The Ely Parker Papers provide outstanding documentation for one of the best known Seneca leaders of the 19th century. Rich in information on Seneca history, culture, and language and on Parker's varied activities in both the Indian and white worlds, the collection is a major resource for examining the land and political struggles of the Seneca nation during the 1840s and early 1850s. Comprised of a mix of personal and professional correspondence augmented by a smaller quantity of printed materials, notes, and manuscripts, the collection is arranged chronologically. It is richest for the period 1845-1860, with only a few letters pertaining to Parker's Civil War service, and even fewer for the post-war period. From 1843 through 1848, the Parker Papers provide excellent documentation of the legal battles to resolve the Ogden Land Company's claims to Seneca lands and Seneca efforts to prevent white encroachment. Several letters in 1847 describe the misfortunes of those Senecas who agreed to migrate to the West. Although Parker remained deeply involved in Seneca legal and political affairs after 1848, he appears to have become increasingly consumed with his engineering duties. Through his interest in Seneca history and culture, Parker accumulated a number of manuscripts of Asher Wright, the missionary at Tonawanda, a student of the Seneca language, and a long acquaintance of Parker's. These deal primarily with Seneca grammar, conjugations of verbs, vocabulary, and orthography, but also include translations of scripture, an address interlineated in English and Seneca on the mission boarding school, and most importantly, an 1840 census of the Senecas residing at Buffalo, organized in tabular form by clan. Most of Wright's monographs on the Seneca language are available in the Printed Materials Department. Parker's correspondence with his siblings Caroline, Nicholas, and Newton, provides insight into their education and their personal relationships, and includes a brief essay written by Caroline Parker in 1850 on the prophet Handsome Lake. As an major consultant to Lewis Henry Morgan and a correspondent of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Parker's correspondence includes a number of letters pertaining to Seneca culture and to the early culture of American ethnography. While his Civil War experiences are not particularly well documented, there are three letters and a map from Newton Parker, serving in the 132nd New York Infantry at New Bern, N.C., and half a dozen letters from Ely Parker, including two written during the Chattanooga Campaign. Finally, the collection also contains a manuscript copy of a work said to be Seth Newhouse's Legend of Dekanawida, 1885. Native American Images note : Eleven images, primarily of Ely Samuel Parker and his family members. Includes some early photographs, particularly an undated daguerreotype of Parker’s father, William. Also of note, a 1920 rotogravure of an 1864 reprint of General Ulysses S. Grant and his staff in camp. In oversize, 1844 printed map of the 12,800 acre tract in the Tonawanda (sic) Reservation. A Sachem and Civil War adjutant to Ulysses Grant, Ely Samuel Parker was an important figure in the Seneca Indian nation during the first half of the nineteenth century. Trained as an engineer, Parker was deeply involved in the Senecas' land disputes with the Ogden Land Company and he played an important role in interpreting Seneca culture for a white audience, most notably as a consultant for Lewis Henry Morgan. Collected by Arthur C. Parker, the Ely Samuel Parker Papers include correspondence, manuscripts, and printed materials relating primarily to Seneca affairs, history, language, and culture, as well as politics, education, engineering, and the Civil War. Among Parker's correspondents were Henry Clay, Millard Fillmore, Henry M. Flagler, Lewis Henry Morgan, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Daniel Webster, and Asher Wright. Several letters relate to Parker's service as engineer of public buildings in Galena, Illinois, and to his Masonic activities. Among the noteworthy items in the collection are several essays on Seneca history and culture, a fragment of Parker's diary, 1847, and a significant quantity of material on the Seneca language assembled by Asher Wright.

AMDigital Reference: Mss.497.3.P223.

Reproduction of: William Linn Brown's letter to Senator A.H. Sevier relative to the arrival of the Charleston packet and requesting an extension for his appearance before the Committee on Indian Affairs 2 Jun 1846.

American Philosophical Society