John Smith, letter, to unknown, 1761 July 16
16 July 1761[1761-07-16]
ms number761416
[note (type: abstract): Smith writes to an unknown recipient about Wheelock's work among the Indians, and of the need for Indian missionaries. Mention is made of Occom.][note (type: handwriting): Curly cursive writing. Letter case often difficult to discern. Several uncrossed "t's".][note (type: paper): Good condition with minor creasing, staining and wear. ][note (type: layout): Four total sides of paper, only first two contain writing.][note (type: noteworthy): Smith describes a visit from E. Wheelock and an Indian scholar. The Indian mentioned is likely David Fowler. Mention is made of the idea that American Indians are the descendents of the 10 tribes of Israel. Although this letter is clearly not written to Wheelock, a likely timeline is indicated by a comparison of this letter and 761515: 1) Wheelock and Smith visited in spring 1761, along with David Fowler, and talked about several things, including the idea that Indians might be the 10 tribes of Israel; 2) Smith wrote a letter (761416) on this and other topics, and sent it to a friend (in Great Britain, likely), and also sent a copy of the letter to Wheelock; 3) Wheelock continued their discussion in his next letter to Smith (761515), in which he also corrects some mistakes in 761416.]
Persistent Identifier
[Opener]
For your favour of [Decem:r | December]Decem:rDecember the 10[1760-12-10] Last you where [pleasd | pleased]pleasdpleased to order my Staying the last years Interest to your future orders. and as
this is your Last letter [Reciv'd | received]Reciv'dreceived, I am still waiting your pleasure on this Head If this [where | were]wherewere
[design.d | designed]design.ddesigned agreable to my [whishes | wishes]whisheswishes, the Glory of the [Redemers | Redeemer's]RedemersRedeemer's kingdom would call it, for the Conversion's of the Indians; this is a large
field, Nor are the Numbers, even of the Nations[org0090.ocp], of these poor [imortal | immortal]imortalimmortal Souls Through wide [illegible][guess (h-dawnd): Eaten]Eaten[illegible]ed America[place0003.ocp], so much as known by name or Existence to
any English man, how much the french[org0045.ocp] have learnt on
this Head, I cannot say, or so much as [Gueſs | guess]Gueſsguess, These poor people as [farr | far]farrfar as there are known; have many signatures of being the posterity of the ten
Tribes of [illegible][Iſreal | Israel]IſrealIsrael, scattered by the Babilonish Conquest; I have my Self By Conver
^[above] Convers^Convers of 35 [y.s | years]y.syears past, learnt of old men at that time, That in their [antient | ancient]antientancient
[war^[above] r^rs | wars]war^[above] r^rswars with them, They have [suprized | surprised]suprizedsurprised them in sacrifice, ^[above] strictly^strictly after the mosaich
Institution, & [particulary | particularly]particularyparticularly that the pascal Lamb was [offerd | offered]offerdoffered on the
[Paſsover | Passover]PaſsoverPassover month — I have in the same manner learnt that the Great ^[above] name of^name of God [&c | etc.]&cetc. is in the language of the nations however ^[above] otherwise^otherwise
[diffirent | different]diffirentdifferent, yet in these things [simular | similar]simularsimilar; and not so [farr | far]farrfar adulterated from the Hebrew, as to be hard to be understood by a Common Ear
that attend. the [Repitition | repetition]Repititionrepetition of the sounds — But here I shall save my self & you Trouble
— [Becauſe | because]Becauſebecause my truly Pious [Lear.d | learned]Lear.dlearned & zealously [spireted | spirited]spiretedspirited, friend the [Rev.d | Rev.]Rev.dRev.
[M.r | Mr.]M.rMr.
[Elezer | Eleazar]ElezerEleazar Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] has [promiſe ^[above] d^d | promised]promiſe ^[above] d^dpromised to send, in order to be sent to Great [Britan | Britain]BritanBritain[place0090.ocp], [illegible: [guess (h-dawnd): [aſ | as]aſas][aſ | as]aſas] full [accots | accounts]accotsaccounts of this & other Affairs Relating to the Indians — [Mr | Mr.]MrMr. Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] Brought to my house a likely young Indian who had
gotten the English Language with [Grammer | grammar]Grammergrammar Learning & some Competent Knowledge in — Divinity, whose Design
for a preacher to [ye | the]yethe Indians, His Brother
[Mr | Mr.]MrMr.
[Okum | Occom]OkumOccom[pers0030.ocp] has had a turn at yale
[Colledge | college]Colledgecollege[org0107.ocp]
and is so well [formd | formed]formdformed that he has [preach'd | preached]preach'dpreached to acceptance in [Mr | Mr.]MrMr. Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] & some other pulpits & is going among the Indians
[Mr | Mr.]MrMr. Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] has one or two other Boys under tuition & is
sending for 2 or 3 Mohawk[org0062.ocp] Lads in order to
instruct them & [fitt | fit]fittfit them for thi this
[minastration | ministration]minastrationministration: & Considering sic the natural Surmising [Jelous | jealous]Jelousjealous make[illegible: [guess (h-dawnd): g]g] of the Indian in general &
the [perticular | particular]perticularparticular prejudices raised by the furor in the minds of some of the nations against
the English[org0041.ocp] it appears very Conducive to the
spread of the [Gosple | gospel]Gosplegospel
^[above] That^That Those Preachers should be [formd | formed]formdformed out of men & youths of [there | their]theretheir own tribes — But as this a subject which is to be [reintroducd | reintroduced]reintroducdreintroduced when I hear from [Mr | Mr.]MrMr. Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] I now save you [pretious | precious]pretiousprecious time & Desist
[note (type: editorial): Blank page.][note (type: editorial): Blank page.]Document Summary
People identified in this document:
id | Text in document | Role in header | Authorized Name |
---|---|---|---|
pers0036.ocp | M. r Mr. Elezer Eleazar Wheelock | mentioned | Wheelock, Eleazar |
pers0036.ocp | M r Mr. Wheelock | mentioned | Wheelock, Eleazar |
pers0030.ocp | M r Mr. Okum Occom | mentioned | Occom, Samson |
Places identified in this document:
id | Text in document | Authorized Name |
---|---|---|
place0013.ocp | Boston | Boston |
place0003.ocp | America | America |
place0090.ocp | Great Britan Britain | Great Britain |
Organizations identified in this document:
id | Text in document | Authorized Name |
---|---|---|
org0090.ocp | Nations | Six Nations |
org0045.ocp | french | |
org0107.ocp | yale Colledgecollege | Yale University |
org0062.ocp | Mohawk | Mohawk Nation |
org0041.ocp | English |
Dates identified in this document:
Standard Form | Text |
---|---|
1761-07-16 | July 16 1761. |
1760-12-10 | Decem:rDecember the 10 |
Regularized text:
Type | Original | Regularized |
---|---|---|
variation | pleasd | pleased |
variation | Redemers | Redeemer's |
variation | imortal | immortal |
modernization | Gueſs | guess |
variation | farr | far |
variation | Iſreal | Israel |
variation | antient | ancient |
variation | war^[above] r^rs | wars |
variation | suprized | surprised |
variation | particulary | particularly |
variation | offerd | offered |
modernization | Paſsover | Passover |
modernization | &c | etc. |
variation | diffirent | different |
variation | simular | similar |
variation | Repitition | repetition |
modernization | Becauſe | because |
variation | spireted | spirited |
modernization | Rev.d | Rev. |
modernization | M.r | Mr. |
variation | Elezer | Eleazar |
modernization | promiſe ^[above] d^d | promised |
variation | Britan | Britain |
modernization | aſ | as |
modernization | Mr | Mr. |
variation | Grammer | grammar |
modernization | ye | the |
variation | Okum | Occom |
variation | Colledge | college |
variation | formd | formed |
variation | fitt | fit |
variation | minastration | ministration |
variation | Jelous | jealous |
variation | perticular | particular |
variation | Gosple | gospel |
variation | reintroducd | reintroduced |
variation | pretious | precious |
Expanded abbreviations:
Abbreviation | Expansion |
---|---|
Decem:r | December |
Reciv'd | received |
design.d | designed |
y.s | years |
Lear.d | learned |
accots | accounts |
preach'd | preached |
This document's header does not contain any mixed case attribute values.
Summary of errors found in this document:
Number of dates with invalid 'when' attributes: | 0 |
Number of nested "hi" tags: (consider merging the @rend attributes, or using other tags) | 0 |
Number of tags with invalid 'rend' attributes: | 0 (out of 15) |
Number of people/places/organizations with unknown keys: | 0 (out of 14) |
Number of "add" tags with unknown 'place' attributes: | 0 (out of 7) |
Mixed case attribute values in header (potential error): | 0 (out of 116) |