Report-1851, December 31

Transcribed report on the activities of the Indian Manual Labor School by Thomas Johnson, Superintendent Manual Labor School to Luke Lea, Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated Dec 31, 1851

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Ind. M.L. School
Dec. 31st 1851

Sir

   I have the honor to submit to you the accompanying documents as the Report of our School for the quarter ending 31st Dec. 1851.

   Document no. 1 [frame 347] is an exhibit of the names of the scholars in the male+ No. 2. [frame 352] of those in the female department, together with the other items of information required by instructions.

   The number of scholars in the one – as you will find by inspection – is 35 – in the other, 40 – making the aggregate in School – 75.

   You will be glad to see that our number of Delaware scholars is still increasing.

   Though this increase is slower than we could have wished, yet the prospect is that it will still continue until we shall regain to a great extent our usual number of Delawares.

   With this quarters Report we send our vouchers for the whole year.

   The reason of our having not sent vouchers at the close of each quarter is simply this – we misunderstood your instructions of the 13th Jan. last. We understood the instructions of that circular to apply to this as well as to the Kansas School.

   We accordingly changed the form of our Reports in compliance with the said instructions, which we supposed would supercede the necessity of forwarding vouchers of expenditures. Nor were we informed to the contrary but that this was all that was required, until very recently. This delay in forwarding the information respecting our mistake, we understand, has occurred in consequence of the protracted illness of our Secretary at Louisville.

   We set all right now, however, by sending vouchers for the whole year.

   The health of the school for the past quarter has been remarkably good+ the scholars have been very regular in their attendance.

I have the honor to be yours etc.
Thos_ Johnson Supt.
F.L. Ind. M.L. School

Hon. Luke Lea
Com. Ind. Affairs

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[Transcribed from National Archives Microfilm Series M234, roll 786, frames 349-350 by Roger Berg Jr., March, 1992]