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- Timeline, 1842-1847
| Previous Section of the Timeline: Shawnee Lands, 1839-1841 | |
| 1842 | |
| 1842, January 1 | A two-clay meeting began at the Shawnee meeting house. Worshippers carne and brought provisions with them and remained during the meeting, and they had a “gracious time.” |
| 1842, March 12-14 | The first quarterly conference for the Indian mission district was held at the manual labor school. Resolutions were passed providing that in the future no person should be admitted to the communion of the Lord’s supper without previous examination and ticket; that there would be but one general camp meeting within the bounds of the Indian district during the conference year; and that a suitable shed should be built at Shawnee camp ground for camp meetings. |
| 1842, April 10 | Death of William Johnson. He became ill in March when in company with Richard Cummins he was on his way to the manual labor school with eleven Kansas Indian boys, and never recovered. Richard Cummins considered him one of the best men he ever met, and his death a great loss to the Kansas tribe of Indians. “His last services expired when he returned the eleven Kansas boys to the manual labor school, part of which he rendered in great pain.” |
| 1842, April 15 | Robert R. Roberts, bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church, visited manual labor school, arriving there about dark. He was grieved to learn of the death of William Johnson. After spending several days in examining the condition of the school, and offering suggestions as to the best way of conducting the establishment, he proceeded to visit the other missions. |
| 1842, April 20 | E.R. Ames who accompanied Bishop Roberts on his tour of the missions, found the manual labor school to be a “noble institution.” He said that he heard many familiar names in the schoolroom. There were Joshua Soule, Nathan Bangs, William Ryland, Richard Tydings, Thomas Bottomly, William Herr, etc., and he felt no fear that the fine lads with frank, open countenances, cheerfully employed in the schoolroom, workshop, and on the farm would disgrace the names they bore. |
| 1842, May 4 | Bishop Roberts, having disposed of his carriage and ponies, took passage at the Kansas landing on the Missouri river for St. Louis. |
| 1842, June 10 | John C. Fremont started on his first expedition to the Rocky Mountains. He had remained at Cyprian Chouteau’s trading station for several days completing arrangements for the trip. His party was composed almost wholly of Frenchmen gathered up around St. Louis with Christopher (Kit) Carson as guide. |
| 1842, August 15 | J.C. Berryman presented to R.W. Cummins his annual report for the Indian manual labor school. The report showed that at the commencement of the school year, October 1, 1841, they were $3,000 in debt and as they had not received government aid during the year he thought they would be greatly in arrears. He respectfully urged the government to do its part. Mr. Berryman found the chief difficulties with the education of the Indian youth were the ignorance, prejudice, instability and apathy of the parents, and the inability to keep the children in school sufficient time to accomplish anything. Children taken between the ages of six and ten did well because they had not formed habits of idleness, and they acquired the English language more readily than the older ones, and adopted more easily the manners and habits of the whites. The manner of instruction was the same as ·was used in the best primary schools in the United States. They held school six hours a day except Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturday they taught only three hours. The boys not employed in the shops usually worked on the farm, in the garden, getting firewood, or in similar labor, five hours a day. They were at all times under the management of their teachers. The whole school retired to bed, as a general regulation, at 8 p.m., and rose at the ringing of the large bell at 4 a.m. There were three meals a day, and the whole school and all connected with it ate at the same time at two long tables that would accommodate nearly two hundred persons. The children were boarded, clothed, lodged and taught free of any cost to parents except in a single case where parents clothed the child. There were ninety-seven scholars in the school. The expense of each was $100. Miss Belle Greene gave the following description of the assembling for meals: “The signal…was given by the ringing of a bell that was fixed upon the top of the dining hall. At its sound, the Indian boys and girls formed in line in front of their quarters, the east building, the boys leading; and, upon entering the dining room, the boys took their places at one table, the girls at another, and the whites at another. Then, all standing, Mr. Johnson with his knife handle struck the table three times for silence preceding the blessing, then one rap to be seated. At the close of the meal, he again struck the table once and the boys filed out, and the girls followed; then, arising himself all passed out. At the morning and evening meals, however, the single rap was the signal for prayer, all kneeling.” Read the letter. |
| 1842, September 12 | Richard Cummins in his report to the superintendent of Indian affairs described the Shawnee Indians as an agricultural people. They had farms varying in size from five acres to one hundred and enclosed with rail fences, many of them staked and ridered. They lived in comfortable hewn log cabins, and had outhouses, stables and barns. Their crops consisted of corn, wheat, oats, pumpkins, beans, peas, Irish and sweet potatoes, cabbage, turnips, and many other vegetables. They had horses, cattle, hogs, turkeys and chickens. They also had a water, grist and saw mill. |
| 1842, September 17 | Major Cummins informed the superintendent of Indian affairs that the manual labor school was largely in arrears, and without help its credit would suffer. |
| 1842, November 5 | The first quarterly conference of the Indian mission district for the conference year 1842-1843 convened. The conference adopted resolutions recommending to the Indians to remarry according to the Christian custom, there being so much irregularity with reference to their marriages, and that this would be a requirement hereafter for all who united with the church. |
| [1842] | In a report, only dated as 1842, to D.D. Mitchell, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, St. Louis, Indian Agent R.W. Cummins give a detailed description of the Indian Manual Labor Shool's buildings. Read the Report. |
| 1843 | |
| 1843 | Most of the surviving Wyandot people were removed to Kansas territory. Using the funds for their lands in Ohio, the Wyandot purchased 23,000 acres for $46,080 in what is now from the Delaware reserve. The Wyandot had shown the Delaware hospitality in Ohio for which they were grateful. The Wyandot acquired a more-or-less square parcel of fertile land located in an acute angle of the Missouri River and Kansas River. |
| 1843, February 9 | E.R. Ames, corresponding secretary of the missionary society of the M. E. church, presented the claim of the manual labor school for settlement. His statement showed that $2,500 was due the school from the government under the agreement of June 20, 1838. He asked an allowance from the education fund for the Delawares and Kansas to pay the expenses of nine Kansas and sixteen Delaware Indians for three years at $100 each, making in all $7,500. |
| 1843, May 18 | A committee composed of William Patton, E.T. Peery and W. Browning visited the Kansas Indian mission and returning with nine or ten Indian children for the manual labor school. |
| 1843, May 18 | Dr. Marcus Whitman arrived at Westport on the return trip to his mission in Oregon. He remained at Westport and the manual labor school for about two weeks awaiting the assembling of settlers Oregon-bound. The rendezvous was twelve miles west of Independence, MO. |
| 1843, May 23 | E.R. Ames visited the Indian territory and reported to the board of managers of the missionary society facts relative to the school. The expenditures of the school were as follows: Appropriated by the mission committee of the Missouri annual conference October, 1838, $8,000; October, 1839, $10,000; October, 1840, $8,000; October, 1841, $8,000; October, 1842, $5,000; total, $39,000. Appropriated by the government from the civilization fund, April, 1840, $6,250; July, 1841, $3,750; February, 1843, $2,500; from the Delaware school fund, $1,800; total, $14,300. Grand total, $53,300. Subtracting $4,300 paid by the government, which was applied to the general objects of the society, the total amount of expenditures to October, 1843, was $49,000. The following was the estimated value of the property: Buildings, $16,450; farm of 550 acres, $5,000; livestock, $2,000; farming utensils, $400; household and kitchen furniture, $600; dry goods, $300; tools and stock on hand in the mechanic shops, $1,000; total, $25,750; subtracting this from the expenditures would leave $23,250 for the payment of salaries of persons in the employ of the institution, the subsistence of the pupils, etc., from October, 1838, to October, 1843, inclusive, amounting to a little less than an average of $5,000 a year. The farm, after supplying all the bread, meat and vegetables used in the family, and selling enough to pay for the tea, coffee, sugar, etc., yielded an annual surplus in grain and livestock of probably $600. The average produce of the farm annually amounted to 2,000 bushels of wheat, 3,500 bushels of oats, 4,000 bushels of corn, 50 tons of hay; annual surplus of stock for sale or consumption, 110 hogs averaging 200 pounds each, 40 beeves and four horses. The total enrollment of the school was listed at 348, recorded by years as follows: October, 1840—67, 35 boys, 32 girls; October, 1841—78, 53 boys, 25 girls; October, 1842—97, 64 boys, 33 girls; October, 1843—106 (estimated), 63 boys, 43 girls. There were in the employment of the institution ten single men and one single woman; eleven married men having in their families twenty children. These added to the one hundred Indian children made 150 persons to be supported entirely by the institution. The labor of the children did much to lessen the cost of their support. The boys cut all the firewood, cultivated the garden, plowed and hoed the corn, helped tend the stock, and assisted with the harvesting. The girls, within the last six months, had made 446 garments for the institution, and $200 had been received for custom work done by them in the sewing. They did all the washing and made the soap, besides doing about half the cooking, etc., in the kitchen. Mr. Ames thought that if the government did them justice little or no aid would be required from the missionary treasury to support the school. Read the report. |
| 1843, May 28 | John C. Fremont’s party encamped near the manual labor school. |
| 1843, May 29 | Fremont set out on an expedition to Oregon and California. |
| 1843, June 1 | Dr. Marcus Whitman and his nephew, Perrin B. Whitman, set out from the mission on their journey west. They spent the first night with the Fremont party. |
| 1843, July 2 | W.H. Goode, superintendent of the Fort Coffee academy in the Choctaw nation, visited the manual labor school on his way to Indiana. He noted about one hundred students in attendance, and all were orderly. He also mentioned that there were a few slaves held by the preachers at the institution, but this was apologized for as a temporary arrangement. |
| 1843, July 3 | The superintendent of the school set out with about forty pupils to attend a Sunday school celebration at Independence. The scholars had been well trained in vocal music and were expected to increase the interest of the occasion. |
| 1843, September 15 | J.C. Berryman, Superintendent Manual Labor School reports to R.W. Cummins, Indian Agent, on the activities of the Indian Manual Labor School. Included is an accounting of costs and an apeal for the Department to pay monies owed. Read the report. |
| 1843, September 30 | S.M. Irvin, missionary at Highland mission (present Doniphan county), wrote that he had visited the manual labor school in recent weeks. |
| 1843, October 1 | Richard Cummins reported that the Shawnees were gradually increasing in agricultural pursuits; that their blacksmiths had been constantly engaged during the year in making and repairing agricultural implements, and even their two blacksmiths could not supply all their wants. |
| 1843, October 4 | The annual conference convened at Lexington, MO. W.W. Redman, W. Patton, J.C. Berryman and James M. Jameson were chosen delegates to the General conference to be held in New York City the next May. L.B. Stateler was retuned as missionary to the Shawnees, and J.C. Berryman was reappointed superintendent of the manual labor school. |
| 1843, October 22 | C. Berryman sent a plea for aid to the editor of the Western Christian Advocate. On account of hard times money was very scarce and the bishops had reduced the appropriations so that the school was in need. The Reverend Berryman explained how the people could render great assistance by donating clothing, bedding, etc. He said that during the harvest they had to employ many adult natives to help, and these could be paid in clothes instead of money. It took about fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of clothing and bedding for the school children per year, and an additional five hundred dollars’ worth for teachers and mechanics. He suggested that they establish a place of general deposit in each circuit where the people might bring such things as they could spare, as stockings, a few yards of linsey or janes, some domestic cotton, sheets, pillow-slips, towels, tablecloths, etc., or perhaps a merchant would give a set of knives and forks, or spoons. When received at the place of deposit they should be boxed and directed to the Indian manual labor school in care of Simpson & Hunter, Westport, Jackson county, MO. |
| 1843, November 25 | The report of the Indian affairs office listed four teachers at the school and 116 scholars, 69 boys and 47 girls. The church records showed ten colored children as members of the mission. These no doubt belonged to the slaves which Thomas Johnson had brought into the territory. |
| [1843] | A Report for 1843 lists the allowances that should be made to the Methodist Society for support of the Manual Labor School. It is unclear to whom the report is directed gives details for 1840-1842 with proposals for 1843. Read the report. |
| [1843] | An unsiggned letter giving details of the activities of the students and issues of language, interacting among students of different tribes, religious teaching, and the role of of the school as a national model. Read the letter. |
| 1844 | |
| 1844, January 25 | E.R. Ames wrote a pointed and lengthy letter to T. Hartley Crawford, commissioner of Indian affairs, setting forth the sums of money due the missionary society from the government. The account was as follows: For boarding, c lathing, lodging and instructing sixteen Delaware children one year ending October, 1840, $1,600; nineteen Delaware children one year ending October, 1841, $1,900; thirty Delaware children one year ending October, 1842, $3,000; thirty-nine Delaware children one year ending October, 1843, $3,900. Deducting $1,800 received from the Delaware school fund left a balance of $8,600. For boarding, clothing, lodging and instructing four Kansas Indian children one year ending October, 1840, $400; thirteen Kansas children one year ending October, 1841, $1,300; eight Kansas children one year ending October, 1842, $800; seven Kansas children one year ending October, 1843, $700; total $3,200. To this was added one-half the expense of supporting fifty children for one year ending October, 1843, $2,500; making a grand total of $14,300. The letter also called attention to letters, documents and action of the government in other instances to prove the validity of the manual labor school’s account. Read the letter. |
| 1844, February 28 | Agreement made between the chiefs of the Delaware nation and J.C. Berryman on behalf of the Indian manual labor school. The chiefs acting for the Delaware nation agreed to patronize the manual labor school, by using their influence to keep a suitable number of children in the institution, and by applying their school fund to its support; and they requested the President of the United States to cause to be paid over to the superintendent of the institution the interest arising on all their school funds annually for the ensuing ten years, together with all arrearages. J.C. Berryman, on behalf of the institution, agreed to receive and educate any number of Delaware children not exceeding fifty at any one time, without the consent of the superintendent of the institution. The Delaware children were to be comfortably clad and boarded at the expense of the institution. The agreement was certified by Richard W. Cummins, Indian agent. The interest amounted to $2,844 annually, and the arrearages upward of $2,000. Read the agreeement. |
| 1844, March 14 | Richard Cummins in transmitting the agreement between the Delawares and J.C. Berryman to the superintendent of Indian affairs stated that he considered the agreement an advantageous one on the part of the Delawares. Read the letter. |
| 1844, April 10 | R.W. Cummins, Indian Agent, reports upon the financial support for Indian Manual Labor School by various tribes. Read the letter. |
| 1844, April 22 | T. Hartley Crawford, commissioner of Indian affairs, expressed his interest and satisfaction with the Delaware agreement, and suggested the following terms: that there should always be at least thirty Delaware children at the school, and if the number fell below that at any time the amount paid to the superintendent should be reduced $100 for every scholar short of that number; that one-half the scholars should be females, as near as may be practicable; that in addition to board and clothing, every scholar should be furnished with medical aid and advice, and with books, stationery and whatever else necessary to their comfort and health; the interest to be paid annually if suitable to the treasury, the agreement subject to rescission at the pleasure of the department; reports of the number and progress of the Delaware children to be made prior to the annual payment. The Secretary of War, William Wilkins, approved the above terms with the additional stipulation that the provision for thirty children was meant as a limit to the minimum number and did not change the number of children agreed to in the treaty. |
| 1844, April 24 | A visitor at the school reported to the board of mission: “Here were extensive brick buildings, adapted to all the wants of such an institution. A steam grist-mill, which not only was adequate to the supply of flour for their large family, but to all the Indians round about, who formerly knew not what to do with their corn but pound it; but who are now encouraged to raise grain, because they could here have it ground. Here, also, they find a market for their wood, which they sell at $1.50 per cord. Carpenter, wheel-wright and blacksmith shops, a brick yard, looms, dairies-in short, every facility for imparting instruction, not only in letters but in mechanical arts. Five fields of 100 acres each, were under the cultivation of the school, and everything wearing a most promising aspect. “In April and September, the planting and gathering seasons, the children after performing their offices on the farm, are allowed vacation to see their parents, and assist them on their forms. This being the spring vacation…, we saw but few of the children.” |
| 1844, May 1 | The ninth delegate General conference of the Methodist Episcopal church assembled in the Green street church in New York City. At this conference the controversy over slavery disrupted the church, and resolutions were adopted providing for the separation of the church in the slave-holding states from the church in the North. |
| 1844, May30 | Jotham Meeker reported that he “never saw such a time of rain.” It had fallen almost every day for three weeks. The river had overflowed its banks. There had been neither plowing nor planting, and the Indians feared they would raise no crops. |
| 1844, June | J.C. Berryman was appointed superintendent of Indian missions and E.T. Peery took his place at the manual labor school. |
| 1844, June 3 | The committee on boundaries at the General conference established an Indian mission conference, bounded on the north by the Missouri river; east by the states of Missouri and Arkansas; south by the Red river; and west by the Rocky Mountains. |
| 1844, June 9 | Superintendent Berryman submitted his report to the commissioner of Indian affairs. He explained that it was impracticable to give in detail the exact cost of each pupil, because the supplies werc purchased at wholesale and the children were furnished out of those, some requiring more and some less. Besides the farm, mills and mechanic shops contributed considerable to the support of the school, the amount of which could not be exactly ascertained. Therefore, they did not actually pay out $100 for each scholar per year, though they would had not the society erected mills and shops at a great expense. Besides the amount received from the government the missionary society still contributed liberally. The financial account was as follows: March 15, 1844, boarding, washing and lodging twenty-four Delaware children six months at $52 per annum, $624; clothing the same at $33 per annum, $396; tuition, books, stationery and medical attention for the same at $15 per annum, $180; same for five Kansas Indian children, $250; the same for eighty-one other children, $4,050; total $5,500. June 15, 1844, the same for thirty-eight Delaware children for three months, $950; the same for three Kansas boys for three months, $75; the same for seventy-four other children three months, $1,850; total for the three quarters of the year, $8,375; amount paid according to agreement with the Delawares, $2,355.42, leaving unpaid $6,019.58. The number of scholars for the first two quarters of the year, beginning September 15, 1843, was ll.0, and for the third quarter, 115, that also being the number at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The number of Delaware children was thirty-eight, 14 of whom were girls. Previous to the agreement with the Delawares the Munsee children had been counted with them, but they were now listed separately, since the Munsees had no part in the Delaware school fund interest. Nine Munsee girls and three Munsee boys were in attendance. Some of the more advanced scholars left school in the spring and went home, bidding fair to become useful men and women. Both the scholars and parents appeared to take an increasing interest in the institution. Read the report. |
| 1844, June 11 | Jotham Meeker wrote in his journal: “The river rises higher than we have ever seen it. The water covers many of the Indians’ fields, and surrounds their houses. The Indians who live in the bottoms nearly all flee to the hills. Many of the hogs we think will be drowned, and crops and other property destroyed. Move our things out of our cellar and smoke house, both of which are deep with water. The river is not quite upon a level with the bank at our house, but is still rising and may surround us before morning.” |
| 1844, June 18 | Meeker wrote that he learned from the Indians that the Missouri river was twenty-five feet higher than it was ever known to be before. |
| 1844, September 21 | Richard Cummins reported that the crops of the Shawnees were very poor owing to the abundance of rain during the spring and early part of the summer. Those farming on the bottom lands lost their crops entirely and nearly all their hogs, cattle and some horses; their houses and fences were swept off by the flood. Many of them attempted to raise hemp, but their crops were destroyed by the rains. |
| 1844, October 11 | Bishop Thomas A. Morris visited the manual labor school on his way to the Indian mission conference. He expressed great satisfaction with the conduct of the school. Arriving in time to witness part of the examination exercises at the close of the regular term, he considered their performances in spelling, reading, arithmetic, geography, composition, autography, and vocal music were such as would do credit to any of the city schools in the United States. Bishop Morris described the improvements on the premises as quite respectable. Besides some comfortable frame buildings there were two large, substantial brick buildings, one on either side of the spring. The boys and their teachers lived in one of these houses, and the girls with their teachers and governesses in the other. The mission farm was extensive and well stocked with horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry; there were also three native buffalo which were captured while young, and subsequently purchased for the mission. A steam flour mill capable of grinding three hundred bushels of wheat a day netted the society more than $1,800 the past year. The mill cost $4,000 with payments to be made over a period of four years. The superintendent was contemplating adding machinery to saw lumber, and thereby increasing its profits. |
| 1844, October 14 | Bishop Morris, L.B. Stateler, Thomas Hurlbut, and E.T. Peery set out for Tahlequah [Ok.] to attend the Indian mission conference. Following the military road, they traveled twenty-five miles the first day, encamping on a small stream. Their circular tent made of domestic cotton, afforded a shelter from wind and rain, and with buffalo skins for beds, carriage cushions for pillows, and blankets for covering they passed the nights comfortably. The second day they traveled thirty-eight miles and encamped on the Marais des Cygnes river, and the third day they were joined by the Rev. Thomas B. Ruble, missionary among the Pottawatomies, thus making three carriages in the procession. At Fort Scott, Bishop Morris reported finding one company of dragoons and two of infantry. They “appeared to have but little to do, as we saw some of them miles beyond, sporting with greyhounds.” The rest of their trip was made with much difficulty through wind and rain and a severe snowstorm. On October 22 after a journey of 260 miles they reached Tahlequah. |
| 1844, October 23 | The Indian mission conference commenced its first session at Riley’s chapel, near Tahlequah in the Cherokee nation. The conference consisted of twenty-seven members, about one-fourth of them native preachers. All their work was missionary, and, consequently there was no “scrambling for popular appointments, or city stations.” The Indian mission conference adhered to the South in the division of the church. |
| 1844, October 24 | A hurricane passed over the institution, demolishing many of the buildings and injuring a few persons, but no lives were lost. |
| 1844, November 25 | T. Hartley Crawford, commissioner of Indian affairs, reported the manual labor school as prospering. |
| 1844, December 31 | The superintendent received his three months’ salary of $125, and the teachers received $250. |
| 1845 | |
| 1845, January 1 | E.T. Peery, superintendent of the manual labor school, paid a bill of $2,265.26 for merchandise for the school. |
| 1845, January 6 | R.W. Cummins reported to the superintendent of Indian affairs that about 80 Munsees, 171 Shawnees and 240 Delawares had been deprived of breadstuff by the flood the last spring. Most of these families lost their houses as well as their crops, fences, and many of them their old corn in the cribs. Some lost their hogs, cattle and horses. |
| 1845, March 14 | The bills paid included $2.06 for rattan and $5.70 for skivers for making boys’ caps, and $46.08 for carpeting. |
| 1845, March 26 | E.T. Peery, superintendent, paid a salt bill of $26.70. |
| 1845, May 1 | The superintendent paid the wagonmaker, $350. Included among other bills allowed during the month were: lamps for chapel, $19.50; tinware, $65.20; two barrels vinegar, $8.00; iron, $103.78; groceries, $391.47, and insurance, $8.17. On this clay a convention of Southern delegates met at Louisville, Ky., Bishops Soule and Andrew, presiding. After full deliberation the convention declared the Southern conference a distinct church under the name Methodist Episcopal church, South. |
| 1845, June 30 | E.T. Perry, Superintendent Manual Labor School sends the 2nd Quarter report for 1845 to T. Hartley Crawford, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Read the report. |
| 1845, July 8 | Jotham Meeker, Baptist missionary to the Ottawas, took two Ottawa boys to the manual labor school. |
| 1845, July 24 | The superintendent paid $136.72 for labor on the farm. |
| 1845, August 14 | $83.91 was paid by the school for bacon. |
| 1845, September 10 | E.T. Perry, Superintendent Manual Labor School sends the 1nd Quarter report for 1845 to T. Hartley Crawford, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Read the report. |
| 1845, September 15 | The report of the school this year showed an attendance of 187 scholars. A third large brick building was in progress of erection. Its dimensions were 100 feet by 20, two stories high with a piazza the whole length, with the exception of a small room at each end taken off the piazza. The building was divided into suitable rooms intended for the girls’ school. At this time it was up to “the square,” and was expected to be finished by December 25th. |
| 1845, September 30 | The tailor received the sum of $200. Supt. E.T. Peery submitted his account showing the sum of $9,441.66 due the school from the government. And the attendence report. Read the report. |
| 1845, October 12 | The second session of the Indian mission conference convened at the Indian manual labor school. J.C. Berryman and Wesley Browning were elected delegates to the Southern convention to be held the next year at Petersburg, Va. Mr. Berryman was continued superintendent of missions and was also placed in charge of the manual labor school. L.B. Stateler was appointed presiding elder of the Kansas river district together with the charge of the Shawnee circuit. |
| 1845, November 11 | Dr. E. White visited the manual labor school on his return from Oregon. He stated that he had never visited a mission more flourishing or in better condition. While there he learned of the death of the Rev. Jason Lee. |
| The number of pupils at the school this year was given as 150 with an average attendance of 115. | |
| 1845, December 31 | J.C. Berryman, Superintendent Manual Labor School, submits a report on the activities of the Indian Manual Labor School to Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Mentioned is the deaths of 4 pupils to pneumonia. Read the report. |
| 1846 | |
| 1846, January 14 | The Kansas tribe of Indians ceded to the United States two million acres of land on the east part of their country. |
| 1846, March 10 | R.W. Cummins, Indian Agent, Fort Leavenworth Agency wrote to Colonel Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, "for the purpose of giving you a general knowledge of the improvements, management and success of the mission and Manual Labour School." Read the letter. |
| 1846, March 31 | J.C. Berryman, Superintendent Manual Labor School, reports on the activities of the Quarter just ended of the Indian Manual Labor School to Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. A total of 105 students were enrolled. Read the report. |
| 1846, April 13 | J.C. Berryman, Superintendent Manual Labor School, reports on the activities and accounts of the Indian Manual Labor School for the Quarter ending December 31, 1845 to Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Read the report. |
| 1846, May 1 | The first General conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, met in Petersburg, Va. It consisted of eighty-seven members. On the second day Bishop Soule announced his adherence. |
| 1846, May | Francis Parkman stopped at Shawnee mission on his way west. He wrote: “Fording the creek, the low roofs of a number of rude buildings appeared, rising from a cluster of groves and woods on the left; and riding up through a long lane, amid a profusion of wild roses and early spring flowers, we found the log-church and schoolhouses belonging to the Methodist Shawanoe mission. The Indians were on the point of gathering to a religious meeting. Some scores of them, tall men in half-civilized dress, were seated on wooden benches under the trees; while their horses were tied to the sheds and fences. Their chief, Parks, a remarkably large and athletic man, had just arrived from Westport, where he owns a trading establishment. Beside this, he has a large farm and a considerable number of slaves. Indeed the Shawanoes have made greater progress in agriculture than any other tribe on the Missouri frontier; and both in appearance and in character form a marked contrast to our late acquaintance, the Kanzas.” |
| 1846, July | William Patton was appointed to the superintendency of the manual labor school, succeeding J.C. Berryman. |
| 1846, July 8 | J.C. Berryman, Superintendent Manual Labor School, reports on the activities of the Indian Manual Labor School for the 2nd Quarter , 1846 to Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Read the report. |
| 1846, July 28 | Death of Mrs. Jerome Berryman. Her funeral was held August 7. She was buried in the mission cemetery southeast of the school buildings. William Patton preached the funeral sermon. |
| 1846, late September | Francis Parkman again passed through the Shawnee country on his homeward journey from the mountains. He described a different scene at this time: “We had passed the same road on our outward journey in the spring, but its aspect was now totally changed. The young wild apple trees, then flushed with their fragrant blossoms, were hung thickly with rudely fruit. Tall grass grew by the roadside in place of tender shoots just peeping from the warm and oozy soil. The vines were laden with purple grapes, and the slender twigs of the swamp maple, then tasselled with their clusters of small reel flowers, now hung out a gorgeous display of leaves stained by the frost with burning crimson. On every side we saw tokens of maturity and decay where all had before been fresh with opening life. We entered the forest, checkered, as we passed along, by the bright spots of sunlight that fell between the opening boughs. On either side rich masses of foliage almost excluded the sun, though here and there its rays could find their way down, striking through the broad leaves and lighting them with a pure transparent green. Squirrels barked at us from the trees; coveys of young partridges ran rustling over the fallen leaves, and the golden oriole, the blue-jay, and the flaming red-bird darted among the shadowy branches. We hailed these sights and sounds of beauty by no means with unmingled pleasure.” |
| 1846, October 26 | William Patton presented the third quarterly report of the condition of the manual labor school to the commissioner of Indian affairs. The school closed its summer session August 31, and the examinations showed that the pupils had made progress in their work. The school’s greatest difficulty was to create such an interest in books in the Indian youth that he would apply himself to reading and study after he left school and mingled with his friends and relatives. The number in school for the quarter was ninety-three, of these thirty-two were Delawares, thirteen males and nineteen females. After five weeks’ vacation the ·winter session was just opening under favorable circumstances. The general health had been good. The farm was in good condition and had yielded an abundant harvest of wheat, corn and vegetables. The mills and shops were flourishing. The shops furnished the industrious with wagons thereby giving them greater opportunity to make their own living. However, the steam flour and saw mill was perhaps the most valuable improvement. Here, the Indians from the various tribes around obtained their flour and corn meal, and the saw mill furnished them with lumber for building and furnishing their houses, Furthermore the saw mill offered to them inducement to industry, for they supplied all the saw logs and steam wood, taking in return flour, meal, sugar, coffee, salt, and dry goods as their families might need. |
| 1846, November 12 | The third session of the Indian mission conference met at Riley’s chapel, Cherokee nation. J.C. Berryman was again made superintendent of missions, and William Patton was returned to the Indian manual labor school. The annual report of the board of missions of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, gave the number of scholars for the year as 137. These were instructed in school each day from nine to twelve and from one to four. The larger portion of the boys were studying agriculture, while others were learning blacksmithing, wagonmaking and shoemaking. The girls were instructed in domestic economy, such as spinning, weaving, sewing, etc. The Shawnee nation numbered 928 of whom fifty-three were members of the church. The loom room was for a time over the dining room in the boarding house. After the north building was completed, the weaving was done in this building. |
| 1847 | |
| 1847, February 16 | W. Patton, Superintendent Manual Labor School, reports on the 4th Qurater 1846 activities of the Indian Manual Labor School to Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Read the report. |
| 1847, April 9 | W. Patton, Superintendent Manual Labor School, reports on the 1st Qurater 1847 activities of the Indian Manual Labor School to Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Read the report. |
| 1847, July 20 | The War Department (presumedly William Medill, commissioner of Indian affairs), sent a questionnaire to J.C. Berryman, superintendent of missions, among many others, respecting the missions and schools under his supervision. Read the circular. |
| 1847, August 6 | W. Patton, Superintendent Manual Labor School, reports on the 2nd Qurater 1847 activities of the Indian Manual Labor School to Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Read the report. |
| 1847, August 12 | The Reverend Berryman answered the questionnaire from Fort Coffee, giving the following information on the manual labor school: 1. The name of their society was The Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with headquarters at Louisville, KY. 2. There were four schools in the Indian mission conference in operation and two others projected. The first one was located in the Shawnee nation and its name was Indian manual labor school. It was “the first school of any note ever attempted in the Indian country on the manual labor system.” 3. The government annually contributed to the Indian manual labor school the sum of $2,500 from the civilization fund, and the interest on the Delaware school funds, averaging about $2,800 per year. 4. The society had for the past nine years made annual appropriations to the school varying from $10,000 to $4,000. 5. The number of teachers besides mechanics, and exclusive of the superintendent, at the school was four, including the matron who instructed the girls in housewifery. 6. In Mr. Berryman’s judgment the system of education operating among the Indians was far from perfect. He questioned whether it could be improved at that time, but thought it might be superseded in time by something entirely new, to the advantage of all concerned. 7. The cost of buildings at the school had not been less than thirty thousand dollars; of this sum the government paid five thousand dollars, and the missionary society the balance. 8. The buildings at the institution were in good condition and supposed to be worth the estimated cost. |
| 1847, October 30 | Richard Mendenhall of Shawnee Friends mission wrote The National Era of Washington, for the purpose of bringing to public notice the violation of the Missouri compromise in the Indian territory. He stated that there were perhaps twenty slaves in that region belonging to government officials and missionaries; one Shawnee Indian chief also owned several. The extensive missionary establishment under the care of the M. E. church, South, had some half a dozen slaves “to assist in civilizing and Christianizing the Indians.” Many of the Indians were opposed to slavery, while others would own them if they were able, some taking up runaway slaves when they found them. Mr. Mendenhall said that he had deliberated before writing, knowing that he would be subject to bitter persecution were his activities known, but he had determined to bring the subject before the public “at all hazards.” The manual labor school’s report on this day to the superintendent of Indian affairs showed the attendance at the manual labor school for the year as 125 scholars, 78 male, and 47 females. Of this number the Delawares furnished nineteen males and nineteen females; the Shawnees twenty-one males and nine females) the balance being made up from various other tribes. |
| 1847, Autumn | The Rev. Thomas Johnson returned to the Indian manual labor school taking the place of William Patton who had asked for a transfer and was appointed presiding elder of the Weston district. |
| 1847, November 4 | The fourth session of the Indian mission conference convened at Doaksville, Choctaw nation. J.C. Berryman was transferred to the St. Louis conference. This ended his connection with Indian missions. The annual report of the board of missions gave the church membership at the manual labor school as 34, with 100 children in the Sabbath school and 200 volumes in the library. After the return of Thomas Johnson, the school seems to have been renamed the Ft. Leavenworth Indian manual labor (or training) school, which name it bore until March, 1855. |
| 1847, November 17 | W. Patton, Superintendent Manual Labor School, reports on the 3rd Qurater 1847 activities of the Indian Manual Labor School to Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Read the report. |
| Next Section of the Timeline: Indian Manual Labor School, 1848-1854 |
