Native Americans and Quakers, 1791-1815

Joseph Clark documented his 1797 journey to upstate New York. He and his fellow Friend Henry Simmons met with representatives of the Oneida, Stockbridge, and Tuscarora Indians, their purpose being to bring a few Indian girls to live with the Friends for their education.

John Peirce documented his 61-day journey through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York in his journal titled "Notes, On a Visit to Several Tribes of Indians, 1796." Peirce and his fellow Friends James Cooper, Joseph Sansom, Isaiah Rowland, Enoch Walker, and Henry Simmons left on May 30, 1797 for the Oneida reservation. Their goal was to meet with various Native American groups and establish agricultural programs. After passing through New Jersey and up the Hudson River to Schenectady, they followed the Mohawk River to the Stockbridge, Brothertown, Tuscarora and Oneida Villages. After meeting with the members of the various groups at the Oneida reservation, the party made their way further west to the Onondagas and Cayuga settlements, and then up to modern day Farming, New York, to meet with friends living there. Their journey home took them through central New York and Pennsylvania through Bath and Painted Post, New York as well as Muncy, Catawissa, and Reading Pennsylvania. Peirce arrived home in Darby, Pennsylvania, on July 29, 1796.

Letter to several Indian Nations, including the Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot, and Miami, praising the peace of the moment and urging that a lasting peace be established.

Report of the committee designated to prepare various articles to be presented as gifts to the Indian Nations meeting General Wayne to negotiate a treaty.

Isaac Coates documented his travels through New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio in 1799 and 1803. He visited the Friends living at Genesinguhta in the Seneca Nation, and met with Cornplanter, the Seneca Chief, with whom he discussed his concerns about liquor consumption, which were shared by Cornplanter.

Joseph Clark documented his second journey, in 1801, to Oneida and Stockbridge in New York. His accompanied the six Indian girls he had brought back to the Philadelphia area for education four years earlier on their way home, as he had assured their parents of their safety.

This volume contains contemporary copies of correspondence between the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and the Friends living in the Seneca Nation, of whom Halliday Jackson was one, along with Henry Simmons and Joel Swayne.

Draft and letter from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to the Six Indian Nations with whom the United States Government would sign a treaty, asking them to receive the Friends who would attend the Treaty and urging peace.

Invoice for the payment of Joseph Johnston for guiding five Friends from Philadelphia to the Seneca nation.

Joshua Sharpless documented his 48-day journey through Pennsylvania and New York in his journal entitled "Visit to Upper Canada and Parts Adjacent." Sharpless and his fellow Friends Jacob Lundy, James Wilson, Oliver Paxton, and James Langstaff left on October 12, 1797 for the area around modern day Buffalo. On their way, they passed through Canandaigua to meet with Friends at Mud Creek, near modern day Farmington, NY. The party arrived at the Niagara River area on October 30 where they counseled and met with Friends until the middle of November. After a short weather related delay, the party left Buffalo on November 14. They crossed frozen streams, suffered cold nights, and experienced detours until they finally reached Chester County on December 1, 1797.