Some Friends and Indians

SOME FRIENDS AND INDIANS.u SOME FRIENDS AND INDIANS. During the years of Zeisberger's missionary efforts among the Lenape Indians,1 he says in his diary (1781-1808) begun after the removal (probably the fifth one) of his Gnadenhutten (Tents of Grace) from the Muskingum to Tuscarorwas County, Ohio, November 20, 1787, "A Quaker came here who lives in Chester [Pennsylvania] ; his father named Isaac Pile had been taken prisoner on the Wabash by Piankashaws 2 (1780)." Many mentions are also made of a Quaker, Abiah Parke,8 who traded * for many years with the Indians and " dealt uprightly with them." 1793. Six Quakers, William Savery,5 John Parrish, John Elliott, and Jacob Lindley, from Pennsylvania, and Joseph Moore and William Hartshorne, from New Jersey, accompanied the 1 D. G. Brinton, " The Lenape and their Legends." 2 The Piankashaws had been driven West. Three chiefs of this tribe ceded land in the Treaty of Grenville, 1795. See "A Mission to the Indians," Martha E. Tyson, Philadelphia, 1862. 3 This Abiah Parke was probably from Chester County, Pennsylvania. " He took sides with the British, and for one of his exploits led a party of the enemy by night to capture his uncle, Colonel Hannum, at Marshallton ," left the parts, " and went to Canada, and never afterwards was heard of alive." Afterward is said to have married a Shawnese woman and left two sons. Futhey and Cope, "Hist. Chester County," p. 118, N. 4 The women of Gnadenhutten made for sale mats, brooms, and baskets , the men canoes. Deer sold for $4 or $5 each. They likewise took quantities of honey from the wild bees of "the bush," and each family made from one hundred to two hundred pounds of maple sugar. One mention is made of their trading for flour at the rate of one pound of sugar for one pound of flour; but usually traders take sugar and sell at three shillings a pound. 8 William Savery (1750-1804) was an eminent minister of Philadelphia . He was the one whose sermon at Norwich, England, 2d mo. 4, 1798, made such a lasting impression on the young Elizabeth Gurney, afterwards Elizabeth Fry. 12 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY. American Peace Commissioners to Detroit, visited the Indians, left them $100 and a message for the Indian Church.6 1797. "A Quaker from the States came to see us and the Indians was much pleased." 7 After the treaty of Grenville, August 3, 1795, the Yearly Meetings of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York appointed Indian Committees ; Baltimore with charge of the Western Indians, until the establishment of Ohio Yearly Meeting [1813] ; and Philadelphia " took by the hand " the Six Nations of New York State. But before this time, in 1794, the Meeting for Sufferings of Philadelphia having been informed that the Indians particularly desired them to be present at a treaty to be held between the Six Nations of New York at Canandaigua, David Bacon, William Savery, John Parrish, and James Emlen offered their services, and were approved by the Meeting.8 The following letter from William Savery was forwarded after their return home from this visit. Philadelphia, ist month 24th, 1795. My Good Friend, the Farmer's Brother, By Capt. Chapin I thought proper to inform thee, & thy Nation, that me and all my friends who attended the Treaty at Canandaigua, arrived safe home and found our friends well—we Reflect frequently on your friendly Disposition toward us & the Issue of the Treaty, which we hope will be the means of a Lasting peace between you & the United States— 6 1793. Information was received by the Friends of Philadelphia that a treaty was likely to be held at Sandusky, and that the Indians requested that they be present, and that they also " send to the children of Onas [William Penn] three strings of white wampum as a token of their friendship ." The consent of their Monthly Meetings and the approbation of President Washington being obtained, the above-named Friends were appointed , taking with them an Epistle to the Indians from the Meeting for Sufferings of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. See also " Life and Times of David Zeisberger," Phila., 1871, p. 634. 7 E. De Schweinitz...