%eadnotat; ]> 4046inaf An Inventory of the Joint Committee on Indian Affairs (Society of Friends : Hicksite) Records, 1836-1850 Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 2000 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, December 2000. ENG Joint Committee on Indian Affairs (Society of Friends : Hicksite) Records, 1836-1850 FHL staff Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College before 1967 Descriptive Summary Records, 1836-1850 RG 4/046 Joint Committee on Indian Affairs of the Four Yearly Meetings of Genesee, Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia. 1 box ; 0.5 linear feet Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 U.S.A.

For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. The Indian Committees of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Genesee (Hicksite) united in 1838 to protect the Seneca Indians from the Ogden Land Company which was trying to buy their land. This collection contains papers relating to the joint committee of representatives, including correspondence chiefly concerning the ceding of Seneca lands in New York by treaty under questionable circumstances. Correspondents include Benjamin Ferris (1780-1867).

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399

Phone: (610) 328-8496 FAX: (610) 690-5728

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL NOTE

The Indian Committees of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Genesee Yearly Meetings (Hicksite) united in 1838 to protect the Seneca Indians from the Ogden Land Company, which was trying to buy their land. The Joint Committee was convinced that the Indians had been bribed to sign the treaty agreeing to cede their New York lands. They gathered evidence and sent it to President Van Buren. However the Senate ratified the treaty by which the Senecas had agreed to sell their land, and the only recourse of the Friends was public opinion. They issued a great many pamphlets setting forth the facts of the case, including a book, The Case of the Seneca Indians, published in 1840.

In 1842 a conference was held between the Secretary of War, agents of the Ogden Land Company, and a delegation of Friends. As a result, the Ogden Co. agreed to a supplemental treaty giving the Senecas title to reservations at Cattaraugus and Allegheny. In 1846 a small party of Senecas emigrated west. They soon found themselves in need and appealed to their tribe in New York, who in turn appealed to the Friends. In 1848 Joseph Walton and his family went to Cattaraugus to continue the work of the Female Manual Labor School and to get the farm ready to turn over to the Indians. By 1849 the active work of the Friends with the Senecas ended, and the Joint Committee dissolved in 1850.

The Secretary of the committee was Benjamin Ferris of Philadelphia and the members in 1840 included Philip E. Thomas, William E. Bartlett, Jacob Lafetra and Phineas Janney of Baltimore, Griffith M. Cooper of Genesee, Abraham Bell, Thomas Carpenter, Samuel Smith and Dobel Baker of New York, and William Wharton, Joseph Warner, John H. Bunting and George M. Justice of Philadelphia.

SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THE RECORDS

This collection contains papers relating to the joint committee of representatives, including correspondence chiefly concerning the ceding of Seneca lands in New York by treaty under questionable circumstances. Correspondents include Benjamin Ferris (1780-1867).

The collection is organized into 10 series. The series are:

Correspondence Annual Reports and Extracts from Minutes List of Indians Documents on Emigration Question Memorials of Joint Committee Memorials of Senecas Address from Committee to Seneca Chiefs Legislative Documents Poster Clippings

For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Accession information

Donor: Gift

Date: Before 1961

Access

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to Friends Historical Library All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in to the Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf Friends Historical Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.

Preferred Citation

[Indicate the cited item or series here], Joint Committee on Indian Affairs of the Four Yearly Meetings of Genesee, Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia, Records, 1836-1850. RG 4/046, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.

Related Material

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Hicksite : 1827-1955). Indian Committee (1837-1850) Records (RG 2)

New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Hicksite : 1828-1955). Indian Committee Records (RG 2)

Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite : 1828-1968). Committee on Indian Concerns Records (RG 2)

SELECTED SEARCH TERMS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Friends Historical Library (TRIPOD). Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings:

Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1789-1869 Indians of North America -- Land transfers Indians of North America -- New York (State) Indians of North America -- Treaties Real Property -- New York (State) Seneca Indians -- Government relations -- 1789-1869 Seneca Indians -- Land transfers Seneca Indians -- New York (State) Quakers -- Indians of North America Quakers -- Seneca Indians -- Treaties Seneca Indians -- Treaties Treaties New York (State) -- Land New York (State) -- IndiansFerris, Benjamin, 1780-1867Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite : 1828-1968). Committee on Indian Concerns.Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite : 1827-1955). Indian Committee (1837-1850)Genesee Yearly Meeting of FriendsNew York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Hicksite : 1828-1955). Indian CommitteeJoint Committee on Indian Affairs (Society of Friends : Hicksite) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below:

Ser. 1. Correspondence, 1839-1849

This series consists of Benjamin Ferris' correspondence: letters addressed to him as Secretary of the Committee and some rough dated 11/4/1839 of letters he sent to the President of the United States and to the Secretary of War. The correspondence is arranged chronologically.

Correspondence1839-1849 1 Ser. 2. Annual Reports and Extracts from Minutes, 1836-1846

This series consists of hand-written and printed reports of the Joint Committee on Indian Affairs of the Four Yearly Meetings and of the Indian Committees of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, New York Yearly Meeting, and Baltimore Yearly Meeting. Also included are reports of G.M. Cooper on a visit to the Senecas in 1845. The reports and extracts from minutes are arranged chronologically.

Annual Reports and Extracts from Minutes1836-1846 1 Ser. 3. List of Indians, 1838

This series consists of a list of those Indians who assented to the treaty concluded at Buffalo Creek.

List of Indians1/15/1838 1 Ser. 4. Documents on Emigration Question, 1839

This series consists of answers by Indians to the questionnaires on emigration, lists of Chiefs for and against emigration, and statements by Chief's against emigration arranged chronologically.

Documents on Emigration Question18391 Ser. 5. Memorials of Joint Committee, 1840-1841

This series consists of drafts and printed copies of memorials sent to the President of the United States, to the Senate and House of Representatives, to the Secretary of War, and to the Governor and Council of the State of Massachusetts arranged by name of recipient.

Memorials of Joint Committee1840-1841 1 Ser. 6. Memorials of Senecas, 1841-1846

This series consists of hand-written copies of memorials sent by the Senecas to the President of the United States, to the Secretary of War and to the Legislature of the State of New York arranged by the name of the recipient.

Memorials of Senecas1841-1846.1 Ser. 7. Address from Committee to Seneca Chiefs

This single address from the Committee to the Seneca Chiefs is undated but was evidently written after 1846

Address from Committee to Seneca Chiefsn.d.1 Ser. 8. Legislative documents, 1839-1845

This series consists of manuscript reports of the Indian Committee of the United States Senate and manuscripts and printed Acts of the New York legislature. These documents are arranged chronologically.

Legislative documents1839-1845 1 Ser. 9. Poster, 1844

This series consists of a poster size public notice signed by Seneca Indians objecting to the Ogden Land Company selling lots in Buffalo Creek Reservation.

Poster1844 1 Ser. 10. Clippings, 1840-1846

This series consists of clippings from contemporary newspapers about the affairs of the Seneca Indians.

Clippings1840-1846.1