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| 1826 | |
| 1826 | Gen. William Clark, superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, wrote in his diary: “Mississippi & Missouri, both of them above their Junction higher at this time, than they have been since the recollection of the Oldest Inhabitants, at Prairie du Chien the people have been obliged to desert the Town. at Ft Crawford the Troops have been obliged to evacuate the Cantonment and go into Tents some distance back of the Fort.— The Missouri has washed away entirely the Trading Establishment of a Mr. Choteau at the mouth of the Kansas (or a little below,) The 1st Regiment on the Missouri have been also obliged to leave their Garrison.” |
| 1826, May | Francois Chouteau established his River of Kansas Post and home on the south bank of the Missouri river, near Olive Ave, after his Randolph Bluffs post was destroyed by flood. This would remain the Chouteau’s main post until it in turn was washed away in the 1844 flood. It consisted of a warehouse and a cluster of homes to French and Indian employees. It was a large steamboat landing known as Chouteau’s Landing. |
| 1826, August 21 | Angus L. Langham’s party began a survey of the Kansas river from its mouth to the Kansa village near Manhattan, KS. |
| 1827 | |
| 1827, May 8 | Cantonment Leavenworth was located by Col. Henry Leavenworth. |
| 1827, July | Colonel Leavenworth began erecting barracks for the cantonment. |
| 1827 | Daniel Morgan Boone, son of Daniel Boone of Kentucky, appointed farmer for the Kansas Indians, located on the Kansas river in present Jefferson county. |
| 1828 | |
| 1828, April 23 | Steamboat Missouri left St. Louis for Cantonment Leavenworth with the Third regiment of United States troops. |
| 1828, December | Francis and Cyprian Chouteau built a trading post on the south side of the Kansas river, near the present town of Muncie. Known as the Shawnee Post, Cyprien’s Post was located about a quarter to half mile east of Grinter House and became a major landmark and enterprise in trade with the Shawnee and Delaware. A satellite store was at some point built on the Delaware (north) side of the Kansas river. Cyprien sold the Post to Moses Grinter in 1855 who continued its operation for a number of years. |
| 1828 | The Fish or Jackson band of Shawnee Indians moved to their new reservation from southeast Missouri. |
| 1828 | This year William Johnson and Jerome C. Berryman were admitted on trial by the Missouri conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. Thomas Johnson was minister at Fishing River, MO. |
| 1829 | |
| 1829, September 10 | The Missouri conference held its fourteenth session at Potosi, Bishop Joshua Soule, presiding. Thomas Johnson was assigned to the Buffalo charge, William Johnson to New Madrid, and Jerome C. Berryman to Hot Springs and Mount Prairie. |
| 1829, Fall | Isaac McCoy made his third trip to the territory, visiting the Kansa people and exploring the surrounding area. After the Indian Removal Act passed in May of 1830, McCoy closed his missions in the East and transferred them to the new territory in preparation for the move West. McCoy was joined by missionaries Jotham Meeker, Johnston Lykins, Robert Simerwell, and their wives. |
| 1830 | |
| 1830 | Under the terms of the Treaty of the James Fork that was signed on September 24, 1829, and ratified in 1830, the Delaware (Lenape) were forced to move further west. In exchange for their James Fork lands in Missouri, they were granted lands in Kansas, west of the Missouri and north of the Kansas rivers, consisted of about 1,000,000 acres. |
| 1830, May 30 | The Indian Removal Act, signed by United States President Andrew Jackson, provided “for an exchange of lands with the Native Americans residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi.” |
| 1830, July | George Vashon, agent for the Shawnee, at the request of their chief, Fish, wrote to Jesse Greene, presiding elder of the Missouri district of the Methodist Episcopal church, asking that a missionary be sent to them. |
| 1830, August 23 | Isaac McCoy addressed a council of Shawnees on the subject of establishing a Baptist mission. He wrote in his diary: "Major John Campbell, the Sub., but now, acting agent for the Shawanoes & Delawares, &c. has requested me, since my arrival, to endeavour to establish a School among the Shawanoes. Shane the Interpreter, who is half Indian, united in the request. The Methodist have been talking of forming an establishment among them, but their project seems not likely to succeed. They have done nothing yet. Today more than twenty Shawanoes assembled in obedience to a call of Major Campbell, to whom I made a pretty lengthy address on the subject of a mission being established among them. My remarks were seconded by remarks from Maj. Campbell, and some from Shane. The celebrated Shawanoe prophet, who was so often heard of in the last war, and was a brother of Tecumseh, replied briefly to me, rather approbating my doctrine. An answer in form from the tribe is deterred, until I return from my tour in the wilderness.” |
| 1830, September 7 | Thomas Johnson and Miss Sarah T. Davis of Clarksville, Mo., were married. |
| 1830, September 16 | The Missouri conference of the Methodist Episcopal church met at St. Louis, MO. This conference organized a missionary society and projected four Indian missions. Thomas Johnson was appointed missionary to the Shawnee Indians and his brother William to the Kansas Indian tribe. Read about the conference. |
| 1830, November 20 | McCoy wrote: “Messrs. McCallister [Alexander McAlister, presiding elder, Missouri district] & Johnson, Methodist preachers, arrived last night. They purpose establishing a school &c. among the Kanzas [sic]. They, or, some others of that society had been here previously. I knew nothing of their intentions until since I spoke to [M.G.?] Clark [subagent] yesterday. They have, also, a few days since, made proposals to the Shawanoes to furnish them with a school, &c. I told them that our society had made formal proposals to the Sec. War, a year and a half ago, to establish a mission among the Kanzas. Also, that I had spoken to the Shawnoes on my way up, & expected to receive their answer on my way down. But, I wished not to throw any obstacle in their way. They united in supposing there would be no disagreeing between them and us--manifested no solicitude about our propositions, and spoke with a good deal of confidence relative to carrying forward their propositions, and spake with a good deal of confidence relative to carrying forward their propositions. I think they will not likely do much for the Kanzas. Their circumstances are such as to require the exercise of faith & patient perseverance, in labourious, and often discouraging operations, rather beyond what we can expect from that denomination.” |
| 1830, November 22 | lsaac McCoy learned to his disappointment. That the Fish band of the Shawnees had accepted the proposal of the Methodists for establishing a school. He wrote: “On the 22d of November I returned to this place, when Captain Cornstalk and Captain William Perry, chiefs, met me, to deliver the decision of the nation, which was favorable to the establishment of the school proposed. These chiefs, however, and most of the Shawnnoes, consented to my propositions rather through courtesy, than on account of a desire really to enjoy the advantages of education. Like most Indians, not much advanced in civilization, they felt little desire for schools, and still less to hear preaching. With Fish and his party it was otherwise; they appreciated in a good degree the former, and were favorably inclined to the latter, and through them I had hoped that access could be successfully obtained to the main body of the nation. But unfortunately for my plan, while I had been absent in the wilderness, the Reverend Mr. McAllister and the Reverend Thomas Johnson, of the Methodist denomination, visited the Shawanoes, and made similar propositions. The main body of the Shawanoes objected, ‘because,’ they said, ‘they intended to accept the proposals I had made them.’ The result, however, was an agreement that the Methodists should establish a school with Fish's party. In this matter I felt a disappointment which I could not remedy.” Read the journal. |
| 1830, November 27 | Two hundred dollars paid the Reverend McAlister by the missionary society for expenses of establishing Shawnee Methodist mission. |
| 1830, December 1 | Thomas Johnson was working among the Shawnees. The mission was on the wooded bluffs of the Kansas river about three-quarters of a mile southeast of the present town of Turner in what is now Wyandotte county. Here he brought his bride, she riding a horse and he walking beside her. He began building a double two-story log building consisting of two rooms about twenty feet square and fifteen feet apart, the covered space between being used as a hall. The west room was used for a schoolroom and chapel, and the east one as a reception and family living room. The second story was for living and sleeping rooms for employees and guests. The building was ready for occupancy probably not later than the spring of 1831. |
| 1830, December 23 | The missionary society paid another $200 to the Reverend McAlister for Shawnee mission expenses. |
| 1830, December | William Johnson began work among the Kansas tribe of Indians at their agency near present Williamstown, in the southern part of Jefferson county. He wrote: “on the 19th, I opened a school in a room which the agent invited me to occupy; but for three months the weather was so extremely cold that I did but little, there being but few children in a situation to attend school.” |
| 1830, December | The Shawnees called a council, uncertain what attitude they should take toward the mission. A committee was appointed to hear Johnson preach and report. After listening attentively to Johnson's sermon, the committee was said to have reported, “the preacher knew just what they did, only better.” Many of the leading men became friends of the mission. |
| 1831 | |
| 1831, January | Moses Grinter built a rope ferry across the Kansas river near Chouteau's trading post, charging fifty cents for passenger and two dollars for wagons. |
| 1831, January 13 | Richard Cummins, agent for the Shawnees, informed Gen. William Clark that the chiefs had given their consent to the establishment of a school among the Fish band and that the managers of the institution intended instructing the children in the “arts of mechanism” as well as that of literature. “Mr. Johnson is at this time making arrangements,” wrote Cummins, “and I think shortly after winter breaks will have the school in operation. I have great hope, that after this school is got into operation, the Indians within my agency will not be so much opposed to complying with the wishes of the government, in the arts of civilization.” Read the letter. |
| 1831, February 5 | Isaac McCoy writes to Dr. Bolles: After I passed the Shawanoes, two methodist ministers authorized by their Conference called the Indians together and repeated their wish to establish a mission among them. Their Agent, Mr. Cummins, urged them to accept, and argued that the Methodist were at that moment ready with money in hand to proceed, and our labours for them must be remote, and were uncertain. The Sub Agent, Mr. Campbell was favorable to us.The Shewanoes repeated what they had said before, that they were acquainted with McCoy &c. and they should look to him until he informed them that he had declined the undertaking. |
| 1831, February 10 | McCoy’s journal: “the Methodist missionary, Johnson, has prevailed on Fish, one of the Shawanoes, to allow him to form an establishment for his party. Campbell states that this will not affect our [Baptist] affairs in forming an establishment for Perry's and Cornstalk's band. I fear, however, that as that tribe is small that two missions commencing on the same ground will not likely prove the best course- We and the Methodists doubtless wish success to each other's efforts. But I think our means could be more advantageously applied were we to work, where each could have more latitude. Here among the Shawanoes we could hardly hope to make one good school, or to obtain one good congregation.” |
| 1831, March 25 | Another $200 paid by the missionary society to the Reverend McAlister for Shawnee mission expenses. |
| 1831, April 30 | McCoy wrote to Johnston Lykins, “The board having instructed you to locate, for the present, at the Shawanoe settlements. You had better go on to Campbell, who is our friend, also see Cumming, who is principal agent, and the friend of the Methodists. They will introduce you to the Indians.” Read excerpts from the letter. |
| 1831, May | The Shawnee Indian Mission school opens at it site on the Kansas river (the Turner site). |
| 1831, July 7 | Johnston Lykins arrived at the agency to establish a Baptist mission among the Shawnees. It was a log structure and stood about five miles of the west of the Shawnee Methodist mission. |
| 1831, July 14 | In a letter to Isaac McCoy, Mr. Lykins wrote: “The Methodists had a school in operation before the smallpox broke out, but had to suspend it. They exhibit some sensibility on the subject of our coming, but I hope it will settle down into good feeling…. The Methodists were required to build further off than they wished in order to leave room for us, & the Ind[ian]s will feel dissatisfied if we do not commence.” |
| 1831, July 18 | Johnston Lykins writes to Jotham Meeker: The Methodist friends have opened schools for the Shawnees, & Kanzas & will occupy other places I presume if we do not. Something ought to be done. Something must be done or we shall fall in the back ground. |
| 1831, July 29 | Delilah Lykins, wife of Johnston Lykins, wrote to her mother: Mr Johnston (brother to Johnstons of Fayette) has a school about six miles from us I think that we shall try to send Margaret if they will take her as Mr. Lykins will not have a school in operation soon and in our present situation I should prefer having her at school… … Many of the Indians will not send to Johnston because they say we had rather have McCoys school. |
| 1831, August 8 | Treaty with the Shawnee Indians at Wapaghkonnetta and Hog creek in Ohio. The Indians ceded their lands to the United States and removed to the land west of Missouri granted to the Shawnees of Missouri. Read the Treaty. |
| 1831, August 23 | Isaac McCoy noted in his journal that the smallpox was raging among the Shawnees. Two deaths had occurred, and Johnston Lykins and the subagent had vaccinated some hundreds, hoping to stop the disease. |
| 1831, August 26 | Johnston Lykins writes to Isaac McCoy: "Majr. C____ [Campbell?] is still very kind, & favours our side. Cummins no doubt feels friendly to the Methodist but I could not ask him to be more friendly, or favourable than he is to us." |
| 1831, October 21 | On Thomas Johnson's return from the annual Missouri conference in Cape Girardeau county, he wrote: “After a fatiguing journey of nearly 500 miles, we reached our field of labor on the 21st of October. We were very much discouraged; everything appeared to be in a state of confusion; the smallpox was raging among different tribes, and the Indians flying in different directions: Our school among the Shawnees, which had been in a flourishing condition the most of the time we were absent at conference, was suspended, with the exception of a few children that boarded with us, and it was but seldom that we could even see an Indian to get instruction in learning the language; therefore there was no possible chance to preach to them, consequently our spirits had well sunk within us, for we felt that we had a full and heavy year's work assigned to us, and had no time to lose. But we had learned from a little experience that patience, perseverance and fortitude are essential qualifications for missionaries; we therefore determined to do the best we could.” |
| 1831, December 25 | Christmas sermon at Shawnee mission preached by Thomas Johnson to a fairly good congregation. “We collected together a tolerable good congregation of Shawnees last Sabbath, and as it was Christmas day, we endeavored to explain to them the reason for our keeping this day in remembrance. They listened with great solemnity while we told them of Jesus Christ coming into the world to save all men, red men as well as white. They informed us afterwards that they would think about what we told them when they went home.” |
| 1831, December 29 | The first report to the missionary society showed that the prospects had brightened. The smallpox had subsided and the Indians were returning home. There were accessions to the school almost every day. Thirty or more Indian children had received instructions, though not all at the same time, and the children learned well. Johnson was hindered, however, by a lack of knowledge of the language and the want of a suitable interpreter. Read the report. |
| 1832 | |
| 1832, January 17 | Isaac McCoy writes in his journal: "One small band of Shawanoes have the Methodist school among them. The residue and larger part still desire and expect us to afford them a school." |
| 1832, February | William Johnson located a school on the Kansas river for the Delawares. |
| 1832, February 8 | Cantonment Leavenworth renamed Fort Leavenworth. |
| 1832, February 19 | McCoy records in his journal: ''Mr Wm. Johnson (Meth Misry) has located a school near Andersans town on Kanzas River for the Dels. [Delawares] which they expect to put into operation, soon & are about to resume their efforts at Kanzas Agency, in behalf of Kan. Ind." |
| 1832, May 14 | The General conference of the M. E. church changed the boundaries of the Missouri conference to include Missouri, Indian missions, and Arkansas territory. |
| 1832, July 11 | Alexander S. Johnson, son of Thomas Johnson, was born at Shawnee mission in present Wyandotte county. |
| 1832, July 20 | A report of the missionary society showed that about $2,000 had been expended on missions in Kansas. |
| 1832, July 28 | Thomas Johnson reported nineteen conversions among the Shawnees on the preceding Sunday. They had formed a Methodist society of forty members under the leadership of Fish, their chief. |
| 1832, September 17 | The Missouri (Methodist) conference met at Pilot Grove, Mo. Indian missions of present Kansas were formed into a separate district called the Indian mission district with Thomas Johnson as superintendent. The sum of $4,800 was appropriated to missions within the bounds of the conference. Edward T. Peery was appointed to Shawnee mission and school and William Johnson was assigned to the Delaware mission. |
| 1832, September 20 | The Wapaghkonnetta band of Shawnee Indians left Ohio for their new home in the Indian territory (Kansas), arriving about Christmas. |
| 1832, September | Thomas Johnson in making his visits as superintendent carried in his saddle bags a supply of Kentucky bluegrass seed which he scattered as he rode along. This was said to be the start of bluegrass in Kansas. |
| 1832, September | Charles Bluejacket came to Kansas from Ohio. |
| 1832, October 24 | Treaty with the Kickapoo Indians at Castor Hill (near St. Louis) provides payments for the Kickapoo to cede their lands in Missouri to the United States and remove to the land west of Missouri granted to them north of the Delaware Lands and near Fort Leavenworth. Read the Treaty. |
| 1832, October 26 | Treaty with the Shawnee and Delaware Indians at Castor Hill (near St. Louis). The Treaty amends the St. Louis Treaty of 1825 to include payments to the Delaware for ceding their lands to the United States and removed to the land west of Missouri . Read the Treaty. |
| 1833 | |
| 1833 | Westport was originally laid out by land speculator, John Campbell who had been the subagent for the Shawnee from 1825-1833 and had principally responsible for the Tribes move to Kansas. When he went east to fight the charges of his dismissal and died on the trip, John Calvin McCoy replatted the town which became a major trade center with the tribes newly moved to Kansas and later as an outfitting station for the overland trade and migration. |
| 1833, April 21 | Alexander Philip Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, and his party passed Chouteau’s trading post, arriving at Leavenworth the next day. Here their boat was searched for brandy, the importation of which was prohibited in the Indian territory. They were allowed only a small portion to preserve their specimens of natural history. |
| 1833, May 22 | McCoy writes to Dr. Bolles: "The Prophet has between two and three hundred followers who abstain from ardent spirits, pray night and morning, and have frequent public services for preaching, &c. Their disposition and manner throughout are very encouraging to missionary labors among them. The Methodist are exerting every nerve to acquire an ascendency over them. They met them on the road before they reached their neighborhood and have stuck to them pretty much, ever since and, I understand, had at some time, given the prophet a written science to preach." |
| 1833, June 1 | The Hog creek band of Shawnees under the leadership of Joseph Parks, interpreter, left Ohio for Kansas. |
| 1833, August | Bishop Soule visited Shawnee mission on his way to the Missouri conference. He was making his tour of the West in a “Jersey” wagon with a pair of beautiful Canadian ponies. |
| 1833, August 14 | The Constitution of the Missionary Society of The M. E. Church for the Indian Mission District, Auxiliary to the Missionary Society of the Missouri Annual Conference was adopted. The following persons were elected to office: E.T. Peery President; Robert Dunlap, Vice President; James Conner, Secretary; Wm. Johnson, Treasurer. The Managers are: S. Board, H. Clemmons, Mrs. Dunlap, Mrs. Peery, and S.T. Johnston. |
| 1833, August 16 | Rev. Thomas Johnson prepard a report on the status of the Shawnee Indian Mission (Turner location) describing the buildings and improvements and the staff and progress of the students. Read the Report. |
| 1833, September 4 | The Missouri conference of the M.E. church convened at Mountain-Spring camp-ground, Arkansas. William Johnson was assigned to Shawnee mission and Thomas Johnson was reappointed superintendent of the Indian Mission district. Jerome Berryman was assigned to the new Kickapoo mission and school. |
| 1833, September 15 | The Hog creek band of Shawnees roached the Kansas river. |
| 1833, October 5 | Jotham Meeker arrived at the Shawnee Baptist mission, bringing with him a printing press from Cincinnati. |
| 1833, November 13 | Great shower of meteors. They began falling about midnight and continued until morning. Jotham Meeker writes in his Journal: "Rose at 5 oclock, and witnessed a great phenomenon in the skies, a constant flying of innumerable meteors. I learn from others that it commenced about midnight. The Indians are much alarmed about it." |
| 1833, December 18 | Isaac McCoy notes in his journal: "The Chief has informed Mr. Blanchard that while the latter was absent aiding Mr. Merrill in his removal to the Platt, he was informed that Mr. Blanchard would not reside among the Delawares any more. Also he says that a few days since, Mr. Johnson, Methodist missionary proposed to establish a school at his place, which is the place occupied by Mr. Blanchard, and at which we desire to locate a school. We often find missionaries of different denominations establishing missions in the same tribe, but I have not before heard of one endeavouring to supplant another in the very place." |
| 1834 | |
| 1834, February 6 | From McCoy's journal: "The Methodist are still endeavoring to persuade Neb Komen, Chief of Delawares at our preaching place (within half a mile) to allow them to open a school there. This we deem exceedingly improper in them but, we have made no open complaint. It is intimated that they have offered to plow the field of the Chief, & to favour him in some other matter if he will consent to their opening a school for them." |
| 1834, February 17 | Thomas Johnson wrote to the Rev. Jesse Greene: “We have great excitement in the Indian country; some of the leading men of the Shawnee nation have lately surrendered their prejudices; twelve or fourteen have lately joined our society. The Peori [Peoria] nation has submitted to the yoke of Christ; forty of them joined last Sabbath week. Write to us and let us know when you will come to see us. I will. try to be at home.” |
| 1834, March 21 | Jotham Meeker completed the printing of the first Indian book in the Indian territory at the Shawnee Baptist mission. It contained twenty-four pages. |
| 1834, April 29 | Jason Lee visited Shawnee mission on his way to Oregon. Read his letter. |
| 1834, June 15 | Council of Shawnees held at the Methodist meeting house to consider methods of writing. They decided to drop the mode of writing used by the Methodists and to adopt the new Indian orthography devised by Meeker, which employed written or printed characters to represent positions of the organs of speech. English types were used for characters. (Journals and correspondence of Isaac McCoy and Jotham Meeker are preserved in the Kansas State Historical Society's manuscript division.) |
| 1834, June 16 | Thomas Johnson visited Meeker to see about printing Shawnee books according to the new orthography. Meeker agreed to print the first book at the usual price. |
| 1834, June 18 | Jotham Meeker writes to Lucius Bolles, Corresponding Secretary of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions: "The Methodist Missionaries have been until quite recently opposed to our mode of teaching and printing, and used their influence against it. About a year ago they formed a syllabic [alphabet] plan similar to Guess’ Cherokee Alphabet, which they have taught the Shawnees, so that perhaps 50, or upwards besides children, read it. It has now been only 2 1/2 months since the first Shawnee book was printed—the Inds. seem so well pleased with it that on last Sabbath, the 15th inst., all who have learnt to read according to the syllabic plan, together with all the Methodist Inds. met at the Methodist mission house, and in public council decided to drop their mode of writing, and to adopt ours. On Monday, the Superintendent Rev. Thomas Johnson called on us to inquire whether or not we can print a book for them about five weeks hence, on what terms &c. I have consulted with the brethren on the subject, and our conclusion is to print for them at least their first book, and charge the usual price for printing. We shall be pleased to hear from the Board on this subject." |
| 1834, July 21 | Report of Shawnee mission: The Rev. William Johnson had charge of the mission and school, being assisted by his wife and Mrs. Thomas Johnson. The church society consisted of seventy-four native and three white members. Forty of the native members had passed the regular examination and had received the ordinance of baptism. Twenty-seven native children were in regular attendance at the school. Others attended occasionally, but only those pledged to attend one year regularly were considered as scholars. |
| 1834, July 25-26 | General conference of the missionaries held at the Shawnee Baptist mission. Those present were: Berryman, Peery and Johnson, Methodist; McCoy, Lykins, Meeker, Simerwell and Blanchard, Baptist; and Pixley, Kerr and Dunbar, Presbyterian. A number of resolutions were passed harmoniously but “at the close some disagreeable contentions arose,” the nature of which was not disclosed. The next meeting was set for the following May at Shawnee Methodist mission. |
| 1834, Summer | The Society of Friends established a mission among the Shawnees. |
| 1834, August 16 | Meeker stated he had printed 200 copies of the alphabet and monosyllables for Thomas Johnson. |
| 1834, October | Shawnee Chief Fish died (William Jackson, a white man raised with the Shawnee). |
| 1834, December 5 | The Rev. and Mrs. Jerome Berryman started for Kentucky. |
| 1834, December 7 | Thomas Johnson preached to the garrison at Leavenworth. |
| 1835 | |
| 1835, January 15 | Jotham Meeker recorded that he had composed and made ready for the press the cover for The Annual Register of Indian Affairs and that Thomas Johnson brought the first form of his first Shawnee book. |
| 1835, January 17 | Meeker completed the printing of McCoy's Register which described the Shawnees as residing in the northeastern corner of their country, near the Missouri line and the Kansas river. Their dwellings were neat hewed log cabins erected by themselves and containing a small amount of furniture. Their fields, enclosed with rail fences, were sufficiently large to yield them plenty of corn and vegetables. They kept cattle, hogs, work oxen and horses. They owned plows, wagons and carts. John Perry and William Perry were the principal chiefs of the Shawnees. Other chiefs were Captain Blackfeather, Little Fox, Henry Clay and Letho. The subagent was M.G. Clark, and the interpreter, Charles Shane. The blacksmith, L. Jones, and the striker received per annum $480 and $240, respectively. The Shawnee Methodist mission church worshipped in the schoolhouse and had a membership of seventy-eight, including forty hopeful native converts, thirty-four other natives and four white persons. The school numbered twenty-seven scholars, supported partly by the mission and by the parents. Both church and school were under the direction of the Rev. and Mrs. Thomas Johnson and the Rev. and Mrs. William Johnson. Read the report. |
| 1835, January 28 | Jerome C. Berryman, missionary to the Kickapoos, wrote that he preached statedly at Fort Leavenworth at the request of Colonel Dodge. |
| 1835, February 3 | Jotham Meeker worked off cover and finished the Methodist Shawnee first book of thirty-two pages. |
| 1835, February 24 | The first number of the Shawanoe Sun was printed by Meeker. It began as a monthly, printed in the Shawnee language, and edited by J. Lykins. The Sun was the first periodical publication to be printed in what is now Kansas, and the first in the country to be printed wholly in an Indian language. The Shawnees received it with great joy, between one and two hundred of them being able to read it. See The Shawnee Sun. |
| 1835, June 16 | Thomas Johnson reported the Shawnee mission in prosperous condition. Both school and society were large and regular in attendance. The machine shop had been opened and the Indians were pleased with the idea of their boys becoming mechanics. A number had already become apprentices. |
| 1835, July 4 | The Rev. John Dunbar, the Presbyterian missionary, visited Shawnee Methodist mission and reported the school in a flourishing condition. He wrote that one of the principal chiefs had recently become a convert and was very much opposed by the other chiefs. They threatened to kill him, but he still continued steadfast in the faith. |
| 1835, August | Jacob Lanius reported: “At the Shawnee mission the aspect is still more flattering, the school being large, and some of the pupils are studying grammar. The children look neat and converse well in our language.” |
| 1835, September 10 | The Missouri conference met at Arrow Rock, Mo. Thomas Johnson was chosen as a delegate to the General conference to be held in Cincinnati the following May. William Ketron was appointed missionary to the Shawnees and William Johnson was returned to the Kansas tribe of Indians. |
| 1835, October 6 | Meeker purchased his winter shoes at Methodist mission. |
| 1835, November 18 | Report of the Methodist schools as given by the commissioner of Indian affairs: Shawnee, three teachers, forty-four pupils; Delaware, two teachers, nineteen pupils; Peoria, two teachers, sixteen pupils; Kickapoo, two teachers, six pupils; Wyandot, two teachers, forty pupils. |
| 1835, December 9 | Meeker finished printing The Annual Register of Indian Affairs for 1836 (91 pages, 1,500 copies). It reported Shawnee Methodist mission to be under the supervision of the Rev. and Mrs. William Ketron, Mrs. Miller, and the Rev. and Mrs. David G. Gregory. The church had increased to 110 members, 105 being native Christians. A small book in the Shawnee language on religious subjects, including hymns, had been published. The school had thirty-four scholars. Nineteen were supported by the mission and lived in the mission family; the rest received one meal a day at the mission and otherwise were supported by their parents. They were instructed in English gratuitously; instruction in their native language was under the supervision of native class leaders. In the manual work five were learning the cabinet-making business and two the shoemaker's trade. Read the Shawnee Mission entry. |
| 1835, December 17 | Thomas Johnson sends an urgent call for four teachers. |
| 1836 | |
| 1836, May | In accordance with the memorial sent to the General Conference, the Missouri Conference was divided, by the setting off of Arkansas into a separate Conference, leaving the boundaries of the Missouri Conference as follows; "The Missouri Conference shall include the State of Missouri and that part of the Missouri Territory which lies north of the Cherokee line." |
| 1836, July 15 | Jotham Meeker reported that he rode among the Shawnees, visited the Methodist mission and distributed fifty books besides newspapers among the Indians. |
| 1836, November | Prophet Tenskwatawa, brother of Tecumseh, died. |
| 1836, December 1 | An brief report gives the number of pupils and teachers by tribe in the Methodist schools. Read the report. |
| 1837 | |
| 1837, April 11 | An entry I Isaac McCoy’s journal gives an indication of the relationship among the missionaries of competing denominations: "I was sorry to find a letter to me from Rev. Thos. Johnson Superintendent of Methodist Indian missions, and another from Rev. J.C. Berryman, missionary to the Kickapoos, in which they indulge in low, vulgar, ungenerous abuse. My offence had been an article or two in the Annual Resister of Indian Affairs, in which they thought I had not done the Methodist sufficient Credit—See the whole correspondence on file—" |
| 1837, May | The Annual Register of Indian Affairs reported that in accordance with treaty stipulations the government had erected a saw and grist mill at a cost of about $8,000 for the Shawnees. The Register's account of Shawnee Methodist mission listed the missionaries as Thomas Johnson, Mrs. Johnson, N.T. Shaler, D.G. Gregory and Mr. Holland. The church membership consisted of eighty native and six white members. The school had thirty-five scholars. Six were learning the cabinet-making trade and two were learning the shoemaking business. Read the Shawnee Mission entry. |
| 1837, May 11 | The Rev. and Mrs. John G. Pratt arrived at the Baptist mission from Massachusetts. Mr. Pratt came to take charge of the printing office in place of Jotham Meeker who was going to the Ottawas. It was reported that Mr. Pratt in getting settled in his new home was greatly in need of a desk. Unable even to purchase the lumber to make one at Westport, he was advised to go to Johnson's mission and have one made. On reaching the mission Thomas Johnson told him that they had no lumber, but the Indian boys of the school had a whipsaw with which lumber could be sawed from one of the trees nearby, the lumber kiln-dried and then made into a desk. Being given a preference of oak, walnut or cherry, he selected cherry, and the Indian boys under their foreman, Graham Rogers, made what is thought to be the first office desk ever built in Kansas. |
| 1837, May 13 | The native school committee met with Thomas Johnson at Shawnee Methodist mission to organize the school for another year. Mr. Johnson expressed his great appreciation for a committee who took the responsibility of making rules for the government of the children and saw to it that they attended school. |
| 1837, October 11 | Lorenzo Waugh arrived at the Methodist mission to teach. During Mr. Waugh's stay at the school, he helped solve the problem of discipline. Chief difficulty was with parents who were constantly complaining that their children were not treated as well as others or did not learn so well. The teachers were greatly annoyed by their clamor, and finally, calling all the chiefs together, explained the matter to them. Knowing that the chiefs' authority was absolute among the Indians, they proposed to make them a board of supervisors to whom all complainants were to go and who were to have sole right to settle matters with the teachers. The plan worked surprisingly well and there was no more trouble of the kind. Accomplishments of pupils were also discussed by Waugh. He wrote: “The idea of making this school, to some extent, a manual labor institution had already been entertained, and this year we began to test its practicability and importance. I took the boys out on the farm and learned them to work stated hours, having had practical knowledge of farming from my boyhood days. Then besides the farm work, we had several shops for the training of those boys who showed that they possessed the requisite mechanical genius. We had shops for blacksmithing, shoemaking, cabinetmaking, etc. And we had boys in all these shops equal in skill to almost any like number of white boys anywhere. We had the girls also under a course of training for housekeeping, for cutting, fitting, and making garments, etc. And some of these girls showed skill, and taste, and speed in execution not often surpassed by any of our own girls anywhere. Scon [sic] these girls made all my own clothing, except my dress coat, and the fit was always excellent and the work well done.” |
| 1837, December 1 | A Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs indicates Shawnee Methodist Mission has 44 pupils and three teachers. |
| 1838 | |
| 1838, April 13 | From the Board of Managers of the Missionary Society of the M. E. Church: "It was mentioned that Brother Johnson, Presiding Elder and Superintendent of the Shawnee Mission, with an Indian of that nation, would attend our anniversary. A committee was ordered to be appointed to take charge of the Missionary Lyceum, Nathan Bangs, David M. Reese and George Coler, constitute the Committee." |
| 1838, April 18 | Francois Gesseau Chouteau had suffered several years with chest pains and died of a heart attack while watching cattle swim to an island pasture at his home on the south bank of the Missouri river, near Chouteau’s Landing. |
| 1838, May | Thomas Johnson went to New York to confer with the board of managers of the missionary society of the M. E. church in regard to establishing a central manual labor school for the Indians. |
| 1838, May 16 | The board of managers of the missionary society appointed a committee of five to consider Johnson's proposals for the manual labor school. |
| 1838, May 30 | Dr. Nathan Bangs submitted the report of the committee to the board of managers of the missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal church. The committee recommended that the Missouri conference adopt suitable measures for the establishment of a large central manual labor school for the special benefit of Indian children; that the board pledge itself to cooperate in carrying the plan into effect, provided that a sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars be drawn from the treasury for any one year, for the support of the school so established; that the corresponding secretary, Dr. Samuel Luckey, be requested to accompany Thomas Johnson to Washington to solicit aid from the government for the establishment and support of the school. Bishops Soule and Andrew both favored the proposition. Thomas Johnson spoke on the conditions of the tribes of the Southwest. Letters were read from Major Cummins, Indian agent, sanctioning the plan. A resolution was adopted authorizing the treasurer to pay Johnson's traveling expenses to and from Washington, and that he hold meetings on the way back and take up collections for the missionary society. Read the report. |
| 1838, June 8, 12 | Thomas Johnson and Samuel Luckey discussed the plan with Washington officials. They told the Indian affairs office that separate schools for the respective tribes were not as useful as one common school for the benefit of all, and that the Indians should have a knowledge of the English language. |
| 1838, June 20 | C.A. Harris, commissioner of Indian affairs, wrote to Thomas Johnson giving the views of the War Department with respect to the new manual labor school. The department required that the school be located on Indian land and not within the state of Missouri as had also been suggested. Upon completion of the buildings, it agreed to pay the missionary society $5,000 providing they cost twice that sum or one-half the cost should it be less. It also promised to pay $2,500 a year, or one-half the expenses of any number of pupils not exceeding fifty, estimated at $100 each. And so for as proper, the department was to induce tribes living in the vicinity to apply their education funds to the support of their children at the manual labor school. It expected, however, to sanction the site selected, to exercise general supervision of the establishment, and to withhold the $2,500 yearly allowance if ever dissatisfied. If the society failed to carry out all its engagements in good faith, it should return the government's $5,000. The school was to be maintained in constant operation. Commissioner Harris also wrote Gen. William Clark, superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, acquainting him of the department’s wishes concerning the manual labor school. He was directed to instruct Major Cummins to cooperate cordially with the missionary society in obtaining n site for the school, and to talk the matter over with the Indians and favorably impress them that they might expend their educational funds there. The War Department had confidence in the plan and had “great solicitude” for its success. Read the letter to Johnson and Read the Letter to Clark. |
| 1838, July 13 | Thomas Johnson reached home, much gratified to find his family well, "though one of my children had been near the gates of death during my absence; but God in mercy raised him up." |
| 1838, July 18 | Dr. Luckey presented the report of his doing at Washington as promised at the last meeting. |
| 1838, August 17 | In his report to the missionary society, Thomas Johnson explained that he had appointed the Reverend Boucheman (also spelled Bauchemie, Beauchemie, and Boachman) to fill a vacancy at Pottawatomie mission. He also stated that on his way from Washington he had collected $55.06 at Wheeling and $10 at St. Louis. He had received from all sources $501.50. His expenses for himself and Boucheman, who had assisted him in the East, were $326.18, leaving him indebted to the treasurer $175.32. Read the letter. |
| 1838, September 1 | Isaac McCoy noted that the Shawanoe Sun had not been published for nearly a year, being suspended on account of the illness of Lykins, and also because Deshane, the interpreter, had been called into the Florida campaign. |
| 1838, September 13 | Thomas Johnson, Superintendent, reported to Major Rich. W. Cummins, Indian Agent, about the Delaware Indian School at the Methodist Mission for 1838 and the number of studeents and their progress. Read the report. |
| 1838, September 26 | The Missouri conference of the M. E. church met at Boonville, Mo. It was this conference that provided for the establishment of the enlarged Indian manual labor school. The mission committee reported that since the board of managers of the missionary society of the M. E. church had recommended the establishment of a central manual labor school; and the government had agreed to aid liberally; and the Shawnee nation had consented to the establishment of the school on their lands, they resolved to establish it near the boundary of Missouri, and that a committee of three be appointed to erect buildings and exercise general supervision over the institution. A third resolution gave tentative specifications for the buildings: Two were to serve for schoolhouses and teachers’ residences, each to be one hundred feet long, thirty wide, and two stories high; a farmer’s residence, thirty-six feet by twenty, two stories high, with an L running back fifty feet by twenty, and two stories high; buildings for four mechanics, with shops, and such farm buildings as may be judged necessary. It was provided, however, that if, in the committee's judgment, the expenses of the proposed buildings were to be too great, the members were authorized to make such changes as they deemed proper. Thomas Johnson, J.C. Berryman and Jesse Greene constituted the committee. Read the resolution. |
| 1838, September | Jason Lee stopped at Shawnee mission on his way east from Oregon. While there a messenger brought to him the news of the death of his wife and baby on June 26. A messenger had been dispatched at once to overtake Lee, and the third one in the relay came up with him at Shawnee mission, reaching the place on a midnight. |
| 1838, October 18 | Richard Cummins informed the commissioner of Indian affairs that he and Thomas Johnson had selected a site on the Shawnee lands for the manual labor school (the present mission site in Johnson County). The place was about six miles nearly due south of the mouth of the Kansas river and about half a mile from the western boundary of the state of Missouri. He gave the following description: “The site is on a butiful elivatcd ritch prairie near & adjoining a butiful grove of timber on the south on a small creek known by the name of brush creek which is near the site and always affording watter in abundance for stock, there are also three springs which are in a line in the edge of the timber, parallel with and close to the edge of the prairie which we believe will afford watter sufficient for all the purposes of the establishment, the country in the immediate neighbourhood although very ritch has a healthy appearance, no lakes, ponds, or stagnated watter near.” Agent Cummins also certified that he had explained everything to the chiefs of the Shawnee nation and by them to the tribe, and that they had given full consent. Thomas Johnson on his part agreed to discontinue his already established Shawnee mission (near present Turner, in Wyandotte county). W.H. Goode later wrote of the site: “A better selection could scarcely have been found. The prairie lands lie well; timber is contiguous; the farm reaches to the great California thoroughfare; altogether it is one of the finest situations I have seen west of the Mississippi.” Read the report. |
| 1838, October | Mary Todd was appointed by the New York conference as a missionary to the Shawnee Indians. She left Philadelphia for Shawnee Methodist mission, having borrowed $75 from a friend for traveling expenses. On account of high water, she was forced to remain at Wheeling, W. Va., five weeks. This unexpected draft upon her funds depleted them and when she reached St. Louis, she found herself a stranger in a strange land without means to proceed farther. Trudging through the mud she sought the home of a minister and told him her story, that she was a missionary on her way to Mr. Johnson's station at Shawnee mission and could not go forward for the want of means. He came to her assistance, furnishing the necessary funds. |
| 1838, November 5 | George Maguire, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, St Louis writes to T. Hartley Crawford, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington dated Nov 5, 1838, transmitting a letter from R.W. Cummins, Indian Agent, dated October 18, 1838. Read the letter. |
| 1838, November 14 | Gabriel Prudhomme estate, including the Kansas landing was sold to the Town of Kansas Company creating what would become Kansas City. |
| 1838, November 25 | The annual report for Shawnee mission gave thirty-two scholars in attendance at the school, of which eight girls and three boys lived at the mission. The rest were furnished one meal a day at the mission house. Some of the girls had learned to weave and all could sew and knit. Three boys, having completed their apprenticeship in cabinetmaking, were furnished tools by the school to enable them to set up workshops for themselves. Missionaries were the Rev. and Mrs. Thomas Johnson and Lorenzo Waugh. Read the report. |
| 1838, November 25 | The Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1838 discribes the pupils progress in their classroom and manual training at the Indian Manual School, as well as reference to the other missionary establishments near by. Read the report. |
| 1838, December | Mary Todd arrived at the mission to teach. |
| [1838] | Indian Agent R.W. Cummins writes to C.A. Harris, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, certifying that he has met with "the chiefs and councillers [sic] of the Shawanee [sic] nation & by them to the Tribe in my presence and that they the (Shawanee nation) gave their full & entire consent that the Society of Methodist might establish the school at the place designated...". Further that Thomas Johnson agreed to discontinue the mission which they have already established (Turner site). Read the report. |
| Next Section of the Timeline: Indian Manual Labor School, 1839-1841 |
