AuthorWheelock, Eleazar
Date15 September, 1761
ms number761515
abstractWheelock writes of Occom’s mission to the Oneidas, of the preparations
of Samuel Kirtland for mission work, and of the general progress of the charity
school. In
a postscript, Wheelock states that Occom was educated entirely by him, and not
at
college.
handwritingHandwriting is relatively clear and tidy, with some
deletions and additions.
paperLarge sheet folded in half to make four pages is silked along
horizontal creases; there is some wear at edges.
inkHeavy and blotchy in spots.
noteworthyOn one recto, second paragraph, the "three Mohawke lads" are
Joseph Brant, Negyes, and Center. On one verso, second paragraph, one of
the
Delaware girls is Miriam Storrs; in the same paragraph "...one of the Girls
which
I have been so long expecting..." is likely Amy Johnson. On one verso, fourth
paragraph, the two Delawares are Joseph Woolley and Hezekiah Calvin. Some
contents
are similar to those of 761404. Wheelock discusses the belief that Indians
are the
"10 Tribes of the House of Israel." In the trailer on 2 verso, the date is
written
as September 13, not 15.
EventsBuilding of Occom’s house
Modernized Version
Deletions removed; additions added in;
modern spelling and capitalization added; unfamiliar abbreviations expanded.
Lebanon
September 15.1761.
Much respected and Honoured Sir.
My Affairs have so crowded that I haven't
found leisure to write you of the State of
this Indian
School, as
you desired
and
I designed when I had the pleasure you gave me at your House
last Spring. nor can I now more than gratify you with a few
Hints; in Hopes I
may have More leisure by and by
[gap: tear] or perhaps
the opportunity to wait upon you at your
own House
[gap: tear][guess: a]gain
be
fore winter.
Mr. Occom, in consequence of the Appointment which I in
formed you of, set out on his long journey to the
Six Nations, on
the
10th of June
last, (accompanied by
David the youth
who
was with me at your House last Spring) by the way of
New
York, where he tarried several Days, and
preached in
Mr.
Bostwick Meeting House to an assembly
vastly Numerous; at which
was collected £ 70. for his use. And the Evening
following at the
Baptist's Meeting House £ 13. their currency: And received
the fullest Recommendations from the principle Gentlemen
in the City. I have since received a Letter from him Dated
German Flatts.
July
7. Informing that he had met with un
common kindness, and
respect every where. And that
Gen.
Amherst had given him the strongest
pass, and
recommendati
on to all his Officers, etc.. And also that
Gen.
Johnson, who
was there on his way to
the Detroit, with presents to the Indians
had promised him his assistance, and designed the next Day
to introduce him to the
Oneida
Nation. I have also of
the Same Date and from the Same Place, a Letter from
Gen.
Johnson, which came by the Hands of Three
Mohawk Lads two of which were
Sent by the
Gen. to
this School in
compliance
with my desire by Letter to him that he would
send me six
promising Youth of those Nations. Three to
be supported by the
Honourable
Scottish
Commissioners, And the
other Three I venture to take in Addition to the six which
I had before to be the Subjects of Such Charities, as God
shall
dispose the Hearts of his People to bestow upon this
occasion. And
the Gen. informs me, he hopes, as he passes
through the Other Nations on his Way, he shall be able to send
me 3. or 4. more so as to complete the Number which I wrote
for. And I am now daily Expecting them here.
When these came I was much at a loss what might be his
End in coming, who was not recommended by
the Gen.; but
since we have learnt to understand them a little better, I am
fully persuaded the case was thus. After
the Gen. had sent away
those two, the Other understanding their design, and being desi
rous of Learning as well as they, went after
the Gen., but he
now got too far on his way to be overtaken, where upon
he con
cluded to run the venture of coming without Recommendation
They all behave very well hitherto. And it is quite agreeable
to see them with the rest Generally so well engaged in their studies.
though
though one without Experience can well conceive the Difficulty there is in
Educating them.
David is not yet returned nor do I expect him 'til those other
lads come, if before
Mr. Occom returns from his mission.
But one of the Girls which I have been so long expecting is yet
come.
Mr. Brainerd wrote me in the Spring that those expected
from
Delaware, had been detained by sickness, and one was then
not likely to recover, however that I might expect two by the
first
vessel.
Mr. Kirtland's
Son, a charityscholar, and promising Youth,
who is now at
this School
fitting for a mission, is learning the
Mohawk Language of the Boys, as fast as he can under the
disadvantage of having no Books, nor Interpreter to help
him. And So are also several of the Indian Boys.
I here send you enclosed a specimen of the writing of my two
Delawares, and I doubt not you would be much pleased to
hear them read Latin
and Greek.
As to those Signatures and Traces of Judaism which have in
clined me to believe our American Indians to be the 10 Tribes
of the House of
Israel, I am not in a Capacity to set
them in such a Light as I hope I may be. several of them we discoursed of,
as Their Languages being generally Guttural, and Abounding in prefixes
and Suffixes agreeable to the Hebrew. Their use of the word Higgai
nan in their Singing, which I suspect to be the Same with Higgaion
used by the Sweet Singer of Israel Their
Sacrifices, especially
of the pascal Lamb. (for want of which they use a fawn) so
agreea
ble to the Mosaic Rites. Their cutting out the Hollow of the Thigh
when they
can give no reason for it but Tradition, and say that
all good Indians have done so, which I had from an old man
of good credit who was in his youth a Mighty
Hunter among
them. Their Avenging murder by the nearest of kin. Their Se
paration of Women for uncleanness. and their Purification etc.
There Is, besides These, and many Such like, one which I dont rem
ember to
have discoursed with you of, and which is with me as
weighty as almost any I have heard,
your Thoughts upon. I had it from that dear man of God the
Rev.
David Brainerd a little before his Death. and
perhaps the
discovery never was So fully made by any other. He gave it me
, as he had it from one of their powwows, then
lately converted to Christianity under his ministry among them.
He told me that the spirit which their powwows are at certain Times
inspired with, and under the Influence of, and which
makes them So much the fear and Dread of the Indians, was as exact
an Imitation of a Spirit of prophesy as he could conceive the
Devil capable of. that they were
Seers and could See the Hearts
Thoughts, Purposes, and Intentions of others they were concerned with, as
plain as one could see an opaque Body in a transparent
glass, they
would charge men with what they had done in Secret and make
them own it. and pretend to 'tell Fatuities, viz. what success the
Enquirers would have in Hunting or War, in which case they are
much used. (and
perhaps could 'tell as much as the Devil
Knew in these cases) and when the Spirit was gone from them they
were but as other men.
Now when I consider how the false Spirit has all along imitated the Time and the great advantage he has thereby made to get the
subjects of it fast in his Snare. and what advantage he may be supposed to have got of the 10 Tribes in this way, after the Time since of prophecy
was.
was wholly lost among them, and not only a spirit of prophecy but humane Literature with it. I cant but think there is weight in
it.
as to what has been said by Some that the Names of Several
Animals in their Language are the very Same with the Hebrew: perhaps when we are
able to Send missionaries among them who are well instructed in the
Hebrew Tongue we may be furnished with the
fullest Evidence from
that Quarter. I hope my dear Little
Jacob, who is now just
out of his 2nd Year at
New Jersey College, and is one of the
Delaware Tribe, may be the very man to oblige us
with some new discove
ries of the Nature.
The getting exact Information of these things, and Setting them in a
true and proper Light will require Time and Pains.
I have lately been (I cant Say disagreeably) amazed with a Letter
from
Mr. Emrie to Mr.
John Erskine in
Scotland, in manuscript
wherein he Supposes he has fully proved from the word of God that
The Indians in America are the 10 Tribes of the House
of
Israel,
banished
hither into the wilderness of the Peoples, and their
original
concealed under enigmatical prophesies, that they
might not be reckoned among the Nations, 'til Now the Time
of their Deliverance is at Hand. I have only had the Favour.
of a cursory reading of it, I apprehend there is a great deal of
insinuity in what he has wrote if nothing more. —
I was much encouraged in the prosecution of this grand
Affair by what I met with at
Boston
last Spring, particular
ly the generous and seasonable
bequest, of that truly noble
Lord the
Marquess of Lothian
, and others. which I looked
upon as an Answer to Prayer, and was encouraged thereby
to enlarge the Number of My scholars, And hope I shall
find what has been done to have been but an earnest of
greater Supplies as they Shall be needed.
I doubt not, my dear Sir, You are ready to do any thing in
Your Power to promote it. And I trust among the many expressions of your unmerited kindness you will not fail to remember in your devoutest Hours. him, who is
with most
sincere
respect, Sir.