occom private lodgings, at the end of two weeks, where they were accessible to all. A servant was hired for them, whose name may have been Mary Joyner, and soon they were estab- lished in comfort. It was necessary that Occom should be in- oculated as a protection against the smallpox, before he traveled much abroad. This was done at the hands of his companion, Mr. Whitaker, on the nth of March, on which day the Indian wrote to his wife of the fact and said, " You will soon hear whether I am well of it or dead of it." He got well of it, and probably did not find it a very unpleasant expe- rience, as he was attended by servants, had two of the best physicians in London to treat him, and was visited daily by gentlemen and ladies whose acquaintance he had made. Those days of convalescence had many pleasures to which he had not been accustomed. He became popular from the first — a center of religious interest. While he was thus entertained, his companion was about seeing the sights of the metropolis and preparing the way for Occom's appearance in the churches. He saw the king when he went to the Houses of Parliament, *' amid shouts and acclamations of a joyful people," in order to sign the bill for repealing the Stamp Act. He interested further the Earl of Dartmouth, through whom "the w^ay to the throne " he wrote " is very short." He arranged to have Occom meet His Majesty as soon as he recovered. This he did, and the king contributed ^200 to the cause. It is said also that he preached later before the king in one of his chap- els, and we think he did, though the date and place are un- known to us. It is unnecessary to follow the Indian preacher, on his recovery, from church to church. As he became accustomed to the situation he improved. Large congregations were gathered, and generous collections were taken up. As a novelty he had an advantage. With true Indian sagacity he saw this, and made up his mind to use the sensation he THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND I4I caused to gather contributions for the Indian school. He was lionized everywhere, but we have testimony to his modesty in enduring it. In a short time he had become such a conspicu- ous and distinguished character in London that the players in the theaters made him an object of their mimicry. This was much to his advantage, no doubt, in advertising him. It did not trouble him in the least ; he only wrote, " I little thought I should ever come to that honor." Soon they were flooded with invitations. They dined with the Earl of Dartmouth, where others of the nobility were present as guests, with Sir Charles Hotham and with many of the most celebrated divines in the city. No doubt the Indian enjoyed this. He had many a time had the hard fare of the wilderness or gone hungry. Still, his attention was not diverted from the main purpose of his visit. In this society of ladies and gentlemen who were accustomed to sit before kings, he conducted him- self with the manners of the white man, as though he had never lived in a wigwam of bark. The soft tones of his voice were said to be remarkably pleasing in conversation. At that time there was unusual interest in the study of Indian life. The Earl of Dartmouth was a student of such matters. At his desire Doctor Wheelock sent him some Indian curiosities which David Fowler gathered among the Indians — "a stone pipe covered with porcupine quills, a burden band to bind loads to the back, a thong of elm bark with which captives were tied, a tobacco pouch, a knife case, and shoes and garters." No one could better entertain a company at dinner with conversation on Indian customs and stories of adventure in the wilderness than Occom. If he spoke as he sometimes wrote there was a dry humor in his sayings, at which he never laughed himself, but which must have amused his listeners. One of the most remarkable things we know of his conduct was that, having such an opportunity, with his tribal land-con- troversy on hand and Mason then in London in its interests, 142 SAMSON OCCOM he held strictly to his pledge and did not meddle in the matter. This was certainly an indication of a strong character. His companion wrote home in triumph that Occom had not said a word on the Mason case. " I can assure the folks of Con- necticut," he said, " that Mr. Occom is full as peaceable as any of them." It was necessary, of course, that the Indian preacher should see the historic places in London. He was attended hither and thither by friends, and was greatly interested in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, the Abbey and the Tower. Yet these sights only brought more vividly before him the contrast between such magnificence and his poor, ignorant people across the sea. He was not carried away by the most gorgeous spectacle. They took him to the royal robing-room, and he saw the king, George III, arrayed for Parliament, and watched him as he put on a diamond-studded crown ; but the sight only led him to make in his diary some disparaging comparisons between the earthly robe and crown and the heavenly. He witnessed the festival of the queen's birthday, but when he saw the attire of the nobles and thought of his naked brethren he said it reminded him of Dives and Lazarus. In fact, it appears that some who had been inclined to regard him as a visiting savage from abroad, found out, after a little, that he was not so verdant as they had thought. As religious people came to know him, they valued more and more the real spiritual earnestness of his character. Among the notable personages of the time whom Occom met were some who had a great influence over him. One of these was Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon, to whom he was presented by Whitefield. He wrote of her in his diary, " She is the most Heavenly woman I believe in the world." Her heart had long been engaged in the Indian school. The two had frequent meetings. She hospitably entertained him at her country-seat and is said to have regarded him as "one THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 1 43 of the most interesting and extraordinary characters of her time." ^ He made a firm friend in John Thornton, Esq., of Clapham, a most religious and benevolent gentleman.^ To this man, who in large measure maintained Occom afterwards in his missionary labors, his later usefulness was due. Another noted person with whom the Indian formed an acquaintance was Rev. John Newton of Olney, who invited him to his home. He also met and preached for the following ministers : Martin Madan, John Conder, Samuel Stennett, Andrew Gifford, Thomas Gibbons, Samuel Brewer, William Romaine and Samuel Chandler. Indeed, there was scarcely a distinguished divine in England whom he did not meet during his stay. As might have been expected from his friendship with Whitefield, the conservative wing of the Church of England did not grant their hearty support to the movement. At first they seemed to do so. Whitaker and Occom waited on the Archbishop of Canterbury, who "appeared quite agreeable and friendly" to the Indian, and to Whitaker expressed his approval of the plan.^^ The Archbishop of York also declared his interest in the cause. Soon, however, . these churchmen altered their minds, and finally they opposed the mission. It is said that the established churches were publicly advised not to contribute. Whitaker attributed this to misrepresenta- ^ Life and Times vf Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, London, 1S40, I, 411. '■•John Thornton was the son of Robert Thornton, a London merchant, and was born at Clapham, April i, 1720. He also became a merchant and acquired large wealth, which he so generously devoted to benevolence that he was esteemed as one of the philanthropists of his time. His religious affiliations were with the " Clapham Sect," but he maintained friendly relations with all Christians. He died at Bath, Nov. 7, 1790. — Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll. 10 " We waited on his Grace of Canterbury some days since, introduced by Dr. Chandler (who died last Thursday). His Lordship told us that they had tried to procure Indian youth to educate & never could — that [it was] his opinion that their Society should send some youth to your [School] & support them, if you would take them, who, when fitted should [be in] their imploy & that he would lay it before the Bishops. He says he greatly approves the Scheme & so says his Grace of York (on whom we waited the next day)." — Whitaker Papers, Dart. Coll., Lett, to Wheelock, May 14, 1766. 144 SAMSON OCCOM tions from America, and it might have been in part due to the letter of the Boston commissioners. It was during the earlier period that William Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester, ex- pressed to Occom the hope that he would see his way to " Holier Orders " ; but the Indian blandly answered, '' I had no such view when I came from home." This noted divine is said to have taunted Mr. Whitaker unmercifully for being a Presbyterian. Probably he was the one who made the over- tures of Episcopal ordination and dignities to Occom. ^^ Not- withstanding this opposition among ruling authorities, many of the Episcopal churches did contribute to the cause, as well as ministers and laymen among them. Occom did not suffer him- self to be disturbed by his treatment. He had honestly no desire for honors ; he wanted money for the education of In- dians. Liberality of views in ecclesiastical matters w^as always characteristic of him. He expressed a willingness to fellowship all Christian sects, and he uniformly did so throughout his life. This sentiment augmented his success in England. He knew the differences between the denominations, but he never uttered a word which made a personal enemy of Independent or Episcopalian, Baptist, Quaker or Methodist. This was no easy task, for he was warned by each against the other. Even Dr. Chandler advised him ''not to own Mr. Whitefield as a friend either to Dissenters or to the old standards of the Church of England.'* Such words did not seem to prejudice him. Still, he never forgot the treatment he received from some of the bishops in England. When he was safely at home among the hills of Mohegan he uttered his mind after this fashion : 1' " We are informed that the Rev. Mr. Occum, during liis residence in England, had the offer of a Gown and with some considerable lucrative offer, which he re- fused." [New Lotidon Gazeife, June 3, 1768.] Occom wrote Mr. Green, the pub- lisher of this newspaper, April 17, 1769, that he received an offer of Episcopal ordi- nation soon after he reached London and that his refusal highly displeased the bishops. This was probably the sequel of Rev. Matthew Graves' sanguine hopes. THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 145 Now I am in my own country, I may freely inform you of what I honestly and soberly think of the Bishops, Lord Bishops, and Archbishops of Eng- land. In my view, they don't look like Gospel Bishops or ministers of XI!hrist. I can't find them in the Bible. I think they a good deal resemble the Anti-christian Popes. I find the Gospel Bishops resemble, in some good measure their good Master; and they follow him in the example he has left them. They discover meekness and humility; are gentle and kind unto all men — ready to do good unto all — they are compassionate and mer- ciful unto the miserable, and charitable to the poor. But I did not find the Bishops of England so. Upon my word, if I never spoke the truth before I do now. I waited on a number of Bishops, and represented to them the miserable and wretched situation of the poor Indians, who are perishing for lack of spiritual knowledge, and begged their assistance in evangelizing these poor 1-heathen. IJut if you can believe me, they never gave us one single brass farthing. It seems to me that they are very indifferent whether the poor Indians go to Heaven or Hell. I can't help my thoughts: and I am apt to think they don't want the Indians to go to Heaven with them.i- Whitaker and Occom were occupied in the canvass of Lon- don and vicinity until the last of July. Then they made a tour through the west of England, which engaged them about four months. After this they were in and about London and in the eastern counties for a time. The contributions in- creased. Everywhere it was a new story. Immense audiences were gathered. On one occasion the service was held in the churchyard, and the congregation was estimated at three thou- sand. In the spring of 1767 they set out for Scotland by the way of Liverpool/^ preaching as they went. They arrived in May, and were present at the session of the General Assem- bly. It was known here, as it had not been at first in Eng- land, that they were acting under the authority of a board of correspondents of the Scotch Society. Here their work, therefore, received the official endorsement of the society which all Scotchmen revered, through its president, the Mar- i^Sprague's Annals, III, 193, 194 ; Prime's Hist, of Long Island, p. iii. 13 '• Liverpool is a pool of errors & wickedness. The ministers here are Socinians, one Arminian & a Baptist the same, and another Baptist sound, who is alone in a town containing 30,000 souls & his congregation is a handful. Fifty years ago the Gospel flourished here."' — Occon's Diary, May 2, 1767. II 146 . SAAfSOA' OCCOM quis of Lothian. In the presence of the Assembly Occom brought out the address of the Oneida Indians and the wam- pum belt, for which they had sent in haste as they were leav- ing America. He also carried it about among their churches.^* It was a telling note to sound in Scotland. Their religious fervor was aroused as the Highland clans were wont to be by the flaming torch. The funds collected were to be paid to the Scotch Society, and to be held by them " towards building and endowing an Indian academy for clothing, boarding, main- taining and educating such Indians as are designed for mis- sionaries and schoolmasters, and for maintaining those who are, or hereafter shall be employed on this glorious errand." Their stay in Scotland was not long, but they collected there for the above purpose ;^2,529.^^ On the fifteenth of July they went to Ireland, expecting to meet the synod. They were too late, and " finding there a Mr. Edwards collecting for a Bap- tist college to be established in Rhode Island," they wisely re- turned to England to finish the work there. The friends of the cause in London had early determined to appoint an English board of trustees to receive and care for the funds raised in England. This had not been at first con- templated. A charter had always been Doctor Wheelock's desire ; but it was opposed by some of his influential friends. The trustees having been selected, Mr. Whitaker, in whose name the contributions had been received as the agent for Doc- tor Wheelock, transferred his authority to the board, Novem- ber 28, 1766. On the twenty-sixth of January following, the trustees met and organized with the choice of the Earl of Dartmouth as president, John Thornton, Esq., as treasurer, and " See chapter V, note 14. '5 The Scotch Society still holds this fund. In 1803 it amounted to £2,626, and it is now said to be over £6,000. The interest only can be expended, and it can neither be added to the principal nor draw interest. Our American schools have many promising Indian students, and it would seem as if this honorable society could devise some acceptable plan for assisting them. THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 147 Robert Keen, a merchant of London, as secretary. The public were duly advised of this action in the appendix to the narra- tive of 1767, and in a continuation of the same issued two years later a complete statement was made of the funds collected. With what was received later, the amount raised in England was about ;^9,5oo, or more than ^12,000 in all. Whitaker and Occom were engaged in this work two years and one month, at an expense of about ^500. From the fund, also, their fam- ilies were supported, and they each received as a gratuity ^100. Occom delivered more than four hundred sermons or addresses. Such a charity toward a missionary cause in the colonies had never before been known. It did not pass without recognition. The General Association of Connecticut, at its meeting, June 21, 1768, passed an appropriate vote of thanks to the churches of the mother country. No one can read the scattered correspondence relating to this mission without being convinced that its success was due almost solely to Samson Occom. Mr. Whitaker very soon be- came a mere agent. He seems not to have conducted himself with discretion at all times, expressing his opinion too freely on political matters. He even brought upon himself the se- vere censure of the trustees for his mismanagement of certain remittances. It should be remembered, however, that his posi- tion was a difficult one, as that of the fifth wheel to a coach always is. He went to England to care for the Indian, but, as it turned out, his services were hardly needed in that capacity. Occom, on the other hand, won universal esteem. Robert Keen wrote of him, he is a "plain, honest-hearted man, who is well received wherever he goes." John Thornton and George Whitefield, who saw much of him, gave him their un- qualified commendation. After his return he received a letter from Dr. Andrew Gifford, in which the writer said, "Your very decent and proper behaviour charmed most, if not all, who had the pleasure of conversing with you; and your hu- 148 SAMSON OCCOM mility and piety I doubt not contributed much to the success of your application for the Indian school. "^^ Such, in sub- stance, was the opinion of all. McClure says in his diary that »' Occom's reputation was such in Scotland that some Gentle- men there offered to obtain for him a Doctorate in Divin- ity from the University of Edinburgh, but he modestly de- clined the honour." He received from friends here and there some tokens of this regard, mostly in the way of books which he brought back to his home at Mohegan, The king presented him with a number of volumes. When, years afterwards, Occom removed to the Oneida country, most of these remained behind and became scattered. A few have sur- vived to this day and are cherished by their owners as memen- toes of the great Indian preacher.^^ We are indebted to this mission to England for the pictures of Samson Occom which have come down to us. Something should be said concerning these. It is known that two por- traits of him were made in oil, from which all that have since been reproduced here and there originated. One was painted by Mason Chamberlain, a well-known artist of the time, some- what famous for the remarkable fidelity of his likenesses. This was done at the motion of the Earl of Dartmouth, and probably at his expense. He also had a portrait of Doctor Whit- aker, painted by the same artist, which was presented to him, and now hangs in the gallery at Dartmouth College. We think ^*^ Con7t. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers^ Lett. May 22, 1769. ^^ Rev. James Houghton, Bryn Mawr, Pa., has a Bible which belonged to Occom — a " Breeches Bible " of 1561. It has within the book-plate of "Henry Williams" and below it the words "Shepton Mallet, Somersetshire to the Rev*' Mr. Occom, pres- ent." The Conn. Hist. Soc. has a psalter in Latin and Syriac [Liber Psalmorum Davidis Regis & Prophetae] which was presented in 1S80 by Mrs. L. F. S. Foster of Norwich, Conn. In the possession of the Ripley family at Norwich there is also a " Paraphrase of the New Testament," which is said to have been given Occom by George III. It is inscribed " Samuel Warren's Book, which he bought from Samson Occum, which he brought from England 1766." [Caulkins' Hist, of Norwich., p. 465.] We have also heard of other volumes from his library. THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 1 49 that both these portraits were made in the winter of 1766, while they were in London. Occom's was retained in Eng- land, and although some search has been made, its owner and place are unknown to us. Another portrait of the Indian preacher was painted, we think later and by another artist, though it may have been at the same time and by Chamber- lain for aught we can prove to the contrary. This picture was presented to him, and brought home to Mohegan. We infer from the action of the Earl of Dartmouth in Doctor Whitaker's case that he also had this second portrait made, and possibly Occom had his choice. It remained at Mohegan hanging in his old home, under the care of his kindred, until 1830, when it was secured by Miss Sarah L. Huntington. She placed it in the hands of John Trumbull, the Connecticut painter, for restoration, since which it has been lost to view.^^ Happily both these pictures were reproduced; the Chamberlain portrait being chiefly known through the excessively rare mezzotint published in 1768, and the Mohegan portrait through the lith- ographs, two hundred and fifty of which were struck off shortly after its recovery, and sold for the benefit of the Indians. ^^ The difference between them and all copies made since can 1* DeForest's Indians of Cotineciicut, Preface, p. x. ^^ The following pictures of Occom are noted. After the Chamberlain portrait : (i) " Mezzotint by [John] Spilsbury after Chamberlain/' Inscribed " The first Indian Minister that ever was in Europe, and who accompanied the Rev. N. Whitaker in an application to Great Britain for Charities to support ye Rev. Dr. Wheelock's Indian Academy, and Missionaries among ye Native Savages of N. America. Published according to Act of Parliament, Sept. 20, 1768, by Henry Parker at No. 82. in Corn- hill, London." Inscriptions have verbal differences. Early impressions have none, as the author's, from which the frontispiece was made. After one of these, belong- ing to Samuel G. Drake, several photographs were made by Kimball, Concord, N. H. [Ex-Gov. B. F. Prescott : Columbia Town Library] and thus came the painting by U. D. Tenney, presented by Governor Prescott to Dartmouth College. This mezzotint is a folio, and has been sold as high as two guineas. (2) Engraving, " Ridley & Blood Sc — Revd Samson Occom, Indian Preacher. Pub by Williams & Smith Stationers Court i»t Ocf 1808." {London Evangelical Magazine, October, 1S08.] Sometimes sold with Occom's sermon. After the Mohegan portrait : (i) Lithograph. Inscrip- tion : " The Reverend Samson Occom The First Indian Minister that ever was in 150 SAMSON OCCOM be readily detected. In the Chamberlain portrait the subject faces to his right, the uplifted hand is pointing to an open folio Bible upright on a table, and there are implements of Indian warfare on the wall. In the Mohegan portrait the sub- ject faces to his left, the hand rests on an open Bible flat on a table before him, and on the wall there is a bookcase, with books. The former has the hair flowing back from the fore- head, the latter has it parted in the middle. It was near the close of the year 1767 when Doctor Whitaker and the Indian preacher returned to London. They made thereafter some short tours round about. In the spring they prepared for the homeward voyage. It has been said that there was a disagreement between them, in consequence of which they did not return together.^° We have found no evi- dence of any personal differences, though Occom probably sided with the trustees in their criticism of Doctor Whitaker already noted. The latter was doubtless detained by the busi- ness. He did not sail until April and then came in a ship to New York, reaching Norwich on or about the second of June. Occom was ready to depart in March and sailed for Boston the latter part of the month in Captain Robert Calef's ship, London Packet, which arrived on the twentieth of May.^^ He had a stormy passage of eight weeks. Soon after they sailed he was taken very ill and for some time he was in a delirium. Europe who went to Britain to obtain charities for the support of the Revd Dr Wheelocks Indian Accademy & Missionaries among the savages of North America in 1768." Other copies have " Sampson Occom " and "Academy." The Conn. Hist. See. has both. From this lithograph De Forest's cut was made [p. 459] by " N. Orr Sc." [See De Forest's Ind. of Conn., Pref., p. x ; Mem. of Mrs. Sarah L. Hunting- ton Smith, p. 123.] This is a folio, two hundred and fifty copies being made at the expense of Miss Murray of New York about 1831, and perhaps more later. They are now scarce. (2) Schoolcraffs Indian Tribes, large edn,, vol. V, p. 518. En- graving by Illman & Sons. (3) Picture in India ink, by Edward G. Kunkely, Utica, N. Y., in Hamilton College gallery. '•^0 Caulkins' Hist, of Norwich, edn. 1845, p. 296. 'i'^ New London Gazette, 'M.d^y 27,1768; McClure's Mem. of Wheelock, p. 175; Narrative, 1769, p. 144. • THE INDIAN PREACHER IN ENGLAND 151 At the end of a month he began to amend and before the voyage ended he had quite recovered his strength. So with gladness at last he greeted once more his native land, reflect- ing on the joy of a safe arrival " at the haven of the New Jerusalem." There were then hearty congratulations for him in Boston. These he hardly waited to receive. He started on horseback the next morning and soon he was again among the hills of Mohegan — at home. CHAPTER IX DARK DAYS AT MOHEGAX .1768-1771 The portrait which an artist puts upon the canvas owes its likeness oftentimes to the shadows. It is hardly possible that an Indian, with all the defects of his race, could grow to the full stature of a civilized man without struggles against his hereditary weaknesses. At all events it is the office of the historian to set forth the facts without prejudice. Thus we are brought to consider the darkest period in Samson Occom's life. The Indian preacher, whose mission to England had been discouraged by most and its full success anticipated by none, came back to Mohegan a distinguished character. He had won a fame among the whites. Many pulpits, into which he would never have been admitted before, were now open to him. His own people were brought more than ever under his influence. Some of the baser sort were jealous of him ; but most of them regarded him with respect and many with affection. He was surely the foremost man of their race in the colonies. In this situation Occom may have developed some pride. His friends had feared he would. Still we fail to detect any evidences of it in his extant writings. So far as they give us light, the reaction came to him from his personal discouragements and his sore disappointment at the sequel of his mission to England in behalf of the Indian school. The agreement under which Occom had left his family pro- vided that they were to be cared for and supported by Doctor Wheelock in his absence. The expenses of the missions were 152 DARK DAYS AT MOHEGAN 1 53 large, the resources were small. There was, indeed, no stated income which could be applied to this purpose. This Indian family were by no means forgotten ; but amid his many cares Doctor Wheelock was undoubtedly remiss in supplying, promptly, their necessities. Mary Occom had to remind him of her wants in such words as these : " I am out of Corn and have no Money to buy any with and am affraid we shall suffer for want." Of this apparent neglect Occom heard on return- ing home. His feelings were wounded. The father at Leba- non had not dealt kindly by his Indian son. For some time he did not go thither to see him. Occom also found his family in a distracted state. His wife was in poor health ; his children showed the need of paternal government. McClure has the following paragraph on this fam- ily in his diary : " He appeared to preside in his family with dignity & to have his children in subjection. In these, however, & in his wife, he was not happy. He wished to live in Eng- lish style ; but his Wife who was of the Montauk Tribe re- tained a fondness for her Indian customs. She declined, even- ing & morning setting at table. Her dress was mostly Indian, & when he spake to her in english, she answered in her native language, although she could speak good english. His chil- dren when they left him, adopted the wild & roving life of Savages." There is much truth in this statement, though the wife was certainly an estimable Christian woman, and all his children did not turn out as indicated. Occom had then seven children, ranging from sixteen to three years of age, as follows : Mary, Aaron, Tabitha, Olive, Christiana, Talitha and Benoni. Three others, at least, were afterwards born to him : Theodosia, Lemuel Fowler and An- drew Gifford. As a father he was always affectionate, and anxious that his children should rise above the Indian's estate and enter useful lives. Some of them did so, but others brought him, as he afterwards wrote, " sorrow on sorrow." We 154 SAMSON OCCOM have an instance of his playfulness — the only one we have met with — in a letter which he wrote from England. As such it is worth recording : My dear Mary and Esther — Perhaps you may query whether I am well : I came from home well, was by the way well, got over well, am received at London well, and am treated extremely well, — yea, I am caress'd too well. And do you pray that I may be well; and that I may do well, and in Time return Home well. And I hope you are well, and wish you well, and as I think you begun well, so keep on well, that you may end well and then all will be well. And So Farewell, Samson Occom.i The eldest son, Aaron, had been a second time put under Doctor Wheelock's care in the father's absence. He had, however, no particular interest in obtaining an education and was inclined to be wild. He did not behave well in the school, and the minister was compelled to write the father about him. The reply betrays Occom's disappointment : " If he Inclines to Book Learning, give him a good English Education, but if not, let him go to some good master to Learn [the] Joiners Trade if he Inclines to that, and if that Won't do Send him over to me and I will give him away to some gentlemen here."^ In this same letter he expressed the fear that his peregrina- tions had compelled him to neglect his children. Their train- ing had been left to his wife and they needed a father's restraint. This son continued to be somewhat wayward. He married at eighteen Ann Robin, a daughter of Samuel, an adopted Indian from Middletown, and died in February, 1771, leaving a posthumous son named Aaron. The conduct of this son was a trial Occom had to meet when he returned from England. Yet he had been a faithful father. His letters con- ^Caulkins' //zj/. (j/A'iprtwV//, p. 465. Miss Caulkins says this was written to his two daughters. We know no daughter Esther, and think she was a cousin or friend of Mary. 2 Wheelock Papers, Lett. Feb. 12, 1767 ; see also Mary Occom to Wheelock, Nov. 8,1766. DARK DAYS AT MOHEGAA[ 1 55 tain such tender words as these to his children : " Remember wherever you are, you are in the presence of that God that made you and to him you must give an account of your con- duct and remember the Day of your Death is hastening." There were also many perplexities and cares awaiting him at Mohegan. His house had never been thoroughly com- pleted. It was necessary that he should at once bring his acres under proper cultivation for the support of his family. Indeed, the main question was what he should do for a living. He was again out of employment. The work which he desired to undertake was that of a general missionary to the New Eng- land tribe.s. For this he was preeminently fitted. He had rel- atives or friends in most of the Indian settlements there- abouts. This was the work, it will be remembered, which he had begun under the commissioners when he was called off to serve under the -Connecticut correspondents. But he could not now return to^this, for the commissioners had been of- fended by his going to England, as we have related. The cor- respondents had been superseded by the English trustees. They took up no new work and in 1769 ceased to meet. More- over, Doctor Wheelock refused to support him in such a work, because missions among the seacoast tribes were under the jurisdiction of the commissioners at Boston.^ The only ser- vice which was offered him was a mission westward to the Onondagas, which Doctor Wheelock repeatedly urged upon him. This would take him away from his family. He felt that it was his duty to remain with them more than he had ; they needed his care and training. Still, there were other rea- sons for declining this mission, as will presently appear. These Doctor Wheelock did not then understand and hence he mis- judged Occom. He wrote of him thus to Whitefield : " He is averse to seek any settlement more convenient for future usefulness y" at Mohegan — He consents to take a tour into ^Wheelock Pajiers, Letts, Jan. 8, 1770, and June 20, 1771. 156 • SAMSOA' OCCOM y^ wilderness y' season. What he will do for future support I cant tell — There is no probability y* y"" Boston Commissioners will do anything for him — I suspect his principal dependence is upon y^ tillage of his lands. I am fully convinced y* God does not design, y* Indians shall have y'' lead in y' affair at present."* The sum of the matter was, therefore, that Samson Occom, at a time when he had most reason to expect some consideration on account of his services, was stranded at Mohegan. He had left every other employment to obey his patron, and having been used to his advantage, he w^as dis- charged. So the Indian viewed the situation. Whitefield had told him, he said, that "they had made him a tool to col- lect monies for them in England, but when he got to America they would set him adrift." It is unnecessary to say that Doctor Wheelock had no such intention. He thought for some time that Occom had an annual pension from England. This was not the fact. He had only received several private gifts from Mr. Thornton, who, after the Trust had ceased, wrote Occom that he might draw on him for ;^5o, if he was at any time in distress. When the trustees in England learned how matters stood, they openly declared that Occom had been ill-treated. In 1772 they wrote him to draw for ;^5o at once, and for £2^ every six months or for ;^5o annually during their pleasure.^ The Scotch Society also made him a grant. At this time Doctor Wheelock had begun to see the other side of the case. His trusted pupil, David McClure, visited Occom, learned the situation, and wrote thus to his patron : " Before he went to England, he was under the pay of the Boston board, and since his return has been rejected by them and by the School too. And considering what Indian Genius & temper are, has there not, Sir, been too much occasion for *Wheelock Papers, Lett. April 24, 1769. ^Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers, Lett. Thornton to Occom, May 12, 1772; Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll, p. 243. DARK DAYS AT MOHEGAN 157 him to complain of neglect?"^ Thus, after four years, this cause for ill-feeling was in a measure removed. This, however, was not the only reason why the friendly re- lations of many years between Wheelock and Occom were dis- turbed. When the Indian returned from England he found his patron wholly engaged in his scheme for the removal of the Indian Charity School. Of this movement the historian of Dartmouth College has given an admirable account.^ So early as 1 76 1, Doctor Wheelock had conceived the idea of locating nearer the Indian tribes westward. He wrote Sir William John- son in 1762, as follows : " If way could be made for setting up this school in some convenient place and the settlement of three or four Towns round about it, I would remove with it and bring several Ministers*with me of the best character and take care to people the place with Inhabitants of known honesty, Integrity and such as love Indians and will seek their Inter- est." Here in the germ was his plan, designated the year fol- lowing, in his plea to the Privy Council for a charter, as " A Proposal for Introducing Religion, Learning, Agriculture and Manufacture among the Pagans in America." The place then in view was on the Susquehanna river. Sir William Johnson was even then opposed to a removal among the Six Nations. He would have been intensely hostile to it later, and this was reason enough why a location, favored by both Kirkland and Occom, was impracticable. Various propositions were made to Doctor Wheelock, from Albany, Stockbridge, Hebron and other places ; but the most advantageous was of a tract of land in the western part of the Province of New Hampshire. The formation of the Board of Trust in England to hold the funds there collected, was a fatal blow to all hopes of a royal char- ter, for the trustees were opposed, but they finally consented to the removal, and, on the 3d of April, 1769, approved the '■■ Wheelock Papers, Lett. June 30, 1772. ■ Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., pp. 32-35, 46, 90 ff,2i7 ft". 158 SAMSON OCCOM location. This was not Occom's affair. He had, however, while in England, declared his judgment in favor of remaining at Lebanon, where the school was near the New England In- dians. On his return he expressed the opinion that, if the school removed, it should be to a location in the midst of the Indians of the Oneida country. He feared, long before the result was apparent, that a college in " the woods of Coos " would be no advantage to the Indians for whom all the money had been collected. Still, it was not so much the removal that he opposed as the alteration in Dr. Wheelock's plan, to educate more white missionaries and fewer Indians. To this change Occom was never reconciled. It seems that when he had left England, the trustees, who had great c^onfidence in him, *' en- gaged him to write particularly of the school and the disposal of the moneys collected in England."^ He did not wish to do so, but they insisted. Yet it was some time before he \Orote at all, which his patron attributed to neglect. In 1770 David McClure visited Mohegan and found out the reason, which he stated as follows : " If he wrote he must not be silent concern- ing the state of the school as friends there w'd expect that from him if he wrote, and as the school is at present consti- tuted he imagined an account of it would not be agreeable to gentlemen at home nor answer their expectations. He com- plained, but in a friendly manner, that the Indian was con- verted into an English School and that the English had crowded out the Indian youth. He instanced one Symons a likely Indian who came to get admittance but could not be ad- mitted because the school was full. He supposed that the gentlemen in England thought the School at present was made up chiefly of Indian youth, and that should he write and in- form them to the contrary, as he must if he wrote, it would give them a disgust and jealousy that the charities were not ap- plied in a way agreeable to the intention of the donors and ^ Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., p. 63 n. DARK DAYS AT MO H EG AN 1 59 benefactors, which was to educate Indians chiefly."^ Some correspondence ensued between Wheelock and Occom on this point. The latter wrote thus : " In my apprehension your present plan is not calculated to benefit the poor Indians, it is no ways winning to them and unless there is an alterative suitable to the minds of the Indians you will never do much more good among the Indians : your First Plan was much bet- ter than the last, you did much good in it and if you rightly managed the Indians your Institution would have flourished by this Time."^° When Doctor Wheelock expressed to him the hope that he would see many of his "tawny" brethren nourished in that Alma Mater, the Indian replied: "I am very jealous that instead of your institution becoming Alma Mater to my brethren, she will be too Alba Mater to nourish the tawnies."^^ He was besought by his patron "if he did not favor the institution, not to harm it, as he well knew no one could do it so much harm as he should he attempt it." For some time Occom did maintain a friendly silence. He was compelled at length to disclose his feelings to friends in England. The charge that the funds had been perverted was to such an extent current in 1771, that Doctor Wheelock was forced to make answer in his narrative. ^^ He certainly did not intend to divert funds contributed for the Indians ; but he thought they would be profited most by the education of white missionaries. Such was his reply. Still, Occom was never persuaded to alter his opinion. Several years after Doctor Wheelock's death, he wrote thus : " Doc'^ Wheelock's Indian Academy or Schools are become altogether unprofitable to the poor Indians. In short, he has done little or no good to the Indians with all that money we collected in England since we "^Wheelock Papers, Lett. McCliire to Wheelock, May 21, 1770. "^^ Ibid., Lett. June i, 1773. ^' Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers a.nd " Havermeyer Letter," Occom to Wheelock, July 24, 1 771, Dartmouth College. J2 Wheelock's Narrative, 1771, p. 18. l6o SAMSON OCCOM got home. That money never educated but one Indian and one Mollatoe — that is part Negro and part Indian — and there has not been one Indian in that Institution this some time."^* This was not exactly the truth. Such, however, was Occom's opinion — the funds had been perverted. Why had this teacher, who had once considered the Chris- tianizing of Indians by Indians so important, now come to place his hope in white missionaries ? He had lost confidence in his Christian Indians. Some of his pupils had apostatized or lapsed into the evil habits of their race. At the same time it came to pass that they lost confidence in him. His intiu-. ence over the tribes he had befriended was impaired. When they came to suspect that he had cast them off, his chances of prosecuting missions among them or gathering their chil- dren in his school, were gone. He had held his scholars by his personal, fatherly interest in them ; but the bond was broken between the father and his children. It was never re- stored. The decline of the Indian Charity School was not caused by its removal. It had received its death-blow the year before that matter was finally decided. Its founder was right in thinking that a good foundation, with lands and friendly whites round about, were favorable conditions. He might have recovered what he had lost by locating among the Six Nations ; but that is uncertain. The enlargement of the school into a college, and the broadening of its purpose to edu- cate more white youth, were not necessarily fatal departures. It had always professed to exist in part for such pupils. This institution, which had attained an honorable fame, lost within a year its esprit de corps as an Indian school. It was the mis- fortune rather than the fault of its noble founder. Samson Occom had been at home only a few weeks when he received a visit from a company of Oneida Indians. He had then from Deacon Thomas, their leader, a true account of '' Conn. Hist. Soc, Indiaii Papers. DARK DAYS AT MO 11 EG AN i6l the Western missions. Troubles had arisen which he then saw would lead to their utter collapse. This was the reason, already hinted at, why he would not accept the offer of a mission to the Onondagas. The Indians told him about the behavior of Doc- tor VVheelock's eldest son, Ralph, who had only lately returned from his third and most fatal journey westward in behalf of his father. ^^ It was a mistake to send this " imprudent, domineer- ing and irascible " young man on business so important. His conduct toward Kirkland had been very offensive. When the missionary that spring had broken down in health and retired for a time from his work, Ralph Wheelock had accused him to the Indians of running away. They had nobly defended him. He was their beloved father. This was the reply they received from his lordship: "Who do you think your father is ? Do you think his power and authority are equal to mine ? He is no more than my father's servant, and so are all those ministers and schoolmasters he sends here." Was it likely that the Indians would be favorably disposed toward this young Rehoboam who announced that he was to be his father's successor? He went on to Onondaga, and there had a high- voiced quarrel in their council-house. Can any one wonder that Occom did not wish to carry the gospel under the pat- ronage of Doctor Wheelock to this mortally offended tribe.^ The son made garbled reports of his journeys to his father, so the real state of affairs was not known for some time. Another mistake was made when Doctor Wheelock sent back with these H Ralph Wlieelock, born in 1746, graduated at Vale College in 1765, and became for nearly two years the master of the Indian school. He made three journeys westward in behalf of the missions, the first July 11, 1766, with Rev. Benjamin Pomeroy ; the second with Augustine Hibbard, about Sept. i, 1767 \_Narr., 1769, pp. 29-36], and the third with Allyn Mather, from March 7, 176S, to April 29,1768 \^Narr.^ 1769, pp. 44-54]. In 1770 he was a tutor at Dartmouth College. His health was impaired by epilepsy, and he was thought to be irresponsible in part for the trouble he caused. Subsequent attempts to heal the disaffection of the Indians failed. [See Avery's MS. Reports, Dart. Coll., Oct. i, 1771, and May 31, 1772.] Ralph Wheelock died at Hanover. Feb. 7. 18 17. I :: 1 62 SAMSON OCCOM Oneidas as his envoy to the Indian congress about to meet at Canajoharie, Rev. Jacob W. Johnson, of Groton. He had no experience, and was not qualified for a diplomatist. In the course of his negotiations he made a breach between Doctor Wheelock and Sir William Johnson, who was all but an Indian emperor. ^^ What favor could the Indian Charity School expect thereafter ? So in the storm of a season its hopes were swept away. The Oneidas came again in a few months to Lebanon and took home their children. Several remaining Mohawks were sent for. The New England Indians seem to have been no longer wanted. The springs had dried up. All these discouraging circumstances prepared the way for the so-called fall of Samson Occom. He was disheartened. The dreams of many an hour abroad had vanished. In the autumn of 1768 he was taken sick, and for a long time was in poor health. As he could, he went hither and thither among the New England Indians without commission or support. Some time in the month of February following he was overcome on an occasion with strong drink. The circumstances of this fall are unknown to us. It happened shortly after a second visit of the Oneida chiefs, when they came to take home their children. Our earliest information is derived from the letters of Doctor Wheelock, who wrote of the fact to Occom's friends. In a letter to Whitefield, on the 24th of April, he said : " God has left him to fall into Intemperance (I hope in Great Mercy to him) he appears considerably humble." ^*^ Much to Doctor Wheelock's regret, it seems from the same letter, he was not humble enough to accept a mission to the Onondagas, for which he still thought him fit. Most writers who have noticed the career of Occom have made much of this matter. Some 15 Rev. Jacob W. Johnson was then the minister at Groton [Ledyard], where he had ministered some to the Mushantuxet Pequots. See on his Hfe Dexter's Vale Biographies, I, 649-651 ; Chase's Hist. Dart. Coll., pp. 79-84; and Doc. Hist, of N. ¥., IV, 244-250. 1" IV/ieeloc/c Papers, -Lett. April 24, 1769. See also letter of March 9, 1769. DARK DAYS AT MO H EG AN 1 63 have thought it an important argument against attempts to civilize the Indian that this man, "the glory of his race," suf- fered a fall.^^ The drinking customs of the time being what they were, it cannot be thought strange if an Indian took enough liquor in a few instances to feel the effect of it. If he had not taken any it would have been stranger. He would doubtless have been the sole clerical representative of a total abstinence party in Connecticut. Occom was in truth greatly humbled. He made known his fault at once to his friends, and was far more concerned about himself than they were. The most remarkable feature of the case was, that he .accused himself before the Suffolk Presbytery. K copy of his confession is extant, in which he says: "I have been shame- fully overtaken with strong drink, by which I have greatly wounded the cause of God, blemished the pure religion of Jesus Christ, blackened my own character and hurt my own soul."^^ This is how it came to pass that "his intemperance drew upon him the discipline of the Church." Let us see what this ecclesiastical body thought of this terrible fall : In the Presbytery of Suffolk at Easthampton, April 12, 1769. . . . The Presbytery received a Letter from Mr. Occom in which he accuses him- self of having been guilty of intemperate drinking, for which he very highly condemns himself; and at the same Time understood that a Report had become Publick. The Presbytery entered upon Consideration of the Mat- ter, and from the best Light they can now obtain are of the Opinion that said Accusation arises from a very gloomy and desponding Frame of Mind, under which they are informed that Mr. Occom has, for some time Past laboured ; and do therefore refer the further Consideration of this Matter 1' " There has never been a more idle scheme of philanthropy, than that of convert- ing a savage into a civilized man. No one attempt, it is believed, has ever been suc- cessful. Even Sampson Occum, before his death relapsed into some of the worst habits of his tribe ; and no North American Indian of unmixed blood, whatever pains may have been taken with his education, has been known to adopt the manners of civilized men, or to pass his life among them."— Spark's Life of John Ledyard, Am. Biog., XXIV, 91. See also. Prime's Hist, of Long Islattd, p. no, and Sprague's An- nals, III, 194. Sprague follows Prime in erroneously giving the date as 1764. ^* Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers ; Sprague's Antta/s, III, 194. 164 SAMSON OCCOM to our next session of Presbytery, desiring Mr. Buell in the Mean Time to obtain all possable Intelligence with respect to s^. Affair, & make report thereof at our next Session. In the Presbytery of Suffolk at Bridge Hampton, November i, 1769. , . , The Presbytery next entered upon the Consideration of Mr. Oc- com's Affair, which on reading the Minutes of last session of Presbytery, we find refered to this. Mr. Occom being now present was very particu- larly examined by the Presbytery with respect to all the Circumstances of s<'. Affair, and Mr. Puell having reported to the Presbytery the Intelligence he had obtained relating thereto. The Presbytery are fully of Opinion that all the Sensations of Intoxication, which he condemned himself for arose, not from any Degree of intemperate drinking, but from having Drank a small Quantity of Spirituous Liquor after having been all day without food.i9 This record is very remarkable ; first, in that a minister con- fessed at all, and second, in that,-having confessed, he was acquitted. The reader who has looked over the ministerial rum-accounts of those days, will wonder whether the other members of the Suffolk Presbytery would have dared to take such a risk. Had the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, D. D., never had any such "sensations'*? He paid for a considerable quantity of spirituous liquor. What a unique case ! Occom accused himself, was examined, and pronounced not guilty ! These interesting points are brought out, — he had been for some time in "a very gloomy and desponding frame of mind," he had been on the occasion " all day without food," and he had not indulged in '^' intemperate drinking." If this were all, the case would be closed. Doctor Wheelock, however, in his letters, says that again, in the summer of 1770, Occom had a " Second grievious fall into the sin of intemperance," and in a •'public and agravated manner," the report of which " spread far and wide."^*^ The report went to England in one of these ♦ letters to John Thornton, Esq., the Indian's true friend. This benevolent gentleman made a reply, which could not have been '•' MS. Rec. Suffolk Presbytery. •-:" Wheelock Papers, Letts. Nov. 9. 1770, and June 20. 1771. DARK DAYS AT MO H EG AN 1 65 altogether agreeable to Doctor VVheelock. " I was grieved," he wrote, "at what I heard of Mr. Occom. Indeed, I fear he had hard usage and that drove him into the horrid sin of drinking. Pray my dear Sir, use him tenderly, for 1 am much mistaken if his heart is not right with God."^^ David McClure made a somewhat similar remark, when he suggested to Doctor Whee- lock that Occom had been neglected. "The Crimes of intem- perance," he wrote, "with which he has been charged are very much extenuated by the temptations he was under." ^'^ The Lebanon minister has left no evidence, unfortunately, that he did deal tenderly with the Indian in this matter. He wrote him reproachful letters, he magnified his fault, and himself spread the report of it. This was his excuse — he had, the year be- fore, lost faith in some of his boy schoolmasters for the same reason, and was easily persuaded that there was no good in them. Occom's fall was his final reason for turning to the whites. We do not know that this Indian minister was ever again guilty of taking too much spirituous liquor, though he often went all day without food. He certainly was never in the habit of drinking. He says " he was too poor to provide for his family anything but the plainest food and they drank only cold water with occasionally a little beer." He did not "re- lapse into some of the worst habits of his tribe," as has been charged. The suspicion, however, followed him to the close of his life. It is known that his enemies kept it alive. Years afterwards,- when he was ministering to his Indian church in New Stockbridge, this report seems to have come to the notice of the Presbytery of Albany, of which he was then a member. "March ist 1791 a letter was sent to Mr. Occom requiring him to state his reasons for not attending Presbytery and he was warned that in case of failure his name would be striken 21 Wheelock Papers, Lett. April 26, 1771. 2- Ibid., Lett. June ^o, 1772. 1 66 SAMSON OCCOM from the roll." ^^ His reason was that he was too poor to make the long journey. But this action probably concealed an in- quiry into rumors which had reached them concerning his intemperance. We find in the manuscript diary of Samuel Kirkland, under date August lo, 1791, the following entry: "Visited by Rev"^ Mr. Lindley member of the Presbytery of Albany, who was sent by that body to enquire into some in- stances of misconduct reported concerning Mr. Occom : par- ticularly the sin which most easily besets poor Indians." "^ A thorough inquiry was made into this matter by Mr. Lindley on the ground, but he found nothing to report at all detrimental to Mr. Occom ; and on the eighth of September the Presbytery gave assurances of their confidence in him, by directing his ministrations in his little church among the Indians. We have some light on this case in this characteristic of the man — he was given to humiliations by his temperament. If on any occasion his conscience smote him for misconduct, which others less sensitive would have passed by, he thought it mete to shrive his soul in confession. In " despondencies, discom- forts and almost desperations," he says, he thus found some peace and resignation to the will of God. Thus in the disci- pline of humility he strove to subdue that Indian nature which he was always conscious of possessing. There are abundant evidences of his victory, and testimonials of his subsequent good character. ''In his latter years his life is said to have been entirely exemplary." ^^ Here is the lesson which the history of Indian -civilization so clearly teaches. The curse of the race is rum. In those days of old, when drinking was a universal custom, the Indian was unintentionally tempted by his friends. He could not be a moderate drinker — it was a constitutional impossibility. ^3 MS. Records of Pres. of Albany. "^^ MS. Diary of Kirkland, in possession of Mr. Thornton K. Lothrop. ^5 Sprague's Annals, III, 194, 195. DARK DAYS AT MO H EG AN 167 The white man could take his dram three times a day and be sober ; when the Indian took it once his blood was set on fire. VVe shall see how this experience of Samson Occom prepared him to preach the greatest temperance sermon ever delivered to the Indian race. The dark days at Mohegan passed away. The Indian rr;in- ister's friends across the sea still had confidence in him. Their letters greatly cheered him. When they learned of his straits they generously came to his assistance. The faith of his old patron was restored. Doctor Wheelock saw afterwards that he had been so depressed over the young prodigal, Joseph Johnson, that he had quite forgotten the elder son, David Fow- ler, and his brother Jacob, too, who had stood amid all dis- couragements. One of the fruits of Occom's labors at Mohe- gan in those dark days was a revival among the Indians there- abouts in which this prodigal came home. As Occom ministered there, possibly to a church he had formed,-^ there was an awakening of new life. Meetings were held in other Indian settlements. Rev. Samuel Ashbow, himself, we suspect, restored to a sober life, was a prominent exhorter in them — preaching with vigor on "The voice in the wilderness," and "inviting all to set their minds heavenward." Some of the converts were old pupils in the Lebanon school. Joseph Johnson, since his desertion of the cause in the autumn of 1768, had led an abandoned life. In the winter following he was at Providence. '^^ Then he went on a whaling voyage — " wandering up and down in this delusive world." He visited the West Indies and other distant parts. At last he returned to Mohegan, being then only twenty-one years of age. Here he worked for a year on the lands of his uncle, Zachary John- 2" Occom makes references to certain Indians as church-members, who were not connected with the North Church of New London. Henry Quaquaquid is called a "deacon." We find no records of such a church. It probably did not survive long. -'Dartmouth College Library has his Prayer-Book [Lawrence Classe, 1715] inscribed with his name and the address " Providence Dec. 28, 1768." 1 68 SAMSOA' O ceo AT son, with whom his sister also lived. He was one of the first to be awakened in this religious interest. On the thirteenth of November, 1771, he tells us, he turned anew to the Scriptures and began to call on the name of the Lord."^^ So he returned to the life he had been taught to live in the Indian Charity School. His spiritual father, who was so distressed by his fall, lived to see him approved as a missionary to the Indians and to mourn his early death. The sorrowful experience which Doctor Wheelock had with his Indian pupils was nothing new. John Eliot had similar discouragements. Wherever since Indian missions have been attempted, some who have been well-instructed and have promised allegiance to the Christian religion, have been swept away by the temptations of Indian life. The subsequent envi- ronment of the educated Indian has never been enough con- sidered. At the same time it is true that the good seed has not utterly perished, even though it has seemed to fail. After the Hood has passed, the shoots have become green again and they have grown to a harvest. 2** Wheelock Papers. Fragmentary account of his life. See Allen's Biog. Diet. CHAPTER X occOxM's sermon, hymns and hymn book I772--I774 An unusual congregation was gathered on the second of September, 1772, in the brick meeting-house of the FirstChurch in New Haven. The occasion was the preaching of a sermon by Rev. Samson Occom at the request of Moses Paul, an Indian, who on that day was to be executed for murder. Although the weather was very stormy, the place was crowded to its utmost capacity. As there had not been a hanging in that town for twenty-three years, the event was somewhat novel ; but many had come expecting to hear from the dis- tinguished Indian preacher a sermon to his race appropriate to such a solemn day. Lawyers and judges were present, having more than a professional interest in the case. Ministers had gathered from all the region round about. But most conspic- uous in the assembly were the Indians, who had come from great distances and all quarters. It was, in fact, the cause of a general meeting of representatives from the decaying tribes of southern New England, and the last, as though they had come to attend the funeral of their race. Surely the event was appropriate for such a service — the execution of an Indian who had committed murder in his drunkenness — for rum more than war or pestilence had wasted them to pitiful numbers. Moses Paul was born at Barnstable, Mass., in 1742, whither his parents had come from Martha's Vineyard. His father died in 1745, at the siege of Louisburg, and the widowed mother had been one of the Christian Indians who attended the Barnstable church. When Moses was five years old he 169 170 SAMSON OCCOM was bound out as an apprentice to Mr. John Manning of Windham, Conn., who gave him good instruction in religion. In due time he enlisted and served, in Israel Putnam's com- pany in the French and Indian war. Afterwards he was a sailor on a man-of-war ship and in the merchant service for several years. At last, wearying of this employment, he returned to Connecticut and led an idle, vagabond life. The crime for which he was to be hanged was committed Decem- ber 7, 1771, at Clark's tavern in Bethany. A contemporary newspaper gives the following account : New Haven, Dec. 9. — I>ast Saturday evening Mr. Moses Cook, of Waterbury, being at Mr. Clark's tavern in Bethany, where there was an Indian named Moses Paul, who had behaved so disorderly (on Mrs. Clark's refusing to let him have a dram) that he was turned out of doors, when he swore to be fevenged on some one person in the house ; and Mr. Cook going out soon after, received from the Indian (who 'tis supposed lay in wait near the house, in order to put his threat in execution) a violent blow on his head, with some weapon, that broke his scull ni so terrible a manner, that he died of the wound last night. The Indian was apprehended and conmiitted to the gaol in this town last Sunday. ^ The Indian was tried in the Superior Court at New Haven, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. During his impris- onment he received faithful ministrations from the ministers of the town; but he naturally turned to the man of his own race upon whom the Indians generally had come to look as their friend in trouble. Some time before the execution day it was known that Occom would preach the sermon according to an ancient custom. So the throng had gathered out of curi- osity or to hear him — a solemn congregation within the meet- ing-house and a crowd without. The condemned man, sur- rounded by his guards, was brought into his presence and the service began. Occom took for his text the words "For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life 1 New London Gazette, Dec. 20, 1771. Moses Cook was the eldest son of Samuel Cook of Wallingford, and a man much respected. Hist. Waterbury I. A pp. p. 40. OCCOXrS SERMON, HYMNS AND HYMN-BOOK 171 through Jesus Christ our Lord " [Rom. 6 : 23]. After devel- oping the two propositions, "that sin is the cause of all the miseries that befall the children of men, both as to their bodies and souls for time and eternity," and "that eternal life and happiness is the free gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord," he addressed in turn the criminal, the ministers and the assembled Indians. His words to his own people are per- tinent to our study. For that reason and because they fur- nish us a good example of his composition they are given in full. My poor kindred, You see the vvoful consequences of sin, by seeing this our poor miserable country-man now before us, who is to die this day for his sins and great wickedness. And it was the sin of drunkenness that has brought this de- struction and untimely death upon him. There is a dreadful woe denounced from the Almighty against drunkards: and it is this sin, this abominable, this beastly and accursed sin of drunkenness, that has stript us of every desirable comfort in this life; by this we are poor, miserable and wretched; by this sin we have no name nor credit in the world among polite nations; for this sin we are despised in the world, and it is all right and just, for we despise ourselves more, and if we do not regard ourselves, who will regard us .'' And it is for our sins, and especially for that accursed, that most hateful sin of drunkenness that we suffer every day. For the love of strong drink we spend all that we have, and every thing we can get. By this sin we can- not have comfortable houses, nor any thing comfortable in our houses ; neither food nor raiment, nor decent utensils. We are obliged to put up any sort of shelter just to screen us from the severity of the weather; and we go about with very mean, ragged and dirty clothes, almost naked. And we are half starved, for most of the time obliged to pick up any thing to eat. And our poor children are suffering every day for want of the neces- saries of life ; they are very often crying for want of food, and we have nothing to give them ; and in the cold weather they are shivering and cry- ing, being pinched with the cold— All this is for the love of strong drink. And this is not all the misery and evil we bring on ourselves in this world; but when we are intoxicated with strong drink, we drown our rational pow- ers, by which we are distinguished from the brutal creation; we unman our- selves, and bring ourselves not only level with the beasts of the field, but seven degrees beneath them; yea, we bring ourselves level with the devils; I do not know but we make ourselves worse than the devils, for I never heard of drunken devils. 172 SAJl/SOA' OCCOM My poor kindred, do consider what a dreadful abominable sin drunken- ness is. God made us men, and we chuse to be beasts and devils; God made us rational creatures, and we chuse to be fools. Do consider further, and behold a drunkard, and see how he looks, when he has drowned his reason; how deformed and shameful does he appear? He disfigures every part of him, both soul and body, which was made after the image of God. He appears with awful deformity, and his whole visage is disfigured; if he attempts to speak he cannot bring out his words distinct, so as to be under- stood; if he walks he reels and staggers to and fro, and tumbles down. And see how he behaves, he is now laughing, and then he is crying ; he is singing, and the next minute he is mourning; and is all love to every one, and anon he is raging, and for fighting, and killing all before him, even the nearest and the dearest relations and friends : Yea nothing is too bad for a drunken man to do. He will do that which he would not do for the world, in his right mind. Further, when a person is drunk, he is just good for nothing in the world ; he is of no service to himself, to his family, to his neighbours, or his coun- try ; and how much more unfit is he to serve God : yet he is just as fit for the service of the devil. Again, a man in drunkenness is in all manner of dangers, he may be killed by his fellow-men, by wild beasts, and tame beasts; he may fall into the fire, into the water, or into a ditch ; or he may fall down as he walks along, and break his bones or his neck ; he may cut himself with edge tools. Further if he has any money or any thing valuable, he may lose it all, or may be robbed, or he may make a foolish bargain, and be cheated out of all he has. I believe you know the truth of what I have just now said, many of you, by sad experience ; yet you will go on still in your drunkenness. Though you have been cheated over and over again, and you have lost your substance by drunkenness, yet you will venture to go on in this most destructive sin. O fools when will ye be wise t We all know the truth of what I have been say- ing, by what we have seen and heard of drunken deaths. How many have been drowned in our rivers, and how many have been frozen to death in the winter seasons ! yet drunkards go on without fear and consideration : alas, alas ! What will become of all such drunkards? Without doubt they must all go to hell, except they truly repent and turn to God. Drunkenness is so common amongst us, that even our young men and young women are not ashamed to get drunk. Our young men will get drunk as soon as they will eat when they are hungry. It is generally esteemed amongst men, more abominable for a woman to be drunk than a man ; and yet there is nothing more common amongst us than female drunkards. Women ought to be more modest than men; the holy scriptures recommend modesty to women in particular: but drunken women have no modesty at all. It is OCCOM'S SERMON, HYMNS AND HYMN BOOK 1 73 more intolerable for a woman to get drunk, if, we consider further, that she IS in great danger of falling into the hands of the sons of l^elial, or wicked men, and bein^j shamefully treated by them. And here I cannot but observe, we find in sacred writ, a woe denounced against men, who put their bottles to their neighbours mouth to make them drunk, that they may see their nakedness : and no doubt there are such devilish men now in our day, as there were in the days of old. And to conclude, consider my poor kindred, you that are drunkards, into what a miserable condition you have brought yourselves. There is a dread- ful woe thundering against you every day, and the Lord says, that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And now let me exhort you all to break off from your drunkenness, by a gospel repentance, and believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved. Take warning by this doleful sight before us, and by all the dreadful judg- ments that have befallen poor drunkards. O let us all reform our lives, and live as becomes dying creatures, in time to come. Let us be persuaded that we are accountable creatures to God, and we must be called to an ac- count in a few days. You that have been careless all your days, now awake to righteousness, and be concerned for your poor and never dying souls. Fight against all sins, and especially the sin that easily besets you, and be- have in time to come as becomes rational creatures; and above all things, receive and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and yau shall have eternal life; and when you come to die, your souls will be received into heaven, there to be with the Lord Jesus in eternal happiness, and with all the saints in glory; which God of his infinite mercy grant, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. After the service Occom accompanied the condemned man to his execution. The following is the newspaper account of the affair : New Haven, September 4. Last Wednesday, Moses Paul was e.xecuted agreeable to his Sentence, about a Mile from this Town. The Rev. Mr. Occom, preached a Sermon, previous to the Execution, in the Brick Meet- ing House, from Rom. vi. 23, and attended the Criminal to the Place of Execution, where he made a short but well adapted Prayer to the Occasion. The Criminal behaved with Decency and Steadiness, and appeared to be in the Exercise of fervent Prayer all the Way from the Gaol to the Gallows. A little while before he was turn'd off he took a most affectionate Leave of his Countrymen the Indians, (many of whom were present) and exhorted them to shun those Vices to which they are so much addicted, viz. Drunk- enness, Revenge &c. He acknowledged that he kill'd Mr. Cook, though 174 SAMSON OCCOM not with a Flat Iron, as was supposed, but with a Club. Notwithstanding the Day was verj' stormy, there was a very great Concourse of People, whose Curiosity was as much excited to hear Mr. Occom preach, as to see the Execution, altho' there has not been one in this Town since the Year 1749.^ As to the sermon, it was exceedingly well received and made a deep impression. Temperance sermons were scarce in those days and in some quarters wholly unknown. In this respect it had a unique interest, especially as applicable to the Indians. The Coimecticiit Coiwaiit commended its "honest simplicity and Gospel sincerity " and of the conclusion said : " The Plainness of Speech to his Brother Indians against the Sin of Drunkenness is striking, and his address to the Indian that was then to be executed very affecting."^ There was at once a demand for the publication of the sermon, to which Occom reluctantly yielded. The first edition was issued October 31, 1772, from the press of Thomas and Samuel Green at New Haven. ^ This was soon exhausted. So general was the demand that a second edition was issued before November thirteenth by Timothy Green of New London, who also advertised "the third edition," December fourth, and "the fourth edition," January twenty-second following, in the New London Gazette. Many other editions were afterwards printed, at Hartford, Boston, Salem, Bennington, Vt, Exeter, N. H., Springfield, Northampton, and London, England. Thirty-five years after Samson Occom's death it was translated into the Welsh language and an edition issued at Caernarson, Wales. There may have been others which we have not met with or seen noted by bibliographers. Surely a sermon which went through at least nineteen editions has some claim to fame.*^ Of ^ New Lojidon Gazette, Sept. 11, 1772. 3 Conn. Courant, Feb. 9 and 16, 1773- * Advertisement in Conn. Courant, Oct. 20 and Nov. 3, 1772. 5 We note the following editions; (i) New Haven; T. & S. Green, n. d. [Oct., 1772] 8'^ pp. 32. [Has unabridged preface, and without the " Dialogue'' or sketch of Paul.] (2) New London; T.Green, n. d. [Nov., 1772] S" pp. 23 (i). [Has OCCOM'S SEA' MO A', HYMNS AND HYMN BOOK 1 75 course, its Indian authorship and the occasion had more to do with its popularity than its homiletic merits. Occom had an extensive acquaintance among the English, who were inter- ested to procure the only sermon which he had published. So far as we know this is the only printed sermon of that time preached by an Indian. This is, however, in its simplicity and directness, a good illustration of Occom's manner of dis- coursing. He never builded any great sermons. In his ordi- nary treatment of religious themes, especially in his later years, he made use of more similes and stories, interrupting his dis- course by such illustrations. To this his popularity was largely due, and many people admired these features in him who would have disapproved the same in their own minis- ters. This tragic incident in the Indian minister's life had a decided influence upon him. It quickened his zeal in behalf of the degenerate of his race. He labored more industri- ously to suppress the traffic in intoxicating liquors among thfe Indians, in which he was in advance of his times. More than unabridged preface, and without the " DiaIo,s;ue," but has sketch of Paul.] (3) New L-ondon ; T. Green, 1772 [Dec], 8" pp. 23 (1). (4) New London; T. Green, 1772, S'l pp. 23(1). [Printed in January, 1773, though the date on title-page was un- changed.] (5) Hartford; Reprinted and sold by Ebenezer Watson, n. d. [Feb., 1773] '40 pp. 22 (2). (6) Boston; Printed for and Sold by Seth Adams, Hartford Post, 1773, S" PP- 31 (0- (7) Boston; J. Boyles, 1773, ^" PP- Z'^- (^^ Boston; '^1Th'> S" pp. '22 (2) [Sabin]. (g) Salem; 1773, 8" pp. 31. (10) Boston; Eldad Hunter, 1774, 8'^' pp. 24 [Sabin]. (11) Springfield; Henry Brewer, n. d. 8" pp. 26 [Sabin]. (12) London; Reprinted, 1788, S'-- pp. 24. [With Edwards's "Observa- tions on the Language of the Muhhekaneew Indians." Has " Advertisement " by L Rippon, preface abridged, " Difiiogue " and appendix on Samuel Kirkland.J (13) London ; Reprinted 1789, 8° pp. 24. [Like preceding, except that the error in date of Occom's visit to England, given as 1776 and 1777, is corrected.] (14) Bennington : William Watson, n. d. So pp. 14 (i). [Sabin.] (15) N. P. 178-, 8- pp. 24. [Sabin.] (16) Northampton; t8oi, 8". [Brinley Coll. No. 5478.] (17) Exeter; Printed for Josiah Richardson, the Lord's Messenger to the People, 1819, 12" pp. 22. (18) " Indian Eloquence, A Sermon, etc.," n. p. Reprinted July 17, 1820, 80 pp. 24. (19) Caernarson : Argraphwyd gan L. E. Jones, Dros Evan Evans, 1827, sm. 8" pp. 44. [Reprinted from London edition of 1788. A copy was presented to the Conn. Hist. Soc. in 1896, by B. F. Lewis, Utica, N. Y. See Utica Herald, Jan. 14, 1896.] 176 SAMSON OCCOM ever before he felt his own responsibility as their representa- tive, and realized that nothing remained in New England for his people except to decline under the terrible sway of vice and finally die amid the graves of their fathers. We may as well just here make record of this Indian's opinion as to slavery. At that time most wealthy families in New England held slaves. The ministers very commonly had one or more blacks as servants in their households, and the servant class being then small they could hardly do without them. Doctor Wheelock himself, in 1757, paid ^50 for a negro, " Ishmael " by name, whom he bought from William Clark of Plymouth, Mass. The Indian of the full blood generally despised the negro and such of his own race as would marry among them. It was Occom's opinion that such marriages wrought degeneracy in both races. At the same time he had a warm sympathy for the slave, whose estate was not always pleasant or respectable, even in New England. Who would think to find in Samson Occom an abolitionist ? Such, how- ever, he was. He lifted up his voice boldly for emancipation seventy years before Uncle Tom's Cabin was written. In one of his discourses he made the following pointed application on the subject referring to slaveholders : I will tell who they are, they are the Preachers or ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been very fashionable for them to keep Negroe Slaves, which I think is inconsistent with their character and function. Tf I understand the Gospel aright, I think it is a Dispensation of Freedom and Liberty, both Temporal and Spiritual, and [if] the Preachers of the Holy Gospel of Jesus do preach it according to the mind of God, they Preach True Liberty and how can such keep Negroes in Slavery? And if Minis- ters are True Liberty men, let them preach Liberty for the poor Negroes fervently and with great zeal, and those Ministers who have Negroes set an Example before their Peojjle by freeing their Negroes, let them show their Faith by their Works.'"' The success of the publication of Occom's execution ser- mon may have encouraged him to undertake another venture '' MS. in Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers. OCCOM'S SERMON, HYMNS AND HYMN BOOK 1 77 — the printing of a " Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs." This introduces a subject of much interest, for Occom is himself included among the hymn-writers of New England. Indeed he has been known chiefly as the author of a familiar hymn, found in many modern collections but now going out of use — "Awaked by Sinai's awful sound." Several facts should preface a consideration of this subject. The Indians of New England were in a way a poetic and musical people. They delighted in figures of speech and com- monly used them. As to their music, without discussing it, we can at least say they were fond of it, for Winslow relates how " they vse to sing themselves asleepe " with "barbarous singing."^ There was a tradition among the Narragansett Indians that a certain tune "was heard in the air by them, and other tribes bordering on the Atlantic coast, many years before the arrival of the whites in America; and that on their first visiting a church in Plymouth Colony, after the settle- ment of that place by the whites, the same tune was sung while performing divine service, and the Indians knew it as well as the whites." Thomas Commuck, himself a Narragan- sett Indian, who records this tradition, has preserved the tune in his collection of "Indian Melodies," under the name "Old Indian Hymn," with the words to which the Brothertown Indians were accustomed to sing it. However incredible this tradition may seem, it illustrates the fact that the Chris- tian Indians were influenced by the psalm-singing of the English. John Eliot's converts adopted the practice and delighted in it. The Psalms in meter were printed with his Indian Bible in 1663 for such use. Afterwards the missionary society distributed many copies of psalm-books among the natives of southern New England. At Mohegan and other Indian settlements thereabouts this exercise had a prominent place in their religious services. We have already referred to "^ Mourfs Relation, edn. 1865, p. 109. 13 178 SAMSON OCCOM the singing of tlie pupils at the Indian Charity School, and from other sources we learn that some advance had been made among some there in the study of music. It was but natural, therefore, that Samson Occom, who is said to have been a good singer himself, and acquainted with music, being persuaded that his people would find greater pleasure in the spiritual songs which were then coming into general use, should conclude to prepare a collection in part for his Christian Indians. We judge that he received his impulse in this work during his visit to England. He was there associated with Rev. George Whitefield, who had a decided preference for such hymns. Moreover, he met there most of the hymn-writers of the time, some of them intimate friends of the Countess of Huntingdon. What influences must have surrounded him as he preached in the church at Northampton, where Philip Doddridge had ministered, or in John Wesley's foundry! He was entertained by John Newton of Olney, and by Thomas Gibbons, the biographer of Isaac Watts. It is certain that he preached in the pulpits of Martin Madan, Samuel Stennett, Edward Perronet, Benjamin Beddome and other well-known composers of hymns. The interest of the Indians in this subject may be presumed to have been known in England, as in 1767 Mr. Knap sent over to Doctor Wheelock some copies of his collection of tunes — one for Samuel Kirkland, and another for David Fowler, who were then among the Oneidas. He had named a new tune " Lebanon," in honor of the school. After Occom's return, and especially in 1772, he was studying hymns and hymn-books, a number of which he had doubtless brought from England, as they were used in the preparation of his own. Among these were the collections of Watts, Wesley, Whitefield, Lady Huntingdon, Madan, Mason, Cen- nick and Maxwell. Several collections were issued while he was there. His interest seems to have been known, for a OCCOM'S SERMON, HYMNS AND HYMN BOOK 1 79 composer wrote him thus: "Understanding that you know music, T here present you with upwards of six score tunes amongst which are several of the Modernest and some of the Pleasantest that are used in the Methodists."^ Probably he received other such gifts. Thus his interest in hymnology had been kindled by acquaintance with some of the masters. The title of his book declares that it is " Intended for the Edification of sincere Christians of all Denominations." In the preface, also, he says : " I have taken no small Pains to collect a number of choice Hymns, Psalms and Spiritual Songs from a number of Authors of different Denominations of Christians, that every Christian may be suited." How great an expectation he had that his book would come into general use, we do not know. He certainly issued it partly for his Christian Indians. The plan of removing them to Oneida w^as then in his mind. As he purposed to adopt and teach the English language, uniting the several tribes who still spoke their Indian dialects, he may have thought the hymn- book would aid him. The first edition was issued in 1774, the year of the attempted removal; the second in 1785, the year of its accomplishment; and the third in 1792, the year of his death, three weeks after the event was known in New London. Many copies of the first two editions must have been taken by the Indians, for they used this collection both before and after the removal to Oneida. The first notice we have of the book is in the Nezv Londo7i Gazette^ April i, 1774^ which makes the announcement that " Mr. Occom's Collection of Poems will be published on Wed- nesday next" — the 6th of April. In the issue of the same paper, April 8th, it is advertised as just published — "A choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs." The difference between the title under which it was announced and that of the title-page is to be noted. We are, at least, prepared to " Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers, Lett. Thos. Knibb to Occom, Feb. 8, 1768. l8o SAMSON OCCOM find, on a critical examination of the contents, that some of the hymns were his own composition.. All the editions, which are extremely scarce, have the same title ; but the third lacks the preface, and has a few unimportant "additions," probably made by the printer.^ Occom's name was afterwards asso- ciated with some editions of Joshua Smith's collection. An edition of this, perhaps the first, was printed in 1784 at Nor- wich, Conn., by Thomas Hubbard, and later the name of " Samson Ockum " appeared on the title-page with Joshua Smith. 1° A critical examination of this book shows that many hymns in it were taken from Occom's earlier collection. Some were, doubtless, then known as his composition. So far as we know he had nothing to do with the publication of this book, many editions of which were issued after his death. After the Brothertown Indians had made their second removal from New York to Wisconsin, one of their number, Thomas Commuck, issued the " Indian Melodies."" In this he gathered the tunes and hymns which were then in use among them, the harmony being furnished by Thomas Hast- ings. He states, in his preface, as one reason for issuing the 9(1) New-London; ..Timothy Green,.. M,DCC,LXXIV. 120 pp. iig. Con- gregational Library. Mass. Hist. Soc, New London Library, and Brinley Coll., No. 6022, $34. (2) New-London ; , . Timothy Green, .. M,DCC,LXXXV. 120 pp. 112. Conn. Hist. Soc., Hartford Theol. Sem., and Brinley Coll., No. 6023, $26. (3) New London ; Timothy Green and Son, M,DCC,XCH. 16° pp. )i2. Watkinson Lib. Hartford, Brinley Copy, No. 6024, J22. '0 Divine Hymns or Spiritual Songs for the use of Religious Assevihlies and Pri- vate Christiatis. Norwich, T. Hubbard, T7S4. [Brinley Coll., No. 6038.] Other edi- tions were issued at Norwich by Wni. Northrop, the 8th in 1797, the 9th in 1799 [Union Theol. Sem.], the nth in 1803 [Union Theol. Sem. J, and the 12th in 1811 [Watkinson Lib.] A so-called 6th edition was printed at Albany in 1804, said to be by "Joshua Smith, Samson Ockum and others." [Union Theol. Sem.] Other editions were printed at New London in iSoo, at Portland in 1803, and at Suffield in 1805. [Watkinson Lib.] 11 Indian Melodies^ by Thomas Commuck, a Narragansett India7t. Harmonized by Thomas Hastings, Esq. New York : Published by G. Lane & C. B Tippett, for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 200 Mulberry street. James Collord, Printer, 1845, oblong, pp. vi, 7-116. ^.%»-*>f**-<¥|>;-««***-' A CHOICE C O L L E C T I O N HYMNS Spiritual SONGS; Jnteuded for tlie Edification of fincere Chriftians, of all Denominations. SAMSON OCCOM, MINISTER OF THE G O S P E L. ' Both young Men and Maidens, old Men j-nd Chiidrcn— Praife the LORD. PSAL. CxLViii, 12, i^. N E W - L O N D O N : Print FD and Sold bv TIMOTHY GREEN a few Rods Weft of the Court-Hous£. ' M;DCC,LXXJV. INDIAN MELODIES OCCUM. L. M. 'f^=l -4^ ;^ESEEf:-3 -^i—z;-- -t-*— ^- ■»-h- m=^- 4=:*; IIeeeee =3i323^ :g3i iid^ 1^ ^^: ::d- ^ I ^ #-l — ^ #-jj ! 1--^ J— L^ J L^ ,; — 1 -^ ^- -25*—^- ^J?=P- =Ef:=E_t*'-: l^lils li -h=F: ^^^----^i^ ;^^=i •'5' ^0- f|: "r :j_:: :]=:j: i^ — ^ :=1: -if 1 ^-d 1-3 — :jt P i=H * -F=^ « h<^ • MONTAUK. S. M. 1-^-^: -.2-=^E:U^. -¥- :qi=jzzj; ■i^ — •- "^m a=i=d: :2: J=d=b=— 3 --!*- ^^=^p^si| :2 ^J^ :5--r *— :^E^^^^-^^ 91| ^1 (S^ <^- ► ^ m — M .^!^ ^" 3^3=.4 a) ^ :^=^=^: I i^ ^3^^, ■Z^ 2^- :=]=:1: * ^ 2^ E^u^^fe^^^^^P^^^ P -/^ — -^ ^_ :p=t: EE^P= t:=t=t: :fcEy=^: :^=d^=d: -c5'^ — rJiifl -s^ 2^- ^^ilEd^i #— ^ OLD INDIAN HYMN. C. M. Double. — I' :±ETr3=r:i=S;:lTrprJrprri=4i=q=ilirq-_;rpi^ZFZjr:rqzpqiT| i^e^^i^Eig^i^li^gi^ igEm^g^feE#li^|i^^^^ • - r'5' — •^ iS?5§liS^I§^:^i^i:^^^E :£t?=g- (5^- -•- (5'- i^m^ 'f=^ OCCOM'S SERMON, HYMNS AND HYMN BOOH l8l book, "That no son of the forest, to his knowledge, has ever undertaken a task of the kind ; " and he "begs to be excused for stepping a little aside from the path generally traveled by authors," who "wind up by declaring that if such and such an object has been secured they feel amply repaid for all their toils," and admitting frankly "that notwithstanding all other ends which may result from the publication of this work, his object is to make a little money." How he came out in this purpose, we do not know; but he has done a service in pre- serving some melodies which the Christian Indians had long been accustomed to sing. All the tunes bear Indian names. Those which are most characteristic are Quapaw, Montauk, Delaware, Ottoe, Wabash, Kickapoo, Susquehannah and Piankashaw. The "Old Indian Hymn" already referred to is a minor, as Indian tunes were apt to be, and may very liltely have been a favorite long used among the Indians of New England. An examination of the hymns in Samson Occom's collection reveals the fact, hitherto, we think, unknown, that there are a considerable number which are not found in earlier books, and are not noted, or are unassigned by hymnologists. The conclusion is that he was himself the author of such. Was not this probably the reason why the book was announced as " Mr. Occom's Collection of Poems " ? The collection con- tains one hundred and eight numbered hymns, with some doxologjes and graces. Of these the greater part are known as by Watts, Wesley, Madan and others. He undoubtedly took them from hymn-books which were at hand. As to the remainder, some, which are unclaimed by authors so far as we are aware, do not seem to exhibit his style of composition, while others have distinctly his earmarks in certain expres- sions. We give the first lines of a number of these, which must be assigned to Occom, unless other authorship is proven : " Lord, I confess my sin is great," " Weary of struggling with l82 SAMSON OCCOM my Pain," "The Prodigal's return'd," "Laden'd with guilt sinners arise," "Awake sad heart, whom sorrows drown," " Christ Jesus is the chiefest Good," " Now his the ever-rolling Year," " Behold that Splendor, hear the Shout," " Most gra- cious God of boundless Might," " O Sight of Anguish, view it near," " I bless the Lord, who gives his word," " Ye that seek the Lord, who dy'd," " Welcome, welcome, blessed Servant," "Behold Jesus Christ in the Clouds," "Hail thou happy Morn so glorious," "Come to Jesus, come away," " Hark ye Mortals, hear the Trumpet," " Why was unbelieving I," " By sin my God and all was lost," " Today Immanuel feeds his sheep," " Christ in that Night he was betray'd," " Farewell to my Pain and farewell to my Chain," "Lord from thy Throne of flowing grace," and "Blest be the God whose tender care." Six of these hymns are found in Joshua Smith's collection. Some of Occom's hymns have appeared in later hymn-books. It is, of course, possible that he supplied some hymns for collec- tions issued by others before his own, but we think not. All his hymns must be assigned to that period of despondency which followed his return from England. He has wrought his experience into them. We can easily imagine that he has expressed in some of them that peace which finally came with his victory, the joy he felt over the prodigal Johnson's return, and the evangelistic fervor of the awakening among his Chris- tian Indians. Several hymns, which are better known than those above noted, have been assigned to this Indian hymn-writer. One of these is on the suffering of Christ. Its first stanza is as follows : Throughout the Saviour's life we trace, NotHing but shame and deep disgrace, No period else was seen : Till he a spotless victim fell, Tasting in soul a painful hell, Caus'd by the creature's sin. OCCOJirS SERMON, HYMNS AND HYMN BOOK 1 83 This is surely Occom's composition. It is a good illustra- tion of his style, and is found in his collection, whence it was taken by Joshua Smith. In some later hymn-books it has " our " for '' the," or " I " for " we," in the first line. Another hymn with which he is credited is more familiar : Now the shades of night are gone, Now the morning light is come : Lord, we would be thine to-day, Drive the shades of sin away. The first appearance of this hymn was in the Hartford Col- lection in 1799. It is also found in the edition of Joshua Smith's collection, printed at Albany in 1804, which has Occom's name on the title-page. The Prayer Book collection of 1826 gave it extensive circulation, and it is still used. This hymn is, how- ever, quite unlike his style of thought and expression, and its authorship must remain in doubt. The most famous of Occom's hymns is that which begins with the line "Awaked by Sinai's awful sound," and many have wondered whether he indeed wrote it. We have now this fact in the foreground that he composed quite a number of other hymns. Its appearance several years after his death does not in any wise indicate that he was not the author, for we have reason to believe that he left some hymns among his manuscripts which had not been published and which he wrote after issuing his own book. This was probably thus brought to light. A perplexity has arisen from the fact that there are two versions of this hymn, both of which appeared, so far as known, about the same time. Students of hymnology have concluded that Occom wrote one of these, beginning "Wak'd by the gospel's pow'rful sound," and that 'the other was an attempt of some one else to improve this, the first line being changed to read " Awak'd by Sinai's awful sound." His own book does not contain either version. Joshua Smith's collection of 1804 has the former in eight stanzas, with some 184 SAMSOiV OCCOM alterations, as in the first line, "Wak'd by the gospel's joyful sound." In the Suffield edition of 1805, this modified version is found, and there are eleven stanzas, as also in Joshua Spalding's book, issued in 1805, "The Lord's Songs," where it is credited to Occom. The other version was soon recognized as better, and with some changes it passed into general use. Possibly the first version appeared earlier than 1801, but it was that year published in Josiah Goddard's "New and Beau- tiful Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs," printed by Thomas & Thomas, at Walpole, N. H. We give this in full : Wak'd by the gospel's pow'rful sound My soul in sin and thrall I found, Expos'd to endless woe; Eternal truth did loud proclaim, The sinner must be born again, Or down to ruin go. Surpriz'd indeed, I could not tell, Which way to shun the gates of hell, To which I 's drawing near ; I strove alas! but all in vain. The sinner must be born again, Still sounded in mine ears. Into the law then run for help, Eut still I felt the weight of guilt, And no relief 1 found ; While sin my burden'd soul did pain. The sinner must be born again. Did loud as thunder sound. God's justice now I did behold, And guilt lay dreadful on my soul, It was a heavy load : I read my bible, it was plain, The sinner must be born again. Or feel the wrath of God. I heard some speak how Christ did give Mis life, to let the sinner live, But him I could not see; OCCOM'S SERMON, HYMNS AND HYMN BOOK 1 85 This solemn truth did still remain, The sinner must be born again, Or dwell in misery. But as my soul with dying breath, Was gasping in eternal death, Christ Jesus I did see : Free grace and pardon he proclaim'd, I trust I then was born again. In gospel liberty. Not angels in the world above, Nor saints could glow with greater love Than what my soul enjoy'd; My soul did mount on faith its wing, And glory, glory, I did sing To Jesus my dear Lord. Now with the saints I '11 sing and tell, How Jesus sav'd my soul from hell, And praise redeeming love : Ascribe the glory to the Lamb; The sinner now is born again, To dwell with Christ above. * The other version of this hymn first appeared in The Con- necticut Evangelical Magazine for July. 1802, under the title "The New Birth,'' and was "communicated as original." It is as follows : Awak'd by Sinai's awful sound, My soul in guilt & thrall I found. And knew not where to go : O'erwhelm'd with sin, with anguish slain, The sinner must be born again, Or sink to endless woe. Amaz'd I stood, but could not tell. Which way to shun the gates of hell, For death and hell drew near; I strove indeed, but strove in vain, The sinner must be born again. Still sounded in mine ear. 1 86 SAAISOiV OCCOM When to the law I trembling fled, It pour'd its curses on my head, I no relief could find ; This fearful truth renew'd my pain, The sinner must be born again, And whelm'd my tortur'd mind. Again did Sinai's thunders roll, And guilt lay heavy on my soul, A vast, unwieldy load ; Alas! I read, and saw it plain. The sinner must be born again, Or drink the wrath of God. The saints I heard with rapture tell, How Jesus conquer'd death and hell. And broke the fowler's snare; Yet when I found this truth remain, The sinner must be born again, I sunk in deep despair. But while I thus in anguish lay, Jesus of Nazareth past that way. And felt his pity move; The sinner by his justice slain. Now by his grace is born again. And sings redeeming love. To heaven the joyful tidings flew. The angels tun'd their harps anew. And loftier notes did raise; All hail the Lamb, who once was slain ; Unnumber'd millions born again Will shout thine endless praise. The arrangement of this hymn now in use has altered this version in many lines ; but one can easily see that what may be called the motive remains. Occom's stamp is certainly upon this hymn. It is in his favorite meter, the expressions are his and the theme, so ingeniously wrought into each stanza, was the most prominent in his ministry. We have not occonrs sermon, hymns and hymn book 187 the slightest doubt that the solution of the hymnologists' per- plexity is that both versions were written by Occom. He was accustomed to rewrite and make alterations, as his manu- scripts show, several varying copies of the same letter or docu- ment being extant. The second version was made after the first to improve it, and perhaps there were originally more stanzas than have survived. After his death his papers were scattered. Both versions might thus quite naturally find their way into print, and one be "communicated as original" to the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine. There is nothing in either so superior as to be beyond the powers of Samson Occom. Some stanzas in his other hymns are better; but none of them indicates that he was a gifted poet or above the average hymn- writer of his day. The field in which he is now best known is one in which he has deserved distinction far less than in many others. He was greater as a missionary, as a wise leader among his people and as the founder of a tribe which attempted a self-government unique in our American history. Still, this hymn has served as his memorial. It has brought him to the mind of many a singer, though more perhaps have sung it in ignorance of its Indian authorship. Among white worshipers it has now grown old and is passing away. The Christian Indians of many tribes, however, esteem it still a favorite, as if it were a message of the Great Spirit through one of their prophets ; and in the homes of the once famous Iroquois, to whom he carried the Gospel, they sing in a strange and failing tongue : Neh' ogyet' he ni yut gaih' nih No ya nes hal/ Na wen ni' yuh'; Agi' vva neh' a goh : Deh'agega ha ga deh' gwat, Neh' dyu' i wah ha jo' na gaad Neh goi' wa neh' a goh. CHAPTER XI SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 1717-1776 The Indian tribes of southern New England had been gen- erally gathered from a wandering life to dwell on reservations early in the eighteenth century. Old tribes were in course of time broken up, their lands sold and the remnant absorbed in one of these communities. Maintenance by hunting was no longer possible and the Indian's interest in agriculture was confined to a few acres of corn. Some relief was granted them from time to time by the colonies ; but its effect was temporary and rarely beneficial. These changed conditions made the Indian's existence more of a burden than it had been in the free life of his fathers. Corruptions were bred in his restricted associations. Intemperance, licentiousness and disease all claimed him as a victim ; and the later colonial wars, in which many of their hardiest men served, left numer- ous widows and orphans to struggle with multiplying miseries. Yet in the midst of all the evils which were silently wasting away the race, there was at work a force making for the sur- vival of the fittest. In every tribal center there were some who had received an education at the Indian school, or had been subjects of Christianizing influences or were naturally above the average in frugality, industry and ambition. These had come to be termed in a general way Christian Indians. Without any knowledge of scieijtific theories, but with the practical foresight of a statesman, Samson Occom saw what would surely befall his people, if they continued in their ances- tral homes surrounded by the whites. This was the reason 188 SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 1 89 why he originated the plan of gathering into one tribe the better Indians and removing westward to start anew in a more favorable environment. Ere we consider the development of this design, we should review the work done preparatory thereto in the several Indian settlements. The history of civilization in these communities dates naturally from the year 1717, when the Connecticut General Assembly passed an act, as already noted, in which reservation life had its beginning. A new interest in the Indians followed this important measure. It is evident, however, that religious work among the Indians did not get well under way until 1732. Thereafter it never lacked friends in the Connecticut colony. The government itself became the patron of Indian missions. This revived interest reached a climax in 1736, when the General Assembly at its May session passed an act directing "That at the next publick Thanksgiving that shall be appointed in this Colony, there shall be a contribution attended in every ecclesiastical society or parish in this gov- ernment, and that the money that shall be raised thereby shall be improved for the civilizing and christianizing of the Indian natives in this Colony." This gave an impulse to the work by bringing it to the attention of every congregation. Although it was continued in a few places after the Revolu- tion, that political and social upheaval wrought desolation. When the people had recovered from this conflict it was found that there were only a few Indians left in any of their reserva- tions. The strength of the Connecticut tribes died in the cause of liberty ! One of the largest and most influential of these settle- ments was at Misquamicut, or Charlestown, R. I. Here in the eighteenth century the sachems of Ninegret's line reigned over the remnants of the Eastern Niantics and Narragansetts, which latter name they commonly bore. These Indians may have had occasional missionary visitations before 172 1 ; but 190 SAMSON OCCOM in that year the " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in P'oreign Parts" — the sectarian society of the Church of Eng- land — sent Rev. James McSparran to minister over St. Paul's church at Narragansett. Thp intention was that he should labor with both the English and the Indians. In Henry Caner's tract on "A Candid Examination of Dr. Mayhew's Observations," one of a series relating to the conduct of this society, there is an important paragraph on this effort: At Charlestown in the Narragansett (R. I ) an attempt was made by this Society to establish a mission for the benefit of the English and the tribe of Indians in that neighborhood (at that time about 400) to which attempt the Indians were [so] well disjjo-ed, by the labours of Dr. Macsparran, a neighboring missionary, that the Sachem gave a piece of ground to erect a church upon and a considerable quantity of land besides for a glebe. Accordingly a church was set up and the laudable design in a promising way, when one Mr. Parks was sent thither to give a check to the attempt, who by drawing off a party and kindling a spirit of enthusiasm among both English and Indians in that town totally disappointed and frustrated the design. 1 The facts were about as here stated. Dr. McSparran did missionary service with some success under the favor of Charles Ninegret, who gave twenty acres of land in 1727 "for the erecting thereon a house for worship, according to the form of the church of England." A small church was at that time built, though it was not until January 14, 1745-46, that the land was actually conveyed, with twenty acres more for a glebe, by George Ninegret, the succeeding sachem. It was a wooden structure, situated on the Champlin farm, north of the post-road, and about half a mile from the sachem's house.^ i"A Candid Examination, etc." [Henry Caner] Boston, 1763, p. 45. For other pamphlets on this controversy, see Brinley Catalogue, No. 6165. 2 After the failure of this enterprise the property was held by the Champlin family by right of possession. In 1765 the Indians complained of their sachem because " about forty acres of their land granted to the Royal Society for a church of England, he suffers Col. Champlin or some of his family to keep possession of and occupy it without the least banefit to the Society, or the church or the Indians." [A^. K Arch., MSS., Sir IVm. Johnson, XXiV, 251.] The Cliamplin place passed SEVEIV SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 191 This was known as " The Church of England in Charles- town ; " but no church organization ever existed there, the whites who attended being communicants of the Narragansett church. It was only a preaching station for Dr. McSparran, which he ceased to visit probably about 1748.^ Indians attended there in considerable numbers for ten years ; but the work declined when a minister came who could live among them. The commissioners of the " Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England," meeting at Boston, June i, 1732, had before them a request for a minister in Westerly, pre- sented in a letter from Colonel John Coddington of Newport. It was decided to send Joseph Park, and he removed thither with his family the following year. He was pledged to labor under the society for five years " as a missionary to the Indians and such English as would attend." Action was immediately taken toward building a meeting-house, under an agreement that the Indians should have one half of it assigned to them and the society would defray one half of the expense. This edifice was located about five miles west of the Episcopal church, on the same road, and on land then belonging to Colonel Joseph Stanton, the prime mover in the affair. It was completed in 1734, and cost about ;i{^2oo.^ Mr. Park lived near and opened a school for Indians in his family. The work made encouraging progress for a time, especially under the religious influences abroad in 1740, and undoubt- to Robert Hazard and later to James McDonald. The church gradually went to decay and the frame was used in building a house near the spot, in the ruins of which the ancient timbers could be seen in 1896. 3 Updike's Hist, of the Narragansett C/nirch, pp. 512, 513 ; Westerly and Its Wit- nesses, Rev. Frederic Denison, Prov. 1878, p. 76; Hist. Sketch of the Toivn of Charlestown, W. F. Tucker, Westerly, 1877, p. 63 ; Letter Book of Rev. James MacSparran, Rev. Daniel Goodwin, Ph. D., pp. 34, yj, 138-141. * This meeting-house stood until late in the century. It was within the present limits of Westerly, on the James Ross place, the spot being indicated by a small graveyard near by. Here are the graves of Rev. Joseph Park, who died March i, 1777, and his wife, Abigail, who died October 19, 1772. 192 SAMSON OCCOM edly drew the Indians from the Episcopal church. On the 5th of May, 1742, a church was formed and Mr. Park was or- dained to the pastorate August thirteenth following, at a salary of ;^i2o. During the next two years " more than sixty Indians became members " of this Presbyterian or Congregational church. Among them was one, Samuel Niles, who seems to have been named after the white minister of South Kingstown. A small schoolhouse was built for the Indians before 1745 on Colonel Stanton's land, and everything seemed to promise well for the Christianizing of the tribe. This Congregational church, however, was divided during the Separatist excitement. In 1746 the Indians who were infected with such notions drew off, and the prospect of Mr. Park's usefulness there being gone the commissioners discon- tinued their support, September 17, 1748. President Stiles on one of his tours met Samuel Niles, and had from his lips an account of what followed : May 8, 1772. This forenoon I was visited by Samuel Niles an Indian of the Narragansett. Ot 66. He told me that he was formerly a coniunicant in Mr. Parks Congreg^ Chh in Westerly where he was baptized by sprin- kling. Here he was dealt with for exhorting in the Congregation, upon which he and about a hundred Indians withdrew, i. e. the chief body of the Narr. Tribe wh was xtianized. They built a new meeting house 25 ft sq and spontaneously gathered themselves, above 20 brethren in number into a chh or agreed to walk together as such. Mr. Stephen Babcock, a Deacon of Mr. Park's chh had also separated & became an Elder among the Sepa- ratists — a mixture of Baptists & Pedobaptists & was ordained I think by some bap elders. There was a Indian from Groton of the Remnants of the Pequot Tribe who came & preached at Narra^ and he was by the Laying [on] of hands of Elder Babcock & others ordained Elder of this Indian chh — his name was James Simon or Simon James. But about half a dozen B'' adhering to him, he & his adherents met in a private house — to these he administered bap"^ & t Ld supper 3 or 4 yrs & then removed. At the same time Sami Niles carried on in the Meeting House & at length about 15 brethren who refused Simon united & called Samuel. But none even of the Separate Elders wd ordain him, the chh chose & app' 3 breih Indians to ordain him. They began exercises about noon & cont to sunset. The 3 breth laid on Hands on Sam^ Niles & one of them, viz Wm Choise or SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 1 93 Cohoize or Oc-Hoyze prayed over him & gave him the charge of that Flock, during which such a Spirit was outpoured & fell upon them (as he expresses it) that m5ny others of the Cong" prayed aloud & lift n\> their hearts with prayers & Tears to G*^. This cont^ a long time, half an hour or near an hour. The white pple present taking this for confusion were disgusted & went away. Afterwards they sang & were dismissed. Ever since he has ministered there in holy things, preach? baptizing &c. He himself was bap afores'd time & this was by plunging & I think by an Indian not an Elder. Yet he holds it indifferent & it was agreed that Bap or Pedobap principles sh'd be no Term of Comunion. Accdly Saml bap both Tnf & adults, latter by spk or plung, as they wish. lie Has now Ninety Ind* Communicants in chh at Narr to whom he breaks bread once a mo. He also breaks b'd to 2 other Cong* one at Groton and another at Mohegan. For tho Mr. Occom preaches there & has been long ordained yet he has not administered the ordinances since his Fall. Samuel Niles cannot read. It seems extraordinary that such an one should be a Pastor. He is how- ever acquainted with the Doctrines of the Gospel and an earnest, zealous man & perhaps does more good to the Indians than any White man could do. He is of an unblameable life as to Morals & sobriety. He has very great influence over the Indians^ We have further information in a report made by Rev. Joseph Fish of North Stonington to the commissioners in 1764, in which he says of the Indians, "They left Park's meeting about the time that Deacon Babcock fell off from the standing chh, about 19 or 20 years ago, & were for some time under the instruction of Babcock a separate Baptist teacher, till most of them took offense at his conduct in ordaining an Indian over y"' y* wa'nt agreeable to y* Body of y® tribe, upon which some of y'' Indian Brethren (as I am informed) not in any office took & ordained one Samuel Niles their Pastor & he has been their minister ever since, preaching, administering the Lord's Supper, baptizing and marrying."^ These extracts recover the history of the famous Indian church in Charlestown. It appears that about 1745 the New Light party and the Indians separated from Mr. Park's church ; 5 Stilcy MSS., Yale College, Diary III, 89. •' Conn. Hist. Soc, hidian Pafers^'Ltlt. of Fish. J4 194 SAMSON OCCOM that both were for a time under the care of Mr. Stephen Bab- cock, and that he then ordained James Simons over the Indians, thereby creating a division among them which resulted in the ordination of Samuel Niles. Mr. Babcock was himself installed over his party, called the " Hill Church," April 4, 1750." The Indians built a rude wooden meeting-house twenty-five feet square which stood near the center of their tract, and on this spot the present Indian church was erected in 1859— a stone edifice, twenty-eight feet wide and forty feet long. In their first meeting^iouse Rev. Samuel Niles ministered for many years and certainly until the year 1776. Samson Occom also occasionally preached there on his tours ; so also did Samuel Ashbow, whom McClure heard there in 1768. It is said that Samuel Niles was "in his day one of the most eminent Indian preachers in America." Rev. Joseph Fish wrote of him thus : '"This Niles whom I have known some years is a sober, reli- gious man, of good sense and great fluency of speech and [I] know not but a very honest man. Has a good deal of the Scriptures by heart & professes a regard for the Bible. But his unhappiness is this he cannot read a w^ord." '^ As above stated he occasionally preached at Groton and Mohegan. He was for years a councilor of the Narragansett Indians and prominent in the defense of their land claims.'-^ In the census of 1 76 1 his age is given as 60 years and he then had a son and a daughter. He was succeeded in the ministry by another Indian, John Sekatur, a useful and good man ; and he by Moses Stanton, ordained March 17, 1823. The latter toiled faithfully, but the tribe were fading away, and about 1844 he went to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he died. Aaron ' Backus' Hist, of New Englani, i^7i> !> 347) 348, II, 510, 511. ^ Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers, Lett, of Fish. This Indian. Samuel Niles, is sometimes confounded with the white }ninister of the same name who never had anything to do with this Indian church. Denison's Westerly and Its Witnesses^ p. So. '■^A Statement of the Case of the Narragansett Tribe of Indians, by James N. Arnold, Newport, 1S96. SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 195 Sekatur was the last minister, ordained about 1858, and a well-known exhorter in his day. This church has long been of the Freewill Baptist' order, with a leaning toward Adventist views; but only a few now remain, aged and scattered. In 1784 there were about fifty members, in 1827, ninety-three, and in 1877, about forty. Once a year, in the month of August, the remnant of the tribe gather at the meeting-house, now isolated in the midst of miles of growing woodland, and on a festival day remember the bygone years. Back of the church is their burial-ground, now almost lost to view in the brush, where rest the dead of many generations. After the separation, for some years, these Indians were without a school. In 1764 Rev. Joseph Fish made a visita- tion among them, saw the necessity and influenced them to petition the commissioners of the missionary society for a schoolmaster. Edward Deake was sent and began teach- ing there June 3, 1765. That autumn he set about building a schoolhouse, which was to be "40 feet long and 16 wide," "one story with a Strait Roof and ye Chimney in ye middle with two Smokes." One end was to be fitted up as a tene- ment for the schoolmaster, with a cellar underneath. The commissioners were to furnish boards, nails and glass, and the Indians were to do the work. It was several years, how- ever, before this structure was completed, for the commission- ers declined to furnish the funds until the land was conveyed to them. This was not until January 5, 1770.^^^ Meanwhile Deake went on at his own risk and the bills were afterwards paid by the society. This schoolhouse was situated on a knoll north of Cockumpaug Pond, about one half mile from the Indian church ; and it is said to survive to this day in the club-house now on the spot. Rev. Joseph Fish, who was put i^Charlestown Records, Deed from Queen Esther; R. I. Col. Rec, vi, 534; Conn. Hist. Soc. Indian Papers ; MS. Rec. Soc. for Prop. Cos. ; and Wheelock Papers, Lett. Fish to Whitaker, July 30, 1766. 196 SAMSON OCCOM in charge of the work, lectured in it once a month for several years. .The school prospered. In 1765 there were seventy- three Indian families on the reservation, with one hundred and fifty-one children of school age, of whom about half were pupils. A division arose among them as to the schoolmaster in the course of time, and finally, in 1776, Deake was dismissed. Many of the Indians went into the war and from that time the settlement declined. Here some of Wheelock's Indian pupils lived, and this tribe furnished more families than any other in the emigration to Oneida. The Pequot tribe next engages our attention. Since the Pequot war they had been divided into two clans. One, under Wequash Cook, or Hermon Garret, was settled in 1683 on a tract of two hundred and eighty acres in North Stonington, three miles from the meeting-house. The other, under Cas- sasinamon, sometimes called Robin, removed in 1667 from Nawyonk on the seashore to a reservation of two thousand acres, called Mushantuxet, after 1705 in Groton, but now within the town of Ledyard, Conn. The former were some- times called the Stonington Indians and the latter were com- monly styled the Groton Pequots. So early as 1657 Rev. Richard Blinman of New London was invited to become a missionary among the Pequots, and though he declined the engagement he may have done some service among them. The commissioners the same year engaged Mr. William Thompson "in theire labours and Indeauors to Instruct the Indians therabouts resideing especially Robin and his com- panie." He began the work in 1659, laboring to some extent among both clans and being assisted by Thomas Stanton as interpreter; but after three years he discontinued it. Other early attempts were made to provide a missionary and to edu- cate English youth as schoolmasters, for which purpose they engaged John Miner and Thomas and John Stanton. All these early efforts came to nothing. The visits of Rev. Experience SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OE CHRISTIAN INDIANS 1 97 Mayhew were not followed up with zeal. It was not until the general beginning of missionary work in southern New Eng- land in the next century that any positive good was accom- plished. In 1734 Mr. Peabody of Natick visited the Groton Indians, and on his advice, supported by Rev. Eliphalet Adams of New London, who began lecturing among them that year, the commissioners voted that if the Groton [Ledyard] minister would take the Indians under his care and assign them a place in the meeting-house, he should be remunerated for his ser- vices. This plan was not fully carried out, though Dr. Adams' son William, who was then supplying this church, labored for a year among the Indians. There were then on the reserva- tion about one hundred. At this time a school was estab- lished and possibly a schoolhouse was built. Here at least Benjamin Larrabee and John Morgan taught for various terms. In 1749 Rev. Jacob W. Johnson became the minister and dur- ing his years he lectured some and exercised a general relig- ious supervision over the Indians. The best work there w^as done by Indian teachers. Samuel Ashbow was both school- master and preacher from 1753 to 1757, and he was succeeded by Samson Wauby. Afterwards one Hugh Sweetingham taught for a time. He who did the best work among them was Jacob Fowler, the brother-in-law of Samson Occom. His term of service began in the winter of 1770 and continued to Novem- ber, 1774, when he was engaged as tutor in Dartmouth Col- lege. He also preached in a humble way there and among the Stonington Indians. Rev. Joseph Fish in writing Governor Trumbull, in 1776, to recommend Fowler for government serv- ice, said " He approved himself both skillful & faithful in his business and recommended himself to the esteem and respect of all his acquaintance by an inoffensive &: exemplary be- havior both in ye civil and christian life." After him Abraham Simons, another of Wheelock's pupils, taught the school until the Revolution broke it up. Fowler's salary at first was £\2 198 SAMSON OCCOM a year, but he had some assistance from the Indians. The condition of these Pequots was inferior to that in some other settlements. They lived mostly within a square mile and their land was poor. So many, of the men went into the Colonial wars that they were almost left a tribe of widows. No church ever existed among them, as they attended with the whites. In their schoolhouse, however, they had services for the Indians, and there Jacob Fowler, Samuel Ashbow, Samuel Niles and Samson Occom preached ; the latter very near to them and the bishop of the flock. There were in this settlement in 1725, 322 souls, who were reduced to 176 in 1762. President Stiles' census the latter year gives 140 souls — 16 families, seven living in houses and nine in wig- wams. Rev. Jacob W. Johnson made a list in 1766, and found 164 souls, of whom eighty-eight were children under sixteen years. The Indians of Stonington were indebted to two neighbor- ing ministers for the best religious influences and care. These were Rev. Nathaniel Eelis of Stonington, whose ministry ex- tended from 1733 to 1786, and Rev. Joseph Fish, pastor at North Stonington from 17.32 to 1781. During his early years Mr. Eells lectured to the Indians, visited them and performed such other service as they needed ; but later they were espe- cially under the supervision of Mr. Fish, whose church was only three miles away. A few were members of these churches. So early as 1738 the Indian children were gathered into a school with the whites, the commissioners allowing one shil- ling a week for the instruction of each. Mr. Fish in 1757 wrote the society some account of their condition, in which he said they had increased by accessions during the past six years from eight families to sixteen, seventy-one persons, of whom twenty-one were children of school age. At that time he revived his efforts among them, lecturing once a fortnight. An Indian school was also established. Edward Nedson, an In- SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 199 dian, began to teach it in his own house February 22, 1758, a room being fitted up for the purpose. This Indian continued faithful in this service until his death, September i, 1769. He is said to have been honest, prudent and useful. His widow would not permit the school to be kept in her house there- after, and in 1772 the commissioners voted to build a school- house; but the school had seen its prosperous days. Among these Indians also Samson Occom ministered as he went to and fro. Some of them were well advanced in civilization. The next Indian settlement to be considered is Niantic, where the western branch of that tribe lived. They had a small reservation of about 300 acres in the eastern part of Lyme. In 1734 the commissioners at Boston considered -the establishment of a school there. The matter was referred to Messrs. Mason and Adams, who reported adversely because the Indians, then in a heathen state, were hostile to it on account of the ill treatment they had received in reference to their lands. Thereupon Rev. George Griswold of East Lyme and Rev. Jonathan Parsons of Lyme petitioned the General Assembly in their behalf for justice and the Indians became more favorably disposed. A school was begun in 1736, through the instrumentality of the colony, and Governor Talcott wrote of it the year following, " Our School of Indians at Niantik prospers." Then came the religious awakening. The Lyme ministers became greatly interested in the natives, visiting them, lecturing in their settlement, and gathering them to their own church services. Bibles and Psalters were dis- tributed and they were taught to read. Thirteen were received into the East Lyme church, and Mr. Griswold was the faithful friend of the tribe until his death in 1761. The school was revived in 1742, and Reuben Ely became the teacher. He was followed by George Dorr. In 1749 David Latham was engaged and he continued in service down to the Revolution. To him and Mr. Griswold the enlightened condition of these 200 SAMSON OCCOM Indians was due. They had no church organization or sepa- rate meeting-house. Their schoolhouse had a histor\'. It had been built by Gideon Quequawcom and was known as "Gideon's mantion house." Its location was within "ye middle hundred acres." In 1757 this was in the possession of Joseph and Hannah Piancho, and on March i8th they con- veyed it to the commissioners with the land for use as a school- house. Here all their Indian meetings were held, and Samuel Ashbow, Samson Occom and others preached. Philip Cuish was a Baptist minister of this tribe, a pious and intelligent man. He also did some ministerial service among this people, and perhaps more honor is due him than w'e have knowledge of. He died in 1780, and some of his descendants removed to the^Oneida settlement. This tribe had in the year 1725, 163 souls; in 1734, 150; in 1774, 104; in 1783,80; in 1830, 17 and in 1849, ^° — such was their decline. We cannot w^onder at it, for they furnished eleven soldiers for the Louisburg expe- dition, eighteen in the war of 1755, and a number in the Revo- lution. Most of the families lived in a village, which was not far from Black Point. In 1761 President Stiles found there eleven houses and seven wigwams. ^^ The Tunxis Indians at Farmington had a very important part in the emigration. The English took them under their care when they first bought the lands in that valley. A reser- vation was then made for them on what was called Indian Neck, and they subsequently acquired other lands so that they had about the middle of the eighteenth century 260 acres. During these early years the Indian children were received ^^ Stiles MSS., Yale College, Itin. 1,425. A sketch of George Waukeets wigwam is here given by President Stiles. Its ground plan was elliptical. The fire was in the center and on three sides around it were sleeping places. On the fourth side were two doors some feet apart. Seven persons could lie comfortably in it. Its longest diameter was 13 feet, lo^/^ inches, its shortest 9 feet, 9!^ inches, and its height was 9 feet, 4 inches. The Indians preferred wigwams for the summer and usually stripped them of their covering and left the poles standing from season to season. SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 20I into the town school, but education did not thrive among them. In 1732 interest in them was revived. Rev. Samuel Whitman then began labors among them, instructing them during the following winter with such success "that a number were brought to attend his ministry on Lord's days," for which he received ;^5 from the missionary society. He also brought the matter to the attention of Governor Talcott, who used his influence to perfect an arrangement whereby the commis- sioners paid for the Indian pupils in the English school. A number were then attendants. Particular interest was excited in a youth about eighteen years of age, named John Mattawan, who had shown himself desirous of obtaining sufficient educa- tion to become a minister to his people. They clothed him after the English fashion, providing therefor a " Homespun Coat, Jacket and Breeches, two Shirts, Stockings, Shoes and Hat." This was in May, 1733, and he continued under instruction, particularly of Mr. Whitman, until 1737, when he became himself the schoolmaster among the Indians, doing also some preaching. The Indians themselves built a rude schoolhouse for the purpose. The number of pupils had then increased from the "nine Indian lads" who attended in 1733, of whom Whitman wrote May 27, 1734, "3 can read well in a testament, 3 currantly in a psalter and 3 are in their primers." Governor Talcott gave the following account of Mattawan's school in a letter, January 30, 1737-38, "Our School at Farm- ingtown the last sumer under the tuetion of John Tawump [?] the Indian Christian hath made very good progress, the lesser children I have ordered to be schooled at ye English schole, and boarded by the English, all at the expence of this Coloney, as they have been several winters past." ^^ John Mattawan drops out of notice in 1748, and is believed to have died that year. He did a good work in laying the foundations 12 Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll.., V, 39; Conn. Col. Rec, VII, 102, 471, 491, 509; VIII, 6, 37- 202 . SAMSON OCCOM of education and religion in the tribe. In 1751 Mr. Whitman died ; and although his successor, Rev. Timothy Pitkin, main- tained an interest in the Indians and some youth attended the English school, the work for a time declined. The original Tunxis stock had nearly died out before this work began. In the year 1725 there w^ere only about fifty Indians in the town. But about the middle of that century they received accessions from the Quinnipiacs of East Haven and the Wangunks of Middletow^n. Most prominent among the former was Adam, whose children and grandchildren, under the name Adams, were strong supporters of the emigration movement. James Wowowous and David ,Towsey were either of the Wangunk tribe or had married among them, as they claimed rights in Middletown lands in 1762. The youth of these families obtained an education in the Farmington school. These additions revived the strength of the tribe, and they made decided advances in civilization. Some of them became exemplary Christians, among them Solomon Mossuck, who joined the Farmington church in June, 1763, and his wife, Eunice, who joined in September, 1765. We turn on now to a later period which greatly affected the future of this tribe. The story picks up the thread of Joseph Johnson's life. After his radical reformation, as related, he entered with zeal into missionary work among the Indians. Occom had occasionally visited the Christian Indians at Farm- ington. In the hut of Solomon Mossuck, the foremost in such matters, he held services at many an evening hour. Possibly it was thus ihat Johnson was directed. thither. On the 15th of November, 1772, he began work there as schoolmaster and preacher. His school w-as kept in a small log house situated on the Indian lands then known as the " West Woods." A number of Indian children were at once gathered. Every Sunday he assembled the tribe for worship, and some of his sermons then preached are still preserved by the Connecticut SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 203 Historical Society. He was under the pay of the commis- • sioners at Boston and the supervision of Rev. Timothy Pitkin. His salary was ;^2o a year. On the 2d of December, 1773, he was married by Rev. Ephraim Judson of Norwich to Tabitha, the daughter of Samson Occom, and they established a home among the Indians. Probably it was through a visit of Olive Occom to her sister that she became the wife of Solomon Adams, a grandson of Adam the Quinnipiac. Johnson continued in this field until the summer of 1774, when he was ordained at Hanover, N. H., on the twenty-fifth of August, in the expectation of undertaking a westward mission. Many of the Tunxis Indians felt his influence. Converts were made under his ministry, and possibly some sort of a covenant organ- ization was effected. After his departure these fires were kept alive by Samson Occom on his visits thither until most of the tribe removed to Stockbridge, Mass., or to the Oneida settlement. The people of Farmington have erected in their cemetery a monument to these early inhabitants; but the grave of one most deserving of honor is not there. Near the railway station, on the left of the road leading up from the meadows as it turns southward, on the wooded hill are some Indian graves. There probably John Mattawan's schoolhouse stood, and there sleep the Christian Indians who died in their native valley, and among them is a neglected •grave whose stone bears the epitaph, "In Memory of Solomon Mossuck who died January 25th 1802. Aged 78 years." We have already an acquaintance with the missionary labors at Montauk, L. I. — the sixth Indian settlement con- cerned in the emigration. After David Fowler left the Oneida mission in 1767 he was employed at Montauk as schoolmaster by the commissioners of the missionary society. His term dates from their vote to that effect, December 29, 1767. He had a salary of only ^15 a year, and as his family was increas- ing, his father being in feeble health, it became necessary for 204 SAMSON OCCOM him to devote much time to agriculture and fishing. His father's house burned also and he lost all his property. In consequence there was some complaint that he neglected the school, and in 1770 he was succeeded by David Hannibal, who was given ^20 a year. Here, however, David Fowler continued to live until he took up the pioneer work of the emigration. It will be noted that Mohegan was about in the center of these Indian settlements — a convenient place for Samson Occom to live. He was not under the commission of any missionary society; but he was in a sense the missionary of all the tribes of southern New England. He frequently, also, journeyed abroad, to Boston, Providence, New York and Philadelphia, and incidentally did much to keep the interest in the Indians alive. We are about to leave Mohegan, and it may not be amiss to look on into its future that the reader may have its completed story. It sometimes happens, in the history of missions, that a new shoot is grafted into a stem of an older stock. So it was at Mohegan. Years passed, and the Indians of Samson Occom's generation were gathered in the tribal burial-place on the bluff overlooking the Thames. Isaiah Uncas, Wheelock's pupil, died April 6, 1770, and the sachemship became extinct. The aged co*uncilor, Zachary Johnson, of whom so many inci- dents are related, died in 1789. Rev. Samuel Ashbow, who continued to live at Mohegan after the emigration and whose four sons, Samuel, Simeon, James and John, perished in the Revolution, was at length released from his labors in 1795. A few of Occom's descendants lingered thereabouts for some years. His house stood on the hillside still, a monument of the olden time, whither visitors occasionally came to view it, and among them the Connecticut antiquary, Barber, to make a pencil sketch of it. One only of the old Christian stock remained in 1827 — Lucy Tantaquidgeon, the aged sister of SEVEN SETTLEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS 205 Samson Occom. She was the only Indian church-member on the reservation, and, in the phrase of Father Gleason, " a new life was grafted in upon her." The division of lands dating from Aug. 5, 1782, had made it possible for many to drift away, although this tribe, more than almost any other of New England, retained a love for the ancestral home. So the Mohegans had gradually diminished and come into a condition of deplorable neglect. In 1827, however, Miss Sarah L. Huntington of Norwich, with charac- teristic missionary zeal, awakened an interest in them.^^ A Sabbath-school was first opened in Occom's house, which she and her friends taught. On the Fort Hill farm, the land being given by the daughter and granddaughter of Occom's sister, a small chapel was erected in 183 1, costing about $700, which was mostly provided by ladies of the neighboring towns. This event Mrs. Sigourney commemorated in her lines : Lo ! where a savage fortress frown'd Amid your blood-cemented ground, A hallowed dome, with peaceful claim, ^ Shall bear the meek Redeemer's name. At the foot of the hill southward, which probably had been the site of the ancient schoolhouse, a week-day school was established, and near by a parsonage was built in 1832, with funds provided by the United States government, which also granted $400 annually for the salary of a teacher. Here Rev. Anson Gleason, who had been a teacher among the Choctaws, settled in the spring of 1832. A Congregational church was formed that year, and in 1835 Mr. Gleason was ordained as the minister. Here he remained until 1848, known in all the region round about as " Father Gleason." He was a remark- 13 On this movement see : Memoirs of Mrs. Sarah L. HiDitingtoii Sviith ; De Forest's Indians of Cottticcticut, pp. 482-489; The Bostonia1^,^\?^vc\\, \?>c)^, p. 676 ff ; Barber's Conn. Hist. Collections, pp. 33S-340 ; Contributions to the Ecc. Hist, of Cotin., pp. 427, 428 ; and a newspaper, The Uncas Momitncnt, 1S42. 2o6 " SAMSON OCCOM able man in his place, of a winning personality and sincere devotion, well adapted to such missionary labors. His mem- ory is revered to this day among the few remaining Mohegans. Other ministers followed him. A fund was given by the good woman who established this work for its maintenance, which others have added to, so that it now amounts to $3,500, and the income is employed by the trustee, H. R. Bond, Esq., of New London, in watching over the religious interests of those Indians and whites who still worship in the remodeled chapel on the hill. Lucy Tantaquidgeon, who was born about the time the Mohegans emerged from heathenism, witnessed all the changes, struggles and labors of a century; and, preserv- ing to an extraordinary age the pious impressions which her mother had made upon her in childhood and her distinguished brother had deepened in maturer life, she at last fell asleep. CHAPTER xrr THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 1771-1776 The Indian Charity School having been established at Han- over, its founder, Doctor Wheelock, would gladly have revived his friendly relations with the Western tribes, but it was impos- sible. He had long been supplanted there by Samuel Kirk- land, the most successful white missionary of his time. Still, the father could not forget his children. Hoping to cultivate the good seed he had sown in the Oneida country, he proposed in a letter to Samson Occom, January 22, 1771, that he and David Fowler should remove thither with their families and become teachers among the Six Nations, promising them the same sup- port given for that service among the seashore tribes. At the time this proposition could not be accepted ; but it may have suggested to Occom, already solicitous in regard to the future of the Indians in New England, the larger plan for the emigra- tion of all the Christian Indians. Surely the design was a de- velopment in the mind of Samson Occom and new features were added as other reasons for it were presented. As finally matured, it included the seven settlements of Indians which had come to be associated in missionary operations, viz., those at Charlestown, Groton, Stonington, Niantic, Farmington, Montauk and Mohegan. This movement is sometimes referred to as an emigration of seven tribes. It was not. There was no expectation that all of any tribe or in any settlement would remove. Only those who had been drawn together by Christian influences at first thought of it, though provision was afterwards made, necessarily, for such as desired to join them. The earliest idea seems to have been to improve their own 207 208 SAMSON OCCOM condition by a removal from the corrupting influences about them. They also needed lands of larger extent and better quality than they then possessed. It had come about, through the clever dealings of the whites, that there were very few acres in any of these settlements well adapted to agriculture. If they must depend upon the soil they wisely concluded that they must remove to some unsettled region and take up a new claim. Occom, the Fowlers and Joseph Johnson were familiar with the Oneida country. They had no doubt that lands could be had for the asking from their Indian friends. So a prospect of new homes was inviting. As this matter was considered further the missionary purpose was added. Occom had long held that something beside the missionary was needed among the Six Nations — the living example of a Christian community. David Fowler had urged upon his patron the introduction of agriculture among the Oneidas. So the scheme naturally grew to this, that they would establish in the midst of the Western Indians such a community " with a view of introducing the religion of Jesus Christ by their example among benighted Indians in the wilderness, and also of introducing agriculture among them." Moreover, Occom believed that the Indian never would be- come civilized unless he was brought to depend upon the soil for subsistence. We can easily see how his missionary expe- rience had led him to this conclusion. Yet this end, he thought, could not be reached unless the Indian held land which he could not alienate, for in his straits he would be unable to resist the temptation to sell himself out of house and home. Hence he proposed from the first to prevent this disintegra- tion of his Indian colony by making such sales impossible. The sequel shows how exactly he anticipated the situation. The last feature of his plan to be developed concerned the government of this new community. It was evident that their old tribal relations would be broken up, and they were doubt- THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 209 less glad of it, for they had become too democratic to live under a chief. At Mohegan and Charlestown these Indians had protested for years against the power exercised by their sachems. Still, their hereditary tribal instincts and customs could not be ignored. So they decided to form a new tribe, governed by such rulers as they might select. Their model was the Connecticut town government, with which they were familiar. Such a town they would establish, in which they would be voters ; and, as they purposed to live together as "brothers," they had an appropriate name for their town and tribe — Brothertown, which was probably suggested to them by Brainerd's settlement of that name, now Indian Mills, Pa. They intended also to organize themselves in church estate and have a minister who should instruct them in religion. How far the surviving Indian town of John Eliot influenced Occom in this matter, if at all, it is impossible to state. He had visited Natick and was probably acquainted with its bet- ter days. The white man's town government certainly fur- nished his main ideas, and from a copy of the Connecticut statutes, which they took with them, some of their laws were borrowed. Occom was unable to carry out his plan in all re- spects. Other conditions than those which he had antici- pated interposed when at last Brothertown was founded. He deserves, however, the credit of having devised a scheme which had some original and interesting features. This Indian town was unique in our American history. The carrying out of this plan was due in large measure to Joseph Johnson, the son-in-law of Samson Occom. He had an extraordinary energy. He was young and could easily travel to and fro, awakening interest in the subject and per- fecting arrangements. Withal he was a natural diplomat, exhibiting great tact in treating with the Oneidas and in unify- ing the relations of the New England tribes. He brought Occom's plan into a vigorous life. '5 2IO SAMSON OCCOM The first move was to have a general gathering of the Indians. This was held at Mohegan, March 13, 1773, and was attended by men, women and children. We have no detailed account of this meeting; but after considerable con- sultation in the Indian fashion, it was decided to send repre- sentatives, one from each settlement, to look up a suitable tract of land in the Oneida country. On account of their spring work this proposed visit was delayed ; but Johnson sent a messenger to Sir William Johnson to seek his advice. He gave them encouragement, and in their behalf sent a message to the Oneidas on the matter. That summer he was in the east at the seashore and there nine of the Indians waited upon him and received his promise to secure for them lands among the Oneidas, which was to be effected on his return to Johnson Hall in the autumn. Here follows the circular letter sent out by Joseph Johnson in the affair : ^ Farmington, Ocf^ 13*'' A D 1773. This once more, we of this Tribe at Farmington send greeting to all our Indian Brethren at Mohegan, Nihantuck, Pequtt, Stonington, Narragansett and Montauk, Brethren. We love you, and wish your well-being both in this Life and that which is to come. We ask your Serious Attentions a Moment. Dear Brethren, with humility we undertake to write you, beging that ye would remember the Affair of which we so earnestly talked last Spring at the Town of Mohegan. We beg that ye would this once more take this Affair under your deliberate Consideration, let it not drop through since we have encouragements on every side. We have encouragement from His Honour, Sir William Johnson, Baronet, and things look promising, let us take Courage friends and let us step forward like men We beg that ye would by all means Send a Man out of Each Tribe, that they may go with us, and Seek a Country for our Brethren, is it not worth while. Surely it is. be so good as to Show yourselves men, for General Johnson Expects us at his house [the] last of this month, and if we do not make our appear- ance, he will think that we are only talkers, and not worthy of Notice, how foolish shall we feel if we be despised by General Johnson. But dear Brethren, we will not multiply words, seeing that ye are men, and it is to be hoped wise men. Consider of things, and do that which is right, by no 1 Wheelock Papers, Dart. Coll. ; and Co7in. Hist. Soc.^ Indian Paiers. THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 211 means be discouraged, but dear Brethren, let us put our trust in that God who ruleth in the Armies of Heaven, and doeth his pleasure among the Inhabitants of this lower World — if God be for us this is Enough, he can comfort us Even in a Wilderness. let us consider of our Condirton, let us think of our Children, let us think of time to come. We mention these things to put you in Remembrance. Brethren, if the men chosen last spring be backward to go to the Mohawk Country be so good as to Send others in their room, and Encourage one another, if Money is scarce, let us try to carry little provisions in our Packs, which will be of considerable help, let the men that go try to get the good will of the Women and let the kind women make little Yoke-hegg. We will try to help them with little Provisions when they go from here, our kind W^omen send a word of Encouragement and say that they will make little yoke hegg to give to the travellers. So we must End. Wishing you all well : and we would beg that those men that shall go, come to our town be sure by the 23'^ day of this Month, as we purpose to Set of from here the 25"' of October, or of this month. Let all Christians pray for us every Day. So farewell. We whose Names are underneath are united in those things that are con- tained in this Letter. Sam^i adamas. Joseph Johnson. Andrew Corcemp. Scripsit Charles Wimpey. Moses Sanchuse. Thomas Corcemp. Solomon Mosuck Daniel mossuck At the time appointed, the only messengers who went were Joseph Johnson and Elijah Wampyof Farmington. A rumor of impending war in that country discouraged the rest from going. Five Oneidas met them at Johnson Hall on the twenty-seventh of October, and in behalf of their tribe mad^ a gift of lands to the New England Indians. A record of this transaction was given to Joseph Johnson, and is preserved among the Whee- lock papers. These messengers returned in November, and Joseph Johnson himself carried their answer through the In- dian settlements. The affair had thus progressed so far that a conference with the Oneidas was determined on, partly to ask for more than the ten miles square which had been prom- 212 SAAfSOiY OCCOM ised. Samuel Kirkland had advised them that they could as easily secure a larger tract. .Again Joseph Johnson sent a circular letter to the seven towns, December 24, 1773, urging each to send a representative.- This was also signed by some of the Tunxis tribe — Solomon Mossuck, Elijah Wampy, Dan- iel Mossuck, Andrew Corcomp, Solomon Adams and David Robin. The first week of the following January four set out, though the ground was covered with snow. Joseph Johnson went for Mohegan, Jacob Fowler for Montauk and Groton, Samuel Tobias for Charlestown, and Elijah Wampy for Farm- ington. Two of these gave out and returned; the other two arrived safely at Kanawarohare, where, in the council-house, Joseph Johnson delivered the following address :^ Kanoarohare, January the 20"', 1774. A Speech to the Indians, Our dear and well beloved Brethren. It is with much pleasure that we see so many of you assembled together at this time, and upon this Occa- sion. We give you our great respects, and Sincere Love. We look upon you at present as our Elder Brother as a Nation, and Beloved Brethren. We pray you to consider of us, hearken to us as a younger Brother, not only consider of us as two persons, but view us to be Speaking, or acting for all our l^rethren in New England, or at least for Seven towns. We pray you to consider Seriously of our Words. Ye old men who are wise, also ye war- riors, and young men, yea let children hearken that what we say may not soon be forgotten. Brethren, in the first place we will acquaint you of the State & Circumstances of our New England Brethren, and we will inform you of our Proceedings & purposes. Brethren we in New England, or at least many of us are very poor by reason of the Ignorance of our forefathers who are now dead. Brethren ye know that the English are a wise People and can see great ways, but some say, that Indians cant see but a little ways, and we believe that our forefathers could not see but little ways. Brethren, ye also know that some English loves to take the advantage of poor blind Indians. So it was in the days of our forefathers in New England, but not to expose the unjust act of our English Brethren I shall not say much more 2 Wheelock Papers, Dart. Coll. ; and Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers. 3 Copies of his addresses in Johnson's handwriting are among the Wheelock Pa- pet's ■^.v^d in tlie Conn. Hist. Soc., Indian Papers. The answers are among the Whee- lock Papers. THE FLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 213 about them, least I cast a prejudice against tiie English in your hearts, as notwithstanding many are unjust amongst the English, yet there are great many of them good men, & love the Indians from the bottom of their hearts and wishes us all a well being in this World & in the World to come ever- lasting Life, but all I have to say about the English at present is this, that whilst our forefathers were blind and Ignorant, yea drownded in Liquors the English striped them, yea they as it were cut off their right hands, and now we their Children just opening their Eyes, and knowledge growing in our hearts and just come to our Senses, like a drunken man, I say we now be- gin to look around and we perceive that we are Striped indeed, nothing to help ourselves. Thus our English Brethren leaves us and laugh. So now Brethren we leave the English, those who have acted unjustly toward us in New England, and say we leave them all in the hands of that God who knoweth all things, and will reward every one according to their deeds whether good or evil. Brethren we seeing ourselves in such circumstances began last spring to consider together and the 13th day of the Last March 1773, ^ Meeting was appointed at Mohegan, that being nigh the Center, and there was a vast number of People, Men Women & Children. There we met and there we consulted together — There was present at the meeting Indians of Seven towns and it was proposed that Certain men out of every town should go out and Seek a Place somewhere for us Seven towns to settle down together in peace. Some were of a mind to go Southward as for as to Ohio, and some not so far that way. Some said we could purchase land nigher and it would not do to live so far from the English. At last it came into our minds to try to purchase some land from some of the Six nations. So a time was appointed by our great men, our Councilers & teachers that these chosen men should go forth one out of every town to Seek a place for us to settle on, and as our Spring work was coming on, our head men thought proper that those chosen men should not go till the hurrying work was over, that is after mowing & reaping, and as it pleased the Tribes to chose me for one that should come into these parts, to try to get some land upon some terms, I thought proper to send to his Honour Sir William Johnson for ad- \ ice in this affair, and I wrote a letter to Sir William and acquainted hmi of all our circumstances and our desires & purposes, and it pleased His Honor to take notice of us and sent back a word of Encouragement which made our hearts glad, and about the time that we was to come up, his Honor Sir WiHiam Johnson was down in that part of the Country, which hindered us from coming up. There we had opportunity to speak with his Honor Sir William, 9 of our countrymen went to see Sir William, and he used us very kindlv, and still gave us Encouragement. So we have been encouraged from time to time, also Sir William Johnson appointed a time for some of 214 ' SAA/SO.V OCCOM our Countrymen to come up in these parts and that was last fall It pleased Sir William to tell us that he would help us as much as he could & advise us in the affair. And according to the advice of his Honor some of us came to His house last fall, and he received us gladly to his house & showd us great respect, two of us came up, the reason we supposed that no more came up to his Honors house was this. We heard that it was dangerous times. We heard that there was a considerable talk of war amongst the Indians in these parts, which discouraged many of our Brethren. But when we came to Sir William's, he informed us otherwise, also he told us the Message which you Oneidas sent down to him, for which he was glad, and our minds was disposed to come even to this town to converse with you more particu- larly, but according to your desire & the advice of Sir William we returned back from Sir William's after he had acquainted us of your good will. At that time Sir W^illiam delivered to us few lines so as we might shew it to our New England Brethren. In them few lines was contained the answer which you made to Sir William's Message sent to you by Saghuagarat one of your Chiefs, concerning the Intention of our New England Brethren of remov- ing to this part of the World if consistent with the minds of you our Elder Brethren, not only consistent with your minds, but also the mind of His Honor Sir W^illiam. Yea here in my hand is the writing drawn from the Records of his Honor Sir William, which if you pleace ye may hear so as things past may be fresh in your memory again. . . . This Paper or writing I carried with my own hand through six towns of Indians in New England, and at every town I called the People together both Small and great, Male and female, and they received the good news with great Joy. I did not go to the 7th town, by reason of the inconveniency of going by water, and also my Business called me to be at home, so I made as much haste as possible. However they have heard of your goodwill and purposed to send one from that tribe but the wind perhaps was contrary so as he could not get over to the Main. From the town where I live at pres- ent we sent a young man down to our Brethren a few days before we sat away to stir thern up or to awake them, and to tell them that the time is drawing nigh when we should go to visit our Western Brethren, and to dis- course with them more particularly, so as we might be fully satisfied what to do in the next place, how we shall take the next step. But our Brethren thought it not necessary to send great many at this time the reason is this, because there is a great body of snow on the face of the Earth, which would hinder them from seeing the ground. If there was no Snow doubtless some of our Elder Brethren would now be present at this meeting to converse with you, but my friends we hope that ye will not be angry at us because there is no more of us come to this place. There was four of us, from four different towns set away together, but two of Our Companions gave out, the THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 215 one his hip failed him, the other his back, and they returned, we dont know how it is with them. But God who is good and doeth good continually gave us health and strength, and prospered us in the way and hath safely brought us to this place, and art now allowing us an opportunity to see your faces in Comfort, and to converse with you in peace at this time. So to him we give our thanks at this time for all his goodness towards us. We rejoice that God gave us favour in the Eye of His Honor Sir William Johnson, and we rejoice that God gave us favour in your Eyes, and we are glad to hear that ye found it in your hearts to pity us and our Brethren in New England when ye heard of our Circumstances. And not only we thank you, but all our BretTiren in New England give you their hearty thanks, Yea we have reason to rejoice. We thought to purchase land of you, but we are glad that it is in your hearts to give us land, yea we thank you that ye have given us so much already. Brethren, this Silver pipe was sent to me & the tobacco pouch with it to d-spose of according to the advise of Sir William Johnson, and His Honour Sir William received us gladly at this time also and he told me to deliver the Pipe to the Chiefs at the meeting, and to let it be kept in the Council house continually, so at your assemblies ye might look on it, & smoke out of it, & remember us New England Indians. Sir William also said per- haps ye would think it odd if there was no tobacco in the pouch, so he was pleased to put some in, and sent it to you Chiefs that this day ye may smoke out of the Silver pipe. So now I deliver this pipe as a token from our Several Tribes in New England, that we are one and sincere in what we say & do. And now our Elder Brethren we have told you of our pro- ceedings & all we desire at present is to know whether you are of the same mind as Ever, whether your Love and pity is the same. So our dear Brethren these few words we leave you to consider of at present, and then we shall tell you of little more to consider of. The first answer of the Oneida Indians was delivered the next day. It recognized the New England Indians of the seven towns as brethren, and inquired as to the number who were intending to remove. To this Johnson replied in a second address as follows : Our dear Bcethren, what we have further for you to consider of is this, our Purposes or our Design if God willing, this I know my Elder Brethren, that we may consult together and agree to do so «S: so. Vet if i' is not the mind of God all our Councils & purposes will come to nought, or all will be in vain. But if it please God & He open your hearts to pity us & to receive us as a younger IJrother & help us indeed, we purpose and design to come 2l6 SAA/SOJV OCCOM up and settle together in Peace, where you shall think fit and where it will be most agreeable for us. All we desire is to live in peace & to have things Convenient. If we cant have land enough we cant have things Convenient. We all have little land in New England, but it is very poor the greatest part. So there we cant have things convenient, that is many of us, and Some are obliged to turn their hands this way & that way to get a Liveli- hood. The town to which I belong is good land, and we have sufficient at present. We could live there this hundred years yet, if we increased. But we are willing at least some of us to come up and settle down together with our Brethren in peace. True the great drinkers & Lazy Persons are back- ward in coming in these parts but we are willing to leave them there. Brethren we ought all to adoar God for his goodness to us from day to day and we ought to bless him that he is allowing us this opportunity to assemble ourselves together this once more in this house to consult to- gether a little about the affairs of this World. Brethren I am very glad that my Ears have heard those things which I have heard from you, in your Consultations since we have been in your town, and as perhaps this is the last time, that I shall speak to you my Elder Brother, be so kind as to hearken to the words of your younger Brother who would speak this once more in the Name of the seven towns in New England. First, I return you my hearty thanks my Elder Brothers that ye have considered of me on my Brethren in New-England and I rejoice that ye find in your hearts Love still remaining there, & pity towards your younger Brethren in New England. I thank you that ye have so deliberately considered of those few words which we desired you to con- sider, and we thank you for your kind answer which ye gave to us, & to our Brethren in New England. We thank you that ye have taken us to be your younger Brethren and that ye look upon us to be of the same Blood as your- selves, and we thank you that ye have received us to your Body, So that now we may say we have one head & one heart, & may God keep us united together indeed untill we Both grow white headed, and may we sit together in Peace in Gods own time. And now Brethren we thank you that accord- ing to our desire ye have been pleased to assemble yourselves together this once more, and my Elder Brother, 1 have but a word to tell you of to which I beg ye would take under your deliberate consideration. Brother, ye was pleased last fall to give us an Encouragement of lo miles Square, for which we all was glad. But in our Consultations we thought that that was not quite sufficient. Perhaps we should soon clear so much, perhaps directly or right way, then we should have to look somewhere else for our children to live, but our Elder Brother ye know that it is a hard thing for Parents & children to separate, and we desire to live together if it please God our Creator, and Brethren if it please you to give us Sufficient for us and our THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 21 7 Children after us, if you please to give us more land it will gladen the hearts of many Poor Indians in New England. We are glad that ye have so much at your disposal. We could tell you what our Brethren in New England desire, but thus much I have to say at present. On the following day towards evening, January twenty-sec- ond, the second answer was delivered. At the risk of being thought to make unimportant matters conspicuous, we give this in full, for it shows clearly that the New England In- dians were adopted by the Six Nations, as they have since asserted in the case of " The New York Indians against the United States: " Well Brethren, harken unto us, this day we have assembled ourselves together again, to consult together, a little about the affairs of this World. — But tomorrow is the Lords day, which he hath made, and set apart for his own Service. Brethren, we rejoice in the goodness of God, who hath pre- served us all our Life-time, and hath brought us to see the light of this dav of Peace, and we rejoice, that God is allowing us this opportunity of assembling ourselves together this once more, and we are glad that we are suffered to see the faces of each other in Comfort, and as we are short- sighted Creatures, we are sensable, that w^e stand in need of Gods help : We desire that God would direct u«, and lead us to such Conclusions as will be most pleasing to Him concerning this affa'r which has been laid before us for our Consideration, and now our Brethren, We the Chiefs and Lords of this Place, also warriors, and all in this Assembly, are about to give you an Answer, concerning the Affair, which you laid before the Coun- cil yesterday. Brethren, we understood all that you said yesterday. But we are somewhat forgetful, our Memories cant retain for a long time what we hear: and altho we cant remember every word, yet very likely the prin- ciple, or the substance of your Speech is rooted in our Understanding, and considering Parts that is rooted and fixed in our Hearts. We well remem- ber what you said concerning the English, and we arc sorry to hear the low Circumstances into which ye are involved in owing to the Ignorance of your forefathers. We are glad to hear of your proceedings hitherto, ^^'e remember that you said you acquainted Sir William Johnson of the State and Circumstances that ye were in, also we remember that you said, that Sir William was pleased with the design, and advised you in the affair, and gave you Encouragement. — Brethren, Sir William also acquainted us of your Desires, or Intentions of removing to this part of the Country, and as soon as we was enformed of your Circumstances, we took the Message that 2l8 SAA/SOA' OCCOM Sir William Johnson sent to us on your behalf under our Considerations, and Brethren we were all glad, our Great men, Lords, Warriors, and young men, yea even Women and Children rejoiced to hear that ye were disposed to come and settle in these parts. Brethren, perhaps it was the Lord that steared your minds this way. Maybe it is his will and pleasure that ye should come up here, and live side of us, your Brethren. Brethren, we that are in this Council profess to be good or Religious Men, so ye may put con- fidence in us, or believe what we say unto you. Be of good Courage Breth- ren, the Lords of this Place would have you to be of firm minds, be not discouraged for all the Inhabitants of this Place are very glad that ye are come to this Town, and we all rejoice to hear from you at this time, that your Brethren in New-England are still disposed to come up in these parts to live, and now Brethren, we receive you into our Body as it were, now we may say we have one head, one heart and one Blood, now Brethren our lives are mixed together, and let us have one Ruler, even God our Maker, Who dwells in Heaven above, who is the father of us all. Brethren, we are sensable that the Devil is never Idle, but is ever busy, and if the Evil spirit stirs up any Nation whatsoever or Person against you and causes your Blood to be spilt we shall take it as if it was done unto us, or as if they spilt the blood from our own Bodies, and we shall be ever ready to defend you and help you or be ready to protect you according to our Abilities, and now Brethren, as we expect that ye will come, and live side of us in short time. We , would tell you as Brothers our principle, or Custom in these parts. Brethren, two things, we six united Nations do follow, the first and Chief is Religion, or to follow the directions given to us in Gods Word, the second is to concur with the Unchristianized Nations so far as will promote Peace, and Tranquility in our I^and. Brethren, this we ought to do that Religion might grow, and flourish in these Parts, and Brethren, we shall expect that ye will assist us in advising us concerning the affairs that may be brought under our consideration when ye shall live side of us your Brothers, and Brethren, it is hoped that we both shall be disposed ever to help one another in cases of Necessity, so long as we shall live together, as for us Brethren we have already resolved to Endeavour to do all things as becometh Brothers, and so much as in us lies with Justice, and Equity so long as we shall sit together, and now Brethren, here is your Elder Brothers the Tuskaroras, we say your elder Brothers, because they came here before you, and because they came from a greater distance, these your elder Brothers, will live next to you, or side of you, and they are an under- standing people, yea we are ready to say that they are become wiser than us Onoidas in considering of affairs of great importance. Brethren you see that these Tuskaroras are now white headed by reason of Age, and with these our Brothers we have sat together in Peace even from our Infancy. THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 219 Well Brethren, we hope that we shall live together in peace untill we see each other white headed. Brethren, your Ears must not be open to hear flying Stories and you must not let prejudice arise in your hearts too quick, this is the way or Custom likewise of us Six united Nations, not to regard any evil minded Person or Persons who are contrary to Peace. Brethren, we look upon you as upon a Sixth Brother. We will tell you of all your elder- Brothers, the Onoidas, Kiyougas, Nanticuks, Tuskaroras, Todele- honas, these five are your Elder Brothers. But as for the Mohawks, Onondangas and Senecas they are our fathers, and they are your fathers. Brethren in the Spring we shall expect you here again, then we will shew you a place to settle on. Brethren, here is your Silver pipe and it shall be done with according to Orders." thus much we have to say at present, accept our words, tho it is but little that we have said. Brethren, we say this once more, that we are very glad to see you in our Town, and now Brethren, We the Chiefs and Lords of this Place, also Warriors and young men give our kind respects and Sincere love to our Brethren in New Eng- land that live in those Seven Towns, that are disposed to come this way. We say we give our loves to the old men, your Councilers and teachers, and to all the young men, also we give our love to all the Women old and young, and to all Children. Brethren, very likely several of our Chiefs will accompany you as far as to Sir William Johnson's and there Brothers we will confirm all our words, and rectify our Mistakes, if we have made any, there alone is the place to have all things done well, done strong and done sure. So Brethren, this is the End of our Answer. The third answer was delivered on the Monday following, January twenty-fourth. It also is important as showing that the Oneidas purposed to grant their brethren a considerable tract of land : Brethren, since we have received you as Brothers, we shall not confine you or pen you up to Ten Miles square : We have much Land at our dis- posal, and you need not fear that you shall not have Land sufficient for you, and for your Children after you. We would have you to fix your Minds here, and here alone, and when ye come to live up here, we desire that ye would not hearken to the invitations of other Nations, who may invite you to go farther back. iJrethren, we say let your minds be at ease, be not troubled but come, and settle down in Peace, and live in peace for ever. I^rothers, we understand that ye purpose to go homewird tomorrow; but I'rothers, dont take it hard, we think that ye must continue with us two days longer, the reason is this. Some of the Chiefs, or heads of the Six Nations, are coming up from Sir Williams with a Speech from his Honor, 220 SAMSOjV OCCOM and we think that it will not be handsome or that it would not be so well for us to meet them in the woods. We think that it would be best for us to see them here in this Council house, also we think that it would be very proper for you to be here when Sir Williams speech will be delivered as it is concerning you, and your New England Brethren, this is all that we have to say at present. Thus the council broke up, and Joseph Johnson and his companion set out to return home, having- been at Kanawaro- hare eight days.^ They were attended to Johnson Hall by twelve of the Oneida chiefs who in Sir William Johnson's presence ratified their pledge of eternal friendship for the New England Indians. So far the affair had progressed favorably. Johnson returned to his school at Farmington, where he had hired a substitute in his absence. He was then busy preparing himself for ap- proval as a minister under the encouragement of Doctor Whee- lock. As the summer drew near it was arranged that Samson Occom and David Fowler, in behalf of the seven towns, should go to Oneida and view the land, and that Joseph Johnson should join them there after he had received approbation. With this purpose he attended the Commencement at Dart- mouth College. The day after it, the ministers who happened to be present proceeded to his examination. The following is their testimonial : ^ These may certify all whom it may concern that Joseph Johnson, an Indian of the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut has offered himself before us, who were providentially together, for Examination as a Candidate to preach the Gospel, with a principal View to the IJenefit of his own Nation — We have examined him as to his Knowledge and Understanding in the Doc- trines of the Gospel and Experimental Religion and other Accomplishments Needful for Usefulness among his own Nation and also the Churches in a christian Land where in Providence he may be called and have opportunity ^Wheelock Papers, Lett. Johnson to Wheelock, May 2, 1774. Johnson's passport is dated at Johnson Hall, Feb. 5, 1774. — Conn. Hist. Soc , Indian Papers. ° Wheelock Papers, Dart. Coll. THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 221 to preach — We are well satisfied as to his Qualifications and heartily recommend him for s'^ Purpose. Dartmouth College in New Hampshire y'" 25 of Aug 1774 Lemuel Hedge, Pastor of Warwick Jeremy Belknap, Dover JosiAH Dana, Hutchinson Isaiah Potter, Lebanon William Conant, Lime Sylvanus Ripley, Missionary To this document there was also appended a recommenda- tion by Eleazar Wheelock, president of Dartmouth College, Benjamin Pomeroy, pastor at Hebron, and Eden Burroughs, pastor at Hanover. In the afternoon the young Indian preached to a Commencement assembly. Of this occasion he says, " I preached yesterday in the afternoon at the College Hall and after the exercise was over they made general con- tribution and I had thirty Dollars given to me by the Gentle- men who came here commencement. I am going to set off for the Mohawk Country this Day and I shall come back as soon as ever I can." Doctor Wheelock says that this exercise was performed " to universal satisfaction," and testifies to the ability which Johnson displayed in this trying ordeal. He had only received approbation, with a view of being ordained later, which his early death prevented. .Samson Occom and David Fowler set out for Oneida on the eighth of July and safely arrived at Kanawarohare at dusk on the twenty-fourth. Here again Occom and Kirkland met. The former in his diary says, "we embraced each other with joy." The latter also in his journal records the meeting. " Mr. Oc- com with his brother-in-law, D'^ Fowler arrived here, who are come upon a friendly visit to the Indians.' It was more than two months before the formal Treaty between the Oneidas and the New England Indians was held. Meanwhile they viewed the lands and settled its boundaries, and by friendly intercourse sought to strengthen their relations with their new- 222 SAMSON OCCOM ly-adopted brethren. In due time Joseph Johnson arrived. On the 4th of October the Oneidas transferred to them by a deed of gift, so called, a considerable tract of land lying west of the " Property Line." By Guy Johnson Esq^ Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department of North America &c &c. — \Yhereas, The Indians of Mohegan Naraganset Montock, Pequods of Groton and of Stonington, Nahantick, Farmington, Inhabiting within the New England Governments, Did Last Year represent that they Were Very much Streightened and Reduced to Such small Pittance of Land that they could no longer remain there and Did through the Channell of Sir, William Johnson Bar^ late Superintendent Apply to the Six Nations for some lands to Live on Which was at Length agreed to in my Presence at the last Treaty and a Tract alloted them by the Oneidas, And Whereas Some of them have since in Company with the Oneida Chiefs view'd the said lands and Determined on its Boundary as followes desireing a Certificate of the Same and that it might be Entered on the Records of Indian Affairs, Viz. Beginning at the West End of the Scaniadaris, or the long Lake which is at the Head of One of the Branches of Orisca Creek and from thence about twelve Miles Northerly or so far that an Easterly Course from a Certain point on the first Mentioned Course Shall Intersect th^ Road or path lead- ing from Old Oneida to the German Fflats Where the said Path Crosses Scanindowa Creek Running into the Oneida Lake. Then the Same Course Continued to the Line Settled as the Limits between the Province of New York and the Indians at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 176S, thence South- erly along the said Line about thirteen Miles or so far as that a Westerly Line from thence keeping one Mile South of the Most Southerly Bend of Orisca Creek Shall Reach the Place of Beginning so as to Comprehend the Lake first Mentioned — I Do therefore in Compliance With the Joint Request of the said Oneidas and New England Indians Declare that the Said Oneidas Do Grant to the said New England Indians and there Posterity for Ever Without Power of Alienation to any Subject the Afore Described Tract with its Appu-rtenances in the Amplest Manner. Also full Liberty of Hunting all sorts of Game throughout the Whole Country of the Oneidas, Beaver Hunting only Excepted. With this Particular Clause or Reserva- tion that the same shall not be Possessed by any Persons Deemed of the said Tribes Who are Decended from or have Intermixed with Negroes and Mulattoes. Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms at Guy Park, October the 4"* 1774- [Seal] G. Johnson THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 223 We the Chiefs Do in Testimony of the foregoing Affix the Character of our Tribes unto the Day and Year above Mentioned — The mark of \ *, The mark ( Canade- \f Ughmyonge -U^ gowns Themark of ^>V.Conxh- Wolf J\^ of * a ihe n ^NyConxh- \V J I queifoh Turtle iL Bear Recv* 4"' Feb''> A D. 17S5 and here Recorded Teste George Wyllys, Secret. The great practical difficulty of securing sufficient funds to carry forward the emigration had yet to be met. Joseph Johnson had already contracted personal debts in the cause. His first thought apparently had been to issue an address, "To all generous, free-hearted and Publick spirited Gentle- men," asking for aid, as a draft of such a document is extant.® He had petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly for assistance, and had received therefrom £(y as a contribution." Having further assistance in view, he visited New York, where a friend was raised up in Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, the successor of Rev. David Bostwick, an early friend of the Oneida mis- sion. Here Johnson preached several times, and collections were taken which relieved him of debt and provided a balance for his future maintenance. Thus encouraged, he w^ent among the Indians of the seven towns exhibiting the deed of the Oneida lands, and preaching the emigration as one might a crusade. He wrote Dr. Rodgers thus of his success : " They are engaged to go on in prosecution of the design which I made known to you and we purpose to set off from hence [Mohegan] or from these parts the 13th of March next. I believe that there will be upwards of 60 young men from the several tribes who wdll go as first settlers of land granted to us by the Oneidas. However there is 58 able working men ^ Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers. "> Conn. Arch., Indians, II, 30S ; Conn. Col. Rec.^ XIV, 314. 224 SAMSON OCCOM on whose word I believe we can rely. From Mohegan lo. From Narragansett 20. From Montauk 13. From Nehantic 5. From Farmington 10=^:58, & there are other tribes so deeply in debt that they cannot go this season, but fully intend to go soon as possible, i. e. Groton & Stonington. I was there last Thursday &: conversed with them. Mr. Occom will preach there next Sunday, & he will propose conditions to them & their creditors, so they may go. . . . It is thought best at first that those who can endure hardships go & prepare the way & prepare a shelter for themselves to live in & to raise somewhat to eat & then move with their families, & then have the aged men & women go leaning upon their sons as it were."^ At the same time he wrote Doctor Wheelock to the same effect. The encouragement he had received from his patron may be inferred from the following paragraph in the Narrative of that year : "And this Prospect is yet further, I think, much increased, by the proposed Removal of the principal Indians of the Tribe at Montauck, with all the christianized and civi- lized Indians of the several Towns in New-England, to settle in a Body in the Heart of the Country of the Six Nations, which is expected to be effected next Summer. This is in Consequence of an Application, made under the Countenance, Assistance and Direction of Sir William Johnson, by Mr. Occom, Joseph Johnson, Jacob Fowler and others delegated by the several Tribes for that Purpose. In Consequence of which, they have obtained and well secured a Tract of choice Land, Fifteen or Twenty Miles square, where they design to settle in a Body, as a civilized and christian People, and cul- tivate those Lands for their Subsistence ; and also by them, as soon and as far as they shall be able, to support all Divine Ordinances and Schools among them ; and invite their Savage Brethren to an imitation of them, and a Participation of all Wheelock Papers^ Lett. Feb. 15, 1773. THE PLAN OF EMIGRATIOX TO ONEIDA 225 these Benefits and Privileges with them. They purpose to have, as far as may be, of their own Sons for Ministers and School-Masters. . . . And from this Place, their Ministers may with much less Expence, make Excursions among the Tribes round about them, and their School will be near and con- venient to receive the Children of such as shall desire a Chris- tian Education for them."^ This extract truly represents the general sentiment of approval with which the emigration was regarded by all friends of the Indians. When the spring opened — and it may have been on the thir- teenth of March, as they had planned — the first company of emigrants set out for their new home. How many there were, and what their fortunes were on the way, we cannot tell. Joseph Johnson, David Fowler and Elijah Wampy were among them, as were John Skeesuck, James Shattocks and Samuel Tallman, not so well known to us. The last was one of Wheelock's Delaware Indian pupils, who had since lived among the New England tribes. Probably they carried out their purpose of sending the younger men on in advance. They arrived safely in the Oneida country, and immediately set about building log huts in that wide expanse of wilderness, making gardens and planting corn-fields. All might have gone as they had planned had it not been for the war-cloud which burst in all its fury that spring over the New England colonies. These Indians heard the sound of the patriot's gun, though they were far away. One of the most serious concerns which faced the colonies in the early days of the Revolution was as to the attitude of the Six Nations. Many have known that the Oneidas remained faithful to the patriots, notwithstanding the strenu- ous efforts which were made to alienate them ; but no one has ever given credit to the Christian Indians of New England for this, to whom it belongs no less than to Samuel Kirkland. ^ Wheelock's Narrative^ 1775, pp. 15, 16. 16 2 26 SAMSO.V OCCOM They had reached Oneida at the opportune time, and their voices were at once raised in behalf of their white friends. It was they who inspired the "Declaration of Neutrality," addressed to the four New England Provinces by the Oneidas and dated June 19, 1775. We think, indeed, that one of their number wrote it. They certainly carried it eastward. It begins thus : "As my younger Brothers of the New England Indians who have settled in our Vicinity are now going down to visit their Friends, & to move up Parts of their Families that were left behind, with this belt by them I open the Rode wide, clearing it of all Obstacles that they may visit their Friends & return to their settlement here in Peace." ^'^ At that date Joseph Johnson was on his way to New York, where he presented a petition to the Provincial Congress on the twen- ty-first and received £\o New York currency.^^ In this he states that some had already returned to New England and three more were to follow him to New York for whom he requested a passport. These were John Skeesuck, James Shattocks and Samuel Tallman, and some days afterwards they joined him. Possibly they were the bearers of the "Declaration of Neutrality," which contained welcome news. Some, however, did not return, but held their post in Oneida. Foremost among these was David Fowler, the early teacher at Kanawarohare. Johnson also received from the Provincial Congress a message to the Oneidas. He went on to Mohegan and on the seventeenth of July set out to carry it. Again he was in New York August twenty-sixth and on the eleventh of September received a pass from the Committee of Safety — "having given proof of his attachment to the cause of American Liberty." ^^ After this he returned to Oneida. He had not lost sight of his mission as a preacher among the Six Nations, and ^^ Mass. Archives, Vol, 144, pp. 311, 312. Conn. Col. Rec.,-KW, roo. 11 A^. Y. Archives, Rev. I, 102. '- Wheelock Papers. THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 227 it was the necessity of raising funds for this work which brought him again to New England late in the autumn. In the January following he visited Col. John Phillips at Exeter, N. H., who gave him substantial encouragement. He was also at Ports- mouth. The letter he bore from Rev. David McClure to Doctor Wheelock when he departed says : " His coming this way was as welcome as it was unexpected. I receive him as an old acquaintance but very happily made more valuable by distin- guished grace — the good effects of which are very manifest in him. ... It must afford you joy that this your pupil, whom once if I mistake not you was ready to weep over as lost is now walking in the truth." ^^ On the sixteenth of the month he appeared before the New Hampshire General Assembly, and received from them a testimonial signed by M. Weare, the president, commending him "not only as a Friend to the Cause of American Liberty, but as a modest, discreet, sensible Man, whose Influence among the Indian Nations has been ^ may be very serviceable to the Colonies," to which also an address to the Six Nations was appended. ^^ He was instructed "to use his utmost endeavors to brighten the chain of friendship which has for many years past subsisted between us and them." Thence he went to Hanover. ^^ Doctor Whee- lock wrote a letter, dated January twenty-ninth, recommending him to General Washington at Cambridge. This he presented on the twentieth of February, going thither by the way of Mohe- gan. General Washington sent by him the following message to the Six Nations, the original of which is among the Wheelock Papers : Sir. • I am very much pleased to find by the strong recommendations you pro- duce, that we have among our Brothers of the Six Nations a person who w Wheelock Papers, Lett. Portsmouth, Jan. 8, 1776. "The original is among the Wheelock Papers. " He preached there the funeral sermon of Levi Washburn, Jan. 23rd. — Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., p. 352. 228 SAMSON OCCOM can explain to them the sense of their Brothers on the dispute between us and the Ministers of Great Britain. You have seen a part of our Strength, and can inform our Brothers that we can withstand all the force which those who want to rob us of our Lands and our Homes can send against us. You can tell our friends that they may always look upon me, whom the Whole United Colonies have chosen to be their Chief Warrior, as their brother; whilst they continue in Friendship with us, they may depend upon mine and the protection of those under my command. Tell them that we dont want them to take up the hatchet for us except they chuse it ; we only desire that they will not fight against us, we want that the chain of friendship should always remain bright between our friends of the Nations and us. Their attention to you will be a proof to us that they wish the same. We recommend you to them, and hope by your spreading the truths of the Holy Gospel amongst them, it will contribute to keep the chain so bright, that the malicious insinuations or practices of our Enemies will never be able to break this Union, so much for the benefit of our Brothers of the Six Nations and of us — And to prove to them that this is my desire and of the Warriors under me, I hereto Subscribe my name at Cambridge this 20^'^ day of February 1776 Go. Washington. Mr. Joseph Johnson. It was doubtless also at this time that he received the ad- dress of Samson Occom to his Indian brethren urging them to maintain neutrality. It is as follows : Beloved Brethren I Rejoice to hear, that you keep to your Promise, that you will not med- dle with the Family Contentions of the English, but will be at peace and quietness. Peace never does any hurt. Peace is from the God of Peace and Love, and therefore be at Peace among yourselves, and with all men, and the God of Peace Dwell with you. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, he is the Peace Maker, if all Mankind in the World Believed in Jesus Christ with all their Hearts, there wou'd be no more Wars, they would live as one Family in Peace. Jesus Christ said to his Disciples just before he left them. Peace I leave with you, my Peace I give unto you, not as the World giveth give I unto you, and again, a New Command I give unto you that ye Love one another. Now Consider, my Beloved Brethren who is the Author of these Bloody wars. Will God Set his People to kill one another.? You will certainly say No. Well, who then makes all this Mischief.? Methinks I hear you all say, the Devil, the Devil,— so he is, he makes all the Contentions as he sows the Seeds of Discord among the Children of THE PLAN OF EMIGRATION TO ONEIDA 2 29 men and makes all the Mischief in the World. — Yet it is right for the Peaceable to Defend themselves when wicked People fall upon them with- out Reason or Cause, then they can look up to Heaven to their God and he will help them. I will now give you a little insight into the Nature of the English Quar- rils over the great Waters. They got to be rich, I mean the Nobles and the great, and they are very Proud and they keep the rest of their Brethren under their Feet, they make Slaves of them. The great ones have got all the Land and the rest are poor Tenants — and the People in this Country live more upon a leavel and they live happy, and the former Kings of Eng- land use to let the People in this Country have their Freedom and Liberty ; but the present King of England wants to make them Slaves to himself, and the People in this Country don't want to be Slaves, — and so they are come over to kill them, and the People here are oblig'd to Defend them- selves, they dont go over the great Lake to kill them. And now I think you must see who is the oppresser and who are the oppressed and now I think, if you must join on one way or other you cant join the oppresser, but will help the oppressed. But let me conclude with one word of Advice* use all your Influence to your Brethren, so far as you have any Connections to keep them in Peace and quietness, and not to intermeddle in these Quarrils among the White People. The Lord Jesus Christ says. Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God. This with great Love is from Your True Brother Samson OccomI^ Joseph Johnson, being thus commissioned by the highest authorities to carry messages of peace to the Indians, and as he says in a letter being " heartily engaged to go and preach the glad tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ to my western Brethren," turned his footsteps again westward. Here he disappears from view as many another Indian has on the trail. He was detained at Mohegati by the illness of his wife, and it must have been early in the summer ere he set out. David Fowler, who was still in the wilderness, wrote encouraging words to Samson Occom on the 14th of August, of the neutral- ity of the Indians and the health of their company.^" We con- 1" Co7in. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers. 1^ Ibid. 230 SAMSON OCCOM jecture that Johnson was then among them or in that region on his mission. On some unknown day within a few months, this remarkable young missionary, then only twenty-four years old, in whom there was ability most honorable and courage illustri- ous, was laid to rest in an unmarked grave. The only obituary we have met with is in the postscript of a letter from Rev. David McClure to Doctor Wheelock, in which he says, " The Churches this way who had a taste of Mr. Johnson's ministerial Gifts feel for the public in the loss of that zealous, pious and very promising Indian Preacher."^^ So ended the life of that pupil in the Indian Charity School, who was thought at one time to prove the futility of attempts to educate native mis- sionaries. ^^ Wheelock Papers^ Lett. North Hampton, May 8, 1777. CHAPTER XIII INDIAN FRIENDS AT STOCKBRIDGE 1734—1783 The part which the Christian Indians of New England took in the American Revolution should win them lasting honor among patriots. In that conflict their settlements were wasted, their habits demoralized and the flower of their youth perished. The future of those who had emigrated to Oneida would certainly have been different had it not been for the devastation of that war. Most of the younger men returned at once and enlisted as soldiers. The names of many such are known. William Williams testified in 1783 that eighteen of the Mohegans had died in the service, and, remembering that the tribe was not large, this was a great loss. Only a few remained on their Oneida lands with their families. Among these were David Fowler, Elijah Wampy, Andrew Corcomb, John Adams, James Cusk and Samuel Adams. Their houses were of no very pretentious sort ; but they were the only ones for miles around. In one of them doubtless Heinrich Staring was confined by his Indian captors during the Revolution, as related by Pomroy Jones. ^ Hardships were certainly their lot, and dangers from the enemy surrounded them. At last there came a time when their position was untenable. The enemy under the command of General St. Leger approached to besiege Fort Schuyler. Probably some of his marauding bands of savages who knew the location of these friendly Indians threatened them, but the circumstances are unknown to us in 1 Jones' Annals of Oneida County, pp. 254-259. 232 SAA/SOjV occom detail. Occom says they were driven off by the enemy and were obliged to leave all their effects in their haste. The Oneidas and Tuscaroras went to Albany and were there sup- ported by the government; but the Brothertown Indians were homeless. All they had possessed in New England had been sold when they emigrated. Whither should they go ? East- ward they took their course. So in time they arrived at Stock- bridge. It was natural for them to feel that they were there among friends, for the Housatonic tribe was at this time the most advanced in civilization of any in western Massachusetts. Land was plenty where they might build huts and cultivate their Indian corn. Here, then, these refugees settled down in West Stockbridge and Richmond, intending to return to Oneida as soon as it was safe. Some of them, having nothing else at hand to do, became soldiers of the Revolution. Their friends in the old settlements, among whom Samson Occom still ministered, assisted them as they could. Jacob Fowler was not with them. He was no longer needed as Indian tutor at Dartmouth College, there being no Indians to teach, and in 1776 he had entered the government service as a messenger to the Western tribes. In September of that year he traveled thither with others to a distance of six hundred miles and returned in the dead of winter. On occasions afterwards he carried more than one important despatch to and from the "war-office" of Governor Jonathan Trumbull at Lebanon. David Fowler, however, was there — the mainstay of the refu- gees — industrious, wise and faithful as in his younger days ; and in his care we leave them for a little to give some account of these Indian friends at Stockbridge with whom to this day they have been so intimately associated. The beginning of missionary labors among the Housatonic Indians was due to the interest which the ''prudent, industri- ous and temperate " character of their chief, Konkapot, had kindled in the minds of Revs. Stephen Williams of Long- INDIAN FRIENDS AT STOC KB RIDGE 233 meadow and Samuel Hopkins of West Springfield.- Through them this fact was communicated to the commissioners of the " Society for Propagating the Gospel " at Boston, who wished them to visit Housatonic. Before they could comply it chanced that Konkapot and the second chief, Umpachenee, came to Springfield, May 22, 1734, to receive a captain's and lieutenant's commission, respectively, for loyal services to the Massachusetts Colony. A conference with them was held to ascertain whether they would receive a missionary. The result was so encouraging that Mr. Williams, with Rev. Nehe- miah Bull of Westfield, visited them in July, when the tribe decided to welcome religious instruction. Mr. Williams went to Boston and reported to the commissioners, whereupon they voted, August 16, 1734, to empower him and Mr. Bull to engage a suitable man for the work. John Sergeant, then a tutor at Yale College, was secured and he spent two months with them that autumn. There were then, as reported to the commissioners, only about six families at Skatehook (Sheffield) and the same number ten miles north at Wnahktukook (Stock- bridge). It should not be inferred, however, that this included all of the tribe. More were scattered about in the neighbor- hood, and eventually their numbers were augmented by Brainerd's Indians and some from the southward at Kent and Sharon. Between these two Housatonic settlements, at Great Barrington, on the twenty-first of October they began to build a log house, in which Sergeant set up a school on the fifth of November. Rude huts round about sufficed for the Indians. Timothy Woodbridge of Springfield was then engaged as schoolmaster. Here the school was kept for two winters, the same being carried on in their Indian settlements during the summer. The work made rapid progress. On the ist of July, - On the history of this tribe see: Historical Memoirs^ Relating to the Housantun- nuk /jtdians, Sa.muel Hopkins, Boston, 1753; Stockbridge^ Past and Present, Miss E. F. Jones; Muhhekaneok, A History of the Stockbridge Nation, J. N. Davidson ; and Biographies of John Sergeant, Jonathan Edwards and Stephen West. 234 SAMSON OCCOM 1735, Sergeant entered upon his mission and was ordained at Deerfield, August 31st, the Indians being present and publicly receiving him as their minister.^ He had scarcely begun his good work before he saw the necessity of more permanent civilizing influences. This end he planned to attain by estab- lishing a town, in which the Indians could live on their own lands and be continuously under his ministry. He also thought it would be well — in the words of Governor Belcher, who endorsed the scheme, " that some English Families be interspers'd and settled among the Indians, for to civilize will be the readiest way to christianize them," Accordingly under the authority of the General Court, the Indians surrendered their other lands, and a township was secured by buying off the few white settlers, to which the Indians removed in 1736. This town, six miles square, was incorporated in May, 1739, as Stockbridge. Sergeant built a house there in 1737 ; and the same year "a Meeting-House of thirty Feet broad and forty long together with a School-House " were begun at the expense of the Colony. He soon acquired the native language and preached with marked effect. Parts of the Bible, prayers and Watts' Catechism were translated for their use. Indian boys, who were maintained on the Hollis foundation, were instructed, and by his success he was led to project an Indian boarding- school. A building was erected in 1749 for its accommoda- tion, but on account of Sergeant's death, on the twenty-seventh of July, the school fell into other hands and after a few years it failed through poor management. In 1750 the town con- 3 Gospel Ministers | Must be fit for | The Master's Use, | and | Prepared to every Good Work, ) if they would be Vessels unto Honour ; | Illustrated in | A Sermon | Preached at Deerfield, August 31. 1735. | At the Ordination of | Mr. John Sargeant, I To the Evangelical Ministry, with a special Reference — to the Indians at Houssa. tonnoc, who have lately | manifested their desires to receive the Gospel. | By Nathan- iel Appleton, M. A. . . . Boston: . . . S. Kneeland & T. Green. MDCCXXXV, 8' pp. (2) XIV, 33. [Conn. Hist. Soc] Another edition was printed at Edinburgh in 1736. INDIAN FRIENDS AT STOCKBRIDGE 235 tained fifty-three families of Indians, who had twenty houses built in the English fashion. Of the 218 individuals in these families, 129 had been baptized, forty-two of whom were com- municants. At this time all of David Brainerd's Indians at Kaunaumeek, where he had labored for a year from April i, 1743, had removed to Stockbridge. One feature of John Sergeant's work it is important to notice — he baptized such natives as renounced heathenism several years before a church was formed with which they could fel- lowship. In this he followed the example of John Eliot. His interpreter, when he first visited them in 1734, Ebenezer Paupaumnuk, was examined by Mr. Bull, and baptized the seventeenth of October. Captain Konkapot and Lieutenant Umpachenee, with their wives, were baptized in November, 1735, ^"d within a year after his ordination about forty infants and adults had received baptism. This fact has led some to conclude that a church was then formed ; but we think there was no such organization until 1738. Baptism was practised as the sign of a renunciation of heathenism and preparatory to church estate when the time should come. In the spring of 1738 four white families, of a character approved by Ser- geant, had become residents. The commissioners' manuscript records note under June third the report of Captain Williams, that there was " likely to be a church gathered at Housatonic in a short time " ; and their first Lord's Supper was celebrated on the fourth of June. We conclude, therefore, that the church had been formed during the week previous to that date.^ There were eleven communicants, some of whom were Indians. Peter Pauquaunaupeet was chosen a deacon. During his min- istry Sergeant baptized 182 Indians and admitted about sixty to the church. His successor, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, ad- * The claim has always been that this church was organized in 1734. Muhhekaneok, pp. 4, 5 ; Stockbridge, Past and Present, p. 42 ; and Dr. Field in Barber's Historical Collections of Mass., p. 97. 236 SAMSON OCCOM mitted about twenty-five and Rev. Stephen West nearly as many.^ The defect in John Sergeant's scheme of Indian civilization wa§ in the introduction of families of whites into the town. This operated, as it always has, to the injury of the weaker race. Samson Occom at Brothertown contended against this feature. So soon as the lands at Stockbridge were divided, and so held that the Indians could sell their claims, they did so. The whites thus gradually crowded them out. In the church also there was more or less distinction between the natives and the English, and finally in 1775 ^^ Indian portion of the congregation was committed by Dr. West to the care of John Sergeant, the son of their first minister, who had previ- ously taught school there.® He received the salary which had been allowed for the mission by the Scotch Society. Some writers have said that at this time sixteen Indians took letters from the old church and formed a new organization. We think this is an error, and that the Indian church was formed ten years later in anticipation of their removal to the Oneida country. A separate church at Stockbridge was not needed. Indeed, there is evidence that some of the principal Christian Indians retained their membership in the mother church, par- ticipating in their sacramental occasions under the leadership of John Sergeant. He was practically an associate minister, 5 Dr. Field's MSS. in the Conn. Hist. Soc. " John Sergeant, the elder, was born in Newark, N. J., in 1710, being the son of Jonathan and Mary Sergeant. His father had removed to New Jersey from Bran- ford, Conn. He graduated from Yale College in 1729 and became a tutor there in 1731. He married, August 16, 1739, Abigail, eldest daughter of Colonel Ephraim Williams of Stockbridge, and they had three children, Erastus, John and a daughter who married Colonel Mark Hopkins gf Great Barrington and was the grandmother of the famous president of Williams College. After John Sergeant's death his widow married General Joseph Dwight of Great Barrington, by whom she had three children. John Sergeant, the younger, was born at Stockbridge in 1747. After the Indians had been some years at New Stockbridge he removed his family thither, and there died Sept. 7, 1824. INDIAN FRIENDS AT STOCKBRIDGh 237 having charge of the Indian portion of the church. In man) respects he was well adapted to this- service. Although he was an infant when his father died, he had imbibed from his mother an interest in the missionary cause, and especially in the Indians to whose welfare his father had been so devoted. He knew the language perfectly, and the natives naturally looked upon him as their-friend in his father's stead. Thus, having been prepared by some theological instruction under Dr. West, he entered with zeal upon the service. The period of his labors at Stockbridge was full of troubles for the Indians. Their lands had gradually slipped away from them. Some were reduced to poverty. Many of the older members of the church, who seem to have been Christian Indians of remark- able piety, had passed away, and the younger generation were less inclined to education and religion. Yet amid all these trials John Sergeant sought with faith, earnestness and wisdom to maintain the Christian character of the tribe. As" the American Revolution was a serious blow to the Brothertown Indians, so it was to the Stockbridge tribe. It was to be expected that they would be loyal to the patriot cause, and they were. Many of them enlisted in the company of Captain William Goodrich, of which Jehoiakim Mtohksin was second lieutenant, and marched from Stockbridge on the 23d of April, 1775. Later others joined this company, among them Hendrick Aupaumut and Jacob Konkapot. It was sta- tioned at Watertown. There were thirty-five Stockbridge Indians in this one company. Timothy Yokens, who was first sergeant, afterwards became captain of a company of Indian rangers who did honorable service. The tribe sent a full company to White Plains, under Captain Daniel Nimham, of whom thirty were killed and others died of disease. Twenty blankets were sent to their families at Stockbridge, partly in recognition of this service — "five to the widows of the Indians lately slain at White Plains." Most of the killed were young 238 SAMSON OCCOM men. This action occurred August 31, 1778, and a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts, dated September twenty- second, says, "many lately fell in battle." General Washington wrote that Captain Hendrick and others were with the army in 1778, and that the tribe suffered severely during that campaign and lost a chief and several warriors. A newspaper of the time gives an interesting account of the adventures of five of these Stockbridge Indians, who were sent on a scout under Abraham [Konkapot] and brought in six prisoners.'^ A number were in the company of Captain Enoch Noble, which marched to Bennington in October, 1780. There was, indeed, scarcely an able-bodied man in the tribe who was not at some time in the service. Some of them served throughout the war in the Con- tinental army. "At the close of the war," it is said, " General Washington directed a feast to be prepared for the Indians in consideration of their good conduct, and an ox was roasted whole, of which the tribe partook, the men first and then the women and children."^ We can scarcely appreciate at this day the demoralizing effect of the war upon this tribe. Wid- ows and orphans were left without means of support. Nearly half of their young men had perished. They were reduced in ambition, and the salutary effects of religion were dissipated. Yet in this we see one of the practical results of their civiliza- tion,— they recovered quickly from these evils and set their faces toward the future in new hope. The sachemship of the Stockbridge Indians devolved in 1777 upon Joseph Quanaukaunt [Quinney]. He had for his councilors three conspicuous young men, who had a great influ- ence upon the subsequent life of the tribe. The first was Peter Pauquaunaupeet [Pohquonnoppeet, Pohquannopput, Poh- qunohpeet, Poquanopeet, Pohquenumpec, and Ponknepeet.] He was a son of the first Indian deacon of the same name. 7 Penn. Journal^ Sept. 3, 1777, in Moore's Diary of the Revolution^ pp. 474, 475. 8 Jones' Annals of Oneida Comity , p. 888. INDIAN FRIENDS AT STOCKBRIDGE 239 Having been instructed in the school there, he was sent in 177 1 to Dartmouth College, where he spent most of the time in study until 1780, when he graduated. Sergeant wrote of him in 1771, ''He is not so quick to learn as some, but appears to relish what he does get, is of a steady turn of mind and of a good family." The custom then was to prefix " Sir " to the names of seniors, from which fact he derived the name he bore throughout his after life — " Sir Peter." After his graduation he returned to Stockbridge and taught the school for a time. It is said that "he was possessed of good talents and sus- tained an unblemished character." This Indian we shall meet again. The second of these councilors was Hendrick Aupau- mut. We have reason to think that he was a descendant of Hendrick, the celebrated Mohawk chief, who in 1750 came to Stockbridge with about ninety of that tribe to obtain an edu- cation. This chief is said to have been related to Joseph Brant and Molly, his sister, the Indian wife of Sir William Johnson. He was killed in the war of 1755. Hendrick Aupaumut was educated in the Stockbridge school. He enlisted in the Revolutionary War and won distinction, being at one time in command of a company, probably of scouts. The name he afterwards bore was derived from this service — "Captain Hendrick." This Indian also appears in later events. He became one of the most conspicuous Indians in the tribe, their chief, and an emissary to the far West on sev- eral occasions. The third councilor was John Konkapot [Kunkapot, Concopot, Kunkerpot, Konkpott], a son or grand- son of their first Christian chief. He also was taught in the Indian school and entered Dartmouth College, where he was at the commencement of the Revolution. The name usually given him by Doctor Wheelock was John Stockbridge. In a petition which he presented to the General Assembly of Massachusetts, June 7, 1781, asking for six months' pay as the teacher at Stockbridge, he says " he early entered into the 240 SAMSON OCCOM service of the United States and suffered loss, that he has since applied himself to learning and has been some time in college, since which he has been employed in keeping school."^ He probably enlisted early in the war, and he was certainly one of those who marched to Bennington in 1780. In his later life he was sometimes called "Captain John" in conse- quence of this military service. These three councilors, it will be observed, were fairly well educated. The second was a member of the Stockbridge church. All had knowledge of public affairs. In short, they came into power at a time when such leaders were needed to revive the strength of the tribe, and lead them forth into the future. Such were the Stockbridge Indians at the time the Brother- town refugees settled near them. It w^as never the latter's intent to remain there longer than was necessary — their homes were in the wilderness. As to their experiences while there we have only glimpses of them. In 1780 they presented a peti- tion to their old friends in Connecticut which we submit in evidence of their condition : To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut now Sitting at Hartford This may Certify that We who removed from the New England States to the Oneida, and resided on a tract of land granted to us from our Breth- ren the Six Nations, have been lately driven from our Settlements by the Enemy and sustained grate damage leaving our Effects — by which means [we] are now reduced to the necessity of Seeking a redress — particularly are [we] desirous of being instructed in the great things of religion, and [having] our Children trained up to enjoy'a School and religious Privileges — and as Daniel Simon of the Narragansit Tribe of Indians of a College Education, properly authorized and ordained to Preach the Gospel, has been both keep- ing a School and Preaching among us the most of the Time Since the first of May last, upon his own expence and Charge — and we are unable to pay him and being desirous of his Continueing among us — and all Funds of Money for the Spread of the Gospel among the Indians are Stop'd — and therefore we are obleg'd to apply to any State where ever God in his Provi- dence may open the Hearts of his People to us, v/ith a Charitable design, ^ Mass. Archives^ Vol. 144, p. 476. INDIAN FRIENDS AT STOCKBRIDGE 24I Praying that your Honors would Consider us — they of the State to which we formerly belong'd and were particularly our Brethren from whom we have heretofore received many favours — we have twenty two Childrun which we are exceedingly desirous Should be instructed the insuing year — and Should be thankfull for Simon even three Months Schoolling — as we Shall all reside in the neighborhood of Stockbridge till these troubles be over — we therefore would earnestly pray them to encourage Daniel Simon our Brother by donation or any other way, therefore we have made known our request wishing the Healths and Prosperity of your own Per- sons—which we will ever pray West Stockbridge, Oct^" th — 1780 Gideon Comruy [?] Elijah Wimpey James Cusk Andrew Corcomp John Adams P. S. By request I certify the foregoing representation to be just & true, & would recommeiid them to the Charity of those who are able to afford them Relief. Stockbridge 13 Octob'" 17S0 Sam^ KirklandIo On this petition the upper house granted ^30 from the pub- lic treasury, but the lower house did not concur. The result of the ensuing conference was probably the issuing of a brief for collections in the churches, though no copy of this docu- ment is known to have survived. The fact is recovered from a later petition, May 8, 1783, asking for the redemption of ;^77-i5-ii in bills collected. In this they thank the General Assembly for "the repeated Kindness and Favours conferred upon them by their best Friends and Brothers, the Inhabitants of their Native and Beloved State. Particularly in the late Instance of a Brief granted by a former General Assembly for a Contribution in Several Churches within the State." This document was signed by Elijah Wampey, David Fowler and Samuel Adams, and accompanied by letters from Samuel Kirkland and Stephen West to Dr. Nathan Strong of Hart- ■ ^^ Conn. Archives^ Indians^ II, 226. 17 242 SAA/SOAT OCCOM ford.^^ Their request was granted by the payment of ;!^33-i-8 for the bills. We learn from these documents that there were in all forty-four of them at West Stockbridge. This probably includes the few who were within the present borders of Rich- mond, where David Fowler lived. Kirkland says, "They are really distressed objects." They had experienced sickness and many were reduced to poverty. Evidence is also thus ob- tained that they were preparing to return to Oneida, and this removal the funds collected for them made possible. Who was this Daniel Simon [Simons] who had been their teacher and minister.? He was a Narragansett Indian, and one of Wheelock's Indian pupils of the Lebanon school, already mentioned in that connection. With his brother Abraham he had gone with the school to Hanover. There he studied for some years, graduating in the class of 1777. A letter is preserved among the Wheelock Papers in which he complained to his benefactor that he was compelled to work so much of the time that he could not study — he already knew how to work and wanted to learn something else — "What good will the charity money do the poor Indian " if he has to pay his way.?^^ He was in college at the breaking out of the Revolution, and was the Indian who is said to have heard the guns of Bunker Hill by putting his ear to the earth — a fact which others at the time confirmed. After his graduation he continued at Hanover studying theology under Doctor Wheelock, and he was approved as an Indian preacher by the Grafton Presbytery, January 29, 1778. On the seventh of Octo- ber, following, he wrote the president a letter as follows: "I have been preaching some about the country since I left col- lege. Do not engage long at a place on the account I am young in the ministry. I am at present keeping school at Stockbridge, where I have thirty and forty in my school, and ^1 Conn. Archives^ Indians, II, 227-229. 12 Wheelock Papers, Lett. Sept. 1771. INDIAN FRIENDS A 'I STOCKBRIDGE 243 sometimes fifty. I began my school on the first of May* and engaged for five months ; have preached some in the towns round about and supplied the pulpit of the great and good Mr. West, in his absence, two Sabbaths. But Mr. West and I am not familiar, by reason I find, that I am in or near the centre of Gravity. It is not allowed for a sinner to pray here, because all things are ordained of God, and neither can the sinner change the counsel of the Divine Being by prayer. But I may say this, that some people's God is my devil. "^^ The commissioners' records show that Simons undertook this work of teaching with the approval of John Sergeant, but he did not continue in it long. On the first of May, 1780, he seems to have begun a similar work among the Brothertown Indians at West Stockbridge. He may have continued with them to 1783; but in that year he became a missionary among the Indians at Cranbery, N. J., succeeding Rev. John Brainerd. It is said that he was not long after suspended from the ministry for intemperance.^^ He was never an ordained minister. Certainly his relations with the Broth- ertown Indians terminated in 1783, though others of his family became useful and faithful members of the Oneida settlement. We are now approaching the close of this distressing period in the history of the Christian Indians of New England. It remains only to point out the fact, which the reader may have conjectured already, that it was the influence of these Brother- town refugees which led the Stockbridge tribe also to project a removal to the Oneida country. A friendship w^as formed between the tribes during those six years, which has con- tinued to the present time. The refugees did not suffer the enthusiasm over the emigration to die out. It was uppermost in their minds. They had left pleasant homes in those fertile " Chapman's Ahomti of Dart. Coll., p. 22. " Ibid. 244 SAMSOiV OCCOM valleys of New York, to which they would return like the chil- dren of Jacob to Canaan. During the Revolution others in the old settlements were preparing to join these pioneers by selling their lands, which in several instances required legis- lative action. It has been claimed by some that the Stock- bridge Indians had secured a tract of land from the Oneidas before the Revolution. Some have even thought that a few of them removed thither. This is an error. It probably arose from the impression that they were included in the grant of 1774 to the seven settlements, usually called thereafter the " New England Indians." At that time the Stockbridge tribe had no thought of emigration, notwithstanding the fact that they had disposed of the greater part of their lands. The way was opened for them, however, by their friends, who had a very extensive tract themselves, and were assured that a similar grant would be made to the Indians at Stockbridge who had succored them. So it happened. When the Broth- ertown Indians in 1783 returned to their Oneida homes, a number of the Stockbridge tribe accompanied them. It was a return of that hospitality which they had themselves received. Then these Stockbridge chiefs held a council with the Oneidas and were duly adopted by them after the Indian custom, re- ceiving the promise of a tract of land six miles square. We have not been able to find any written agreement or convey- ance of this grant, though one was probably made. Indian affairs were then in a very unsettled state. It is certain, how- ever, that the promise w^as then given them, and they returned to Stockbridge to prepare for a removal. Most of them came thither in the spring of 1785, but they did not all remain through the following winter. Others came in 1788. Samuel Kirkland wrote, March 10, 1784, "The Oneidas expect in the course of two^ years to have more than a thousand Indians in this vicinity who \yill be disposed to attend the word of God." This undoubtedly refers to a prospective increase from the INDIAN FRIENDS AT STOCKBRIDGE 245 Stockbridge and New England tribes. Some of the chiefs of the former were present at the Treaty held at Fort Herkimer in June, 1785, and the Oneidas then spoke of them as their "younger brethren." All these earlier grants were super- seded at the Treaty of Fort Schuyler in September, 1788, when the Oneidas, in their cession to the state of New York, made this reservation that: " the New England Indians (now settled at Brothertown under the pastoral care of Reverend Samson Occom) and their posterity forever and the Stock- bridge Indians and their posterity forever are to enjoy their Settlements on the Lands heretofore given to them by the Oneidas for that purpose, that is to say a Tract Two Miles in Breadth and three miles in length for the New England Indians and a Tract of Six Miles square for the Stockbridge Indians." At first some of the latter tribe seem to have settled within the bounds of the grant to the former, much more extensive in the agreement of 1774 than as reduced in 1788. Afterwards their tract six miles square was located for them, and it was partly within the town of Vernon, Oneida county, and partly within the town of Stockbridge, Madison county, as now described. The Stockbridge Indians, in memory of their old home in Massachusetts, named their settlement New Stockbridge. In the year 1785 they num- bered 420. There they lived for many years, until 1818, when some of them removed to White River, Indiana. At that time they began to sell their lands, and this continued until they were all established again beside their friends, the Brothertown Indians, on the east side of Winnebago Lake, in Wisconsin. No single tribe of New England Indians has a more inter- esting history than this, whose wigwams once dotted the banks of the swift-fiowing Housatonic. Its chiefs won their first distinction from the white man in recognition of their friendly service. Intelligent, brave and incfustrious they have 246 SAMSON OCCOM always been, and on the battle-fields of every war which has roused the patriot to arms their warriors have fallen. Among them the best of missionaries and the greatest of divines have lived and taught. If weaknesses have been theirs, they have been those of the race, and they have paid the penalty in hardships and wasting death. On the hunt and in the wilder- ness they have tasted adventure. Romance has been woven into their story — a thread of gold in a worn and fretted gar- ment. So this nation, having followed the trail of civilization for more than a century and a half, has come to an honorable old age and leans upon the staff among the sachems of the West. CHAPTER XIV THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 1783-1789 Peace was at length restored in the colonies which had achieved their independence. Then the first of many com- panies of emigrants to cross the Hudson River and thread their way along the Mohawk westward, in 1783, was composed of New England Indians. Their leader was David Fowler. He and some others had visited their deserted huts at Brother- town in the summer of 1782 ; but now it was safe for them to remove their families thither. We have no record of their experiences during that season. Some at least returned late in the autumn to Stockbridge to escape the winter in that vast and cheerless wilderness. The first delegation from the old settlements set out May 8, 1784.^ It now devolved upon Samson Occom, as in com- mand of the reserves, to push forward the Indian families as they could be made ready, and in this service he was engaged more or less for several years. On the date above named a number of families set sail from New London in the sloop Victory, commanded by Captain Hayley. Occom notes in his diary their fortunes of wind and weather as they coasted along toward New York, where they arrived at 6 o'clock in the evening of the tenth. The nights had been spent at anchor in safe waters. The ninth was a Sabbath and, the sea being calm, the reverend elder of this company of Indian pilgrims con- ducted a service on the deck, expounding a part of the twenty ' Occoni's Diary ^ Dart. Coll. 247 248 SAMSON OCCOM fifth chapter of Matthew, wherein he might have found sundry lessons appropriate to this novel situation. The only persons known to have been in that congregation were Jacob Fowler and Esther Poquiantup his wife, Anthony Paul and Christiana Occom his wife, with four young children, and the mother " Widow Paul " with her son John. Others were with them, but their names are unknown. Occom and Jacob Fowler left the ship at New York to call on Dr. Rodgers and others with a view of obtaining further financial assistance in the emigra- tion. On the twelfth they went on board an Albany sloop, Mr. Waters, master, having as fellow passengers " a number of very agreeable gentlemen " who were members of the New York General Assembly. To them on the voyage they un- folded their plan, in which the gentlemen were "much inter- ested. Thus early Occom began an acquaintance with the members of that body, over whose legislation in Indian affairs he had considerable influence. At Albany they overtook their people. Occom made application to the chief men of the town for assistance, but provisions were no longer allowed to Indians, as had been the case during the Revolution. They were per- mitted to put up at the hospital and the people were very kind to them. Occom was invited to speak to the prisoners and com- plied. On the twenty-second the Indian company started for- ward on their way to Schenectady, Occom remaining to preach on the Sabbath, as he did twice in the Presbyterian meeting- house. Collections amounting to eight pounds were taken up in behalf of his people. From Albany he turned back, leaving Jacob Fowler to guide the emigrants to their new homes. The expense of this party was considerable, and Occom had given his own personal note for their passage from New Lon- don to Albany. All that he collected on the way was not sufh- cient to meet this. Such were the troubles he had in removing his people to Oneida. This, too, was the reason he did not at once go with them. His service was necessary in New England THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 249 on his own account and on theirs. He reached Mohegan on the seventh of June, and until the autumn preached here and there in the furtherance of this work. On the twenty-second of September he set out for Oneida to visit his people. He went first to Farmington, where he stopped with Daniel Mossuck, one of Wheelock's Indian pupils who is here met \^ith for the Last time and probably died there soon afterwards. There were then only eight Indian families remaining in their old home on Indian Neck. Here he also found George Pharaoh and his family from Montauk moving up to Oneida. Somewhere between there and Stockbridge he visited " Bro. Phineas," pos- sibly a Fowler, and there heard of the death of his daughter Talitha — " a mournful addition to his troubles." At Stock- bridge he found that almost all of the Indians had scattered, all who had not gone to Oneida. So he went on his way to Richmond, New Bethlehem, Albany, Saratoga, Stillwater and the Mohawk River. He preached wherever he had opportunity and there was scarcely an evening that he did not gather the people in some pioneer cabin, to teach them and sing his spiritual songs. This will illustrate what he called his "pere- grinations," which made him known to all near and far and won him the honorable title — " the missionary of the wilder- ness." Ere he arrived at Brothertown he met his friends David and Jacob Fowler and Elijah Wampy. In company with David he set out for Brothertown. Here we will let him tell his own story : Monday Ocf 24 [17S5] : Some Time after Breakfast Brother David Fowler and I sot of to go thro' the Woods to our Indians new Settlements, and presently after we sot out it began to Rain and it Rain'd all the way not very hard, — and it was extreemly bad muddy riding, and the Creeks were very high, and some Places were Mirely, and we were over taken with Night before we got in, and some places were very Dark where Hamlock Trees were, our Eyes did us but little good, we travild about a mile in the Dark and then we arriv'd at Davids House, as [we] approach'd the House I heai*^ a Melodious Singing, a number were together Singing Psalms hymns and Spiritual Songs. We went in amongst them and they all took 250 SAMSON OCCOM hold of my Hand one by one with Joy and Gladness from the greatest to the least, and we sot down awhile, and then they began to sing again, and Some Time after I gave them a few words of Exhortation, and then Con- cluded with Prayer, — and then went to Sleep Quietly, the Lord be praised for his great goodness to us. Tuesday Ocf 25. Was a Snowy Day, was very uncomfortable weather. I kept still all Day at Davids House and it was crowded all Day, some of Onoydas came in — In the evening Singers came in again, and they Sang till near ten o.c. and then I gave them a Word of Exhortation and con- cluded with prayer, so we ended another Day — Wednesday Ocf 26 : Snow is about ancle Deep this Morn'g and all slosh under the Snow and the Land is ful of water every where, and the Brooks are very high — it is not clear wheather yet — in the evening we had a little Singing again — This morning I rench'd my Back, only puting on my Stockings, and was put to some difficulty to go out all Day. Thirdsday Octo'" 27 : Cloudy but moderate, my back continues as it was yesterday. Fryday Ocf 28 : it was warm and pleasant Day but cloudy the bigest part of the Day — in the evening they sung (in Abra™ Simons House, a mile from David Fowlers) [Erased] Fryday Ocf [29] David intended to gather his corn but it look'd very much like for Rain, and so [he] defer it to another Day. — the young Folks went in the evening to Abraham Simons a mile of from David Fowlers to sing, but I did not go my back continued out of order. — Saturday Ocf 29: David gather'd his corn,. he had a number of Hands tho it was cloudy in the morning, and little Rain, and in ,the after noon he husked his corn, and the Huskers Sung Hymns Psalms and Spiritual Songs the bigest part of the Time, finish'd in the evening — and after supper the Singers Sung a while, and then dispersed. Sabbath Oct"" 30 : Had a meeting in Davids House, and a Number of Stockbridgers came to meeting to the distance of six miles, they had eleven Horses and there was a number of foot People, and there was a Solemn Assembly, the People attended the word with affection many of them — I spoke from Mathew iv. 10 : in the after Noon from — xxxii : i : in the evening we had Singing a long while and then gave them a word of Exhortation and concluded with Prayer — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nothing hapen'd remarkable only Rainy and Snowy weather, and I was much confind my wrentchd Back — Thirdsday Nov"" 3. 1785. Towards Night we attended upon the antient ordenance of marrage, the first that ever was selebrated by our People in their New Settlement in this Wilderness. The cupple to be married and the Young People formed in a Neighbouring House and came to the House THE MISSIONARY 01 THE WILDERNESS 25 1 of Weding in a Regular Procession according to their age and were seated accordingly — and the old People also seated themselves Regularly, and A great Number of Stockbridgers came from their Town to attend the Wed- ing, but many of them were too late — When I got up, I spoke to them Some Time upon the nature of Mar- riage, the Honourableness and Lawfulness of it, whereby we are distin- guished from the Brutal Creation: Said Some of the first marrage in Eden & of the Marrage where Christ and his Disciples were invited and the Honour he did to it by working the first mericle he wrought in the World in turning water into Wine and then we prayed, after Prayer I orderd them to take each other by the Right Hand alternately and then I declared them in the Face of the Assembly to be a Lawful Husband and Wife, according to the Law of god^ — and then pray'd. prayer being ended Marriage salutations went round Regularly, and concluded by Singing a Marriage Hymn — and then the People sat down, and Jacob Fowler who was appointed Master of Serimonies at'this Marriage, gave out some Drink a Round the Company and then Supper was brought, sot in order on a long Board, and we sot down to eat, and had Totty well sweeten'd with wild Sugar made of Sugar Trees in the Wilderness : and after supper we Spent the Evening in Singing Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs, — and after that every [one] went home Peaceably without any Carausing or Frollicking. Fryday Nov' 4: The Young People put on their best Clouths, and went to a Neighbours House, all on Horse back, and they appear'd agreeable and Decent, arwi they had no carousing, they had some Pleasant chat and agreable conduct, some Singing of Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Some Time in the after Noon they dined together, and after Dinner every one went Home Quietly. — so the Weding ended, and it was conducted, caried on and finished with Honour and great Decency — and the Lord help this People to go on Regularly in all their concerns — Sab: Nov"" 6: Brother Jacob Fowler and I went of early in the Mor^for Stockbridge Indians, that lately settled at old Onoyda. got there some Time before meeting. Went to Sir Peter Pauquunnuppeets House, he is a Collegian brought up and Educated at Dartmouth College, and he received [us] with all kindnest Friendship, — about 11 went to meeting and 2 The following is Occom's marriage service : " You do take this woman to be your Married Wife and do in the Presence of God and before these witnesses Promise and covenant to be a loving and faithful Husband unto her until God shall separate you by death. You do in like manner take this man to be your Married Husband and do in the Presence of God and before these Witnesses Promise to be a loving, faithful and obedient wife unto him till God shall separate you by Death. I do then before God and these witnesses Declare you to be Husband and Wife. Therefore what God has joined together let not man put asunder." 252 SAJfSOJV OCCOM many of our People from our new settlements came to meeting, to the dis- tance of six miles — I spoke to them from Joshua 24 : 22 : and Esther 7:2: in the Evening we had another meeting, and we had solemn Day and even- ing, the People attended with great attention and Solemnity, after I had done speaking, we sat down and the singer rose up and they sang Some Time, and then dispersed, every one to his quarters and Sister Hannah and Sister Esther and I Lodgd at Widow Quinnys where the meeting was — Monday Nov'' 7 : Some Time after Sun Rise I sot of with Brother Roger and his wife to our Place ; and stopt at Roger's and I took Breakfast with them, they live near three miles from the rest of the People, and after eating I went on to the Town, got there about 12 and found them all well — In the Evening we met on our Temporal and Religious concerns — we met once before but we did not come to proceed any Business — But now we pro- ceeded to form into a Body Politick — we Named our Town by the Name of Brotherton, in Indian Eeyamquittoowauconnuck — J. Fowler was chosen Clarke for the Town. Roger Waupieh, David Fowler, Elijah Wympy, John Tuhy, and Abraham Simon were chosen a Committee or Trustees for the Town, for a year and for the future, the committee is to be chosen Annually.'— and Andrew Acorrocomb and Thomas Putchauker were chosen to be Fence Vewers to continue a year. Concluded to have a Centre near David Fowlers House, the main St*reet is to run North and South & East and West, to cross at the centre. Concluded to live in Peace, and in Friendship and to go on in all their Public Concerns in Harmony both in their Religious and Temporal concerns, and every one to bear his part of Public Charges in the Town.— They desired me to be a Teacher amongst them. I consented to spend some of my remaining [days] with them, and make this Town my Home and center — Tuesday Novr 8 : got up early and sot of for Stockbridge Indians, got there Some Time before meeting, this is a Day of fasting and Prayer with the People here and they desired me to assist them, the Design of this fast is to confess their sins before God, and to repent and beg the Pardon of all their sins and desire the Blessing of God upon them, and to Prosper them in their New Settlement, and also bless them in their Religious Life — and I preached to them, in the fore Noon from Jonah 3:8: in the after- noon from Prover 23 : 26 and it was a solemn Fast Day, many were deeply afected, all attended like criminals before the Barr: in the F2vening they met again and they advised and gave councel to one another to conduct well and be careful in all their conduct the ensuing winter as they were about to disperse for the winter, that they may get together in the spring in Love and Peace — and after advice, they spent Some Time in Singing of Spiritual Songs, and when they had done, I gave them a word of Exhortation, advis- ing them to use their Natural Powers and conduct as becomes Rational THE MISSIOMARY OF THE WILDERNESS 253 Creatures, and break off from all outbreaking of sin, and especially to break off from that abominable sin of Drunkeness and give themselves to watch- ing and Prayer, and so conclude with Prayer, — and the People dispersed in Peace. I Lodged at Sir Peter Punquunnuppeets. Wednesday Nov^ 9 : Breakfasted with Cap^ Hindreck & soon after Eating I sot off for Home, got to our Place about 12 and found our Folks well — Thirdsday Fryday and Saturday look about a little to see the land and it is the best land I ever did see in all my Travils. John Tuhy Planted Just about one acre of ground, which he cleared last ma}', and this Fall he took of 20 Bushels of good Corn, 56 Bushels of Potatoes, about 200 Heads of Cabage, and about 3 Bushels of Beans, and about 2 Bushels of Pusnips and Beats together, besides Cucumbers and Watermelons, of the Same ground, and it was not Plowd nor dug up with a Hoe, only leaves and Small Bushes were burnt on it and great many Logs lay on it now — and I was told last week among the Stockbridge Indians that in their clearing some spots of land where it has been improved in years past, they Plowed up and dug up good many Potatoes, where they had been Planted perhaps 10 or 12 years ago. One man got 3 skipples and he planted them, and he has raised a fine passel of them, and Brother David Fowler told me, and his wife and others confirm'd it, that he had one Cabage Stomp stood three summers and it headed every year, the last it stood, it [had] three Heads. — Sab. Nov' 13 : Preachd at David Fowlers and many of the Stockbridgers came to meeting, and there was good attention and I believe some felt the Power of the word, — in the evening we had some singing — Monday Nov'' 14: Was geting ready to return homeward. Tuesday Nov'" 15: got up very early in the morning, and we were fitting to go off, and little after sunrise we sot off. Brother David and his wife. Daughter, and James W^aucus went together. Elijah Wympys two Daugh. ters and others — some Stockbridgers there were Eight Horses of [off] amongst us, and many foot men and we got thro the woods just as the Sun was going down. I put up at M"" Fols's — The reader will note in this portion of Occom's Diary the record of some important events. Here is the account of the founding of Brothertown, November 7, 1785, and their organi- zation into a ''Body Politick.'' Here are the names of the most prominent Indians of the tribe. Here the early location of the center of their town is stated to have been near David Fowler's house. We have, also, the name of this unique town in the Indian language, as Occom wrote it — Eeyamquittoowau- connuck. On the eighth of November we note the Fast Day 254 SAMSON OCCOM of the Stockbridge Indians — who were then six miles westward from David Fowler's house — and its solemn import, a day of prayer for God's blessing on their new town. Here we meet again with " Sir Peter " and " Capt. Hindreck," who became Occom's firm friends. It seems that these Indians of New Stockbridge were to disperse for the winter. Some, indeed, of both tribes tarried in the settlements along the Mohawk until the following spring. Here already we see how it hap- pened that Occom ministered to a church composed of both tribes. The Stockbridge missionary, John Sergeant, had not come with his people ; they were as sheep without a shepherd. We shall have occasion to refer to these points again. Occom's journey homeward was another missionary tour. He had an acquaintance along the road. The following are some of his lodging-places : Esquire Waubret's ; Captain Foof 's [?] ; Esquire Kimball's at Bowmen's Creek ; Peter Van Wormer's, a mile from Mohawk river, where he met Mr. Romine, a Dutch minister; Mr. Otis' in Gallaway; Mr. Smith's, where he met Mr. Coffin, a Universalist preacher, with whom he " disagreed altogether without debate " ; Mr. Kalley's, where he married Jonathan Bunyan Cotes and Polly Doulin ; Mrs. Post's, near Schenectady; Mr. Holms"; Balls- town, where he baptized Theophilus Hide, a dying man, and married Sanford White and Hannah Hide ; Pittstown ; Hoo- suck, at Mr. Porter's ; Williamstown ; Richmond ; and so to the house of Mr. Sergeant at Stockbridge. That w^inter he was at Mohegan, engaged in his work here and there. The volume of his diary is missing which describes his return in the spring of 1786 to Oneida. We find him on his way at Fort Hunter on the twenty-sixth of June, and at German Flats on the fourth of July. Tuesday July 4, [1786] Went to see my folks at Mi" Tygut's and Wednesday was there yet. — Thirdsday July 6 in the morning Some Time we sot of to go thro the THE MISSIONARY OF THE WIIDERNESS 255 Woods, near 12 we reached at Chunangusde. we turned out our Horses and my mare run away and we were obligd to stay there all Night, we could not find her — Fryday July 7 : we went of prety early, and got to our Settlement Some Time in the afternoon, and we were glad to see one another, but many of our People were gone away to seek after provisions, for food is very scarce — Saturday July 8: Anthony and James Fowler Waucus went after my mare — Sabb. July 9 : we met together at Abraham Simon's. There was but few of our folks and good many Stockbridgers were with us. I spoke from Rom viii and there was good attention amongst the People — Monday July 10: In the evening Anthony and James came back without my mare. They found her in a mire. Dead, Sunk almost all over, there is the end of her — Fryday July 14 Andrew Corricomb had a son Born. Sabb July 16, Preachd at Brother David Fowler's. Spoke from Matt, Jesus Cried and from Romans, if god be for us &c most of our People were there and a great number of Stocbredgers, and there was great and solemn attention — Sabb July 23 went from Roger Wauby's to the Town of Stockbridgers, and many of our People went and we had a large Assembly. M'' Dean^ and four with him came to meeting they live about six miles of, and I spoke from Matt vi : 9 : and Psalm 133: i,and the People attended well, we had a shower just as meeting was concluded and we sot till it was over and that was soon, and then we pusht on homeward. I got [to] Jacob Fowler's about sun set, and I was some what woried — Sabb July the 30 About 9 I went to Brother Davids & there I preachd, 8 James Dean of " Dean's Patent " — the best Indian interpreter of his day and con- spicuous in all treaties. His life in detail would make an interesting volume. He was the son of John and Sarah (Douglass) Dean, and was born in Groton, Conn., Aug. 20, 1748. It is said that his parents devoted him to the life of a missionary, and when he was nine years old sent him, with an uncle, to reside at Onohoquaga. He there lived with " Good Peter," probably, and became a master of several Indian languages. In September, 1762, he was brought home by Rev. Eli Forbes, and sub- sequently engaged as an interpreter for Mr. Moseley. He entered Dartmouth Col- lege, and graduated in 1773. Thereafter, until 1775, he was employed by Doctor Wheelock, but then went into the government service, among the New York tribes. After the war, he took up his residence in the Oneida country, became a distinguished citizen, and died at Westmoreland, N. Y., Sept. 10, 1823. — Chapman's ^/«w«z c?/ Dart Coll., p. 14 ; Chase's Hist, of Dart. Coll., p. ^"j ; Jones' Annals of Oneida County, Sprague's Annals, 1,493,494; Wheeloek Papers and MS.^ Rec. Soc.for Prop. Cos. 256 SA/l/SOiV OCCOM and many of the Stockbtidgeis were there and four young Onoyda men were there, and were drest compleat in Indian way. they shined with Silver, they had large Clasps about their arms, one had two Jewels in his Nose, and had a large Silver half moon on his Breast; and Bells about their Legs, & their heads were powderd up quite stiff with red paint, and one of them was white as any white man and gray eyes, his appearance made me think of the old Britains in their Heathenism. I spoke from Hosea xiii : 9: & Eclesi xii. i and there was great attention among the people, after meeting the singers sung some Time and then we all dis- persd — Monday JulyV3i a number of us went to the Flats, we got there before night and I put "up at M'" Conrod Fols. Tuesday was at the place all Day — Wednesday, Augst 2 Sun about two hours high we sot [off] again for home, and we got home just about Sundown, all well, and found our Folks well. Thanks be to god. — Sabb. Augt 6. Preached at Jacob Fowlers in fore Noon, and there was but few People, it was rainy morning. In the after Noon we went to David Fowlers, and there was a large number of People. Several of the Stock- bridgers came. I spoke from Rom 11 .28. 29: & Luke xvi. 13 — and the People attended well, in the evening I returned again to Brother Jacob. — Tuesday Aug' 8 : Some Time in the morning I went to Fishing at Orisco Creek, and I catchd 5 Doz" and five Salmon Trouts, — and Just at Night I removd to Brother David Fowler's to Stay a while. — Saturday Aug' 12 In the after Noon I Sot out for Stockbridgers, stopt awhile at Roger Waubys took Dinner there, and after eating, went on, got to the Place Some Time before Night. Lodged at Sir Peter Paukqunup- peat. — Sabb. Aug' 13: About 10 we began the holy Exercise at the House of Jacob Cunkcuppot, and there a large collection of People, some white people, — I spoke from Jerem xxx 14. in the after noon from Luke x. 42 and the People attended with great solemnity, and with some affection ; and it was a Rainy afternoon. I Lodgd again at Sir Peters. — Monday Aug' 14: got up very early, and sot of for Brotherton, — Stopt at Roger Waubys, and took Breakfast and soon after eatg I went on again : got at Brother Davids abot 10 : & found them all well — Wednesday Aug' 16: Towards Night, the Young People came together at Jacob Fowlers to receive Instruction ; and I gave them a Short Dis- course from Proverbs iv. 13: and they attended exceeding well, they behaved becomingly, and were Solemn, and there was Some affection, with Tears, after I had Spoke and Prayd I orderd them to sing, and they sung three Times, with great Decency and solemnity, and as they were going out, Elyjah Wimpy first gave me thanks, and all manifested thankfulness; THE MISSIONARY QF THE WILDERNESS 257 The Lord Bless them, and give them teachable Hearts, that they be Wise unto eternal salva[tion]. Sabb Aug' 20: Went to David Fowlers Some what early, and about 10 began the Holy Service, and there was a large Number of People many Stockbridgers came and there were four out of M'' Deans Family, and more whatman, — I Spoke from Luke ii: 10: 11 and Psalm xxxi : i and there was great and solemn attention in the Assembly; after meeting our People Stay'd Some and [sung] Psalms — near sun set I went down to Brother Jacobs, and to bed soon and rested quietly once more — Wednesday Aug* 23 Towards Night the Young People came to Jacob Fowlers to receive instruction; and I spoke to them from Prover*^ [blank] a little whi[le] and then we Prayd, and after Prayer I Exercised with my Christian Cards with them,* and they were agreable to them, and they [were] Awd with the Various Texts of Scripture, and I believe they will not forget the evening very soon, there was one Stockbridge Girl came on purpose, and there was one English Girl, and they also chose each of 'em a Text; and they concluded with singing several Tunes, and the whole was caried on with Decency, «& Solemnity — Sabb. Aug' 27 Had a meeting at Abraham Simons on acount of his wife's Sickness; he was not at Home, he has been gone five weeks tomorrow. — There was a great Number of People, a number of Stockbridgers was there, and tow white Men from the New Town. I spoke from Gene. xxii. 12 and in the after Noon from John iii. 16 & I believe we had the Presence of God with us, there was uncommon attention, and great solemnity and many Tears flowd down the cheeks of many ; after meeting a Number of Singers went to Jacob Fowlers and sung a while, and then we Prayd & so every one went Home Soberly & quietly — Wednesday Aug' 30 Soon after Breakfast thirteen of us sot out into the Woods, they went after Ginshang Roots, and I was going to M'' James Dean's, we travild together about 3 Miles, and there they incamped made up great Fire, and soon after I went on. sister Hannah Fowler went with me, and then we went thro' a Hedious Wilderness for three or four miles, we had only markd Trees to go by, and there was but very poor Track — we arrivd to M'" Deans Some time in -the afternoon, found them all well, and we were receivd with all kindness, and at sundown Brother David came runing in pufing and Blowing and all of a fome with sweat, he had treed a couple of Racoons and he [came] for a gun, and went right back and one young man ; and some Time in the [evenmg] he came in with one Racoon — Thirdsday Aug' 31 about 11, we took leave of the Fa[mily] and went to New Stockbridge — got there some Time in the afternoon, we calld on Sir Peter Pankquunnupeat & I put up there, — Fryday Sep'' i : Some Time in the after noon we had a meeting, and I 18 258 SAMSO.V OCCOM spoke from Psalm, 32 : 9 and there was very good attention — I[n] the even- ing they got together to sing, and after singing, we had exercise with Chris- tian Cards, and it was new [to] them and very agreable. they attended with great solemnity, but all did not Draw that intended to draw, it grew late, and so we broak up. — Saturday Sep*" 2 : I was at the Place all Day long. I visited some Fami- lies, as I did yesterday, in the evening we met together again to go thro' the Exercise we began the last Night with my Christian Cards, and it was very agreable. some were much affected, we concluded with singing a Psalm — Sabb : Sep'" 3. About 10 we began the Divine worship of god and there was a great number of People for this wilderness, some white People — I spoke from Matt xi. 12 and I Kings xix. 13 and I be[Iieve] the Lord was present with us. I [had] some sense of the great things I [was] delivering and I believe many felt the Power of the word; for there was great solem- nity, and Awful Atention thro the Asembly, many Tears iiowd from many Eyes. — as soon as the meeting was done I went Home with our People, we got Home Just before sun set; and our singer^ got together and they sung some Time, we had some newcomers at the singing meeting. — Last Satui- day 13: of our People came to our Place to settle, a Family from Mohegan & a Family from Montauk and some from Narroganset and one from Farmington — Wednesday Sepr6: towards Night I attended upon our Young People, and ten Stockbridgers came to the meeting old and Young, and many of our old People came too. We began with singing, and then Prayd, after Prayer the Young People rehearsed the Texts and Verses they had Chosen at our second meeting, and they were very Solemn, and when they had done I 1)egan a Discourse with them, from I Timothy, vi. 19 and it was a solemn Time with the People, many weremuch affected. Concluded with Prayer and Singing. — Sabb Sep'' 10 In the morning we went [to] Abraham Simons to meeting, began about 10 and there was a great number of People, many from Stock- bridge, and we had to white men at the meeting, they were going to Niegara from Johns Town, and there was a solemn attention thro' the Assembly. I spoke from Matt, ix, 12. In the after noon we went to David Fowlers, and I Spoke from Job xxi. 14, 15 and there was greater attention many affected deeply, after meeting the singers stopt and sung Some Time and concluded with Prayer and so we parted — Monday Sep'" 11. I went down to the German Flats. Young Elijah Wympy& I went together: we got thro Just before sun set, and I put up at my good Friends M'' Conrod Fols, was some woried and went to bed soon but had uncomfortable Nt of it there were so many vir" Tuesday Sep'' 12. got up very early, and it was very Lowery and so did THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 259 not set out so soon as I intended, took Breakfast, and about 10 I sot out for Springfield, and just before I got to the Place I mist my way. got to south west of the Place [a] good ways and towards Night it began to be sc^verry, and just at Night, I calld at a certain House, to as[k] the way, and it began to rain, and asked me whether I Might stay there and I thanked him told [him] I wou'd and so I stayd ; tooke supper with them — and went to bed soon, and had comfortable rest — Wednesday Sep'" 13 Got up very early and got ready and they would have me stay to take Breakfast with them but I told them I wou'd take it another Time. — The man's Name is M'' Nicholas Lowe, they were very kind to me. the man had heard me at New York above 20 years back. So tooke good leave of them and went on my way. got to the Place about 9 and call'd on M'" Winters but they were not at Home, the Women were at Home, and they got me Breakfast, they were exceeding kind. — and from thence I went to M'" Griffins, and was there till near sun sit, and then I went to M'' Stansel's, where a meeting was apointed, and there was a large Num- ber of People collected together, and I spoke from Rom. ii. 28-29: and the People attended with all gravity and [I] believe some felt the Power and Love of God. — T stayd at the same House, it is a Dutch Family and there is one young man in this House, Very Remarkable in Religion, he is a living christian. I believe is not ashamed of his Lord and Master, he was con- verted last Winter, and he is much opposed by the most of the Family. Yet he keeps on — he and I Lodgd together this night, after we had a Song conversation in the Family ; I was Treated well by the whole Family. Rested comfortably — Thirdsday Sep'' 14 and Fry'^ was at the place, went to see some Families. Lodgd once at M'' Dicks and once at M'" Crippins — Saturday Sep'" 16: Just after Dinner we went to one M'' Nicholas Pickards where the Christian People were to have a Conference meeting, the People collected Some Time in the after Noon, and they began by Prayer and sung, and they began to relate their Experiences, and there were 12 men and three women, that related the work of god on their souls and it took them till near Mid Night, and it was the most agreable meeting that ever I was at. there were several Nations and Denominations & yet all harmonious, there was no Jar amongst them, but Peace and Love, there experiences were acording to the Doctrines of the Gospel. — I Lodgd at the same House & was very kindly entertained, the man is a Dutchman & his [wife] is Ireish woman, and both I believe were sincere Christians — Sabb Sep"' 17 : Near 10 we went to meeting at old M'" Pickards in his New House only coverd over head, and there was a Prodigious Number of Peo- ple and I spoke from Acts xi. 26. in the after Noon from the last Psa and the last verse — after meetg went to Deacon Childs, and in the Evening a 26o SAMSOA' OCCOM number of young People came to the House to receive Instruction, and I spoke to them from some passages of Scripture, and after that we had Exercise with my Notes, and there was great solemnity amongst them, they were most all Dutch People they stayd late — Monday Sep'" iS: It was a Rainy Day, and I did not sit out. towards Night I went to M'" Pickards from M-" Crippens. M'" Nicholas Pickard went with me, the old gentleman and his wife received me with all kindness, and in the evening the Young People came together again for Instruction, and I spoke to them the words Remember thy Creator &c and after that we had Exercise with my cards again, and the People were much solemnised. We sot up somewhat late again. I rested comfortably once more — Tusday Sep'" 19: Got up early, and got Breakfast and then sot off, and got to M'" Fols just after sun set. went to Bed soon — Wednesday Sep'" 20 sot of Some What early, old E. Wimpy went with me and we got thro before Night, we overtook a num[berj of Stock- bridgers just come from there old settlement, found our Folks well — Sabb Sep'" 24 Had a meeting in David Fowlers Barn, and there was a large number of People collected, great many from old Town, — the bigest Assembly we have had since I came to this Place. I spoke from I Corin vii 29. 30. 31 : & Acts xvi. 28, and I believe we had the presence of god with us. many were deeply affected there was flow of Tears from many Eyes, — in the evening the singers went to Jacob Fowlers to sing, and I went there too, and they sung near two Hours and then [I] gave them a word of Exhortation and prayd, and things were done decently and in order, and so we parted once more in Peace and Love. I went backe to Brother Davids and soon went to bed quietly once more. The Lord be Praised — Monday Sep'" 25 Sot of about mid Day for old Town. David went with me in order to the Lake to Fishing, — Lodgd at Widow Quinnys, — Tuesday Sep'" 26, I did not feel well, and it looked like for Storm, and so we returnd backe got home some time before noon — Fryday Sep'" 28 : in the morning went to Stockbridgers, and toward Night Preachd a Discourse to them. I spoke from Gala vi. 15 and there was great solemnity in the congregation — Lodgd at Sir Peters — Sabath, Octo' i : Had our meeting in Jacob Concoppots and there was a Prodigious large congregation for the wilderness, some white People — I spoke from Psalm 58: 15: in the afternoon from Ezek xxxii: 11 and we had an Awfull solemnity in the assembly, there was a shower [of] Tears. I felt Bowels of Compassion towards my poor Brethren ; in the Evening the Stockbridgers met at Sir Peters, and they rehearsed what they heard in the Day, and they were Very Solemn ; at the end of their rehearsal, Sir Peter Pohquunnuppeet made a confession of his wanderings from God, and Asked the Peoples forgiveness, and he was very Solemn, and the People received him in their charity — THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 26 1 Wednesday Oct'' 4 : had a meeting with our Young People, and there was many old People also, — I spoke from Prover xxii. i and there was uncommon attention amongst the People, Especially the Young People — Saturd morning Sep'" [Oct] 6: after the reading a chap'" I took notice of some Passages and spoke to the Family, and there was a solemn attention, and then I attempted to Pray, and I had an awful sense of the Miserable situation of mankind, and the goodness of God which melted down my soul before God, and there was much affection in the Family. — Sabb Octo'" 7 : Had a meeting in Brother Davids & there was but a little number of People by reason of the uncommon Floods in all the creeks, and on the Land, most of the Bridges were carried off, for it had been Raining several Days last week ; and it Rains yet ; Some Stockbridgers came to meeting for all the dreadful traviling. there [were] five women and four men. I spoke from I[sa] xl. 22, and I think I had an Awful sense of the Deplorable state of [the] sinful race of Adam, and some sense of the great- ness and goodness of God, and there was an Awful attention and flow of Tears — in the afternoon I spoke from Gene xxiv. 58 : and there was again a moving among the People : I hope they will not soon forget the Day. — In the evening they sung at Davids, and after singing I spoke to the Young People in particular, and they were greatly bowed down before the word. Some were d^eeply affected, and it was some [time] before we broak up the meeting, and they went home with solemnity. — Wednesday Ocf 11 : towards Night had a meeting with the Young Peo- ple, and we had Exercise with Christian Cards out of the old Testam* and there was an uncommon affection amongst them. I believe there was scarcely one but what was some what moved, and old People were moved too. — We sung a little after the Exercise — and so parted — Sabb Oct'" 15 Had a meeting in Brother David Fowlers and there was a great Number of People, and we had a solemn Meeting. I spoke from Matt 5. Monday Octo'" 16: a number of us, I think sixteen, all men went toNew- ToYi^n to have a Treaty with the Oneidas. We had calld them to our Town but they chuse to have us come to their Town, and we drove one creature to them to kill, we got there after sun sit went directly to the Councell House, David and I Lodgd there, and there rest were ordered elsewhere. I had but poor rest all Night, they have too many Vermine for me — Tuesday Octo'" 17: Some Time in the after noon, were calld to appear before the Councell and we were permitted to speak for ourselves, — and we related the whole of our transactions with them about the Land they gave us — for they had a notion to take it back again last summer, and only allow one mile square which we utterly refused, and we had not got thro that Day, and we were dismisst. in the evening we all went together in a 262 SAMSON OCCOM certain House to sing and Pray together & after prayers David and I [went] Back to the Councell House to Lodge — Wednesday Octo"" iS Near mid Day we were calld again to the Coun- cell, and we resumed our relation and soon finishd and then we went out, and were calld again soon, and they begun to rehearse [what] we had deliverd, and they said it was all good and True, and then they made a New offer to us, to live in the same spot of Ground, but [not] to be bound by any Bound, but live at large with them on theer Land, which we refused, and we told them we chuse to [be] bounded, and they had bounded us allready, all most all round, and we wanted only to be bound abound where we were, and they took it under consideration. — .Thirdsday Ocf 19: We wer calld again, and, about 11 o c: we received the News of the Death of our oldest man in our Town, old uncle Cornelius, Dead the evening before, and so we were obligd to Drop our Business, and went homeward; I stopd at old T [own]. Lodged at Sir Peter Pohqun — Fryday Oct»' 20. I went off early, to our Town about 10: Towards Night we all [went] to the House of mourning, and I deliver [ed] a short Discourse from xxxix.4.5. and from thence [we] went to the grove, and we finished Buiiing after sun sit and I went home — Saturday Oct'' 21 : soon after Breakfast, sot of for old Town. Sally SResuck and I went together, got there before Noon. I sot a while in Widow Quinne's and then went to Sir Peters — and was there a while, and there came a man, and brought a Maloncholy word concerning Sally as she was returning and had Just got out of the Town the Mare got a fit of kick- ing up her heels, and crowded up against a fence, and-she fell Backward, and broak her right Arm ; I went directly to see her and found her in great Misery, we Splinted up her arm and so left, in the evening went again to see her, and she was in great Pains, and I tryd to bleed her, but I coud not make out. Sabb Oct'' 22, at usual Time went to meeting and our Folks had Just come and most of them went back to try to carry home Salley. the assem- bly was not so large as usual by reason of the above mentioned accident. And I spoke from I Corn x, 21, in the after noon from Matt iii : 11 and there was most sole[mn] attention thro the Day. I Baptized Sir Peters wife and child. — In the evening a Number of 'em met at Sir Peters, and there were 9 : or 10 manifested their exercises of mind. They never were so awakend about their souls affairs as they are now, there never was so many men 'brought to such consideration as they are now. they confest they have been and [are] vile sinners, and determine by the help of god to turn from their evel ways and seek God, They say they [that] it is by hearing me Preach to them; one old woman said she had some thoughts about Re- ligion, and was Baptizd some nine years ago, and she thought it was well THE MISSIONARY OF TI^E WILDERNESS 263 enough with her till she heard me. she thinks now she never has met with anything, and she thinks it is a gone case with her. I gave her encourage- ment to press forward if at eleven Hour with her. She may yet come in. we broke up and I went to bed soon. — Monday Oct"' 23 A little past Noon four of our men came to old Town on their way to New Town, and I sot of with them directly, and we got there Just before sun sit, and the Councell was then sitting, and were orderd to a certain House, and in the Dusk of the evening we were calld, and after we sot there good while they read their Speech and Conclusion, and it was if [we] did not accept of their offer they would take the Land back again and we woud not accept of their offer, it was [to] take the Land at large without any bounds. — Tuesday Oct^' 24 ; our men went to Canaserake to Fishing, and I sot of for home. Stopt at the old Town, and intended to pass along, but they desired me to Stay to have a meeting in the Evening, and I consented ; in the evening they collected together I believe most all the old People, and many Young P. I Expounded upon TI Corin. xiii : 11 and there was deep attention with flow of Tears, after I had done two or three spoke in their own Tongue reharshing what I had deliverd, and the Chief man asked me as I was about to leave them, how they should go on in their religious concerns, and I told them as they were not formed into Church State, they shoud enter into Christian Fellowship and put themselves under Watch care of one another, and cary on the public Worship of god in Singing Pray- ing and reading of the word of God, and some Exhortation, and some Explination of the word of God and maintain Family Worship constantly — Wednesday Oct'" 25. Some Time in the morning I left old Town and went to our Town, got there a little before noon, and found Davids Family well, but one child was unwell, but not very sicke. Saturday Oct'' 28 : Our People pretended to have a convearence meeting, but one man who was most concernd in the meeting did not come, and so they did nothing, they concluded to cut the Road thro to the Flats. Just at Night two white men came to our Town from Spring Field, about forty miles from here, they came on purpose to give us a Christian Visit, we expected them and accordingly they came, and we were Glad to see each other. In the Evening we had a meeting, and there were Some Stock- bridge Brethren with us, and there was great moving and some making [up] and there was some crying out. held the meeting late. — Sabb. Octo'29: Many Stockbridgers came to meeting, about ten we began the Exercise, and there was great Assembly. I spoke from Matt xxiv: 14: and we had a solemn meeting, many were affected — in the evening we had another meeting, and there was great moving and some making up, and many were affected, but I believe there was more Natural 264 SAA/SO.V OCCOM affection than Gracious, afn [afternoon] there was considerable Noise, we were late before we left the Place. — Wednesday Nov' i, I had a meeting w4th the Young Peop[le] at David Fowlers, and they repeated the verses upon the Texts they chose the last Time they met, and it was a Solemn Time with us, many Tears were Shed. Several indeed are [under] Deep Convictions, and been so for Some Time — Saturday Nov'" 4 : near noon I sot of for New Stockbridge. Stopt a while at Brother Roger Waubys and took dinner there, and after eating past on- got to the Place towards Night, put up at Cap^ Hind[recks]. in the Even- ing we had a meetg. I dropt a few words, and many discoverd their Spiritual Exercise and it was a solemn Time, many confest and lamented their past conduct, and determind to live a Regular life in Time to come &c — Sabb. Nov 5 : People began to [be] collected together, and there was a great Number of P. we began the Exercise about ten! I Spoke [from] Joshua xxiv: 15, and I believe the Lord acompanied his word by his Divine Spirit, the People were Bowd before the word, — after speaking I Baptized [Blank], in the Evening we met again. I did not say much, and there was a numbgr again that discoverd their concern and resolutions, and it was a solemn Season, and we held the mg late. Lodged at Capt Hin- dricks again — Monday Nov 6: We had another meeting quite early, and there was much affection. I Spoke to them about the Nature of Baptism very close, and r Baptized [Blank]. Some Time towards noon I left New Stockbridge. Stopt a little while at Roger Waubys and so past on. got to Brother Davids Some Time in the after Noon,— in the eving we had a meeting, and it was a comfortable meeting : — Tuesday NoV 7 was geting ready to return homeward. Visited some Families — Wednesday Nov 8. Visited again and was busy geting ready— Thirdsday Nov 9: sot of early. Sir Peter Puhquennuppeet, Catty Quinney, Betsey Fowler and Elizy Corricomb went with me, and we were obligd to Lodge in the Woods, we coud not get thro' and it rain'd some, we found a good Hutt, and made out to make fire, and we lodged quite comfortable. I had good rest— Fryday Nov 10: got up some Time bsfore Day, and as soon as it was break a Day we tacled our Horses and went on. we got to M'' Folss Just after sun rise, took breakfast at Mr. Fols's : and about 8 : we sot off again. Stopt a little at Esq'' Franks, and near 12 we went on again. Got to Spring Field some Time in the Evening. \^e put up at Brother Crip- pens and we were Gladly receivd and we were glad to see them— THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 265 Again Occom spent the winter at Mohegan, On the 26th of May, 1787, he began his next journey to Oneida, arriving at Fols' on the evening of July first. Here he met John Tuhie, who gave him intelligence concerning the state of his people. Among other things which he then learned was that several of them had died since he left. On the fourth instant, as he was preparing to journey through the wilderness to Brothertown, David Fowler and his wife, with " Sister Esther, Brother Jacob Fowlers widow," came in. Here, then, another of Wheelock's pupils drops out of our story. The circumstances and exact time of Jacob Fowler's death are unknown. He probably died shortly before Occom's arrival in the spring of 1787. But we know he lived a worthy life to the last, and died beloved among his people. He had done some service to his honor as a schoolmaster in the Oneida mission, the teacher and preacher at Mushantuxet, the Indian tutor at Dartmouth Col- lege, and the faithful messenger of " Brother Jonathan " during the Revolution. He is doubtless buried in an unmarked grave in their early cemetery on the hill at Brothertown. Here we resume the story as told in a volume of Occom's diary in the Connecticut Historical Society : Thirsday Jul. 5 [17S7] arrivd here Yesterday, this Day went nowhere but kept at Christiana all Day. — Sabb. July 8 : about 9 went to Brother Davids, and prety many People collected together. Both Towns got together, and Some White People, from Clenton. we began about 10, in Brother Davids Barn. I Spoke from Mathew [Blank] in the after Noon from Deuto x. and the People attend[ed] with great solemnity and some affection, towards Night went back to Daughters and Lodged there. — Thirdsday July 12 : Some Time before Noon I sot of from our Town, and went to New-Stockbridge. Stopt a while at Brother Roger's and took Dinner there, and soon after went on again, got to the Place about 2, put up at Cap* Hindreck's and Lodged, the People were exceeding glad to see me : but many of them were gone a fishing after Salmon. Fryday July 13: Some Time after Breakfast went to see a woman that had been some Sick. Peter Pohquunnuppeet went with me, and I had some conversation with her about her eternal concerns, she seemed to be 266 SAMSON OCCOM reseignd. she said she was willing God should dispose of her as he Pleases. Prayed with her, and then went back to Cap* Hindrecks, and towards Night went to meeting, and there was but few Collected, and I spoke to them from xxxiii Psalm 12 verse, and there was very good at- tention, after I had done speaking Capt Hindreck rehersed what he could remember in his own Tongue and he made the last Prayer and so the People were dismissed, and I went home with Cap* Hindreck and Lodged there again. Saturday July 14. Some [time] in the morning went to see Joseph Pye, alias Shauqueathquat, and had very agreable conversation with him, his wife, sister & another old woman about their Heart Exercises, and they asked Some Questions and I answered them, and after a while I went back. Sabb July 15 about 10, we began the Divine Service, & there was a large number of People, many English were with us. I Spoke from I Corin 2:2: and Luke vii. 48 and the People attended with great solemnity, and grav- ity, after meeting went back to my lodgings, and Just before Sunset went to meeting again, and Capt Hindreck, and Peter Peet reharsed in the Indian Language, the Discourses I Deliverd in the Day, because many old People coud not readyly understand what Ideliver'd in the English, and in .the Evening went back to Cap* H^ and Sir Peter, Jo Queney and John Quenney came to my Lodgings and they asked many Questions, and we had very agreable Evenings Conversation and it was Rainey Night. went to Bed somewhat late and had comfortable repose. Monday July 16. Went to see several Families. This Evening after we had got to Bed, sot up quite late too, widow Quenn-ey Knocked at the Door, and she just look'd in, and spoke & she went back: and I ask'd what was the Matter, and Cap* Hindreck said, that Cathrine Quenney was taken very Strangely at once, her Breath was most gone all of a Sudden, and Cap* Hindreck and his wife got up and went to s^e her, and I lay still, and told them, if she continued so, let me know, and the Cap* came back directly, and desired me to go over, and I got up and Drest me and went over, and when I got into the House, I went right to her Bed Side, and sot down, she lay very still only Breathe with struggle, and sigh'd once in a while : and I asked her whether she was sick : she said no. what then is the matter with you, and slie said, with Tears, I want to Love God more, and serve him better; and I said to her, if She really Desired and asked for it she shu'd have her desire granted, for it was a good Desire, & gave her some further advice and counsel, and she desir'd me to Pray with her, and I asked her what we shou'd pray for. she said, that she may have more Faith, that she might serve with her whole Heart and so we pray'd, and after that I went back to my lodgings, and went to bed again quietly and had comfortable rest. — THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 267 Tuesday July rj : Soon after Prayers I went over to see Catey and she was yet a Bed and I asked how [she] did. She said well, and asked how her mind was. She said, she found more love and Peace, and she wanted to serve God with all [her] heart. Said, she slept none or but little all Night, and her Body felt very weak, but her heart felt well : she desired me to pray with her. I asked her, what she wanted to pray for. she said for Wisdom and more Faith : and soon after Prayer I went to my Quaters, and about 10 my son in Law, Anthony Paul came to me and little Jo Wauby, and we went to the Lake. Stopt a little while at M'" Aucut's and were well treated, he is from Connecticut, — and so we past on. got [to] CoIqI Lewee's Just after sun set, and Lodged, but I had but small Portions of sleep. Flees Plagued me all Night. Wednesday, July 18: was at Lewees. We cou'd not find a connoo till afternoon, and then we went to the Lake, about 3 quaters of a mile, and wee made up a Fire where the Black Creek runs into the New Town creek, and there we spent the Night, some Five in the after [noon] I went to Salmon Creek near 3 miles, where the Block House was once. I had been there 26 years ago, there was then a number of sodiers, but it is all grown up with Large Stadles. there I saw a Family over the Creek, I suppose moving to the West, but I did not go over to see them, towards Night went back to our Fire, and we catch'd some Fish — we made up great Fire, and after a while went to sleep, but I was cold. — Thirdsday July 19, got up early and Pray'd and then got some Victuals and soon after we sot off to go to Salmon Creek, soon got there. I rode and the Boys went by water in a little Connoo. We went to fishing, but had no Luck, and so went back to our Fire, soon got there and went to fishing in the creek, and catch'd [a] few fish. Just at Night, we got ready to return home : Lodged again at Colo^ Lewees, but I had no comfort, I had too many Bed Fellows. — Fryday July 20, got up quite early and went of soon : Stopt a while at M^' Aleuts in New Town, took Dinner there, soon after we went on again, got to New-Stockbridge some [time] in the after Noon — sun about two hours high, at Night we had a meeting, there was not great many People, and I spoke to them from [Blank] and there was good attention, after meeting went to Bed soon and had a comfortable rest — Saturday July 21. Lay a Bed somewhat late, and Some Time before noon I left the Place, and went to Brotherton. Stopt a little while at Brother Roger Waubys and soon past on, got to my Daughter Christianas some Time before Night : and at Night went to Bed soon and had good rest — Sabb July 22. about 9 went to Brother Davids to meeting, and about 10 began the service, and there was a large Assembly. I spoke from I Corin 268 SAMSON OCCOM iii. II & Matt xxv. 46 and there was uncommon attention among the People, many were melted Down to Tears, some were alarm'd. I felt the Power of God's word myself, after meeting went to Brother David's House, for we met in his Barn. Just at Night went to my Daughters. — Thirsday July 26, towards Night I went to Abraham Simons, married him to Sarah Adams, they did not make any widding yet there was good many People. Lodged there — Saturday July 28. Some Time in the morning David Fowler and his wife, and I sot of to go to Deans Ville [Dean's Patent], and we went by way of Clenton, got to Clenton Some Time in the afternoon, and it was a Rainey Day, and very bad way, many Mirery holes, stopt a few minutes at Capt Foots, and so past on. got to M'" James Dean's about sun set, and I was kindly receiv'd, and I Lodg'd there. Brother David and his Wife went to M"" Jonathan Deans and Lodged there. Sabb July 29. about 9 went to M'" Felps's to meetg and there was con- siderable Number of People, and I spoke from the words, he that soweth to the flesh &c and let the word of Christ Dwell in you &c, and there was very good attention, after meeting went back to ]\P James Deans, and Lodged there again — Monday July 30: after Breakfast we sot of for Brotherton. got home about Noon, towards Night I went to my Daughters and found them well — Thirsday August 2. towards Night I went to Widow Esther P'owlers, and we had a mg [meeting] there, and there was not a great Number of People, our People are much scattered on account of the scarcity of Pro- visions. I spoke from Luke ix. 62 and there was an affectionate attention among the People. I Lodged at the same House — Saturday. Aug* 4 : Went to New-Stockbridge, got there before Night. — I put up at Sir Peter Pohequenuppeets. Sabb. Aug* 5. about 10 went to meeting, and there was a goodly number of People, — I Spoke from Theol. 3 : 20 and the People attended well, the People met again toward Night and Cap* Hindreck and Sir Peter Rehearsed what I had delivered in the Day. Baptised 2 Children one for Sir Peter by the Name Mary, and [the] other was for Joseph Quiney by the [name of] Joseph. — Monday Aug' 6. was at the Place all Day. — Tuesday Aug* 7. Some Time in towards noon I went to Brotherton. Stopt a little while at Rogers and 10 past on. got to Brother David abt 2 : and was there a little while, and down the Hill, got to my Daughter's some Time in the after Noon, found them well— Thirsday Aug* 9. Just at Night went to meeting at Sister Esther Fow- lers and there was but few People, it was Raney. I spoke from Matt xiii, THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 269 2 &c, and there was great solemnity among the People. I Lodged at the Same House. — Sabb Aug* 12. went to Davids and about 10 we began the holy service and there was a great Number of People and I Spoke from Deut xxxiii. 27 and the People attended well. Lodged at Brother Davids. Monday morn- ing went to my Daughters. Wednesday Aug^ 15= I ^^^ ^ Number of People come to clear a bid of ground for me from New Stockbridge and from this Place — the Names of the Stockbridgers, Cap* Ilindrick [Blank] Thirdsday Aug^ 16 they worked again, and they Laboured exceeding well, this is the first Labour I ever had from my Brethren according to the P'lesh, and it was a Voluntary offer and I accepted of it thankfully. I never did receive anything from my Indian Brethren before. Now I do it out of Principle. It is high Time that we should begin to maintain ourselves, and to support our Temporal & Religious Concerns, towards Night, we went up on the Hill and a meeting at Brother Davids, there was a considerable of People & I spoke from Psalm cxix : 97 and the word fell with great Power, many were deeply Bowed down : — after I had done, the People sung some Time. I Lodged at Brother David's and many of the Stock- bridgers stayd here too and we went to rest soon. — Fryday Aug^ 17 many of the Stockbridgers took Breakfast at Davids, and then they went home. I soon went after them. I got to the Place before Noon & put up at Cap*^ Hindricks. towards Night we had a meeting, and there was not many People, and I Spoke from John xv. 12. and we had a comfortable meeting, the Word was weighty in the minds of the People. M'' Kirkland was present and one M'' Olcut was there also. — Saturday, Aug* 18 in the afternoon towards N* the People got together & Cap* Hindrick Rehearsed what I deliver'd the Day before, and there was a solemnity among the People — Sabb Aug* 19, about 10 we began the service and there was a large N*' of People, and I Spoke from Deut xxvi. 16. 17. 18. 19 and Reval. xxii. 17 and it was a solemn Day with us, as soon as the meeting was over, I had my Horse got up and I sot a way for Brotherton with our People ; got home to Davids about sunset and there Lodged — Thirdsday Aug* 23 I had 6 Stockbridgers to help me to clear Land, — and sun about an Hour high we had a meeting at Widow Fowler, and there was but a small number of People and I spoke from Hos vi : 3 and there was very good attention. — I Lodged at the Same House — Sabb. Aug* 26 about 9 went to meetiifg upon the Hill at Brother Davids, and about 10 began the Divine worship and there was a large number of People, & I spoke from Rom. i. 16 & iii. i. 2: and there was a solemn attention amongst the People. — at the end of the afternoon sermon, I Bap- 270 SAJ/SOA' OCCOM tized my Son in Law Anthony, and my Daughter Christiana owned her Baptism and renew[ed] her covenant with god, and I Baptized their chil- dren : their Names are, Samson, James, Sarah, Fhebe— these were the first that were Baptized in this New Settlement, and I hope and Pray that it may be only the beginning of multitudes in this Wilderness, till the Whole Wilderness shall Blossom as the Rose — Thirds Day Aug' 30 Just at Night went [to] Widow Fowler's and had a meeting, but there was but very few People. I spoke from the words, O that my People woud consider — Saturday Sep"" i I went to Deansville, one 1)'" Petre went with me, he is a garman Doctor, we got there Some Time before Night, took Tea at M"" James .Dean's, and before sun set I went to M'" J.)na" Dean's, and there I Lodged and the Doctor Lodged there also. Sabb. Sep'" 2. about 11 we began the worship of god, and there was but a small number of People and I spoke from John xv, 23 & xiv. 23 and People attended with solemnity all Day. Lodged af M'' James Deans where the meeting was. Esq While and I Lodged together, and had a comfortable rest — Monday Sep"" 3 : I got up early and went to M'- Phelps's and there I took Breakfast. Some Time in the morning went back to M^ James Deans, and leave and went home, got to Brotherton about i in the afternoon. — Thirday Sep^" 6: towards Night went to Sister Esther Fowlers and had a meeting, and there was but few People, and I spoke from I Peter i : 15 : and the People attended solemnly to appearance, as soon as the meeting was over I went back to my Daughters and it was very Dark, but had Torches to give us light thro' thick Woods — Sabb Sep"" 9: went to Brother David's to meeting, wc begun the service about [Blank] and there was considerable number of People, and I spoke from Acts xvii, 28 & 30 and we had a solemn meeting, many were deeply affected. Several Onoydas were there — toward Night I went back to my Daughters and went to bed soon — Thirdsday Sep"" 13 this Day we had appointed as a Day of fasting and prayer. We met at David Fowler's and there was a considerable number of People, and I spoke from Luke xv and it was a solemn Day. there were some that made confession of their wanderings from god, many were bow'd before the Majesty of Heaven and I believe [the] Day will not be forgot soon. Sabb Sep"" 16 had our meeting at Brother David Fowlers, and ther was a great Number of People, 3 men came from Stock — left M^ Serjan's meeting, and there were some white People, and the People attend with Awful Solemnity. I spoke from Daniel [blank] and Psalm cxix. i, after meeting went [to] George Peters and took supper there and after went back to Davids & lodged there. THE MISSIONARY OF THE WIIDERNESS 27 1 The continuation of this narrative is from a volume of the diary in Dartmouth College Library : Thirdsday Sepr 20. 17S7. Just at Night had a meeting at Widow Fow- lers, and there was not many People, and I gave them a few words of Exhortation, from Luke vi. 8 and the People attended with great solemnity, and some affection, after meeting I went to Brother Davids & Lodged there — Fryday Sep"" 21 Some Time in the morning went to New Stockbridge. David Fowler Ju'" went with me. we got there about 2, called on Mr Ser- geant and he appered good condition'd, and so to Sir Peters, and directly from there we went to meeting and there was considerable number of Peo- ple, and I spoke from Mark v. 9 and there was very good attention. This meeting was Designd chiefly for the young People. — soon after meeting went back to Sir Peters, and tooke some refreshment, and soon after Sun Set went to meeting again, and there was great Number of People and there was Several that related there exercises of mind. — three men, three women relate their Exercises, a Young man, and a maried woman, mani- fested their desire of Being Baptized and some Children were to be Bap- tized also. — M^" Serjant made some objection against two Being Baptized, but the Professors gave their fellowship to their Desire. — & so we broke up our meeting some late in the Evening. I [went] to Peters and their I Lodged, and had good rest — Saturday Sep*" 22 was all Day at the Place — Sabb Sep^ 23 : about 10 we went to meeting, and there was a large num- ber of People, many of our People from Brotherton came also, and some White[s] were there, and M"" Serjant read a Discourse to the Indians in their Tongue and read it also in English, he read his Prayer also in Indian, and he prayed partly in English — In the afternoon I tryed to Preach. I spoke from Acts x. 34. 35 and there was very great solemnity. Some were much affected. — and I Baptized at this Time Eight persons two adults & the rest children : The Name of the Young [man] is Solomon and the woman [Blank]. Soon after meeting I went to Sir Peters — In the evening we had another meeting, one of the men reharsed what [I] had deliver'd in the Day. after meeting went back with Sir Peter and Lodged there again — Monday Sep'" 24, I took Breakfast with M"" Sergeant and soon after Break- fast I returnd to Brotherton. Betsy Fowler fid behind me and got to the Place near Noon. Stopt but few minutes at Brother Davids and past on to my Daughters Tuesday Sep'" 25: eleven Stockbridgers came to our Place to help, and some of our men came also. — 272 SAMSOjV occom Wednesday I had help again till after Noon — Thirdsday Sep"" 27 in the Evening had meeting at Widow Fowlers, there was but few People and I Spoke from [Blank] and there was a solemn attention, after I had done speaking two of our People spoke a [few] words, one after another, & when they had done a white man got up and Spoke, and he spoke with a feeling, he gave an account of a remarkable reformation in Vergena — He came from Stockbridge — after meeting I went up to Brother David Fowlers & Lodged there. — Saturday Sepr 29 about i in the after Noon, my Son in Law, Anthony Paul and Daughter Christiana and Betsey Fowler sot of for Whites Bour- row, but we were overtaken with Night at one M' Blanckets and there we Lodged, and were exceedingly well entertained, and we had a little Exer- cise with a Christian Card, — we went to Bed in good season, and I had a comfortable Rest — Sabb Sepr 30 Got up very early and Prayd together and then we Sot of. we had near four Miles to go and it was extreamly Bad riding. Dreadful miry — We got to the Place just as Esq White was about taking Breakfast, and we sot down with them — and soon after Breakfast we went to meeting to another House and there was a large N. of People, and I spoke from Isaia 43:21: and there was great attention in the Assembly. I believe they felt the weight of the w^ord, — after meeting; I went home with M*" Weatmore, and tooke Dinner with them, in the after Noon meeting was removed to this House on account of a funeral that is to be attended in this House, for an Infant just Born Dyed in this House last Monday, it liv'd about two Hours after it was Born, and they have kept the corps to this Day for they expected me here this Day. this is the first Death that happend in this Place since it has been settled, it has been settled three years, and it is now a large Settlement, this after Noon I spoke from Isaia 38 : i and it was a Solemn Time, indeed many were deeply affected, there was a shower of Tears, soon after meeting we carried the little corps to the grave it was but a few Rods from the House, after Burying returned to the House — in the Evening went to Mr Livingworths and spent the evening there — about 10 went back to M^ Weatmores and Lodged there — Monday Octo'' i got up early, took Breakfast with Family, after Break- fast went lO Esq'" Whites, and got ready, and about 9 we sot off for Home. Lieui White & M'' Leavett went to our Place — as we past a long, took Notice of the Settlement, and it is a fine Spot of Land, and a very large Spot too, and the People has made a rapped Progress in cultivating the Land, if the People were as ingag'd in Religion as. they are in their Temporal Concerns this Settlement would be very much like the Garden of Eden, which was the Garden of God. the Lord be with them and l^less them that they may indeed be a Peculiar People unto God, that THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 273 they may be Lights in this Wilderness — We Stopt a while at Clenton, — and we got Home just as the sun was setting. — Thirdsday Oct'' 4: in the Evening had a meeting in Widow Fowlers, and there was but few People, and I Spoke from [Blank] and we had a com- fortable Season — Sabb Oct'" 7 : had a meeting in Brother Davids and there was not many People, and I Spoke from [Blank] and we had a solemn meeting: Lodg'd at Brother Davids — Tuesday Ocf 9: about i in the afternoon I sot of for Clenton, got there Some Time before Night. Stopt a little while at M>' Jones's to see his wife, had been sick some Time and she was very poorly, and went from there to Cap* Foot's and in the Evening the People collected together and I spoke to them from John xxi: 22 and there was great solemnity amongst the People. I believe some felt the weight of the word — the Beginning of last March there was no House in this Place, a perfect Wild Wilderness. Now there are 20 Families and there were seventy odd Persons in the meeting this evening, and have made great appearance in their improvements, these are chiefly from New England and Youngerly People — Wednesday Oct'' 10 Stayd here till after Dinner, and then went to a cer- tain House betweren this Place^and Whitesbourough about half way. the mans Name is Blanchet. I got there Some Time before Night, and had a meeting, and there was a considerable Number of People, and I Spoke from Psalm cvii, 31 : and the People attended exceeding well. — this was all a wild Wilderness in the beginning of last spring & now the People are settling al along from Whitesbourgh to Clenton — in few Years this wifl be settled thick as any part of the Globe the Land is so good, it draws all sorts of People and Nations are flocking here continually — Thirdsday Oct'' 11. some Time [after] Breakfast I sot of for home — Stopt a while at Cap* Foots in Clenton and took Dinner, went on again, got to my Daughters — and in the evening we had a meeting [at] Sister Esther's, and was not many People and I spoke from Psal cvii. 31 and there was an uncommon attention, many were deeply affected. — Fryday Octo*" 12 some Time in the morning I sot of for N. Stockbridge and had a meeting there in the Evening, and I spoke from [Blank] and there was good atention. Lodgd at Sir Peters — Saturday Octo 13: About 2 in the afternoon I went toDeanville [Dean's Patent] got to the Place about sun set. Peter went, found Mr* Dean exceedingly distrest with uncommon Difficulties in her Pregnancy, and Peter and I went to M'' Jonathan Deans and Lodged there, and 2. o. c. in the Night I was called up to the other House, and Bleed M" Dean and I went directly, and found her much distrest and took Blood from her foot and Bled exceeding well — and her distresses begun to mitigate directly, and 19 274 SAJl/SOAT OCCOM I stayd the rest of the Night and she was somewhat comfortable — I was calld up again before Day to write to Doc'" for them, for they were sending to Albany for one, and were sending for M'' Dean too for he had been gone some Time to Spencertown — Sabb Octo'" 14: about 10 the People got together, and there was a large number of People, many White People from other Places and many Indians from Both our Towns. I spoke from Matt v, 20 & 5 and there was a sol- emn attention all Day. Soon after meeting Peter and I went to Clenton. got there a little after Sun Set. We put up at Cap* Foots and the People Collected directly and there was quite a large number, and I spoke from [Blank], we lodged at the Same House & had comfortable rest — Monday Octo'" 15: Soon after Breakfast went to mill, and was there Some Time, before we coud get Grinding — we got to our Place about i : and Sir Peter past on to his Place — Thirdsday Octo"" 18 : Went to Stockbridge to a wedding Just before SunSet, attended upon Marriage, the Young man was one the Sachem's son and the Young woman was of noted Family, and there was a vast concourse of Peo- ple of many Nations, it was Said there were ten different Languages among the People and the People behaved decently, but the Onoydas began to be- have unseamly and in the Night they had a terrible froleck even all Night — Fryday was all Day at the Place — in the evening we collected together at Cap* Hindrecks. I spoke from Matt 6 : 22 : 23 and there was a solemn attention, after I had done Cap' Hindreck rehearsed the Same. Lodgd at the Same House — Saturday Octo'" 20: some Time in the afternoon I returnd to Brotherton. M'" Warmsly went with me. we stopt at Roger Waubys and there took Dinner; soon after Dinner I went on and M'" Warmsly went back. I got to Brother Davids before Night and I Lodgd at Davids — Sabb. Octo'" 21 : about 10 the People got together & [there] was a large Number of People, Some white People and I spoke from John xiii. 17 and the People were very solemn and many were affected. Lodged at the Same House — Monday Octo'" 22, in the evening had a meeting in Sister Fowlers, and there was not many People and I spoke from [Blank] and the People attended well. Lodgd at the same House. Tuesday Octo'" 23. People from Stockbridge came to help me — the[re] were 5 of them and they workd two Days. Thirdsday Octo"" 24: we were calld suddenly to appear before the chiefs of the Onoyd, that had Just come to our Place — and we eat our Breakfast in hast, and went direcly to Widow Fowlers and there the chiefs meet with us, and it was about our Lands. But there was such confusion I woud not say a word about it. it was a party Scheme, contrivd by a few of our Peo- THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 275 pie. they [have] been agreing with the Onoydas for a Piece of Land with- out the knowledge of the Headmen of the Place. Some of the contrivers of this mischief were much intoxicated and they drove on the Business with all fury in no order, it was like Whirlwind. Some Time towards Night we broke up and every one went his way : in great confusion of mind. — I went to Brother Davids and there Lodgd with a sorrowful mind. — Fr}day Octo'" 25 was at our Places all Day Saturday Octo'" 26 Towards Night Just as I was going away to Clenton Brother Chrippen and B"" Swane came to my son in Laws, and we had a little conversation, these Brethren are from a Place called Springfield, Joing to Cherryvaley ; so I left them, and went on to Clenton. got there about sun set put up at Cap' Foots, found them all well. — Sabb. Octo*' 27 about half after 10 we began the exercise, and there w^as a large Number of People, some from other Places, & several Stockbridgers were with us, and there was very great attention both before noon and afternoon, 1 spoke from John. I know you that the Love of god is not in you, in the afternoon from Mark viii, 36, 3*7. as soon as the meeting was done I went of to Brotherton, the Stockbridgers went with me. we got there about Sun Set. we eat a few mouthfulLs and went to meeting at sister easter's and there was not much moving, there seemed to be some party spirit in the meeting. — Sabb. Nov'" 4 Preached at New Stockbridge & Spoke from [Blank] and there was very serious attention al Day Monday Nov'" 5: went back to Brotherton — Sabb. Nov'" 11 : Preachd at Brotherton once more and Baptized Brother David Fowler's Children six of them, and we had a solemn Day of it. in the.evening we had another meeting, and it was a comfortable meeting — Monday Nov'" 12 this Day intended to set out for home but it begun [raining] in the morning, and so stopt for the Day — Tuesday Nov'" 13: Got up very early and got ready, and we sot out Sun about an Hour and half high. Betsy Fowler, Jerusha Wympe and Henry Stensel a young Dutch man went with me. we had exceeding fine warm Day. got thro' the woods before sun sit. I put up at Conrod P'olss. Jerusha and Betsey went to M"" Smiths about 2 miles further. Occom did not return directly to IMohegan after this visit ; but in company with Davjd Fowler, representing the Brother- town Indians, and Peter Pauquaunaupeet those of New Stock- bridge, went on a journey to solicit aid for the maintenance of Occom as their minister. Of this ecclesiastical relationship we shall write presently. They drew up an address stating their case to use on this mission : 276 SAA/SOA^ OCCOM To all Benevolent Gentlemen, to Whom these followmg lines may make their appearance. We who lately mov'd from Several Tribes of Indians in New England, and Setled here in Oneida Country.— And we also Muhheeconnuck Tribe, who lately came from Housotonuk alias Stockbridge, and have settled in Oneida, And finding it our indispensible Duty to maintain the Christian Religion amongst ourselves in our Towns, And from this Consideration, Some of us desired our Dear Brother, the Rev^ Samfon Occom, to give us a visit, and accordingly, he came up two years ago this Fall, and he was here a few Days ; and his preaching came with great weight upon our Minds. And he has been here two Summers and Falls since. And we must confess to the Glory of God, that God has made him an Eminant Instrument amongst us, of a Great and Remarkable Reformation. And have now given him a Call to Settle amongst us, and be our Minister that we may enjoy the glorious Doctrines and ordinances of the New Testament. And he has accepted our Call.— But we for ourselves very weak, we c'd do but very little for him. And we Want to have him live comfortable. The late unhappy wars have Stript us almost Naked of every thing, our Temporal enjoyments are greatly lesstened, our Numbers vastly diminished, by being warmly engaged in favour of the United States. Tho' we had no immediate Business with it, and our Spiritual enjoyments and Priviledges are all gone. The Fountains abroad, that use to water and refresh our Wilderness are all Dryed up, and the Springs that use to rise near are ceased. And we are truly like the man that fell among Thieves, that was Stript, wounded and left half dead in 'the high way. — And our Wheat was blasted and our Corn and Beans were Frost bitten and kill'd this year. — And our moving up here was expensive and these have brought us to great Necessity — And these things have brought us to a resolution to try to get a little help from the People of God, for the present; for we have deter- mined to be independent as fast as we can, that we may be no longer troublesome to our good Friends, — And therefore our most humble Request and Petition is, to the Friends of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, [that they] would take notice of us, and help us in encourageing our Dear Minister, in Communicating Such Things that may Support him and his Family. — This is the most humble request and Petition of the Publicks true Friend & Brothers Elijah W^impey New-Stockbridge David Fowler Nov 28: 1787 Joseph Shauquethgent Brotherton Hendrech Aupaumut Nov'' 29: 1787. Joseph Quaunckham Peter Pohquenumpec* Conn. Hist. Soc, Indian Papers. THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 277 The principal places they visited on this tour were Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton and Princeton in New Jersey, and they spent about a month in and about Philadelphia, return- ing by the way of New York. Some funds were collected, but much less than they had hoped. It was the thirty-first of March, 1788, before Occom reached home. He there resumed his work until the twenty-sixth of May, when he started again for Oneida, arriving at Brothertown July eighth. We have not a complete account of that visit, and a lost volume of the diary leaves us without details until May 11, 1789. On that date we find him at Albany moving his family and other New England Indians to their new homes. It is known, however, that he spent his time as in the preceding years. We regret most the loss of the account of his own departure from the Mohegan home, where he had so long lived. It must have cost him some sorrow. Most of his furniture he was obliged to leave behind in the care of his sister, Lucy Tantaquidgeon, or his younger sons. On the wall hung the painting of him which had been made in England and presented to him. His books he could not carry, and perhaps we owe to that fact the preservation of so many of them, as. in time they became scattered. His book- case or secretary was left, and its two parts are now separated, one being in the Connecticut Historical Society rooms. So he left Mohegan, the home of his fathers, which he more than any other Christian Indian has made famous. Although he visited New England in the September following and stood again in his familiar and noted house on the hillside, he had finished there his work. The company he then led forth con- tained all who could then be persuaded to emigrate, and so this Indian Moses brought his people into their promised land. The journey was doubtless made on a schooner from New Lon- don to Albany, where they took wagons to Schenectady and in bateaux followed the course of the Mohawk river until they reached the trail through the woods to Brothertown, 278 SAA/SOjV occom It is evident that Occom's journeys to and fro afforded him an excellent opportunity of ministering to the infant settle- ments along the route of westward emigration, then setting in with a strong current. No one could do it better. He had no sectarian prejudices, and was content to preach in any sort of a place to any kind of an audience. Everybody knew him. All received him gladly into their homes. He married couples, baptized children, visited and doctored the sick, and attended funerals. In the evenings when no neighborhood meeting could be held, he gathered the young people about the pioneer's fireside, and entertained and instructed them with a game which he had devised, called "Christian cards." These were versified passages of Scripture printed on card- board, which he gave out to the company and as they were read he offered some comments upon them. He seems to have had an Old Testament and a New Testament pack ; and the art was in the appropriateness of the card to the person, at which religious dealing the Reverend Occom was doubtless expert, though he does note instances when one "did not get the card which he intended." Occasionally he met with those who were fond of singing, as he was himself. Then from the copy of his own "Hymns and Spiritual Songs," which he carried in his pocket, he would lead the company in praise. Of course there was a novelty in his being an Indian minister, which furthered his popularity in the cabin of the woodsman as it had among the nobility of England ; but he was never conscious of any such distinction. He won respect and affection wherever he went in the settlements because he honored his own mission. Some were New England people who were glad to hear a sermon once more. Many were shepherdless sheep in the wilderness. All were interested in the outside world they had left, and were ready to welcome a visitor who had news to impart of any sort to while away the evening hour. There were formal occasions, too, even among THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 279 pioneers, when a minister was needed to add dignity to the event. Such was the first "training day" at Clinton, the first of September, 1789, when the military, making a "fine appear- ance," waited on the Indian minister at Colonel Timothy Tuttle's newly built frame house and escorted him to the place of assembly, where he delivered to them an " exhortation " and prayed, as they had been wont Jto order the day in New Eng- land. Sometimes there was a novel aptness in his sermon texts which must have captured his auditors, as when at the New Lebanon Springs he chose the -words, " Now there is at Jeru- salem a pool," or when in a back settlement he spoke on "A three days' journey into the wilderness." The most amusing incidents of his travels are recorded in the utmost seriousness. The track of his humor is covered like the trail of an Indian ; there is not a trace of a smile in any of his writings. An acci- dent several years before had made him lame, and he could not walk far. So he went from place to place, riding such a horse as he could own, one of which must have revived the memory of his traditional ill-fortune by expiring in a quagmire. So in winter and in summer, as it chanced, through rivers, intervales and forests, he pursued his mission. Meanwhile, however, Occom was doing his utmost for the religious welfare of the Rrothertown and Stockbridge Indians. The latter, in 1785, when the main body arrived, had no minister nor any prospect of one, for Sergeant did not accom- pany them. Their town was west of Brothertown, and six .miles only, says Occom, from Fowler's house on the hill. This was not inconvenient for the New Stockbridge Indians. So they fell naturally and without any improper persuasion on Occom's part into the plan of worshiping on alternate Sun- days in Fowler's barn and in some house at Stockbridge. He thus combined the tribes in one parish, to which he minis- tered for two seasons before Sergeant made his first visit to his people. By this time he had established himself in the 28o SAJ/SOiV OCCOM favor of those who had formerly been under Sergeant's care, and had removed as a church into the wilderness or had brought letters from the old church intending to form one. These and some of the Brothertown Indians united, in 1787, in extending a call to Occom.^ This w^as in the month of August and before Sergeant arrived. At this time the Stock- bridge minister had no inte^ntion of removing to the new settlement. He knew the Indians could not support him, and grants from the English and Scotch societies had been cut off. The two ministers met on the twenty-first of September, as related in Occom's diary, and on the following Sabbath they shared the services of the day. Then Occom wdth representatives of both tribes made the above-mentioned journey to see what support he could obtain in his ministry. That autumn, how- ever, the situation was changed by the incorporation of a new society in Massachusetts, called "The Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and others in North America." Sergeant went to Boston and applied to the society for aid. He was accepted and ordained as an evangelist with a view of continuing his mission among the Stockbridge tribe. This caused a division among his people, some adhering to him and others to Occom. Such was the origin of these two churches. Sergeant gives some account of the matter in a letter to Rev. Peter Thacher, secretary of the new society, dated May 19, 1788, from which we quote: "The dispute began upon this question, whether they had better take Mr. Occom or myself for their minister, as he was about to settle in a neighboring town, expecting to have him part of the time, and could support him easier than myself. In their division of the tribe on the question, there w^ere 30 for Mr. Occom and 50 for myself. Since my new appointment half of the 30 have openly left Mr. Occom. I have n't time, Sir, to mention some unkind measures Mr. Occom has taken to ^ This document and the reply are in the Conii. Hist, Soc, India^i Papers. THE MISSIONARY OF THE WILDERNESS 28 1 support his wish, but only mention that the bigger half of my people are so prejudiced against Mr. Occom that I sincerely believe if I were to leave them they would be most unhappy. In the division of the old professors belonging to the Stockbridge church 10 were for Occom and 16 for me." ^ Samson Occom removed permanently to Bcothertown in 1789. The Stockbridge minister was then among his people, though it is said he did not remove his family thither until the year 1796.''' An attempt was made July 26, 1789. to adjust these differences in a meeting at New Stockbridge, but with- out success. So they concluded, as Occom says, " That every one should have full liberty to chuse and act in accordance with the light and understanding he has in his religious con- cerns." Sergeant, having good assurances of outside support, had the advantage ; but Occom had been first on the field and had been regularly called to be their minister. Joseph Pye and Joseph Quinney, who had been conspicuous in calling Occom, finally went over to Sergeant's church; but "Sir Peter" and Captain Hendrick remained faithful to him. Thus Occom ministered at Stockbridge and at Brothertown — after 1788 in the schoolhouse — until his death. By the divi- sion of the Suffolk Presbytery, he became a member of the Presbytery of Albany. This fact led him to bring his church into that ecclesiastical fellowship, which he did with their approval, being instructed by them, September 8, 1 791, "to spend a portion of his time among the Brothertown Indians and explain to them the discipline laid down in the Confes- sion of Faith and render an account of his diligence therein." ^ Still he seems, from the beginning, to have considered his church of the Presbyterian order. Only a few months before '^MSS. of the Society^ Am. Bd. Com. For. Miss. Sergeant was certainly com- missioned by this society in 1788, two years earlier than the time noted in the printed volume, Soc. for Prop, the Gos.^ 1887, p. 40. 'Jones' Anjtals of Oneida County, pp. 888, 889. * * MS. Records of the Albajiy Presbytery. 282 S A A/SOX OCCOM his death, in 1792, he wrote as follows: "The People I attend upon, have willingly and cheerfully adopted the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church of the United States in America — they Joyfully put themselves under the Care and inspection of our Presbytery, and thankfully receive the Gos- pel Fellowship open'd for them and will from this Time Look upon themselves [as] one with the Presbyterian Family. Sir, This Church is the first Indian Presbyterian Church that ever was formed by Indians themselves, for we had no white man to assist us when we formed."^ After Occom's death, through the instrumentality of Rev. Samuel Eells, missionary in that region in behalf of the Gen- eral Association of Connecticut, the Stockbridge portion of his church was united with that of Mr. Sergeant. A meeting for this purpose was held at New Stockbridge, September 24, 1793. Mr. Eells then had a statement of the case from the minister, the church, and the principal Indians of the tribe not members. He declared his opinion that both ministers were "good men." In view of the circumstances, however, he thought it best to unite the Stockbridge Indians under Mr. Sergeant's ministry, which he accordingly did.^'^ . This was a wise union for that portion of Occom's church, but it left the members of the Brothertown tribe to become the prey of such religious factions as might spring up among them through the influence of the itinerant preachers of the time. Thereafter they had only such ministers or exhorters as were raised up among their own people. So ends the story of Occom's Teligious ministration among his people. ■' Wlieelock Papers. ^" Eells' account — MSS. Conn. Home Miss. Soc. CHAPTER XV THE TRIALS OF OCCOM's LAST DAYS 1785-1792 The famous author of " The Pioneers " has put into the mouth of Nathaniel Bumppo, his hero in adventure, the follow- ing impressive utterance : " When I look about me at these hills, where I used to could count sometimes twenty smokes, curling over the tree tops, from Delaware camps, it raises mournful thoughts, to think that not a redskin is left of them all : unless it be a drunken vagabond from the Oneidas or them Yankee Indians, who they say be moving up from the sea-shore, and who belong to none of God's creatures, to my seeming, being, as it were, neither fish nor flesh — neither white man nor savage. Well, well ! the time has come at last, and I must go." ^ It was too bad, surely. Leather-stocking, that the Indian, who had been crowded out of New England and could no longer be a savage there if he would, should attempt to make a new home in the wilderness and live there like a civi- lized man ! But one thing was worse — this, that the white man would not give him a chance to try it in peace. Samson Occom, more than any other North American Indian, had considered the problem of civilizing his people. He knew their weaknesses and appreciated the difficulties. His expe- rience in the Mohegan Land Case, his large acquaintance with Indian affairs in many tribes and his repeated conferences with those whites who were most engaged in such matters, had brought him to see the situation in all its lights and ponder 1 The Pioneers, Cooper, Chap. XLL 283 :84 SAA/SOA' OCCOM much over it. If any native has merited the dignity of being called an Indian statesman, that man was Samson Occom. To recapitulate his views : he believed in the efficacy of Chris- tian missions, and in education, particularly in industrial affairs ; but he seems to have thought that the civilization of the Indian depended in large measure upon his relation to the land upon which he lived. So long as he roamed at large in the forest, he thought the native would remain a savage. It was necessary to gather them apart from the white men and on land which they could not sell, wjiere they could be taught industrial pursuits and obtain a living from the soil. More- over, he believed in maintaining, so far as possible, a tribal unity, establishing a form of self-government under the pro- tection of the state, and preserving the Indian blood in its purity, especially from a mixture with the negro. These prin- ciples he sought to embody in the Brothertown tribe and the town they founded. We have already a considerable acquaintance with the indi- viduals who were most prominent in this movement — Occom, his brothers-in-law, David and Jacob Fowler, and his son-in-law, Joseph Johnson,, of one family by marriage, two of them min- isters and all pupils of Rev. Eleazar Wheelock. But other educated Indians were participants in this affair. Abraham Simons, Emanuel Simons, James Niles and John Matthews, among the founders, were also pupils at the Indian Charity School. Others educated there in part were interested, and their kindred or descendants removed to Brothertown, as, for instance, Samson Wauby, Samuel Niles, James Simons, Han- nah Poquiantup, Hannah Garrett, Mary Seketer, Sarah Simons, and Hannah Nonesuch. Samuel Tallman was there before the Revolution. Samuel Ashbow, the Mohegan preacher, was there for a time. Benjamin Toucee, a son of David, an early Farmington friend of the movement who died before its accomplishment, had been a student at Dartmouth College. THt: TRIALS OF OCCOM'S LAST DAYS 285 In fact, nearly every one of Wheelock's pupils, who was of the New England tribes and lived to that day, was concerned in the founding of this Indian town. It was a natural fruit of Wheelock's work which he did not live to see and of which he never dreamed. Other conspicuous members of the Brother- town tribe had been pupils in the schools of the seven settle- ments of Christian Indians. Such were Elijah Wampy, Sam- uel and John Adams, and Andrew Acorrocomb of Farmington ; John Tuhie, Roger Wauby, and John Skeesuck of Charles- town; and Samson Poquiantup and James Sampson of Groton. Moreover, Occom had a large circle of family connections who became residents at Brothertown. His daughter Olive mar- ried Solomon Adams, son of the above-named Samuel, and Anthony Paul married his daughter Christiana. Ephraim Pharaoh of Montauk was his brother-in-law. He was related to the Wauby, Samson and Poquiantup families. Indeed, before his death in 1792, he was surrounded with a people whom he could call his own in a special sense, and they included the most intelligent and religious portion of the tribe. It was well that this was so, for in Occom's last days he had a battle to fight in behalf of the landed rights of his. people, and in this his kindred gave him faithful support. The Oneidas' grant of 1774 had conveyed a large and valua- ble tract of land west of the " Line of Property," and extending along it about thirteen miles north and south. These lands were given to the New England Indians and their posterity "without power of alienation," and they could "not be pos- sessed by any persons deemed of the said tribes who are descended from or have intermixed with negroes or molat- toes." Occom and his friends considered this as a deed of gift by which they had full title to the said lands. Scarcely had they located there, however, when the Oneidas, at the instigation, it was said, of the whites, set up the claim that the New England Indians had not fulfilled the conditions of the 286 SAMSOiV OCCOM grant and it was void. This was in 1785. We cannot imagine what those conditions were unless the lands were to be occu- pied at once, which had certainly been bravely attempted. Meanwhile, of course, circumstances had changed, and the Oneidas undoubtedly wanted to reclaim the tract. Early in 1786 a council was held, and they proposed to give the Brothertown Indians, in lieu of their claim, 640 acres, whereon those who had already emigrated could live.^ This was promptly declined. On the sixteenth of October, at another council, an account of which is given in Occom's diary, the Oneidas repeated their offer, and wanted them to "live at large " on their lands. Again on the twenty-third they urged their case and threatened to take back all the lands if the Brothertown Indians did not accept their offer. Occom was unmoved, and the intelligent majority supported him. A few, however, were ready to yield. This was the beginning of the factional disputes which so embittered Occom's last days. So matters stood until the 2 2d of September, 1788, when the Oneidas, by a treaty made at Fort Schuyler, ceded all their lands to the state of New York, excepting their own reserva- tion, and one for the Brothertown and another for the Stock- bridge Indians.^ This reduced their extensive tract to one '' two miles in breadth and three miles in length." The Onei- das agreed to this in the negotiations ; but the state of New York would not thus disregard the conveyance of 1774, which Occom had recorded in the office of the Secretary of State in Connecticut, and upon which he planted his feet to stand for their rights. So the General Assembly of New York, having a desire to do justice to the New England Indians, in "An Act for the Sale and Disposition of Lands " passed Feb- ruary 25, 1789, provided that the Surveyor General should ^ N. Y. Arch., Letts, on Indian Affairs, James Dean to Gov. Clinton, June 7, 17S6/ ^ MS. Rec. Supt. Brothertown Indians; Proceedings of the Com. af Ind. Affairs Hough, I, 122, 230, 241-243. THE TRIALS OF OC COATS LAST DAYS 287 lay out for them "all that part of the" tract of land, formerly given to them by the Oneida Indians, which is included in the cession lately made by the Oneida Indians to the people of this State," and south of the lands which by the same act were confirmed to Samuel Kirkland and his sons.^ This tract was six times larger than the reservation in the treaty, and when it was finally surveyed, in 1795, was found to contain 24,052 acres. Thus Occom's wisdom and courage were rewarded. Doubtless also this result was partly due to Governor George Clinton, who was very friendly toward Occom's purposes, and did all he could to further them, even after this Indian was in his unmarked grave. The act of 1789 had also provided that this tract should be called Brothertown, and should remain for "the cultivation, improvement and use " of the New England Indians, " but wdthout any power of alienation or right of leasing the same lands or any part thereof, for any longer term than ten years and without any power of granting such leases where there shall be any subsisting lease including the same lands." Here was another source of trouble. Occom had not been able to prevent New England Indians of the baser sort from attaching themselves to the Brothertown tribe. Some came who be- longed to other tribes than those to whom the land had been given. These built their huts on the tract, claiming equal rights with the founders. They did not recognize the tribal authority, and as yet the state had not constituted any town government. Since the voluntary organization of 1785 the tribe had not met to choose officers.^ The original five trustees still acted — Roger Wauby, David Fowler, Elijah Wampy, John Tuhie and Abraham Simons. However, on the loth of October, 1790, a town-meeting was held, Occom being present. After an unsuccessful attempt to choose new iLmuso/N. v., Reprint, III, 70. ^ Confi. Hist. Soc, /ndian Papers, Lett. Occom to Ezra L'Hommedieu. 288 SAA/SOA^ OCCOM trustees, it was decided that the old board should continue until the March following, and should consult and act for the good of the town meanwhile. They met in November, but Elijah Wampy was found to be opposed to the plans of the others, who were Occom's particular friends. Wampy drew up a petition, which was signed largely by the interlopers, and this was sent to the General Assembly, a Martha's Vine- yard Indian named Puichaker being their messenger. The act of 1789 was understood to allow leasing for a period of ten years, and the Wampy party began at once to make such leases to the whites who were coming in as settlers.^ New farms were then taken up by these Indians, which also in some cases were leased to the whites. This was extremely demoralizing. It put a premium on fraud, and was disloyal to the purposes of the town. Had it not been for the mercifully slow progress of white immigration, the greater part of the tract would have been leased out. Occom was distressed, but not utterly discouraged. He also wrote a petition which he carried to the General Assembly by the authority of the other trustees. There he was known to many and had influence. His " perigrinations " were in evidence. The result was the passage of "An Act for the relief of the Indians residing in Brothcrtown and New Stockbridge," dated February 21, 1791.'' In this bill the ideas of Occom as to Indian town government were to some extent embodied. It provided for an annual town-meeting, the first Tuesday in April, at which all male Indians twenty-one years of age should choose a clerk to preside and keep the records, a marshal and three trustees, the latter "by and with the consent of the Mayor of the City of Albany for the time being." These trustees were given c Some of these leases are extant. We have one from James Toxcoit to Abraliam Oaks, and have seen several others. "' Laws of N. K, Reprint, 111, 212. The Assembly by a resolution, February 24, 1 79 1, advanced £15 for the payment of Occom's expenses in appearing in behalf of the Brothertown and New Stockbridge Indians. THE TRIALS OF OCCOA/'S LAST DA YS 289 power to lay out lots as they should think necessary to the Indian families ; to lease a tract not exceeding 640 acres, the rents thereof to be applied for maintaining a minister and free school; to bring actions for trespass against any whites; and to adjudicate cases of trespass or debt among the Indians themselves, and lev^y for the judgment in a sum not to exceed twenty shillings. Meanwhile the leasing of home lots had been going on, and before Occom's return about 2,000 acres had been taken by the whites. A fine grove of pine and a cedar swamp, particu- larly valuable to the Indians and designed for town use, had been disposed of. Occom was not wholly opposed to ten-year leases; but as their lands had never been surveyed he thought such action was premature and should always have the con- sent of the town authorities. When the time appointed in the above act for organizing the town government came, they were so demoralized that they could not elect trustees as pro- vided. Here was a new difficulty. The time having passed they thought nothing could be done. Again Occom appealed to the General Assembly, and that body, April 12, 1792, re- enacted the former measure, appointing the first Tuesday in May following for town organization, and authorized the forcible ejectment of the whites.^ In this act the trustees were called peacemakers, and the title was certainly appropriate. Neither measure, however, had distinctly invalidated the ten- year leases. The whites crowded in and urged on the VVampy party in opposition. Occom became unpopular with the white settlers. The Oneidas had not forgiven him for main- taining his rights against them so successfully. He had also incurred the displeasure of John Sergeant and his friends among the Stockbridge Indians. He was surrounded by enemies. Only those who had entered into his long-cherished plans, the intelligent, substantial and more religious Indians ^Laws of N. v., Reprint, III, 379. 290 SAJ/SOJV OCCOM of Brothertown, who saw that he w^as fighting in their behalf, and David Fowler foremost among them, adhered to his leadership. His experiment in Indian town gpvernment had not been so far a signal success. Now in his sixty-ninth year — an old man before his time, who like a hemlock had endured many storms and outlived its usefulness — his courage may have failed him. A greater Moses than he had become dis- couraged at the rebellious hearts of his people. So in the winter of 1791, hoping to find some peace among the Stock- bridge branch of his flock, he removed over the hill westward to Tuscarora. His work was done, and there he died on the fourteenth of July, 1792. Let us follow to its conclusion this land war of the Brother- town Indians, before we consider the circumstances of Occom's death and burial. The excitement was somewhat allayed by the loss of their leader, but the leasing went on. In the course of two years the Indians came to see that Occom was right. Even Elijah Wampy seems to have repented of his action. Three peacemakers were chosen — David Fowler, John Tuhie and John Paul — and these set about considering what could be done. The whites, too, were troubled, having only ten-year leases and some uncertainty as to them. They appointed a committee consisting of Asa Hamlin, James Cowing, Jr., Ithmar Coe, Simon Hubbard and Solomon Kel- logg, who petitioned for legislative action February 14, 1794.^ In their statement of the case they said that two hundred farms had been located on the tract, and one hundred and fifty fam- ilies were settled on them. A sawmill and grist-mill had also been erected. But from insecurity of title they could make no improvements, and had no church or schools. On the seventh of October the Indian peacemakers addressed a complaint to Governor Clinton against Bender Webber, Charles Wilbor, Isaac Curtis, Nathaniel Lowring and Samuel Lewis, stating "^N. Y. Arch., Assembly Papers^ hid. ^Z"., 1783-1810, 95, 97. THE TRIALS OF OCCOAPS LAST DAYS 291 that they were trespassers on their lands. This petition was signed by the peacemakers, and Samuel Adams, Roger Wobby, David Fowler, Jun., Jeremiah Tuhie, Samuel Scipio, Samuel Brusheill, Elijih Wimpey, John Skeesuck, Christopher Skee- suck, and Elijah Wimpey, Jun. 1° A letter which accompanied the petition recited their grievances, and had, in addition to the above names, the following signatures : Obadiah Scippio, George Paul, Joseph VVoby, Isaac Wobby, Oliver Peter, Solo- mon Cochegan, George Crosley, James Waucus, Ephraim Pha- raoh, Frederick Peters, Nhamon Wobby, Henry Davies, Amos Hutton, and Thomas Pechorker. These were the principal men of Brothertown. Governor Clinton took immediate ac- tion, and ordered Colonel William Colbrath, the sheriff of Herkimer count}^, to eject the trespassers, which had been au- thorized by the act of 1792.^^ Esquires Hugh White and Moses Foot, who were among the principal men in the county, interceded for them. The result was, that the ejectment was delayed and the General Assembly took the whole matter into consideration.^^ The decision was .favorable to the Indians. It was a conspicuous example of justice, the most so of any we have met with in the history of Indian land claims, — a lasting honor to the state of New York. The verdict was em- bodied in " An Act relative to Lands in Brothertown," passed March 31, 1795.^'^ This constituted Samuel Jones, Ezra L'Hommedieu and Zina Hitchcock commissioners to exam- ine into and settle all matters relating to Brothertown lands. They were authorized to set off a tract of not less than six thousand nor more than ten thousand acres for the use of the Indians, dividing the same into lots, and apportioning them to the several families, notwithstanding any leases to whites resident thereon. The remainder of the lands 10 A^. Y. Arch., Letts. 07i Indian Affairs, 1 785-1825, 2. " A^. Y. Arch., Assembly Papers, Ind. Aff., 1783-1810, 263. "^"^ Ibid., pp. 245, 251, 263, 265, 269. ^^Laws of N. Y, Reprint, III, 585. 292 SAMSON OCCOM were to be sold to the lessees, the mean price being not less than sixteen shillings per acre, allowing for improve- ments, if they were removed. They were authorized to take mortgages in payment. These commissioners performed their duties in the summer of 1795, making a census of the Indians by families, giving the age of each, and as- signing lots. A survey was made by Garret Cluett.^'' Of the 24.052 acres in the tract, 9,390 were set off in 149 lots to the Indians, and the balance sold to the white lessees. They received in cash iTgy, 2s, and in mortgages at six per cent., payable on demand after the first Tuesday of July, 1805, ;^i5,2i7, 4s. The state afterwards took the mortgages, and the whole amount was invested as the Brothertown fund. One difficulty was encountered by the commissioners. They found it hard to decide as to the Indians who were entitled to land, and recommended in their report, February 18, 1796, the passage of an act relating to the matter. This was done on the fourth of March follovving.^^ Thus ended the contest of the New England Indians for their rights in the land given to them more than twenty years before. Samson Occom died in the battle ; but the victory was his. For years the income of this fund was expended by their su- perintendents for the benefit of his people. It provided many industrial advantages, secured to them the privileges of educa- tion, ministered to their necessities, and its benefits followed them in their second emigration, and are traceable to this day. Thus he who had led them forth into their promised land, to whom more than any other the maintenance of their claim was due, blessed his people after he had departed from them. The last days of Samson Occom's life, as we have stated, were passed at Tuscarora. He had located a home lot at "^^Map and Field Book, Surveyor General's Office, Albany; Rec. Sufi. Brother town Indians. ^^Laws of N. F., Reprint, III, 655. THE TRIALS OF OCCOM'S LAST DA YS 293 Brothertown several years before he removed his family thither from Mohegan. His parishioners, he notes in his diary, came in August, 1787, to clear some land for him. This lot was undoubtedly No. 10 in the survey of 1795, which was then assigned by the superintendents to Anthony Paul in accordance with their plan of retaining the locations of early settlers in their families. Occom built there a log house, suf- ficient for the humble needs of his family. Most of his chil- dren had grown up. Benoni, Theodosia and Lemuel may have come with him to Brothertown in 1789. Andrew Gifford, a youth of fifteen years, and Sally, his youngest, certainly did, the latter dying before her father. It will be remembered that the center of the town in 1785 was located at David Fowler's place on the hill, lot 105. This was the actual center in very early days — the location of 1775. Roger Wauby was three miles west of this — outside the bounds of the later town.^^ Elijah Wampy was half a mile to the northwest ; Abraham Simons a mile to the northeast ; John Tuhie east at the foot of the hill and next south of Occom. The younger men after- wards took up lots in the valley, Elijah Wampy, Jr., and David Fowler, Jr., being located on lots 15 and 16, where the village of Deansville now has its center. Therefore, as David Fowler's place was the early location where they first worshiped, be- ing the eastern section of Occom's Stockbridge and Brother- town parish, it was supposed, before the place was visited b) the writer, that there they established a burial-place in accord- ance with their tribal notions, as well as the custom they knew so well in New England. Death went with them into the wil- derness. On the nineteenth of October, 1786, their council at Oneida was interrupted by news of the death of " Old Uncle Cornelius " [Hannable ?] , the oldest man in the town. The next day, toward night, they assembled at the house of mourning, where Occom says, " I delivered a short discourse . . . and ^'^ N. Y. Arch., Assembly Papers, Ind. Aff., 1 783-1 S 10, 105. 294 SAMSON OCCOM from thence [we] went to the grove, and we finished bury- ing after sunset." During his absence the following winter there were several deaths — Jacob Fowler being one. When Abraham Simons died they also buried him in " the grove." Evidently they had then a tribal burial-place, presumably near the center. Occom's young daughter died. She would have been buried there. While he was away on his mission to the Gen- eral Assembly in the spring of 1791, one of his grandchildren died, probably one of the Paul family. Samuel Kirkland makes this entry in his diary under March 15, 1791 : "I have now returned from Brothertown, where I have attended the funeral of a grand child of Mr. Occom — the whole village as- sembled on the occasion — it has been a very solemn & affect- ing meeting — discoursed from Mark 10:27." Already then, before Occom's death, even if the tribe had no common burial- place, the large circle of his kindred, numbering not less than thirty in 1792, so loyal to his ministry and leadership, would have claimed a sacred acre from the forest for their dead. The house which David Fowler built in 1775 — ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ that wilderness — has long since been torn down by the fingers of time. Some of the timbers of his hallowed barn remain in a later structure. The farm is now owned by Mr. Andrew H. Wier, who bought it of Mr. Alonzo G. Miller. The white man draws water from the well the Indian pioneer dug. On this place, only a quarter of a mile southward from the house, in the edge of the wood, which was a ''grove" a hundred years ago, there is an Indian burial-ground. The woodsman's sled has broken off the tops of some rude headstones. Brother- town Indians are still living who remember when the tribe made their burials in that spot, and they say this continued down to about 1812.^' Its distance from the more populous ^" There were four other Indian bmial-places in Brothertown later. One was at the foot of the hill where the present cemetery is ; another was near the center of Deansville, north of the highway and between the railroad and the river, called the THE TRIALS OF OCCOAPS LAST DAYS 295 district in the valley eastward, finally led to its abandgnment. This digression will prepare us to appreciate the conditions in 1792, and locate the burial-place of the Brothertown minister. The exact date of Occom's removal from his old home to Tuscarora is not known. A young Stockbridge Indian, John Quinney, who was at Orange Dale Academy, wrote him, January 26, 1792, that one Samuel Littleman had arrived there on the twenty-first, and had informed him that his min- ister "was about to move with his family to our" village, which he had long wished for."^^ This letter was addressed to Occom at Muhheconnuck. He removed, therefore, about the middle of January, and into a house about a mile from Tuscarora village, probably owned by some of his friends. Perhaps he did not intend to remain there permanently. A little land would have been sufficient for his purposes, for he had returned to his old trade of manufacturing woodenware. There are two accounts of Occom's death. One is given us in Prime's History of Long Island, and in Sprague's Annals. It professes to have been "prepared from the recital of his wife." We quote it in full : For some time he had a presentiment that his death was near. As he accustomed himself, in his earlier life, to the manufacture of pails and cooper-ware, he still devoted what strength he had, when leisure permitted, to the same employment. One day he observed to his wife, that he must finish a churn soon, that he had commenced, or he might not live to do it. He went out to his work, a little distance from the house, finished the churn and started to return. His wife observed him crossing a run of " Dugway " burial-place ; the third 'was n^^ar John Tuhie's place and the fourth on the the farm of Asa Dick. There may have been others. Our interviews with aged In- dians— Elias Dick, James Simons, J. C. Fowler, Rebecca Johnson, and Hannah Commuck — leave no doubt as to the fact that all the early burials were on the hill. They name a number whose deaths occurred in their youth, and variously estimate the graves there from seventj'-five to one hundred. Here, doubtless, Jacob Fowler was buried, and all who died in Occom's time. David Fowler and Hannah Garret were among the last. ^® Conn. Hist. Soc, Indiati Papers. 296 SAMSON OCCOM water near the house upon a pole; lookhig towards him again, a few min- utes after, she saw that he had fallen and going to him she found him dead.^^ The Other account was printed in the Connecticut Gazette of New London, August 2, 1792, and was doubtless sent by messenger to Occom's kindred at Mohegan. It is as follows : Died at New Stockbridge, in the vicinit}^ of Oneida, in the 69th year of his age, the Rev. Samson Occom, in a very sudden and unexpected manner. About a week before he died he complained to his wife of a very uncom- mon and distressing pain in his vitals, which occasioned a faintness, but it was soon over, A few hours before his death the same disorder came on again, but as before soon left him — after which he eat as hearty a dinner as usual, told his wife he would ride to one of his neighbors and get him to accompany him to a cedar swamp in search of some timber he was want- ing. His wife in vain remonstrated against it; he went, and just before they came to the swamp he told the man he must rest, asked for water, desired the man to call for help, which he did, he then took off his coat and as the man returned, he said, I have done — and appeared inclined to sleep — asked his friend to ease him down, which done, he folded his hands across his breast and expired in a few minutes. On Sunday the 15th inst. his remains were decently interred — pij-evious to which the Rev. Mr. Kirkland preached his funeral sermon from Matt, xxiv : 44. Upwards of 300 Indians, from different tribes, attended. Mr. Occom was of the Mohegan tribe of Indians and removed with a number of that tribe a few years since to Oneida.2o The latter being a contemporary account, and more natural in its circumstances, is very likely the true one. Neither of them, however, states the place of burial. Rev. John Sergeant was absent from New Stockbridge at the time, or his diary might inform us on this point. But the manuscript journal of Samuel Kirkland gives the following account of the event, under date of July i6th: Last Saturday evening, about 10 o'clock, a n>essenger came to me with the news of Mr. Occum's death at Tuscarora, This was very sudden and unexpected. I was requested to preach his funeral sermon on Lord's day at 3 o'clock P. AL I agreed to be there seasonably, after attending divine I'J Prime's Hist, of Long Island^ p. 112 ; Sprague's Annals, III, 194. 2° Conn. Hist. Soc, Conn. Gaz., Aug. 2, 1792. Cf. Conn. Coiirant and Am. Mer- cury, July 30, 1792. THE TRIALS OF OCCOM'S LAST DA YS 297 service in the morning early at Kanonwalohale. The Indians were so alarmed at the sudden death of Mr. Occum that they began to collect at Tuscarora from the various settlements very early in the morning. By a mistake of the messenger they were led to conceive that the first meeting would be held there instead of at Kanonwalohale; as many of the Indians came the distance of ten miles. After an exhortation and prayer at the house of the deceased, we moved about a mile to a bower near the center of the town, for the sake of convenience, there being no house sufficiently large to contain one half of the Indians who were assembled on the occa- sion. I discoursed from Math. 24. 44 in both the Indian and English lan- guages, that all might understand me on that solemn occasion. The Indians appeared to be struck with unusual awe and reverence of Him who is the Lord of life and death. In the evening attended a conference with a small number till near midnight. Several later references are made in Kirkland's journals to Occom's death, which indicate that a profound impression was left among the Indians. During the following week, he had "various conferences with Indians of different tribes and parties, principally on the subject of Mr. Cecum's death as an alarming and instructive providence." On the following Sab- bath, he preached at Kanonwalohale sermons from Psalm 90: 12, and Phil, i: 21-24, appropriate to the event. The assembly "seemed to melt into tenderness with many sighs and tears." At the request of the Stockbridge Indians, in the absence of Mr. Sergeant^ he preached at Tuscarora a week later. He says there was a large gathering of Brother- town, Oriske, Stockbridge, Oneida and Tuscarora Indians. " Many came with a view and in expectation of hearing not only a general, but a particular and minute character given of Mr. Occum. The divisions, however, among the Indians were such that I thought it not prudent to attempt it and in- deed was advised to omit it. Discoursed from Job 2i:^\ 12, 13." As to Samson Occom's burial, there seems to be but one interpretation to be put upon Kirkland's account. If the burial had been at Tuscarora, they would have borne the body, after the service, to the grave, and he would have included a mention of it. They moved to the bower only to 298 SAJfSO.V OCCOAf find a convenient auditorium. Evidently the body was not then to be buried. Many were there who had reason to mourn the death of this renowned Indian — the minister, his friend, of whose mission he had been an inspiration in youth, the On.eidas, to whom he had carried the gospel thirty years before, the pupils who had been taught in his wigwam at Montauk, the subjects of his fervid ministry in the Indian settlements of New England, and, above all, his own beloved and misguided people; but his own kindred were there — a goodly company of them, and the burial was their service. A Mohegan was never willingly allowed to rest away from his own — from their homes and their graves ! So it must have been that they returned to the house of mourning from the place where they had found a cathedral under the arches of the woodland. As the summer's sun was declining in the west, at their customary hour, the body of this Indian Moses w^as lifted, not by angels, but by the strong arms of his faith- ful friends, the purest blood of the New England aborigines, and borne up the hill, by the way they had often gone, and laid beside his own dust — a king like those of the Scriptures to rest in the inheritance of David ! The unmarked grave was thus in the keeping of Samson Occom's brother beloved and loyal friend, David Fowler. Time has dealt ruthlessly with that consecrated acre. Doubt- less the last fifty years would have swept away all traces of its existence had it not- been that the descendants of David Fowler and Hannah Garrett, before they joined the w^estward pilgrimage of the race, long after their deaths, raised a white marble slab to their memory, whereon the wanderer in that woodland may read : David Fowler died March 31, 1807. Aet 72 years Hannah wife of David Fowler died Aug. 181 1. Aet. 64 years CHAPTER XVI INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 1785-1842 The town government, which the Brothertown Indians had known in New England, afforded an opportunity for individual independence which was very pleasing to the Indian nature. Those who had come to Oneida had been emancipated from the sachem's tyrannical authority. Quite naturally, they went to the extreme of individualism, and from this arose many of their early troubles. In time, however, they settled down, and their town went on as well as is generally the case in new communities. Some of these Indians from Farmington, as they were about to remove, petitioned the General Assembly for a copy of the statutes of Connecticut, on the ground that they were expected to observe laws of which they were ignorant.^ Their request was granted, and doubtless this was the volume which they carried into the wilderness and used as the basis of town regulations. We know that their intent was to establish the ancient Connecticut town. At their first meeting, even in 1785, they chose "fence-viewers" when there was not a pair of bars for many miles around. Their early purpose, however, was modified on account of their troubles by the authorities of the state of New York. The act passed by the General As- sembly, March 4, 1796, set off their one hundred and forty- nine lots from the town of Paris, and provided finally for Indian town government. It authorized the appointment, by * Con?t. Arch., Indians, II, 195. 299 300 SAMSON OCCOM the governor and council, of three commissioners, known as the superintendents of the Brothertown Indians, who were to determine what persons were entitled to rights, permanently assign lots, divide the land of deceased Indians among their heirs, advise as to the expenditure of the income of the in- vested funds, maintain a school among them, prevent the illegal sale of spirituous liquors, and exercise a general super- vision over their affairs. The appointment of an attorney was also authorized to defend their rights in the courts. Accord- ingly, the following were chosen superintendents, March 26, 1796: William Floyd, Thomas Eddy and Edmund Prior, and Joseph Kirkland became their attorney." William Floyd vis- ited them in June, 1796, to examine into their condition and needs. The record-book, which contains the legislation relat- ing to the Brothertown Indians and the subsequent proceed- ings of the superintendents, is still preserved by the tribe at Brothertown, Wisconsin. So much of their government, therefore, was taken from the Indians, but in its main features the town was ordered by the voters therein. The above act authorized the appointment by the governor and council of five Indians as " Keepers of the Peace," or "Peacemakers," who should hold office during the pleasure of the council. They, or any three of them, were empowered to hold a court at Brothertown on the first Mon- day of each month, and hear and determine all disputes or controversies concerning debts and trespasses, where the sum due or damages sustained did not exceed five pounds. All violations of the town by-laws were to be tried in this peace- makers' court, and a proper fine imposed, to be collected by - The following also served as superintendents during the town's existence: Henry McNiel, Thomas Hart, Bill Smith, George Brayton, John Murray, Jr., Ashahel Cur- tis, Uri Doolittle, Joseph Stebbins, William Root, Nathan Davis, Elijah Wilson, Austin Wygatt, Samuel L. Hubbard and Samuel Comstock, William Hotchkiss was their attorney about i8r2. An act of May 25, 1841 abolished this office, and reduced the superintendents to one. ' INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 301 due process, failing which, upon complaint of the peacemakers, the attorney could imprison for thirty days. They were also constituted commissioners of highways, which were to be four rods wide, with power to lay out, alter or direct the repair of the same. An annual town-meeting was to be held the first Tuesday in April, at which the senior peacemaker should preside, and in which all males twenty-one years of age and upwards should be voters. They were to elect a town clerk, two overseers of the poor, two marshals, and so. many over- seers of highways as should be thought necessary. On their own authority they also elected fence-viewers, a pound-keeper and tithing-men, whose duty it was to give notice to all evil- doers in the form of a complaint. Moreover, in this town- meeting they w^ere to enact such rules, regulations and by-laws as shouid be deemed expedient in ordering their affairs. In the exercise of this latter privilege we shall see best the char- acter of Indian legislation. The senior peacemaker appointed under this act was David Fowler, who served until his death in 1807. Two of his asso- ciates also held office until they died — John Tuhie in 181 1 and John Skeesuck in 1807. The others were Isaac Wauby, afterwards known as " Elder Wauby," and Samuel Scipio. On the fifteenth of May, 1796, the first regular town-meeting was held in the schoolhouse, though the date thereafter was the first Tuesday in April, as provided. Officers were then chosen, and David Fowler, Jr., the babe born in Samuel Kirk- land's hut in 1767, was elected town clerk, an office which he held until 1802. The "Town Records of Brothertown," which he and his successors kept with commendable care until there were not enough Indians remaining in the town to fill the offices, are an interesting memorial of Indian civilization alto- gether unique in American history. The laws which were made from time to time in this Indian town-meeting had largely the character of ordinances. They 302 SAMSO.V OCCOM related to fences, highways, damage by dogs, stray cattle and the like matters. The duties of town officers also were defined. It was ordered that any one elected to an office and declining to serve, without reasonable excuse, should pay a fine of two and a half dollars, while those who neglected their duties were to pay twice that sum. As to women, the widows were to work on the roads, or at any other public business, half as much as the men. It was further declared, "That it shall not be lawful by the authority of Broth ertown that any woman shall be per- mitted to speak that has causes depending in the Brothertown courts without asking some particular question or she shall apply to some suitable man to speak in her behalf." They made stringent laws against immorality, profanity, drunken- ness, theft, extortion, idleness, neglect of children, and mar- riages with persons of negro blood. A person who should display signs of intoxication at town-meeting was punished as a great offender. In many cases the penalty was a confine- ment in the stocks, though we do not know that they employed this mode of punishment. Dancing or frolicking on Saturday or Sunday nights was forbidden. It was unlawful to harbor or conceal a fugitive slave, servant or apprentice. The follow- ing are samples of the laws by which they sought to secure the order and decorum of Puritan New England in their Indian community. There shall be no travelling, servile labouring or working (works of neces- sity and charity excepted) shooting, fishing, sporting, playing, horseracing, hunting or any unlawful exercise or pastime, by any Person or Persons on the first day of the week commonly called Sunday If any person shall permit any playing with Cards or dice in his house, or bet win or lose any sum of money at such play and shall be' thereof con- victed, [he] shall forfeit and pay a sum not to exceed five Dollars or under fifty cents for every such offence, one half to the complainant and the other half- to the People of Brothertown. If any of said inhabitants shall Divulge any Report about any of said inhabitants either Male or Female, and shall not have sufficient proof to support what he, she or they hath Divulged and reported, then the Divulger INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 303 or Divulgers shall pay a fine of ten shillings for every Breach of this bye-law if found so convicted. If anyof the inhabitants shall abuse any one of the aforesaid inhabitants in their Houses or at any other place either by foul language or assault, he or they shall be immediately summoned to be and appear before the Peace- makers of said town, then and there to be adjudged before them as the Case may be in their judgment to decide the matter, to be deemed just and equitable. Some of these laws were in substance those of New Eng- land at the time. As there was great laxity among the whites of the new settlements round about them in many things which the Indians endeavored to prohibit, it was not strange that some of these were a dead letter. But they made honest and earn- est efforts to enforce most of them, and in some measure they succeeded. The peacemaker's court held their first session the first Monday in September, 1797, and thereafter at inter- vals for forty years. Their extant records show that every manner of complaint was tried before them. They fined offenders with vigor. There is, indeed, no reason to think that the town was not well-governed. More and more, as the years went by, they became accustomed to their town govern- ment and the supervision of the superintendents was less and less needed. This does not mean, of course, that Brother- town was free from the common vices of Indians, but it was as much so as other frontier settlements of whites. There was some drunkenness and the consequent ills. Notable cases which made a great impression were the murder of Eunice Peters by her husband, George Peters, at Rome, February 24, 1800, and the killing of Joseph Tuhie by John Tuhie, 2d, May I, 1817.3 One object of the emigration had been to make of these Indians an agricultural people. How did they succeed in this respect? The assignment of 1795 located most of the fami- lies on their original claims. These they had cleared to a 3 Jones' Amials of Oneida County^ pp. 43, 44, 96, 304 SAMSON OCCOM ccy;isiderable extent. Barns had been built. They had in a short time stock of all kinds and enclosed fields. On the twenty-sixth of September, 1799, Brothertown was visited by Timothy Dwight. He had a strong inclination to see civilized Indian life, and had been told that it might probably be seen at Brothertown. He gives us the following account of their condition : The settlement is formed on the declivity of a hill, running from north to south. The land is excellent, and the s|)ot in every respect well chosen. Here forty families of these people have fixed themselves in the business of agriculture. They have cleared the ground on both sides of the road about a quarter of a mile in breadth and about four miles in length. Three of them have framed houses. One, named Amos Hutton, has a good house well finished, and a large barn well built. Several others have barns also. The remaining houses are of logs, and differ little from those of the whites when formed of the same material. Their husbandry is generally much inferior to that of the white people. Their fences are indifferent, and their meadows and arable grounds are imperfectly cleared. Indeed almost every- where is visible that slack hand, that disposition to leave everything unfin- i?,hed, which peculiarly characterizes such Indians as have Lft the savage life. I have observed that the house and barn of Amos Hutton were both well built. We had an opportunity to see the interior of the house, and by the neatness which everywhere appeared, both in the building and furni- ture, were assured that his wife was an industrious and thorough housewife. Mr. Kirkland informed me that this man lives well, that he keeps always one and sometimes two yoke of good oxen, two or three horses, and three or four cows ; that he is an exact paymaster; and that although no debt against an Indian is recoverable by law, he is readily trusted for anything which he is willing to buy. He is probably the fairest example of industry, economy, and punctuality, which these people can boast. Most of them will leave their own business to labour for the white inhabitants. They are universally civil in their deportment. The men and boys took off their hats, and the girls courtesied, as we passed, by them. They speak decent English, and much excel the ordinary Dutch people in the correctness of their pro- nunciation. One of them tends a saw mill, built by the state for this settle- ment.* President Dwight evidently did not traverse the entire town or he would have seen, especially on the hill westward, many 4 Dwight's Travels, Lond., 1823, III, 168 ff. INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 305 cleared and well-tilled acres. The road to which he refers was that now running north and south through the village of Deansville, named by the Indians Federal Street. Amos Hutton lived on lot No. 5, toward the northern limit. There were certainly others as skilled in farming as he, and notably David Fowler. Dwight's census of families is too small, for in 1795 lots were assigned to thirty-nine families and in 1799 there were about sixty. More joined them about 1800. In 1813 they numbered 302. In 18 19 there were said to be sixty families and twenty-two widows whose lots were leased to whites for their benefit. The condition of their fields should be judged in view of the fact that this was a new set- tlement. Many had not been accustomed to agriculture, and they had not been able to accomplish all they would for lack of means. With praiseworthy zeal they had undertaken what was for the Indian a great work. The first request made of their superintendents in 1796 was for "four pair of oxen, twelve cows, one hundred and twenty bushels of corn, three barrels of pork, six ploughs, six chains, three sets of harrow teeth, three sets of cart irons and one hundred sheep." ^ In 1805 the town voted to give a premium on the raising of grain, and to encourage those who would build houses and barns. It was determined in 18 18 that one who cleared thirty acres out of fifty was to have twenty-five more for farming purposes. Examinations into their progress were made from 'time to time by the state of New York. From these it appears that in 18 13 they had 2,000 acres of land cleared and under cultivation, and they were " considerably advanced in agricultural know- ledge." They then had ninety cows, thirty horses, sixteen yoke of oxen, ninety-three young cattle, eighty-eight sheep and a great number of swine. They had a grist-mill, two saw- mills, sixteen framed houses, eighteen framed barns, twenty- one ploughs, seventeen sleds, three carts and three wagons. ° Siipt. Rec, Lett. Floyd to Eddy, June 19, 1796. 3o6 SAMSON OCCOM Four of their number were carpenters, two blacksmiths, four shoemakers, two tailors and five weavers. During the preced- ing year they had manufactured 320 yards of woolen and 600 yards of linen cloth, and they had produced 11,300 bushels of grain of various kinds and raised 3,400 bushels of potatoes. The report of 1825 shows that during the year they had manu- factured 1,495 yards of woolen, 890 yards of linen, 302 yards of wool and cotton and 188 yards of cotton and linen cloth, which was 700 yards more than they had made the year before. This thrift in weaving had been brought about by premiums paid from their annuity on domestic manufactures.^ Industry and sobriety were also rewarded by payments in nails, glass, and other articles used in their improvements. At that time it was said that "the greater part of them are men whose lives and characters would disgrace no community being tem- perate and industrious." They were living in good and con- venient houses which were kept clean and neat. Their farms were well fenced, they had good roads and their crops were larger than they needed to use. Dwight saw them at an early day and compared them with the white settlers round about — the best blood of New England. He recites some interest- ing facts as to certain ones among them, whose skin had begun to change to whiteness, notably Samuel Adams who "is almost become a white man." We should think that the signs indicated leprosy were it not that he distinctly denies this. Perhaps his witness exaggerated somewhat. This was certainly a symptom of the white man's civilization which the Indians had not looked for. The chief public improvement which interested them in early years was the town roads. They began at once to widen the Indian trails which crossed their tract. One of these led eastward through the town of Paris, or over " Han- over Hill " as the Indians termed it. That which was most "^iV. Y. Arch., Assembly Papers, Ind. Aff., Vol. 41, p. 93. INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 307 used, and doubtless older, was one from Utica through the present village of Clinton. It entered their tract by two ways, one going west from the ford of the Oriskany, between lots 4 and 5, and there uniting with the other which ran through lot I from the northeast corner. From the point where these joined, the road went southward until between lots 7 and 8, where it bore to the southwest, and in lot u led westward up over the hill to lot 105, where David Fowler lived. Thence it ran between lots 118 and 119 to Tuscarora. This was the original approach to their town, and it was put in condition for their travel before the town government was organized. There was also a road branching off from it in lot 11, and leading southward through their tract, dividing agam between lots 15 and 16. One of these went southwest, out at lot 133, and the other went southeast, across the Oriskany, southward and out at lot 45. Their main street was from lot 5 to lot 16. In 1796 this was moved by the peacemakers farther east and ran at the foot of the hill, being the present highway north and south, through Deansville. We have thus the earliest roads through the town. The road from David Fowler's, east- ward, down the hill to lot 13 was laid out about 1804, though it was in use earlier. That same year the road from Deans- ville west to Augusta was laid out. The one from lot 5 north- west dates from 1802, that across the southwest corner from 1809, and that from lot 7 southwest to lot 118 probably from the discontinuance of the old road up the hill. As already stated, the town of Brothertown as constituted in 1795 contained 9,390 acres, the balance of their tract being sold to the whites. About a third of this is now located in the town of Kirkland and the remainder in Marshall. It was sup- posed to comprise 149 lots, but in a later survey made by Peleg Gifford in 1828, at the direction of Thomas Dean, only 148 lots were found, containing 9,587 acres. Most of these were fifty-acre lots. Those of Elijah Wampy and David Fow- 308 SAMSON OCCOM ler were the largest, the former having 169 and the latter 155 acres. This later survey has been used as the basis of various maps." As shown in the " Atlas of Oneida County," Samson Occom's house was located on the western end of lot 10, marked as the residence of J. Whitney, and on the old road. The first schoolhouse of 1788 stood south of it on lot 11. Occom, therefore, lived within the present limits of the town of Kirkland, where also David Fowler was located and the ancient cemetery. The first mill erected in Brothertown was the sawmill to which reference is made by President Dwight. It was built only the year before his visit, and was located on the west end of lot 24, bordering on Oriskany creek, two acres of which the town bought for ^10 from Thomas Isaacs.^ A grist-mill was built in 1801 on the creek between lots 16 and 20. This was tended by various Indians appointed for the purpose, among them Asa and Paul Dick. The latter received fifteen dollars a month in 1808 for the service. Some time before that a second sawmill was erected in the south part of the town. The act of 1796 provided that a schoolhouse should be built and a school maintained therein. The early structure which bore that name must then have been in a decrepit condition. A new one was therefore begun by the superintendents in the summer of 1796, and completed in the autumn. It stood, the records state, " near where the old one stands on John Tuhis land." A detailed description is extant. It was twenty-four feet by thirty, built of timbers sawed four or five inches thick and dove-tailed together, with a white oak floor and shingled roof. Outside it was covered with planed boards standing upright 'See A Map of the Lands Called Brothertown, by Gerrit Cluett, 1795, Chart No. 62, Field book No. 27, Sec. of State of N. Y. ; Survey of 1828, by P. Gifford, Sur- veyor General's Office, No. 136 ; and Atlas of Oneida County, N. Y., D. G. Beers & Co., 1874. « SiiJ>t. Rec, pp. 55, 63 ; Town Rec, April 2, 1799. INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 309 and painted. The chimney rose on the east. The door was in the middle of the south side, and it was well provided with windows, having twelve lights of glass each. The cost was ^167, 5s. Elijah Wampy, Jr., was the first schoolmaster, but after three months he was discharged, and Hannah, the daugh- ter of David Fowler, succeeded him. In 18 19 they reported forty scholars, and in 1825 about eighty. Another school- house was built in 1809 in the south part of the town, and a third later near Asa Dick's, where Grace Tocus was at one time the teacher. The building of 1796 is said to have been destroyed by fire, and another erected farther south in the center of the settlement. As they voted in 1816 to sell the schoolhouse lot, this doubtless happened shortly before that date. Both edifices were designed also as a court-house and place for religious assemblies. Their town-meetings were held in them, and the sessions of the peacemaker's court. Here on Sunday they gathered to hear such preaching as could be had, the signal being a blast on the shell. A larger building was suggested by the superintendents, with a view of a more extensive education for Indian children; but in 1805 the town voted that it was inexpedient. There was at this time, and for many years thereafter, no store of any kind in Brothertown. All their trading was done at John Post's well- known establishment in Utica. He received in exchange the ginseng, of which they gathered large quantities, and other produce which they had to market. The religious affairs of Brothertown did not move very smoothly after the death of Samson Occom. Samuel Kirk- land visited them repeatedly, and his manuscript journals contain sundry references to them. He made the following entry: "April 13, 1793. The poor people [at Brothertown] have been rent and torn to pieces by certain [seventh] day baptist teachers, or exhorters, who have been among them during my absence and confinement. Lastly they have been 3IO SAMSON OCCOM assailed by the Methodists and by persons who do not sup- port the best characters among that sect. The few remaining steady Indians are much concerned and know not which way to turn themselves nor what measures can be devised to pre- serve the nation from those divisions and animosities which will eventually prove their ruin." The Separatist notions, which, it will be remembered, had prevailed among some at Charlestown, seem to have lingered among them. The day after the above entry Kirkland preached at Brothertown, and he made the following record of his service : " Sighs and groans were now and then heard from various parts of the assembly ; but no crying out, as I was told there had frequently been with many. These would fall flat on the floor without receiving any apparent injury. This they ascribed to the power which they supposed came upon them, and carried them quite beyond themselves. I conversed with several on the subject and used so much tenderness and candour as not to provoke them or excite their jealousies. I soon found that they had but confused ideas themselves of what they thought this power to be. When I had explained to them the natural and genuine fruits and operation of the Holy Spirit in bring- ing souls home to Christ, they did not incline to ascribe it altogether to his operations or influences, but would say it was something above or beyond the power of man and the person upon whom the power thus came must be highly favoured of God." When Kirkland preached there again on the twenty- third of May, his service, he notes, was attended by all parties, Methodists, Baptists, Separatists and Presbyterians. In 1793 Brothertown was visited by our old acquaintance. Rev. Samuel Ashbow, then about seventy-five years of age. We quote again from Kirkland's journal, December 16, 1793: "Was told by several Indians of the steady class that some of their tribe of the Baptist and Separate persuasion, particularly Ashpo, had lately arrived from N. E. Stonington and Mohegan INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 311 in Connecticut; that they depended much on hearing me in order to judge for themselves if I was a gospel preacher. . I publicly proposed to Elder Ashpo (as they call him) to make the last prayer, but he declined. After service several of the Indians applied to him for another religious exercise, in which he should improve his gift, as they phrase it. Their object was that he should speak while I was present. He objected on account of the day being far spent etc." Elder Ashbow agreed, however, to meet the Indians in the evening and Kirk- land gives a report of the meeting : " Had an account of the meeting last evening. They had four speakers or exhorters, the last of whom was a woman. They continued together till midnight, but were all disappointed in Mr. Ashpo, the old gentleman, who instead of flame and zeal and an elevated voice spake with great deliberation, low voice and said little more than to repeat over a considerable part of my sermon with some comments on particular passages, and concluded by speaking highly of learning. After this young David Fowler rose and spake with great vehemence till he almost foamed at the mouth, but communicated no information or instruction. The whole of his harangue was a repetition of some extravagant words and phrases." On the next Sabbath, also, Kirkland preached there, but by mistake or design the people assembled in two different places and he was obliged to preach without the attendance of the Baptists. Samuel Ash- bow had always held such views as are here attributed to him, though at one time under Doctor Wheelock's influence he cast them aside. He remained at Brothertown only a short time, returned to Mohegan and died there. David Fowler, Jr., seems to have imbibed his views, though his father was one of the "steady" kind, which included the members of Occom's scat- tered flock. A congregation of Baptists with Separatist ten- dencies was the outcome of this year of divisions. The Methodist party was small and scarcely survived the men- 312 SAMSON OCCOM tion of their name in Kirkland's journal, for he notes in July that "The methodist meeting is entirel}^ broken up." The missionary continued to preach at intervals to the steady class, but they had no stated minister thereafter. Thus it happened that there was developed among them a Baptist party, which was strong for many years. These in the course of time were divided, some being Freewill Baptists, of whom Elder Isaac Wauby and Elder Benjamin Garret Fowler were ministers, and others being close communion Baptists, to whom Elder Thomas Dick ministered. Perhaps this division prevented the building of a meeting-house, as the superintendents proposed. The town voted October 2, 1808, "That the Meeting House to be built in Brothertown is to stand west of the school house where the barn stands ; the said meeting house is to be thirty by forty feet square, two stories high with a steeple and a bell." This building, however, was not erected. The town voted June 24, 1811, "That Elder Isaac Wauby and his Church should oc- cupy the school house in Brothertown on the last Sunday of June for the purpose of Public worship; and that Thos. E)ick and his church shall occupy the same House for the same pur- pose the Sunday thereafter, and each without any molestaticJn whatsoever, and so on alternately until some further arrange- ment shall be made by their agreement or otherwise." Elder Wauby removed with a party to White River, Indiana, and there died about 1824. His successor was Elder Fowler. The report on Brothertown affairs in 1825, says: "They have two preachers of the gospel among them of their own number, who are pious and exemplary men, regularly devoted to their calling." The superintendents came early to the conclusion that it was best to have a white man act in the capacity of teacher, and as their agent in the management of their business. Some time was spent in looking for a proper person. Thomas Eddy of New York, one of the superintendents, was a Quaker, and withal very greatly interested in the welfare of the tribe. INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 313 A missionary movement among the Quakers about this time had awakened a zeal for such labor. In 1796, John Prince, James Cooper, Joseph Sanson, Isaiah Powland, Enoch Walker and Henry Simmons, Jr., "steady and judicious men," came to Oneida, where some of them began labors among the Indians. Eddy naturally looked to his brethren for one to fill this office. In 1798 he and his associates settled upon a Quaker named John Dean, then residing in New York. When word came to the Indians that a Quaker was to become their schoolmaster, they had some fear of his religious views. A petition was sent to Governor Jay representing "that they did not wish to be made proselytes by any people, but wished to have the liberty of acting according to the dictates of their own consciences both in religion and the teaching of their children." The superintendents disclaimed any other purpose than to assist the Indians, but said that John Dean was the only person of suitable character they had been able to pre- vail upon to reside among them. It was, therefore, decided that Dean should engage in the work at a salary of $300 per annum. The letter which he carried from Thomas Eddy to the peacemakers, and which says " he goes to be schoolmas- ter," is dated December 31, 1798. It has been said that he was commissioned in 1795 by the Society of Friends to labor as a missionary among the Brothertown Indians.^ We find no evidence that he was among them in any capacity at that time. He seems to have been a stranger when he was en- gaged. Possibly he was commissioned as a missionary, and labored among the Oneidas, or some neighboring tribe, as other Quakers did. At all events, he set out as above noted for Brothertown, and arrived there early in January. His family, we think, were not removed thither till the following summer. That spring a small house was built for him "near the schoolhouse," and the superintendents then set off ten '• Durant's Hist, of Oneida County. 314 SAMSON OCCOM acres of land for this purpose. This was the Dean residence for some years, and, as it was near the schoolhouse it was, probably, on lot 11. John Dean was then well on in life. He is said to have been a good farmer, and much respected for his steady, sober conduct. His wife was " a reliable woman and in good respect for her industry and good management." President Dwight makes the following reference to him : "A Quaker who is a well-appearing man and of a good character, has come to Brothertown with his family, and resided here some time for the benevolent purpose of teaching the Indian children to read and write. He told me they learn as readily and rapidly as the children of whites. Their schoolhouse was built for them by the state and serves them as a church. "^° How long John Dean was actually engaged in teaching is uncertain. Some of the Indian children were boarded with him, at the town's expense, so late as 181 1. He is said to have died in 1820, aged eighty-eight years. His son, Thomas Dean, was associated with him by the action of the superin- tendents, March 26, 1801, and soon thereafter became the schoolmaster. He was then twenty-two years of age, and wise beyond his years. Like his father, he was a Quaker ; but the Indians had ceased to fear any proselytism to that faith. He possessed those qualities of character which ena- bled him to control them without offending their independ- ence; and, from the first, even more than his father, he won their confidence and affection. In 1809 he married Mary Flandrau, of New Rochelle, N. Y,, and settled down to devote his life to the welfare of the people whom he had adopted. He became not only their schoolmaster, but the agent of the superintendents. The Indians came to look upon him as their white father. He was their surveyor to lay out their roads, their lawyer to advise them in the sale of their lands, draw up conveyances and agreements, and hold trusts for the '0 Dwight's Travels, III, 169. INDIAN TOWN GOVERNMENT 315 benefit of certain individuals and families. He interested himself in the industrial affairs of the tribe, encouraging them in building, manufacturing and the improved tillage of their farms. There are, doubtless, to this day, at Deansville, which was named after him, and throughout the region, descendants of a nursery of apple-trees which he set out, and which were distributed among their farms. To him are largely due the later stability and success of the tribe. In 1824 he leased for ten years part of lot 16, which had been assigned to David Fowler, Jr., and three years later, a law having been passed permitting the sale of Indian lands, he bought four fifths of this lot for $640, from the Fowler heirs. The remain- ing fifth he bought in 1830. On this lot the Dean mansion was erected, and there he resided until his death, in 1842, at the age of sixty-three years. ^^ During his maturer years he did his greatest service for the Brothertown Indians. The emigration fever had again possessed them. A vast region in the new and distant West invited them, and they were sur- rounded by the whites. Thomas Dean then saw the wisdom of another removal to Wisconsin. In their behalf he under- took to open the way, journeying to Washington with Ran- dall Abner, their representative, and to the westward in this arduous service. His efforts were successful. In their appre- ciation of his many years as their father and friend, the Indians at first named their new settlement Deansborough. Company after company were made ready for their pilgrimage. One by one the aged, who tarried still, were laid in their graves. At last, when Thomas Dean came to his death, there were only a few of his people in the neighborhood to attend upon his burial. The Indian town of Samson Occom had melted away. His children were as follows : I. Philena Hunt, m. Prof. Marcus Catlin of Ham- ilton College. H. Phebe, m. Col. Alexander H. Redfield of Detroit, Mich. HI. John, b. Aug. 16, 1813; Ham Coll., 1S32; Mem. Leg. of N. Y., 1846, and Com. of Customs, Treas. Dept., Washington. IV. Hannah, d. 1S47. V. Elias Flandrau> physician, Phila., Pa. CHAPTER XVII THE LAST REMOVE 1809-1898 The ultimate emiojration of the Brothertown Indians to another location in the far West was foreseen by Samson Occom before his death. He looked about him on the beauti- ful hills and valleys of the Oneidas, and with prophetic gaze saw them thickly peopled by the whites. Doubtless he had many a conversation on the subject with his friends, and prominent among them was Hendrick Aupaumut, the chief of the Stockbridge tribe. He it was who became the forerunner of the New York Indians in their subsequent removal west- ward. So early as the year 1791 this chief, accompanied by several of his nation and Good Peter, the aged father of the faith among the Oneidas, went on an embassy to the Miami tribe. The ostensible purpose of this visit was the introduc- tion of Christianity; but he seems also to have done some prospecting, with a vievv of locating a large tract of land on White river, now in Indiana, to which the Stockbridge tribe somehow had acquired a claim. A council was held there in 1802 with the Delawares who had removed thither, Hendrick Aupaumut being chief of the Stockbridge delegation.^ A friendly compact was then made between them. For two years thereafter Captain Hendrick was engaged in perfecting this relationship in behalf of the Oneidas and their wards, the Indians of New Stockbridge and Brothertown. In the spring ^A Report to the Secretary of IVar, Dr. Morse, App., pp. no, iii. 316 THE LAST REMOVE 317 of 1809 the latter were invited to send delegates westward with him. They did so, by a vote of the town on the fourth of April, and John Tuhie, John Skeesuck, Henry Cuship and Jacob Fowler were appointed. The speech delivered by them July third and the reply, read in their town-meeting, August twenty-ninth, are recorded in the town records. This passage is conspicuous in the reply: "Grand-children, Brothers and Friends : Be it known to you that you have the same privi- lege as we have to this land, we can not point out a particular spot for you to live on ; but you may take your own choice wherever you should be suited on undivided land along this river, there you may build your fire-place." ^ Captain Hendrick did not at once return to New Stockbridge, but remained some time in the White River country.^ During this period Tecumseh became powerful, and his brother, Elskwatawa, the " Shauwasee prophet," preached the extermination of the whites. The Stockbridge chief was then of great service to the government in opposing this excitement, and to General Harrison in the Indian war which followed. He had once fought in the Revo- lution, and in this war, as in that of 181 2, he was no less a brave warrior.'* It had been determined at Brothertown in 181 2 to begin a settlement at White River. These wars deterred them, and many of their number enlisted in the United States service. Some never returned. Finally, when peace had been restored, the town voted, January 13, 1817, to choose five men to go there " in pursuit of a tract of land heretofore sought for by their [our] delegates sent there in the year 1809, and to get a title to it." The Stockbridge tribe also were preparing to 2 Toivn Records, pp. 58-60 ; Jones' Annals of Oneida Cotiniy. pp. 267-270. ^ Sergeant's Journals, Am. Bd. Com. For. Miss.; Dr. Morse's Report, App., pp, 108, 109. * This remarkable Indian afterwards removed with liis people to Wisconsin, living an honorable life to the last, and died at South Kaukauna in the summer of 1830' Muhhekaneok, Davidson, pp. 19, 20, 27 ; Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll., II, 433. 3l8 SAMSON OCCOM remove. Two families went in 1817 and more the next season. On the twenty-fourth of July, 1818, Rev. John Ser- geant assembled the tribe in anticipation of this pilgrimage. The old church then dismissed and formed into a new body eleven of their number, for whom he transcribed the Confes- sion of Faith and Covenant in English, adding in their own language a Covenant especially adapted to their circum- stances.^ On the fifteenth of August following, some having gone and more being then ready to depart, another meeting was held, at which the chief, Hendrick Aupaumut, in a "large speech" presented to them from the old church a copy of Scott's Bible " to read on Lord's Days and at other religious meetings." So they said farewell, and were gone to return no more. Some Brothertown families went with this latter company, which soon overtook the first. Among these were Elder Isaac Wauby and some of his followers, Thomas Isaacs, and Samson Occom, a grandson of the minister, who is said to have descendants living in Wisconsin. Aged Indians now survive who remember this affecting farewell — the first of this pilgrim people to set out toward the setting sun. A great disappointment awaited them. Ere they reached their destination, they heard that the United States govern- ment by a treaty with the Miamis had bought a large tract of land, including that on which they had intended to settle.® A few of the Brothertown tribe returned, but most of them went on. Earnest efforts were made by these tribes in an appeal to the government to regain their lands, but they were 5 This Covenant was signed by Deacon Joseph Quinney, John M'Toksin, Robert Konkpot, John Bennet, Betsey Bennet, Esther T., Margaret Q., Hannah K., Catharine M., Dolly N., and Mary K.—Sergeanfs Journals; Report of the Select Covt. of the Soc. for Prop, the Gos. among the Indians and others in North Avierica^ Cambridge, 1819, p. 14: Dr. Morse's Report^ App., p. 112; and Mtihhekaneok, Davidson, pp. 20 ff. ^ Dr Morsels Report, App. pp. 114-118. THE LAST REMOVE 319 of no avail. The trials of these emigrants discouraged them and sickness wasted their numbers. Elder Wauby died. Sev- eral years afterwards the remnant found their way to Green Bay. Thus the first attempt to establish a new town in the West came to naught. As this hope was dying out a new movement was being inaugurated. In the year 1816, that most remarkable mis- sionary and strange man of a royal likeness, Rev. Eleazar Williams, appeared among the Oneida Indians. The attempt already made suggested to him, to Rev. Jedediah Morse and especially to the land companies who wished the Indians to vacate their reservations in New York, the removal of all these Indians to a Western home.^ Williams hoped to form a con- federacy of Indian towns under one controlling head, and though this purpose failed, his efforts greatly furthered the emigration movement. The account of the negotiations of delegates from the New York tribes with the Menomonees and Winnebagoes at Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 182 1, is a tedious story. They were con- ducted under the authority of the United States. Captain Hendrick Aupaumut was prominent in the business. The result was the purchase of a large tract from these Wisconsin tribes, said to contain 2,000,000 acres, the consideration being $2,000, one quarter of which was then paid. The date of this treaty is August 18, 182 i. On the twenty-third of September, 1822, another treaty was made, by which the New York Indians acquired "all the right, title, interest and claim" to another tract, for which they agreed to pay $3,000. The price was all the land was worth at the time. The Brothertown Indians were represented in these treaties; but they formally united in the affair in 1824, when on the sixth of April the town voted " that a purchase shall be made of land at Green ' 77^1? Lost Prince,hy John H. Hanson ; Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll., II, 415-449 ; Muh- hekaneok, pp. 21 ff. ; Dr. Morse's Report, pp. 24-27, App. 75-89; and Jones' Annals of Oneida County, pp. 861-S63, 8S9, S93. 320 SAMSON OCCOM Bay." The following Indians were then appointed to act in the matter with their agent, Thomas Dean : William Dick, Rhodolphus Fowler, Paul Dick, Benjamin G. Fowler, Thomas Dick, Randall Abner, John Johnson, Daniel Dick, David Tou- cee, George Scippio, George- Sampson, and Samuel Scippio. Some of these went to Wisconsin with Thomas Dean, and they bought a tract on Fox river, eight miles wide and thirty miles long, paying therefor $950, out of their annuity, which was nearly the amount of the payment then due on the above- named agreement with the Wisconsin Indians.^ Thus they had by representation at the treaty, by town vote, and by an actual payment allowed by the state of New York, acquired valuable lands. On the twenty-fourth of August, 1830, at the laying out of lands for the New York Indians, they were represented by William Dick, Rhodolphus Fowler and John Johnson.^ The remnant from White River removed thither at once, and others made ready to go. This required time. They had to sell their lots at Brothertown and arrange their affairs. Meanwhile, the Menomonees and VVinnebagoes had repented of their bargain, as the Oneidas did of their grant to the New England Indians. They denied the claim of the New York tribes. The United States government investigated the subject ; and notwithstanding the above treaties, which had been several times ratified and acknowledged, proceeded in the Stambaugh treaty, made at Washington, February 8, 1831, to acquire from the Wisconsin tribes a title to all their lands. When this treaty came before the United States Sen- ate, that body refused to ratify it without providing that three townships east of W^innebago Lake be granted to the Stock- bridge, Munsee and Brothertown Indians, in addition to 500,000 acres lying west of Fox river, and giving them com- pensation for the improvements on the lands they then occu- ^ N. Y. Ach., Assembly Papers, Ind. Aff., Vol. 41, p. 93; ^wd Report tf/1825. « Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll.,McCalPs Joiirnal,X\l, 191. THE LAST REMOVE 32 1 pied. The township of the Brothertown tribe was to contain 23,040 acres and they were allowed $1,600 for their improve- ments. Even an Indian could see the difference between this and the 153,600 acres they had bought and paid for. The boundaries of the tract west of Fox River were changed and the Indians protested. What could they do ? Some of them were on the ground and they wanted to settle down. Their brethren in New York were anxiously awaiting the fixing of a location. So finally the agreement was accepted and the treaty was proclaimed July 9, 1832. This was the status of their land affairs until the treaty of January 15, 1838, concluded at Buffalo Creek, N. Y. Let it be remembered that the New York Indians then had a title to 500,000 acres as above stated, in addition to the reservations on which they lived. The possession of this tract was the object of the treaty of 1838.^'^ We have no place here for details ; but the issues depending upon this transaction have been of importance to the New York Indians ever since. Upon them their so-called " Kansas claim " has rested. This famous case of the " New York Indians vs. The United States " has been on its tedious journey through the courts these many years, and now in this memorable year of justice, A. D. 1898, has come to a final decision in the Supreme Court in favor of the Indians. -^^ How strange is this denouement of history! ^0 U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. VII, Indian Treaties, pp. 550 ff. 11 The history of this case would fill a volume. It is Congressional Case No. 151 ; United States Court of Claims, No. 17,861; Supreme Court of the United States, Oct., 1896, No. 415. The Court of Claims decided in favor of the Indians in 1890. This decision was finally reversed aiid the Indians appealed to the Supreme Court. The argument was made by Hon. Joseph H. Choate, Dec. 7 and 8, 1896, and it was reargued later on a constitutional question. The Supreme Court decided in favor of the Indians, who then moved for judgment in the Court of Claims. An attempt was then made to reduce the amount of the claim by excluding the New York Indians in Wisconsin; but the Court of Claims on the mandate of the Supreme Court entered judgment, Nov. 14, 1898, in favor of the claimants for ^1,961,400. Provision for this payment will be a duty of the Fifty-sixth Congress. All of the nine nations and tribes of New York are beneficiaries. James B. Jenkins, Esq., of Oneida, N. Y., has been 22 322 SAMSON OCCOM The half million acres which- was the stake in 1838 came to the New York Indians in consequence of the agreement of 1822 ; this was made valid by the payment of the $950 by the Brothertown Indians; they obtained this money from the fund arising out of the lands which Samson Occom so bravely fought to retain; and he was the first native missionary of New England to carry the gospel to the Six Nations. The New York Indians certainly deeded by the above treaty of 1838, the 500,000 acres of their Green Bay lands. In return they were to receive "as a permanent home for all the New York Indians then residing in the State of New York or in Wisconsin " a tract of land directly west of the state of Missouri "to include 1,824,000 acres," "to have and to hold the same in fee simple to the said tribes or nations by patent from the President." It was further provided that the tribes should agree to remove thither " within five years, or such other time as the President may from time to time appoint," or forfeit their interest to the United States ; but the govern- ment was to appropriate $400,000 to aid them in this removal. The Indians claimed that the United States government never performed its part of the agreement, that no time was ap- pointed for their removal, that no appropriation was made therefor, that the Kansas lands were never conveyed to them, and that they have been sold to white settlers. An attempt was made in 1846, without the President's appointment, to remove two hundred and one Indians from New York. 'I'hese were conducted by the Indian agent to the Little Osage River in Kansas and there left unprovided for — to starve and die during the following winter. Thirty-two only of the survivors rem.iined there and their lands were taken from ihtMU by settlers. As shown in the statement of their case, 'this is all the government has done to fullil its agreement in payment interested in this case for many years as attorney for the Indians, and to him the credit of the final decision is largely due. THE LAST REMOVE 323 for the Green Bay lands, which are said to have been sold under various acts of Congress at an average price of $1.34 per acre. As to the historical relation of the Brothertown tribe to the New York Indians, by which they participated in all these treaties, there can be no doubt. Since the grant to the New England Indians in 1774, as heretofore related, they have been by Indian customs and treaty wards of the Oneida Indians. In all the early negotiations they were concerned. They specifically by a town vote, April 4, 1824, reaffirmed their union with the New York Indians in making the purchase of 1822. Thereafter they were recognized in all these transac- tions by the Wisconsin tribes and the United States. As to the treaty of 1838, the Brothertown Indians are named among the tribes participating and concerned in the Western grant. The Brothertown Indians, as the remnant of the New Eng- land tribes, have had a peculiar plea for consideration and justice. They alone of all the scattered nations, which our forefathers were wont to term "the lost tribes of Israel," can trace their ancestry back to the days of the founders of this Republic. In their civilization the seeds of the saintly John Eliot's sowing are still bearing fruit. They are the descend- ants of Wheelock's Indian Charity School — the spiritual chil- dren of Samson Occom. Their ancestors fought with Uncas, " the white man's friend," in the Pequot War, went out with his three sons against King Philip and came to the rescue of the English after the massacre of Bloody Brook. The rolls of all the later Colonial wars contain the names of soldiers from whom they can prove a lineal descent. Their great grand- fathers fought in the Revolution, and so many of them perished that it was, by the testimony of William Williams, the death blow to their ancient tribal strength. In the war of 1812 their grandsires were engaged, and they themselves, out of their diminished numbers, furnished nearly threescore and ten 324 SAMSON OCCOM soldiers in the Civil War. Where in this broad land can such a Society of the Colonial Wars be found ? Whatever the merits of their claim may have been, which it is not for the historian to judge, the survivors of the New England Indians have a title to the respect of the American people. The first emigration of families from Brolhertown, N. Y., to Green Bay was in the year 1831. Individuals and deputations only had before this made journeys thither to secure the land and take possession. With this removal in view they peti- tioned the General Assembly of New York for permission to sell their lots, which was granted by an act passed April 16, 1827. The superintendents were thus authorized on the application of any Indian to convey his land in fee simple, receiving one fourth of the purchase money in cash and leav- ing the balance secured by a mortgage to be paid in instal- ments. The seller and the peacemakers were to acknowledge all deeds which were to be duly recorded. The proceeds of all common lands w^ere to be expended in the removal of the poor and the residue, if any, in building a schoolhouse in their new home. All who removed w^ere still to receive their portion of the annuity. This provision in regard to the Brothertown fund was carried out until, by an act passed May 25, 1841, those who had then removed to Wisconsin received their portion of the principal. Thus the obstacles in the way were cleared. The Indians began at once in 1827 to dispose of their lots. All matters relating to their emigration were placed in the hands of a committee chosen annually, and the affair was con- ducted with discretion. Probably no Indian tribe of North America ever emigrated under more favorable circumstances. They had acquired experience and knowledge of government. They had the means necessary for a good start in a new coun- try. Some of them were well-to-do. The distance w^as great and they could not transport all their household effects. Fortunately, however, they had a waterway in the Erie canal THE LAST REMOVE 325 from Utica to Buffalo and thence they could conveniently reach Green Bay by the great lakes. The company of 1831 was composed of nearly forty persons, chiefly the large families of William and Elkanah Dick and Randall Abner. Thomas Commuck and his wife Hannah, Isaac Scippio and David Johnson also went in this party. Of these the following were living in 1895 : Barbara Dick, Delila Dick Brushil, Hannah Abner Commuck, Rebecca Abner John- son, and Elias and David Dick. They made their settlement at Kaukauna on the Fox River, and built their log houses. The land was not the best adapted to farming and they did not intend to remain there. The treaty which gave them a township farther south on the east shore of Winnebago Lake was then pending and was ratified the following year. Hence they had not long to remain, and they moved to their final location in 1832 and 1833. In 1832 a larger company reached the new settlement, consisting of forty-four persons, as nearly as can now be ascertained. These included the families of Alexander, Daniel and Thomas Dick, William Johnson, Simeon and John Adams, Ezekiel Wiggins, Abraham Skeesuck, Nathan Paul and John Seketer, besides several men, Jere- miah Johnson, George Skeesuck, Charles Seketer and James Wauby. By the town records they were expecting to start on the twenty-fifth of June. They probably set out about that time, as they were four weeks going from Buffalo to Green Bay and arrived there early in August. The vessel in which the lake voyage was made was The President. Another party went in 1834, in which were Elder Thomas Dick and his wife Debora, Patience Fowler, the widow of James, and her chil- dren, widow Hannah Dick, James Niles, Jesse Corcomb, Isaac Wauby, Emanuel Johnson, Joseph Palmer and such families as they had. They made the voyage in a schooner named T/ie Navigator. In 1835 there went James Simons, Samuel Skeesuck, Alonzo D. Dick and his family and Solomon Paul. 326 SAMSON OCCOM They went in the steamboat United States. One of the largest companies went in 1836, in which were Rhodolphus Fowler and his children, Simeon Hart, Lothrop Dick, William Crosley, John Johnson, Ira Hammer, David Wiggins, George Scippio, John Matthews, Henry Fowler and Erastus Fowler, some of them with families. Some of these met a tragic death by the capsizing of a boat on Fox River, where six men were drowned. After this they went in smaller parties as they conveniently could, including widows Esther Sampson and Amy Johnson, Charles Anthony, Henry Skeesuck, Hezekiah Fowler, John Wauby, Rowland Johnson, Isaac Dick, Alexander Fowler, Laton Dick and Thomas Hammer. Elder Benj imin G. Fow- ler went in 1846, most of his flock having preceded him. Thus most of the tribe were reunited in their new home. In anticipation of a distribution of the principal of their fund a census was made of those remaining in New York in 1843, and it shows the names of ninety-six persons. Of these a large number went to Wisconsin during the five years follow- ing. As an enumeration made in 1837, in connection with the treaty, gives their number as three hundred and sixty, there must have been in Wisconsin in 1843 about two hundred and fifty. Probably the number at its greatest was not far from three hundred. Some few never removed and some who did so afterwards returned and died in their old home. They decreased, however, rapidly ; and when after the late war one of the tribe, Lyman P. Fowler, visited the old Oneida town, he found himself among strangers. He brightened the memories of the past by visiting the home of Thomas Dean's daughter — a gracious woman whom the Indians called Lady Catlin ; but he could scarcely identify the landmarks of his youth. The remnant in the town had melted away and everything about was changed. He sorrowfully climbed the hill on the shoulder of which Samuel Kirkland's college is now situated, and stopped half way up — as many another returning pilgrim has THE LAST REMOVE 327 done — at the residence of Professor Edward North, and there related the fact that in the old Indian town of by-gone days he had seen on a fence-post near their burial-place an Indian skull. In 1893, when the writer visited Deansville in search of the grave of Samson Occom, he could find only one Indian in the town ; and he was the aged " Billy Paul," a descendant of both Samson Occom and David Fowler, spending his linger- ing years in the -white man's poorhouse ! The township granted to the Brothertown Indians by the treaty of 1832 extended four miles north and south on Winne- bago Lake and eight miles east and west. Two roads were laid out in straight parallel lines leading north and south, the westernmost about a quarter of a mile from the lake, called the " Base Line Road," and another eastward called '' Turkey Street." A so-called " iMilitary Road," built by Colonel Scott for the use of troops, ran north and south between these, and on this the village of Brothertown is now located. The town was not laid out in lots until 1839, in which year they received the honors of citizenship in the United States. An act of Congress, passed March 3, 1839, Provided that their land could be divided and held in fee simple. ^^ Commissioners' were then appointed. The old town voted, May 6, 1839, that the Green Bay lands should be divided that season, that one share should be given to adults and one-half share to minors and that the latter should also be apportioned to females who had married outside of the tribe. Thomas Dean was sent to attend upon this business. The land proved to be of the best character for their agricultural purposes. It is claimed by them that the bounds of their grant were unlawfully altered and the only reason they can give for this is that it was 12 The deeds reciting this act were on parchment and were signed by John Tyler, Prest. There were two hundred and forty lots in all and each Indian had a fifty- acre lot and a fraction of twelve and one half acres. At the present time twenty-five families hold lands there and some of them are on their original claims. 'J he early mill locations were held by David and William Fowler until their leases expired. 328 SAMSON OCCOM "too good land for Indians." At first they named their town Deansborough, though a certain locality was called Pequot. It was also known as Manchester. The name is now Brother- town, in remembrance of their old home. The county called Calumet was formed the year after their admission to citizenship, by an act approved January 6, 1840. The first election was held in the house of Elkanah Dick. John Johnson, Daniel Dick and David Fowler were chosen county commissioners and the other offices were filled by David Johnson, O. D. Fowler, Simeon Hart and John John- son, Jr. The first session of the county commissioners was held in the house of David Fowler, March 11, 1840. John Johnson was elected chairman, and Daniel Dick, clerk. Will- iam Dick was treasurer, and James Wauby and Alexander G. Dick were constables. The county was divided into two assessment and election districts. At this time the value of real and personal property in the county was $68,320, upon which a tax of nine mills was assessed. This early county organization gave place, a few years later, to one in which the whites participated. Some of the tribe have attained honors in public office. William Fowler, Alonzo D. and \\'illiam H. Dick have served as members of the Wisconsin legislature. In early days they formed no new ecclesiastical organiza- tion. After the coming of their elders, Benjamin G. Fowler and Thomas Dick, they had preachers of their own. David Fowler was for years a deacon among them. About 1840, a Methodist church was organized and a small meeting-house built. The congregation was successively ministered to by neighboring clergymen, especially from Duck Creek, named Poe, Frink, Clark and Halsted. Thomas Commuck was their first postmaster, and he and Randall Abner were justices of the peace and performed their marriages. The "Indian Melodies " which Commuck issued was never very exten- sively used by them, though copies are preserved and highly THE LAST REMOVE 329 regarded in their homes. Its author was himself a singer. He was an eccentric man, of remarkable memory, and a liter- ary turn of mind.^^ Since the days of the first emigration they have used the English language. It is remembered among them, however, that sometimes a group of old ladies — Pually Mossuck, Martha Paul and Lucy Waukeet — would carry on their private gossip in the musical tongue to which they had been born. During the early years of the town they made encouraging progress in agriculture. Their farms were cleared and sub- stantial buildings were erected. Among their number were those who were skilled in the trades. The work on the first steamboat which was built on Lake Winnebago, under the superintendence of Peter Hoteling and called "The Man- chester" and later the "Fountain City," was done largely by Deacon David Fowler. Gradually, however, a change has been going on. When the parents died, the younger genera- tion sought brighter prospects in other employments. Some are engaged on railroads and some on the lakes. Others turned to trade. The foreign elements began to come in, mostly Germans, and buy out the Indians. Some emigrated farther west, to Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska and even to California. At the present time there are probably not more than one hundred and fifty of the tribe within the town, which has a population of fifteen hundred. Their village, located about half a mile from the lake, comprises about twenty houses, a store or two, the church, a schoolhouse and their town hall. In one of these stores, Edgar M. Dick, a lineal descendant of a bloodthirsty Narragansett, will cut your hair, and, with more consideration than his ancestor had, will leave the scalp. They have the reputation of being a respecta- ble and worthy people. In morals and religion they com- 13 See Sketch of the Brotherioivn Indians^ Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll., IV, 291 ; and Sketch of Caluvut County, Ibid., I, 103, by Thomas Commuck. 330 SAMSON OCCOAf pare favorably with the whites round about them. For more than sixty years since they located in that wilderness, not one of their number ever saw the inside of the state prison. The visitor among them will readily recognize the peculiar traits of Indian character. Reserve and caution distinguish them. Some are as keen in discernment as their ancestors were on the war-path. The place is an interesting field for the ethnologist, for the types of the ancient tribes of New England are still to be observed among them. The Narra- gansett is there with his athletic figure and easy poise, the Mjhegan wiih his intelligent face and the Montauk with his sturdy frame. An admixture of boih white and negro blood is clearly visible, but it is known to have taken place in alli- ances before they left New England. Children of the same parents exhibit the greatest variety, in features, in shades of Color and expression of countenance, though all are distinctly Indian. The tribe still maintains a unity in an organization, a relic of their Indian town, and they have duly chosen " Head- men." In 1895 these were James Simons, Edgar M. Dick, Lathrop Fowler, Oscar Johnson, John E. Ham mar and Theo- dore Dick. This office conveys no more authority than the tribe choose to give. It has been perpetuated in large meas- ure by the necessity of their land claim. Among these survivors of the Christian Indians of New England it is believed that their numbers are slowly decreas- ing. " Here we have taken our stand," wrote Thomas Cum- muck, "and are resolved to meet manfully that overwhelming tide of fate which seems destined in a few short years to sweep the Red Man from the face of existence." The chill winds which blow between the lake on their west and the greater Michigan on their east, are favorable to that terrible disease, consumption, which has always carried many to the grave. Their burial-place near at hand has gathered most of the founders. Only a few remain, whose memories, amply EDGAR M. DICK "V LATHROP FOWLER OSCAR JOHNSON HEADMEN OF THE BRO'lHERTOWN INDIANS THE LAST REMOVE 33 1 proven on many points to be most retentive and accurate, reach back to the times and scenes of their Oneida home. Elias Dick, whose frame in its stalwart days would have done honor to a Narragansett sachem ; Hannah Cummuck, in whom the trials of many years have ripened an auturrinal glory; Rowland Johnson, distinguished in dignity and gentleness ; and Rebecca Johnson, the storehouse of all the facts and traditions of their tribal history — these, who have contributed invaluable details to this narrative, will long be remembered by their white friend. Here speaks the sage of Brothertown, John Collins Fow- ler, a grandson of the faithful David of early times: "The Indian, whatever his present state, can be civilized and made a useful citizen of this great Republic; but his nature is differ- ent from that of the white man. He is easily tempted by the fire-water, which has been his curse since men have known him. The white man is energetic, ambitious, over-reaching. The Indian is content with little, sluggish, and he cannot hold on to what he gets. It is not for the Indians to have any- thing. They should never live in the same community with the whites, for they will soon be stripped of all they have and left by the roadside. Ah ! yes, my people are dying away, and we shall soon be gone." The Montauk Indians of Samson Occom's day had a belief in the existence of souls after death, and that the spirits of good Indians go to the westward, where they exercise them- selves in dancing and pleasurable singing forever in the pres- ence of the western God! Westward they have been going ever since the Pilgrims landed. Some day may they find there the land of plenty and of peace. Ere another century has passed may those words be true which the Oneida sachem Onondega uttered to a Commencement audience at Dartmouth College a century ago, " The light begins a little to break away from yonder wilderness toward the setting of the sun." APPENDIX TRACT OF Lf\NJD ZOl-0- l-]f]S. 1466.2. ACRES. A — Samson Occom's house B — David Fowler's house C— Old Indian Burying- ground D — New Cemetery E— Lot of David Fowler, Jr., and Thomas, Dean, Deans- ville F— Diigway Burying-ground G— Old Mill H — Old Scboolhouse Indian Road of 1795 MAP OF BROTHERTOWN p. Gifford, Surveyor, 1S2S APPENDIX FAMILY HISTORY OF THE BROTHERTOWN INDIANS Abner, — Pequot tribe, Stonington, Conn. In 1762 an Indian called "Abner,'' aged 45, was living in a wigwam at Mushantuxet in Groton. He had six children. James Abner, who with his wife Mary was living at Lantern Hill, Stonington, in 1788, was doubtless a son and the father of Randall. Randall Abner, born June 4, 1789, at Stonington, married Sarah Tocus. They moved to Stephentown, N. Y., and thence in 18 19 to Brothertown. He received lot 86. in 1823; was a peacemaker from 1823 to 1831 ; removed to Wisconsin in 1831 and to Kansas later, where he died in 1852, ae. 63, and she Apr. 9, 1869, as. 73. Chn. : I. Hannah Abigail, b. Aug. 21, 1814, m. Thomas Commuck. II. Rebecca, b. Mar. 2, 18 16, m. (i) Simeon Adams, (2) John W. Johnson. III. Rmdall, who went to iNebraska. IV. Joseph, who was lost at sea. V. Silvia, m. Daniel Skeesuck. VI. Lucy. m. (i) Stowe, (2) Coffin VII. Marietta, m. John Welch. VIII. Roxy. IX. James. X. Denison, who went to Kansas. XL Grace. Adams. Adam, _ Tunxis tribe. Farmington, Conn. A Quinnipiac Indim, nicknam d "Adun,'"of East H.iven, "bought of a squaw" land at Farmington, which he divided Nov. 3, 1756. between his sons, John and Samuel Adam. He signed as "Jacob Adam." but Oct. 10, 1776, he is "Thorn IS Adams late deceased." He was the head man of the Q liniiipiic Indians who exchanged rights at New Haven for lands at Farmington. removed thither and were adopted by the Tunxis tribe. In 1770 he was aged and infirm and soon after died. Jolin Ad ims (lAdam). New Haven, 1756, and of age, married Sarah and moved to Farmin^^ton. He was a councilor and landowner; 336 APPENDIX a soldier in the French wars and the Revolution ; was at Stockbridge, Mass.; and a founder of Brothertown, where he soon died. Chn. : I. John, b. 1755. II. Sarah, m. Abraham Simons. 111. Simeon. IV. Samuel. John Adams (2 John, 1 Adam) was an early settler at Brothertown, where he received lot 126 in 1795. He married later " Widow Sarah Davies," born in 1748, owner ot lot 6, and died before 1804, without issue. His lot w.is then assigned to Eliphalet Adams (Marthers), subject to the dower ot Widow Sarah. Simeon Adams (2John, ^Adam) was a soldier in Capt. Elisha Lee's company in 1776. He moved to Brothertown before 1799, and had lots 99 and 124 in 1804. He died about 1829, his heirs being his brother Samuel's children. Samuel Adams (^John, 1 Adam) married Mary, daughter of David Fowler, and settled at Brothertown. He had been a soldier in the Revolution, enlisted in the War of 181 2, and was killed at Black Rock. She was living at Brothertown in 1 81 7. Chn.: 1. Thankful, m. Stevens. II. John, who with his wife Sally removed to Wisconsin in 1832, and died at Dickenson's Mills. 111. Simeon, who m. Rebecca Abner, moved to Wisconsin and died there. IV. Hannah, m. Solo- mon Paul. V. Emeline, m. Lothrop Dick. Edwin C. Adams, alias Edwin Edwards or Edwin Hathaway, an orphan, v\-as brought up in this family. He m. Lovina Matthews, and moved to Brothertown, Wis. Tlieir son, Arthur Adams, was in Co. G, 36th Wis. Vols., and died in Andersonville prison Sept. 2, 1864. Samuel Adams (lAdam) was born in 1734. and married Hannah Squamp of the Wangunk tiibe, by whom he had rights in the Matta- besett lands at xMiddletown, Conn. Both were well educated. He was a soldier in Capt John Patterson's company in 1756, and in Capt. Timothy Northam's company, ist Regt N. Y. troops, in 1762. He was a councilor and landowner at Farmington ; an early settler at Brothertown; was driven out by the war, and went to Hancock, Mass. He returned to Brothertown and in 1795 received lot 7, where he had built his first hut. He died about 1800. Ch. : Solomon, and perhaps others. Solomon Adams (2 Samuel, lAdam) received part of lot 52 at Farmington from his father, March 21, 1782. He married Olive, daughter of Rev. Samson Occom, was a soldier in the Revolution, and died about 1783. His widow held " a part of the 5th lot west of the Indian tract and the house thereon," whence she afterwards emi- grated to eastern New York. Chn. : I. Philena, m. (i) James Wau- cus, (2) Thomas Crosley. II. Damaris, m. Jacob Thomas. III. Ellen, New Marlboro, Mass. These sold their father's rights at Farmington in 1801. Probably also there was a son David, who re- ceived lot 134 at Brothertowai in 1797, and died without issue. APPENDIX 337 Anthony, — Narragansett tribe, Charlestown, R. I. A number of Indians bearing this n ime were living there in 1750. John Anthony m.irried Sarah, the widow of George Ninegret, A Cluirles Anthony resided there in 1763, and thence tlie Brothcrtown emigrant came. Charles Anihony was a later settler at Brothertown. He married Lorinda Brushel, who inherited rights in several lots sold 1828-1835. He was town mirsiial from 1828 to 1832. They moved to Wisconsin about 1837, and died there. Ch. : Lowana. Brushel, Brushil, Brushill, Brusheill, — Mohegan tribe, Mo- hegan, Conn. This family vvas not of the early Mohegan stock. The name is not found in lists made so late as 1782. In recent times some of that name have lived at Mohegan, and Sam Brushel, who died there in 1882, aged 37, claimed to have royal blood. Probably an Indian of another tribe married a Mohegan woman and was adopted. Abigail Brushel appeared at Brothertown in 1796, a widow, and received lot 46, which was sold in 1829 for the benefit of " Widow Abigail." She had sons Samuel and Sampson, and probably Mary, John, Lemuel and Timothy were also her children, Mary had lot 47 in 1804; John lots 38 and 39 in 1804; Lemuel lot 44 in 1797; and Timothy lot ']t^ in 1796. Lemuel died about 1827 without issue. Timothy died on a man-of-war and his widow and son Samuel inherited his lot. Samuel Brushel (lAbigail), born in 1772, and his wife Esther, born in 1774, received lot 25, in 1795. She died and he married Abigail Skeesuck. The lot was sold for their benefit in 1828. Chn. : L Thomas, m. Hannah Ciijep. 11. Nancy, m. Hart. 111. Henry. IV. Lucinda, m. Welch, removed to Wisconsin, and died. V. Sam- uel, m. Nancy Welch. VI. Lydia, m. Aaron Toucee. Henry Brushel (2 Samuel, ^Abigail), born June 24, 18 14, married Nancy Welch Brushel, his brother's widow. They moved to Wis- consin, where he died Sept. 24, 1864, and she April 7, 1864, aged 55. Chn. : I. Samuel, a soldier in the Civil War, who died after his return. II. Frances. III. Almira. IV, Nancy E., d. Feb. 15, 1865, ae. 25. Sampson Brushel (^Abigail), born in 1774, had lots 127 and 34 at Brothertown. He married Betsey Ceipet, by whom he had Lorinda, who married Charles Anthony, and possibly a son Benjamin. They died at Brothertown. Ceipet, Cebit, Seepet, Seabpeet. Benjamin Ceipet and Han- nah his wife received lot 35 at Brothertown in 1804. He died about 1807 and she about 1828. They left a daughter Betsey, a son Daniel, and possibly other children. 23 338 APPENDIX Charles. There were families of this name at Montauk, L. I., Farmingtoii, Conn., and Charlestown, R. I. An Indian so named, probably of the latter place, marrit-d Rhoda, daughter of James Niles, who as a widow settled at Brothertown and received lot 32 in 1804, She married later Daniel Wauby. Two youth, John and Mary Charles, living with John Tuhie in 1795, were doubtless her children, the' former inheriting as an heir of James Niles. She also had a daughter Olive who moved to Wisconsin. John Charles, born in 1789. is thoujiht to have been the fatiier of Oliver Charles, grandson ot Rhoda and heir in 1843. Josiah Charles, whose relation to the above is unknown, received lot 102 at BrothertSwn in 1804, married Jerusha, daughter of George Peters, and died about 1828. Their only child Eunice m. (i) David Toucee ; (2) William Crosley. COCHEATT, CoCHEAKS, OuoCHEETS, — Pequot tribe, Groton, Conn. This was a prominent family at Mushantuxet, the earliest of the name being Daniel, who, in 1762, aged 60, was living there in a wigwam, having a family of six. A descendant, Charles Cocheatt, was a late comer at Brothertown, having lot 82 in 1831. He married Sophia Crosley. Chn. : Joseph, Josiah, Hannah, and Malinda. CocHEGAN, COCHEGION, — Mohegan tribe, Mohegan, Conn. Solo- mon Cochegan, born about 1735, was an early settler at Brothertown, living on lot 114, which was given to his widow Hannah, aged 60, after his death in 1794. They had a daughter Mehitable, who with an infant child Johanna, lived with them, and a son Solomon, who received lot 61 in 1797, and was probably the father of Hannah and Lucy Cochegan, heirs to lot 114 in 1834. COMMUCK, CuMMUCK, CoMMACH, — Narragansett tribe, Charles- town, R. I. In 1766 an Indian named "Commach" was living there, and Patience Cummuck, the only other of the name, may have been his wife. A son or grandson, Joseph Commuck, became a councilor in 1802, and both he and his wife died a few years there- after, leaving two young sons, James and Thomas. Thomas Commuck (1 Joseph), born Jan. 18, 1804, at Charlestown, received a fair education in his youth, which was increased by habits of reading throughout his life. He emigrated to Brothertown before 1825, and received the west half of lot 85 in 1831, to be sold that he might remove to Wisconsin. He married, July 31, 1831, Hannah, daughter of Randall Abner. They were first settlers in the Green Bay home. He was the first postmaster of Brothertown, Wis., a Justice of the Peace and prominent in the affairs of the tribe. Besides APPENDIX 339 several historical papers he printed the •' Indian Melodies." He died Nov. 25, 1855. His widow is still living at Brothertown, Wis., and enjoys a vigorous old age in the home of Edgar M. Dick. Chn. : I. Alzuma, b. Nov. 14, 1832, m. Toxuse. \\. Thomas Mirvan, b. Nov. 26, 1835, a soldier in the Civil War, who died in Iowa in 1S92. III. Sarah Prentiss, b. Apr. 12, 1838, m. Orville A. Hart. IV. Worthington, b. Aug. 31, 1840, d. Feb. i, 1863, in Libby Prison — a soldier in Co. E, 21st Wis. Vols. V. Victoria, b. June 11, 1842. VI. Helen, b. Aug. 4, 1844, m. Frank La Belle. VII. Theresa, b. Sept. 29, 1846. Vlll. Bertha, b. Sept. 8, 1848. IX. Alice E., b. June 12, 1851 ; m. Rhodolphus M. Fowler. X. Omer Pasha, b. May 25, 1854. CoYHis,- Covs, COHOIZE, CoGHOOiszE, — Narragansett tribe, Charlestown, R. I. Toby Cohoize, born in 1673 ^'^"^ living in 1763, was doubtless the father of Ephraim, the councilor of 1747, then aged 44. Ephraim had a son Ephraim, who also became councilor and fought in the French wars. The latter had a son William, under 16 \ears of age in 1761. William Coyhis (^Ephraim, 1 Ephraim) married Mary , a white woman, and moved to Brothertown about 1800. He had sons to whom lot 72 was assigned in 1804, on condition that they support their white mother, who was a widow, her husband dying in May, 1804. He was town clerk from 1802 to 1804. Of his sons, John only grew to manhood and received lot 72 in 1824. John Coyhis (^ William, "-^ Ephraim, 1 Ephraim) married Martha, daughter of Asa Dick. He received part of lot 52 in 18 [4, where both lived and died. Chn.: I. Isaac C. II. John R., m. Sophia Sampson. III. Benjamin J., who moved to Wisconsin. Hem. (i) Laura, d. Jan 14, 1875, ae. 58; (2) Rosella S., d. Sept. 9, 1880, ae. 29. Crosley. This family is said to have been of tlie Pequot tribe at Stonington, Conn. George Crosley, born in 1748, was an early settler at Brothertown, living on lot 2. In 1795 he had a wife Lorn- hamah, born in 1754, and six children. His second wife was Eliza- beth Fowler, widow of Obadiah Scippio. He lived to old age, held several town offices and died at Brothertown Chn. : I. Grace, b. 1776, m. Joseph Tocus. II. Thomas, b. 1783. III. Nathan, b. 1785, d. at B. IV. Katharine, b. 1787, m. William Dick. V. Elizabeth, b. 1790, m. John Hammer. Thomas Crosley (i George) received lot 76 in 1804, and married Philena, daughter of Solomon Adams and Olive Occom, and widow of James Waucus. He was town clerk from 1809 to 181 2. He also held lots 96 and 97. Chn.: I. William. II. Sophronia, m. 340 APPENDIX Doxstater. III. Lucenette (Lureanett), b. 1807, m. Alonzo D. Dick. Lurea Uick of Manchester, Wis., certified in 1844 ihat her mother was Dimiss Kuish, a granddaughter of Philip Kuisli. If so, Thomas Crosley married a second wife. William Crosley (2 Thomas, ^ George), born about 1805, with his sister Sophronia, inherited his father's lot in 1828, removed to Wis- consni in 1836 and there died in 1866. He married (i) Hannah, dau. of William Dick, ist, (2) Aurilla, dau. of Tnomas Dick, (3) Eunice Charles Toucee, dau. of Josiah Charles and widow of David Toucee, who died in 1880, ae. 66. Chn. : I. John, m. Paimelia, dau. of Hezekiah Fowler. II Caroline, m. Daniel Jakewa\s. III. Grace Ann, m. Albert D. Cottrell. IV. Serepta, m. Elias Dick. CujEP, Chuchip, — probably of the Pequot tribe, Groton, Conn. In 1795 Prudence CujVp, widow, aged 39, received lot 104 at Brother- town. She had a son Henry, aged 12. Probably her husband emi- grated with her and died before 1795. She married 2d, Gideon Harry, and died at Brothertown, where her gravestone has the epi- taph — " In memory of Prude Harry, Daughter of Sampson and Eunice Pouquenup, Feb. 24, 1828." Hannah Cujep, who married Thomas Brushel, may have been the widow of Henry. CURRICOMB, CORCOM, CURRACOiVlP, CORRECOMPT, ACCORRECOMPT, — Tunxis tribe, Farmington, Conn. This was a prominent Indian family of the original Tunxis stock. Andrew Correcompt owned several tracts of land at Farmington. He served during the French wars in Capt. Aaron Hitchcock's company in 1756, in Col. Nathan Whiting's company in 1760, and in Capt. Samuel Dimock's company, N. Y. troops, in 1762. Andrew Curricomb (^ Andrew), born in 1747, was prominent in the emigration plans, and an early settler at Brothertown. After the Revolution, in which he is said to have served while at West Stock- bridge, Mass., he returned to Oneida with his family. He settled on lots 120 and 121, which were divided among his heirs in 18 18. His wife's name was Abigail. Chn. : I. Elizabeth, b. 1768, m. Benjamin Toucee. II. Anne, b. 1770, m. James Wiggins. III. Abigail, b. 1778. IV. Eliakim, b. 1780. V. Thomas (?). b. July 14, 1786. VI. Jesse, b. 1791. VII. Moses, b. 1794, d. about 1815. Eliza- beth and Anne were probably children by a first wife. Eliakim mar- ried Martha Onion and received lots 57 and 58 in 1804. He re- moved about 1828. Jesse Curricomb in 181 8 inherited lots 120 and 121, with his brother Eliakim, David Toucee and the heirs of Anne Wiggins, and he had lot 142 assigned to him in 1824. His wife's name was Phebe, who died before 1834, when her husband and son John removed to Wisconsin. The son was drowned in Fox River. APPENDIX 341 CusK, AsKUSK, AcKUST, — Tunxis tribe, Farmington. Conn. " disk, Indian/' dt-eded to his son James Cusk a house and land at Indian Neck, Faimin I9> 57» 58* 64, 75, 93, 160, 162-176, 188, 302, 303, 306, 331 ; famines among, 96, no, ni, n6-ii8, 268; singing, 46, 80, in, 177, 178, 249, INDEX 373 250, 328, 329; churches among, 13, 16-19, 32-34,9711., 165-167, 190-196, 205, 235-237, 263, 279-282, 318; baptized, 31, 84, 192, 193, 235, 264. 268, 269, 270, 271, 275; soldiers, 23, 65, 68, 70, 72, 169, 170, 189, 196, 200, 204, 231, 232, 237--240, 317, 323, 324; at college, 58, 67, 71, 78, 79, 239, 242, 251, 284 ; licensed or ordained as ministers, 49-53, "jd^ 77, 192- 195, 200, 220, 221, 242. " Indian Melodies,"' 177, 180, 181, 328, 329. Indian treaties. See treaties. Japhet, 25. Jeningo, 76, 77, 98. Jewett, Rev. David, 32-34, 71, 76, 100, 124-129. Johnson, Amy, 64, 65, 66, 113. Johnson, Edward, 94. Johnson, Guy, 222, 223. Johnson, Rev. Jacob W., 63, 75. 162, 197, 198. Johnson, Captain Joseph, 65. Johnson, Rev. Joseph, 64-66, 107, 114-117, 167, 16S, 202, 203, 209-230. Johnson, Samuel, loSn., 114. Johnson, Sir William, 67, 68, 89-92, 96, 103, 106, 109, 116, 132, 157, 162, 210, 213-220, 224, 239. Johnson, Zachary, 22, 65, 75, 167, 168, 204. Kanawarohare, 95, 104, 10S-118, 212, 221, 226. " Kansas claim," 321-323. Keen, Robert, 147. Kinne, Rev. Aaron, 68, io8n, 114. Kirkland, Rev. Samuel, birth of, 105; education, 61, 78, 79n., 87, 105, 106; messenger to the Six Nations, 67 ; missionary to the Senecas, 64, 69, 106, 109, III ; among the Oneidas, 95, io8n., 109, 114-118, 178, 207, 225; cabin at Oneida, 114, 115; opinion on removal of Wheelock's school, 70, 157 ; testimony to "Good Peter," 83n. ; relations with Ralph Whee- lock, 161 ; journals of, 166, 221, 244, 294, 296, 297, 309-312 ; friend of the New England Indians, 212, 221, 241, 242, 244, 245, 269; grant of lands to, 2S7 ; at Brothertown, 294, 304, 309-312. Kirkpatrick, Rev. William, 83-85. Konkapot, 232, 233, 235. Konkapot, Jacob, 237, 256, 260. Konkapot, Captain John, 239, 240. Larrabee, Benjamin," 197. Latham, David, 199. Lebanon, church at, 33-37, 61 ; schoolhouse, 59-62 ; meeting-house, 61. " London Society." See Societies. 374 INDEX Mamohet, 122. Marshpee, 17-19, 8311. Mason, Major John, 120. Mason, Captain John, 27-29, 141, 142, 199. Mason, Daniel and Samuel, 121. " Mason Controversy," 28, 29, 1 19-129, 141, 142. Massachusetts, charter of, 3-5; seal, 5; General Court's action, 9, 10, I3n. 59, 233, 234; missions in, 9-20, 232-237. Mather, Allyn, 79n., io8n., i6in. Mattawan, John, 201-203. Matthews, John, 72, 284. Mayhew, Rev. Experience, 24-26, 196, 197. Mayhew, Rev. Thomas, 8, 14, 16-19. McClure, Rev. David, 61, 62, 79n., loi, io7n., 114, 115, 148, 156, 158, 165, 194, 227, 230. McSparran, Rev. James, 190, 191. Methodist churches, 310-312, 328. Miami Indians, 316-319. Miner, John, 196. Mohawk Indians, missions among, 51, 64,70,82-85, 103, I07n. ; at Whee- lock's school, 66-68, 86, 96. Mohegan Indians, residence of, 21, 22; early numbers, 21 ; missions among, 24-34, 100, loi, 204-206; lands of, 21, 28, 29, 1 19-129; schools, 27-31, 123-129; at Wheelock's school, 64-66, 71 ; church among, i67n., 193. Montauk Indians, residence of, 42; missions among, 42-55, 203, 204; at Wheelock's school, 66, 70, 71. More, Joshua, 59, 60. Morgan, John, 197. Morse, Rev. Jedediah, 319. Moseley, Rev. Ebenezer, 97n., 255n. Moseley, Rev. Samuel, 60, 97n., 100. *• Mossuck, Daniel, 70, 211, 212, 249. Mossuck, Solomon, 70, 202, 203, 211, 212. Narragansett Indians, missions among, 25, IZ'' 189-196; schools, 72, 192, 195, 196 ; at Wheelock's school, 71-74; land troubles of, 72-74. Natick, 13-20, 28, 29,40, 209. Nedson, Edward, 198, 199. New England, Great Patent of, 3, 4. New England Indians. See Brothertown and Stockbridge Indians. New Hampshire, General Assembly of, 59, 131, 227. New London, First church, 25-32; North church, 32-34, 76, 125. INDEX - 375 New Stockbridge, N. Y., 165, 245, 250-282, 286, 296, 316-318. New York, Correspondents of the Scotch Society, T3n., 42, 43, 48, 50, 58, 59, 84-86, 89, 90, 94, 131 ; General Assembly's action, 226, 245, 248, 286-292, 299, 300, 324. "New York Indians vs. United States," 217, 319-323. Newton, Rev. John, 143, 17S. Niantic Indians, 33, 100, loi, 119, 199, 200 Niles, James, 71, 72, 284. Niles, Rev. Samuel, 72, 192-195, 198. Ninegret, 25, 12, 190. * Nonantum, 9-ir, 16. Noyes, Rev. James, 25, 3on, Occom, Rev. Samson, birth and parents, 21-24, 33, 36; name, 21 ; educa- tion of, 30, 34-41, 52, 94; conversion, 34; Hebrew Bible, 39; diary, 37, 38; Autobiography, 23, 24, 30, 34, 36, 135; teacher at Montauk, 43-55; works at a trade, 47, 295 ; library, 39, 46, 47, loi, 148, 277 ; licensed and ordained, 49-53; marriage, 54; missions to Oneida, 84-104; family, 64, 65, 94, loi, 152-155, 293, 353, 354; home at Mohegan, loi, 102, 155, 204, 205, 277; pecuniary circumstances, 44, 45, 47, loi, 152, 153, 156, 248; " Mohegan Land Case," 119-129; as a preacher, 125, 126, 136, 137, 139, 169-175,247, 248, 278,279; relation to Episcopalians, 126,128, 133, 143-145; in England, 130-151 ; manners of, 137, 138, 141 ; offered a degree, 148; pictures of, 148-150,277; fall into intemperance, 162- 168; on removal of Wheelock's school, 157-160; execution sermon, 169-176; on slavery, 176; hymn book and hymns, 177-187,249-251, 278; plan of emigration, 207-209; locates Oneida lands, 221 ; address to the Six Nations, 228, 229 ; frontier missionary, 97, 98, 247-279 ; " Christian cards," 257, 260, 261, 278; marriage service of, 250, 251, 274; as a phy- sician, 262, 273, 274, 278; defense of land claim, 261-263, 274, 275, 283- 292 ; removal to Brothertown, 148, 277 ; Indian church of, 165, 250- 276, 279-282, 293; home at Brothertown, 269, 271, 292, 293, 308; remov- al to New Stockbridge, 290, 292, 295 ; death and burial, 290, 295-298. Oneida Castle, 91, 95, loSn., 114, 117. Oneida Indians, missions among, I2n., 64, 66, 70, 72, 82-118, 130, 208, 319; at Wheelock's school, 68, 69, 162; wampum mission belt, 93, 146; grant lands, 211-223, 244, 245, 261-263, 274, 275, 285-287 ; neutrality of, 225-229, 232. Onohoquaga, 64, 76, 82, 83, 97, 106, 107, 109. Onondaga Indians, 77, 155, 156, 161, 162. Oriskany, 68. 376 \ • INDEX Park, Rev. Joseph, 190-193. Parsons, Rev. Jonathan, 33, 199. Paul, Anthony, 248. 255, 267, 270, 272, 2S5, 293. Paul, Moses, 169-176. Paupaumnuk, Ebenezer, 235. Pauquaunaupeet, " Sir" Peter, 238, 239, 251, 254, 257, 260, 264-266, 268, 271, 273-276. Peabody, Rev. Oliver, 28, 29, 197. Pegun, Thomas, 29. Pequot Indians. See Groton and Stonington Indians. Peters, George, 270, 303. Pharaoh, Ephraim, 54, 2S5, 291. Phelps, Alexander, 39. Phillips, Colonel John, 227. Pigeon Hunt, 96, 116. Pilgrim Fathers, 4, 5. Pitkin, Rev. Timothy, 202, 203. Plymouth Colony, Charter of, 3, 4; Missions in, 17-19. Pomeroy, Rev. Benjamin, ^i, 39, 49, 60, 100, 161 n., 221. Pontiac War, 98. Popmonet, Simon, 17. Poquiantup, Hannah, 71, 112, 113, 284. Presbytery, Albany, 165, 166, 281, 282 ; Suffolk, 29, 50-53, 97, 132, 163, 164. Pumshire, John, 58. Puritan methods, 5-7. Pye, Joseph, 266, 276, 281. Quakers, 312-315. Quinney family, 238, 252, 260, 262, 264, 266-268, 276, 281, 295, 3i8n. Quinnipiac Indians, 202, 203. Revivals, 32-34, 49, 167, 259. Revolutionary War, Indians in, 68, 70, 72, 189, 196, 200, 204, 231, 232. Rice, Asaph, 97n. Ripley, Professor Silvanus, 35, 79n., 221. Rodgers, Rev. John, 223, 224, 248. Saint Francis Indians, 16. " Scotch Society." See Societies. Sekatur, Rev. Aaron, 194, 195. Sekatur, Rev. John, 194. Seneca Indians, 69, 91, 96, 106, 109, 114. Separatism, 49, 75, 77, 192-194, 310, 311, INDEX 377 Sergeant, Rev. John, 233-237. Sergeant, Rev. John, the younger, 236, 243, 254, 270, 271, 279-282, 289, 296, 297, 31S. Shattock, John and Tobias, 72-74. Shinnecock Indians, 42, 43. Simons, Abraham, 71, 72, 197, 242, 250, 252, 255, 257, 26S, 2S4, 287, 293, 294. Simons, Rev. Daniel, 71, 240-243. Simons, Emanuel, 71, 2S4. Simons, Rev. James, 192-194. Simons, William, 25. Singing among the Indians, 46, 80, in, 177, 178, 249, 250, 328, 329. Small-pox, 73, 87, 140. Smith, Rev. Charles J., 67, 9S, 131, 135, 136. Smith, John, 79-81, 102, 136, 138. Smith, Joshua, hymn books of, 180, 183. Smith, Titus, 107. Societies, Missionary, "The President and Soc. for the Prop, of the Gospel in N. E.," 12; "The Company for the Prop, of the Gospel," etc. ["Boston Commissioners" or "London Society"], I2n., 24, 29, ?>^-ZZ^ 38-40, 44-46, 48-50, 54, 59, 63, 64, 82, %2>^ 97n.. 99, 100, 119, 123- 129,133-135, 144, 155. 156, 177, 191, 192, 195-199, 201, 203, 233, 243, 280; " Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge," i2n., 59; "The Society for the Prop, of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" ["Episcopal Society "], I2n , 82, I43n., 190; " Society in Scotland for Prop. Chris- tian Knowledge*' [" Scotch Society "], I3n., 42, 43, 48, 50, 51, 58, 59, 64,66,, 67, 84-86, 89, 90, 94, 97n., 99, 100, 102, 103, 106, 107, 119, 126-129, 131, 132, 134, 135, 145, 146, 155, 156, 236, 280; " Society for Prop. Christian Knowledge," I3n., 97n. ; " The Society for Prop, the Gospel Among the Indians," etc., I3n., 280, 281. Spencer, Rev. Elihu, 82. Squanto, 6. Stanton, John, 196. Stanton, Rev. Moses, 194. Stanton, Thomas, 196. Stockbridge, Mass., 234-237. Stockbridge Indians, mission among, 232-246; removal to Oneida, 243-245, 249, 251, 252, 254, 260, 286; at New Stockbridge, 165, 245, 250-282, 2S6, 296, 316-318; Westward emigration, 316-323. Stonington Indians, 25, 33, 196-199. Sweetingham, Hugh, 197. Tallman, Samuel, 69, 70, 225, 226, 284. Tantaquidgeon, Lucy, 23, loi, 204-206, 277. 378 INDEX Tekananda, 69- Thanksgiving Day, Collections on, 31, 189. • Thomas, " Deacon," 69, 160. Thompson, William, 196. Thornton, John, 143, 146, 147, 156, 164. Toppan, Amos, 97 n. Towsey, David, 202, 284. Treat, Rev. Samuel, 18. Treaties, Indian, 210-223, 245, 261-263, 274, 275, 285-287, 316-323. Trumbull, J. Hammond, 2n., 4, 5, 15. " Trust Fund," 59, 146, 147, 155-158. Tuhie, John, 252, 253, 265, 285, 287, 293, 295, 301, 308, 317. Tunxis Indians. See Farmington Indians. Tupper, Revs. Eldad and Elisha, 18. Tupper, Captain Thomas, 18. Tuscarora Indians, 84, 92, 219, 232. Umpachenee, 233, 235. Uncas, 21, 22, 24, 120, 323. Uncas, Major Ben, 25, 122. Uncas, Ben, 2d, 22, 30-32, 123. Uncas, Ben, 3d, 28, 29, 3in., 44, 64, 123, 124. Uncas, Caesar, 25, 28. Uncas, Isaiah, 3in., 64, 65, 204. Virginia, Charters of, 2-4 ; Indians in, 6. Wampum mission belt, 93, 146. Wampy, Elijah, 211, 212, 225, 231, 241, 252, 260, 276, 285, 287-291, 293, 307. Wangunk Indians, 76, 202. Warren, Sir Peter, Legacy of, 59, 99. Washington, General George, 227, 228, 238, Waubun, 9, 10, 16, 17. W^auby, Elder Isaac, 301, 312, 318, 319. Wauby, Roger, 64, 252, 255, 256, 264-268, 274, 285, 287, 291, 293. Wauby, Samson, 63, 64, 75, 76, 197, 284. West, Rev. Stephen, 236, 237, 241, 243. Wheelock, Rev. Eleazar, birth and parents, 35 ; interest in Indians aroused, 33; instructs Occom, 34-41 ; Charity School, 56-81, 99, 100, 284, 285; narratives, 131, 133, 147; letters to Whitefield, 46, 62, 92, 93, 96, 100, 102, 125, 135, 155, 162; memorials to Connecticut Assembly, 98, 99; organizes the " Connecticut Correspondents," 99, 100 ; sends Occom to England, 130-136; loses influence over the Indians, 155-162, 207 ; com- mends the emigration, 224, 225. INDEX 379 Wheelock, Ralph, 35, 61, 69, io8n., 118, 161. Whitaker, Rev. Nathaniel', 76, 9311., 100, 131-151. White, Hugh, 270, 272, 291. White River, emigration to, 316-319. Whitefield, Rev. George, 29n., 33, 58, 62, 103, 104, 130, 133, 138, 139, 178. Whitman, Rev. Samuel, 201, 202. Wigwam life, 24, 46, 20on. Windham Association, 49, 50, 51, 58, 62, 100. Williams, Daniel, Legacy of, i2n., 82. Williams, Rev. Eleazar, 319. Williams, Roger, 8, 9. Williams, Rev. Solomon, 40, 42, 44, 48, 49, 50, 100. Williams, Rev. Stephen, 232, 233. Wisconsin, emigration to, 319-328. Woodbridge, Timothy, 233. Woodward, Professor Bezaleel, 35. Woolley, Jacob, 58. Woolley, Joseph, 64, 106, 107, 109, no.