SHORT HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE

The first standing Indian Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting was appointed in 1795. It consisted of 29 Friends; the clerk was Thomas Wistar and the Treasurer John Elliott. From 1796 to 1799 the Committee was concerned with the Oneida Indians of New York. The first settlement among the Senecas took place in 1798 in Cattaraugus County, NY. In 1804 this settlement moved to Tunessassa where a school was established.

After the Separation, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Hicksite) did not appoint an Indian Committee until 1837. The first committee included Samuel Comfort, John Watson, Ruth Pyle and Lucretia Mott, all of whom signed the report to the Yearly Meeting of 1838. From 1839-1841 John Jackson was Clerk, from 1842 to 1847 George M. Justice, in 1848 Joseph Warner, and from 1849 to 1850 John M. White. During this period the main concern was with the Senecas. In 1838 Philadelphia united with New York, Genesee and Baltimore to protect the Senecas from the Ogden Land Company. The official connection of the Four Yearly Meetings with the Senecas ended in 1849. From 1851 to 1868 there was no standing Indian Committee. The Representative Committee handled Indian affairs.

In 1869 after the proclamation of President Grant's Peace Policy a large Indian Committee of 45 members was appointed with William Dorsey as Clerk. In 1870 an Executive Committee of four members of each sex was appointed from the Indian Committee; one of these members was John Saunders. The Great Nemaha and Otoe Agencies became the special care of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and John Dudley and Joseph Powell made a visit of inspection to these agencies in Nebraska. Jacob Ellis served as Clerk of the Committee from 1870 to 1880. In 1871 Barclay White succeeded Samuel Janney as Superintendent of the six Agencies, but the Office of Superintendent was closed by the Federal Government in 1876, at which time Barclay White was retained by the Seven Yearly Meetings to visit and inspect the Agencies for them. In 1881 Barclay White became Clerk of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Indian Committee. In 1883 Clement Biddle was Clerk and in 1884 he reported to the Yearly Meeting that there had been very little to do since the Great Nemaha Agency had been given up in 1882. Alfred Moore was Secretary of the Committee from 1885 to 1892.

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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Records of the Joint Committee on Indian Affairs, and its predecessor, the Indian Committee (1837-1850) of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Hicksite). Also includes the letter books of John Saunders of Philadelphia, Secretary of the Joint Committee, and correspondence of Barclay White, Jesse W. Griest, Thomas Lightfoot, Samuel M. Janney, Levi K. Brown, Samuel Jeanes, and Albert Lamborn Green. Reports include information about the Senecas, the Otos and the Otoe Agency, the Santees and the Santee Agency, the Great Nemaha Agency, the Sauks, and the Fox .

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Restrictions

Access

Collection is open for research. Access is through microfilm, if available.

Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to the Repositories. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the individual Meeting or its successor. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Repositories as the holder(s) of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.

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SEARCHING IN OUR ON-LINE CATALOGUE FOR RELATED MATERIALS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in TRIPOD, the joint on-line catalog of Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Earlier Committee Names:

Correspondents:

Subjects:

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Administrative Information

Accession information

Deposit. The letter books of John Saunders were passed to his nephew, Charles Saunders, and then to his daughter, J.C. Saunders, who gave them to FHL, ca.1937.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Note to Researchers: These records may only be consulted at either Haverford (HV) or Swarthmore (SW), and are not available through inter-Library loan. To request materials on-site, please make sure to use the correct call numbers for the Library in which you wish to use the records:

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