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Indian Mission Schools Collection, 1837-1879

Shawnee Methodist MissionMicrofilm roll MS 1296

 

Introduction

This artificial collection of documents pertaining to Indian mission schools in Kansas comes from two sources: The U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Excerpts from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Relating to Kansas Indian Schools, 1837-1879 (series A), were presumably compiled from the published annual reports in the Historical Society Research Center’s Library by a member of the Kansas State Historical Society staff; the Shawnee Methodist Indian Manual Labor School, Account Book, 1846-1850 (series B), was originally donated to the Shawnee Indian Mission Historical Club (later the Shawnee Indian Mission Historical Society) by James Anderson in 1933; the Shawnee Indian Mission Historical Society later donated it to the Shawnee Methodist Mission State Historic Site, which transferred it to the Manuscripts Department in 1981.

The annual reports of the commissioner of Indian affairs are in the public domain. The subject of literary rights was not addressed at the time the account book was donated to the Kansas State Historical Society, consequently copyright may belong to the United Methodist Church as eventual successor to the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which sponsored the school in its latter days. If the missionary society maintained a corporate existence separate from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the corporation lapsed, it is possible that the volume is in the public domain. It is also possible that title to the mission’s property, which may have included the account book, may have passed to Thomas Johnson’s heirs by virtue of an 1865 decision by President Andrew Johnson which awarded them the mission land and buildings.

This collection has been arranged to the document level, described to the series level, listed to the folder level, and cataloged to the collection level. The entire collection has been microfilmed (roll MS-1296).

Linear feet of shelf space occupied: 1.083
Number of items: 1380

Scope and Content

The first series (A) - U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Excerpts from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Relating to Kansas Indian Schools, 1837 - 1879 - consists of typewritten transcripts of that correspondence between Indian agents and the missionaries within their jurisdiction in Kansas that were published in the annual reports of the commissioner of Indian affairs (in the Kansas State Historical Society’s library collection: GL 970.5 Un3; also included in the Congressional Serial Set, GL 328.7304 Un3). Tribes involved include the Chippewa, Delaware, Fox, Iowa, Kansa, Kickapoo, Miami, Munsee, Osage, Ottawa, Peoria, Potawatomi, Quapaw, Sauk, Shawnee, Stockbridge, Wea, and Wyandot. Specific denominations include the Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Moravians, Presbyterians, and Quakers (Friends). The published annual reports were most likely compiled and prepared by the chief clerk, who served as the second-in-command under the commissioner, from correspondence and reports of heads of superintendencies, agencies, and subagencies; these agents, in turn, used letters and reports of missionaries and other officials within their jurisdictions.

Many of the missionary reports to the Indian agents include statistical information in tabular form such as the number of Indian converts, the number of Indian children in attendance at the schools, and the type of manual labor the girls and boys performed. These reports also include descriptions of the missions and their financial status. A few individual years’ reports for the Delaware Baptist, Osage, Potawatomi Catholic, and Shawnee Friends missions include lists of students by name, but such detailed reporting was the exception rather than the rule.

Missionaries made recommendations to the Indian agents on policy as well. Issues such as allotment are discussed, as is the need for restrictions on the sale of liquor to Indians.

This series is arranged alphabetically by name of Indian tribe, thereunder by denomination, thereunder chronologically; this chronological arrangement may differ from the order as published in the annual reports of the commissioner. In cases where an earlier report is an enclosure or attachment to a later document, the enclosure or attachment appears after the principal letter, even though the strict chronological arrangement is violated by this device.

The second series (B) - Shawnee Methodist Indian Manual Labor School, Account Book, 1846 - 1850 - is a financial ledger of the school from 1846 through 1850. This book of expenses was maintained by Thomas Johnson and is approximately 58 pages long. The book contains both journal and ledger accounts. Most of the ledger entries are for accounts of the Rev. Mr. Johnson and William Patton, another missionary at the school.

The Shawnee Methodist Indian Manual Labor School was the result of an agreement in 1838 between the United States Office of Indian Affairs (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs) and the Methodist Episcopal Church (now the United Methodist Church) to operate a central school at the Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission - in present - day Kansas City, Kansas - to teach English, manual arts, and agriculture to children of all Indian nations. A year later a manual - labor school was begun at the new site of the mission, now preserved as the Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site in Fairway, Kansas. At the height of its activity the mission and school included sixteen buildings on 2000 acres of land with an enrollment of nearly 200 children. The school was discontinued in 1862. Thomas Johnson, the school’s founder, was also superintendent during the period of time included in the account book.

Series titles were supplied by the processors.

The Historical Society Research Center holds a very large quantity of original and secondary source materials pertaining to Indian missions and schools in Kansas. The complete, published annual reports of the commissioner of Indian affairs are held by the Library; the manuscripts collection also contains original and microfilmed records and papers of a number of Indian agents and missionaries, including that portion of Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880 (National Archives microfilm publication M234, rolls 48 - 51) pertaining to schools for the years 1848 - 1851 (Kansas State Historical Society microfilm rolls MS 980 - MS 981). Researchers should consult the “Guide to American Indian Material in the Collections of the Manuscript Department, Kansas State Historical Society,” appropriate card catalogs, and other finding aids for additional descriptions of holdings.

Notes on the Microfilm Copy

Many of the transcripts of the excerpts from the reports of the commissioner of Indian affairs, series A, in the collection exist in both their original typescript form and as carbon copies of the typescripts. Only the best copy (the original when it existed) was microfilmed. As a consequence, entire folders of carbon copies were not filmed; this explains the gaps in the folder numbers appearing on targets at the beginning of each section on the microfilm.

 

Contents List

Series Descriptions

Series A: U.S. OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. EXCERPTS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS RELATING TO KANSAS INDIAN SCHOOLS (TYPESCRIPTS), 1837 - 1879. 1 ft. (1379 items) (folders 1.01-3.12)

Transcripts of that correspondence between Indian agents & missionaries in Kansas and Indian agents & the commissioner of Indian affairs which was published in the annual reports of the commissioner. Tribes include the Chippewa, Delaware, Fox, Iowa, Kansa, Kickapoo, Miami, Munsee, Osage, Ottawa, Peoria, Potawatomi, Quapaw, Sauk, Shawnee, Stockbridge, Wea and Wyandot; denominations include the Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Moravians, Presbyterians, and Quakers (Friends). Many of the missionary reports include statistical information such as the numbers of Indian converts & children in attendance and the type of manual labor performed. Reports also include descriptions of the missions and their financial status. A few reports for the Delaware Baptist, Osage, Potawatomi Catholic, and Shawnee Friends missions include lists of students by name. Also contained in the reports are missionaries’ recommendations to the Indian agents on policy; issues such as allotment and the need for restrictions on the sale of liquor to Indians are commonly discussed.

Arranged alphabetically by name of Indian tribe, thereunder by denomination, thereunder chronologically.

Series B: SHAWNEE METHODIST INDIAN MANUAL LABOR SCHOOL. ACCOUNT BOOK, 1846 - 1850. [58] p. (1 v.) (folder 3.13)

Financial ledger maintained by Superintendent Thomas Johnson of the school. The book contains both journal and ledger accounts, many of which were with Rev. Johnson.

Series A: U.S. OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. EXCERPTS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS RELATING TO KANSAS INDIAN SCHOOLS (TYPESCRIPTS), 1837 - 1879. 1 ft. (1379 items)

File 1: Chippewa and Munsee: Moravian, 1840 - 1874. 27 items (2 folders: 1.03 - 1.04)

File 2: Delaware, 1837 - 1867. 68 items (4 folders)

  • File 2.a: Baptist, 1839 - 1867. 63 items (3 folders: 1.08 - 1.10)
  • File 2.b: Methodist, 1837 - 1856. 5 items (1 folder: 1.12)

File 3: Iowa: Presbyterian, 1842 - 1861. 86 items (4 folders: 1.13 - 1.16)

File 4: Kansa, 1839 - 1873. 49 items (3 folders)

  • File 4.a: Friends, 1862 - 1873. 35 items (2 folders: 1.19 - 1.20)
  • File 4.b: Methodist, 1839 - 1855. 14 items (1 folder: 1.22)

File 5: Kickapoo, 1837 - 1878. 64 items (5 folders)

  • File 5.a: Catholic, 1837 Dec. 1. 3 items (1 folder: 1.24)
  • File 5.b: Friends, 1869 - 1877. 25 items (1 folder: 1.26)
  • File 5.c: Methodist, 1837 - 1861. 13 items (1 folder: 1.28)
  • File 5.d: Presbyterian, 1857 - 1862. 8 items (1 folder: 1.30)
  • File 5.e: School established by Indian agent, 1862 - 1878. 15 items (1 folder: 1.32)

File 6: Miami, 1847 - 1872. 1847 - 1862. 20 items (3 folders)

  • File 6.a: Correspondence relative to establishing a school among the Miami, 1851 - 1872. 10 items (1 folder: 1.34)
  • File 6.b: Baptist, 1850 - 1869. 5 items (1 folder: 1.36)
  • File 6.c: Catholic, 1847 - 1855. 5 items (1 folder: 1.38)

File 7: Osage: Catholic, 1845 - 1873. 95 items (5 folders: 2.04 -2.o8)

File 8: Ottawa, 1837 - 1871. 45 items (3 folders)

  • File 8.a: Baptist, 1837 - 1871. 43 items (2 folders: 2.11 - 2.12)
  • File 8.b: Baptist (Mrs. Filson), 1863 Sept. 30. 2 items (1 folder: 2.14)

File 9: Peoria: Methodist, 1837 - 1839. 5 items (1 folder: 2.16)

File 10: Potawatomi-Citizen Band, 1837 - 1871. 175 items (9 folders)

  • File 10.a: Baptist, 1837 - 1869. 52 items (3 folders: 2.20 - 2.22)
  • File 10.b: Catholic, 1839 - 1871. 117 items (5 folders: 2.23 - 2.27)
  • File 10.c: Methodist, 1839 - 1846. 6 items (1 folder: 2.29)

File 11: Potawatomi-Prairie Band: Friends, 1871 - 1879. 16 items (1 folder: 2.31)

File 12: Quapaw (Methodist [Crawford Seminary], 1843 - 1853. 25 items (1 folder: 2.33)

File 13: Sauk and Fox: Methodist, 1864 - 1869. 17 items (1 folder: 2.35)

File 14: Shawnee, 1838 - 1869. 107 items (5 folders)

  • File 14.a: Baptist, 1838 - 1867. 40 items (2 folders: 2.36 - 2.37)
  • File 14.b: Friends, 1838 - 1869. 67 items (3 folders: 3.01 - 3.03)

File 15: Stockbridge: Baptist, 1845 Sept. 10 - 15. 2 items (1 folder: 3.05)

File 16: Wea, 1837 - 1855. 30 items (3 folders)

  • File 16.a: Baptist, 1845 - 1855. 29 items (2 folders: 3.08 - 3.09)
  • File 16.b: Presbyterian, 1837. 1 item (1 folder: 3.11)

File 17: Wyandot: Methodist, 1837 - 1852. 7 items (1 folder: 3.12)

Series B: SHAWNEE METHODIST INDIAN MANUAL LABOR SCHOOL. ACCOUNT BOOK, 1846 - 1850. 1 v. (1 folder: 3.13)

Additional Information for Researchers

Restrictions

There are no restrictions on access to these papers.

Suggested Citation

The suggested citation form for this collection is:

[description of document], [date of document], [folder], [file unit], [subseries], [series], Indian Mission Schools history collection, Kansas State Historical Society microfilm MS 1296.

Some examples of specific citations:

J. F. L. Verreydt to Colonel Vaughan, Pottawatomie Sub-Agency, 7 August 1847; Catholic, file unit b; Potawatomi (Citizen Band), subseries 10; U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Excerpts from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Relating to Kansas Indian Schools, series A; Indian Mission Schools history collection, Kansas State Historical Society microfilm MS 1296.

“Rev. Thomas Johnson’s Cash Account with Ind. M.L. School,” March 1848, Shawnee Methodist Indian Manual Labor School, Account Book, series B; Indian Mission Schools history collection, Kansas State Historical Society microfilm MS 1296.

Processed by

Lela Barnes, [196-?]

Reprocessed by

Stephen Warren, intern, and Robert L. Knecht, 1991