REV. DANIEL S. BUTRICK’S “INDIAN ANTIQUITIES”: HIS MISSION TO THE CHEROKEE NATION by David James Tackett

REV. DANIEL S. BUTRICK’S “INDIAN ANTIQUITIES”: HIS MISSION TO THE CHEROKEE NATION AND OBSESSION TO PROVE THAT THEY ARE THE LOST TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL

By David James Tackett Bachelor of Science, Toccoa Falls College, 2002

A THESIS

Submitted to the faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Concentration in Church History at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Deerfield, Illinois December 2011

Accepted

______________________________ PhD. Doug Sweeney First Reader/Thesis Director

______________________________ PhD. Scott Manetsch Second Reader

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ABSTRACT In 1817 Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick was commissioned as a minister of the Word of God to the heathen, in the service of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). The next twenty-five years were marked with personal failure and relational conflict as he sought to realize his mission to the Cherokee Nation. Miraculously, his response to the Cherokee removal crisis and Trail of Tears established a legacy. His decision to champion Christian salvation over political advocacy resulted in the creation of an invaluable resource on Indian culture. His relationship with Cherokee antiquarians and playwright John Howard Payne, produced the “Indian Antiquities” manuscript—arguably the hallmark of his career. The Payne-Butrick collaboration preserved the oral traditions of informants such as Thomas Nu:tsa:wi. Similar to ethnologist James Mooney and anthropologist Ruth Landes, Butrick searched for authentic Indian stories. The historian William G. McLoughlin argued that he found fractured myths that “accommodate aboriginal beliefs to Christianity”; inversely, the folklorist Barbara R. Duncan appreciated such folkways as “living stories.” Butrick promoted the lost ten tribes of Israel as an agenda—his definition of Cherokee history. He accessed a long-standing tradition of speculation on Indian-Hebraic origins by Thomas Thorowgood, John Eliot, John Dury, Dr. Elias Boudinot, and James Adair. He was obsessed with the motif’s archetypal themes of hope and restoration that originated in deuterocanonical literature (Apocrypha) and matured in renderings of the iv

Jewish tradition by charlatans Eldad Ben Mahli ha-Dani and David Reuveni; associations with King Prester John; cosmographers Sebastian Münster and Abraham Ortelius; and theologians John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel. Butrick responded to the ethnocentric, privileged and racist attitudes of white Americans by advocating that Indians were God’s chosen people. This was in reaction to Samuel A. Worcester and Elizur Butler’s protest of Georgia’s laws, President Andrew Jackson’s defiance of the decision in Worcester v. State of Georgia (1832), the signing of the New Echota Treaty (1835), and the expulsion of Cherokee to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). “Indian Antiquities” was the consequence of Butrick’s Cherokee-centered worldview and an act of restitution that gave him hope.

To Pamela Rose who sacrificed so much for her children. And James David who instilled in his sons the value of truth. ♫♪ “Come, Lucia, to the light / Open windows on the brightening snow / Make it through the longest night / A crown of candles for your head tomorrow Oooh oooh ooh”

CONTENTS

PREFACE ....................................................................................................................... xiii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... xv Chapter INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 In Defense of Butrick’s Lost Tribes Obsession: What Made his Perspective Privileged? .................................................... 4 RESEARCH METHOD ........................................................................................ 12 The Source Material: Voluminous Manuscripts ......................................... 14 A Fresh Interpretation of “Indian Antiquities” ........................................... 16 1. EXPERIENCE BEYOND POLICY: DANIEL SABIN BUTRICK’S JOURNEY TO A PRIVILEGED PERSPECTIVE ............................................... 19 Butrick's Faithful Response to a Divine Sign ............................................. 19 “Studying at Geneva”: Daniel S. Butrick, Western New York and the Second Great Awakening .......................................... 22 “Go Therefore and Make Disciples of all the Nations” (Matthew 28:19 KJV): Butrick’s Commissioning Day at Park Street Church, Boston September 3, 1817 .................................................................................. 28 Lyman Beecher’s Address to the Missionaries: “Preach the Gospel to the Heathen” ........................................................ 30 Rev. Jedidiah Morse’s Charge to the Missionaries: “Acquaint the Indian Tribes with the Arts and Improvements of Civilized Life” ............................................................ 33 Andante Allegro (♪=72) “The Lord Gave the Word, Great was the Company of Preachers”: The Indulgent Providence that Carried Butrick into Cherokee History ................................................................ 40

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“Hitherto my Attention has been Confined Chiefly To Nouns and Verbs”: Butrick’s Unsuccessful Cherokee Grammar and Dictionary ........................................................ 42 “Lest I Should Stand in the Way of Others Who Might do Good”: Butrick’s Trouble with his Superiors, 1817–1831 ............................................................................................. 45 Laboring for the Love of God and Souls Departed: D. S. Butrick Weathers the Political Hurricane Of the 1830s ........................................................................................... 52 “And because it Manifests a Spirit not Becoming Missionaries, and Ministers, Christians”: The ABCFM Prudential Committee's Rebuke of Butrick’s Opinion .................................................................. 65 Suffering for Christ on behalf of the Gospel: Butrick’s Interpretation of the Cherokee Removal Crisis For John Howard Payne, Esq. ................................................................ 68 “To Keep my Eye Fixed on the Star of Bethlehem”: Butrick’s Defense of Evangelism as Civil Disobedience ................................................................................. 73 Butrick Defied what he Perceived as the ABCFM’s Hypocrisy with the Veracity that the Cherokee Are the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel ............................................................ 79 The Shape of Daniel Butrick’s Pastoral Ministry In the midst of the Cherokee Nation Circa 1820s and 1830s............................................................................ 82 “You know I am Indeed an Earthen Vessel”: The Historian Marion Starkey’s Construal Of Butrick’s Many Imperfections ........................................................... 85 Championing a Noble, Beautiful and Ideal People: Butrick’s use of the word “Heathen” and Faith that the Cherokee are Hebrews ...................................................... 91

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To “Spend and be Spent” for the Cherokee: Privileged Perspectives, Positions and the Stories Intended to Find Lost People ...................................................... 96 Experience beyond Perspective: Daniel Butrick Joined the Ranks of the Cherokee, 1839 ............................................... 101 Daniel Butrick’s Access to the History and Tradition Of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel Motif .................................................. 103 “Truth is my Object”: Butrick’s Reliance upon Dr. Elias Boudinot’s A Star in the West, or, A Humble Attempt to Discover the Long Lost Ten Tribes of Israel (1816) ........................................................... 104 “And they Shall be Wanderers Among the Nations”: Butrick’s Usage of Old Testament Narrative In his Rendition of the Ten Tribes Motif ............................................... 107 Origination of the Lost Ten Tribes Motif and its Reception with Medieval Christian Audiences...................................... 111 John Calvin’s Commentary on the Captive Ten Tribes of Israel ................................................................. 117 The Political Context of Manasseh ben Israel’s The Hope of Israel (1650)..................................................................... 121 Manasseh ben Israel’s Contextualization of a Jewish Tradition for Puritan Audiences ................................................ 126 A Divine Sign of Lost Israelites in America Butrick as the Inheritor and Promoter Of a Privileged Perspective................................................................... 132 2. LOST IN PUBLICATION: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUTRICK’S ANTIQUITIES AND HIS ANTIQUARIANS .............................................................................. 137 A Funeral for “Buttrick’s” Privileged Perspective: Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884) ........................................... 138 The Relevance of “Indian Antiquities”: An Introduction to the Cherokee Nation ..................................................... 142

Cherokee Informants: Their Relationship with Butrick at the Beginning of His Research ............................................. 146 Reviving the Indian-Hebrew Theory as Praxis: Butrick’s Search for Antiquities Deemed Worthy of Notice and Remembrance .................................................... 150 First Criticism of the Cherokee Antiquarians: Butrick Failed to Appreciate their Sarcasm ........................................... 162 Second Criticism of the Cherokee Antiquarians: Knowledge Was Their Sacred Deposit.................................................. 165 Third Criticism of the Cherokee Antiquarians: As an Introduction to Thomas Nu:tsa:wi............................................... 167 Fourth Criticism of the Cherokee Antiquarians: Butrick’s Problem with Indian Storytellers And their Problem with Him ................................................................ 172 The Cherokee Christian Perspective Of Thomas Nu:tsa:wi ........................................................................... 177 “The Mountaineers who Guard well the Past”: Cherokee-styled Christianity as an Inheritance of Living Stories ................................................................ 183 3. “IS IT NOTHING TO YOU, ALL YE WHO PASS BY”: THE PAYNE-BUTRICK COLLABORATION .................................................. 191 The Interests of John Howard Payne Concerning What He considered His Early And Orthodox Religion ........................................................................ 195 “Will you Forgive my Heaping, what I Fear You will Call Trash upon Your Hands?”: Payne’s RelationshipWith Butrick ........................................................ 203 The First Volume of John Howard Payne Esquire’s “Cherokee Customs and Antiquities” and Other Lost Causes and Fruitless Ventures ...................................................... 210

“What, Restored! Restored! Ha! Ha! Ha!": Payne’s Cherokee History as An Expression of Art ........................................... 216 “The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites. By John Howard Payne, Esq.” (1849) ......................................... 219 Reverend Daniel Butrick’s Hope amidst Heartache: The Unpublished “Jews and Indians” Manuscript ................................. 223 4. “LIKE A TRAVELER ON A LONG JOURNEY AND HAD NEVER REACHED HIS HOME”: THE FULFILLMENT OF DANIEL SABIN BUTRICK’S MISSION TO THE CHEROKEE NATION ........................................................................ 229 The Grace We Need to Honor Our Lord and Savior: Elizabeth (Proctor) Butrick’s Journey With Her Beloved Daniel ..................................................................... 232 “The Times of Restitution of All Things” (Acts 3:21 KJV): What Daniel Found amidst All That He Had Lost ................................. 240 Larghetto (♪=108) “How Beautiful are the Feet of Those that Preach the Gospel of Peace, and Bring Glad Tidings of Good Things”: Butrick’s Ministry among the Five Civilized Tribes ............................................................................ 241 (July 1848) “I Sometimes Feel Very Confident Of What I Afterwards Find to be Incorrect”: Butrick Trusts the Savior’s Reasons For His Deteriorating Health ................................................................ 243 (Sept. 1848) “Ambassadors of Christ Can Never Preach the Gospel to Every Creature If They Must Be Made In Any Way Responsible For the Political And Civil Rights Of Men”: Butrick and the Abolition Movement ............................................................................ 247 “A Simple Expression of the Already Fixed Position Of my Mind”: The Fulfillment of D. S. Butrick’s Spiritual Mission to the Cherokee Nation ............................................. 252

5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 254 Butrick’s Inheritance to the Cherokee Nation: The Good News ................................................................................... 257 Thesis Relevance: “Indian Antiquities” Testify The Fortitude of Butrick’s Faith ........................................................... 263 Butrick’s Access to Christ’s Holy Mountain: Release from Captivity ......................................................................... 265 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 267

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PREFACE O’ bless all thy dear people, and glorify the exceeding riches of thy grace in the conversion and salvation of sinners,—O’ thou dear savior wilt thou assist me in preaching thy word. I am more especially needy than others. I have no wisdom, nor strength, nor sufficiency in any respect, but in thee. O’ for clearer views of thy glory. — Private Journal of Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick (1833) My appreciation for Butrick’s story came because of an encounter with Cherokee Christians during my fieldwork in August 2007. I met with some Cherokee Elders north of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Woodrow Ross and a couple of his friends invited me inside their church where the walls were adorned with scripture written in Sequoyan lettering. We sat in the pastor’s office for a few hours and the men shared stories. A story about a shaman who spent his life performing magic atop a tree stump left an impression. From his deathbed, he gave the Bible he had used as a magical charm to his family and warned them he had been wrong. Jesus was God. When this old man died, his family turned the land containing the stump over to the members of Mr. Ross’s congregation. They tore out the old stump and built a church in its place. Mr. Ross valued the story of the repentant medicine man because it demonstrated how his faith in Christ stood apart from the practices of Cherokee shamans in their community. The archetypal features of the story more closely resembled a folk narrative than conventional history. The reason why the tree stump became the church was the point.

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The shaman’s faith in Christ benefited the entire community. Mr. Ross had this in mind when he asked me, “How will your story benefit my people?” In response to his question, I offer the story of Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick’s mission to the Cherokee nation and obsession to prove that they are the lost ten tribes of Israel. It is a story about how his privileged perspective shaped his relationship with the Indians. I value this story for the same reason that Mr. Ross valued his. Butrick’s expression of faith stood in sharp contrast to the version of Christianity practiced by his fellow Americans. He advocated against his compatriot’s abuse and neglect of the Indians by choosing to live a life characterized by a deep love and respect for the Cherokee. He sought to prove that Indians were descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel as an expression of his hope for their spiritual restoration. I have appreciated Butrick’s writings for his honesty about his personal failures and his persistence to do what he knew was right when none of his fellows would. His struggles and disappointments spoke to me about what it means to hope for redemption amidst seemingly lost causes. This is the story of an obsessed reverend who embarked on a mission to champion the cause of the Cherokee whom he perceived to be lost Israelites. His advocacy on their behalf represents one of the finer moments in Indian mission history. Mr. Woodrow Ross, I pray that this story about Daniel Sabin Butrick’s faith in Christ will continue to be a blessing for the Christians of your community.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I came to Lookout Creek [and] found it full of backwater from the Tennessee River; … I rode in but found myself immediately in deep water; … I seized [the pony’s] mane with one hand,—held my bundle with the other, and swam with my feet, and thus found a very convenient passage by the side of the pony across the creek. The portmanteau floated downstream, but when I called, a dear old Cherokee woman came and went with a boat after it. — Private Journal of Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick (1824) This master’s degree concludes a sixteen-year journey. Christina Marie Day and Franklin Lee Day, thank you for introducing me to Jesus. Merle Maxwell, thank you for teaching me how to pray. Dr. David Jalovick, beloved historian and mentor, you prepared me for the ministry of professional teaching. Judah McNeil and Lauren Esparza, you have been true, true friends. Dr. Scott Manetsch and Dr. Doug Sweeney, your standards of academic excellence were a refiner’s fire—a rite of passage. Emma Stime, you are blazing outta sight. Tory Norquist, you helped me find sobriety. The Baslers, I regret how long I took to paint your walls. I am also thankful for the encouragement of loving people at Life on the Vine (Long Grove, Illinois), Abbey Way Covenant Church (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and Cedar Riverside’s Missio Dei. The Mardens, your cabin was answered prayer. Ms. Nancy Moore, my editor and advice-giver, I owe you this thesis—you are a treasure. Mom and Chuck, Dad and Alicia, Aunt Jackie and Uncle Mike—Alleluia! I have finally completed seminary. Kirstin Joyous Blessing, we were captives to a missionary and his Cherokee Israelites—lost in a thesis. Your resilient love and countless prayers won us this release.

INTRODUCTION This afternoon, I spent at the house alone, O what a reviving precious season I had. At first my soul seemed entirely captivated with the love of Christ. I longed for his presence, and panted for the more perfect enjoyment of his glory. Afterwards the dear people of God came before me, and then the poor perishing heathen around, O how much more important was this season than a month in study without God. —Private Journal of Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick (1832) Hurricane Camille was a cataclysmic Category Five hurricane that made landfall at the mouth of the Mississippi River during the summer of 1969. It traveled inland on an eastward path to the Blue Ridge Mountains where it dumped an estimated thirty inches of rain (in some regions) within six hours. Flash floods surged through the mountains, inundating the Tennessee River with debris as the deluge of water began its long journey back to the Mississippi and its eventual return to the Gulf of Mexico. Flooded rivers have powerful undercurrents. The swollen Tennessee River appeared to be a single torrent. Under the surface, however, were multiple layers of water, traveling at assorted speeds according to their designated paths. If a tempest produces these complexities in nature, how much more do social upheavals complicate the flow of a person’s life? From the proverbial riverbank, I thought my thesis topic would be a straightforward inquiry that would produce a simple answer. Once I stepped into the waters, I discovered the various layers and realized that this topic was about so much more. Rev. Daniel Sabin Butrick (b. August 25, 1789, d. June 8, 1851) wrote “Indian Antiquities” in response to the tempest that befell his mission in the 1830s. His effort to 1

2 prove that the ancestors of the Cherokee Indians were the lost ten tribes of Israel became an obsession to bring rightness to the injustices the Cherokee suffered at the hands of the Americans. He interviewed informants and planned to have their perspectives published by his editor John Howard Payne (b. June 9, 1791, d. April 10, 1852) on behalf of their nation.

Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” contained several hundred pages of material about Cherokee history and tradition wherein he sought to demonstrate a connection to Old Testament Jewish history. He was optimistic that Payne would include it in a proposed history of the Cherokee nation. Payne revised the material at least twice for inclusion into a volume of Cherokee history that he dedicated to a comparative analysis of American Indian folkways and Middle Eastern religious antiquities. In 1848 Payne wrote to Cherokee Chief John Ross (1790–1858) requesting the funds necessary to publish the work on Cherokee history. He hoped that the sale of the first volume, on antiquities, would finance the publication of the other eight volumes of his project. Unfortunately, Payne’s death on April 4, 1852 foiled the realization of these plans.

I chose the collective word “Cherokee” instead of its plural form “Cherokees.” The word Cherokee is used in the body of this thesis and its plural form is used in quotes and titles. Daniel S. Butrick, “Indian Antiquities,” Ayer Manuscript Collection, vols. 1, 3, 4 and 9 of John Howard Payne Papers, TSS, CD-R, Newberry Library, Chicago (Hereafter cited as Payne Papers); and John Howard Payne et al., The Payne-Butrick Papers, 2 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010). 2

“Butrick, more sympathetic than any other to native folkways.” Marion L. Starkey, The Cherokee Nation (North Dighton, MA: JG Press, 1995), 69. Starkey frequently used the word “folkways” to describe the wide range of traditional social and religious norms that, taken together, formed the “folk spirit” of the Cherokee people. Butrick recorded these folkways (values, stories, traditions, customs, et cetera) in “Indian Antiquities.” Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xix; Grace Overmyer, America’s First Hamlet (Washington Square: New York University Press, 1957), 413n171.

3 Edward E. Ayer (1841–1927) collected “Indian Antiquities” as part of the John Howard Payne Papers sometime after 1865. Chicago’s Newberry Library acquired the 3

Payne Papers as part of a 17,000-piece collection in 1911. Since then scholars have appreciated Butrick’s role as a cultural researcher while dismissing his attempt to prove the Hebraic origins of the Cherokee. Their academic dismissal of his perspective is shortsighted. Butrick never intended for “Indian Antiquities” to be used solely as an academic resource. This modern interpretation of it as such underestimates the uniqueness of his perspective and devalues those who contributed to the material. He interpreted history as a divine sign that championed the Cherokee as a chosen people. He stayed among them because he was convinced of this privileged perspective. Butrick hoped to accomplish more than prove that the Cherokee were Israelites—he longed for their spiritual salvation. The story of his journey to this privileged perspective is a rather desultory venture; this challenges the choice to approach this topic with aesthetic creativity and panache. However, this style fits well with the academic contribution I hope to leave my audience of historians, scholars and educated non-specialists: that “Indian Antiquities” was more than a collection of valuable data; it was a story about relationships. Experiencing it as such does justice to the man who wrote it and those who contributed. Emphasis upon Butrick’s relationships highlights the themes of his writing: hope and restoration. Hope that the Cherokee nation would experience restoration was 3

American Indian Studies at the Newberry Library, “Edward E. Ayer Collection,” The Newberry Library, http://www.newberry.org/collections/ayer.html (accessed Dec. 28, 2010).

4 obsessively on Butrick’s mind as he promoted his version of the ten tribes motif. Other individuals who played a role in Butrick’s story equally spoke of their hopes for Cherokee restoration. This analysis also addresses these viewpoints. The primary question proposed in this thesis is, “What was the relevance of Daniel Sabin Butrick’s theological perspective as it influenced his relationships with his missionary brethren, Christian Cherokee informants, and editor John Howard Payne?” In Defense of Butrick’s Lost Tribes Obsession: What Made his Perspective Privileged? Throughout this thesis, the summation of Daniel Butrick’s privileged perspective was his social, religious, and political worldview. A clarification of what constituted this privileged perspective will contribute to a helpful interpretation of Butrick’s relationship with the Cherokee informants, missionary brethren, and fellow compatriots. Admittedly, there is an understandable desire to distance one’s self from Butrick’s argument that the Cherokee were the Hebrew ten tribes: “Indian Antiquities” obviously failed to prove the literal Jewish ancestry of North American Indians. I propose, however, that Butrick’s belief that the Cherokee are the lost ten tribes of Israel was a small part of a broader privileged perspective. As such, his writings on the ten tribes are valuable for the archetypal truths he hoped to communicate about the Cherokee in response to the injustices wrought upon the Indians by those who shared his religion, country, and race. 4

The editors of Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) argued that “archeological evidence has proven the [Indian-Hebrew] theory incorrect.” Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:457n48. However, Dr. Richard Henry Popkin (1923–2005) responded to this view with the assertion that “the Jewish Indian theory fell victim to a scientific movement aimed at getting rid of the Scriptural framework of human history and substituting a secular one, of migrating

5 Much of the modern disregard for ten tribes speculation is due to the perverse renderings of the motif by storytellers driven by a sense of their own superiority. For example, Anglo-Israelism was a skewed version of the motif that gained popularity across Europe and America in the latter part of the nineteenth-century. John Wilson (1799–1870) published Lectures on Our Israelitish Origins in 1840 as Butrick sought to publish “Indian Antiquities.” While it is unlikely that Butrick accessed the message forwarded in Wilson’s version of the ten tribes motif, Lectures on Our Israelitish Origins (1840) serves as a counterbalance that demonstrates the value of Butrick’s perspective. Wilson’s belief that the Anglo-Saxons were the descendants of the Hebrew ten tribes gained widespread appeal in the 1870s at the hands of promoters such as Edward Hine (1825–1891). Hine argued that as rightful heirs of the ten tribes, Anglo-Saxons were the rightful rulers of the world. He interpreted the American subjugation of the Indian nations and British colonial control of indigenous populations as the fulfillment of God’s promises for Old Testament Israel.

peoples. If there were a superior providential people, they could be British Israelites (a late nineteenth-century claim that the Anglo-Saxons are the lost tribes), or Aryans. But the easiest thing to do was measure people by their technical abilities and their ability to survive in modern industrial society. The immense change in the evaluation of peoples left the Jewish Indian theory a bad joke, an anachronistic hangover from an unfortunate religious past. If anyone still believed it, he or she was a menace to the scientific understanding of man.” Yosef Kaplan, Richard H. Popkin, and Henry M choulan, Menasseh Ben Israel and His World (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989), 80. 5

“My first work, within a short time, unaccompanied by the blowing of trumpets, has been read by nearly a million people!” Edward Hine, Identification of the British Nation with Lost Israel (London, 1874), 25–6, 207. Hine’s claim of a million readers was unlikely. Wilson did not speculate as to the number of people who read his work, see John Wilson, Lectures on Our Israelitish Origins (London, 1840).

6 Popular interest in Anglo-Israelism waned primarily because of the collapse of 6

the British colonial empire and the American civil rights movement circa 1955. The promoters of Anglo-Israelism had replaced the archetypal truths of the ten tribes motif with their own claims to racial superiority. Anglo-Israelism lost its privilege as a relevant story at the dawning of a new historical era when the public began to view claims to white racial superiority negatively. A century earlier (1840s) Daniel Butrick struggled with the influence a work like “Indian Antiquities” might have on the hearts of the American public. Even though his rendering of the motif possessed the archetypal truths of hope and restoration that had caused the story to flourish within the Jewish tradition, he wrote it on behalf of Indians, whom white 7

Americans considered “as mere savage beasts, but little above the panther or wolf.” In a moral argument written as a defense of his research, he argued: But notwithstanding all that great and good men have said and written in favor of the sentiment that the Indians are a part of the ten tribes, yet the opinion is still treated with obliquity, and every argument in favor is hooted down by the popular voice, and every kind of evidence, direct or indirect, is alike met with scoffs and ridicule. When direct and positive testimony is produced from an exact coincidence of Jewish and Indian Antiquities, this is readily invalidated by a surmise that the [informant] was imposed upon, was too credulous, or painted 6

Caroline Elkins, Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya (New York: Henry Holt and Co, 2005); and David L. Chappell, A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow (Chapel Hill [u. a.]: University of North Carolina Press, 2004). 7

Daniel S. Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 3 of ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM), 14; and Butrick [Dwight, OK], July 6, 1839, vol. 9, Payne Papers.

7 in too high colors, for who can believe that the Indians in all of their wanderings, could have retained any correct knowledge of their origin, or the 8 civil and religious customs of their fathers a thousand years ago. Whereas the promoters of Anglo-Israelism presented a perspective that theologically justified the racial hierarchy enforced by the American public, Butrick criticized the public’s refusal to accept the Indians as equals. Butrick viewed the opinion of Americans as skewed. He believed that there was more than enough evidence to support the Indian-Hebrew theory, but the public refused to believe it because they lacked moral integrity. Butrick was familiar with the popular sentiments surrounding the IndianHebrew theory and sought to challenge the way Americans dismissed the meaning of the narrative as mere speculation. As a topic of speculation, the ten tribes motif amounted to 9

nothing more than folklore. However, “Indian Antiquities” was Butrick’s way of protesting the mistreatment of Indians. The discovery of the lost ten tribes on the American Continents by his Puritan forebearers was consequential. It was a divine revelation that required Christians to respond ethically, morally, and compassionately towards the Indians.

Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 17.

“The idea that all American Indians were descended from one of the original tribes of Israel was quite popular in the United States in the nineteenth-century, as it fit with the religious context of the time.” Preface to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:3. 10

During Butrick’s training he likely accessed the Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758). Edwards argued that God was performing a glorious work of salvation among the Indians (lost Israelites) requiring a benevolent response by Christians, see John Styles, The Life of David Brainerd, Missionary to the Indians With an Abridgment of His Diary and Journal, from President Edwards (Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 1812), 13, 111; Gerald R. McDermott, “Jonathan Edwards and American Indians: The Devil Sucks Their Blood,” New England Quarterly 72, no. 4 (1999): 552.

8 By the 1830s his concern for the spiritual restoration of the ten tribes was the relic of a bygone era. The historian Marion Lena Starkey (1901–1991) believed that a reason for Butrick’s struggle to learn the Cherokee language was because he was “bogged down” with the rules of a classical education.

In a similar way, during his theological training, he

ascribed to a version of the Indian-Hebrew theory that was losing relevance with an American public who increasingly turned to scientific-based explanations for the origin of the American Indians—such as the migration of different racial groups.

Butrick relied upon his classical education and biblical training for guidance amidst the social challenges leading up to the Cherokee Trail of Tears (1839). While his brethren and mission board protested the corruption of power by the Georgians, Butrick protested the religious hypocrisy of a country full of churchgoers whose sentiments failed to be offended by persecution of the American Indians. To make his point, he championed what, by the 1830s had become an outdated piece of seventeenth-century folklore. Marion Starkey distanced herself from Butrick’s perspective. She believed he was “unfortunately obsessed by a determination to prove that American Indians in general and the Cherokees in particular were one of the Lost Tribes of Israel.”

In spite her dismissal

of this perspective, she admitted that “His unbounded and versatile capacity for enthusiasm, 11

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 64.

Kaplan, Popkin, and M choulan, Ben Israel and His World, 74; Harold Hellenbrand, “Not ‘To Destroy But to Fulfil’ [sic]: Jefferson, Indians, and Republican Dispensation,” Eighteenth Century Studies 18, no. 4 (1985): 523–549. 13

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 8; “Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers,

1:201–291.

9 his love for riding out among his flock, made him a valuable reporter.”

Starkey portrayed

Butrick’s perspective as tolerable in lieu of the valuable facts he reported. The historian Charles M. Hudson used a similar argument to justify the eighteenth-century fur trapper James Adair’s belief that the Cherokee were the lost Israelites. Hudson argued that colonial frontiersman James Adair’s (1709–1783) perspective, “aided his understanding in other matters, and that overall the theory was more an asset than a liability in helping him understand the Indians.”

Adair wrote History of the

American-Indians (1775), a work that Hudson believed was a valuable resource detailing “what we know about the culture and society of the Southeastern Indians in the eighteenthcentury.”

In short, Adair’s search for the lost ten tribes inadvertently made him a better

anthropologist. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) believed “the same argument could be applied to Butrick.”

There are many times in this thesis when I elicit a line of reasoning similar to Starkey and Hudson’s—that in spite of Butrick’s research topic, his efforts produced wonderful results. However, his belief in the Indian-Hebrew theory was noteworthy, in and 14

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 33.

Charles Hudson, “James Adair as Anthropologist,” Ethnohistory 24, no. 4

(1977): 311. 16

James Adair, The History of the American-Indians, particularly those Nations adjoining the Mississippi, East and West Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia (London, 1775). 17

Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xiv.

10 of itself. Butrick’s perspective set him apart. His belief that the Cherokee were God’s Chosen People, and an essential part of the Savior’s mission to the world, enabled him to transcend the social-class, economic, racial, and gender biases common in his era.

His experiences with white frontier Americans in the Cherokee nation left him doubtful that his book could challenge public perceptions: “Almost all, even of their professed friends, will trample them in the dust to add a single feather to their own caps. It cannot be supposed therefore that any work true, faithful and honorable to the Indians can be 19

popular in the United States.”

All the same, he wrote it.

The privilege of his perspective was faith in Christ, and confidence that God would fulfill His promises to restore lost Israel. He was unfortunately very human: prone to miscalculations of judgment and limited by long periods of physical illness and spells of melancholy. He lacked the academic pedigree of Samuel A. Worcester (1798–1859), or the scientific background of Rev. Dr. Elizur Butler (1794–1857). Even his work as an orthographer failed to compare with the Cherokee syllabary created by the illiterate George “Sequoyah” Gist (1778–1843). Yet his lack of privilege led him to the economically poor and uneducated Cherokee in the backcountry of their nation. He found the humanity of the Indians, discovered the truths God had preserved in their folkways, and uncovered what he believed 18

Theda Perdue, Sifters: Native American Women’s Lives (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 84; and Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700–1835 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999), 24. 19

Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 17.

11 to be the Pentateuch in their heathen mythology. The experience of living life with these people challenged his view of them and established a legacy as their advocate. Butrick was fortunate to possess a privileged perspective concerning the meaning of life, even if his expression of it remains unpopular. As Anglo-Americans, the missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) needed to demarcate themselves from other members of their race who robbed the Cherokee. Butrick’s fellows did so in a visible political protest, but based on his interpretation of Jesus, he refused to enter into political discussions with the Cherokee. Instead, he embarked on a mission to preserve their spiritual inheritance by preaching God’s work of salvation. “Indian Antiquities” challenged the racial stereotypes Americans used to justify their robbery of the Cherokee; more so, it demonstrated that God had preserved His truth within their folkways.

RESEARCH METHOD Should our beloved friend, Mr. Butrick, succeed in completing his researches in this subject, and lay the same before Mr. Lowrey and myself for inspection, it is in my intention to have all the wise antiquarians of the nation assembled at some convenient time & place to examine fully into what he has written and to correct errors, if found in order that the same may be preserved as a memento of our nation, for the satisfaction of posterity long after this generation shall have returned unto dust. —Principal Chief John Ross to John Howard Payne (1835) This thesis is a four-part study of the influence Daniel Butrick’s perspective had upon his personal relationships. The first chapter examines the shift in Butrick’s worldview as he distanced himself from his mission board and compatriots. The second chapter focuses upon Butrick’s relationship with his Cherokee informants, emphasizing their involvement in his project. Chapter 3 evaluates Butrick’s relationship with his editor John Howard Payne, emphasizing Payne’s personal interpretation of “Indian Antiquities.” The final chapter concludes the story of Butrick’s mission to the Cherokee by interpreting the restitution that he experienced at the end of his life because of his interpersonal relationships. Chapter 1 analyzes how Butrick’s faith drove him beyond the ethnocentrism of his fellows and into an obsession to demonstrate the Jewish ancestry of the Cherokee. Butrick undertook the project as an expression of his faith that the Cherokee were heirs to the promises of the God of ancient Israel. He possessed a desperate hope that the Cherokee would find restoration in Christ amidst the captivity wrought upon them by the Americans.

13 I argue that “Indian Antiquities” was Butrick’s attempt to reconcile his theological tradition with Cherokee folkways as he sought to live out an Indian-centered worldview. While chapter 1 analyzes Butrick’s influences, chapter 2 introduces the Cherokee antiquarians. I approach the “Indian Antiquities” manuscript (ca. 1840) by way of its posthumous publication, entitled Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884). Discussion centers on Butrick’s relationships with his Cherokee informants, particularly Thomas Nu:tsa:wi. These relationships bring attention to the role Cherokee Christians played in the creation of the John Howard Payne Papers while offering insight into the complexities of Butrick’s engagement with the Indians as he undertook his project.

Whereas the previous two chapters describe how Butrick’s perspective led him into the complex relationships that motivated his research, chapter 3 focuses on the story of why the material remained unpublished. Analysis begins with a biographical introduction of the editor’s life and transitions into the circumstances that I believe undermined Payne and Butrick’s collaboration. The chapter ends with separate examinations of Payne’s published article, “The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites” (1849), and Butrick’s unpublished manuscript entitled “Jews and Indians” (1840s). 1

For the purpose of this thesis, an “informant” is a general term to describe an individual who provided information (directly or indirectly) to another person on behalf of a research project. The term “antiquitarian” refers specifically to the elders of the Cherokee Nation who provided antiquities for Butrick’s specific inquiries into their folkways. Daniel S. Buttrick, Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (Vinita, Indian Territory: Indian Chieftain, 1884); and “Indian Antiquities,” Ayer Manuscript Collection, vols. 1, 3, 4 and 9 of John Howard Payne Papers, TSS, CD-R, Newberry Library, Chicago (Hereafter cited as Payne Papers), also John Howard Payne et al., The Payne-Butrick Papers, 2 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010).

14 Chapter 4 concludes the narrative about Butrick’s forty-year career as a missionary to the American Indians. This interpretation of his final years begins at the close of the Cherokee Trail of Tears in Indian Territory. The narrative shifts from the general sense of disillusionment and grief that characterized his writings during the early 1840s to the fulfillment of his mission that arrived shortly before his death in 1851. I argue that Butrick began to realize the restitution he hoped for his whole life as he took to heart the encouragement of his wife, forgave his brethren for their shortcomings, and attempted to revive his spiritual ministry among the Five Civilized Tribes. The conclusion to this thesis provides a nuanced interpretation of these four chapters, bringing together the various threads of the narrative into a fresh perspective on the significance of Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” and its place in Cherokee Mission History. The Source Material: Voluminous Manuscripts For the purpose of this thesis, the title “Indian Antiquities” refers specifically to the edited manuscript bearing its name in the John Howard Payne Papers of Chicago’s Newberry Library. Payne undertook the difficult work of compiling and editing Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities.” A hundred and sixty years later his successors published these documents in The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010). In 1849 Payne published an article on Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities.” In the article’s introduction Payne wrote, “It has cost us no brief study to discover what their first 2

creed was.” The size and scope of his source material on Indian folkways was certainly 2

The editors of Payne-Butrick Papers speculated that Payne’s article was intended “to drum up [public] interest in his project.” “Notes on Cherokee Customs and Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xix, 5.

15 formidable to sort out. Concerning the task of publishing it, the editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) wrote, “Editing and annotating the Payne-Butrick manuscript has been an 3

intellectually stimulating endeavor. It has also been challenging ... .”

Other documents (besides the aforementioned “Indian Antiquities” manuscript) preserved Butrick’s thoughts regarding the project. In the John Howard Payne Papers, Butrick’s personal correspondence on “Indian Antiquities” are as follows: 1. A first grouping of Butrick’s letters, containing information about his research methodology and the character of his informants. 2. A second grouping of Butrick’s letters, covering the difficulties he had citing and submitting his source material. These letters also detail Cherokee political affairs. 3. “Indian Antiquities” is the rough draft Payne created from Butrick’s bulk of source material. It contains one hundred and twenty-five pages of Cherokee sayings and traditions. 4. “Notes on Cherokee Customs and Antiquities” is Payne’s polished manuscript. It has one hundred and four pages and contains two chapters with multiple subsections. Likewise, the papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in the Houghton Library archive contains a voluminous record of Butrick’s theological and political thought in his “Jews and Indians” manuscript, public and private 4

journals, and correspondence with his mission board. Of these thousands of pages of documents, the “Jews and Indians” manuscript was the key to unlocking the theological 3

Acknowledgements to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:ix.

Daniel S. Butrick, “Jews and Indians,” Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 3 of ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM).

16 intention of “Indian Antiquities.” It is likely that the ABCFM received it in the mid-to-late 1840s shortly after Butrick’s collaboration with Payne concluded. Lastly, two published works resulted from the Payne-Butrick collaboration. Payne published an article about Cherokee antiquities in the Quarterly Register and Magazine (1849), entitled “The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites.” An anonymous author posthumously published Butrick’s Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians in 5

1884. My thesis reviews these conflicting treatments of “Indian Antiquities” separately. The artist and writer Thomas Mails’s (1920–2001) observation about the ethnological material contained in “Indian Antiquities” provides a suitable transition into the importance of this topic. He believed that these materials “are unique and of considerable length, and they are known to all who research Cherokee History. Virtually every published book on the tribe mentions the manuscript in one way or another and in particular refers to its material on ancient festivals as the most voluminous and worthwhile extant.”

A Fresh Interpretation of “Indian Antiquities” Researchers have tunneled into the mountain of Daniel Butrick’s manuscripts and excavated his political perspectives. They have also mined his journals for information about the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Considering the many monographs that have contained Butrick’s perspectives, it is ironic that he asked of John Howard Payne: 5

John Howard Payne, The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites (Philadelphia: 1849); Buttrick, Antiquities of the Cherokee (1884). 6

Thomas E. Mails, The Cherokee People: The Story of the Cherokees from Earliest Origins to Contemporary Times (Tulsa, OK: Council Oak Books, 1992), ix.

17 Please, let none of this manuscript go from your hands; and if you think it will, on the whole conduce to evil more than good, you will oblige me by burning the whole instead of publishing it. Let none of it be published in any newspaper, or periodical of any kind, but destroy it unless you wish it for your 7 own work. Butrick never fathomed the wealth of material his collaboration with Payne produced, nor the importance it would hold for future generations of academic researchers. As a whole, the Cherokee record has become easily accessible. In April 2000 Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina received a research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to publish the Payne Papers as a two-volume set entitled The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010). Popular interest in Cherokee history is seen in the marketability of recent works such as John Ehle’s Trail of Tears: the Rise and Fall of the 8

Cherokee Nation (1989), and Charles Frazier’s Thirteen Moons: a Novel (2006).

This historical analysis of Daniel Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” contributes to the ongoing discussion about Cherokee Indians and Protestant missions by bringing attention to the intended meaning of his research. For two centuries the researchers who engaged the “Indian Antiquities” manuscript have valued the objective facts of its content—while dismissing the intentions of its author. Butrick’s narrative was an expression of his love for his informants and the story of his interpersonal struggles with his compatriots, ABCFM missionaries, and Cherokee Indians. 7

Butrick, [Dwight, OK] June 6, 1839, vol. 9, Payne Papers.

National Endowment for the Humanities, “Collaborative Research Awards division of collaborative research announced: Apr. 2000,” http://www.neh.gov/news/awards/ collaborative2000.html (accessed Feb. 14, 2010); Payne-Butrick Papers, 2 vols; John Ehle, Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation (New York: Doubleday, 1988); Charles Frazier, Thirteen Moons: A Novel (New York: Random House, 2006).

18 Butrick collected the oral traditions of Thomas Nu:tsa:wi and other Cherokee informants and systematized their stories. By modern standards this material is shortsighted. He identified Indians as Jews. Nevertheless, many historians have appreciated “Indian Antiquities” for its facts concerning native culture. Others turned to it for its amalgamated Christian Cherokee narratives. I offer that “Indian Antiquities” should also be valued for the preservation of Butrick’s privileged perspective.

CHAPTER 1 EXPERIENCE BEYOND POLICY: DANIEL SABIN BUTRICK’S JOURNEY TO A PRIVILEGED PERSPECTIVE We accordingly rode to the place of meeting, several miles distant. There we found the people, old & young assembled. After prayer and singing I endeavored to hold up to their view the character of God, the character of the natural heart, and the way of salvation through a redeemer. —Private Journal of Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick (1822) This chapter begins with a study of the theological influences that shaped Butrick’s journey as he rose above the ethnocentric attitudes of his brethren and arrived at a unique perspective of the Cherokee. The focus then shifts to his access of historical renderings of the lost ten tribes of Israel motif and its archetypal themes of hope and restoration. The concluding subsection argues that “Indian Antiquities” was his attempt to preserve his theological beliefs as he espoused a newfound perspective of the Cherokee. He believed that the ten tribes of Israel were the key that connected Cherokee history to his own biblical tradition, thereby serving as a sign of divine judgment for those who mistreated the Indians. Butrick believed that “Indian Antiquities” championed the Cherokee in a manner worthy of his duty as a follower of Jesus Christ. Butrick’s Faithful Response to a Divine Sign Daniel Sabin Butrick was an ordinary person, a common eighteenth-century Evangelical who shared many of the common sentiments of his era. While scholars are quick 19

20 to uphold the praiseworthy byproducts of his Cherokee worldview, such as his ministry to Indians on their Trail of Tears, they are also quick to dismiss his promotion of the lost ten tribes of Israel. It is time that scholars appreciate “Indian Antiquities” for what it meant to Butrick. The revelation that the Cherokee were descendants of the lost ten tribes fit neatly with a perspective of American Indians that he nurtured over the course of his career.

He was the son of Oliver and Patience (Sabin) Butrick. Born in Windsor, Massachusetts, Butrick spent his childhood in Ontario County, New York where he claimed to have enjoyed a carefree childhood with his siblings and extended family. At age nine, his mother died; his father then raised him. In 1803 Daniel experienced a long season of sickness wherein he made a bargain. When God miraculously healed him, he made good on this promise to devote his life to Christ as a missionary.

“Evangelicals comprise a movement that is rooted in classical Christian orthodoxy, shaped by a largely Protestant understanding of the gospel, and distinguished from other such movements by an eighteenth-century twist. Or put more simply (though less precisely), evangelicals are a movement of orthodox Protestants with an eighteenth-century twist. We are certainly not the only authentic Christians in the world, nor are we the only ones to whom the term evangelical [emphasis Sweeney] applies but we are unique in our commitment to gospel witness around the world. Our uniqueness is best defined by our adherence to: (1) beliefs most clearly stated during the Protestant Reformation and (2) practices shaped by the revivals of the so-called Great Awakening.” Doug Sweeney, The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 23–4. For the first published biography written exclusively about Butrick, and inspiration for my chapter title, see Shoshana Miriam Robinson, Experience Beyond Policy: Daniel Sabin Butrick’s Mission to the Cherokee Nation, 1817–1851 (Thesis (A. B., Honors), Harvard University, 1986), 4–7. 2

“In 1803 I was sick and unwell most of the time till the spring of 1804. When almost despairing of life, and convinced of my vile [strikethrough Butrick] wretched lost state I cried to God for help. I promised to go to the heathen, and give him all my time if he would only show me his great salvation.” “Private Journal of Daniel S. Butrick,” Jan. 1, 1822, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as Butrick’s Journal).

21 A number of authors have mentioned this 1803 “Profession of Religion” in 3

their accounts of Butrick’s early life, failing to elaborate further. The event was more than a personal conversion experience or decision to enter into vocational Christian ministry. It was an agreement with God about who he would become as a person. In this definitive moment, he decided to champion the work of an evangelist. It was a decision that he repeatedly returned to, and struggled with, as he sought to actualize his Christian faith. At age fourteen, he responded to what he believed to be the divine sign of his recovery by beginning a journey that cost him his family and hometown community. On New Year’s Day 1822 he wrote of this significant personal loss, “Now I am separated far from my dear earthly friends—all the companions of my youth—all my former fathers and 4

mothers in Zion.” Butrick remembered the loss as being worth the spiritual gain, “that year I 5

thought he appeared to my poor soul, and set my feet in a large place.” Butrick’s 1803 “Profession of Religion” was the first of a lifetime full of the hard choices he made to sacrifice personal welfare on behalf of the spiritual needs of others. 3

John Howard Payne et al., introduction to The Payne-Butrick Papers, 2 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010), 1:xx; Daniel S. Buttrick, preface to Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (Vinita, Indian Territory: Indian Chieftain, 1884); forward to Cherokee Removal: The Journal of Rev. Daniel S. Butrick, May 19, 1838–Apr. 1, 1839 (Park Hill: The Trail of Tears Association, Oklahoma Chapter, 1998). 4

This statement was an indirect reference to his beloved mentor, Dr. Samuel Worcester (Samuel A. Worcester’s uncle), who had died that week. Upon receiving the news, Butrick confined himself to a closet where he cried inconsolably for three days, until he was able to write the Prudential Committee of the ABCFM concerning Dr. Worcester’s passing. In context, he came to terms with the loss of Dr. Worcester through a telling of his testimony that ends with a confession about the family and friends he abandoned as he departed New York State to fulfill his Christian duty. Jan. 1, 1822, Butrick’s Journal. 5

Ibid.

22 “Studying at Geneva”: Daniel S. Butrick, Western New York and the Second Great Awakening The historian William G. McLoughlin believed that the Baptist Reverend Evan Jones (1788–1873) lost the personal papers that he inherited from Daniel Sabin Butrick 6

during the Civil War. As such, only a few details exist about Butrick’s early life. These bits of information offer an insightful glimpse into the circumstances of his formative years. A comment Butrick made near the end of his life provides a workable timeline for a chronology of his theological training. He said, “I gave myself to them [the Indians] 7

before I was fifteen years old, and early assumed to be their advocate.” When Butrick made the statement in 1850, he suffered from memory loss, so the information may not be entirely accurate. Thankfully, the church historian Reverend James H. Hotchkin .(1834–1858) accessed a statement Butrick made years earlier. Hotchkin recorded that Butrick’s consideration for the spiritual state of the Indians began during his preparatory studies for 8

ministry. In view of both statements, it is likely that he became interested in Indian missions shortly after his “Profession of Religion” (1803). 6

Buttrick, preface to Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884).

This statement was made to Reverend Treat, the newly appointed ABCFM Corresponding Secretary, in a series of letters summarizing Butrick’s forty years of service. Daniel S. Butrick to Selah B. Treat, Dwight [OK], Jan. 1, 1850, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM). 8

Butrick’s petition, for a school in the Seneca nation, was the likely source of this information. The Presbytery of Geneva forwarded it to the Genesee Missionary Society, see James H. Hotchkin, A History of the Purchase and Settlement of Western New York: and of the Rise, Progress and Present state of the Presbyterian Church in that Section (New York, M. W. Dodd, 1848), 106. 192, 307; and Jan. 1, 1822, Butrick’s Journal.

23 9

He was educated at Cooperstown Academy, in Otsego County, New York.

Local freemasons established the preparatory school in 1795. Thereafter, the academy’s twostory building served a variety of purposes for the Cooperstown community. American author James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) described the academy in a work of fiction entitled The Pioneers (1853). According to Cooper, Cooperstown Academy’s “conferences of the religious and the morally disposed” were revivals organized by various preachers— Baptists, Methodists, Unitarians, and Charlatans.

Local Presbyterians organized to become Cooperstown’s first church in 1800 and held services at the Academy until 1805. In spite of the influence of these Presbyterians, Cooper believed the academy retained “a great diversity of opinion on the more abstruse points of faith.”

Even so, Butrick remained true to his “Profession of Faith” amidst this

interdenominational spirit at Cooperstown Academy. In 1825 he wrote, “ever since I was 9

I could not verify Bessel and Haake’s claim that Butrick attended Andover Theological Seminary, in Richard Bessel and Claudia B. Haake, Removing Peoples: Forced Removal in the Modern World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 40. There was not a record of his graduation, in General Catalogue of the Theological Seminary Andover, Massachusetts, 1808–1908 (Boston: T. Todd, 1909). 10

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers (G. P. Putnam, 1853), 110.

Ibid.; James H. Pickering, “Cooper’s Otsego Heritage: The Sources of The Pioneers” in George A. Test, James Fenimore Cooper His Country and His Art: Papers from the 1979 Conference at State University College of New York, Oneonta and Cooperstown (Oneonta, NY: State University of New York College at Oneonta, 1980), 11– 39; A History of Cooperstown: Including “The Chronicles of Cooperstown” by James Fenimore Cooper, “The History of Cooperstown” 1839–1886 by Samuel M. Shaw, “The History of Cooperstown” 1886–1929 by Walter R. Littell (Cooperstown, NY: Freeman’s Journal Co., 1929); Albert Clarke, Early Cooperstown and the Methodist Episcopal Church ([Cooperstown, NY?]: s.n, 1913); Duane Hamilton Hurd, History of Otsego County, N.Y. with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers (Philadelphia: Everts and Fariss, 1878).

24 fifteen years old I have been living on resolutions, comforting myself under a sense of my present depravity, with instructions to live nearer to God hereafter.”

The dates of Butrick’s enrollment are unknown; but he likely completed his education before a fire destroyed the school in 1809.

After Cooperstown, he traveled to

Western New York where he began training for ministry. At the Presbytery of Geneva Butrick participated in the Second Great Awakening (1800–1850) as a Calvinistic Presbyterian and advocate for the Indians.

In 1811 at age 22 Butrick worked as a licensed preacher in the towns 15

northwest of current day Syracuse, New York.

As a licentiate of the Presbytery of Geneva,

Butrick regularly delivered sermons to “the congregation of Geneso in the vicinity of the 12

Fri., June 1825, Butrick’s Journal.

Butrick believed that students who have stood on the shoulders of science were likely to deny the most essential truths. “Let a young man with the scientific knowledge of Sir Isaac Newton, be placed in a chain of state at my right hand, and a poor ignorant Indian be seated on the floor at my left, I should soon expect to see the preaching of the cross on the mind of the Indian as on that of the scientific youth.” Sat., May 1833, Butrick’s Journal. 14

“Great awakenings (and the revivals that are part of them) are the results, not of depressions, wars, or epidemics, but of critical disjunctions in our self-understanding. They are not brief outbursts of mass emotionalism by one group or another but profound cultural transformations affecting all Americans and extending over a generation or more. Awakenings begin in periods of cultural distortion and grave personal stress, when we lose faith in the legitimacy of our norms, the viability of our institutions, and the authority of our leaders in church and state.” William G McLoughlin, The Second Great Awakening, 1800– 1830 (2004), 2. 15

Jan. 1, 1822, Butrick’s Journal; Hotchkin, History of the Purchase, 106,

193.

25 Indian Settlement at Squakey Hill.” between 1800 and 1820.

Tens of thousands of white pioneers settled this region

Butrick’s fellows at the Presbytery of Geneva were interested in

promoting a spirit of Christian revival among these new residents. He shared the Presbytery’s vision and learned to communicate his own sense of mission accordingly. Butrick took advantage of his fellows’ desire for Christian revival and reform by petitioning his presbytery for a school among the nearby Seneca Indians. The presbytery of Geneva forwarded his request to the Genesee Missionary Society who responded to the petition by organizing a school. It is possible that Butrick’s six weeks of service as a Genesee missionary coincided with this project. The school operated for six months until its headmaster abandoned his position due to illness. On January 18, 1814 Butrick became the first pastor of the recently organized First Presbyterian Church of Wolcott, New York. Then, in 1816 he started the town’s first Sunday school, “the exercises mostly recitations of the catechism.”

Butrick had set his

heart upon serving as a missionary for the ABCFM by year’s end. He thereby resigned his 16

Hotchkin, History of the Purchase, 193–94.

Ibid., 28.

Levi Parsons, History of Rochester Presbytery From the Earliest Settlement of the Country, Embracing Original Records of Ontario Association, and the Presbyteries of Ontario, Rochester (Former), Genesee River, and Rochester City, to Which Are Appended Biographical Sketches of Deceased Ministers and Brief Histories of Individual Churches (Rochester, NY: Democrat-Chronicle Press, 1889), 177.

26 post as pastor and then declined an invitation from the Seneca Indians to live among them. He refused the offer because the Seneca were not ready to allow evangelists in their nation.

The historian Marion Starkey characterized Butrick as a person who possessed a “capacity for enthusiasm.”

The root of this enthusiasm was the theological tradition he

embraced during the Great Awakening in New York State. After his arrival in the Cherokee nation Butrick enthusiastically said this about some converts: “I will just observe that their conviction and conversion were attended with those tears of distress and seasons of rejoicing 21

common in the revivals of religion at the north.”

Butrick expressed his faith by emulating the norms of genuine Christian behavior set forth at the end of America’s First Great Awakening (1730–1750) by theologians such as Jonathan Edwards. William G. McLoughlin said this regarding Edwards’s teaching on the Christian temperament produced by a spiritual conversion: True holiness or benevolence toward God is so ineffable, so indescribably different from anything we can know from worldly, sensual experience that it cannot come to us through the intellect and understanding. The link between man and God is not the reason, the head, but the heart. 19

Daniel S. Butrick to David Greene, Candey’s Creek, Sept. 26, 1835, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM). For information relating to Butrick’s life after Cooperstown Academy, see George W. Cowles, Landmarks of Wayne County, New York (Syracuse: D. Mason and Co., 1895); Hotchkin, History of the Purchase, 106. 192, 307; and Joseph S. Clarke et al., The Congregational Quarterly, vol. 3 (Boston: 1861). 20

Marion L. Starkey, The Cherokee Nation (North Dighton, MA: JG Press, 1995), 8; “Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:201–291. 21

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Creek Path [AL], Sept. 7, 1820, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 3 of ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM).

27 The heart is ‘moved,’ transformed, regenerated through the religious affections or religious feelings. These feelings resemble the ordinary feelings 22 of men, but they operate on a different, higher plane of existence. Butrick bemoaned every temptation to live his life according to anything other than that a spiritual plane of existence. During his education at Cooperstown Academy and ministerial training with the Presbytery of Geneva he decided the terms by which he would actualize his “Profession of Religion” fifteen years earlier. He understood the teachings of Jesus as a judgment upon who he was as a person. In Butrick’s estimation, he was an absolute failure as a follower of the Savior who proclaimed, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30–31 KJV). In response, he was outspoken regarding his failure to maintain proper Christian affections. He constantly admitted the severity of his personal depravity in this matter. As a result, he continually returned to the holy affections that he thought should characterize his mission to the Cherokee. One infers through Butrick’s writings that he believed God was restoring him so that he could assist in Christ’s restorative work among the Indian nations. Shortly after the Cherokee Trail of Tears in 1839 Butrick wrote: Let a minister attempt to explain the doctrine of regeneration,—justification by faith, without the deeds of the law, unreserved submission to God, as a sovereign disinterested love; or let him explain the nature of saving faith in distinction from common belief, and evangelical repentance, as distinguished 22

McLoughlin, Second Great Awakening, 74.

28 from mere legal, selfish sorrow, and he is understood as preaching hard 23 things. Between 1804 and 1817, Butrick formulated the theological positions that would characterize his career with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Of all the trials he would face as a missionary to the Cherokee nation, championing the doctrine of regeneration would remain his most daunting challenge. “Go Therefore and Make Disciples of all the Nations” (Matthew 28:19 KJV): Butrick’s Commissioning Day at Park Street Church, Boston September 3, 1817 The ABCFM’s commissioning service for Daniel Butrick and four others at Park Street Church in Boston would be remembered as a worship celebration “of rare interest” over seventy years later.

In 1884 Reverend John Lyndsay Withrow wrote of the

event, “This was the first of a series of missionary ordinations and public gatherings, farreaching in their influence, which made this venerable house [Park Street Church] historic.”

Butrick’s commissioning alongside the four other missionaries followed the 23

Butrick to Greene, Mount Zion [AR], Nov. 10, 1842, ABCFM.

Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of Park Street Congregational Church, John L. Withrow, Pastor. Sermon and Address, Sunday, March 2, 1884 (Boston, MA: Brown & Clark, 1884), 35. 25

Ibid. In 1909, the Editorial Secretary and Historian of the Board, Rev. William Ellsworth Strong (1860–1934) said this of Park Street’s affiliation with the ABCFM: “I suppose it is literally true that there is no church in America which stands quite so close to the American Board of Foreign Missions as this Park Street Church; that there is no other spot in America more continuously and intimately associated with the life and progress of the American Board than the square feet embraced within this sanctuary.” W. E. Strong, “Park Street Church and the American Board, in Commemorative Exercises at the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Organization of Park Street Church, February 26–March

29 ordination of Park Street’s second Senior Minister, Sereno Edwards Dwight (1786–1850). Inside the chapel, daylight wafted from modest clear windows and gleamed on whitewashed walls as a lively crowd gathered in the sanctuary. Dr. Edward Door Griffin (1770–1837), Park Street’s first Senior Minister, had served the church for nearly half of its eight-year history. His resignation in 1815 resulted in several unsuccessful attempts by Park Street’s pastoral committee to locate a suitable replacement.

On Wednesday September 3, 1817, this search concluded with the ordination

of Rev. Dwight. The council of ministers from twenty-two churches, who examined Butrick’s candidacy the previous evening, reconvened to hear Rev. Dwight “make his clear theological statement.”

Then at ten o’clock in the morning the service began.

Christians from least 15 other Congregational churches had received invitations to the event. An estimated seven hundred attendees crowded the pews, aisles and halls of the sanctuary. The presence of Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Beecher of Litchfield, Connecticut made the ceremony all the more exceptional. Beecher addressed the congregation that morning. His sermon was, in his son Charles Beecher’s estimation, among his most

3, 1909, ed. Arcturus Z. Conrad” (Boston, MA: Published by the Park Street Centennial Committee, 1909), 177–81. For the first official history written about the ABCFM, see William Ellsworth Strong, The Story of the American Board; An Account of the First Hundred Years of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (Boston: The Pilgrim Press, 1910). 26

H. Crosby Englizian, Brimstone Corner: Park Street Church Boston (Chicago: Moody Press, 1968), 74. 27

Withrow, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary, 33–5.

30 important. Beecher preached from Psalm 19:7–10. The sermon was entitled, “The Bible a Code of Laws” and largely defended the doctrine of the trinity against the Unitarian and Arian heresies which were gaining popularity in New England.

Lyman Beecher’s Address to the Missionaries: “Preach the Gospel to the Heathen” Reverend Lyman Beecher’s (1775–1863) sermon at Butrick’s commissioning service was an important example of the theological worldview Butrick received during his training with the ABCFM. Given the notoriety of the speaker, importance of the event, and content of the message, one can assume that the sermon made an impression upon the young missionary. Butrick’s theology did not change. What changed was his theological identification of the Cherokee nation. Near the end of his life in the 1840s he still used the word “heathen.” However, there was evidence of a shift regarding how he defined the word. In April 1839 Butrick referenced a separate sermon by Beecher wherein “heathen” was a word synonymous with “unbeliever.” Beecher’s sermon serves as the earliest example of source material representing young Butrick’s theological perspective. Beecher preached, “If the Bible contains the Laws of the Most High God, for the restoration of man from sin to holiness, then it is not a superfluous labor to translate the 28

Autobiography and Correspondence of Lyman Beecher, D.D., ed. Charles Beecher (New York: Harper and Bros., 1864), quoted in Englizian, Brimstone Corner, 72–5.

31 scriptures into the various languages of the nations, nor, a superfluous charity to send Missionaries to preach the gospel to the Heathen.”

Beecher warned against the teachings of the many liberal-minded New Englanders who believed that God was able to perform the work of salvation without the assistance of missionaries and influence of Christian instruction, that Indians who sincerely pursued God could do so within the boundaries of their traditional religious beliefs. Beecher decried this attitude. He argued, based on human depravity, that the American Indians need “the Savior, the Bible, the Sabbath, and the preaching of the Gospel, for the same purpose, and in the same degree that we [presumably the congregation] need them.”

He then argued that American Indian folk practices involving the dunking of the

sick in water or burning them with a flame were influenced by their heathen mythology. In this, he implied that religious conversion was part of a larger social reformation.

Beecher then shifted attention to the Great Commission. He argued that when the apostles received their command to go and preach to all nations they immediately confronted the ungodliness of heathen mythology. Having made this point, Beecher admonished Butrick and the four other missionaries to do likewise: 29

Correspondence of Lyman Beecher, ed. Charles Beecher, i, 351, quoted in Englizian, Brimstone Corner, 72–75; and Lyman Beecher, et al., The Bible a Code of Laws; A Sermon, Delivered in Park Street Church, Boston, Sept. 3, 1817, at the Ordination of Mr. Sereno Edwards Dwight, As Pastor of That Church; and of Messrs. Elisha P. Swift, Allen Graves, John Nichols, Levi Parsons, & Daniel Buttrick, As Missionaries to the Heathen (Andover [MA]: Printed by Flagg and Gould, 1818), 40. 30

Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 6.

Lyman Beecher’s view that Christian conversions benefit the whole of society was an expressed goal of ABCFM mission movement.

32 Your duty is plain … Dare not be wise above what is written. Bring to your aid, for the exposition of the Scriptures, the resources of human learning; but bring with these, a heart humbled with a sense of its own deceitfulness and depravity, and filled with strong desires and groanings that can not be uttered, for the illumination and guidance of the Spirit; remembering that ignorance 32 and unsanctified knowledge, alike puff up, and are subject to condemnation. At this point in his life, Butrick’s beliefs aligned with the views expressed by Beecher. Butrick was aware of his own failings and leaned upon his faith in order to find the encouragement to overcome every obstacle that would undermine his personal mission. “Dare to think for yourself,” Lyman Beecher proclaimed four times.

urged Christians to live out the Gospel and teach moral law so that the heathen might come to Christ with their whole hearts. Teach repentance, how to turn one’s heart to the Savior with a holy love and comply with God’s revealed salvation. There is no excuse if one turns away from God’s perfect law. Christians must not delay in repenting of their sins because outside of this salvation awaits self-destruction, total depravity, and grave danger. Beecher proclaimed to the soon-to-be-missionaries that every sinner has the 34

opportunity to “love and repent, and believe.”

A statement underscoring the priority of this

would remain an expressed part of Butrick’s theological perspective years later: “Whatever may be your attainments in human science, your might in the Scriptures, your popularity as a 32

Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 44.

Ibid., 44–45.

Ibid., 46.

33 preacher, or your estimation in the affections of your people: let it be counted loss, in 35

comparison with their actual conversion to God.”

Whereas Beecher’s sermon upheld the themes of spiritual conversion Butrick embraced in his ministry, the ABCFM’s mission to the world was characteristic of the attitude of social reform held by their supporters. The commissioners’ sociopolitical policies would be an obstacle for Butrick. The story of his struggle with the board’s political aspirations for America and its neighboring Indian nations began to take shape at the close of Beecher’s sermon—after an hour-long intermission. Rev. Jedidiah Morse’s Charge to the Missionaries: “Acquaint the Indian Tribes with the Arts and Improvements of Civilized Life” The historian William G. McLoughlin argued, “From the moment the board [ABCFM] decided to include American Indians as part of its foreign mission field in 1816, it had engaged in politics. During the removal crisis of 1817–1819, the board had no hesitation about engaging in political activity on behalf of its own and Cherokee interest, and it had 35

Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 44. Beecher’s words about the supremacy of gospel instruction are similar to those expressed by the missionary David Brainerd (1718–1747) in his biography housed at the Cherokee Brainerd Mission Library. Both Beecher and Brainerd’s teachings shaped Butrick’s thoughts on this topic, see June 1833, Butrick’s Journal; John Styles, The Life of David Brainerd, Missionary to the Indians With an Abridgment of His Diary and Journal, from President Edwards (Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 1812), 125; and “List of books belonging to the Cherokee Mission Library,” 1822, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 2 of ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as Brainerd Journal), 163.

34 kept a close eye on the politics of Indian affairs.”

On September 3, 1817, as Park Street

Church celebrated the commissioning of five new American Board missionaries, a political battle was underway in Washington DC to exchange the Cherokee nation’s land holdings in the Southeastern corner of the United States for tracts of land in Arkansas. In October 1816, the Cherokee Council accepted the ABCFM’s offer to establish a mission station among them. The Indians did so because they believed that with the assistance of the American Board they would be able to sustain themselves politically and 37

economically, thereby averting removal to the west.

The Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury

(1786–1870) was with the first ABCFM missionaries to arrive in the nation. He shared the general sentiments of the commissioners of the American Board he represented. McLoughlin wrote of these views, “Kingsbury reflected the general feeling among New Englanders that it would be cruel and unfair of the government to abrogate treaty promises made to the Cherokees after they had made such progress as farmers.”

The

ABCFM began their mission to the Cherokee as a matter of moral and spiritual conscience. 36

William G. McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 1789–1839 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), 251. 37

Ibid., 106–7.

Ibid., 109–10. For arguments about the interconnection between the nationalistic and religious impulses of the policy makers at the American Board, see William R. Hutchinson, Errand to the World: American Protestant Thought & Foreign Missions ([S.l.]: University Of Chicago Press, 1987), 44; and Mark Y. Hanley, “Revolution at Home and Abroad: Radical Implications of the Protestant Call to Missions, 1825–1870,” quoted in Daniel H. Bays, and Grant Wacker. The Foreign Missionary Enterprise at Home: Explorations in North American Cultural History (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2003), 44–59.

35 They believed that their advocacy of the Indians upheld the American government’s foundational principles of law and justice. McLoughlin argued that the commissioners of the ABCFM were men who were eager to undertake the lofty aspiration of propagating their New England-style Christianity across America in an attempt to regulate its expansion westward: [The ABCFM] was dominated by New Englanders and it was essentially a New England effort to remake America in its own image. The well-to-do merchants and textile manufacturers who financed the board, the Calvinistic Church members, mostly descendants of Puritans, who contributed their mites, and the Congregational clergy who managed and worked for it were convinced that they, better than anyone else, understood the principles upon 39 which God wished American Society to be organized. These politicians, business leaders, and theologians held considerable regional sway. The policies of the ABCFM reflected the commissioners’ general sociopolitical sentiments. Their mission stations in the Cherokee nation implemented their plans “to coordinate, direct, systematize, and control the elevation of the aborigines of the southern states.”

Reverend Jedidiah Morse’s “charge to the missionaries” at Butrick’s commissioning service was an important example of the political viewpoints Butrick accessed during his training with the ABCFM. Given Morse’s influence upon the policies of the American Board, the importance of the event, and content of his message, it is evident why the spiritually-minded Butrick rebelled against his advice and began a study of the Cherokee language that would lead into the creation of “Indian Antiquities.” 39

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 102.

Ibid., 103.

36 After Lyman Beecher’s address to the missionaries and an hour-long break, the commissioning service at Park Street Church resumed. Five prominent Congregational reverends officially welcomed Butrick and the other missionaries into the fold of the ABCFM with firm handshakes. Then the first Corresponding Secretary of the ABCFM, Dr. Samuel Worcester (1770–1821) consecrated their commission with prayer. As the service ended, Dr. Jedidiah Morse (1761–1826) of Charleston, South Carolina took center stage and gave “the impressive charge.”

Historian Mark Y. Hanley argued that an “aggressive collective selfconfidence flowed freely at ABCFM gatherings.”

Keynote sermons, such as Lyman

Beecher’s “The Bible a Code of Laws” were triumphant proclamations of the divine purpose Evangelical Christians believed that they were about to fulfill in the current and final hour of redemptive history.

Evangelicals of this era envisioned the newly born American nation as

the instrument that would fulfill the promised return of Jesus: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14 KJV). Following Beecher’s sermon concerning the importance of the ABCFM mission to “preach the gospel to the heathen,” Dr. Morse spoke to the missionaries 41

Withrow, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary, 33–5.

Hanley, “Revolution at Home and Abroad,” quoted in Bays, Foreign Missionary Enterprise, 45. 43

Ibid.

37 concerning the finer details of how to accomplish that task.

Morse proclaimed, “We are

here, fellow Christians, before God, angels and men, witnessing transactions of unusual interest—transactions, which we believe will have an extensive and lasting influence of the best welfare of man; which we trust are giving joy to angels, and are approved by God.”

Morse charged the missionaries bound for Asia to imitate the lives, writings and spiritual practices of the apostles and obtain victory among these inhabitants of the Earth (Orientals) who “profess themselves to be wise, but have become fools.”

The structure of Morse’s charge is important in understanding Butrick’s reaction to it. Having given the charge to those of Butrick’s fellows departing for Asia, attention shifted to those who would labor among the “Indian tribes in our own country.”

Morse began his charge with the generalization that the non-Christians in Asia had turned away from the biblical instruction the apostles preached to them during the first-century CE. Thus, Evangelicals were to imitate the ministry of the apostles who had visited those nations. On the contrary, the American Indians “have another character, and your duties will be different.”

Morse suggested that Butrick and his fellows about to depart for

the Indian nations were to rely upon the advantages given to them as English-speaking 44

Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 40.

Ibid., 61.

Morse quoted Rom. 1:22 KJV. Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 61.

Ibid.

Ibid., 63.

38 Americans in their ministry among the heathen. Morse said of the Indians, “They live a wandering life, which generates habits peculiarly unfavorable to the spirit and institutions of the gospel. The heathenism of our American Indians is less informed, and neither so gross, 49

nor so wicked, as that of the Indians of the East.”

This commissioner of the American Board was an outspoken advocate for the Americanization of the Indians as a means of Christianization. Morse’s charge to Butrick about the means he should utilize in preaching the gospel is as follows: The Indians of America have no written language, and in their unwritten language, no words to express a great part of the most important truths of the Bible. To express these truths, new words must be invented; and hence a translation of the scriptures into the Indian languages would be a herculean labor; and after it were finished, it could not be read by those who speak the language, till they were taught, as our children are taught to read it. But there is another objection more important still. The number of dialects spoken among the different tribes of American Indians is immense. … It is evident, that the advantages of translations into the Indian languages would be small, 50 and the labor wholly disproportionate to their value. Morse concluded his charge with, “Let the Indians of our country be taught to read and speak the English language, and it will effect more toward civilizing and Christianizing them, than 51

all human means besides. To this object then you must direct your primary efforts.”

As Butrick heard his words, he apparently reflected upon his past experiences with the Seneca Indians in western New York State. He acted upon Beecher’s advice, “Dare 49

Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 64.

Ibid.

39 to think for yourself.”

He decided that he would learn the Cherokee language as a form of

advocacy and evangelism on behalf of the Indians. Butrick concluded: [Morse] told us it was not our business to improve the Indian language, but to make the Indians English in their manners,—their religion, and their language, before I left Boston however, I told some of my Christian friends, that in my opinion, no nation would ever voluntarily resign its own language, for a borrowed one. … before they lost their national character and their national existence. With these views I considered the language infinitely worthy of attention, as being the only medium, through which divine instruction could 53 be communicated to the people. Butrick hoped to correct the misinformed view that “divine instruction” was not possible in a native tongue.

His attempt to learn Cherokee was his initial challenge of the theory that

Indians must become “civilized” according to the standards of white society. 52

Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 44–45.

Sat., July 9, 1825, Butrick’s Journal. Morse argued: “I should not think it desirable to employ means to preserve any of these Indian languages among the living languages. Correct specimens of them, doubtless, should be preserved in the archives of our literary societies. As fast as possible let Indians forget their own languages, in which nothing is written, and nothing of course can be preserved, and learn ours, which will at once open them the whole field of every kind of useful knowledge. I am, therefore opposed to the idea of making any very laborious or expensive translations of the Bible, or of any other books, into any of the Indian languages, for reasons which I have already given in a charge delivered to the missionaries first sent to the Sandwich islands, and to others destined to our Indians.” Appendix to A Report to the Secretary of War of the United States, on Indian Affairs, Comprising a Narrative of a Tour Performed in the Summer of 1820... for the Purpose of Ascertaining... the Actual State of the Indian Tribes in Our Country... by the Rev. Jedidiah Morse,... Appendix (Newhaven: printed by S. Converse, 1822), 356–58. 54

Sat., July 9, 1825, Butrick’s Journal.

40 Andante Allegro (♪=72) “The Lord Gave the Word, And Great was the Company Of Preachers”: The Indulgent Providence that Carried Butrick into Cherokee History Park Street Church maintained a long reputation as a church that promoted the necessity of Christian missions. The Park Street congregation largely supported Lyman Beecher’s assertion that the conversion of souls was worth considerable weight. The historian William Daniel Donahoo effectively argued that during the first half of the nineteenth-century, the financial and ministerial supporters of the ABCFM believed the missionary effort to convert souls would result in a renewed society.

Convert the heathen and infidels—reform society. Park Street members forwarded a social philosophy similar to this as they contributed to the formation of the ABCFM. In 1810 Park Street’s first pastor (Edward Dorr Griffin) argued passionately for the creation of a mission board which would propagate the gospel around the world. The momentum towards the creation of this board had been building for several years. Dr. Griffin’s advocacy for the ABCFM increased that support. On February 6, 1812, the ABCFM held their inaugural service at Tabernacle Church in Salem, Massachusetts and commissioned the famous missionaries Adoniram Judson (1788–1850), Samuel Nott Jr. 56

(1787–1869), Samuel Newell (1784–1841) and Samuel J. Mills Jr. (1783–1818). 55

William Daniel Donahoo, “The Missionary Expression of American Evangelical Social Beliefs” (PhD diss., John Hopkins University, 1977). 56

Samuel Colcord Bartlett, Sketches of the American Board (Boston: Published by the Board, 1876), 11–13.

41 Now Daniel Sabin Butrick had become a character in the next chapter of this board’s history. He feared that he would fail to live up to the spiritual demands of the difficult work that lay before him.

Regardless of these insecurities, he joyfully stood with

his fellow New Englanders in worship as the Park Street’s choir director led “three of the choruses of Handel’s ‘Messiah,’ special mention being made of the rendering of ‘The Lord gave the word, great was the company of preachers’ and ‘How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.’”

Three months later, Butrick was on his way to the Cherokee nation. Midway through his journey he wrote these words to his Corresponding Secretary: “By an indulgent providence I have been preserved and led thus far on my journey. My health has been good since I left Boston. We had a pleasant passage by water,—had a few fresh breezes, which shewed [sic] us, in a very striking manner, the amazing power and majesty of God.”

Butrick arrived at the Brainerd Mission Station near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on January 4, 1818.

Upon his arrival he humbly admitted, “We know not where the Savior

designs to send us—but we cast ourselves on his direction and believe, that what he has 61

already done for us, is a gracious intonation that he has something for us to do.” 57

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Augusta [GA], Dec. 13, 1817, ABCFM.

Withrow, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary, 33–5.

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Augusta [GA], Dec. 13, 1817, ABCFM.

Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xx.

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Augusta [GA], Dec. 13, 1817, ABCFM.

42 “Hitherto my Attention has been Confined Chiefly To Nouns and Verbs”: Butrick’s Unsuccessful Cherokee Grammar and Dictionary Butrick hoped to develop an orthographical study of the Cherokee language that would promote a favorable view of Indian languages. In 1825 Butrick passionately journaled, “I devoted some attention to the language—removed the veil and took a passing view, I soon perceived that all my hopes and expressions were unspeakably surpassed. I discovered a beauty, a richness, and a degree of refinement, not to be found in any modern tongue, and far surpassing the Greek and Latin.”

By 1825 Butrick had worked on the language for roughly seven years. The historian Jill Lepore explained how in 1819 Butrick collaborated with his prized pupil, Cherokee convert David Brown (ca. 1801–1829), to publish a Cherokee primer entitled Tsvlvki sqclvclv: a Cherokee spelling book.

With the exception of aiding his Baptist friend

Evan Jones (among a few others) in their language studies, the primer went unused. Soon thereafter, David Brown attended the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut where he met with the philologist John Pickering (1777–1846). Not only was Pickering an influential friend of ABCFM commissioners such as Jedidiah Morse, 62

Sat., July 9, 1825, Butrick’s Journal.

Jill Lepore, A Is for American: Letters and Other Characters in the Newly United States (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002), 69–71; D. S. Butrick, and David Brown. Tsvlvki sqclvclv. A Cherokee spelling book (Knoxville [TN]: Printed by F. S. Heiskell & H. Brown, 1819).

43 he had previously published An Essay on a Uniform Orthography for the Indian Languages 64

of North America (1820).

They hoped that other mission societies across America and Europe would adopt Pickering’s ABCFM-approved-system for transcribing the Bible for non-Christian people groups. The success of this project would earn the ABCFM a great deal of prestige around the globe, and more importantly, broaden their theological influence.

With David Brown’s assistance, Pickering published A Grammar of the 66

Cherokee Language (1825).

Pickering’s work on the language certainly outshone Butrick’s

effort, but Sequoyah’s Syllabary far surpassed both.

Whereas Butrick embraced the success

of George Gist’s invention, Pickering and the ABCFM Prudential Committee resisted its acceptance among their missionaries. Jill Lepore argued that: Because it challenged Pickering’s orthography, Sequoyah’s invention was, at least initially, a blow to the American Board and to Pickering in particular. … as late as 1835 [Samuel A.] Worcester was being pressured by his superiors at the American Board to use Pickering’s alphabet. … Why if the Syllabary was so successful in promoting literacy, did Worcester need to defend it? Because a Syllabary, according to prevailing theories, was a grossly imperfect, even 68 savage form of writing. 64

John. Pickering, Section 1 in An Essay on a Uniform Orthography for the Indian Languages of North America (1820), 7, 8. 65

Lepore, A is for American, 74–6.

John Pickering, A Grammar of the Cherokee Language (1825).

Sequoyah, also known as George Gist, was the “illiterate genius who created the Cherokee syllabary allowing the Cherokee to read and write in their own language.” Biographical sketches to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:323. 68

Lepore, A Is for American, 75.

44 Pickering and his friends at the American Board were interested in developing what they deemed as an “urgent philological project: establishing a uniform orthography for the unwritten languages of the world’s heathens.”

Sadly, Butrick’s Tsvlvki sqclvclv (1819) was negligible in view of Pickering’s Grammar of the Cherokee Language (1825). One speculates that the unpopular Tsvlvki sqclvclv (1819) factored in the Cherokee National Council’s decision to ignore Butrick’s completed translation of the New Testament using Sequoyah’s Syllabary, in 1825. Instead, Samuel A. Worcester’s version of the New Testament, became the Cherokee nation’s first official version of the Bible. The historian Marion Lena Starkey related that Butrick was “shamefaced”

about his snubbed system of transliterating Cherokee into a system of English characters. Concerning Butrick’s translation of the New Testament into the Cherokee language Starkey wrote, “Like so many of Butrick’s eager [emphasis mine] projects, it was ignored.”

In 1825 Butrick’s fellows began to demand that he burden his share of the work at the mission stations—accusing him of dodging responsibilities in order to unsuccessfully learn the Cherokee language. Butrick defended himself by arguing that he had a busy schedule as an itinerant preacher. As a result the brethren reported his lack of concern for the secular duties of the mission stations to their Corresponding Secretary. 69

Lepore, A Is for American, 72.

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 88.

Ibid., 89.

45 Butrick’s discouragement with his work on the Cherokee language and frustration concerning the worldly concerns of his fellows negatively influenced his manners. He bemoaned his shortcomings in a letter to the Corresponding Secretary: Dear Sir, you doubtless know what I am about to state, vis. That I have lost, in a great measure, the confidence of my missionary brethren. This is a source of humiliation and discouragement. Whether I have done anything in particular to displease them, or whether, by a continual series of imprudent words and actions I have wearied their patience, I know not. I know my manners are rough like the uncultivated desert, and all my habits are suited only to the dark 72 regions of the forest. The setbacks Butrick experienced in his language studies gave his brethren cause to criticize his contribution at the mission stations. More so, it set in motion the series of disagreements that would compound into Butrick’s heated debate with his Corresponding Secretaries on the issue of Cherokee removal during the 1830s. “Lest I Should Stand in the Way of Others Who Might do Good”: Butrick’s Trouble with his Superiors, 1817–1831 ABCFM Corresponding Secretaries were primarily responsible for facilitating the vision of the Commissioners to the missionaries. The historian John A. Andrew III (1943–2000) wrote this about their duties: [A Corresponding Secretary] supervised all the board’s missionary operations. By 1828 these operations were extensive, but they were also self-operating, and there was little that board headquarters could do on a day-to-day basis, aside from keeping up with correspondence. … his assistants handled most of that, leaving him free to supervise the board’s network of agents and societies, 72

In Butrick’s writings, “vis.” is frequently used as an abbreviated form of the French term vis-à-vis, which means, “with regard to” or “in relation to.” Butrick to Evarts, Carmel [GA], July 17, 1826, ABCFM.

46 to promote the Missionary Herald, and to devote his energies to other 73 problems which demanded his immediate attention. Butrick labored under the administrations of four Corresponding Secretaries: Dr. Samuel Worcester (1810–1821), Jeremiah Evarts (1821–1831), David Greene (1831–1847), and 74

Selah B. Treat (1847–1877).

Each of these men devoted a considerable amount of energy

addressing Butrick’s pleads that the ABCFM define its mission on spiritual terms. His troubles with the ABCFM’s social philosophy took shape in September of 1817 as he departed Boston for the Brainerd Mission. He arrived at the mission on January 3, 1818. Years later he said about his arrival: When I first came to this country, my only professed object was to instruct the people in the doctrines and duties of religion, and assist in training up their children for God. In all my journeys, when I have had occasion to speak on the subject, I have told the Cherokees that I had nothing to do with their political affairs. My only business was to instruct them in the great truths of 75 the Holy Bible. Butrick began several years of intense language study at the commencement of his mission. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) believed that his “facility in languages” 73

John A. Andrew III, From Revivals to Removal Jeremiah Evarts, the Cherokee Nation, and the Search for the Soul of America (University of Georgia Press, 2007), 165. 74

Annual report - American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Volumes 75–78 ([Boston?]: n.p., 1885), 117. 75

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 89. For date of Butrick’s arrival and a description of Brainerd Mission’s grounds, see Will Thomas Hale and Dixon Lanier Merritt, A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans; The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1913).

47 factored in his brethren’s decision for him to establish a school in Creek Path, Alabama.

Ultimately, he failed to master the Cherokee language. He had neglected the daily duties required of the other missionaries several years as he struggled to memorize the complexities of the language. In 1819, when Corresponding Secretary Dr. Samuel Worcester put pressure on him to produce results, Butrick took a defensive position. Thus began a lifetime of quarrels with his Board: Dear Sir, you will understand that I am not obliged to write every Indian word in full, and also, that I call every word I write, a distinct word, though only a variation of another word. … If divine providence permit I expect to make the language the chief object of my attention this year, and preach as doors open. …I speak of going into the dark parts of the nation, because I am pained for those dear souls who have never heard the gospel, but O’ my dear Sir, you know I am indeed an earthen vessel as I have not the understanding so neither 77 have I the courage nor the fortitude of a man. Despite Butrick’s best effort and promise to succeed, quarrels among his brethren at the Brainerd Mission Station frustrated his plans to dedicate all of his energy and focus towards mastery of the language. In 1819 Butrick was chosen to mediate an argument between the Chamberlain and Hall missionary families, concerning who had authority to make decisions at the mission station. As soon as the dispute appeared to be resolved, a debate erupted about Reverend Moody Hall’s (1789–1845) plan for the mission to profit from the establishment of a farm on Cherokee land. Instead of remaining neutral, Butrick took sides in the matter and voiced an opinion against Hall to Dr. Samuel Worcester. Butrick’s involvement in this controversy and 76

Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xx.

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Brainerd [TN], July 2, 1819, ABCFM.

48 a personal request that the ABCFM resolve some financial matters in Buffalo, New York, apparently diminished Dr. Worcester’s good graces.

Butrick responded to Dr. Worcester’s rebuke with, “… excuse me for suffering a tear to fall as I write. O’ Eternity! I am acting for eternity. [boldface and italics Butrick] I am standing alone and the heathen around me are looking for that holy example and that kind instruction which they need to bring them to God.”

Dr. Samuel Worcester

passed away shortly thereafter (December 1820). The plea Butrick made to Dr. Worcester in this apology exemplifies the position he would maintain with other Corresponding Secretaries. Butrick begged: “I knew I was unworthy [of] your prayers, advice or friendship; but thought that a love for the heathen, a regard for the honour of missions, and a zeal for the glory of God, [emphasis mine] would excite those prayers and call forth that advice without which I could not hope to bear up amidst the storms and dangers before me.”

By August 1821 Butrick recommitted himself to the work of learning the language under the supervision of the newly appointed Corresponding Secretary Jeremiah Evarts (1781–1831). He wrote to Evarts, “As my business at present is rather separate from 78

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Brainerd [TN], Feb. 24, 1819; Brainerd [TN], Sept. 5 1820; and Creek Path [AL], Sept. 7, 1820, ABCFM. 79

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Creek Path [AL], Sept. 7, 1820,

ABCFM. 80

Ibid., ABCFM.

49 that of the Mission Family generally, I hope you excuse this individual communication.”

During the early 1820s, Butrick generally avoided the temporal concerns of his fellows by removing himself from the mission station, through his work as an itinerant evangelist. During Evarts’s administration, Butrick began to demarcate his personal sense of duty to the Cherokee from what he perceived to be the temporal mission of his brethren and Board. One speculates that Butrick expressed these opinions to the Corresponding Secretary in hopes of influencing the ABCFM’s promotional materials published in the Missionary Herald. An article published in 1821 (with Evarts’s approval) expressed a popular sentiment about the Cherokee that Butrick sought to challenge: Ten years ago the Aborigines of our country were regarded by this great community, with the exception of here and there an individual, as an utterly intractable race, never to be brought within the pale of civilized society, but doomed by unalterable Destiny. [sic] … Now the whole nation is moved by a very different spirit. From the highest places of the national Government down to the humblest conditions of society, all classes are inspired with good will towards the Indians. The desire to serve rather than to destroy them is everywhere testified; and to evangelize and civilize them [emphasis mine] is 82 regarded as no infeasible or very difficult work. Like Butrick, Evarts was an outspoken advocate of the Indians. The editors of The PayneButrick Papers (2010) described him as a “staunch defender of native American and 81

Butrick to Jeremiah Evarts, Chuckamaugah [sic], Aug. 31, 1821, ABCFM.

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The Missionary Herald (Boston: Published for the Board by Samuel T. Armstrong, 1821), 17:8.

50 especially Cherokee rights.”

Butrick respected Evarts’s stand on behalf of the Cherokee,

however he sharply disagreed with the premise that they must become “civilized.”

William G. McLoughlin believed that the steady stream of complaints brought before Evarts during these years were the product of unique insights that Butrick was in the process of formulating. McLoughlin wrote: [He] seemed fully aware of the ethnocentrism and snobbery which permeated their [other ABCFM missionaries] behavior … And he firmly believed that only by learning the Cherokee language could missionaries truly perform their task. He left the comfortable life at Brainerd mission soon after his arrival and went to live in a smoky cabin with a full blood family in order to be able to 85 learn Cherokee. McLoughlin pointed out that Butrick possessed an exceptional attitude. He commented on Butrick’s break with the lifestyle of his brethren, becoming an itinerate preacher. McLoughlin observed that as Butrick traveled he noticed the social class distinctions becoming evident in the Cherokee nation because of Americanization, and he criticized his brethren’s refusal to minister to the poorer class of Cherokee. In April 1826 however, Reverend Jeremiah Evarts was far from impressed with Butrick’s opinion. Evarts wrote: “I am afraid, my dear sir, [emphasis mine] that you have not sufficiently felt your share of responsibility of keeping the different stations 83

Biographical sketches to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:307.

ABCFM, The Missionary Herald, 17:8.

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 137–38.

51 supplied.”

Not only had Butrick neglected his temporal duties for the spiritual concerns of

itinerant preaching, he had dedicated an enormous amount of time towards what proved to be an unimpressive dictionary. Furthermore, he had assumed the role of a Corresponding Secretary, by dictating policy (through the criticism of his brethren) to “Dear Sir” Evarts. Evarts challenged Butrick’s perception of his brethren, with this instruction: “I have another suggestion, and that is, that you should not feel bound to take any part in secular or domestic arrangements of the stations. If you should differ from your brethren, as to any of these matters, simply consider how very probable it is that you may be wrong, and 87

there leave the subject.”

Butrick, however, stubbornly defended the spiritual emphasis of his mission: “I will endeavor to keep a journal of my labor at all times, except when permitted to labor where the Spirit of God is carrying on a work in the hearts of men.”

He responded to

Evarts’s “suggestion” by documenting all of his activities. Butrick was determined to prove that he was bearing his share of responsibility at the mission stations. The decision Butrick made in 1826 to document all of his activities and conversations would result in hundreds of pages of documents for Evarts’s successor David Greene (1797–1866) to deal with. 86

Butrick to Evarts, Haweis [GA], Apr. 19, 1826, ABCFM. “Chamberlain was gently derisive of the efforts of Butrick, ‘dear man,’ in this direction. And the word of God was too precious to be pronounced by an amateur. So the missionaries read their chapter, expounded its contents in English, and left the rest to the work of interpreters.” Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 64. 87

Butrick to Evarts, Haweis [GA], Apr. 19, 1826, ABCFM.

Ibid.

52 Laboring for the Love of God and Souls Departed: D. S. Butrick Weathers the Political Hurricane Of the 1830s The historian Marion L. Starkey likened the Cherokee removal crisis to “one of those myths of classical antiquity,” wherein the competitors offered prayers to their favorite gods for a prize that only one side could win. 89 Starkey said, “And the gods, without mutual consultation, give affirmative answers to quite incompatible prayers. Both Cherokees and Georgians had prayed for legal title to the same territory; both had been confirmed in the possession thereof.”

The ratification of the Cherokee Constitution on July 26, 1827 was a direct challenge to Georgia’s sovereignty. Georgians viewed the Cherokee claim to their homeland as inconsequential given the sacrifice Americans paid to liberate the land from England during the Revolution and War of 1812. William G. McLoughlin wrote, “Most frontier whites agreed and thought the adoption of a constitution was a bid for Cherokee independence, for in their own national experience, the United States Constitution had become a symbol of their own successful establishment of independent nationhood.”

short, Georgians viewed the Cherokee claim to sovereignty as insolent. Daniel Butrick was right to identify the conflict as having very little to do with the teachings of Jesus. The theologian Stephen Keillor (b.1948) argued that American 89

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 101.

Ibid., 101–02.

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 220. Also, see John Ehle, Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation (New York: Doubleday, 1988), 206.

53 politics in this era were grounded in a mentality akin to a duel. Keillor wrote, “Army officers introduced dueling during the Revolution. It lasted in the South after the North ended it. Originally part of the gentry code of honor, it persisted as common men democratized it as a less formal, but still violent, frontier code of honor.”

The duel began after the presidential election of 1828. Starkey wrote, “Officials of the sovereign state of Georgia, reading the audacious document [Cherokee constitution], decided that the time for conciliatory measures had passed, that they must now take matters into their own hands. They waited only to see how the presidential elections would turn out. When Jackson won, they took his victory as national endorsement of their own claims.”

In December 1828, the Georgia Legislature passed a bill intended to deny the

rights of the Indians. Effective June 1, 1830, the Cherokee would share the same legal options available to African slaves. McLoughlin wrote that on that date not only would the Cherokee Constitution be rendered null and void, “the Indians still living in Georgia would become ‘people of color’ unable to vote, to testify in court, to serve in the militia, or to send their children to public schools.”

All political and economic considerations aside, the issue of Cherokee removal escalated into crisis because men (on both sides) defended their pride and honor. 92

Steven J. Keillor, This Rebellious House: American History and the Truth of Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 129. 93

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 106–07.

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 246.

54 The historian Paul Johnson (b.1928) argued that Americans viewed the Cherokee nation as a threat to their autonomy. Johnson wrote: The problem with this little utopia—as the whites saw it—was that it was built as a homogeneous Indian unit. It mattered not to the whites that this selfcontained community virtually eliminated all the evils whites associated with Indians. The Phoenix campaigned strongly against alcohol and there was a plan to enforce prohibition. The courts were severe on horse thieves. The authorities urged all Indians to work and provide a means. There were 20,000 cattle and 1,500 slaves, like other ‘civilized’ Georgians. But its very existence, and still more its constitution, violated both state and federal law, and in 1827 Georgia petitioned the federal government to ‘remove’ the Indians 95 forthwith. In 1829 ABCFM Corresponding Secretary Jeremiah Evarts responded to the Georgians by publishing a series of letters under the pseudonym “William Penn.” In these letters he defended the plight of the Cherokee nation as a matter of conscience.

In defense of Cherokee national sovereignty Evarts pleaded, “The Cherokees are human beings, endowed by their Creator with the same natural rights as other men. They are in peaceable possession of a territory which they have always regarded as their own.”

Evarts argued on behalf of their humanity and the justice of their cause. The Georgians’ defiance of the precedent of treaty negotiations between the federal government and the Cherokee nation was a breach of moral conscience. 95

Paul Johnson, A History of the American People (New York, HarperCollins:

1997), 350. 96

Cherokee Removal: The “William Penn” Essays and Other Writings by Jeremiah Evarts, ed. Francis Paul Prucha (Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press: 1981). 97

Ibid., 53.

55 Evarts argued that not only was the State of Georgia committing a crime against the principles that United States law was founded upon, more so, they were guilty of committing a crime against God. Evarts wrote, “May a gracious Providence avert this country the awful calamity of exposing ourselves to the wrath of heaven, as a consequence of disregarding the cries of the poor and defenseless, and perverting to purposes of cruelty and oppression, that power which was given us to promote the happiness of our fellow-men.”

The involvement of a northern mission board in Georgia’s legal affairs enraged southern Democrats. What began as an issue of state rights and honor spiraled into an “extremely bitter, highly partisan, emotionally supercharged, and exhausting” brawl over the passage of the Indian Removal Act in the halls of Congress in 1829.

Stephen Keillor

said this of the pretentious sectional attitudes that divided Americans (1830s and 40s): Honor wasn’t internal, like conscience, but was publically claimed and bestowed, or denied. A gentleman insisted that others grant honor to his family, his town, his state, and himself. Honor had racist overtones, for it was never given to blacks. Compared to them all whites had honor. A political idea, it gave the right to participate in politics, and such participation 100 enhanced one’s honor. Evarts may have argued on behalf of America’s Christian conscience, but in response to the Georgians his New England-styled sense of patriotism and honor led the ABCFM into the 98

Cherokee Removal: “William Penn” Essays, ed. Prucha, 210.

The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents, eds. Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green (Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press: 1995), 114. 100

Keillor, Rebellious House, 129.

56 duel. His friend Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787–1862) of New Jersey led the attack against the Indian Removal Act in the Senate.

101

By the time the bill had reached the House of Representatives, Evarts “William Penn Essays” had become popular among the anti-Jacksonian congressional representatives, thereby intensifying their fight with Georgian Democrats. Two days after the passage of the Removal Act in 1830 (the same day Georgia’s December 1828 Bill took effect) the Cherokee passed a law that whites could no longer live or trade on Cherokee land without official approval of their nation. In October of 1830, Governor George Gilmer (1790–1859) requested that President Jackson withdraw federal troops from the State of Georgia. Back in 1828, when the town of Dahlonega boomed to life, federal troops entered the Cherokee nation to preserve order. The first major American gold rush brought a fever of white prospectors into the North Georgia Mountains. These profiteers staked illegal claims to Cherokee land aggravating the legal duel between the Cherokee nation and the State of Georgia. President Jackson’s compliance with Gilmer’s request to remove federal troops freed the Georgians to do what was necessary to end their perceived Indian problem.

102

The Georgia Legislature responded by approving an Act on December 22, 1830, outlawing the assembly of any Cherokee council or legislative body in the State, unless 101

Cherokee Removal: History, eds. Perdue and Green, 114–15.

102

“The Georgia state politicians wished to prevent white and Indian alike from placer squatting, nursing the brilliant idea that the state could raise a great deal of money (and thus avoid the odium of laying taxes) by holding a huge land lottery.” Otis E. Young, “The Southern Gold Rush, 1828–1836,” The Journal of Southern History 48, no. 3 (1982): 385.

57 they met with the purpose of relinquishing land rights.

103

The Act intended to eliminate the

ABCFM’s influence in the fight. Section 7 was a vengeful reinterpretation of the law enacted by the Cherokee Congress that previous summer (June 1, 1830). Georgia’s version read: That all white persons residing within the limits of the Cherokee nation, on the first day of March next, or anytime thereafter, without a license or permit, from his Excellency the Governor, or from such agent as his Excellency the Governor, shall authorise [sic] to grant such permit or license, and who shall not have taken oath hereinafter required, shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by confinement 104 in the Penitentiary at hard labor, for a term not less than four years. The Georgians demanded that they, not the Indians, possessed the authority to remove whites from Indian land—particularly missionaries. In January 1831 several copies of the Georgia Journal newspaper (containing the new law) were mailed anonymously (by a government official) to the Brainerd Mission in New Echota, Georgia. William G. McLoughlin argued that Samuel A. Worcester’s response to the legislation, to follow his duty and “cheerfully leave the event to God,” was “one of the finer moments of missionary history.”

105

Likewise, Samuel A. Worcester’s biographer Althea Leah (Bierbower) Bass (1892–1988) believed that his 1831 decision to remain in the Cherokee nation and face imprisonment ensured his legacy. She argued: 103

The Removal of the Cherokee Nation: Manifest Destiny or National Dishonor, eds. Louis Filler and Allen Guttman (Boston, D. C. Heath and Company: 1962), 6. 104

Cherokee Removal: History, eds. Perdue and Green, 66–7.

105

Georgia Journal newspaper, Jan. 1831. Samuel A. Worcester to David Greene, New Echota, GA, March 14, 1831, ABCFM; McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 258.

58 [The Cherokee] remember something more vital than a system of theology. Even now to the third and fourth generation, they remember that a good man came among them, and cast his lot with theirs. When they were sick, he was their physician; when they were in trouble, he suffered imprisonment for them; when they were exiled, he shared their banishment. Words, of which he was so great a master, were not needed in the lesson he taught them. They 106 learned a way of life from him, and they have not forgotten it. In fact, Samuel A. Worcester’s sacrifice was so remarkable that graduate student Michael J. Murray argued that historians have overlooked “the lesser voices of ordinary missionaries” such as Butrick. 107 While Samuel A. Worcester and Dr. Elizur Butler (missionary physician to the Cherokee) fixed their sights upon a protest that resulted in the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Butrick decided upon a separate course of action.

108

Upon discussing the looming

threat of imprisonment with his fellows, Samuel A. Worcester wrote to David Greene: It may do no harm to communicate what I know of the sentiments of the other missionaries. Mr. [John] Thompson [(1799–1846)] has just written to me, expressing his opinion that it is inexpedient to expose ourselves to the penalty of the law. From something which he says I infer that he has understood Mr. Butrick and Mr. [Issac] Proctor [(b.1784)] to express the same. I have written to Mr. Thompson and to Mr. Butrick, saying that I had rather suffer with and for the Cherokees, than to discourage them by having it said that the board and the missionaries could not trust the Supreme Court of the United States, in which it has been recommended to them to confide. I do not really believe that 106

Aletha Bass, Cherokee Messenger (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1936), 345. 107

Michael J. Murray, “The Private Journal of Daniel S. Butrick: A New Interpretation of American Missionaries and Cherokee Removal” (MA Thesis, University of New Hampshire, 1996), vi–vii. 108

Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832). “Butrick was one of four missionaries to travel with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. The other three were Elizur Butler, [Methodist missionary] David Cumming [(1796–1880)], and Evan Jones.” Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xxii.

59 the law will be rapidly enforced, yet I should not be susprized [sic], if I should remain, to see an officer with a writ for me. …. But this will not prevent me from staying in the expectation that if I should be imprisoned by the authority 109 of Georgia, a higher authority will, after a while release me. In March 1831, the Georgia Guard arrested three missionaries, the printer of the Cherokee Phoenix, and two other white men; jailing them in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The Georgia Supreme Court released the missionaries, ruling that because federal funds supported the ABCFM mission the missionaries served as agents of the United States Government. Furthermore, Samuel A. Worcester’s status as a postmaster exempted him from taking an oath of allegiance to the State of Georgia.

110

Having read the ruling, Governor George Gilmer wrote to the United States Postmaster General and the Secretary of War concerning Samuel A. Worcester’s responsibility as postmaster.

111

The Postmaster General William T. Barry (1784–1845)

quickly relieved Samuel A. Worcester of his title and duties. In June 1831 the Georgia Guard returned to arrest Samuel A. Worcester, Butler, Rev. James Trott (1800–1868) and eight other white men. That September the Gwinnett County Superior Court sentenced the eleven men to four years of hard labor in the state penitentiary. Samuel A. Worcester and Butler 109

Samuel A. Worcester to Greene, New Echota, GA, Jan. 28, 1831, ABCFM.

110

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 258–59. George Gilmer served as Georgia’s Governor, 1829–1831 and 1837–1839. Wilson Lumpkin served a term as the Governor of Georgia, 1831–1835. 111

Ibid.

60 were the only prisoners to refuse the offer of clemency by swearing an oath of allegiance to the State of Georgia.

112

The 1832 United States Supreme Court decision enraged Georgia Governor Lumpkin (1783–1870) who declared Chief Justice John Marshall’s (1755–1835) ruling, in favor of the Cherokee, as an attack on the state’s sovereignty.

113

The historian Paul Johnson

summarized the Georgian’s response, “Encouraged by President Jackson, [the state] defied the Court’s ruling. The end came over the next few years, brought about by a combination of force, harassment—stopping of annuities, cancellation of debts—and bribery.”

114

The historian Ulrich Bonnel Phillips (1877–1934) argued that the public fiasco over “the decision in Samuel A. Worcester’s case established the permanent triumph of Georgia’s policy, and rendered it only a question of a very few years when the Indians would be driven from their territory within the limits of the State.”

115

Shortly before Samuel A. Worcester’s second arrest (wherein he and Butler were shackled, then forced to march sixty miles to a penitentiary in Milledgeville, Georgia) Butrick took a separate stand. Initially Butrick and Proctor submitted to the instruction of the Prudential Committee and the pleading of their fellows to “pursue our work, unless we are 112

Philip “The American Board and the Removal Crisis,” quoted in Removal of the Cherokee Nation, Filler and Guttman, eds., 10. 113

Ibid.; Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832).

114

Johnson, American People, 351.

115

Philip “The American Board and the Removal Crisis,” quoted in Removal of the Cherokee Nation, Filler and Guttman, eds., 10.

61 interrupted by an arrest.”

116

Butrick quickly parted ways with this policy once the initial

round of arrests occurred. Rev. William Chamberlain and Elizur Butler paid Butrick a visit wherein Chamberlain “censured with much severity (Butrick’s) determination to move from the limits of Georgia. He seemed to consider us as traitors, deserting the cause of the Indians, and joining with, or upholding Georgia in her oppressive measures.”

117

An unnamed friend paid Butrick a visit the next day. This friend warned him that his decisions were going to bring ruin upon himself. Butrick journaled, “All the powers of darkness seemed united in bringing me into the deepest distress, ‘Look how the armies of despair,’ ‘Aloft their sooty banners near,’ ‘Round my poor captive soul and dare,’ ‘Pronounce me prisoner of hell.’ Soon however I thought my feet were set upon a rock, and my goings established.” [himself]”

118

This rift caused Butrick (in Beecher’s words) to “think for

119

and break ranks with his missionary brethren to act according to his convictions. That next Monday, Butrick departed Georgia with missionary Isaac Proctor,

stopping along the way at Mr. Alexander McKoy’s (ca. 1792–1824) to defend their situation: When a political question was to be decried between them and the U. States, it was no more our duty to enter the list of combatants to defend their political interests, than it would be in case of war to enter their ranks and fight their battles … If we suppose the Creeks were greatly abused, and therefore should 116

Samuel A. Worcester to Greene, New Echota, GA, March 2, 1831,

ABCFM. 117

Tues., June 9, 1831, Butrick’s Journal.

118

Ibid., Wed., June 10, 1831.

119

Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 45.

62 attempt to defend their Cain [emphasis mine], would not the Cherokees at 120 once say we were acting out of character? The Cherokee were Butrick’s righteous Abel. He feared that once the missionary influence was gone and the Georgians squashed the authority of the Cherokee nation to enforce its laws, “wicked white men [would] induce liquor without fear, the people will be led into sin, and go to such lengths as to grieve the Holy Spirit entirely from them.”

121

Butrick believed the Cherokee were “better than the whites in and around them” and that the Americans were “so much worse than the Indians, that the latter can not live near them.”

122

White men lived without fear of consequence as they robbed, oppressed

and murdered Butrick’s Cherokee: The poor Indians [emphasis mine] must watch day and night to preserve one little money to plow his field, or one poor cow to nourish his family, or one creature of any kind to furnish his meat, or if riding alone he is in constant danger of having his horse torn from him by the hands of roughians. … He must watch his wife and daughters with an eagle eye or they will be betrayed, 123 debauched, and worse than murdered by American citizens. Butrick believed American citizens to be less virtuous than even the Comanche of the distant wilderness. He imagined that these Indians would look upon the Cherokee with compassion.

124

And even though in an earlier entry Butrick said that he would not influence

120

Mon., 1831, Butrick’s Journal.

121

Ibid., Nov. 25, 1831.

122

Ibid., Jan. 11, 1832.

123

Ibid.

124

“Let Spain know that the bloody hands of her Cortes and Pizarro are white when compared with those of American Citizens, so that poor Indians will doubtless oblige

63 the nation to remain in Georgia or migrate west, he deeply hoped that they would make a new home with neighboring people whom he imagined to be sympathetic.

125

Samuel A. Worcester wrote the Corresponding Secretary concerning Butrick: I cannot but view it as a matter of regret that our ranks are broken. I mentioned last week the views of Mr. Butrick, and I am informed by Mr. Thompson that he and Mr. Proctor have written a long letter addressed to Mr. Evarts, in defense of them. … He thinks perhaps, the President of the U.S. has lawful authority to order us out of the nation, and if so [underscore Worcester], the intimation contained in Gov. Gilmer’s is a virtual order from the President, which, if we would be ‘subject to the higher powers,’ we must obey. To me such reasoning appears idle. I see no essential change in our relations, none more which ought to alter our course. … I cannot remove, unless the Committee so directs; and if all my brethren forsake me, I am willing to bear the burden alone. Only let not God forsake me. I may be wrong and they right, or if I am right in the principle, I may be wrong in the motive. But I pray God to give me wisdom to direct my course, and the Holy Spirit to 126 influence my motives. to fly from their own land to seek refuge in her dominions … Let the Pope be told that the inoffensive Indians think of fleeing the periphery of American Christians, to the milder and more equitable decisions of his inquisition. Let Africa hear it. Oh let the lions of the Torrid Zone know that the poor Indian would gladly receive an asylum with them, if so they might escape the mammoth jaws of United States Citizens. Hear it, O ye thunders of the Almighty, and all the storms of his wrath know on whom to fall the arrows of his indignation.” Jan. 11, 1832, Butrick’s Journal. 125

Principal Chief of the Cherokee John Ross also expressed his desire to see God’s justice fulfilled. “That possessions acquired, and objects attained by unjust and unrighteous means, will, sooner or later, prove a curse to those who have thus sought them, is a truth we have been taught by that holy religion which was brought to us by our white brethren. Years, nay, centuries may elapse before the punishment may follow the offence, but the volume of history and the sacred Bible assure us, that the period will certainly arrive. We would with Christian sympathy labour to avert the wrath of Heaven from the United States, by imploring your government to be just.” Letter from John Ross: The Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, to a Gentleman of Philadelphia (I.E. Job R. Tyson, 1838), 20. 126

Samuel A. Worcester to Greene, New Echota, GA, May 31, 1831,

ABCFM.

64 Samuel A. Worcester’s fear that his political principles would alienate him from his brethren paralleled Butrick’s concern that he was the only one of his fellows still mindful of the spiritual purpose of the mission. After the Trail of Tears (1838–39), Butrick closed a letter addressed to “Reverend [David Greene] and Beloved [Prudential Committee]” with a definitive statement about his position. Butrick said, “I simply beg for the life of this perishing mission, and do pray that it may be restored to its former privileges.”

127

In 1831 Butrick became obstinately opposed to the ABCFM advocating politically on behalf of the Cherokee because he understood his duty as being, “that personal religion,—matters of conscience, were to be regulated by the word of God.”

128

He told

Samuel A. Worcester “that for him to stay, if ordered to go by the government of Georgia to go, would be to violate the precept, ‘let every soul be subject to higher powers’ [(Romans 13:1)], and to suffer for it, would be to suffer as a politician, and not as a Christian.”

129

127

Butrick to the Secretaries of the ABCFM, Fairfield [OK], Sept. 22, 1840,

ABCFM. 128

Butrick to David Greene, Candeys Creek [TN], Nov. 30, 1831, ABCFM.

129

Samuel A. Worcester to Greene, New Echota, GA, May 25, 1831,

ABCFM.

65 “And Because it Manifests a Spirit not Becoming Missionaries, and Ministers, Christians”: The ABCFM Prudential Committee’s Rebuke of Butrick’s Opinion The differences that culminated between Butrick and his brethren during the 1820s climaxed into a brawl-of-words with the ABCFM’s Prudential Committee when they decided to champion the rights of Cherokee nation in the United States Supreme Court.

130

Naturally, Butrick’s refusal to listen to reason disheartened Samuel A. Worcester and the Prudential Committee. At the very least he could have accommodated their request for solidarity with the imprisoned brethren. The journal Butrick regularly sent to the Corresponding Secretary included various statements that he made to people in defense of his position. One of these entries preserved the following statement, “I could not consider it correct that our brethren were imprisoned merely for a desire to preach the gospel, because those of us who removed desired and retained that privilege, though as missionaries, we did not feel bound to test the laws of Georgia.”

131

In 1833 Butrick wrote a letter to the Secretary of the American Board, Rev. Benjamin Blydenburg Wisner (1794–1835) in protest of an article published in the Missionary Herald. The ABCFM publicized that, “While the [Prudential] Committee have 130

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. 1 (1831); Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832). 131

In Butrick’s public journal entry for Fri., Dec. 30, 1831 the “we” refers to ABCFM missionaries Isaac Proctor and John Thompson who took his position in the removal controversy. Butrick to Greene, Candeys Creek [TN], Feb. 21, 1832, ABCFM.

66 acted with entire unanimity, it is not known that at any stage of this business, their judgment has differed from that of the missionaries.”

132

The publicity angered Butrick because the ABCFM had stretched the truth. The ABCFM promoted itself as a unified force, standing against the unlawful Georgian tyrants. They did so in an effort to elicit the support of northern Evangelicals in defense of their political agendas. In Butrick’s opinion, the article confirmed that the ABCFM had ignored his perspective. The Prudential Committee asked Reverend B. B. Wisner to prepare a response for the noncompliant missionary.

133

Wisner took Butrick’s attack on the policies of the

American Board personally. His heated response stressed the reasons why, [Your] letter gave pain to the Committee and to the officers at the Rooms ! [double underscore and exclamation (instead of a numeral) Wisner] because it indicated that you were unhappy. 2. [double underscore Wisner] because it proved that you have labored and suffered yourself long to continue laboring under important mistakes in reference to the view and proceedings of the Committee in relation to the matter to which your letter refers. And because it manifests a spirit not becoming missionaries, and ministers, Christians. In all frankness and plainness I shall state to you the particulars which, in our view 134 authorize these general statements. 132

Butrick and Proctor to B. B. Wisner and members of the Prudential Committee, Ahmokie [sic], Mar. 14, 1833, ABCFM. 133

“Your letter ought to have been addressed to Mr. Greene. He has the special charge of the correspondence with the Indian Missions. If you were aware of this fact. Your letter contained comments of a reprehendatory cast upon his proceedings, which ought to have been addressed, if addressed to anyone. Yet if on this very reason, it would seem, the letter was addressed to me.” Rev. B. B. Wisner to D. S. Butrick and Isaac Proctor, Missionary Rooms, Boston, MA, Apr. 9, 1833, ABCFM 134

Ibid.

67 Wisner reminded Butrick of the encouragement given by Jeremiah Evarts and David Greene to “act [freely] as your conscience may direct.”

135

Wisner gave a lengthy argument defending

the decisions of the board, and the necessity of Samuel A. Worcester and Butler’s political protest. Then at the close of the letter, he affirmed the Prudential Committee’s deep love and respect for Butrick as a minister of the Gospel. Wisner’s argument to Butrick can be summarized as such: the majority rules; and though Butrick was entitled to his opinion, his perspective belonged to the minority. Wisner offered Butrick a thorough case of why Evangelicals must champion the cause of a Christian socio-political conscience in America. However, the Prudential Committee, and its officers, missed Butrick’s point that by doing so, they jeopardized their spiritual mission to the Cherokee—a concern that in time proved to be valid. The protest resulted in President Jackson instructing the Secretary of War to end the payment of government subsidies to the ABCFM (undermining the sustainability of the ABCFM’s Cherokee mission); Georgians arresting the missionaries (not for Christ’s sake) because of their New England politics; and worst of all, the Cherokee identifying missionaries as political saviors, who would never fulfill that expectation.

136

135

Rev. B. B. Wisner to D. S. Butrick and Isaac Proctor, Missionary Rooms, Boston, MA, Apr. 9, 1833, ABCFM. 136

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 253.

68 Suffering for Christ on behalf of the Gospel: Butrick’s Interpretation of the Cherokee Removal Crisis For John Howard Payne, Esq. In 1841 Butrick put all of these events into perspective for John Howard Payne; even sending him an edited extract of a letter he had written to the Corresponding Secretary in 1831.

137

“First in the forefront of the battle,” wrote Butrick, “you will perceive a

missionary meeting at New Echota [capital of the Cherokee nation], for the purpose of making certain statements, and adopting certain resolutions concerning the Cherokees.”

138

The ABCFM had publicized that their missionaries had met together to challenge the laws of the State against the Cherokee. Butrick said this did not happen: We knew nothing less or more; till we received a letter from Mr. [Samuel A.] Worcester saying that he was authorized by the Cor. Secy to call the missionaries together to make certain statements &c. relative to the improvement of the Cherokees, or to that effect. On meeting at New Echota 139 we found the statements & resolutions in substance already written. Then Butrick related that the board pressured him to participate in the protest or “be censured as unfriendly to the Cherokees.”

140

He made it very clear that, in his opinion, the ABCFM

should never have offered their political assistance to their nation. 137

Butrick, Mount Zion [AR], Jan. 12, 1841, vol. 9, Payne Papers; Butrick to Evarts, Carmel [GA], Apr. 14, 1831, ABCFM. 138

Butrick, Mount Zion [AR], Jan. 12, 1841, vol. 9, Payne Papers.

139

Ibid. “&c.” is an abbreviation for et cetera.

140

Ibid.

69 Meanwhile, Butrick and a handful of other missionaries made their residence outside of the state in order to maintain a presence, as itinerant missionaries within the Georgia boundaries of the Cherokee nation where they could no longer live. Butrick believed that the signing of these resolutions brought unnecessary attention to the missionaries, putting them at the center of a controversy. Georgian authorities retaliated by threatening the missionaries to swear an oath of allegiance and vacate Cherokee land. Shortly before the first round of arrests, a letter arrived from Boston giving Butrick permission to act according to his will. He was not yet convinced of the best course so he submitted to the will of his brethren and remained at the Carmel Mission. When the Georgia Militia failed to arrive as planned, Butrick departed Carmel Mission to resume his regular pastoral duties. A few days later, he received word that the Georgia Guard had arrested several ABCFM missionaries. The political rhetoric that filled the columns of the Cherokee Phoenix concerning the arrests sickened him. In his opinion, an editorial about the arrests in the Cherokee Phoenix, by Samuel A. Worcester’s prot g Elias Boudinot (1803–1839), was inappropriate because it was politically motivated and promoted a spirit of resistance on both sides of the political issue.

141

Butrick believed it was in his better interest to remove himself from these divisive politics. He argued that as a missionary he was obliged to obey the demands of the 141

Butrick, Mount Zion [AR], Jan. 12, 1841, vol. 9, Payne Papers. During the first round of arrests, Georgia released the missionaries after they claimed to be agents of the Federal Government. Butrick complained, “Mr. Boudinot published some sarcastic remarks relative to the judgment of Judge Clayton, and added that if the missionaries were agents of the General government, they would not acknowledge themselves the agents of General Jackson, or to this effect.”

70 state of Georgia and remove himself and his family from its jurisdiction. Civil protest was not his responsibility. He believed that the spirit of political opposition currently on display at his mission was counterproductive to his role as an itinerant preacher. The best choice was to focus upon his ministerial labors and write “Indian Antiquities.” Butrick developed a theological understanding of his brethren’s politics. This quote gives insight into Butrick’s social philosophy: We consider the political state of the world and especially of the Jewish nation, during the ministry of our (Savior) and his apostles, and notice their entire silence respecting it, may we not suppose (that if they were) now here, they would seem to know nothing of all this commotion? And should the Cherokee ask our (Savior), ‘Wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom?’ Would he not reply, ‘It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in his won power.’ [sic] How little do we learn of the apostles (about) the political state of the world [‘or the character and cruelties of its tyrants!’]. They only tell their hearers to be ‘subject to the higher powers, to 142 obey magistrates, to be ready for every good work.’ To Butrick, Christ and the apostles proclaimed a message having little to do with the state of ancient Rome. Butrick envisioned the Cherokee on one side and Andrew Jackson on the other, the Cherokee comparable to the ancient Jews who pleaded with Christ to bring them political salvation from Caesar (President Jackson).

143

In 1831 Butrick became convinced that the ABCFM social/political philosophy stood in the way of the Cherokee coming to a correct view of Christ. All the concern over worldly politics had contributed to a Jewish misinterpretation of their Messiah. 142

Butrick, Mount Zion [AR], Jan. 12, 1841, vol. 9, Payne Papers; Butrick to Evarts, Carmel [GA], Apr. 14, 1831, ABCFM. “Or the character and cruelties of its tyrants!” was written on Butrick’s original draft of this letter. 143

Ibid.

71 The Cherokee faced a similar danger. In his heated letters to David Greene after the Cherokee removal, Butrick accused fellow ABCFM missionaries of being self-deceived: Indian missions have ever labored under peculiar disadvantages. Our beloved brethren who commenced them, fearing the Christian community would not long support them at any considerable expense, considered it necessary to make arrangements for their self-support. On the course, missionaries were burdened with large farms and many worldly cares. Also whatever they could do by their own personal labor to earn, or to save expense, was considered a religious duty, though deadening to their souls. Thus by almost incessant labor about worldly things, the brethren and sisters gradually lost their first love, and became lukewarm in their affections and love of God and souls departed, 144 selfishness flowed in to fill up the vacuum. In Butrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s estimation, his brethren compromised the welfare of the Cherokee when they emphasized their livelihoods over their mission. Having to choose between the Indians and the United States, missionaries were obliged to support the side that fed them. During the Nullification Crisis of 1832, South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union because of a debate over federal tariffs. Combined with the publicized Cherokee removal crisis in Georgia, there was a large amount of unwelcomed Northern attention brought upon this corner of the country. Politicians pressured the incarcerated missionaries to abandon their efforts against Georgiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attack on Cherokee sovereignty for fear that the protest would break apart the Union. Samuel A. Worcester buckled under the 145

pressure and swore the oath to the State of Georgia. 144

Daniel S. Butrick to David Greene, Sept. 22, 1840, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM). 145

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 299. McLoughlin believed that ethnocentric attitudes undermined the protest. He wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The missionaries had too many reasons for siding with their white brethren to persist in defense of their red brethren. Blood

72 Butrick chose to move forward with the disenfranchised Cherokee on the Trail of Tears as an expression of solidarity, not protest. He decided that suffering for Jesus did not include winning the sympathies of a “Christianized” America on behalf of the ABCFM. He argued: “And when we think of suffering in this cause, we cannot say, ‘the love of Christ constrains us’. [(2 Cor. 5:14)] It has appeared to me more like suffering in a political contest, from motives of worldly policy, than in the spirit of Christian meekness.”

146

Many New

Englanders praised the missionaries for their stand. But their sentiments were not enough to end the mistreatment of the Cherokee. Butrick also argued against suffering through civil disobedience in order to win over the Cherokee as political friends, even if it “procured for the Cherokees the continued possession of this country.”

147

In the end, it was not the same as suffering for

Christ on behalf of the gospel. Butrick wondered if the achievements of such suffering would be a blessing or a curse. The greater good, Butrick implied, was to trust that God was in control; and because of suffering in the spirit of Christian meekness, perhaps a greater good could come once the Cherokee had a new home in the West. He was not in favor of the removal policy that deprived the Cherokee of their rights. Nonetheless, Butrick trusted that redemption was spiritual and based upon the work of Christ, not political advocacy.

was thicker than water; ethnocentrism was stronger than righteousness. After 1832 the missionaries withdrew from the struggle.” 146

Butrick to Greene, Sept. 22, 1840, ABCFM.

147

Ibid.

73 During the summer of 1832, Butrick experienced a series of literal storms that he viewed as providential for the way they brought him together with the Cherokee: On getting out of the woods, I soon perceived the lion in the west [perhaps a tornado] coming with majestic fury, not turning aside to look at its southern foe [perhaps a storm front] … the rain pound down in torrents, driven by a powerful wind, and accompanied with very heavy thunder. Here I had a delightful season of perhaps an hour and a half singing hymns with the Cherokee family and admiring the grandeur of the storm and the infinite 148 goodness of God. While the political tornado raged in the 1830s, Butrick sought a place of God’s refuge. He did his best to encourage the Cherokee to find a similar place of rest in their salvation. On the Trail of Tears Butrick preached this theme often. “To Keep my Eye Fixed on the Star of Bethlehem”: Butrick’s Defense of Evangelism as Civil Disobedience Given the famous teaching of Jesus, “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:25 KJV), why was Butrick diametrically opposed to supporting the political advocacy of his fellows? Butrick was keenly aware that his course of action alienated him from his brethren. One assumes that regardless of his Prudential Committee’s political hopes for the Cherokee nation, Butrick could have compromised his opinions for the greater good—evangelism. Instead, Butrick turned his protest against the decisions of his own mission board. His defense of evangelism over civil disobedience was as counter-intuitive for his brethren as it is for modern people. The historian Doug Sweeney marveled at the contrast of positions embraced by the ABCFM missionaries during the 1830s. He commented that 148

Wed., [June?] 1833, Butrick’s Journal.

74 when he first encountered this history, he sensed the counter-intuitiveness of Butrick’s perspective. Sweeney explained that on the one hand, people want to applaud ABCFM missionaries such as Samuel A. Worcester for the politically progressive position they took on behalf of the injustices faced by Cherokee nation, while on the other they would censure their racism by modern standards.

149

Ironically, Butrick stood out from his fellows as a politically disengaged and spiritually oriented minister of the gospel who advocated against his brethren’s ethnocentrism. Sweeney explained that there is a modern tendency for Evangelicals to assume the heroes will be non-racist, progressive, and humble servants of society; and a naive corresponding assumption of how Christians of the time should have responded to the Cherokee removal crises. However, “the issues were different, the ties were different, and the 150

allegiances were different.”

Beyond the difference of issues, ties and allegiances, Butrick was different. The cultural sensibilities that he carried with him from western New York State and the onset of the Second Great Awakening were in sharp contrast to those of Samuel A. Worcester, who graduated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1825. The historian William G. McLoughlin described Samuel A. Worcester’s position as one that was balanced between his identity as an American and a Christian. McLoughlin summarized Samuel A. Worcester’s civil disobedience as such: 149

Douglas A. Sweeney, “David James Tackett’s MA Thesis Defense” (Discussion, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL, Feb. 24, 2011). 150

Ibid.

75 That the Cherokees expected, needed and deserved the support of missionaries in behalf of their efforts to retain their rights. To deny whatever help they could give would not only weaken the Cherokee position but would lead the Cherokees to lose faith in them as men and as missionaries ostensibly working for their good: ‘We felt, therefore, that Christian philanthropy demanded a temporary sacrifice of our personal liberty in order to obtain a decision [of the 151 Supreme Court] of so much importance to thousands of our fellow men.’ Samuel A. Worcester thrust himself into the center of the removal controversy believing that God orchestrated human events. As such, it was his duty as a Christian, and an American, to suffer politically on behalf of the Cherokee. He wrote to David Greene, “We have pursued a righteous course in defense of a righteous cause, and praying that God will direct us in the path of duty, and order the consequences for the glory of his name and the promotion of his cause, we cheerfully endure our trials and perform our daily labors. ‘Duties are ours, events are God’s.’”

152

Samuel A. Worcester sought to defend the Christian-based ethics that gave American constitutional government its uniqueness. He was equally convinced that his protest would secure the continuation of the ABCFM’s mission to the Cherokee. He argued that “a decision of the Supreme court [favoring the Cherokee cause] might be an occasion of arresting the hand of oppression—of averting from our beloved country the guilt of covenant breaking, and robbery, and the vengeance of heaven.”

153

Samuel A. Worcester was

151

William G. McLoughlin, “Civil Disobedience and Evangelism among the Missionaries to the Cherokee,” Journal of Presbyterian History, 51:2:116–139. (Summer 1973): 122; ABCFM, May, 1833, The Missionary Herald, 24:5:184. 152

The axiom Worcester quoted originated with Anglican clergyman Richard Cecil (1748–1777). Samuel A. Worcester to Greene, Penitentiary, Milledgeville, GA, Nov. 14, 1831, ABCFM. 153

ABCFM, May, 1833, The Missionary Herald, 24:5:184.

76 convinced that through his faithful obedience to the cause of righteousness, God’s favor would continue to be upon America and the work of its first mission board. By contrast, Butrick feared the situation the ABCFM had entered into would spiral out of control and thus undermine the evangelistic purpose of their mission. McLoughlin said of Butrick’s perspective: He could see no way in which a missionary might take a stand on political issues without jeopardizing his spiritual position, no matter how vital to the Cherokees such issues might appear to be at the moment. Once he descended from the purely spiritual level into the quagmire of mundane problems, the missionary was without a sure guide. Far better to abstain from all such controversy than to take sides and risk not only mistaken judgments but mingle the Church and the world, the things which were God’s, and those that 154 were Caesar’s. From Butrick’s point of view the ABCFM had compromised its spiritual mission to the Cherokee when it offered to assist the nation with its temporal and political concerns. Butrick’s disagreements with his mission board had been accumulating for over a decade. Butrick demanded that the Board address his concerns. Perhaps he believed the Corresponding Secretaries had intentionally ignored the opinions he expressed during the 1820s. Even though he wrote them concerning the ethnocentric attitudes of his brethren, elitism remained a way of life at the mission stations. Furthermore, his fellows insisted on engaging a political controversy, regardless of Butrick’s plea that gospel preaching be championed above every other earthly concern. Rev. David Greene became acquainted with Butrick’s obsession with spiritual matters in 1828 as an assistant to Jeremiah Evarts. The Prudential Committee appointed 154

McLoughlin, “Civil Disobedience and Evangelism,” Journal of Presbyterian History: 125.

77 Greene as Corresponding Secretary when Evarts died in 1831. Butrick immediately clarified his views concerning Cherokee removal to Greene: I instructed the Christian Cherokees respecting their obligations to honor and obey their own chiefs, and told them, as I had always told them, since I first came to the country, that it belonged to their own chiefs to regulate all their national affairs with the United States. Our Dear Sister [Ann Orr] Worcester [(1799–1842), Samuel A. Worcester’s wife,] seemed to think I had not taken that enlarged view of the subject, necessary to give me correct views of my duty. I told her I had paid little attention to common law, (into this affair) had never read the intercourse law between the United States and the Cherokees— that when I heard any one speaking of the wickedness of General [Andrew] Jackson [(1767–1845)]. I felt a desire to go away and weep in secret places, but no disposition to join in the conversation. I only desired to keep my eye 155 fixed on the Star of Bethlehem. Ann Orr Worcester became upset when Butrick refused to side with those she perceived to be the heroes [emphasis mine] in the controversy. Ann Worcester failed to comprehend how he could insist that he was acting in the interest of heaven, while her husband was serving time in the Milledgeville Penitentiary for the same cause. Butrick’s position in the controversy was counter-intuitive for Ann Worcester. Her husband’s political actions were defending the interests of their mission, the temporal welfare of the Indians, and the work of evangelism. Butrick was diametrically opposed to the political advocacy of his fellows because the Star of Bethlehem pointed to a reality separate from the politics of this world. 155

Butrick to Greene, Candeys Creek [TN], Nov. 30, 1831, ABCFM. Butrick’s reference to the “common law” was likely the series of laws passed by the Georgia General Assembly intended to deprive the Cherokee of their land. The Indian Intercourse Act was a series of five congressional statutes that served as the basis for the regulation of commerce between Indians and Americans. In regards to Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), William Wirt (1772–1834) argued that the Indian Intercourse Act guaranteed the Cherokee nation an inalienable title to their land. The United States Supreme Court refused to hear the suit based upon their lack of jurisdiction in the matter—the Cherokee were legally a dependent nation of the United States.

78 His allusion to the holy star contained a two-fold meaning. Butrick did not elaborate further about the celestial light; nevertheless, its archetypal meaning is clear. According to the Bible story, heaven awaited the world’s discovery of the holy baby asleep in the manger. When the rulers of the world received news of this birth, they acted in self-interest and attempted to thwart God’s divine plan. Upon hearing reports from the Magi that a king had been born in Israel, Herod the Great (74 BCE–4 BCE) issued a decree to murder all of Israel’s first-born sons. In a similar fashion, President Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) secured his political interests by enabling the Georgians to rob the Cherokee nation of their homeland— thwarting the evangelist activities of the missionaries. Amidst the tempest of human agony during the 1830s, Butrick identified with the Magi who turned their backs upon the corrupt politics of the world and followed the Star of Bethlehem to Jesus the Savior who was awaiting their arrival. Beyond the political implications of the story is the association between the Star of Bethlehem and “Indian Antiquities.” A book by Dr. Elias Boudinot (1740–1821) influenced Butrick’s reaction to the removal controversy. A copy of A star in the West: or, A humble attempt to discover the long lost ten tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city, Jerusalem (1816) was shelved in the Brainerd Mission Library. Butrick viewed the work as an invaluable resource by which to study the history and tradition of the

79 ten tribes motif.

156

Evidently, he formulated his thoughts about the Star of Bethlehem from

the text as well. In the preface of the work Dr. Boudinot wrote, A very bright and portentous Star [sic] having arisen in the East, making glad hearts of God’s people and urging the friends of Zion to unusual and almost miraculous exertions in spreading the glad tidings of salvation among the distant nations of the earth; … animated by this blessed eastern prospect, can no longer withhold the small discovery that has been made of a rising Star in the West, from the knowledge of those who are zealous and anxious to behold the returning Messiah … which star may in the issue, turn out to be the star of 157 Jacob [emphasis Boudinot]. Dr. Boudinot likened the Indians (lost ten tribes) to the Magi in search of their deliverer. Butrick kept his attention set upon this Star of the East, shining in the west. Butrick Defied what he Perceived as the ABCFM’s Hypocrisy with the Veracity that the Cherokee Are the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel The civilizing mission of the ABCFM taught spiritual converts to ascend to the truth of Christianity while learning how to conform to the social norms of American free market capitalism, democracy, and individualism. Butrick realized that those so-called Christians who exploited the Cherokee did so according to the standards of their culture. The historian Stephen Keillor argued that America’s culture of self-interest originated in complete rebellion to the proclamation of the gospel message. He wrote, “A democracy often assumes that citizens’ lawless acts, if done in quantity, are an irresistible 156

Elias Boudinot, A star in the West: or, A humble attempt to discover the long lost ten tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city, Jerusalem (Trenton, NJ: D. Fenton, S. Hutchinson and J. Dunham, 1816); “List of books,” Brainerd Journal. 157

Boudinot, preface to A star in the West, i.

80 force. So it legalizes them. Democracy is worse than monarchy if democratic male individualism wins out over notions of public virtue and citizens’ self-restraint.”

158

Unlike

King Herod, President Andrew Jackson was an elected official who communicated the voice of a majority of Americans. Butrick reacted against the social policies of his fellows that encouraged attitudes he believed were contrary to the teachings of Scripture. He hoped that the Cherokee would become Christians before the social norms of his fellow Americans (and civil protest of his brethren) ruined them. In 1832 Butrick distanced himself from the social philosophy of the ABCFM and dedicated himself to proving the Cherokee to be the lost ten tribes of Israel. During the 1820s he viewed the project as an anthropological investigation. Yet as he became critical of the ABCFM’s stance against the State of Georgia’s removal of Indians from her borders, the research became an act of advocacy on behalf of the Cherokee nation. Butrick wrote many letters that declared his position to stay out of the political contest between the ABCFM and American government over the issue of Cherokee removal.

159

Even though they are separate, “Indian Antiquities” and Butrick’s political

writings were interconnected. Whereas “Indian Antiquities” contained the actual research, 158

Keillor, This Rebellious House, 116. For insight into the ABCFM’s social vision, see Clifton Jackson Phillips, Protestant America and the Pagan World: the first half century of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1810–1860 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969); and John A. Andrew, Rebuilding the Christian Commonwealth: New England Congregationalists & Foreign Missions, 1800– 1830 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1976). 159

Butrick, Mount Zion [AR], Jan. 12, 1841, vol. 9, Payne Papers.

81 Butrick’s political writings built the case about why his use of the ten tribes motif was important. A letter written to Corresponding Secretary Selah B. Treat (1804–1877) in 1850 demonstrates this dynamic. In a series of letters that highlight his years of missionary service to the American Board, Butrick wrote this about what he perceived to be the root cause of the political and social inequality endured by American Indians during the nineteenth-century: As their advocate, my tongue and my pen are always ready ... Indians may now be driven from their lands,—their homes—their earthly all (as in Texas, Oregon, California, vis.) and their country taken by professed Christians with no more thought of robbery than as if it had been only a mountain of panthers, nay, they may be even hunted and shot down like bears or wolves, without exciting a tear or even a lisp [gasp] apparently, in the United States. … I trust you will excuse me, since I have the heart of an Indian, and feel, I think, to a good degree, towards them as if they were my own dear fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters; and when I consider them as the descendants of Israel, I am not ashamed of the relation I assume. But should I be mistaken in this (though I confidently believe I am not) yet they possess powers of mind and a native character, (before being despoiled of it by abandoned whites) which have a right to command respect, and such treatment as is due to the 160 other branches of the human family. Butrick understood that racism blocked the Indian’s ability to receive justice in the American legal system. His choices during the Cherokee removal crisis of the 1830s were rooted in a similar understanding. Professing Christians needed to possess “the heart of an Indian.” Only then would the Indians find the justice they deserved in the courts of the American people. 160

Butrick, Mount Zion [AR], Jan. 12, 1841, vol. 9, Payne Papers.

82 The Shape of Daniel Butrick’s Pastoral Ministry In the midst of the Cherokee Nation Circa 1820s and 1830s “Dear Sir, in the midst of these jarring elements,” wrote Daniel Butrick, “it is very difficult to keep a direct course. I have therefore concluded to be particular in writing my journal, that I may be able to review my conversation vis. and that the Prud. Com. [sic] may do the same. And If I have departed from the track of our blessed Redeemer and his apostles, … I entreat the Prud. Com. [sic] by the light of Divine truth to point out to me all 161

my aberrations … .”

With weightier issues at hand (Samuel A. Worcester and Butler’s

imprisonment), Corresponding Secretary David Greene (1832) did not reply to Butrick’s letters for “more than a year.”

162

In spite of the distractions of the removal controversy (and Greene’s apparent unconcern for his activities) Butrick directed his course according to the duties that had defined him since his commissioning. Evangelism was his raison d’être. He spent the majority of his time traveling from place to place, meeting people at random and sharing the message that gave him hope. In the early 1820s he not only visited with the financially poor of the Cherokee nation, he also forged relationships with its leaders: He smoked the peace pipe with the Boot [(dates unknown)], sat beside Pathkiller [(ca. 1740–1827)] at a Counsel Meeting, traveled with Chief Rising Fawn [(dates unknown)], congratulated the great warrior Shoe Boots [(d. ca. 1828)] for taking a sobriety pledge, and encountered the Cherokee police 163 force, the Lighthorse Guard, when they were administering a punishment. 161

Butrick to Greene, Candeys Creek [TN], Nov. 30, 1831, ABCFM.

162

Fri., Mar. 1832, Butrick’s Journal.

163

Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xx.

83 Butrick performed the duties of a pastor at a number of mission stations over the course of his career. The focus of these duties were largely decided in 1824 by Jeremiah Evarts: “Mr. Butrick and Mr. [William] Potter [(b.1796)] will for some months to come alternately spend some time at Brainerd, attending solely to the spiritual concerns of the place and the 164

neighborhood. They will not be required to take part in secular matters.”

Reverend Butrick served at these missions, performing the following duties, over the course of his ministry. The highlights of his service were as follow: 1. Brainerd Mission Station (1818–23): Butrick left to live with a Cherokee family to learn their language. He also performed weddings and funerals, purchased supplies for the station, was injured when he fell from a beam at a barn raising, often bedridden with inflammatory rheumatism, member of the committee that confirmed the faith of the missions converts. On March 10, 1820 he traveled to Creek Path to help establish a church and school. He also regularly fulfilled preaching appointments around the Cherokee nation. On October 20, 1821 he was appointed as Brainerd’s secretary. His brethren released him from the role of secretary to work as an itinerant preacher in the 165 region known as the Valley Towns (December 24, 1821). 2. Taloney / Carmel Mission Station (1823–27) and Etowah / Hightower Mission Station 166 (1827–30): During Butrick’s residency at Carmel, he “participated with the school.” He administered the sacraments, attended missionary meetings, prepared reports, discussed matters of spiritual importance with the Cherokee students and converts, and regularly delivered the Sunday sermon. In 1825 Butrick began to record the Cherokee stories he heard on his travels as an evangelist in the nation. Then in 1827 he married Elizabeth Proctor (1783–1847?) and lived at the Hightower mission where his wife continued her work as a school teacher. After his marriage he took charge of the 164

“Papers connected with the visit of Jeremiah Evarts in the Spring of 1824,” “Assignment of labors,” Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 11 of ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM). 165

Joyce B. Phillips and Paul Gary Phillips, index to The Brainerd Journal: A Mission to the Cherokees, 1817–1823, Indians of the Southeast (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998), 563. 166

Butrick to Evarts, Carmel [GA], Apr. 5, 1825, ABCFM

84 congregation at Hightower and began making monthly visits to Turnip Mine Town where he met Thomas Nu:tsa:wi (the largest contributor to “Indian Antiquities”). 3. Reopening of the Carmel Mission Station (1830–36): William G. McLoughlin wrote that the staff of thirty-four ABCFM missionaries in 1830, by 1837, had dwindled to “three 167 missionaries, one physician, five woman assistants, one farmer, and four ‘wives’.” In 1832 Butrick reopened Carmel Mission Station (abandoned by the ABCFM in 1831), “cared for the gardens and orchid [sic],” managing the operations of its school and church 168 until December 1835. Initially Butrick took up residence at the ABCFM Mission Station in Candey’s Creek Tennessee, frequently traveling to the Carmel Mission Station in Georgia by horseback. By 1834, he and his wife boarded with the family of a Cherokee named John Sanders (b.1776) near Carmel. In September 1835, Butrick requested an official letter of introduction by Principal Chief John Ross and began to interview informants concerning their antiquities. A smallpox epidemic closed the Carmel Mission Station in October 1835. The presence of the Georgia Guard near Sanders’s home in January 1836 thereby forced the Butricks to abandon the station and relocate at the Brainerd Mission Station. 4. Willstown and Creek Path Mission Stations in Alabama, and Candey’s Creek Mission Station in Tennessee: Butrick frequented these schools, taking up periodical residence at them. In 1833 he wrote David Greene about his travels and activities at these Mission Stations. This comment offers a general impression of his ministry’s shape in the Cherokee nation: Since about the middle of November 1831 I have rode 3,288 miles besides visits in the town where we live,—have spent 24 or 25 Sabbaths at Candey’s Creek,—14 at Carmel,—12 at Brainerd,—2 at Br. Proctors,—2 in Tennessee,—one at Echota—have administered, or assisted in administering the Lord’s Supper six times at Candey’s Creek,—four times at Carmel, four times at Brainerd,—once at Raccoon Town, and one at New Echota,— Baptized three adults and six infants. The year has been dark and gloomy, yet 169 not altogether devoid of mercies, glory is always to be ascribed to God. 5. Brainerd Mission Station (1836–38): Butrick “was led by various circumstances to enter 170 into conversation relative to missionary operations.” He decried the decisions of the 167

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 310.

168

Ibid., 311; Butrick to Greene, Carmel [GA], Mar. 26, 1834, ABCFM.

169

Butrick to Greene, [Public] Journal, Oct. 18, 1832–Jan. 1833, ABCFM.

170

Butrick to Greene, Carmel [GA], Apr. 11, 1836, ABCFM.

85 party that signed the 1835 New Echota Treaty and the ABCFM’s plan to procure financial reimbursement for the mission improvements lost with the Cherokee land. Amidst the social upheaval wrought by the Georgians prior to the Trail of Tears, he attended to the spiritual and temporal needs of his Cherokee friends. The pinnacle of Butrick’s ministerial career came during the summer and fall of 1838 when he made daily visits to the stockades to provide pastoral care for the Cherokee. In winter and spring of 1839 he traveled with more than 11,000 disenfranchised Cherokee on their Trail of Tears, 171 west to Indian Territory. The shape of Butrick’s ministry in the midst of the Cherokee was generally mundane and routine, the work of a pastor and missionary. His commitment to remaining in those routines nurtured his privileged perspective as his relationships with the people in the surrounding communities grew. “You know I am Indeed an Earthen Vessel”: The Historian Marion Starkey’s Construal Of Butrick’s Many Imperfections Butrick’s perspective of the Cherokee widened as he shrank into the daily struggles of living out a demanding life in a wilderness inhabited by people whom he initially perceived to be heathens, next to the Americans he occasionally referred to as infidels. Butrick was a compassionate person who welcomed relationships with the outcasts of society—backcountry Indians, African slaves, and illegal Georgians who resided within the boundaries of the Cherokee nation. For as much as Butrick’s privileged perspective shaped his pastoral ministry, this work among the Cherokee equally influenced his Christian faith.

172

Saint James the

171

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 313–315; Ehle, Fall of Cherokee Nation, 349. 172

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (Jas. 2:26 KJV).

86 Apostle (d.44 CE) argued that a person’s faith in God is only as real as the actions it 173

produces.

Butrick’s faith resulted in a series of experiences that resulted in his personal

growth. He responded to his faith by undertaking, and persisting through, a difficult itinerant preaching ministry, a lifestyle that caused his empathy for Indians to grow. That Butrick stressed the spiritual needs of the Cherokee over the political concerns involving their national temporal problems was in keeping with his personality. He was a man of humility, compassion and stubbornness. His stubbornness was both admirable and problematic given the context. His insistence to champion Christian salvation led to his promotion of the lost ten tribes of Israel motif. The historians who have written at length about him characterize these personality traits in several ways. The historian John Ehle (b.1925) shared the story that, shortly after Butrick’s arrival at their nation, Cherokee leader Major Ridge (ca. 1771–1839) invited Butrick to preach. Ehle wrote, “Naturally he agreed. … The Major decided that the congregation of friends should worship near Nancy’s grave, and there he had them kneel. Rev. Butrick decided to kneel, too, and in that humble condition held services for about fifty Cherokees, along with the Major’s slaves.”

174

Butrick’s characteristic humility was also central in the

historian Marion L. Starkey’s depiction of him. Whereas Ehle spoke of his humility as an endearing trait, Starkey viewed Butrick’s attitude as naively pious. Perhaps his personality was one of extremes. 173

Jas. 2:14–26 KJV.

174

Nancy Ridge (ca. 1803–1818) was the daughter of Major Ridge. Ehle, Fall of Cherokee Nation, 349, 147.

87 Butrick’s attitudes were a mixture of good and bad. Deep empathy and compassion were dominant traits of this man who was also openly defiant and self-righteous. His emotional displays of love for the Cherokee stood in sharp contrast to the venomous indictments he made of his fellow missionaries. These extremes of his nature found a center in his self-awareness of these conflicting passions. His journals overflow with laments to God concerning his multitude of imperfections. His admission of guilt in various situations, and attempts to reconcile his wrongs, were evidence of his most endearing qualities. Butrick possessed a lowly image of himself. A letter from 1817 preserved an example of his self-perception. After his arrival at the Cherokee nation, he requested the prayers of his respected mentor, Dr. Samuel Worcester, back in Boston: Oh don’t let go of me before the throne of grace. Pray for me as you would for a foolish depraved helpless child, engaged in a work from which an angel would shrink. I am afraid of my depraved heart, and of my natural cowardice. Unless the Lord is with me I shall lead the heathen to destitution, shall 175 bring reproach on the cause of Christ, and the society, which employs me. His journal entries continually gravitated towards his perceived total depravity and failings with others before God. This self-awareness resulted in Butrick’s stubborn conviction that scripture was his only dependable guide. It also fostered his tenacity to persist in the mission to which God had called him regardless of how it separated him from his fellows. Starkey argued, “Butrick was a very serious, sensitive young man; he had sworn himself to celibacy and all manner of self-denial, but in spite of all that he found 175

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Augusta [GA], Dec. 13, 1817,

ABCFM.

88 himself unworthy of his great mission.”

176

Starkey rightly identified the reverence Butrick

held towards the Christian teachings regarding sinful behavior. In 1817 Butrick feared that his imperfections might negatively influence others. He believed that without God’s presence he would lead the Cherokee astray, thereby misrepresenting Christ and his mission board.

177

Starkey made several other negative characterizations of Butrick’s personality. While the interpretations she made were valid, they were also biased. There is much to gain by moving beyond Starkey’s simple characterizations of Butrick to a gracious appreciation for his faults. His imperfections provide a means by which scholars can assess his journey out of one perspective of the Cherokee and into another. Starkey’s characterizations were examples of his imperfections during the years in which he formulated a Cherokee-centered perspective. Starkey described how Butrick’s moral convictions worked against him at a Cherokee town house where he wanted to preach a sermon. The Cherokee were busy “stamping out a dance with blood curling yells and a brave rattling of gourds … and the dance lasted as long as the contents of the kegs. Here, thought the eager little missionary, was his great opportunity, he would go right in and denounce the evil one on his own ground.”

178

Some Cherokee friends at the meetinghouse persuaded Butrick from embarrassing himself in 176

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 57.

177

Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Augusta [GA], Dec. 13, 1817,

ABCFM. 178

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 58.

89 front of the nation. Whereas Starkey emphasized this as a negative example of Butrick’s impulsivity, other historians have characterized this trait as moral fortitude. The historian Jack Baker spoke of the convictions that underlay Butrick’s refusal to travel on Sundays during the Trail of Tears, even as the soldiers forced the Cherokee to do so. This conviction proved to be a visible reminder to the soldiers that his Christian faith brought him to the Cherokee.

179

This deep sense of right and wrong also led

him to break fellowship with his brethren who supported the signing of the treaty authorizing the sale of Cherokee lands and the forced removal of the people west to Indian Territory. In another characterization of Butrick, Starkey related the story of Butrick telling Chief Rising Fawn that Christians only wear clean clothes: The Chief excused himself to reappear quite magnificently clad in a clean white hunting frock set off with silver bands about his arms and a silver crescent and a silver medal awarded by a president upon his breast. “Dear old man!” commented the tender-hearted Butrick. “Oh that he 180 might be clothed in the righteousness of Christ!” Starkey believed that the Chief could have done nothing to satisfy the inexperienced missionary. She portrayed the incident as one that revealed Butrick’s idealism. Butrick was idealistic about many things but his hope that the Chief would accept Christ was characteristic of his Christian faith that was foundational throughout his life. Starkey’s depictions of Butrick sidestep the dynamic of his faith in Christ. Whereas she elaborated upon his religious zeal, and many imperfections, she never referenced the work he believed that God was doing in his life. He desired to see Chief 179

Forward to Journal of Rev. Daniel S. Butrick, (Trail of Tears Association).

180

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 59.

90 Rising Fawn embrace the restoration that he himself had experienced in Jesus. The term “idealism” fails to acknowledge this. Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” was an extension of his desire for the Cherokee to trust in the grace and love of his God. Marion Starkey had more to say about him. In the telling of another encounter with Chief Rising Fawn, she called Butrick an “impulsive little man.” the way Butrick “ransacked”

182

181

Later she described

his Bible for passages concerning polygamy and found none.

Starkey also labeled his attitude toward a co-worker who fled from an Indian with a knife as “smug.”

183

She even referred to Butrick as “the gentle but righteous missionary.”

184

Starkey made it more than clear that Butrick was flawed. He was an ordinary person who had a complex and fallible nature. But these flaws make his accomplishments stand out all the more. He prayed that God would forgive his shortcomings as he wrote volumes of admissions to those weaknesses. Tragically, he broke ranks with his brethren in a stubborn fight against them that spanned two decades. Even as he sought reconciliation, he 181

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 59.

182

Ibid., 62.

183

Ibid., 68. Starkey goes on to say that Butrick’s criticism of his coworker was a sentiment “not entirely borne out by his later record.” During the 1840s, Cherokee assassins murdered Major John Ridge because he signed the New Echota Treaty authorizing the Trail of Tears. His widow wrongly accused Butrick of being a member of the faction that carried out Ridge’s assassination. Two men wielding bowie knives and hatchets entered his home. Elizabeth Butrick fled to a neighbor while Daniel Butrick out-maneuvered his assailants and rode from Fairfield Mission on present day SH-59, 5 miles south of Stilwell, OK, to Dwight Mission roughly forty miles away, see Mar. 20, 1840, Butrick’s Journal. 184

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 69.

91 refused to compromise his perspective. Amidst the relational turmoil Butrick brought upon himself, he nobly embraced a Cherokee-centered worldview. Championing a Noble, Beautiful and Ideal People: Butrick’s use of the word “Heathen” and Faith that the Cherokee are Hebrews The historian John Ehle believed that the improvability of the lost tribes hypothesis made the topic ideal for study. The topic was attractive because it was “populated by warm bodies and tear stained faces. And beautiful waiting children.”

185

Butrick had long

since discovered the humanity of the Cherokee when he began his research. By the 1830s, he had spent years living in their struggles, and his tear-stained face matched theirs. Ehle concluded that the Cherokee were distinguished as the descendants of the ten tribes because they “were the inheritors of a dignity beyond their rather simple means and even referred to themselves as the ‘principal people.’”

186

Ehle was not critical of those

individuals who sought to locate the lost tribes of Israel in the Cherokee nation. He simply affirmed that the Cherokee possessed a simple beauty, which in the eyes of their beholder was unmatched. They were an idealistic people to outsiders such as Butrick. Other than their nobility, beauty, and ideal character, Butrick had many more reasons for believing that the Cherokee were descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel. The primary source for his obsession was A star in the West (1816), by an influential proponent 185

Ehle, Fall of Cherokee Nation, 1.

186

Ibid.

92 of the Indian-Hebrew theory, Dr. Elias Boudinot. Evidence suggests that Butrick created “Indian Antiquities” to support the findings of this American Board commissioner. Butrick possibly accessed American Board Commissioner Jedidiah Morse’s endorsement of Boudinot’s A star in the West (1816) in A Report to the Secretary of War of 187

the United States (1822).

Morse’s endorsement communicated the assorted reasons the

Indian-Hebrew theory was popular among members of the ABCFM.

188

Morse believed that

the Indians were: Highly metaphorical in their character, and in this and other respects, resemble the Hebrew. This resemblance in language, and the similarity of many of their religious ceremonies, customs, &c. to those of the Jews, certainly give plausibility to the ingenious theory of Dr. Boudinot, exhibited in his interesting work, entitled “The Star in the West.” [sic] Before this theory will be generally admitted, however, more evidence than has been exhibited, or probably can be, will be required. The labor which this excellent and useful man has bestowed on this work, will not be lost to the world. At a future 189 period the facts he has collected, will be turned to some good account. Morse’s hope that Dr. Boudinot’s work on the Indian-Hebrew theory would “be turned to some good account” was a sentiment common among those interested in the query.

190

Given

187

Morse’s proposal that “missionaries cannot live with Indians without a military guard” infuriated Butrick. Mon., June 11, 1825, Butrick’s Journal; Morse, A Report to the Secretary of War. 188

Beecher et al., Bible a Code of Laws, 61–68.

189

Morse, A Report to the Secretary of War, 356–57; Boudinot, A star in the West; “List of books,” Brainerd Journal. 190

Morse, A Report to the Secretary of War, 357.

93 his disgust for Indian culture and language, one speculates that Morse viewed the theory as an argument in favor of the Americanization of Indian nations.

191

Discussions on the topic were common at the Cherokee mission. An unidentified single woman residing at the Brainerd Station between 1821 and 1822 wrote, “Delightful as social intercourse must be in the mission family, we found but few opportunities of spending an evening as a domestic circle. In one of these few, the 192

conversation turned on ‘the Star in the West.’”

As a topic of familiarity among his fellows,

Butrick fully appreciated the relevance of Dr. Boudinot’s book. William McLoughlin speculated that a year after Butrick’s commissioning (1818), the missionary anonymously wrote the following observation into the Brainerd Mission Station Journal: The sentiment very generally prevails among the white people near the southern tribes, (& perhaps further to the north) that the Indian is by nature radically different than other men, & that this difference presents an insurmountable barrier to his civilization. We are often very particularly inquired of on this subject by persons of the above sentiment. … We wish those who make the above objections to all endeavors to Christianize & civilize the Indians, might be reminded that the Indians are men, and their 193 children, education alone excepted, like the children of other men. 191

In contrast, critics argued that A star in the West (1816) was “Certainly faulty.—Instead of being a directing or guiding Star, it is an Ignis Fatuus [sic], that leads the bewildered reader through the dismal swamps and thickets of the Land of Theöry.” (Review of) A star in the West: or, A humble attempt to discover the long Lost Ten tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city, Jerusalem (Baltimore, MD: 1818), 1. 192

ABCFM, May, 1833, The Missionary Herald, 18:139.

193

Phillips and Phillips, The Brainerd Journal, 67–8; William G. McLoughlin and Walter H. Conser, The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794–1870: Essays on Acculturation and Cultural Persistence (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1994), 142.

94 McLoughlin argued that, “Butrick knew that he had to overcome widespread western prejudice against the Cherokees.”

194

The missionary viewed A star in the West (1816) as a

means to achieve that goal during the Cherokee removal crisis of the 1830s. William G. McLoughlin argued that Samuel A. Worcester’s decision to face arrest in order to appeal his case before the United States Supreme Court was “one of the finer moments in missionary history.”

195

Unfortunately, the historian had to also admit,

“Despite their loyalty to the Cherokees as a suffering people, the New Englanders could not help expressing their ethnocentric and racial prejudice.”

196

The ethnocentrism of ABCFM

missionaries was “certainly one of the low points in Indian mission history.”

197

Without exception, the ABCFM missionaries exhibited varying degrees of ethnocentrism towards the Indians. Racial and socio-economical stereotypes were a systemic reality of nineteenth-century white-American culture. In this regard, Butrick was a product of his society and child of his times. It was remarkable that he overcame many of his own racial and religious prejudices during the course of his career with the Cherokee. The change in Butrick’s word choices offers some evidence of this shift in his perspective. In the 1830s he used “wicked white men” more frequently than he used the term “heathen.” “Heathen” did not fall out of use all together. He increasingly used it as a term by 194

McLoughlin and Conser, Cherokees and Christianity, 142.

195

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 258.

196

Ibid., 259.

197

Ibid.

95 which to describe one’s religious state rather than racial identity. “Indians” became the more frequently used term to describe the Cherokee.

Marion Starkey believed that this ethnocentrism was partly to blame for the fact that “the true nature of primitive Cherokee religion can probably never be accurately 2

known.” Starkey accused Butrick’s of skewing the truth of who the Cherokee really were: By the time experts from the Smithsonian got to the Smokey Mountain Cherokees it was already late in their national decline, and while forms remained, inner spiritual significances were often lost. An investigator who knew them intimately in their days of glory, the missionary Daniel S. Butrick, was fascinated by their folklore but was rather unfortunately obsessed by a determination to prove that American Indians in general and the Cherokees in particular were one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. What he therefore collected and recorded with great zeal were often only garbled forms of Bible tales 3 learned from very early missionaries and assimilated into Cherokee lore. Butrick’s research failed to identify the ethnic heritage of the Cherokee. Nonetheless, “Indian Antiquities” represents one of the finer moments in Indian mission history. Butrick wrote “Indian Antiquities” because he sought to define the Cherokee as members of the human family, amidst a culture of racism that dehumanized them. The archetypal truths expressed in his research are as poignant for modern readers as the actual Cherokee folkways contained therein. There is much to gain by moving beyond Starkey’s portrayal of “Indian Antiquities” as an error in judgment. Butrick wrongly identified the 1

Robinson, Experience Beyond Policy (Thesis).

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 8; “Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers,

1:201–291. 3

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 8.

96 ethnicity of the Cherokee; even so, he championed the humanity of the Indians, appreciating the goodness of their folkways in an era when few Americans valued such truths. To “Spend and be Spent” for the Cherokee: Privileged Perspectives, Positions and the Stories Intended to Find Lost People Butrick’s privileged perspective compelled him to record the story of who the Cherokee themselves claimed to be. His desire to record their antiquities was certainly an anthropological effort, intended to convince Evangelical Christians that they should support the cause of the Cherokee because of their ancestral connection with the lost tribes. More importantly, Butrick also wrote “Indian Antiquities” for his Cherokee friends and their posterity. He also hoped to preserve the memory of who he knew the Cherokee to be. The documents he created were the consequence of the relationship he built with them as their missionary and friend. A twenty-first-century anthropologist named Tudor Parfitt (b.1944) argued that the lost ten tribes of Israel are one of the timeless motifs, encapsulating the central truths cherished by people within western society. Parfitt’s defense of the lost Israelites as a motif, rather than merely a topic for exploitation and study, calls to mind Butrick’s passion for “Indian Antiquities” as an expression of the relationship he shared with the Cherokee. Parfitt interpreted the lost tribes as a wonderful legend and “one of the 4

enduring motifs underlying western views of the wider world.” He interpreted the ten lost tribes as an archetypal narrative rooted in the history and tradition of the Old Testament. This 4

Tudor Parfitt, The Lost Tribes of Israel: The History of a Myth (London: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 2002), 1. Parfitt is Professor of Modern Jewish Studies at the University of London’s Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies.

97 view gave him an advantage over promoters (such as Butrick) who believed that anthropological data would verify the lost tribes continued existence. Parfitt claimed a privileged position over the views held by such promoters: How can I be sure that the lost tribes are indeed nothing but a myth? I am tempted to say, well I am sure and that’s an end to it. But perhaps that will not quite do. The fact is that over the last two thousand years plenty of evidence of different sorts has been presented as proof of the continuing existence of the lost tribes. As far as I am concerned none of it is satisfactory evidence. This is the standard view of scholars throughout the academic world. 5 I am in a privileged position perhaps. Parfitt humbly admitted, but for the grace of twenty-first century scholarship, the “evidence of different sorts” supporting the continued existence of the ten tribes held some appeal. Parfitt’s query into a tradition claiming that the Lemba Tribe of northern South Africa and Zimbabwe descended from lost Israelites resulted in a DNA test to verify those traditions. Amazingly, the Lemba did indeed possess Semitic origins.

In an interview with New York Times reporter Nicholas Wade, Parfitt spoke about the privilege of his position over the standard views accepted by contemporary scholars who believed his work with the Lemba was foolish: 5

Tudor Parfitt, The Lost Tribes of Israel: The History of a Myth (London: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 2002), 1. 6

For a scholarly, twenty-first-century, promotion of the lost ten tribes of Israel, see Mark G. Thomas, et al., “Original Articles -Y Chromosomes Traveling South: The Cohen Modal Haplotype and the Origins of the Lemba – The ‘Black Jews of Southern Africa,’” American Journal of Human Genetics 66, no. 2 (2000): 674; Tudor Parfitt and Y. Egorova, Genetics, Mass Media, and Identity: A Case Study of the Genetic Research on the Lemba and Bene Israel (London: Routledge, 2005); Tudor Parfitt, Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel (New York: Ramdon House, 2000); The Thirteenth Gate: Travels among the Lost Tribes of Israel (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987).

98 ‘I was soundly criticized by a number of colleagues for listening to this nonsense because they assumed the sense of a different origin had been imposed on the Lemba by missionaries,’ [Parfitt] said. ‘As an anthropologist, I had a sense one should listen to what people say about themselves and shouldn't be too arrogant. It turned out that what they are saying about 7 themselves is substantially correct.’ Parfitt’s impulse to “listen to what the people had to say about themselves” resulted in a series of monographs that celebrated (and verified) the Lemba’s oral traditions. His decision to listen to their story rather than the accepted views of his colleagues produced good results. Parfitt’s concern for the motivation of a storyteller characterized his history of the topic in The Lost Tribes of Israel: The History of a Myth (2002). His study underscored the intentions and concerns of the motif’s promoters, rather than the alleged locations of lost Israelites. Parfitt rhetorically asked, “What is the motivation for any troubadour, storyteller or novelist? A modest gain? The pleasure of recounting a good tale? … It could well be [their] purpose, if [they] had a greater purpose (storytellers often do not), was to raise the spirits of … [and] undoubtfully encourage and comfort hearers.”

Parfitt possessed a privileged position over his colleagues’ academic views. His interest in what motivates a storyteller, rather than the verifiability of their tradition, drew him into a relationship with the Lemba people. This perspective also distinguished his work from the promotions of the lost ten tribes undertaken by his predecessors. Parfitt believed 7

Tudor Parfitt, “DNA Backs a Tribe’s Tradition Of Early Descent From the Jews,” New York Times, May 9, 1999. 8

Parfitt, Lost Tribes, 10.

99 what the tribe had to say about themselves was fundamentally true and worthy of study, even traditions that had been allegedly “imposed on the Lemba by missionaries.”

As Daniel Butrick wrote “Indian Antiquities,” he hoped that his lost Israelites would find restoration in the world of the audience. He intended to stir the emotional impulse of listeners to find them.

The historian Zvi Ben-Dor Benite argued that the key to

understanding a promoter’s fascination with this myth is what it meant for the ten tribes to be “lost.” They were lost outside of the defined boundaries of civilization. He said of the desire to find them: “The tribes are lost twice over, once as a collective torn away from the body of Israel and a second time as a group physically lost in the wilderness of exile.”

The historian William G. McLoughlin argued that Butrick was the only ABCFM missionary in the Cherokee nation to champion the welfare of the marginalized Cherokee. McLoughlin wrote: “Much of the American Board missionaries’ discrimination against the full-bloods and lower-class stemmed less from conscious belief in the superiority of white blood than from the fact that full-bloods struck them as essentially slovenly, dirty, smelly people. The idea that ‘cleanliness was next to godliness’ was deeply imbedded in the child-rearing of the missionaries.” 9

Parfitt, “DNA Backs a Tribe’s Tradition,” New York Times, May 9, 1999.

Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, The Ten Lost Tribes: A World History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 3. 11

Ibid., 5, 16; Ben-Dor Benite argued that this is what made “the ‘lostness’ of the ten tribes so acute and so rich.” 12

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 136.

100 During the 1820s, Butrick expressed concern over the ABCFM’s focus on the affluent members of Cherokee society. He believed this favoritism was distancing the halfblooded minority from the full-blood Cherokee majority in the nation. He said: Unless peculiar caution is used, two parties will be formed, which will probably be called, though falsely, the Christian and the Pagan. I say falsely because objections arising from an appearance of pride, and superiority, cannot be said to arise from an opposition to God, though attended with 13 opposition to the cause of missions as it appears in their view. Butrick feared that the Christianized half-blood Cherokee would prejudicially identify the full-bloods of their nation as Pagans or heathens. He believed that the Cherokee would define these terms according to the differences in economic and social status that existed in the nation, rather than the correct religious meaning of those terms. Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” was his validation of the folkways of the lowerclass of Cherokee. By undertaking the project Butrick demonstrated his rejection of the standard views concerning traditional Cherokee folkways embraced by his fellows and the mixed-blood elite. Through his antiquities project, he championed the folkways of the fullblooded Cherokee whose spiritual interest had been lost to the temporal concerns of their leaders. This was why Butrick dedicated Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884) to Principal Chief of the Cherokee nation, John Ross.

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 136. In the nineteenth-century, “mixed-bloods” were Indians of Anglo/Cherokee decent who had access to the education offered by the missionaries. Cherokee of “full-blood” decent (no Anglo ancestry) were more traditional and concerned with the preservation of their folkways. Butrick to Evarts, Thur., Nov. 24, 1824, ABCFM. McLoughlin argued that “Butrick’s prediction was all too accurate,” see William G. McLoughlin, Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986), 363. 14

Buttrick, preface to Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884), i.

101 ABCFM missionary Worcester Willey (1809–1899) said this of Butrick’s interest in the project during the 1840s: “he spent most of his time in writing, with the purpose, as he said, to show that the Indian is somebody. He wrote trunks-full of manuscripts on Indian antiquities and Indian languages. He spent much time in comparing these languages with the Hebrew. He became convinced that they are all of Hebrew origin.”

The historians Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green, of the University of North Carolina, spoke well of the legacy of Butrick’s perspective: Butrick interviewed women as well as men, adherents to traditional religion as well as Christian converts. The result is differing accounts of ceremonies, beliefs, kinship, and daily life. Butrick tried to make sense of the contradictions, something modern readers may also be tempted to do, but the Cherokee seem to have had little problem with the inconsistencies. Cherokee culture tended to be inclusive, welcoming new ideas and practices, and these accounts capture the diversity of experiences and views that characterized 16 their early nineteenth-century society. Butrick was a determined storyteller who “intended to raise the spirits of and undoubtfully encourage and comfort the readers” of “Indian Antiquities.”

Experience beyond Perspective: Daniel Butrick Joined the Ranks of the Cherokee, 1839 Butrick began to identify with the Cherokee as “my people” during his frequent visits to the stockades prior to their removal and know them as his “dear 15

Buttrick, preface to Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884), ii.

Series editors’ introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:vii.

Parfitt, Lost Tribes, 10.

102 18

Cherokee.”

Some encouraging news arrived from Chief Ross at the end of summer, 1838:

“Mrs. Butrick and myself [can] go in any detachment we please and draw our rations by the same as if any Cherokee family. This is all we could desire.”

In 1839 Lucy Ames Butler (1793–1888) wrote to John Howard Payne concerning the Butricks’s departure for Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River: He and Lady [Mrs. Elizabeth Butrick] went with a company of Cherokees conducted by Mr. Richard Taylor. That Company, with a number of others, probably amounting in the whole of twelve or thirteen thousand persons, has, as I understand, pitched their tents near the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, not 20 being able to cross on account of ice. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) cite that the ice had begun to flow in January 1839 after about half of Butrick’s detachment made it across the river.

Of the

groups of Cherokee scattered along the Trail of Tears Butrick journaled, “It is distressing to reflect on the situation of the nation. … in all these detachments, comprising about 8,000 souls, there is now a vast amount of sickness, and many deaths.”

Butrick’s Cherokee-centric worldview resulted in the decision to accompany his beloved people on the devastating thousand-mile journey from northwest Georgia 18

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 301. “Oh that we might still be permitted to spend and be spent for the dear heathen.” June 5, 1838, Butrick’s Journal. 19

Aug. 1838, Butrick’s Journal.

Lucy A. Butler, Red Clay [TN], Jan. 26, 1839, Payne-Butrick Papers,

2:292. 21

Notes to Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:478n71.

Wed. [Dec. 26, 1838?], Butrick’s Journal.

103 through Southern Illinois to Arkansas and neighboring Indian Territory. It had been decades since the naive young man sat in Boston’s Park Street Church where daylight shone from modest clear windows and gleamed on whitewashed walls. He challenged the perspective of American Christians who dismissed the Indians as heathen outsiders. He believed that his research would demonstrate that the Cherokee were God’s “principal people.”

Daniel Butrick’s Access to the History and Tradition Of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel Motif Analysis has centered upon the development of Daniel Butrick’s Cherokeecentered perspective. Now attention shifts to his promotion of the lost ten tribes of Israel motif. “Indian Antiquities” was Butrick’s attempt to prove that the source of Cherokee history was the biblical tradition. It is no small consequence that he began this work shortly after his decision to emphasize Cherokee spiritual salvation over their social advocacy. His interest in the topic afforded him an opportunity to engage his Cherokee informants in conversations that he enjoyed, such as Cherokee history, tradition and theology. It was also an opportunity for him to discuss the teachings of the Bible during these engagements. 1

“Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:211. Thomas Nu:tsa:wi told Butrick, “the family saved in the ark were red and thus the Cherokee are the principle people of the world,” also “the red people therefore are the real people, as their name indicates.” Traditions identifying the Cherokee as the “real people” were also shared by Johnson Pridget and Isaac Short Arrow.

104 Butrick’s exposure to works of other promoters was limited but he accessed at least one major monograph on the ten tribes in America by Dr. Elias Boudinot. He copied large portions of Dr. Boudinot’s A star in the West (1816) into his treatment of the topic.

“Truth is my Object”: Butrick’s Reliance upon Dr. Elias Boudinot’s A Star in the West, or, A Humble Attempt to Discover the Long Lost Ten Tribes of Israel (1816) The eighteenth-century was full of optimists who speculated about the continued existence of the ten tribes on the North American continent. Many of these opinions were quoted in A star in the West (1816). Butrick included these remarks as part of his argument without actually reading the original sources. He quoted a work by Brian Edwards (1740–1800) entitled The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in 3

the West Indies (1793). One wonders if Butrick would have done so if he knew that Edwards work argued in favor of the slave trade. He also mined A star in the West (1816) for a quote by Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn (1644–1718). Perhaps the series of letters 4

written by Jeremiah Evarts in 1829 inspired the inclusion of the quote. 2

“List of books,” Brainerd Journal; Boudinot, A star in the West; Elias Boudinot, Cherokee Phoenix, and Indians’ Advocate (New Echota, GA: Cherokee Nation, 1829). Cherokee Phoenix editor Elias Boudinot had been a benefactor of Dr. Elias Boudinot and had received his namesake. 3

Boudinot, A star in the West, 85–86, 250; Daniel S. Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 3 of ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM), 1–17. Bryan Edwards, The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies (Dublin: Luke White, 1793), 58. 4

Boudinot, A star in the West, 85–86; The Select Works of William Penn In Five Volumes (London: Printed and sold by James Phillips, 1782), 312; Butrick, introduction

105 Another quote that Butrick copied from A star in the West (1816) originated in ten tribes propagator Charles Beatty’s (1715?–1772) work entitled Journal of a Two Month Tour (1768). Beatty’s words seem to express the underlining motivation for Butrick’s comparative analysis of Cherokee folkways and Jewish Antiquities: I had taken pain to search into the usages and customs of the Indians, in order to see what ground there was, for supposing them to be part of the ten tribes. …a number of their customs appear so much to resemble those of the Jews, that it is a great question with me, whether we can expect to find among the ten tribes (wherever they are) at this day, … more of the footsteps of their 5 ancestors, than among the different Indian tribes. [Italics Beatty]. This quote offered “Indian Antiquities” a tone of credibility, as its presence assured the reader that the author was familiar with the works of other promoters. In reality Dr. Elias Boudinot’s A star in the West (1816) was probably the only work on the lost ten tribes by a major promoter that Butrick was able to fully access. Butrick was selective about what he quoted from Boudinot. The words of ten tribes promoter James Adair expressed his tenacity to forward an unpopular perspective: It is a difficult thing to divest ourselves, not to say, other persons, of prejudices and favorite opinions; and I expect to be censured by some, for opposing commonly received sentiments. […] [omission Boudinot] But truth is my object, and from the most exact observations I could make in the long to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 1; [pseud.], Essays on the Present Crisis in the Condition of the American Indians; First Published in the National Intelligencer, Under the Signature of William Penn (1829); May 10, 1837, and “Miscellaneous notes and letters,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:107, 93. 5

The Journal of a Two Months Tour, with a View of Promoting Religion Among the Frontier Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and of Introducing Christianity Among the Indians to the Westward of the Alegh-Geny Mountains ... by Charles Beatty (London: W. Davenhill, 1768), 84; Boudinot, A star in the West, 251; Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 2, 3.

106 time I traded among the Indian Americans, I was forced to believe them to be 6 lineally descended from the Israelites. Adair’s The History of the American-Indians (1775) was an extensive anthropological study of Cherokee folkways and Jewish antiquities. Butrick accessed a number of its passages in 7

Dr. Boudinot’s A star in the West (1816). Regardless, Butrick’s attention fell on a quote proclaiming, “Truth is my object.” He appreciated Adair’s obsession to champion a privileged perspective amidst the criticism. Butrick accessed the anthropological and archeological resources he had on hand. His writings on the ten tribes contained a seemingly endless string of quotes pulled from a variety of resources. By today’s standards, Butrick would be guilty of plagiarism; even though he cited the sources, he claimed the intellectual property of other promoters. More so, his excessive quotations of published authors would be a clear violation of copyright. Even when judged by the standards of his era, Butrick’s actual rendering of the ten tribes motif stands out as excessively unoriginal. Perhaps this was what he intended. 6

James Adair, The History of the American-Indians, particularly those Nations adjoining the Mississippi, East and West Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia (London, 1775), 13; Boudinot, A star in the West, 251; Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 2. 7

Adair, History of the American-Indians, 13; Boudinot, A star in the West, 251; Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” 2. “List of books,” Brainerd Journal. Brainerd’s library housed 19 vols. of “Panoplist.” It is likely that the mission contained a complete set of the periodical. The Panoplist; or, The Christian Armory began circulation in 1805 and was renamed the Panoplist and Missionary Magazine in 1808. This magazine became the Panoplist and Missionary Herald in 1818 and fell out of circulation in 1820. Many of the volumes contain articles authored by propagators of the ten tribes motif. For a detailed summary of the tradition and history of the lost ten tribes that Butrick could have accessed, see “An Address to the Jews,” The Panoplist and Missionary Herald, Sept. 1820, 385–94; and “Address to the Jews,” Panoplist, Oct. 1820, 433–45.

107 Butrick’s rendering of the ten tribes was structural. In a sense, he attempted to erect a monument that collected the traditions of Cherokee informants in one column and offered the findings of trusted scholarship in the other. He only wanted to preserve what was there. In the close of the introduction to “Jews and Indians” he confessed: Mistakes may be found, but as far as I know, I have said nothing relating to the religious belief, traditions, manners, and usages of the ancient Cherokees, which is not, in my own mind, established as correct. I know how I obtained this information, and the antiquarians from whom I obtained it, and cannot but put confidence in it as being in general correct. Doubtless, however, the comparison might be rendered much more full and complete by a more 8 thorough acquaintance with Hebrew and Indian Antiquities. In spite of his familiarity with a variety of works, Butrick admitted the need for “a more thorough acquaintance” on the topic. He accessed at least one work on Cherokee Hebraic origins and was acquainted with of several others. He was also familiar with the biblical narrative concerning the ten tribes. Now attention turns to that history and tradition. “And they Shall be Wanderers Among the Nations”: Butrick’s Usage of Old Testament Narrative In his Rendition of the Ten Tribes Motif Rev. Daniel Butrick accessed the Bible passages concerning the expulsion of 9

the ten tribes from ancient Israel’s divided kingdom. The narrative began with the Hebrew King Hoshea (reign 732–ca. 721 BCE) who ruled over the soon-to-be lost-tribes of Reuben, Levi, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Ephraim and Manasseh (2 Kings 17:1–6 8

Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 18.

Ibid., 12; May 10, 1837, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:123–125. In an exegeses of the scriptures pertaining to the ten tribes, Butrick interpreted the following passages: Hos. 2:6–12, 16–18, 3:4, 4, 6, 7:8, 9:17, 10, 11, 13, Ezek. 34:25, and Isa. 11:12.

108 KJV). The king and his Israelites “did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD” (v.2), and were overthrown by Assyrian invaders when Tiglath-Pilesar III (reign 745–727 BCE) invaded the kingdom of Israel in 732 BCE. In 721 BCE, Sargon II’s (reign 722–705 BCE) armies finished the conquest begun eleven years earlier. The writer of 2 Kings described the soon-to-be-lost tribes of Israel corporately. The fourteen verses (17:7–21) provide descriptions of how the ten tribes rebelled against God by rejecting “his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers” (v.15). “They left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images” (v.16), “And sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger” (v.17). Thus, God used the Assyrians to remove the ten tribes from the pages of Old Testament redemptive history. Butrick believed that God had banished the ten tribes in order to free them of idolatry. He argued that in the midst of their captivity they resolved to return to a proper worship of God. The Lord responded by gathering the dispersed Israelites together from the corners of the Assyrian Empire. He led the tribes on a long journey to a coastal shore that they followed north to a narrow sea, beyond which was a vast wilderness. Upon entering their new world, God equipped them to become masters of nature. He reestablished their governments and created a covenant between them and the animals in keeping with the promises of the Prophet Ezekiel (ca. 622–570 BCE). “I will make with them a covenant of

109 peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods” (Ezekiel 34:25 KJV).

A challenge to Butrick’s argument that Israelites traveled to the Americas was made with a Bible verse that read, “And they shall be wanderers among the nations” (Hosea 9:17 KJV). The Prophet Hosea’s (eighth-century BCE) words seemed to affirm that the captive Israelites remained in the land of their captivity. Butrick responded to this objection with the Prophet Isaiah’s (eighth to seventh-century BCE) promise that the Lord would “assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12 KJV). Butrick believed that the discrepancy between Hosea 9:17 and Isaiah 11:12 could be reconciled through information given by his informant Thomas Nu:tsa:wi: “At first there were twelve tribes of Indians, but, after a while, one tribe violated the law of Ye:ho:waah, by intermarrying in an unlawful manner, and therefore they resolved to reduce the number of tribes to seven.” In Butrick’s estimation the twelve tribes of Indians Nu:tsa:wi spoke of were the twelve tribes of Israel. He supposed that after the Assyrian Empire had taken ten of the twelve tribes captive, seven of the ten tribes journeyed to the Americas while the other three remained in captivity—as wanderers of the nations.

Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 12; May 10, 1837, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:123–125, 215. 11

Thomas Nu:Tsa:wi was a Cherokee Christian who was Butrick’s cherished friend and the largest contributor to “Indian Antiquities.” May 10, 1837, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:123–125, 215.

110 Butrick’s hope that God would deliver the ten tribes from captivity was common among the Jews of Israel until the middle of the first-century CE. Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz (1906–1984) maintained, “the belief in the continued existence of the ten tribes was regarded as an incontrovertible fact during the whole period of the second temple.”

the end of the second temple period, Christian apostles were among those expressing the hope that God had preserved their lost ten tribes. It was likely that Butrick was familiar with the hope the apostles had for the ten tribes. Saint Paul the Apostle (ca.5–67 CE) said to King Agrippa II (b.27/28 CE), “Now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God, unto our fathers: Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come” (Acts 26:6, 7 KJV). The Apostle Paul proclaimed that God would fulfill his promise to deliver his lost tribesmen from exile. Saint James the Apostle (d.62 CE) expressed a similar hope when he addressed his epistle to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1 KJV). Butrick inherited a millennial-old tradition rooted in western antiquity. Prophets, apostles, and numerous people ever since have hoped for the restoration of the lost ten tribes of Israel. Attention turns to the influence this Jewish tradition initially had upon Christian audiences. It is uncertain if Butrick ever accessed the renditions of the lost ten tribes motif from earlier eras. Nonetheless, a study of the history and tradition of the motif 12

Louis Isaac Rabinowitz, “Ten Lost Tribes,” in vol. 19 of Encyclopaedia Judaica, ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik, 2nd ed. (Detroit (MI): Macmillan Reference USA., 2007), 639–40, under “Ten Lost Tribes,” http://www.jewishvirtual library.org /jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0019_0_19733.html?vm=r (accessed Nov. 11, 2011).

111 during the Middle Ages and Reformation gives validity to the prominence of lost tribe speculation during the nineteenth-century.

Origination of the Lost Ten Tribes Motif and its Reception with Medieval Christian Audiences The ten tribes of Israel journeyed out of the biblical texts and into the deuterocanonical literature (Apocrypha) and work of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (ca. 37–100? CE). Centuries later a charlatan named David Reuveni (ca. 1490–1538?) was the first to manipulate it, and then the ten tribes found a temporary home in the legends of King Prester John. A study of the motif’s influence in medieval history is necessary in appreciating the power of both John Calvin’s (1509–1564) interpretation, and Menasseh ben Israel’s (1604–1657) reconceptualization of the archetypal hope of restoration for the lost Israelites. 13

The lost ten tribes motif was common knowledge for many of Butrick’s contemporaries, some of whom became published promoters. For Samuel Parker’s speculations about the ten tribes and travels amongst the American Indians, see Samuel Parker, Journal of an Exploring Tour Beyond the Rocky Mountains, Under the Direction of the A.B.C.F.M. in the Years 1835, 36, and 37: containing a description of the geography, geology, climate, productions of the country, and the numbers, manners, and customs of the natives, with a map of Oregon Territory (Ithaca, NY: Mack, Andrus & Woodruff; Crocker & Brewster; Dayton & Saxton; Collins, Keese; Grigg & Elliott: Wiley & Putnam, 1842). Parker was a coworker of Butrick’s in the Genesee Missionary Society. For Dr. Asahel Grant’s promotion of the ten tribes motif, see Asahel Grant and H. L. Murre-van den Berg, The Nestorians, or, The Lost Tribes: Containing Evidence of Their Identity, an Account of Their Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies, Together with Sketches of Travels in Ancient Assyria, Armenia, Media, and Mesopotamia, Illustration of Scripture Prophecy and Appendices (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2004). Grant was an ABCFM missionary to the Nestorians during the 1830s and published his work on the lost ten tribes in 1841.

112 Butrick inherited a traditional story that had been refined by centuries of thematic development.

The apocryphal works of The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and 2 Esdras 13:41–7 supported the ten tribes’ continued existence at the time of their authorship. Haggadic tradition also provided specific details about how the Assyrians divided and carried them away as three groups. The tradition explained how each of these Israelite tribes found their way into the regions adjacent to ancient Israel.

In 2 Kings the wilderness of exile was “in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” (2 Kings 17:6, 18:11 KJV). One of the first references to the ten tribes’ escape from that region is by an apocryphal writer who believed they had 14

For Butrick’s access to ancient Jewish folkways, history and the ten tribes of Israel, see William Brown, and David Jennings, Antiquities of the Jews: Carefully Compiled from Authentic Sources, and Their Customs. Illustrated, from Modern Travels; to Which Is Added, A Dissertation on the Hebrew Language, from Jennings’s Jewish Antiquities (Edinburgh: Waugh, 1826), 345–6; George Henry Maynard and Edward Kimpton, The Whole Genuine and Complete Works of Flavius Josephus The Learned and Authentic Jewish Historian and Celebrated Warrior. ... Translated from the Original Greek Language and Diligently Revised and Compared with the Writings of Co[N]Temporary Authors ... to Which Is Added Various Useful Indexes ... Also a Contribution of the History of the Jews from Josephus Down to the Present Time (New York: printed and sold by William Durell at his bookstore, No. 208, Pearl Street, near the Fly Market, 1794); and Butrick, “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM. 15

Rabinowitz, “Ten Lost Tribes,” Encyclopaedia Judaica; “List of books,” Brainerd Journal; “Translations of the Scriptures,” The Panoplist and Missionary Magazine, Dec. 1812, 300. An article offers a summary of 2 Esd. 13:41–7 as it pertains to Afghan history. Boudinot, A star in the West, 69–75. Dr. Boudinot quoted 2 Esd. 13:39–50 and provided several pages of commentary on the text. Butrick’s description of the ten tribes’ journey to America closely resembled Dr. Boudinot’s argument. Butrick accessed this apocryphal tradition in the Brainerd Mission Library.

113 traveled to a distant country where nobody had ever lived. In this virgin land called Azareth, they recommitted themselves to following the laws of their God.

The Jewish motif began with the cultural memory of the Assyrian conquest of the ten tribes. Later generations of Jews remembered these Israelites as the first of their family to become lost. This is why they remained an important part of Jewish tradition. Generations of storytellers contextualized the motif to satisfy the interest of their audiences as they gathered inspiration from the prophets and apocryphal writers. The story was believable because of its roots in scripture and its universal themes of hope and restoration. A few charismatic charlatans manipulated this appeal as they spun the motif to meet their political agendas. Eldad Ben Mahli ha-Dani (ninth-century CE) was the first notable promoter of the motif. Later a charlatan named David Reuveni made an impact upon Christian audiences with his version of ha-Dani’s rendering. Sometime during the 800s, ha-Dani wrote about how he discovered the place where the lost tribes had been residing since their exile. He alleged that in southern Arabia he met a member of the tribe of Issachar who guided him to the home of the tribe of Jacob.17 The historian Ronald Sanders (1933–1991) described ha-Dani as an influential figure in the Jewish communities of North Africa and the Spanish Peninsula. The historian Ben-Dor Benite attributed this to the fact that he was a trickster (charlatan) who reworked apocryphal traditions to his advantage. He learned the biblical narrative and the rabbinic 16

2 Esd. 13:41–7; Boudinot, A star in the West, 69–75; May 10, 1837, PayneButrick Papers, 1:123–125, 215–17. 17

Leo Lieberman and Arthur F. Beringause, Classics of Jewish Literature (New York: Philosophical Library, 1987), 201.

114 commentary, then gave these traditions a twist in order to foster an alleged persona. Aside from the notoriety his claims bought for him, the story of lavish wealth and power possessed by the lost tribes excited persecuted Jews living in the ghettoes of Christian Europe. The report that the lost tribes were able to maintain their influence in a region under Islamic control was inspiring. 18 Centuries later, David Reuveni twisted ha-Dani’s version of the lost tribes by claiming that he was a member of the tribe of Reuben in Northern Arabia. 19 The historian Tudor Parfitt tells the story of how this man arrived in Venice’s ghetto in 1524, claiming that he was a prince whose brother Joseph commanded at least 300,000 Israelite warriors. As Reuveni’s notoriety grew, Pope Clement VII (1478–1534) welcomed him into the Vatican and Señora Benvenida Abrabanela (d.1560s?) of Naples adorned him with expensive gifts. Then John III of Portugal (1502–1557) received Reuveni with a considerable amount of fanfare. The Jewish communities who followed these exploits were buoyant with hope for his success. Reuveni’s mission took on messianic overtones when he began traveling with a man named Shlomo Molkho (d.1532?). Together they gained an audience with Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (1500–1558) and asked him for weapons. Charles responded by incarcerating the duo.20 18

Ronald Sanders, Lost Tribes and Promised Lands: The Origins of American Racism (New York: Harper Perennial, 1978), 44; Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 90–92. 19

Rabinowitz, “Ten Lost Tribes,” Encyclopaedia Judaica.

Parfitt, Lost Tribes, 208–10.

115 Reuveni’s hoax found success because of its timing. Pope Clement VII used the story as a ploy to upset the political threat of his rival, Emperor Charles V. The rulers of Portugal gave Reuveni’s entourage a warm reception because they needed to justify themselves as they carried out the Inquisition. The welcome ended when Molkho’s messianic claims challenged the authority of Charles V. The Holy Roman Emperor ended their adventure by turning Molkho over to an ecclesiastical court in Mantua, Italy. Reuveni died under the authority of the Inquisition at Llerena, Spain a few years later. 21 During the late Middle Ages, the first Christian adaptation of the Jewish ten tribes motif was circulated throughout Europe. There is not any evidence that connects Daniel Butrick to this legend, but it serves as an example of a classic Christian rendering of the myth and contains thematic elements that dominate later versions that he accessed. In this telling, the ten tribes were the subjects of the legendary Priest King, Prester John. Promoters offered a hope to Europeans that their discovery would result in an alliance with this lost army of Israelites and their Christian King. The hope that powerful military alliances might exist in the unexplored regions of the world made this story appealing as the Muslims staked their claim at the center of three continents. For a few decades during the early 1200s, Europeans thought that Prester John’s army had undertaken the invasion of the Muslim-ruled Khwarezmian Empire, in south-central Asia. This rumor initially made an impact upon Crusaders in Egypt, where it reaffirmed their mission as they suffered from the toils of warfare during the final years of 21

Parfitt, Lost Tribes, 208–10; Harris Lenowitz, The Jewish Messiahs: From the Galilee to Crown Heights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 104.

116 the fifth crusade. In reality Mongol warlord Chinggis Khan (1159?–1227), not Prester John, led the advance over the Syr Darya River into this Muslim kingdom. Chinggis Kahn and his father, Wang Khan (d.1203) were each alleged to be the legendary king. This confusion remained until 1245 when Pope Innocent IV (1195–1254) officially corrected the matter. Then during the fourteenth-century, the emperor of Ethiopia, Wedem Arad (d.1314), sought military alliances in his fight against the Muslims of North Africa. The diplomats he sent to southern Europe were misidentified as representatives of Prester John. This association lingered for over a century.

The search for John’s Kingdom

thrived upon the hope that a version of European Christendom existed elsewhere in the world.

As this quest to identify Prester John’s kingdom waned, speculation about the ten

tribes became more popular. During the Middle Ages, the lost ten tribes were portrayed as a resource of military strength and influence. Themes of political deliverance dominated renderings by Jewish promoters ha Dani and Reuveni. During the period of the Reformation, the lost tribes became associated with the return of Christ as an act of God’s restitution to his people. Evidence for this exists in John Calvin’s commentaries and Menasseh ben Israel’s contextualization of the lost tribes of Israel for Christian audiences. 22

C. F. Beckingham and Bernard Hamilton, Prester John, the Mongols, and the Ten Lost Tribes (Great Britain: Variorum, 1996), xi, xii. 23

Parfitt, Lost Tribes, 25. Vasco De Gama (b. ca. 1460–1524) carried official correspondence addressed to the legendary king as he sailed south around the coast of Africa from Portugal.

117 John Calvin’s Commentary on the Captive Ten Tribes of Israel The Brainerd Mission Library did not hold any theology books written by French theologian John Calvin; and it is unknown whether Daniel Butrick encountered Calvin’s theological interpretation of the ten tribes of Israel as a part of his education at Cooperstown Academy or ministerial training with the Presbytery of Geneva. Nevertheless, Calvin’s theological interpretation was present in the works of a few theologians and commentators accessed by Butrick.

The thoughts of John Calvin stand out as relevant to this study of Butrick’s promotion of the motif. Not only did Calvin establish the theological groundwork for Butrick’s particular Christian tradition, his reading of the ten tribes motif encapsulates the themes of hope and restoration common among sixteenth-century Protestants. The historian Zvi Ben-Dor Benite argued that Calvin’s commentaries on the Old Testament ten tribes 25

narrative were influenced by his mentor Sebastian Münster (1488–1552).

Ben-Dor Benite argued that Münster’s involvement in a Renaissance field of study known as Christian Hebraism was central to his interest in the lost ten tribes: 24

“List of books,” Brainerd Journal; Catalogue of the Library Belonging to the Theological Institution in Andover (Andover [MA]: Printed by Flagg and Gould, 1819), 25. For a book housed in the Brainerd Mission Library that contained a perspective of the ten tribes heavily influenced by Calvin’s emphasis on their schism and restitution, see John Brown, A Dictionary of the Holy Bible: Containing an Historical Account of the Persons; a Geographical and Historical Account of the Places; a Literal, Critical, and Systematical Description of Other Objects, Whether Natural, Artificial, Civil, Religious, or Military and the Explication of the Appelative Terms Mentioned in the Writings of the Old and New Testament ... Withe the Life of the Author (Berwick: Printed by & for W. Gracie, 1816), 33, 117, 330, 340. 25

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 145–46.

118 Hebraist practices produced a wealth of new material on the ten tribes, marking the beginning of a direct, if not quite transparent, dialogue between Jews and Christians over the subject … Discussion about the ten tribes had long been carried out on separate tracks. From this moment on, they would proceed through a more intense and direct dialogue concerning not just their location but the meaning of their story. [italics mine]26 Ben-Dor Benite wrote that in 1544 Sebastian Münster was the first cartographer to include “Arzare” (Arzareth) on a map entitled “Asia wie es Jetziger Zeit” (trans. Asia in Current Time). Thus, the lost ten tribes’ fabled land of exile entered world geography. Münster’s map translated the Jewish apocryphal tradition of 2 Esdras into a literal domain.

On May 20, 1570, Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598) published Münster’s placement of Arzareth in the first modern atlas of the world, entitled Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. He surrounded Arzareth’s location with short descriptions of the wanderings of the lost Israelites, thus securing their place as a topic of speculation for centuries to come.

Sebastian Münster unintentionally renewed speculation concerning the ten tribes. Equally influential were John Calvin’s commentaries concerning the meaning of their story. In Ben-Dor Benite’s estimation, due to Calvin’s influence “the ten tribes [would] become much more pronounced as a Christian code for restitution.” 29 Jewish renderings of the motif had always embodied a theme of deliverance. According to Ben-Dor Benite, Calvin 26

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 144.

Sebastian Münster, Asia wie es jetziger zeit nach den fuernemesten Herrschafften abgetheilet und beschriben ist (Basel: Henric Petri, 1550). 28

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 152; Theatrum Orbis Terrarum / Ortelius, Abraham. 1570 (Antwerp: Aegidius Coppenius Diesth); Avigdor Shachan and Laurence Becker, In the Footsteps of the Lost Ten Tribes (Jerusalem: Devora Pub, 2007), 47. 29

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 147.

119 emphasized the schism that the rebellion of the tribes produced, and the restoration God would bring in response.30 Calvin focused the majority of his attention upon the plight of Israel’s southern neighbor, the Kingdom of Judah. In 612 BCE, Nabopolassar the Chaldean (reign 626–605 BCE) sacked the capital of the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh. Thus Babylon became the capital of a new empire. In 597 BCE this Babylonian Empire expanded its influence by invading the Kingdom of Judah and capturing Jerusalem. Afterwards Nebuchadnezzar II (634?–562 BCE) began deporting the Israelites out of the southern Kingdom of Judah to Babylon. These Israelites remained captive for seventy years until the Persian Empire, ruled by Cyrus II (ca. 600/576–530 BCE), usurped Babylonian dominance of the region and authorized the Israelites’ return to Jerusalem. Concerning the scriptural event remembered as the Babylonian Captivity, Calvin believed that deliverance from exile would not arrive by the exiles’ own inclination but by the power of God according to His divine plan. John Calvin said, “God calls their attention to the hope of deliverance. … He therefore tells them that they ought patiently to bear their exile, until the full time of their deliverance came.”31 His tone highlighted the nervous tension experienced by the Jews as they continued to struggle with this work of 30

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 146–48.

John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1855), 4:266.

120 God.32 Exiled Israelites were to persevere under the authority of their captors, hoping and waiting for God’s eventual deliverance and restoration to their promised land. For Calvin, the restoration of the tribes of Judah (comprised of Judah, Simeon and part of Benjamin) was a work of God’s goodness and mercy. He argued in his commentary on Jeremiah that God compelled Nebuchadnezzar II to be, “kind and humane, so as to spare the Jews, because [God] would control his heart, and show [the Judean tribes] mercy by inclining the king to forgive the people.” 33 In Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin argued that God preserved a remnant of the Israelites so the people could be returned to their promised land. From there, in time, they would witness God’s absolute deliverance. Calvin proclaimed: The hope of the pious has never been placed anywhere but in Christ. All the other prophets also uniformly speak the same language. As Hosea [wrote]: “Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head” (Hos. 1:11). And in a subsequent chapter he is still more explicit: “The children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their King” (Hos. 3:5).34 In his 1565 Commentary on Jeremiah, Calvin interpreted the scriptural language concerning the ten tribes as being representative of the southern tribes that God restored to Jerusalem. Thus he interpreted references to Judah and Israel as being synonymous.35 32

Calvin, Jeremiah, 1–16.

Ibid., 499–500.

Jean Calvin and John Allen, Institutes of the Christian Religion (NewHaven [CT]: Hezekiah Howe, 1816), 365. 35

“The Prophet here amplifies the kindness of God, because he would not only restore the tribe of Judah, but also the ten tribes … The meaning then, of the Prophet is, that when God redeemed his people, not only Judah would return, but also the Israelites, of

121 Calvin believed that the emphasis of their story was upon the captivity. God severed the ten tribes from the body of corporate Israel so that they would have to return to him in faith. The motif was a heavenly hope rather than a temporal quest. Thus he found no reason to speculate further about their whereabouts. Followers of the theological tradition he established, such as the Puritans, emphasized the hope of restoration that awaited the discovery of the ten tribes. This emphasis parted ways with John Calvin’s stress upon the faith exiled Israelites should have as they await restitution. The differences between the two interpretations are subtle but distinct. Whereas Calvin emphasized how God tests the faith of the oppressed, Butrick emphasized how God’s judgment would fall upon the faithlessness of the oppressors. The Political Context of Manasseh ben Israel’s The Hope of Israel (1650) Christian theologians, such as John Calvin, stressed the lessons of hope and restitution in the biblical narrative of the captivity of the twelve tribes of Israel. A rabbi named Manasseh ben Israel took this Christian thematic emphasis and gave the ten tribes motif a twist. His pamphlet, The hope of Israel (1650), was published roughly eighty years after the final edition of Institutes of the Christian Religion (1560) and commentary on Jeremiah (1565), were released in France.

Ben Israel’s contextualization of the Jewish

whom there was hardly a hope, because they had been in exile a long time.” Calvin, Jeremiah, 52. For Calvin’s commentary on how the kingship of Christ would fulfill the restoration of the ten tribes, see Calvin, Jeremiah, 10. 36

The hope of Israel Written By Menasseh Ben Israel: An Hebrew Divine, and Philosopher. Newly extant, and Printed in Amsterdam, and Dedicated by the Author, to the High Court, the Parliament of England, and to the Councell of State. Translated into English, and published by Authority. In this Treatise is shewed the place where the ten

122 motif for Christian audiences influenced the ten tribes promotions Daniel Butrick accessed nearly two centuries later. Ben Israel was born in 1604 to parents who had escaped the Portuguese Inquisition after a forced conversion to Christianity. Like so many other Jews, they sought refuge in Amsterdam where they hoped to practice their faith openly. Ben Israel grew up to become a first-rate scholar by the standards of any century. He was versed in eight languages, was a kabbalist, historian, and most importantly, an advocate of his people. As such, he was a renowned resource of information regarding Hebraic topics. Rabbi ben Israel instructed Benedict de Spinoza (1632–1677) and offered his interpretations of Hebrew traditions to churchmen and theologians such as Peter Serrarius (1600–1669), Caspar Barlaeus (1584–1648), Nathaniel Holmes (1599–1678), Gerardus Johannes Vossius (1577–1649), and Hugo Grotius (1583–1645). But his correspondence with a New England Puritan, Thomas Thorowgood (1595–1669), and a Scottish churchman, John Dury (1597–1680), secured his promotion of the ten tribes for nearly three centuries.

Thorowgood and Dury were the most knowledgeable informants to whom Puritans interested in the topic of the ten tribes could turn. Thorowgood authored Jews in

Tribes at this present are, proved, partly by the strange relation of one Antony Monte-zimus, a Jew, of what befell him as he tra-velled over the Mountaines Cordillaere, with divers other particulars about therestoration of the Jewes, and the time when (London: by R. I. for Hannah Allen, at the Crown in Popes-head Alley, 1650); Jean Calvin, Institution de la Religion Chrestienne (Gen ve: Jean Crespin, 1560); Charles de Ionuillier, Le ons ou Commentaires et Expositions de Iean Calvin, tant sur les Revelations que sur les Lamentations du Prophete Ieremie (Lyon: C. Senneton, 1565). 37

Yosef Kaplan, Richard H. Popkin, and Henry M choulan, Menasseh Ben Israel and His World (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989), 67, 172, 164.

123 38

America (1660).

This was the first treatise that propagated American Indian linkage to

Jewish ancestry. Thorowgood also forwarded one of the first assertions that Indians must become civilized according to the pattern of English society as a crucial part of their conversion. His assertion that the teaching of western values was an essential part of evangelism became interwoven in the Evangelical mindset as evidenced a century later by Lyman Beecher’s and Jedidiah Morse’s address to Daniel Butrick in 1817 during his commissioning service at Park Street Church. Ben Israel lived in the same neighborhood as the artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669). The two were friends and the painter etched a portrait of him. Rembrandt’s portrait emphasized the gentle normalcy of ben Israel’s sleepy gaze, making him appear to be the sort of man with whom one could hold an open conversation.

As ben Israel held conversations with Christian leaders, he presented an updated version of the ten tribes motif that artfully twisted the archetype of a hope of restoration into a form of advocacy for his people. The Respublica Litteraria made this influence possible. The Republic of Letters was a term used to describe the bulk of correspondence produced by the popular printing press. Populated by journals, correspondence, pamphlets and books, this imagined republic brought together intellectual 38

Thomas Thorowgood, Jews in America, or Probabilities, That Those Indians Are Judaical, Made More Probable by Some Additionals to the Former Conjectures. An Accurate Discourse Is Premised of Mr. John Elliot, (Who First Preached the Gospel to the Natives in Their Own Language) Touching Their Origination, and His Vindication of the Planters (London: H. Brome, 1660). 39

H. Knackfuss, and Campbell Dodgson, Rembrandt, Monographs on artists, no. 3 (Bielefeld: Veldhagen and Klasing, 1899), 69.

124 communities across Europe and America. Thoughtful discussion crisscrossed national boundaries as theologians and philosophers from a variety of backgrounds accessed and evaluated each other’s speculations concerning the lost tribes. Another factor contributing to ben Israel’s influence was a Protestant interest in Hebraic topics. In his history on American Hebraism, Shalom Goldman argued that Puritan Christians had a fondness for Judaic texts that offered deeper insight into Old Testament passages. These pursuits did not attempt to appreciate Jewish theology on its own terms. Rather, Protestants approached texts in a typological manner, wherein they dug into the Old Testament narrative to uncover the Christ of the New Testament. Biblical themes valued by Christians, such as a restoration of the Jews under the lordship of Christ, took precedence over the Jewish emphasis on a hope of God’s deliverance. 40 In his writings ben Israel addressed the daunting religious and racial divides separating the inhabitants of seventeenth-century Europe. Whereas the traditional Jewish version located the ten tribes on the far side of an impassable topography, ben Israel’s version portrayed a different form of exile. 40

Shalom Goldman, God’s Sacred Tongue: Hebrew and the American Imagination (London: University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 18, 20, 74. For a book that Butrick accessed containing commentaries influenced by Menasseh ben Israel’s rendering of the lost ten tribes of Israel motif, see George W. Boynton and Jonathan Leavitt, Calmet’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible: As Published by the Late Mr. Charles Taylor, with the Fragments Incorporated. The Whole Condensed and Arranged in Alphabetical Order: American Edition. Revised, with Large Additions, by Edward Robinson, Professor Extraordinary of Sacred Literature in the Theological Seminary, Andover: Illustrated with Maps, and Engravings on Wood (Boston: Published by Crocker and Brewster, 47 Washington Street, 1832), s. vv. “Captivity”; Butrick, “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM. “I purchased of Dr. Palmer the following articles vis. Encyclopedia $20, Webster’s Dictionary $5.50, Calmet $5, Modern Europe $6, Church History $6.” Oct. 19, 1839, Butrick’s Journal.

125 During these years, the Jewish hope for deliverance corresponded loosely with Christian apocalyptic expectations. Under the terror of the Inquisition in southern Europe, Conversos (Christian converted Jews) did their best to practice their faith in secret. The illusion of their false conversion was difficult to maintain because obedience to restrictions such as dietary laws was a visible part of their secret faith. Meanwhile at the other end of the continent, the slaughter of 40,000–100,000 Polish Jews occurred as Ukrainian and Swedish armies warred for control of Poland (1648–1660).41 Jewish refugees had few options as they escaped the clutches of Catholic Europe’s Inquisition or the onslaught of genocide in Poland. England had closed its doors to the Jews in 1290 CE when King Edward I (1239–1307) decided to expel them. Amidst this wretched cloud of anti-Semitism was an oasis of hope in the Jewish ghetto of Amsterdam where ben Israel worked as an influential advocate of his people.

Lenowitz, The Jewish Messiahs, 149–54. Source: “Although the exact number of Jews massacred is unknown, with estimates ranging from 40,000 to 100,000, eyewitness accounts relate the horrific slaughter.” Naomi E. Pasachoff and Robert J. Littman, A Concise History of the Jewish People (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), 182. There is widespread agreement among scholars that the number of those massacred was in excess of 100,000 people though I have chosen a number characterizing the uncertainty of how many were slaughtered. European Jews during the era were faced with the horrible reality of not knowing how many of their brothers and sisters were lost. For a history on the Deluge, see Allen W. E. D., The Ukraine; A History (New York: Russell & Russell, 1963), 136. For a history on the Khmelnytsky Uprising, particularly the relations between Cossacks and the Jews of the era, see Howard Aster and Peter J. Potichnyj, Ukrainian-Jewish Relations in Historical Perspective (Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, 1990). 42

Manasseh Ben Israel’s Mission to Oliver Cromwell: Being a Reprint of the Pamphlets Published by Menasseh Ben Israel to Promote the Re-Admission of the Jews to England, 1649–1656 (London: Published for the Jewish Historical Society of England by Macmillan & Co, 1901), xlix.

126 Manasseh ben Israel’s Contextualization of a Jewish Tradition for Puritan Audiences There is no evidence that Daniel Butrick accessed Menasseh ben Israel’s The hope of Israel (1650). The history of the ten tribes tradition in Dr. Elias Boudinot’s A star in the West (1816) did not reference the Jewish scholar. Yet similarities between Butrick’s and ben Israel’s utilization of the motif are more than coincidental. Ben Israel’s propagation of the ten tribes established the thematic archetypes with which Butrick was familiar. Another parallel between the two men is how they utilized the political overtones of the motif as expressions of political advocacy. Perhaps the most obvious of the many differences between Butrick and ben Israel’s renditions was their theological emphasis.

Ben Israel updated a motif that had been a fixture of his racial tradition by emphasizing the Jews who had not yet become lost. He argued that lost Israelites were all around the world—it was time to bring these children of Israel together. 43

“List of books,” Brainerd Journal. Butrick had access to several works by Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) who was a promoter of the lost ten tribes of Israel motif. Edwards discourse on the discovery of the ten tribes in America stressed to Evangelicals the necessity of their spiritual conversion. This emphasis diverged from ben Israel’s argument to English Puritans that their discovery necessitated a political response. “The occasion of first peopling America was this; that the devil, being alarmed and surprised by the wonderful success of the gospel which there was the first three hundred years after Christ ... led away a people from the other continent into America, that they might be quite out of the reach of the gospel, that here he might quietly possess them, and reign over them as their god.—It is what many writers give an account of, that some of the nations of Indians, when the Europeans first came into America, had a tradition among them, that their god first led them into this continent, and went before them, in an ark.” Jonathan Edwards and John Erskine, A History of the Work of Redemption Containing the Outlines of a Body of Divinity, in a Method Entirely New (Worcester [MA]: Printed by Isaiah Thomas, Jun., sold by him, 1808), 307. This book was recorded on the “List of books belonging to the Cherokee Mission Library” as “Do on Redemption,” under the listing, “Edward’s Dissertation.”

127 Ben Israel received his information from a Conversos named Antonio de Montezinos (d.1650?). In 1644 this Portuguese Jew arrived in Amsterdam with the story of a discovery in the Spanish colony of Quito, South America (present day Ecuador). Montezinos’s narrative became The hope of Israel (1650) and was originally published as part of a compilation of works entitled Menasseh Ben Israel’s Mission to Oliver Cromwell. 44 Whereas in the ninth-century Eldad Ben Mahli ha Dani found the ten tribes living in the regions of southern Arabia, Antonio Montezinos (formerly Aharon ha-Levi) located them in Quito, South America. Both accounts originated in identifiable but largely unexplored regions, beyond the physical access of their audience. However, unlike his predecessor, Montezinos recorded his conversation with the lost Israelites—which when retold by ben Israel is colored with a sense of longing. “The ‘lostness’ of the ten tribes” is obvious in the part of the narrative where the Indians await Montezinos’s bold confession of his heritage.

This dilemma would have resonated within the hearts of his Jewish audience living under the threat of the Inquisition. Once Montezinos admitted that he was Jewish, the Indians revealed that they were the lost ten tribes of Israel.

The story ends on a note better

than the reunion of a Portuguese Conversos and his long-lost family; Montezinos was now 44

ben Israel, Mission to Oliver Cromwell.

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 3.

ben Israel, Mission to Oliver Cromwell, 11–16; Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost

Tribes, 202.

128 the bearer of good news. History was at its end and God would deliver the Children of Israel from captivity.

The European Jews of Montezinos’s era had endured unimaginable brutality; in light of this situation, ben Israel’s conclusion offered a hope of restoration: And Montezinos being asked of what nation he was, he answered, a Hebrew, of the tribe of Levi, and that God was his God, et cetera. Which when they heard they embraced him again, and said: upon a time, you shall see us, and shall not know us: we are all your Brethren, by God’s singular favor … we rule all the Indians; after we finish the business we have with the wicked Spaniards, we will bring you out of your bondage, by God’s help; not doubting, but he who cannot lie, will help us; according to his word; endeavor you in the meanwhile that those men may come. 48 Upon receiving Montezinos’s testimony, ben Israel did not use it for five years; it took time to realize the potential it possessed as a catalyst that could influence Christian perceptions. Ben Israel verified Montezinos’s story by pulling together every available work on the lost ten tribes of Israel. He introduced his argument with an explanation of the cultural amalgamation that occurred as Israelites and Indians co-habited the Americas: the Israelites arrived first and later the Indians inhabited the lands around them. Next, he described some of the Indian folkways that originated from the practices of their neighboring Israelites. He then verified the reports of some European explorers who had discovered Israelites in other regions of the American continents. He claimed they adopted some of the better aspects of each other’s cultures as their lives intermingled. 47

ben Israel, Mission to Oliver Cromwell, 15–17.

Ibid., 16–17

Ibid., 10, 17–34.

129 The next stage of his argument defended the findings of other propagators throughout the world. He affirmed the discovery of lost Israelites in Ethiopia, China and a hodgepodge of other places. Then he detailed the history of Christian speculation concerning the myth. He cited apostles and Christian church fathers and brought to mind ha Dani, David Reuveni and the would-be-messiah, Shlomo Molkho. He utilized Josephus’s history and Abraham Ortelius’s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, and then polished off his argument with a vision of what God would soon do in the wake of Montezinos’s discovery.

The timing of Montezinos’s story was ideal. The historian Ben-Dor Benite argued that the political themes found in the ten tribes motif are what made it popular: Such was the power of the ten tribes story to attach itself to different political events in a culture in which the Bible played a central role. From at least Milton’s time [1608–1674], the combination of a specific biblical culture and a unique political projectory introduced the ten tribes into the realm of political thinking and kept them there as long as scripture enjoyed a dominant cultural status. Their messianic promise however was more powerful. 51 Ben Israel propagated a ten tribes motif that the historian Tudor Parfitt called a “Christian Romance” written with calculated cunning. 52 Montezinos’s narrative entered an English culture obsessed with divine signs and speculation as to how God was guiding their history. Ben Israel forwarded the Christian expectation that God would restore Israel alongside statements that condemned the “Spaniards’” conversion of the Jews by force. 50

ben Israel, Mission to Oliver Cromwell, 10, 34–56.

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 172.

Ibid., 66–69.

ben Israel, Mission to Oliver Cromwell, 11, 17.

130 Calvin and his contemporaries believed that the restoration of Israel was a work of God. Ben Israel’s emphasis was a subtle reminder for Christians to act according to the notion. BenDor Benite wrote of the rabbi, “While ben Israel did not share the theological perspectives of his Christian colleagues, he certainly believed that he was living in an age that might see the beginning of the redemption of the Jews.” 54 In ben Israel’s treatise on the lost ten tribes, he argued that the search for them was finished and God’s restoration would soon come. He wrote: “The shortness of time (when we believe our redemption shall appear) is confined by this, that the Lord has promised that he will gather the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, out of the four quarters of the world. … And this appears now to be done, when as our Synagogues are found in America.”55 Ben Israel argued that remnants of the lost tribes have been discovered living on four continents. The fulfillment of the Prophet Daniel’s vision (seventh to sixth-century BCE) would happen soon.56 The hope of Israel (1650) contained a thematic story about restoration and millennial urgency for Christians to live alongside the Jews in peace. Sadly, the sensationalism of Montezinos’s story, rather than the thematic elements contained therein, stood out to ben Israel’s intended audience. The origins of American Indians became the 54

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 176.

ben Israel, Mission to Oliver Cromwell, 52.

Ibid.; The Prophet Daniel wrote, “And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished” (Dan. 12:7 KJV).

131 center of debate as critics refuted ben Israel’s sources. While some writers denied his claims, others elicited his line of reasoning in support of their own political goals. These critics hijacked the motif to defend the divine right of rulers, nations, and races. 57 Ben Israel propounded the ten tribes motif in front of the English Parliament, as part of a broader argument, in the hope that Jews might reenter England. He wrote: “All which things of necessity must be fulfilled, that so Israel at last being brought back to his own place; peace which is promised under the Messiah, may be restored to the world; and concord, which is the only Mother of all good things.”58 Living in peace with each other may be “the mother of good things,” but politics and racism overcame the argument for readmitting Jews into England during ben Israel’s lifetime. It took centuries before ben Israel’s words found fulfillment in the hearts of Evangelicals. 57

Parfitt, Lost Tribes, 70–75. Rebuttals of ben Israel’s The hope of Israel (1650) immediately followed its release. For a repudiation of ben Israel’s claims based upon Scriptural arguments, see Hamon L’Estrange, Americans No Iewes, or Improbabilities That the Americans Are of That Race (London: printed by William Wilson for Henry Seile over against St. Dunstans Church in Fleetstreet, 1651). For a satirical response alleging the messianic return of a recently slain Portuguese King and the pivotal role Jews would soon play in his upcoming millennial kingdom, see Padre Antonio Viera, Esperanças de Portugal, quinto império do mundo: primeira e seunda vids de El-Rei Dom Joā o quarto, escritas por Gonçalves Bandarra (Liboa: Editorial Nova Ática, (n.d)). For a dismissal of ben Israel’s claims based on argument that English King Charles was the Messiah, see Arise Evans, Lights for the Jews or the means to convert them in answer to a book of theirs called the Hope of Israel (London: 1656). 58

ben Israel, Mission to Oliver Cromwell, 5.

132 A Divine Sign of Lost Israelites in America Butrick as the Inheritor and Promoter Of a Privileged Perspective As was seen in the first part of this chapter, Butrick lived his life as a response to divine revelation. This is why Butrick championed Cherokee spiritual salvation over issues involving their temporal well-being. In spite of these imperfections, he continually strove to become a better Christian. His shift in perspective and language regarding the Cherokee was the most apparent result of a desire to be more like Jesus. His desire to “spend and be spent” on their behalf produced great accomplishments.

His access to the history and tradition of

the lost ten tribes established Butrick as an inheritor of the legend. In Puritan folklore the search for lost Israelites was weightier than ben Israel’s emphasis on the treatment of European Jews. Regardless, The hope of Israel (1650) had a visible impact upon the attitude of some Puritans towards American Indians. Puritan promoters championed the theme of Christ’s restoration for the lost ten tribes in America. The early writings of Puritan missionary John Eliot (1604–1690) contain this utilization. 60 59

June 5, 1838, Butrick’s Journal. The great accomplishment of Butrick’s life was his Cherokee-centered perspective. Butrick’s hope for the spiritual restoration of the Cherokee cultivated a theological attitude similar to that of another propagator of the Lost ten tribes motif, namely, Jonathan Edwards. “The Jonathan Edwards who disdained Indian religion, then, nevertheless held an extraordinarily positive view of the spiritual status of (some) Indian individuals and tribes, considered them to be less morally culpable than their white, nominally Christian counterparts, and entertained an exalted conception of their eschatological destiny. Perhaps as a result of his understanding that many Indians possessed a spiritually receptive disposition, he also held a more positive view of their humanity than did most of his fellow colonials, many of whom thought that the only good Indian was a dead one.” Gerald R. McDermott, “Jonathan Edwards and American Indians: The Devil Sucks Their Blood,” New England Quarterly 72, no. 4 (1999): 551. 60

“The idea of the Jew began to come into contact with the actualities of Jews.” Peter Berek, “The Jew as Renaissance Man.” Renaissance Quarterly 51, no. 1

133 Daniel Butrick and John Eliot’s renderings of the motif emphasize the same themes despite the contrast in political views. John Eliot’s adherence to what he believed to be the divine sign of lost Israelites in America was part of a privileged perspective that resulted in the first translation of the Bible into a Native American language. As with Butrick, a spirit of political radicalism accompanied Eliot’s promotion of the ten tribes motif. A book written by Eliot in the 1640s contained his blueprint for an ideal society. He wrote The Christian Commonwealth, or the Civil Polity of the Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ (1659) as a reaction to the Puritan controlled Parliament. Eliot argued in favor of a civil polity that would become the foundation for the millennial kingdom.

He believed

that the events of English history were leading towards a theocracy where Christ himself would return and rule as king. Eliot recanted of these political views shortly after Charles II’s (1630–1685) restoration of the monarchy while maintaining that Christ’s second coming was contingent upon the conversion of the American Indians.

(1998): 128. For Butrick’s access to a biography about John Eliot, see Miron Winslow, A Sketch of Missions, or, History of the Principal Attempts to Propagate Christianity Among the Heathen (Andover [MA]: Flagg and Gould, 1819), 61–66. “List of books,” Brainerd Journal. Butrick and Eliot inherited the themes of hope and restoration rooted in Thomas Thorowgood and John Dury’s propagation of the lost ten tribes motif. Butrick’s access to Eliot’s particular propagation of the motif is speculative. Richard W. Cogley, John Eliot’s Mission to the Indians before King Philip’s War (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 96–7. By 1656, Eliot had doubts that the Indians were the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel. The reasons for his change of mind are uncertain. 61

John Eliot, The Christian Commonwealth: Or, The Civil Policy of the Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Written Before the Interruption of the Government (London: 1659). 62

Cogley, John Eliot’s Mission, 76–83; Philip Ranlet, “Another Look at the Causes of King Philip’s War,” New England Quarterly 61, no. 1 (1988): 79–100; David

134 Like Eliot, Butrick strove to rise above the accepted social norms of his era by leading American Indians to a restoration in Christ. He hoped that the avarice of American 63

polity would not ruin the laudable nature of the Cherokee.

Political perspectives aside, Butrick and Eliot shared a common hope for the restoration of the ten tribes and the people of God. Eliot expressed his hope of restoration in the preface of Thomas Thorowgood’s 1660 version of Jews in America: “It is one of the great works of Christ in the last days to find up lost Israel and bring them into his kingdom? [sic] and this moveth the hearts of many of the good people of the Lord to search after them.”

With the culmination of history approaching, Eliot and a few of his contemporaries stressed the importance of locating the ten tribes so that God would bring all of the Jewish people to faith. The historian Zvi Ben-Dor Benite argued, “The conversion of the ten tribes was depicted as a harbinger of the conversion of their brethren.” 65 Bushnell, “The Treatment of the Indians in Plymouth Colony,” New England Quarterly 26, no. 2 (1953): 193–218. 63

“One of [the Georgians] expressed some suspicions respecting the honesty of missionaries, and as they seemed respectable and willing to know the truth, I gave them a brief history of the American Board, beginning with Samuel J. Mills [(1783–1818)], I mentioned their missions in Bombay, Ceylon and the Sandwich Islands; and then gave a brief view of the Indian missions, and the support that each missionary received.” Jan. 10, 1832, Butrick’s Journal. Butrick admired the ABCFM’s mission and disdained their politics. He treasured the opportunity to be a part of their vision of advancing the gospel to foreign nations. This was why his struggle with their political policy became so bitter. 64

Michael Clark, The Eliot Tracts: With Letters from John Eliot to Thomas Thorowgood and Richard Baxter. Contributions in American history, no. 199 (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003), 185. 65

Ben-Dor Benite, Ten Lost Tribes, 173

135 While the prophecy concerning Israel’s salvation at Christ’s return did not originate with ben Israel, he stressed it in the rendering of the lost tribes he propounded to Puritan leaders. Both Christians and Jews hope that the “peace which is promised under the Messiah, may be restored to the world.” 66 This reality of God’s deliverance would also bring about “concord, which is the only Mother of all good things.” 67 His rendering was archetypal: God’s restoration will heal the relationships that separate his people from one another. Butrick did not need to directly access The hope of Israel (1650) in order to become an inheritor of ben Israel’s emphasis. Ben Israel provided a fresh interpretation of the motif’s tradition, but Butrick attempted nothing new in his summary of previous works and expansive collection of data. Ben Israel’s The hope of Israel (1650) provided Christians with a fresh outlook while Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” repackaged old arguments into what reads like an indictment. For all the shortcomings of “Indian Antiquities,” the project was Butrick’s attempt to overcome racial barriers with a clear presentation of the gospel message: The Apostles went into the world, preaching as readily and as affectionately to the enemies as to the friends of the Jewish nation–dispensing the Gospel alike to the oppressor and the oppressed. To the master and the slave—to the wicked of every class and description and to the upright. The Ambassadors of Christ therefore are to … dwell in regions of eternal peace, even when the 68 whole world is involved in confusion and war. 66

ben Israel, Mission to Oliver Cromwell, 5.

Ibid.

Fri., Mar. 1832, Butrick’s Journal.

136 For Jews, the ten tribes had loomed in the distance with their promise to deliver their brothers and sisters soon. Similarly, English Puritans hoped that the discovery of the lost tribes would bring Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second coming and an end to the schisms of the Reformation. Butrick drew upon these traditions and used the motif as a prophetic call intended to bring restitution to the Cherokee nation and repentance to American Christians.

CHAPTER 2 LOST IN PUBLICATION: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUTRICK’S ANTIQUITIES AND HIS ANTIQUARIANS I should rejoice to comply fully with your request, were it in my power, but my information relative to Indian antiquities is not sufficient to justify me in attempting to give anything like a connected view of them. And though I have written many things from the lips of the old men which were to me interesting, yet these sketches are imperfect and detached, and would not, without some time, be prepared for inspection. —Daniel Sabin Butrick to John Howard Payne (1835) Daniel Sabin Butrick wrote “Indian Antiquities” for an American republic whose citizens were well acquainted with the story of the Cherokee struggle to maintain their homeland. Butrick described his “Indian Antiquities” as a Cherokee history, and believed that it would survive in posterity as a permanent record. The relationships he had with his informants possess the timeless appeal his argument lacked. This chapter juxtaposes and demonstrates the differences between the published pamphlet containing his antiquities and the meaningful relationships he had with his antiquarians. Scholars have debated the value of the information provided by these informants. Notable among them is the historian William G. McLoughlin who published several works defending the amalgamated traditions of the Cherokee. A scholarly

137

138 interpretation of the nineteenth-century Cherokee Christian worldview is valuable, but the relationships these Indians had with their missionaries is equally important to consider.

A Funeral for “Buttrick’s” Privileged Perspective: Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884) Daniel Butrick’s Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884) was published posthumously in the Indian Chieftain. The pamphlet circulated in Indian Territory, modern2

day Oklahoma. This twenty-page pamphlet originated from a series of newspaper articles. The historian William G. McLoughlin believed that an anonymous friend of Butrick published this tract. It is a belief that has gone uncontested.

The spelling of Butrick’s name in the publication included an extra “T”. His ancestral name contained the extra consonant; prior to 1817 records contained this version of his name. It appears that he personally adjusted the spelling upon his enlistment in the service of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). A Harvard 1

“Taken in cultural context, these composite myths provided important insights into the Cherokees’ effort to sustain and revitalize their identity.” McLoughlin believed that the Cherokee responded to Old Testament narratives in a way that grafted their identity as a people into the story of humankind. He wrote, “They defined ‘red’ differently to neutralize the hierarchy Americans thought they had inherited from Britain.” William Gerald McLoughlin and Walter H. Conser, The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794–1870: Essays on Acculturation and Cultural Persistence (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1994), 152, 156. Nancy Shoemaker, “How Indians Got to Be Red,” The American Historical Review 102, No. 3 (June 1997): 642. Shoemaker believed that McLoughlin was incorrect. She argued that amalgamated myths address issues of racial inequality by emphasizing their Cherokee heritage and precedence as a people. 2

Daniel S. Buttrick, Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (Vinita: Indian Territory: Indian Chieftain, 1884). 3

McLoughlin and Conser, Cherokees and Christianity, 141.

139 University archivist noted that between 1838 and 1844, “Butrick himself began to spell his 4

name with two [‘T’s’].” An early example of Butrick’s resumption of the original spelling was in a letter written to Rev. David Greene, the corresponding secretary of the ABCFM, following the Trail of Tears. This letter involved Butrick’s resignation as pastor of Fairfield Church in Indian Territory. He took a moment to list the members of his congregation before and after the Trail of Tears, then he signed his concluding remark: Since about the time they were taken prisoners in the old nation I suppose about thirty have died out of Brainerd Church alone, (as connected with Carmel Church.) [sic] The following have come to my knowledge, vis. Nettle, his wife, two daughters, and daughter in law, Silversmith, Raven, John Bemer, January, Teki, Lying Fish and wife Peggy, Caty, Hannah, Alice, Tanooi, his wife and stepson, and wife of Senita* A number of others I cannot hear from and fear they are dead. *Add Nu:tsa:wi and Doublehead. Respectfully Yours, 5 D. S. Buttrick [emphasis mine] Therefore, Butrick discarded the way he preferred to spell his name during his years of service with the ABCFM. A survey of correspondence between his fellows and the Prudential Committee between 1818 and 1850 reveals their habit of spelling Butrick, with the added consonant. It was not until the 1840s that Butrick himself chose to do likewise. In 1847 he explained to David Greene, “The use of but one T in writing my name seems to 4

“Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. North American Indian Missions Records: Guide” (Cambridge: The President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2005). 5

Daniel S. Butrick to David Greene, Oct. 30, 1840, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM).

140 occasion perplexity as a proper orthography requires two, I have concluded to insert two. I simply mention this to you, though of little consequence.”

Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884) began with a brief five-page preface by an anonymous author, expressing his fondness for Butrick’s research. William Potter Ross, the Indian Chieftain’s editor, then detailed the major highlights concerning Butrick’s missionary career, and presented the research without an annotated explanation of the randomly organized material. It was a jumble of random details about Cherokee religious rites with quotes by a handful of Butrick’s informants. The pamphlet’s supporting evidence 7

came directly from Dr. Elias Boudinot’s A star in the West (1816).

The credibility of this booklet was completely dependent upon the praise Rev. Worcester Willy and Principal Chief of the Cherokee nation William Porter Ross (1821– 1891) gave for Butrick’s perspective of the Cherokee in its opening pages. Overall, the actual body of research lacked verifiability for the common reader. The references to Cherokee informants, several of whom died in the stockades prior to the Trail of Tears, may have held some credibility for the casual reader; but references to obscure scholars from the previous century would have had minimal weight. This posthumous publication of Butrick’s research was sentimental and somewhat sensational. Upon its publication, a notable Cherokee author, Walter Adair 6

Butrick to Greene, Dwight [OK], Mar. 20, 1847, ABCFM

Buttrick, Antiquities of the Cherokee, 6. Elias Boudinot, A star in the West: or, A humble attempt to discover the long lost ten tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city, Jerusalem (Trenton, NJ: D. Fenton, S. Hutchinson, and J. Dunham, 1816).

141 Duncan (1820–1906), published a rebuttal of the pamphlet in the Cherokee Advocate newspaper. He dismissed the premise of the argument by pointing to the obvious: Butrick had failed to take into account that Christian missionaries influenced the traditions of Cherokee informants.

Duncan argued that Butrick understood the limitations of his research and this was why he left them as an inheritance to his best friend’s son, John Buttrick Jones (1834– 1881). Butrick had hoped that Jones would include them alongside his own research on the Cherokee. Duncan then told about his final encounter with Butrick: I called at his room at old Dwight Mission. He was ill at that moment, reposing quietly as if sleeping. The circumstances did not admit of many words. The “silver cord” was being unloosed. It was very impressive, and my feelings at that time were very impressible. I spoke only one sentence, and he only one. Holding his shrunken fingers in my hand, “How do you feel now, Mr. Buttrick?” Languidly unclosing his eyes, he replied; “I am—persuaded— that he is—able to keep that which—I have committed to his—care—till that 9 day.” Quietly leaving, I went on to my appointments. Duncan’s tone in his telling of the missionary’s death cut through the nostalgia—the old man was dead and though the Cherokee loved him, life went on. In the mention of Butrick’s death one hears an acknowledgement of what Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884) meant to those who knew him; and what they meant now that he was gone. 8

Rev. Daniel Sabin Buttrick, “A Cherokee Rebuttal to Buttrick,” in Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (A Machine-readable Transcription) ed. Jeffrey Freeman-Fuller, rev. ed. (Little Rock, AR: American Native Press Archives and Sequoyah Research Center, 2007), http://anpa.ualr.edu/digital_library/buttrick/buttrick.htm#A Cherokee Rebuttal to Buttrick (accessed Nov. 11, 2011). 9

Ibid.

142 In a sense, Duncan held a funeral for Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884) on the day their author died. A century and a half after he stepped away from Butrick’s deathbed and moved on to his appointments, I am compelled to stand at the old missionary’s graveside, and revisit his final words: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 1:12 KJV) As a preacher, apostle, and teacher, the perspective Butrick promoted through his work on “Indian Antiquities” was consequential. The work was as flawed as its author—zealous, obsessive, outdated, and just plain incorrect. Yet in spite of its obvious limitations, Butrick’s promotion of the ten tribes motif shaped his perspective and produced a record of his complex relationships with the Cherokee informants. The perspective of the Cherokee informants restores the relevance that “Indian Antiquities” lost in its publication. The Relevance of “Indian Antiquities”: An Introduction to the Cherokee Nation Butrick’s story that the Cherokee were the ten tribes of Israel was a part of his Christian tradition as much as it was a personal agenda—his definition of Cherokee history. By contrast, his informants shared a collective story rooted in their oral traditions. It was a vision of who they had become. During the nineteenth-century the Cherokee nation experienced enormous amounts of pressure to abandon their religious and cultural identities for the system propagated by the whites. The historian Marion Starkey stressed that the roughly three

143 thousand Eastern Cherokee â&#x20AC;&#x153;are the sole legatees of a once vast empire.â&#x20AC;?

She depicted their

history as a struggle to preserve their folkways amidst outside forces that sought to eliminate them. Rudimentary to their tradition was the Cherokee connection to their ancestral land.

At the heart of the Cherokee nation were the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Forced to define their boundaries, the Cherokee claimed a sphere which reached southwest beyond the surrounding piedmont into lands already inhabited by the Muskogee (Creek) nation of Georgia and the Chickasaws to the east in Alabama and Mississippi. To the northwest, the Cherokee claimed the rights over the lands of the Tennessee Valley and the western escarpments of the Smokies and the Unakas in the region claimed by the Shawnee. The Cherokee also claimed land controlled by the Seneca nation of the Iroquois Confederacy in modern-day Kentucky and Virginia. Lastly, to the east the Cherokee proclaimed rights over the western lands inhabited by the Catawba of the Carolinas. The historian John Ehle argued that the Cherokee quickly realized the limitations of securing their boundaries. The technological superiority of the Americans gave them authority over the region. Cherokee society had to assimilate the new economic and social systems introduced by the white culture as a result. With the shadow of the American nation blurring its eastern border, the Cherokee struggled to maintain their sovereignty as a people while at the same time becoming subjugated by the American government.

Marion L. Starkey, The Cherokee Nation (North Dighton, MA: JG Press,

1995), 4. 12

Ibid.

John Ehle, Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation (New York: Archer Books, 1989), 6.

144 Marion Starkey explained that by 1800 the Cherokee population had shrunk to roughly 17,000 people. The nation also could no longer support itself by means of hunting and trapping. During this period the Cherokee adopted an agrarian lifestyle. They learned how to grow staples common in the white society, such as potatoes, grains and cotton. They also tended livestock and learned the art of beekeeping. Starkey points out that the improvements were not widely accepted among the total population. The poorer, backcountry Cherokee struggled to maintain their previous forms of survival because of a lack of resources needed to implement the new way of life.

Despite the general difficulties in implementing these new ways of animal husbandry and farming, the lifestyle spread among the Cherokee. It was in this period that a half-blood population began to form within the nation. These half-blood Cherokee obtained power in the tribe because they possessed an economic and educational advantage over the full-blood members. These Cherokee trained in the mission schools of the nation. They transformed Cherokee government into one similar to the American republic.

The Cherokee refused to join the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh’s (1768–1813) Indian confederacy in 1814 and instead fought alongside Colonel Andrew Jackson. After achieving victory over the Creek nation at the battle of Horseshoe Bend (March 27, 1814), Jackson appropriated all of the Creek nation’s land holdings. This included four million acres 14

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 1–28.

Ibid.

145 claimed by the Cherokee.

With the fall of the once mighty Creek nation, the Cherokee

stood alone against the Americans. By 1817, agents of the American government were pressuring the Cherokee nation to relocate on a land allotment west of the Mississippi River. As this pressure intensified many Cherokee chose to stand stubbornly upon their “Last Little” and remain in their native land. In his journal, Butrick wrote that their love for their land was on a par with idol worship. He called the Cherokee “children of the forest,” “poor heathens,” and “children of nature.” Concerning this idea of a noble savage, the historian Alden T. Vaughn wrote: [This] countertrend in American thought insisted that certain Indian characteristics were laudable in their own right and—more important—were especially admirable when compared to contemporary European society. Because the Indians seemed to live an unfettered and unacquisitive life amid unspoiled nature, they were hailed by some Americans (following the philosophes) as the ideal to which modern man should, to some extent at least, 17 return. Butrick did not believe that the traditions of their ancestors or their way of life were in any way superior to his. He feared that the goodness of who they were, the hospitality, the honesty, and the way they emphasized the needs of their community over their own personal gain, was about to be corrupted by his compatriots in the east. 16

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 29; Joyce B. Phillips and Paul Gary Phillips, index to The Brainerd Journal: A Mission to the Cherokees, 1817–1823, Indians of the Southeast (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998), 11. The “Last Little” was a term coined by Chief Pathkiller ( to describe the 17,000 acres that the Cherokee kept as compensation for siding with the Americans during the Creek War of 1813 and 1814. The Cherokee had originally claimed the rights to 124,000 square miles of territory. 17

Alden T. Vaughan, “From White Man to Redskin: Changing AngloAmerican Perceptions of the American Indian,” The American Historical Review 87, no. 4 (Oct., 1982): 915–17.

146 Cherokee Informants: Their Relationship with Butrick at the Beginning of His Research Regarding Butrick’s appearance, sometime during the late 1830s he suffered from a bronchial infection (inflammatory rheumatism). One speculates that given the state of his health in the 1840s, he had contracted tuberculosis (known during that era as consumption). He was a sickly looking fellow with a chronic cough.

In 1841 Major Ethan

Allen Hitchcock (1798–1870) visited Butrick at his mission school and wrote, “I remarked that I understood he had been a long time with the Cherokees, he said yes, that he had grown old among them smiling languidly.”

Butrick was a hunter; perhaps what he wore was made

of buckskin. Based upon the soberness of his personality though, one speculates that he wore the dark-colored coats and pants of a Congregationalist minister. 18

“I dismounted, and an Indian woman called Mr. Buttrick … a pious elderly person apparently out of health … I was very impressed by his manner, for he evidently was sincere, believing himself in deep decline, as a bad cough, which frequently troubled him, too truly indicated.” George William Featherstonehaugh, Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor; with an account of the lead and copper deposits in Wisconsin; of the gold region in the Cherokee country; and sketches of popular manners (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1970), 213, 215; and Worcester Willy to Selah B. Treat, “Butrick, Daniel S. death notices of,” June 14, 1841, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 13 of ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM), 103. Featherstonehaugh’s description of Butrick’s health supports Rev. Worcester Willy’s opinion that Butrick died of consumption in June 1851. “The average life expectancy after diagnosis in 1872 was fifteen to twenty-five years. Commonly, people diagnosed with consumption married, raised families, and built businesses before succumbing to the ravages of the disease.” Gary L. Roberts, Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006), 61. The treatment for consumption in 1871 had been standard for decades. Doctors prescribed exercise and a proper diet. Traveling to drier climates was not as common in Butrick’s era as it would be thirty years later. 19

Ethan Allen Hitcock, A Traveler in Indian Territory: The Journal of Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Late Major-General in the United States Army, ed. Grant Foreman (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996), 21.

147 During the 1830s this man with a languid smile listened thoughtfully as he sat with his many informants: Thomas Nu:tsa:wi (meaning “Wood of the Pine Tree,” d.1838), Snake (“Andrew Sanders,” 1789–1852), Three Killer (dates unknown), A:tsa:ta:wi (“Fish,” dates unknown), Elijah Hicks (1796–1856), Johnson Pridget (dates unknown), George Hicks (1795–ca. 1863), Ms. Chism (Patsy Brown Chisholm? b. 1760?), Wawh (“Good,” dates unknown), Isaac Short Arrow (dates unknown), Corntastle (dates unknown), Yu:wi:yoka (“Tarapin Head,” dates unknown), Toleto (dates unknown), Nettle (a blind man, d.1840), Thomas Smith (d.1838), Raven (d.1838), Deer-in-the-Water (dates unknown), Epenetus Achaia (d.1850s), Chicken Cock (dates unknown), Sick:a:tow:ah (“Sickatower,” d. 1836?), Ta:ka:e:tuh (dates unknown), Caty Vann (d.1839) and others. There are at least twenty informants referenced in “Indian Antiquities.”

Every two months, Butrick would send a letter to the Corresponding Secretary of the ABCFM. This letter detailed his monthly activities and needs at the mission. It also included copies of a public journal he kept for publicity reasons, containing his daily encounters with the Cherokee. On June 5, 1834 Butrick wrote to David Greene concerning a letter he received from “the Society of Enquiry at Andover requesting information concerning the ancient customs, ceremonies, etc. of the Indians.” 20

This letter followed a

Daniel S. Butrick and John Howard Payne, “Indian Antiquities,” Ayer Manuscript Collection, vols. 1, 3, 4, and 9 of John Howard Payne Papers, TSS, CD-R, Newberry Library, Chicago (Hereafter cited as Payne Papers). Several antiquities were given by a Cherokee named, “Pinelog Nu:tsa:wi.” Payne and Butrick refer to Thomas Nu:tsa:wi as simply Nu:tsa:wi, therefore, I have assumed that Pinelog Nu:tsa:wi was a separate person. 21

Butrick to Greene, June 5, 1834, ABCFM.

148 correspondence from May 1834, wherein Butrick detailed the conversion of Deer-in-theWater, one of Butrick’s informants.

He said that news of Deer-in-the-Water’s conversion should encourage those working with Samuel A. Worcester to produce a translation of the Bible into Cherokee, that their efforts would not be in vain.

Then he asked that the board not publish news of his plan

to investigate “Indian Antiquities”—just yet. One assumes that early in the project Butrick was hopeful that the ABCFM might publicize his work. At first, Butrick was optimistic about his research. During 1835 he made a few notations about his progress in the public journal he sent to Greene. The ABCFM publicized selections of these journals in their support-raising periodicals. One speculates that his comments about “Indian Antiquities,” on documents intended to go public, were attempts to rouse interest in his work prior to its completion. However, Butrick asked Greene not to publish the material.

It is likely that he hoped Greene would realize the importance

of the spiritual welfare of the Cherokee over the board’s policy of political advocacy. One also speculates that Butrick’s statements about “Indian Antiquities” to David Greene were in defense of his refusal to engage the politics of the Cherokee removal crisis. He intended to make it known to the Prudential Committee that he was engaged in an expression of spiritual advocacy on behalf of the Cherokee nation. 22

Butrick to Greene, May 12, 1834, ABCFM.

Ibid., Mar. 26, 1834.

Ibid.

149 This act of spiritual advocacy led him onto the Trail of Tears. In the autumn of 1838, U.S. soldiers marched the captive Cherokee west to their exile in Indian Territory because they refused to board the river barges as the Muskogee nation did during their Trail 25

of Tears (1838–39).

Who were the Cherokee antiquarians? Principal Chief John Ross had endorsed some of them in a letter.

Chief Ross wrote that Andrew Sanders, whose Cherokee name

was Snake, was a half-blood whose Cherokee blood came from his mother. Snake had served as an interpreter for Butrick since 1835; he was also a member of the Presbyterian Church. He was of a reputable character and shared a similar interest in antiquities.

Some informants worked as Butrick’s translators. Johnson Pridget was the nephew of Thomas Nu:tsa:wi. In Butrick’s estimation, Pridget was seven-eighths Cherokee 25

Cherokee Removal: The Journal of Rev. Daniel S. Butrick, May 19, 1838– Apr. 1, 1839 (Park Hill: The Trail of Tears Association Oklahoma Chapter, 1998). 26

“To be descendants of the Jews brought the Cherokees within the fold of Christian history and prophecy, giving them an added claim to Christian concern and philanthropy as the once chosen and ultimately to be reclaimed favorites of God.” McLoughlin and Conser, Cherokees and Christianity, 132. McLoughlin detailed the response of Principal Chiefs John Ross and George Lowry to speculation concerning the ten tribes of Israel. Ross believed that Butrick’s effort to co-opt the Cherokee into Christian history was a potentially good thing while Lowry was concerned that anti-Semitic attitudes common among white Americans would intensify their hatred of the Indian. For McLoughlin’s treatment of the history surrounding the debate over Indian origins and the Cherokee connection to the lost ten tribes of Israel, see McLoughlin and Conser, Cherokees and Christianity, chap. 6. 27

John Howard Payne et al., John Ross, Red Clay [TN], July 4, 1837, The Payne-Butrick Papers, 2 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010), 2:5–6.

150 but his appearance “scarcely shows any traces of any white blood.”

Thomas Smith “Shield

Eater” was three-fourths Cherokee; he had a great-grandfather, “a full Indian, of great age … [and] a very noted antiquarian,” whose knowledge was preserved in Smith’s family.

The majority of informants were from Butrick’s congregation. If he trusted the person’s sincerity and character, their remarks were included in his research. His high regard for the informants was reciprocal. These people trusted him enough to break ranks with the majority of Cherokee who repelled Butrick’s inquiries. Reviving the Indian-Hebrew Theory as Praxis: Butrick’s Search for Antiquities Deemed Worthy of Notice and Remembrance Daniel Butrick undertook the majority of research for “Indian Antiquities” during the fall of 1835. He wrote to David Greene, “I have read attentively Dwight’s Theology, Jahn’s Biblical Archeology and the third volume of Horne’s Introduction, besides 30

devoting some time to Cherokee antiquities.”

He studied these texts in preparation for

conducting interviews with his informants for the antiquities project. Butrick relied upon these nineteenth-century theology textbooks for instruction on how to turn his Indian-Hebrew theory into praxis. Butrick’s confidence in the accuracy of Indian-Hebrew theory was foundational to this worldview, finding practical application in his daily life. In step with 28

Brainerd [TN], July 11, 1837, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:7–8.

John Ross, Red Clay [TN], July 4, 1837, 2:5–6.

Butrick to Greene, Carmel [GA], Dec. 13, 1835, ABCFM.

151 other Evangelicals of his era, Butrick believed in the importance of the covenantal relationship between God and his people. The historian Mark A. Noll explained that “the Evangelical Protestantism that dominated public life [during the 1800s] had gained its place because it successfully clothed the Christian faith in the preeminent ideological dress of the new Republic.”

One’s faith in God and duty to nation were inseparable. Noll wrote: America’s leading Protestant theologians first argued convincingly that the people of the United States stood in covenantal relationship with God. For most of them, a vocabulary of corporate repentance and renewal, handed down from the Puritans, remained an appropriate vocabulary for addressing the American public about its privileges and duties before God. … repent and God may reverse evil days; give thanks and He may allow the propitious 32 times to continue. The ten tribes motif was rich with the importance of humanity’s covenantal relationship with God. The ten tribes had become lost because they violated this covenant in antiquity. Butrick believed that it was through the restoration of this covenant that the Cherokee nation would be delivered from the hands of its oppressors. Thus Butrick viewed the Cherokee removal crisis as a theological event. “Indian Antiquities” was his attempt to transform the Indian-Hebrew theory into praxis —a practical application of what his fellow Americans viewed as an inconsequential theological theory. He hoped that the Cherokee would heed the research, repent of their sins and avert the judgment of God. 31

Mark A. Noll, The Civil War As a Theological Crisis (University of North Carolina Press, 2007), 18. 32

Ibid.

152 His engagement with conjurers during the late 1820s exemplifies his objective in recording antiquities as a means to provide religious instruction for the Cherokee. What exactly Butrick intended to achieve for the Indians becomes clear when framed in the context of the antiquities he collected on the topic of conjuring. In 1830 Butrick journaled about a divisive conflict he had entered into with local conjurers concerning their medico-magical beliefs. The episode began, in Butrick’s words, with the death of “a very aged man, being sensible that he was about to die, he called his numerous posterity about him and gave them his farewell charge, and among other things, told to seek instruction of the missionaries on the great subjects of religion, as they subsequently did.”

The Cherokee living near the Carmel and Hightower Mission Stations heeded the old man’s advice and sought some “instruction” from the missionaries.

Apparently, the

teachings that these communities of Cherokee received failed to persuade them to abandon their folk practices involving conjuring. On a Sabbath morning at the Carmel Mission Station, the concerned father of a sick Cherokee woman asked a Cherokee Christian convert named Zacharias (formerly “Silversmith,” d. 1838) to conjure on her behalf in order to find 33

“Private Journal of Daniel S. Butrick,” Sept. 8, 1830, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as Butrick’s Journal). 34

Ibid.

153 out whether she would recover. When Butrick heard this news, he confronted Zacharias and the issue soon spiraled into a controversy.

During his talk with Zacharias, Butrick’s interpreter John Sanders accused the missionary of being too severe, and then proceeded to explain the situation to Zacharias in his own words. “After some conversation,” Zacharias agreed to allow Butrick to investigate his beliefs concerning conjuring.

Zacharias and Butrick’s agreement was:

If I said it was wicked to conjure he would give it up entirely. I told him I was incapable of judging correctly unless I knew what he said, and did in conjuring,—that if he would come to the mission house the next day, and tell me his whole system of conjuration and let me write it down, I should be prepared to tell him whether it was contrary to the Bible or not. Accordingly the next day he came, … and I wrote all the particulars with regard to making rain or preventing it,—turning storms away, relating the seasons vis.—curing all kinds of diseases,—or telling if they were incurable vis. After writing the whole system and looking it over, I told Br. Zacharias that it was only the black waters of heathenism, designed and calculated to keep their thoughts 37 entirely from the true God. Butrick instructed Zacharias to denounce the practice of conjuring forthwith. Shortly thereafter, the missionary visited the Hightower Mission Station and realized that “a great part of the church” regularly practiced the folk tradition. Not wanting to be impetuous in his 35

McLoughlin wrote that Butrick was unaware that his brother-in-law Isaac Proctor had previously confronted “‘Zacharias, the aged,’ as he was known,” on the issue of conjuring. William G. McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 1789–1838 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), 206–07. 36

Ibid.

Sept. 8, 1830, Butrick’s Journal.

154 pursuit against evil, Butrick prepared a written sermon on the topic and patiently waited to deliver it at their next Sabbath service.

Butrick’s sermon on conjuring surprised everyone in the meetinghouse, including his interpreter Rowe (dates unknown). Rowe occasionally withheld the interpretation of material that might offend the Cherokee congregation. Butrick feared that Rowe would make it a point to censure his sermon if he knew the topic in advance. That morning Butrick preached in front of a packed house. Many of the Cherokee present, were not even Christians. They were only attending the service because the “very aged man” who died had advised them to do so.

Butrick began the sermon by explaining that he intended to proclaim the truth regardless of how the Cherokee might feel about the topic. He proclaimed that he was there “to make known in the clearest manner possible the duty of praying to God alone, and the great evil and wickedness of addressing our prayers to inferior objects. As I had the whole system of conjuration in my mind I endeavored to expose its weakness, fully and guilt as far as possible.”

The sermon angered Moore who stormed in and out of the meetinghouse

several times, likely to summon his son to the church. At the conclusion of the service, Moore took hold of the child and stretched out the sore covered arms of the boy for Butrick and the whole congregation to see. Then he demanded that the missionary explain why God would forbid Christians from using conjuring as a means of healing the sick. 38

Sept. 8, 1830, Butrick’s Journal.

Ibid.

155 For obvious reasons the spectacle outraged the entire congregation. Only a handful of attendees attended Butrick’s follow-up sermon the following week. The incident even upset his trusted informant and friend Epenetus Achaia who immediately departed for a nearby mountain to pray. Several weeks later Butrick was able to reconcile his differences with his interpreter Rowe after he was able to fully defend himself in front of the Cherokee nation. Butrick wrote, “Br. Rowe said they could not blame him. Because he only told them what I said. I told him I was willing to bear the whole blame because I only told them the truths of the Bible. At last our dear brother More [Moore] came back. Brother Rowe wished me to treat him mildly.”

Butrick defended his divisive behavior to Moore with a simple story. The tale not only served as a satisfactory apology for this upset Cherokee, it provides insight into the obsession that would drive his research during the 1830s. Butrick explained: Sometime ago I brought Scott’s Family Bible from Carmel in a sack, or a bag. Just as I arrived at Hightower River a severe storm arose. I put the Bible on the pommel of the saddle before me, and leaned over it, and said, ‘Now let the storm drive, I care not for it, if I can keep the Bible safe.’ As the Bible was my 42 treasure, its sacred truths I must maintain at all hazards. Butrick journaled about this event in September 1830, roughly six months before the Georgia Guard arrested his brethren. In the midst of the Cherokee removal crisis, Butrick instinctually defended biblical truth and sound orthodox theology above all concerns associated with the politics of Indian removal. He depended upon Jahn’s Biblical 41

Sept. 8, 1830, Butrick’s Journal.

Ibid. Samuel Turell Armstrong, Scott’s Family Bible, First Boston Edition: Samuel T. Armstrong, No. 50, Cornhill, Boston, Proposes to Republish Dr. Scott’s Family Bible, in Six Volumes Octavo (Boston: s.n, 1815).

156 Archeology, Dwight’s Theology and the third volume of Horne’s Introduction as the guides to correctly identify those Cherokee antiquities worthy of notice and remembrance.

The opening statement of Jahn’s Biblical Archeology (1823) by Thomas C. Upham (1799–1872) offered a definition of biblical archeology that adequately portrays the general task Butrick hoped to accomplish through the collection of Cherokee antiquities: Archeology, archaiología, [emphasis/italics Upham] considered subjectively or in reference to the mind, is the knowledge of whatever in antiquity is worthy of remembrance, but objectively is that knowledge reduced to a system. In its widest sense, therefore, it embraces achievements of a historical nature, and everything else, important to be transmitted to subsequent ages; but, in a limited sense, has special reference to religious and civil institutions and ceremonies, to opinions, manners and customs, and the like. As there are circumstances, worthy of being noticed and remembered, not only in the religious and civil, but also in the domestic concerns of the ancients, so Archeology may be divided into sacred, political, and domestic. Biblical Archeology [italics Upham] embraces every thing in the Bible worthy of notice and remembrance, whether it be merely alluded to, or treated 44 as something well known. Butrick felt compelled to undertake the “objective” work of a biblical archeologist. He had a point to make with American Evangelicals; more so, he intended to embrace Cherokee folkways that reflected the truth of the gospel and transmit “to subsequent ages” of the Cherokee nation an orthodox rendering of Christian theology. 43

Jahn’s Biblical Archeology, Translated from the Latin, with Additions and Corrections by T.C. Upham (Andover, MA: Flagg and Gould, 1823); Timothy Dwight, Theology Explained and Defended in a Series of Sermons: With a Memoir of the Life of the Author, 4 vols. (New York: G. & C. Carvill, 1828); Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, vol. 3 (London: Cadell, 1828). 44

Jahn’s Biblical Archeology, 1.

157 The doctrine of the trinity was a theological concern that held considerable weight with Butrick. Given the variety of issues he could have journaled about in 1832 (while his brethren were incarcerated in a Milledgeville Penitentiary) Butrick wrote: “Found among sermons sent from Boston, one preached by a supposed Socinian. Though this sermon was preached before the American Board, previous to the ordination of some of their missionaries, yet I could not feel willing to keep in the house a sermon preached by a tongue employed in denying the sacred trinity, and therefore threw it into the flames.”

Timothy Dwight’s (1752–1817) Explained and Defended (1819) contained a sermon entitled “Testimonies of the Doctrine of the Trinity, from the Ancient Christians, Jews, and Heathens.” While it is unknown what Butrick studied in Dwight’s four-volume collection of sermons, this topic would have been of particular interest. At the opening of the sermon, Dwight explained: If we find that the ancient Heathen nations, generally, or in most instances, independently of any acquaintance with scriptures, have holden the doctrine of a Triad constituting a Monad, that is, a Supreme God, who was One in one sense, and Three in another; we cannot easily avoid the conclusion, that they derived this doctrine from a single source, and that source was Revelation. … The source of the doctrine must, therefore, have been one: and that a Revelation, existing before these nations separated from each other [all italics 46 Dwight]. Dwight cited a variety of instances where the doctrine of the trinity could be located in ancient Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim thought. However, concerning the “American 45

Thur., [Mar.] 1832, Butrick’s Journal. Socinianism was a sixteenth-century Christian heresy that denied the doctrines of the trinity, original sin, and divinity of Christ. 46

Dwight, Theology Explained and Defended, 2:382.

158 nations” Dwight only located three references to a Triune God. The first was Iroquoian and the other two traditions originated with Indian tribes in South America.

Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” was an intentional defense of the doctrine of the trinity and contributed to the theological conversation he accessed in theology texts, such as Timothy Dwight’s Theology. The opening paragraph of Butrick’s investigation on Cherokee folkways reads: There always existed three Beings above, who are always in one mind, and united in all their works. The names of these are 1. Uha:lv:te:go. 2. A:tv:nv:ti. 3. U:sqo:hu:la. These created all things, are present with all their works, and knew all things. These always direct when and how everyone is to die, and to these all prayers ought to be directed. … Those three Beings above employed 48 seven days in the work of creation. Of the traditions Butrick collected from his informant Thomas Nu:tsa:wi, the most popular with historians was his rendering of the Trinitarian formula through Cherokee eyes. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers cite an 1829 Cherokee Phoenix article wherein it states “that the Cherokees have only two names for God: U:e:nv:hi, which signifies the “Creator,” and Ga:lv:la:ti:chi, which means, ‘he who dwells above’.”

Various conceptions of God through Cherokee eyes exist in other works on Cherokee antiquities, such as Cephus Washburn’s (1793–1860) Reminiscences of the 47

Dwight, Theology Explained and Defended, 2:393.

“Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:205.

Cherokee Phoenix 2, no. 7, quoted in Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:339n4.

159 50

Indians.

Butrick was aware of these variations of the Trinitarian formula; he recorded the

antiquity of an informant named Kotiski (ca. d.1835?) who attributed the creation of the world to two supreme beings, the Father and the Son.51 As Butrick wrote “Indian Antiquities,” he clearly intended to champion Indian folkways reflecting the theological distinctions of his own Christian faith. He was interested in distinguishing folkways that originated in human culture from those borne of a direct “Revelation [of God, and] existing before these nations separated from each other.”

One of the several sources Butrick quoted in his antiquities project was the third volume of Thomas Hartwell Horne’s (1780–1862) Introduction to the Study of the Bible (1827). He used this volume on Old Testament archeology in conjunction with Jahn’s Biblical Archeology and Humphrey Prideaux’s (1648–1724) Old and New Testaments, 53

Connected with the History of the Jews and Neighboring Nations (1799).

Butrick utilized

these texts to compare Cherokee antiquities to what was available concerning the folkways of ancient Israel. 50

Cephas Washburn and J. W. Moore, Reminiscences of the Indians (Richmond: Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1869). 51

Geo[rge] E. Foster, Story of the Cherokee Bible: An Address, With Additional and Explanatory Notes, Delivered Before the Meeting of the Ladies’ Missionary Society of the First Congregational Church, Ithaca, N. Y., Feb. 5, 1897 (Ithaca, NY: Democrat Press, 1899), 58. 52 53

Dwight, Theology Explained and Defended, 2:382.

The Old and New Testament Connected, In the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations ... By Humphrey Prideaux (Edinburgh: printed by D. Schaw & Co, 1799).

160 In particular, the chapter of Horne’s Introduction entitled “On the Idolatry of the Jews” was significant given the Cherokee practice of conjuring which Butrick had crusaded against during the years prior to the removal crisis.

In 1834, during his research

for “Indian Antiquities,” Butrick journaled: On looking over the pictures of heathen gods, my eyes revolted at the sight, and I felt an almost unconquerable desire to throw them into the flames; but as they were sent from Boston, and as I have myself expressed a desire to have pictures in order to gain the attention of the Cherokees to some important subjects, and enable them the more readily to understand, and as these pictures of heathen gods have been made, and circulated from a desire to excite an abhorrence of them and compassion for their miserable worshippers, I felt a 55 reluctance to manifest an entire disapprobation of them. A thorough study on the topic of idolatry (several pages long) follows Butrick’s written condemnation of the “pictures of heathen gods” received by request from ABCFM headquarters in Boston. Thomas Horne wrote this concerning the idolatry of the ancient Israelites destined to become the lost ten tribes: “Notwithstanding all the remonstrances against [idolatry] by the prophets whom God sent to reclaim them from time to time, and who stood as a barrier against this growing wickedness, … at length [idolatry] brought a flood of calamities upon that kingdom, and was the source of all the evils with which that people were afterwards afflicted.”

In this brief remark on the grievous sin committed by the ten tribes of

Israelites, Horne referenced the duty of the Old Testament prophets who prayerfully 54

Horne, Introduction, 3:360–391.

Sat., Dec. 14, 1834, Butrick’s Journal.

Horne, Introduction, 3:337.

161 interceded on Israel’s behalf before the God they had forsaken. The relevance of their ministry for Israel was not lost on Butrick. If Butrick’s use of the Indian-Hebrew theory contained a practical purpose— turning this theology into praxis—it was reflected in his personal sense of failure as a missionary to the Indians. He interpreted the Cherokee removal crisis as a theological event, likened to the story of the ancient Israelites torn from their land and held in captivity by the Assyrians. Butrick and his fellows were God’s spokespersons who might offer a hope of salvation for the Cherokee amidst the hopelessness. Butrick journaled: I would ask the forgiveness of the dear church of God, and especially of our … [financial supporters of the ABCFM] in gathering the heathen into his fold, and long to have all of his powers engaged in his service, yet the truth is, we have no powers. We are all weakness and insufficiency: and if Omnipotence could meet with difficulty, it seems as if it would be much more difficult for our blessed Lord to take care of us, so as to enable us to do anything for Him, than it would to convert all the poor heathen without us, O’ what grace in the 57 salvation of a lost and ruined world. Butrick’s work on “Indian Antiquities” was an intercessory action on behalf of his brethren who had failed to champion the spiritual concerns of their mission. More so, it was a desperate act, by an admittedly powerless missionary, to deliver the Cherokee from the trouble wrought upon them by the Americans. His brethren failed in their prophetic duty to instruct the Cherokee concerning “both the richness and knowledge of God!” 57

Thur., Dec. 12, 1833, Butrick’s Journal. The Harvard Houghton Library does not hold Butrick’s personal journals written between Jan. 1834 and May 1838. He may have either destroyed or retained these journals during the late 1840s when he sent a bulk of writings, likely including his personal journals, to the ABCFM. Therefore, I have used his study on idolatry written in Jan. 1834 as clarification of his thoughts concerning the study on the topic in Horne, Introduction. 58

Ibid.

162 In spite of the righteousness of what Butrick hoped to achieve for the Cherokee, he nonetheless faced numerous problems as he attempted to elicit information from the Indians. A letter to John Howard Payne details the difficulties Butrick faced as he tried to elicit folkways from the antiquarians. A look at four of these problems brings to light the complexity of his relationships with the Cherokee. Butrick stressed “the difficulty of eliciting from Indians any correct information respecting their ancient religious customs and traditions.

This difficulty arises partly, at least, from the following circumstances. First Criticism of the Cherokee Antiquarians: Butrick Failed to Appreciate their Sarcasm Many of Butrick’s inquiries into Cherokee antiquities did not produce

anything he thought was valuable. Butrick failed to realize that the Cherokee possessed a different conception of history. He assumed that he could access a historical record preserved in a collective memory of their antiquarians. He said, “The mass of the people are entirely ignorant of them … few can be found (who are) instructed in the learning of the ancients.”

Details about the ancient Cherokee folkways just did not exist. Cherokee storytellers were keepers of an oral tradition that preserved historical stories according to their immediate relevance. The primary concern of a storyteller was that their myths or legends provide insight into the function of human society and the 59

Mount Zion [OK], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:10; Maureen Konkle, Writing Indian Nations: Native Intellectuals and the Politics of Historiography, 1827–1863 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 90. 60

Ibid. “Knowing that our brethren and sisters were ignorant … I endeavored to give them a true history of the church of God, as exhibited in the Bible.” Butrick to Greene, Nov. 13 1843, ABCFM.

163 natural world. Butrick’s informants possessed a circular perspective of history. Therefore, their renderings of the ancient past lacked the perspective he sought to uncover.

One way that storytellers established relevance was through humor. Butrick’s scrutiny of a rendering of Noah’s flood suggests that he (and Dr. Elizur Butler who was present at the telling of the story) missed the playful subtleties of the Cherokee storytelling style. His telling of the incident for Payne preserved the subtle tone of sarcastic humor: “On a certain occasion when all the people were assembled at an all night dance, a dog commenced howling in a most astonishing manner; and when his master commanded silence, the dog spoke and told him the cause of his distress, vis, that the world was to be drowned.”

Western Carolina University Professor Carrie Anne McLachlan sought to “excavate Cherokee beliefs about dogs that were commonly held by the Cherokee” in her journal article, “Gi(h)li, The Dog in Cherokee Thought” (2002).

McLachlan demonstrated

a wide range of uses and symbolic meanings of dog characters in stories such as the Cherokee version of Noah’s flood. She argued that the Cherokee believed dogs were mediators between the spiritual and physical realms of human existence. In agreement with MacLachlan, the talking dog of the Cherokee flood narrative was certainly archetypal. Even 61

“Irrelevant history is useless to an audience; thus only those elements that addressed the creation of social systems. … and involved the navigation of interpersonal relationships are current in oral traditions.” Perspectives on the Southeast: Linguistics, Archeology, and Ethnohistory, ed. Patricia B. Kwachka (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996), 108. 62

Mount Zion [OK], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:10.

Carrie Anne McLachlan, “Gi(h)li, The Dog in Cherokee Thought,” Journal of Cherokee Studies 23(2002):4–18.

164 so, the Cherokee shared it in the presence of missionaries who they knew would miss the point. The Cherokee shared the story to have some fun at the missionaries’ expense. Both Butrick and Butler failed to appreciate the intended humor of the talking dog. Even though his journal contained evidence that he possessed a dry and witty sense of humor, the comedic nuances interwoven in Cherokee folk traditions appeared to be lost in Butrick’s translation. The folklorists Jack and Anna Kilpatrick argued that, “the crowning glory of Cherokee wit is a scintillating satire couched in dry understatement.”

Butrick’s response was rigidly matter of fact as he argued that researchers could respond in one of two ways. They could dismiss the storyteller as ignorant, or else believe the story and inquire further about the talking dog, only to experience the sarcastic laughter of a room full of Indians. Nevertheless, Butrick recorded a flood story involving a talking dog from Nu:tsa:wi of Pinelog as if it were a straightforward tradition. He also 64

Jack Kilpatrick (1915–1967); Anna Kilpatrick (b. 1917). Jack Frederick Kilpatrick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick. Friends of Thunder, Folktales of the Oklahoma Cherokees (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1964), 123. “As always with Cherokee stories, humor plays an important role in keeping us all in balance.” Barbara R. Duncan and Davey Arch, Living Stories of the Cherokee (Chapel Hill, North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press, 1998), 79. For Butrick’s humorous comment concerning the destruction of a mad dog (“And this put an end to the dog’s wild and furious career”), see May 13, 1820, Butrick’s Journal. While Butrick may have missed the subtle nuances of Cherokee humor, Cherokee Hebraic origins promoter James Adair understood the jokes. “It is obvious that he (Adair) was gifted in quickly abstracting the essentials from a social situation. … But quite beyond his ability to survive, he was most impressive in grasping social nuances, including the Indians’ subtle and sarcastic humor.” Charles Hudson, “James Adair as Anthropologist,” Ethnohistory 24, no. 4 (1977): 317.

165 received a shamanistic tradition from Thomas Nu:tsa:wi that warned, “should a dog in a 65

wonderful manner talk like a person, it would be a sign of some very awful catastrophe.”

A commonly quoted defense for Butrick’s work on “Indian Antiquities” was made by the historian William G. McLoughlin: It must be said for Daniel Butrick that he dutifully recorded some of the ancient myths of the Cherokees in the years 1835 to 1837 even when they had no resemblance to anything in the Bible. However, he did not consider them the most ancient myths but rather the most recent departures from the orthodox religion of the Cherokees. He did not believe these variants would long survive the advent of Gospel truth, and yet he should have seen the 66 reasons for their continued hold upon the Cherokees. Butrick’s informants respected the literalness of his personality enough to accommodate him with a bulk of narratives that he considered valuable and interpreted as relevant. Second Criticism of the Cherokee Antiquarians: Knowledge Was Their Sacred Deposit The next cultural barrier that hindered Butrick’s search for source material was similar to his first. Cherokee antiquarians “have received this knowledge as sacred deposit, and would rather die than betray their [ancestors’] trust.” believed this “sacred knowledge” was unobtainable.

Therefore, Butrick

His frustration was similar to that of

other white researchers who struggled to uncover secret Indian lore. In the mid-1930s the 65

“Indian Antiquities,” Dec. 29, 1840, and Apr. 5, 1837, Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:209–10, 2:11, 88, 104. “Indian Antiquities,” vols. 1, 3, 4, and 9 of Payne Papers. 66

McLoughlin and Conser, Cherokees and Christianity, 147.

Mount Zion [OK], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:10.

Ibid.

166 anthropologist Ruth Landes (1908–1991) identified a world of sacred knowledge she could not access during her investigation into the peyote cult of the Kansas Prairie Potawatomi.

Landes filtered through the misleading information she obtained as she searched for the “sacred knowledge” of the peyote cult members. As a short-term visitor on the reservation, she also struggled against the hostility of tribal members who did not welcome her efforts to capitalize on their traditions. Even though Landes affirmed that she had gathered valuable insights into the religious culture of the Prairie Potawatomi, the difficulties she had in bridging their cultural gap brought her considerable stress.

Like Landes, Butrick sought to uncover information that he believed existed, in a fractured form, within the memories of the antiquarians. He sorted through misleading information and struggled against Cherokee who did not welcome his inquiries. The informants who contributed to “Indian Antiquities” did so because in 1836 Chief Ross endorsed his work as a form of advocacy on their behalf. The Chief wrote: Mr. Butrick found some inconvenience in obtaining from the aged Cherokees the tradition of their ancestors, who seemed to suppose that his object was merely to gratify the curiosity of the whites—owing to this Mr. Butrick asked me for letters of introduction to such persons as were familiar with the tradition, original customs and manners of their nation— [torn page, words missing] this assurance to them that he would not publish [any]thing on the 69

Sally Cooper Cole, Ruth Landes: A Life in Anthropology (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003), 13–35; Ruth Landes, Prairie Potawatomi: Tradition and Ritual in the Twentieth Century (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1970). 70

Cole, Ruth Landes: A Life, 13–35.

167 subject, until after his sketches were laid before Mr. Lowry and myself and 71 approved of. Butrick had told Chief Ross that he would “make no use of it [Cherokee antiquities] which 72

they should not approve.”

Then he communicated this agreement to his informants.

The informants worked with Butrick because Chief Ross had endorsed him and they knew he had made a life-long commitment to the Cherokee nation. Butrick admitted that he had made the proposition to Chief Ross “because it seemed necessary to remove all suspicion, and enable me to elicit an unreserved disclosure of their antiquities.”

Both Butrick and Landes endeavored to record Indian culture for posterity. The marked difference in Butrick’s efforts was that he was intent on challenging the “old and cruel theory that the Indians are to be destroyed” by upholding a better perspective that the Cherokee “are a dear people, and very evidently a part of the lost ten tribes.”

Third Criticism of the Cherokee Antiquarians: As an Introduction to Thomas Nu:tsa:wi A third difficulty of Butrick’s was that the lore he sought to uncover was an inheritance designated for “the sons designed for and trained up for sacred officers.” 71

John Ross to John Howard Payne, Mar. 5, 1836, in vol. 1 of The Papers of Chief John Ross, 1807–1839, ed. Gary E. Moulton (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985), 390–92. 72

Butrick to Greene, Sept. 26, 1835, ABCFM.

Ibid.

Ibid., Dec. 31, 1835, ABCFM.

Mount Zion [OK], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:10.

168 Butrick found that such information was only accessible through the faithful individuals in the tribe who were “convinced of the superior efficacy of the Christian religion.”

The historian William G. McLoughlin demonstrated that a sharp divide existed between Cherokee Christians and traditionalists in the wake of the Trail of Tears.

Fortunately for Butrick, his informant Thomas Nu:tsa:wi was a newly professed Christian as well as a former “Right-hand Man” to the “High Priest” of Turnip Mine Town. Nu:tsa:wi shared privileged information with Butrick because he viewed his newfound Christianity as 78

being superior to his previous life as an “shaman Indian doctor.”

There is not a clear-cut line between when Nu:tsa:wi’s life began as a Christian and ended as an Indian doctor. Much of his shamanistic lore preserved in “Indian Antiquities” was strikingly similar to the medico-magical beliefs and practices recorded by the folklorists Jack Fredrick Kilpatrick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick a century later. In Notebook of a Cherokee Shaman the Kilpatricks shared the biography of a Cherokee conjurer and licensed Baptist minister named Ade:lagh (a) dhí:ya Ga:n(i)sgawi, who lived a few miles east of Gore in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. In regards to his shamanistic power, “The texts under consideration here from the Cherokee viewpoint are 76

Butrick to Greene, Dec. 31, 1835, ABCFM.

McLoughlin and Conser, Cherokees and Christianity, 189.

For the cultural polarization between Cherokee traditionalists and Christians in the early 1800s, see William G. McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 1789–1838 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), 180–212. Butrick originally crossed out “shaman” and inserted “Indian doctor” in his narrative about Nu:tsa:wi, see Mount Zion [AR], Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:13.

169 ‘dead,’ of no effect. Their power passed with their owner.”

Shamanism was a powerful

force as part of the life of its owner; but at some point Thomas Nu:tsa:wi’s magic lost its appeal. He said, “Old men, who still believe in their old ways, will not make them known, as it will, they say, shorten their lives.”

Despite this warning, Nu:tsa:wi spoke openly with Butrick about his old ways. Concerning Cherokee magical practices the Kilpatricks wrote, “The majority of (modern) Cherokee profess Christianity, and the attitude of that majority is essentially inimical toward the ancient tribal magic, although it is not antagonistic toward the old medicine. The dividing line between the two areas is, of course, largely determined by individual interpretation.”

Nu:tsa:wi continued the practice of Cherokee medicine. The traditions he shared were part of the story of who he had been as he grew up in Turnip Mine Town. Even though he spoke of the training up of a shaman in a general manner, in order to accommodate Butrick’s request for facts, the information certainly appears biographical. Nu:tsa:wi explained how his uncle, a Cherokee shaman, prepared him at birth for the role of shaman in the clan. Because uncles acted in the role of fathers in traditional 79

Jack Fredrick Kilpatrick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick, Notebook of a Cherokee Shaman (Washington DC: Smithsonian Institute Press, 1970), 83–85. 80

The editors of Payne-Butrick Papers note that the Baptist missionary Evan Jones wrote that the Indian doctors withheld their services from Christian Cherokee converts. “Indian Antiquities,” and notes to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:234; 2:454n11. 81

Jack Fredrick Kilpatrick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick, Run Toward the Nightland: Magic of the Oklahoma Cherokee (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1967), 5.

170 Cherokee culture, Nu:tsa:wi inherited the right eventually to take the place of his uncle. Before Nu:tsa:wi’s mother could nurse him, his uncle put him on a special diet.

As a child, everything Nu:tsa:wi did was scrutinized. Within a month of being born, a woman past the age of menstruation adopted him. The elderly woman did not allow him to participate in the social functions entertained by other boys. His life was completely set apart. He learned the various dietary restrictions and ceremonial cleansings of his future role. When he became of age, Nu:tsa:wi’s uncle spent whole days and nights with him in extended fasts. During these times Nu:tsa:wi learned how to use divining stones.

His rite of passage into the role of an assistant to his uncle occurred around age eight or nine, the age at which Nu:tsa:wi described the circumstances by which other children were set apart as a prophet and healer. Long walks at night, avoidance of women, special diets, and days of fasting prepared Nu:tsa:wi to look into the stones and receive his visions. His uncle often inquired of these divining stones about the length of Nu:tsa:wi’s life and about his health and prosperity. Given the outcome of these divinations, Nu:tsa:wi was required to cleanse himself accordingly.

He plunged himself into the river as he sang to the four winds. After these ceremonies, Uncle would prepare ceremonial meals of deer tongue and mush. The way that the meal cooked in the fire would also indicate Nu:tsa:wi’s longevity. Then arrived the years when Nu:tsa:wi’s uncle allowed him to talk to women and eat whatever he wanted as long as 82

“Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:230.

Ibid., 1:231.

Ibid., 1:231–32.

171 it was ceremonially clean. Nu:tsa:wi was officiated as an assistant to his uncle. Now the Cherokee knew he had power to kill witches.

From Butrick’s perspective, more important than the ability to kill witches was Nu:tsa:wi’s power to find lost things. Perhaps, the memory of this old skill was what led him to embrace Butrick’s research. The missionary had noted: Note: When things were lost, on application being made to a priest, he set his [divining stone] in the sun, where the morning rays came fairly on it, and prayed for instruction. Then on looking at the stone, it is said, he could see clearly the thief and the thing stolen; or case of a thing lost, he could see the 86 article and tell where it was. Between 1835 and 1839, when Butrick held his interviews with Nu:tsa:wi, so much of the world they had enjoyed together was quickly becoming lost. For all of the frustration involved in Butrick’s choices concerning his manuscript during the later stages of the project, Butrick got it right when he turned to Nu:tsa:wi to help him find what was missing. In good faith the old Cherokee healer gave away his inheritance for this cause. 85

“Witches were living persons assisted by some evil person.” “Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:232, 240. The Anthropologist Raymond D. Fogelson (b. 1933) explained that witches were Indian conjurers who were capable of metamorphoses and would stalk and murder their victims at night. “They kill out of inherent wickedness and make a habit of attacking people who are already in an infirmed condition.” Raymond Fogelson, “The Conjurer in Eastern Cherokee Society,” Journal of Cherokee Studies 5 (Fall 1980):63. 86

“Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:252n.

172 Fourth Criticism of the Cherokee Antiquarians: Butrick’s Problem with Indian Storytellers And their Problem with Him “Fourth,” Daniel Butrick complained to John Howard Payne, “the Indians are unbounded in their desire to please their fellows, and their own people generally. They study, and practice among themselves the rules of native politeness … therefore you can not by any means persuade an Indian, not influenced by the Christian religion, to say anything unpopular.”

Butrick carped at the Cherokee desire to maintain a good reputation amongst

their peers. One wonders if his frustration over the standards of Cherokee conformity had more to do with his own misgivings. Butrick was a contrarian by nature. At every stage of his career, one finds evidence of a struggle with someone, somewhere—heathens, Georgians, Americans, infidels, colleagues, ABCFM policy makers, ethnocentric Northerners, et cetera. Graduate student Michael J. Murray rightly identified Butrick as an “iconoclast of sorts.”

Butrick had a knack for taking unpopular stances that perpetuated a spirit of discord among his fellow missionaries. For example, early in his ministry he challenged the racial and social expectations of his brethren by insisting that he live life with the Cherokee according to their standards of hospitality. From an American standpoint, Butrick had forsaken the social standards of his culture and adopted a Cherokee-centered point of view. As such, the Cherokee welcomed him into their lives; but the noblest of perspectives could not change who he was—a white man, and an outsider. 87

Mount Zion [OK], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:10.

Michael J. Murray, “The Private Journal of Daniel S. Butrick: A New Interpretation of American Missionaries and Cherokee Removal” (MA Thesis, University of New Hampshire, 1996), vi–vii.

173 He had turned his back on American ethnocentrism to face “the Indians [who] are unbounded in their desire to please their fellows.”

Butrick was not against social

relationships or a personal desire for popularity, per se. He objected to the sinful tendency to long for the acceptance of one’s peers rather than the approval of God. Based upon his own experience with American society, he believed that people came together in an effort to block divine revelation from entering the world. University of Missouri Professor Maureen Konkle interpreted Butrick’s problem gathering information from the antiquarians as “what amounts to be a comprehensive critique of how whites try and fail to find out what Indians know because they refuse to recognize the humanity or intelligence of Native peoples.”

However,

Butrick’s critique was by no means a comprehensive statement about racial relations. He bemoaned his struggle as a devout Christian, rather than his limitations as an anthropological researcher. As demonstrated in chapter 1, he clearly recognized the humanity and intelligence of the Cherokee. Butrick’s problems gathering Cherokee antiquities had everything to do with who he was as a missionary. A fresh interpretation of his December 1840 letter to Payne emerges when it is read in the context of his spiritual concerns for the Cherokee.

His letter

Mount Zion [OK], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:10.

Konkle, Writing Indian Nations, 90–92. For an identical version of Butrick’s list of criticisms about the problems he faced as a researcher, see Daniel S. Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 3 of ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM) 91

Mount Zion [OK], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:10.

174 was a carefully written complaint about the Cherokee antiquarians’ refusal to accept divine revelation—though he did not characterize it as such. His introduction to “Jews and Indians” contained the same complaints about the antiquarians.

As part of a defense for Cherokee Hebraic origins Butrick wrote, “The Cherokees … had a distinct order of men whose official duty it was to preserve all the sacred traditions, laws, instructions, civil and religious ordinances vis. as a sacred deposit, and hand them down to their successors in office, uncorrupted and unchanged.”

But these ancient

antiquarians did not fulfill their duty; instead they gave in to social pressure and passed down embellished and humorous versions of their history. Butrick believed that the nineteenth-century folkways he accessed through his informants had undergone several centuries worth of decay at tribal councils: Some evenings were devoted to correct historical narration; some to telling and expounding riddles, and others to storytelling, when each speaker endeavored to excel in exciting wonder, surprise or laughter, aiming, however, to impress some moral lesson on the minds of children and youth. Thus originated, evidently most of the fictions and ludicrous stories about the 92

Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM.

Butrick believed that a tradition concerning a former priestly order known as the Ani:Kutàni was historically accurate. The ancient Cherokee overthrew this ruling priesthood because they were morally corrupt and abused their authority. Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 8; Carmel [GA], Dec. 15, 1835, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:16–17, 454:17n. Raymond Fogelson explained the archetypal significance of the Ani:Kutàni as such: “These accounts all appear to be efforts to encompass and make intelligible seemingly impersonal, inevitable, and insidious processes of change through the invocation of a real or fanciful, dramatic, epitomizing event.” Fogelson argued that the lesson of the Ani:Kutàni was that the Cherokee determined their own destiny. Given the reality of plagues, threat of Indian marauders, and corrupt leaders who ceded ancestral homelands to whites—“[as] the ‘real people’ in the world, their past and their destiny is selfdetermined.” Raymond Fogelson, “Who Were the Ani:Kutàni? An Excursion into Cherokee Historical thought,” Ethnohistory 4 no. 4 (1984): 263.

175 creation, good and evil, spirits, witches vis. And though these at the time of mention were known to be fictitious, … in subsequent generations, came to be regarded with more or less credulity by the common people who were not 94 informed of the most sacred traditions and customs of their fathers. Butrick criticized the Cherokee social dynamics that brought about the antiquarians’ willful disobedience to God’s command. He did not direct his frustration at the informants; rather his complaint was with the antiquarians. In 1832 he journaled, “The Indians for ages have been wasting away” because of “their sins against God, directly or indirectly,” and believed that the only cure for which was national repentance.

Butrick rooted his feet in the gospel message. His uncompromising desire for truth was comparable to the reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) who stood firm in the face of social pressure and defiantly proclaimed, “Here I stand—it is impossible for me to act otherwise.”

As a proclaimer of divine revelation, Butrick’s words cut like a two-edged

sword; and he was not afraid to quote scripture to anyone who stood in the way of Cherokee restoration. Butrick’s tendency to speak against what he perceived as untruth produced a variety of unintended consequences. Among his most frustrating was his trouble receiving antiquities from Cherokee traditionalists. 94

Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 7.

Thur., Dec. 1832, Butrick’s Journal.

“List of books belonging to the Cherokee Mission Library,” 1822, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 2 of ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as Brainerd Journal), 164; Alexander Bower, The Life of Luther, With an Account of the Early Progress of the Reformation (London: P. Baldwin, 1813), 166.

176 Butrick stood before the Cherokee attempting to elicit historical information that he thought would help their cause. This same man had previously stood before them proclaiming the divine revelation of Christ. The historian Steven J. Keillor wrote, “As divine revelation (Christianity) provoked human rebellion.”

In Keillor’s book, This Rebellious

House (1996), he described how European Americans rebelled against the message of the Bible. They did this by structuring society according to self-interested economic and social philosophies that denied the self-emptying teachings of Jesus.

Butrick’s gospel message made the Cherokee more resistant to his inquiries about their antiquities. McLoughlin observed, “Christianity is a religion of hope, of miracles, of divine support for the weak and oppressed. When a tribe had reached the point of despair, 99

Christianity provided a way out.” However, Butrick clearly preached a message proclaiming judgment upon Cherokee folkways. Even as he advocated on their behalf his inquiries met resistance by the Indian not influenced by the Christian religion. Being a man who continually struggled with the reality of his own rebellion against the gospel message, and having witnessed the defiant attitudes of his compatriots and brethren to divine revelation, Butrick realized that if undertaken according to his own plans, nothing good would come of his attempt to prove the Hebraic origin of the Cherokee. In the 1840s, he prayed for God’s restoration of the project as he continued to collect the antiquities 97

Steven J. Keillor, This Rebellious House: American History and the Truth of Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 37. 98

Ibid., 15–37.

McLoughlin and Conser, Cherokees and Christianity, 17.

177 and attend to the needs of his congregation. From his limited perspective, he had no idea that his work would become part of a broader Cherokee interpretation of their history. In 1896 the eloh’ was first published in the Indian Chieftain newspaper. In 1981, the anonymous article was edited and translated into a small booklet entitled, A 100

Cherokee Vision of Eloh’.

The author claimed to have accomplished what Butrick’s

“Indian Antiquities” did not. The anonymous writer presented a vision of the Cherokee past, present, and future that Butrick, even if he had been able to obtain the book, likely would not have appreciated. The work was mystical, and originally written in the Sequoyan Syllabary. Even though its particular images were open to reader interpretation, the story contained a narrative arc in which there was a point. The anonymous author shared the following vision: Cherokee history was the story of great floods and long migrations. Long ago the Cherokee struggle against nature led them to a place of spiritual transcendence through their folkways, while wars with neighboring tribes resulted in their triumph as warriors. Throughout antiquity, nothing could overcome the magic and power of who they were becoming as a people—until their world came face to face with Christianity.

101

The Cherokee Christian Perspective Of Thomas Nu:tsa:wi Thomas Nu:tsa:wi was a full-blooded Cherokee. He received the name Thomas at his baptism on Sunday, December 26, 1825. During the summer of 1838, Butrick 100

eloh’ (Vinita, Indian Territory: Indian Chieftain Publishers, 1896); Cherokee Vision of Eloh’, eds. Howard L. Meredith and Virginia E. Milan (Muskogee, OK: Indian University Press, 1981). 101

Ibid.

178 wrote a short segment about his friend Thomas. This narrative on the life and death of his friend stands out amidst several weeks full of sorrow for Butrick as he frequented the nearby stockades full of detained Cherokee, prior to their removal.

102

Butrick bemoaned the mistreatment of the Creeks (Muskogee) who sought refuge with the Cherokee after their own Trail of Tears. There were reports of gambling, drinking, fighting, murder, and sexual assaults by the Georgia Guard. Amidst this trouble, Thomas Nu:tsa:wi died. Butrick wrote, “Found poor Br. Nu:tsa:wi in the barn. His sister had swept the floor, and fixed a place for him there on account of the warmth of the place. A little before night I went to the house and saw Nu:tsa:wi lying on the ground, back of the saddle house. I went to him and found him extremely sick.”

103

Butrick assisted the old man as his sister mashed some special medicinal roots and herbs. Thomas Nu:tsa:wi and his sister spent the afternoon under the shade of a tree until he took a turn for the worse. Eventually Butrick helped him to his feet. Taking him by the arm, he led Nu:tsa:wi to the “piazza,” possibly a terraced porch of the house, where he died in the missionary’s care shortly thereafter. Butrick wrote, “I leaned Nu:tsa:wi’s chair back against me, supporting his head, but at once he was gone, as if having fallen into a gentle 102

Thomas E. Mails, The Cherokee People: The Story of the Cherokees from Earliest Origins to Contemporary Times (Tulsa, OK: Council Oak Books, 1992). The historian Thomas Mails wrote a beautifully illustrated monograph that artfully edited the material involving Cherokee folkways in the John Howard Payne Papers. He included Butrick’s one hundred and twenty-word description of Nu:tsa:wi’s life as a Christian and utilized a majority of antiquities given by the informants on behalf of Butrick’s promotion of the lost Isrealites. Dec. 26, 1825, Butrick’s Journal; Aug. 1838, Butrick’s Journal. 103

Tues., Aug. 14, 1838, Butrick’s Journal.

179 sleep, without the least apparent pain; as soon as his body was laid down, and I could be relieved from supporting him, I retired and gave vent to a fountain of tears.”

104

The next day Butrick wrestled with the grief of death. He was particularly aware of his friend’s absence during household worship, commonly known by members of his denomination as the “Family Altar.” Nu:tsa:wi’s empty seat desolated the missionary, leading him to lament the irrevocable change produced by the unexpected passing.

105

Nu:tsa:wi lived under the threat of Cherokee removal for over a decade. It was during these years that he became a Christian. His stories spoke of his faith: The Cherokees who worship the sun, moon have very wild ideas respecting the soul after death. Some pretend that the souls on leaving the bodies … become less and less, less and less every year, till at length they vanish in air and cease to exist. Others say that souls, after death, inhabit, or appear in any bodies they please as, of a crow, an owl, a snake, or even of a child, and linger about the places where they died, as long as the respective bodies lived there … and then [they] departed to the western region to be forever miserable, or as some say, cease to exist. But those who deny the worship of the sun, and adore only the Three Beings above, say that the priests who pray only to them i.e. to God above … 104

Tues., Aug. 14, 1838, Butrick’s Journal; and Dec. 28, 1840, Payne-Butrick

Papers, 2:12–14. 105

“A number of ministers and private Christians, in family prayer, make use of the words family altar; and speak of surrounding the family altar. I am sensible, it will be said, that these expressions are used in a figurative sense [italics author].” The Christian Spectator (New Haven: CT, 1819), 568. The Rev. Oliver Heywood (1630–1702) published an octavo promoting the practice of a family worship time. For his seminal treatment of the subject, see Oliver Heywood, A Family Altar erected to the Honour of the Eternal God, or a Solemn Essay to promote the Worship of God in Private Houses. Dated Feb. 2. 1692–3 (London, 1693). For a reprinting of this work during Butrick’s era, see Richard Slate and William Vint, vol. 4 of The Whole Works of the Rev. Oliver Heywood, B. A., Now First Collected, Revised, and Arranged, Including Some Tracts Extremely Scarce and Others from Unpublished Manuscripts ; With a Memoir of His Life (Idle: Printed by John Vint, 1824), 285–402; Tues., Aug. 14, 1838, Butrick’s Journal.

180 when they die will go above to God, where it will be always light and 106 pleasant. The idea that the soul embarked upon a journey after death was the common theme found in his antiquities about the traditional Cherokee views concerning the afterlife.

107

His faith distinguished him from fellow Cherokee whose journeys led them through the night land, as lost souls. Nu:tsa:wi, on the other hand, was on the way to a country “where it will be always light and pleasant” because he “adored only the Three Beings above.”

108

Nu:tsa:wi’s faith impressed Butrick: “When I commenced my researches after Indian Antiquities, I found him among the most instructive and interesting of antiquarians in the nation; and his character for veracity removed all doubt as to the reality and truth of his communications. The year past he has been a member of our family.”

109

106

“Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:239–40.

107

On traditional views concerning death, the anthropologist John Gerald Witthoft (1921–1993) received the following beliefs from his Cherokee informant Will West Long (1870–1947): “Will explained a multiple-soul concept involving four souls and four stages in death. The soul of conscious life left the body immediately at death and continued its personal life, sometimes remaining nearby for a time, often seen as a ghost, harmless and powerless … when the animating soul of conscious life leaves the body at the moment of death, stopping all life processes, the other souls begin to die.” These three souls are the liver, heart and bones. Once they have completely decomposed, the “animating soul” of the person departs for the spirit world, see John Witthoft, “Cherokee Beliefs Concerning Death,” Journal of Cherokee Studies 8 (Fall 1983):68; notes to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:360:36n. 108

Nu:tsa:wi’s reference to the “Three Beings above” is attributed to the teachings he had received concerning the Christian doctrine of the trinity. “Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:240. 109

Ibid.

181 Nu:tsa:wi lived at Turnip Mine Town, roughly twenty miles northeast of the Carmel Mission Station. His grandfather was one of the great Cherokee antiquarians.

110

most of the other full bloods, Thomas Nu:tsa:wi had minimal access to the privileges of the education offered at the ABCFM mission schools. Butrick had emphasized in his endorsement of Nu:tsa:wi to John Howard Payne that he “was once the right hand man of one of the old priests.”

111

This old priest lived and performed his duties alongside Nu:tsa:wi,

until Nu:tsa:wi’s conversion to Christianity. Nu:tsa:wi had married and produced two children. Unfortunately, his wife died during the boyhood of their youngest son. One speculates that Butrick’s reference to the youngest son’s boyhood implied that he had not performed the rites of passage into manhood as the other son had. He never remarried and Butrick thought that this was why his appearance was generally “that of a mourner.”

112

Upon becoming a Christian prior to 1837, he turned into what Butrick viewed as “an uncommonly exemplary Christian.”

113

Upon telling his uncle about his newfound

110

Butrick described the aged antiquarian as Nu:tsa:wi’s grandfather. Butrick might have been confused about the distinction between uncles and grandfathers in Cherokee Culture. This reference to Nu:tsa:wi’s grandfather was, in fact, his uncle. For a detailed look at Cherokee family and clan structure, see John Phillip Reid, A Law of Blood; the Primitive Law of the Cherokee Nation (New York: University Press, 1970). 111

Mount Zion [AR], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:10–14.

112

Ibid., 2:12.

113

Ibid., 2:13.

182 faith, the old shaman relocated to a place called Shooting Creek in the mountains. At that time Nu:tsa:wi moved onto the mission station. Thomas Nu:tsa:wi was devoted to the practices of prayer and fasting. On one occasion, after he self-administered a common medicinal remedy and prayed to Jesus for healing, his lungs stopped bleeding. He chose to do this rather than elicit the help of the traditional Cherokee healers, and as a result “shortly found himself in usual health.”

114

Butrick went on to describe another miraculous event in his life. Because of his advanced age Nu:tsa:wi found it difficult to read the newly published Bible written in the Sequoyan Syllabary. The old man was persistent and within a matter of time learned to decipher the letters of the Cherokee Alphabet. Soon he was reading the gospel book of Matthew in his native tongue and was reflecting upon its stories. Butrick noted the determination and excitement the old man experienced as he undertook the accomplishment. In both of their estimations, it was miraculous. Butrick had petitioned the Georgia Guard to allow Nu:tsa:wi to remain at his family residence until it was time to be expelled from the country. The old man devoted as much energy as he could to being present at the stockades where he could encourage his people. “He seemed cheerful & happy in going from one camp to another, to comfort his friends.”

115

In 1838, this beloved friend and contributor for the “Indian Antiquities” died,

and the life Butrick had enjoyed prior to the Cherokee Trail of Tears was no more. 114

Mount Zion [AR], Dec. 29, 1840, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:14.

115

Ibid., 2:13.

183 Butrick’s writings of speak clearly about the deep love that he had for those Cherokee under his pastoral care. They also demonstrate that his interest in Cherokee antiquities was more than a mere intellectual pursuit or Holy Grail quest. Butrick’s life was intermingled with the lives of such informants as Thomas Nu:tsa:wi, and in many ways, the antiquities project was an expression of love for these people. “The Mountaineers who Guard well the Past”: Cherokee-styled Christianity as an Inheritance of Living Stories This historical analysis of Daniel Butrick’s attempt to prove that the lost ten tribes were the ancestors of the Cherokee has been about much more than just that. It has been the story of Butrick’s journey, and that he found the motif as he lost faith in the activism of his mission board. This analysis has also been about his Cherokee informants and the stories they shared about their Christian faith. Now attention shifts from the subjectivity of a missionary and his Cherokee friends to a fresh perspective concerning the stories Butrick collected from informants such as Thomas Nu:tsa:wi. During the past two centuries, three notable researchers have completed major works on the topic of Cherokee oral tradition. The missionary Daniel Butrick was the first to record the sacred oral traditions of the Cherokee. Then during the late 1880s the ethnologist James Mooney (1861–1921) accomplished his monumental study of the topic. The final notable researcher of Cherokee oral stories is the folklorist Barbara R. Duncan who published her own treatments of the subject. Naturally, the scientific-minded Mooney scrutinized the Christian renderings of Cherokee myths and legends collected by his predecessor. Mooney was in search of authentic Indian stories that lacked obvious Christian influence. Therefore, he dismissed the

184 majority of Butrick’s research as rubbish. A century later Duncan offered a perspective of traditional Cherokee stories that champions the perspective of the Cherokee storytellers rather than the privileged religious or scientific interpretations of her predecessors. Duncan’s perspective that Cherokee stories are in fact “Living Stories” contributes to a better appreciation of Thomas Nu:tsa:wi’s Cherokee Christian perspective. Attention begins with the scientific perspective of James Mooney. Mooney worked as a researcher for the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology. He was a rationalist and an evolutionist who in 1885 embarked in search of “an Indian story.”

116

He traveled to the Eastern Cherokee reservation hoping to discover unspoiled traditional Cherokee myths. In historian Curtis M. Hinsley Jr.’s words, “Indian cultures in their pristine precontact forms were fast disappearing; consequently there was a strong sense of urgency 117

and salvage in [Mooney’s] work.”

Mooney enlisted the help of a Cherokee antiquarian named A’yûñ’ini, “Swimmer” (b. 1835). Mooney claimed that A’yûñ’ini provided “nearly three fourths” of the 118

sacred myths compiled in his work James Mooney’s History (1891).

Mooney described

A’yûñ’ini as a patriotic Cherokee distinguished by his genuine love for his culture and a 116

James Mooney's History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees: Containing the Full Texts of Myths of the Cherokee (1900) and The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891) As Published by the Bureau of American Ethnology: with a New Biographical Introduction, James Mooney and the Eastern Cherokees (Asheville, NC: Historical Images, 1992), 235. 117

Curtis M. Hinsley Jr., Savages and Scientists: The Smithsonian Institution and the Development of American Anthropology, 1846–1910 (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981), 207–08. 118

Mooney, History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas, 236.

185 “storehouse of Indian tradition.”

119

He was also an avid chronicler of songs and sacred

formulas belonging to the priests and dancers of the eastern Cherokee nation. As a storyteller A’yûñ’ini mixed his “happy descriptive style [with] a musical voice for the songs and a particular faculty for imitating the characteristic cry of a bird or beast.”

120

The charm of A’yûñ’ini’s authentic storytelling style impressed Mooney so much that he marveled at the absurdity of Butrick’s perspective half a century earlier. He argued that Butrick was a fool not to realize that the Cherokee stories he received contained an obvious Christian influence. Mooney contrasted his research with the efforts of his predecessor and complained: The Bible story kills the Indian tradition, and there is no amalgamation. It is hardly necessary to say that stories of a great fish which swallows a man and of a great flood which destroys a people are found the world over. The supposed Cherokee hero-god, Wâsi, described by one writer as so remarkably resembling the great Hebrew Lawgiver is in fact the great teacher himself, Wâsi being the Cherokee approximate for Moses, and the good missionary [Daniel Butrick] who first recorded the story which was simply taken by his 121 convert from the Cherokee Testament. In his search for an authentic myth, Mooney refused to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor. He denied the authenticity of a few stories A’yûñ’ini had received; they were amalgamated with narratives from the ancient Judeo-Christian tradition. Mooney reveled in the advantage that his privileged scientific perspective gave him over Butrick’s religious shortsightedness. In spite of his claims to an enlightened 119

Mooney, History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas, 236.

120

Ibid.

121

Ibid.

186 outlook, Mooney’s efforts paralleled those of Butrick. Both attempted to peel back the layers of recent history in an effort to discover their versions of a lost tribe. Butrick enlisted Nu:tsa:wi in the attempt to publish “an impartial history of the Indians.”

122

Mooney equally

hoped to produce “a series of papers, which when brought together, shall constitute a monograph upon the Cherokee Indians.”

123

Fifty years after Butrick, Mooney assumed that

scientific reasoning, rather than religious faith, was the proper tool to use when mining the Cherokee mountain of tradition. He naively romanticized that, “Ancient things have been preserved. Mountaineers guard well the past, and in the secluded forests of Nantahala and Oconaluftee, far away from the well-traveled road of modern progress, the Cherokee priest still treasures the legends and repeats the mystic rituals handed down from his ancestors.”

124

Mooney

portrayed Butrick’s work as lacking any real value, but his own grasp of Indian folklore and mythology was just as limited. Nevertheless, James Mooney’s History (1891) has become a valuable resource text for modern Cherokee storytellers. A century after Mooney, a folklorist Barbara R. Duncan compiled her collection of Cherokee stories. She offered a holistic interpretation of Mooney and Butrick’s research. Mooney was as foolish as Butrick to presume that the Cherokee traditions he collected were completely free of non-Cherokee influence. Duncan disagreed with the interpretations of both authors, arguing that there was no such thing as an ancient myth. 122

Brainerd [TN], Jan. 30, 1838, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:144.

123

Mooney, History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas, 11.

124

Ibid., 12.

187 Stories are only as relevant as the context of a person’s life. Stories found in oral traditions do not maintain the structure and meaning they had centuries earlier. Duncan wrote of the traditional Cherokee Christian stories she collected, “The Cherokee have most likely told stories for the many years that they lived in these mountains. The 11,000-year-old artifacts on the mountain could have been left by the ancestors of the Cherokee, and their stories could have been the ancestors of these stories.”

125

To rephrase

Duncan’s words, modern stories are the adaptations of older ones. Good storytellers through the ages have addressed the social structures and institutions of the world around them. These narratives provided their listeners with instruction about how to survive social realities. Duncan’s research on contemporary Cherokee folklore (1998) recorded the narratives of several Cherokee storytellers. These people were currently sharing their stories in the schools, seminars and festivals of their modern-day Cherokee community. Duncan did not strive to record these stories for the sake of saving them from extinction, as Mooney attempted, or to verify a perspective, as had Butrick. Rather she wanted to “convey to the reader the fundamental oral nature of these tales and their beauty as they are told.”

126

She argued that “every culture, every story, is only one generation away from extinction. Stories die, simply and quietly, when no one thinks they are important enough to take time to tell.”

127

Her description of traditional stories turned attention away from the

scientific or religious obsession to rediscover the narratives of a distant past. She explained 125

Duncan and Arch, Living Stories, 2.

126

Ibid., 2, 3.

127

Ibid., 2.

188 that there was every bit as much memory and truth in A’yûñ’ini’s version of “Origin of Strawberries” as in the updated version of that legend retold at the end of the twentieth128

century by Duncan’s informant, Freeman Owl (b. 1946).

Duncan’s paradigm for assessing traditional stories also brings new appreciation for Nu:tsa:wi’s rendering of the trinity. His conception of the theological doctrine was every bit as historically valid and reflective of his faith as was the late twentieth-century story entitled “Jesus before Columbus Time,” as told by Edna Chekelelee 129

(1930–95).

Thomas Nu:tsa:wi’s Cherokee-styled trinity was as much a living tradition for

him as was A’yûñ’ini’s “The Origin of Strawberries.”

130

128

Mooney, History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas, 259. “Thank goodness Mooney was here and recorded as many stories as he did. We try to expound on those and make them lifelike and realistic.” Duncan and Arch, Living Stories, 195, 228. 129

“Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:1. “And Columbus came and said, ‘what’s that?’ We said, ‘Well, this is what represents what we believe in. What was our hearts. And this is where Jesus died on the cross.’ And each color represents something. Red is purest blood, and that’s east and means success. And white is peace—Jesus has made a way for us where it was rough before. Nowadays it’s so much easier: all we have to do is believe in him in our hearts as we walk ‘close to Thee.’ … And this is yellow, which is sunshine and someday we’re going to see the sunrise and God’s son will be coming. And Columbus says, ‘How did you know that?’ We always knew it; we knew that God was in our hearts, and He always told us what was right and wrong.” Duncan and Arch, Living Stories, 130–31. Cherokee storyteller Edina Chekelee’s legend was about the source of Cherokee Christianity. Her prayer hoop symbolized God’s redemptive plan for the Cherokee. Jesus was responsible for her salvation, not Christopher Columbus. 130

“Suddenly she was in front a patch of large ripe strawberries, the first ever known. She stooped to gather a few to eat, and as she picked them she chanced to turn her face to the west, and at once the memory of her husband came back to her and she found herself unable to go on. She sat down, but the longer she waited the stronger became her desire for her husband, and at last she gathered a bunch of the finest berries and started back along the path to give them to him. He met her kindly and they went home together.” Mooney, History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas, 259. A’yûñ’ini’s telling of “The Origin of

189 Appreciation for the stories preserved by Butrick has arrived with the passage of time. Mooney frowned upon the Cherokee Christian traditions collected by Butrick as not being authentic. Then a century later, Duncan defended a story about Jesus speaking to the Cherokee before Columbus’s arrival in the Americas as a living story. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) shared Duncan’s appreciation for the value of stories told by Cherokee Christians. They argued that Butrick’s writings “give voice to the Cherokee elders born well over two centuries ago and enable them to depict in their own words a world that was both ancient and contemporary, both enduring and changing.”

131

The folklorist Keith Cunningham believed that group cultures adapt the stories and traditions of their neighbors all the time while maintaining their core identity. Communities constantly incorporate new ways of life according to their own unique reinterpretations. He used the Navaho as an example. They call themselves the “people of the cultivated fields,” or more commonly as “The People.” The Navaho had “harvested with the Pueblo, but what they took in way of pueblo culture they made their own.”

132

This rule of

cultural assimilation applies to the stories of the Cherokee. Cherokee character developed amidst the topography of the ancestral homeland: “lofty ridges and deep valleys of the Southern Appalachian highlands, whence Strawberries” encouraged estranged spouses to resolve their conflicts by remembering their commonalities, like enjoyment of the glorious taste of strawberries. 131

Series editors’ introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:vii.

132

Keith Cunningham, American Indians’ Kitchen-Table Stories: Contemporary Conversations with Cherokee, Sioux, Hopi, Osage, Navaho, Zuni, and Members of Other Nations (Little Rock: Aug. House Publishers, 1992), 78.

190 they could send predatory raiders swooping down on the less populated nations to the east, or they could retreat into the natural fortress that protected them from powerful enemies to the north and south.”

133

The historian John Phillip Reid (b. 1930) called them America’s first

Mountaineers and said that the Muskogee (Creek Indians) to their south viewed them with a disdain similar to a white Midwestern American’s lack of respect for hillbillies.

134

Cherokee identity was distinct. The folkways they took from their neighbors on the periphery of their mountain fortress were adapted to suit their specific needs. Everything these mountaineers possessed was their own—even Christianity. It did not detract from who they were as Cherokee—it shaped their stories. As much as the stories of his informants possessed this unique quality of life, Butrick’s story of the ten tribes did as well. 133

John Phillip Reid, A Better Kind of Hatchet: Law, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Cherokee Nation during the Early Years of European Contact (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976), 1. 134

“In a nation of former mountaineers they became the hillbillies, the backwoodsmen in every sense of the word.” Reid, Law of Blood, 14.

CHAPTER 3 “IS IT NOTHING TO YOU, ALL YE WHO PASS BY”: THE PAYNE-BUTRICK COLLABORATION In addition to the literature and the anecdote of the nation, I involuntarily became well acquainted with its politics, because I had transcribed nearly all the necessary documents relative to the negotiations for a treaty. I thought these curious, not only as historical evidence, but as specimens of Indian diplomacy, more complete than any upon record in any age or country. —John Howard Payne to his Countrymen (1835) Whereas the previous two chapters demonstrated how Butrick’s perspective led him into the complex relationships that motivated his research, this chapter focuses upon why the material remained unpublished. Analysis of Payne’s collaboration with Butrick begins with a biography of the editor. At the end of their collaboration, the men produced two separate works reflecting their own interpretations of the research. The chapter closes with an analysis of Payne’s article, “The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites” (1849), and Butrick’s unpublished manuscript entitled “Jews and Indians” (1840s). John Howard Payne was born to an affluent family in New York City on June 9, 1792. Payne’s family had Jewish heritage, which likely contributed in part to his later interest in the Cherokee Hebraic origins theory. Payne was the sixth of nine children and spent his childhood in East Hampton, Long Island. At age fourteen he edited and published a small paper called the Thespian Mirror. This achievement caught the eye of a newspaper

191

192 editor who arranged for him to attend Union College. Payne debuted as an actor on February 24, 1809, as “Young Norval” in the stage production of Douglas. Having achieved some success as an actor in New York, Payne embarked for Europe. For the next five years he worked at the Drury Lane Theatre and Covent Theater in London. While employed at Drury Lane, Payne produced the tragedy, Brutus; or the Fall of Tarquin. His fame grew as he began adapting French plays into English. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) explained that during these years “He became the first American dramatist to earn a reputation abroad.”

Eventually, Payne produced an opera entitled Clari; or the maiden of Milan. This feat would stand as the pinnacle of his career. In this opera Payne was able to debut his song “Home Sweet Home.” The tune became a sweeping success. After producing a number of failed productions there for the Saddlerswell Theater in London, he fled to Paris in 1823 to avoid criminal charges involving a sum of money he owed to the theater company. In Paris he shared an apartment with Washington Irving (1783–1859) who earned acclaim for his 2

short stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Payne was accepted into the wealthy bohemian social circles of Paris and aggressively pursued a romantic relationship with the recently widowed Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley (1797–1851). 1

Willis T. Hanson, The Early Life of John Howard Payne: With Contemporary Letters Heretofore Unpublished (Boston: University Press, Cambridge USA. 1913), 15; Clemens de Baillou, John Howard Payne to His Countrymen, University of Georgia Libraries miscellanea publications, no. 2 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1961), 15–16. John Howard Payne et al., introduction to The Payne-Butrick Papers, 2 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010), 1:xiv. 2

Charles Neider, The Complete Tales of Washington Irving (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975).

193 At age nineteen Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin authored Frankenstein. Shortly 3

thereafter she married the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). During her years in Paris, after her husband’s death, she romanced Payne in order to win the affection of his friend Irving. Payne was devastated to discover how Shelley had used him. His dejection in Paris led him back to America in 1832. Three years later Payne decided to reestablish himself as a writer and traveled the southeast in search of material to use as the basis for a series of published articles and a major regional history.

The historian Aletha Bass credited Payne as one of the few white men in Cherokee country to “put any value on Cherokee culture for its own sake, because of its 5

mythology, its ceremony and ritual, its simple and dignified conception of life.” Payne copied many of Chief Ross’s Cherokee legal documents, and in a letter to his sister wrote one of the only detailed descriptions of a Muskogee (Creek Indian) Green Corn Festival. According to historian Grant Foreman, this letter is widely recognized as the key document modern historiographers have used to understand this dance.

When the Georgia Guard arrived to arrest the missionaries during the Cherokee removal crisis, Payne became part of the drama; he spent thirteen days under house 3

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (Lexington, KY: [Superior Pub. House], 2010). 4

De Baillou, Payne to his Countrymen, 15.

Aletha Bass, Cherokee Messenger (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,

1936), 129. 6

John Howard Payne and Grant Foreman, Indian Justice: A Cherokee Murder Trial at Tahlequah in 1840 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002), xxiii.

194 arrest. Upon his return to New York he collected the mass of correspondence that would become the John Howard Payne Papers, stored in the Ayer Manuscript Collection at the Newberry Library in Chicago. He traveled to the western Cherokee nation in the 1840s. While there, he wrote a detailed account of a Cherokee murder trial in Tahlequah, Indian Territory. He published the piece in The New York Journal of Commerce in April 1841.

Payne died in Tunis, Africa, in 1852 before publishing his monumental work on the history and antiquities of the Cherokee nation. This multi-volume work would have contained a detailed social and political history of the nation. Topics could have included the legal proceedings involved with the Cherokee removal crisis of the 1830s and Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities.” A separate volume might have contained comparative analyses between Cherokee religious practices and those of other North American Indians. And a final section might have evaluated the similarities between the Cherokee and ancient Near Eastern religious cultures. This never happened. Payne was an exceptional writer. If he had published his manuscripts in a complete work, it would have been full of local color. His papers included cultural songs and habits of the Georgians, detailed descriptions of life among the Cherokee, stories about notable warriors and elders, a timeline of United States treaties, a timeline of world history including letters from Cherokee school children at the ABCFM mission, correspondence between missionaries and famous Cherokee leaders, Daniel Butrick’s journal from his journey on the Trail of Tears, and letters from other informants describing aspects of life among some other North American tribes. 7

Payne and Foreman, Indian Justice, xxviii.

195 The Interests of John Howard Payne Concerning What He considered His Early And Orthodox Religion The literary scholar Bertha Monica Stearns summarized the course of John Howard Payne’s life: “His early life with its glamorous promise of achievement, his later years of pedestrian labor for the British stage, and the prosaic officialdom into which his dreams of greatness declined have separately been made the subjects of special studies.”

Stearns’s special study of Payne focused on his work as an editor for an assortment of American periodicals. An observation she made about he hoped to achieve through his publication of the Thespian Mirror (1805) captured the idealistic impulse of his personality, offering insight into the motivation of his later artistic pursuits and collaboration with Daniel Butrick for “Indian Antiquities.” Stearns argued that, as a teenager, Payne “ventured to present his work to the public eye without any other recommendation than its own merits, hoping he declared that ‘the little stranger [Thespian Mirror] might be received with civility, judged with candor, and 9

(if consistent with its deserts) rewarded by the cheerful beams of patronage.’” At the advent of his career Payne sold himself to the public by the merits of his writing ability. Roughly three decades later a string of financial failures (and the advice of friends) convinced him to travel America in search of topics that would arouse public interest. 8

Bertha-Monica Stearns, “John Howard Payne as an Editor,” American Literature 5, No. 3 (Nov. 1933): 215. 9

Stearns, “Payne as Editor”: 217. She quoted Thespian Mirror, no. 1 (Dec.

28, 1805).

196 The historian Ellis Merton Coulter (1890–1981) wrote eloquently about Payne’s adventure across the United States in search of inspiration: “In late 1833 or the early part of 1834 Payne set out on his promised journey. He probably floated down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, stopping and making inland trips as opportunities afforded. He visited Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, before 10

reaching Georgia.”

Travel writings were popular and Payne entertained the idea of publishing something about his wanderings. Coultier wrote of Payne’s visit to the Georgian Mountains: He was thrilled by the majestic, roaring Tallulah Falls, the streaming bridalvail [sic] Toccoa Falls (“Tuckoah”), the high, leaping Amicolola Falls (“Amacooloola”), and the caves and mountains of the “Gold Region,” including Currahee Mountain, which rose up out of the plains like a pyramid of Egypt. A person who had met Payne in Athens, writing almost a quarter century later, described how Payne had been carried away by the beauties of nature, which he saw on his trip. While in Georgia’s capital of Milledgeville, Payne published a prospectus in the local newspaper for a periodical he wished to create. His rambles through Georgia possessed a whimsical charm, but he was certainly there on business. He entered the state as part of a promotional tour to raise funds towards the publication of a periodical entitled Jam Jehan Nima (Persian for “the goblet wherein you may behold the universe”). Payne hoped to: Provide a depository where original literary productions from the writers of America and England may appear side by side, a competition may be created tending to most favorable influences upon our literature; while its effects exhibited before so large a mass of readers on both sides of the ocean, will 10

E. Merton Coulter, “John Howard Payne’s Visit to Georgia,” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 46, issue 4 (Dec. 1962): 336.

197 afford evidences in our favor better than the best arguments. Nothing 11 overcomes mere prejudice more effectually than acquaintanceship. He believed that the best way for the Americans and English to reconcile differences still lingering from the Revolution and War of 1812 was by “means of literature and the arts, [which] has done more to wear away a bad spirit, than all the negotiations of all our political ambassadors.”

Unfortunately, he failed to attract the financial investors needed to launch

this plan to acquaint Americans with contemporary European and world literature. In 1835 Americans were focused on the sectionalism dividing national politics; South Carolina’s nullification crisis of 1832 and Georgia’s imprisonment of Christian missionaries still captivated public interest in the north. One speculates that Payne might have received financial support for Jam Jehan Nima if he had proposed it during the early 1820s. After roughly six months of touring the United States, Payne still failed to appreciate the momentous cultural changes that had occurred during his sixteen-year absence from America. His hope that Jam Jehan Nima would spark public interest suggests that he was out of touch with the culture of his compatriots’ during the Jacksonian Era (1829–1837). The issues he expressed in the prospectus were outdated. Payne’s concern for the improvement of America’s literary language echoed of the conversations men such as Jedidiah Morse and John Pickering were having during James Monroe’s Presidency (1817– 11

John Howard Payne, “Prospectus of Jan Jehan Nima: A Weekly Periodical, upon a plan never before attempted,” Georgia Journal 26, no. 58, Sept. 22, 1835. 12

Payne, “Prospectus of Jan Jehan Nima,” Georgia Journal.

198 13

1825).

As an artist, he should have been able to identify the popular sentiments of his

contemporary Americans, and come up with an idea that would deliver him from debt. A genre of literature that exploited popular Victorian-era sensibilities during the 1830s contained lewd depictions of frontier life. In 1835 the Davey Crockett Almanac and Davey Crockett’s Yaller Flower Almanac, containing sensationalized accounts of the famous frontiersman, were published by anonymous authors and achieved commercial success in the major northern American cities.

The historian Carroll Smith-Rosenberg

argued that these pulp almanacs were popular with young male American factory workers because of their sexualized, violent and racist depictions of life on the edge of civilized society.

Payne however had the heart of a reformer—championing the sublime virtues that

connected him to humanity and nature. He possessed the temperament of a right-brain creative thinker and literary artist. His giftedness won him acclaim as a young man and entrance into the Parisian art scene of the 1820s. But his affinity for romantic idealism and noble causes was financially handicapping. If he intended to free himself of debt, writing in defense of Indian rights might find some financial success across Europe, but certainly not among the majority of white Americans. Coulter wrote of Payne’s impracticality: 13

President James Monroe (1758–1831).

Davey Crockett’s Almanac 1835–1841 (Nashville: 1835–41); and Crockett’s Yaller Flower Almanac for '36 (New York: 1835). 15

Carrol Smith-Rosenberg, “Davey Crockett as Trickster: Pornography, Liminality and Symbolic Inversion in Victorian America,” Journal of Contemporary History 17, no. 2 (Apr. 1982), 325–50.

199 He was sensitive and petulant with an instability of spirit, vacillating from achievement to failure. He was a romanticist through and through; his emotions were deep. He was an impractical dreamer of grandiloquent schemes and ideas, and utterly incapable of knowing how to manage money. He loved beauty and nature in its wildest forms. He loved his country and hated 16 injustice wherever he saw it. Payne entered into the politics of Cherokee removal because it was a great and worthy cause—a rapturous theme that would fulfill the prosaic search for a job and way to reintroduce himself to the American public. He explained how he had stumbled upon the Cherokee dilemma while gathering “such information regarding my own republic as might vindicate our national character, manners and institutions, against the aspirations of unfriendly travellers from other countries.”

“In the course of my rambles,” wrote Payne, “I met with Dr. [Alexander St. Claire] Tennil[l]e, [(b. 1812)] of Saundersville, brother of the Georgia Secretary of State. The gentleman spoke to me of the Cherokees. He suggested that their history for the last fifty years, could it be obtained, would be one of extreme interest and curiosity.”

Payne arrived at the Cherokee nation in October 1835 with information that former Principal Chief Charles Renatus Hicks (1749–1823) had begun to write a sacred history of Cherokee folkways. Allegedly, Principal Chief John Ross inherited the antiquities project and completed its narrative upon Hick’s death. Payne was misinformed: 16

Coulter, “Payne’s Visit to Georgia”: 334.

De Baillou, Payne to His Countrymen, 14.

Ibid., 14.

200 I was encouraged to believe that were I to call on Mr. Ross he would not only readily allow me to use these manuscripts, but be gratified in an opportunity of seeing them made public. … He had part of the letters of Mr. Hicks, but of the continuation by himself I had been misinformed.—He told me however, that any or all the documents he had were at my service. … He told me that he could then shew [sic] me all their leading men. He thought, besides that two gentlemen, who have made valuable researches into the antiquities and language of the 19 Cherokee would be present. One speculates that the “two gentlemen” familiar with the language and antiquities of the Cherokee were Daniel Butrick and his Baptist friend Reverend Evan Jones.

Upon making

their acquaintance, whether at the council or afterwards, one imagines the positive impression Butrick’s enthusiasm about Cherokee folkways made upon Payne. Butrick’s passionate faith in Jesus Christ and the belief that the Cherokee are the lost ten tribes of Israel was a major part of his contribution to the John Howard Payne Papers. As such, consideration of Payne’s religious beliefs and personal comments about the Indian-Hebrew Theory offers insight into what he hoped to achieve as an inheritor and promoter of the ten tribes motif. Payne considered himself a Christian, having embraced his maternal grandfather’s faith, of whom the Long Island, New York historian Marjorie A. Denton wrote: Mrs. [Sarah Isaacs] Payne [(1758–1807)] was beautiful, well-educated and a fine character. She was the daughter of Aaron Isaacs [(1724–1796)], who had been a Hebrew of high education and wealth, … . He was a man well thought of in the village of East Hampton, and it was said that an inscription, ‘Behold an Israelite in Whom Is No Guile,’ was carved on his tombstone in the East Hampton cemetery. … He was converted to the Christian religion and became 19

De Baillou, Payne to His Countrymen, 14–15.

“Jones agreed to supply information to Payne.” Biographical sketches to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:312–13.

201 in January 1764 an active member of the Presbyterian Church in East 21 Hampton, where Dr. Samuel Buell [(1716-1798)] was the minister. The biographer William T. Hanson remarked on Payne’s fondness for his mother as if it were 22

a well-established fact.

Payne’s regard for Sarah Payne extended to her religious heritage

as well. Payne had been raised as a Christian, but still very much identified with his grandfather’s Judaism. The writer and journalist Grace Overmyer (1887–1976) told about a reference Payne made to his Judaic heritage and the Indian-Hebrew theory in a letter addressed to his younger brother Thatcher Taylor Payne (1796–1863). John Howard Payne had sealed some correspondence addressed to Cherokee Chief John Ross with a seal containing his mother’s family crest. John explained to Thatcher, “I told Ross my grandfather was a Jew, and if they were part of the ten tribes the stamp would be part of the family arms—an omen of our all 23

coming together at last.”

John Howard Payne’s remark “coming together at last” resonated with the spirit of the ten tribes motif as rendered by Manasseh ben Israel in the 1600s. The historian Ronald Sanders argued that ben Israel’s The hope of Israel (1650) was realized when Jewish refugees arrived in the colonial city of New Amsterdam during the early 1700s. In time, these 21

Marjorie A. Denton, The Land of Home Sweet Home: Stories of old Long Island where the Cottage “Home Sweet Home” still stands in East Hampton (Long Island, New York: Sayville Press, 1940), 119. 22

Hanson, Early Life of John Howard Payne, 99.

John Howard Payne to Thatcher Payne, May 28, 1838, in Grace Overmyer, America’s First Hamlet (Washington Square: New York University Press, 1957), 413n171.

202 Jewish settlers found the “relative peace, equality, and religious freedom” that their forebearers (such as ben Israel) had searched for their whole lives.

Payne inherited the blessings of religious toleration that ben Israel’s twist on the Jewish lost ten tribes tradition secured for his grandfather’s family in colonial America. Sanders explained: Jewish life in New York began to flourish like that in London, while Christian gentlemen looked the other way. By 1700, the Jews of the city were entering into economic pursuits that had been forbidden them by the Dutch, and were freely worshipping according to their faith in various rented houses. In 1730, organized as Congregation Shearith Israel (‘The Remnant of Israel’), they 25 built the first synagogue in North America. For Payne the Indian-Hebrew theory was about people “coming together at last”—about reunions with long lost family members. As an author Payne sought to communicate the sublime aspects of human nature to his audience. The Historian Clemens de Baillou said of Payne’s knack as a writer, “True human dignity and the expression of it is always beautiful. Payne wrote with dignity and with the vigor of deep conviction.”

He did this by faithfully reporting the folkways he

received from informants such as Butrick because it was the right thing to do. As a work of literary art it portrayed the Cherokee in a positive light. Payne deeply believed this would do justice for the Cherokee because, “Nothing overcomes mere prejudice more effectually than 24

Ronald Sanders, Lost Tribes and Promised Lands: The Origins of American Racism (New York: Harper Perennial, 1978), 44. 25

Ibid., 374.

De Baillou, introduction to Payne to his Countrymen, 12.

203 acquaintanceship; and there is a sort of remorse mixed up with the sense of having been unjust through ignorance, which almost always changes those who were once embittered by want of knowledge of each other, into the most earnest friends.”

“Will you Forgive my Heaping, what I Fear You will call Trash upon your Hands?”: Payne’s Relationship With Butrick As Payne compiled his research, bundles of material accumulated in his office. One imagines piles of correspondence detailing various aspects of southeastern Indian affairs and American history filed away under shelves and atop the corners of desktops in his office. A selective look into this fourteen volume collection provides a glimpse of how his research progressed. The Newberry Library’s online catalogue stated that his correspondence contained two thousand nine hundred pages of handwritten material. The typed version, available on formatted CD-R disks, contains two thousand three hundred and five pages.

Volume 1 of the John Howard Payne Papers contained a typescript of one hundred and four pages, entitled “Notes on Cherokee Customs and Antiquities,” which is the unpublished draft of Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities.” Payne utilized source material provided by other informants as well in this manuscript. Payne stated in the introduction, “We will now offer the result of our researches, divided with carefulness which, upon a subject so 27

Payne, “Prospectus of Jan Jehan Nima,” Sept. 22, 1835.

Now Searching: Newberry Library [non-circulating]. “Payne, John Howard, 1791–1852.” The Newberry Library. https://i-share.carli.illinois.edu/nby/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon .cgi?v1=17&ti=1,17&SC=Author&SA=Payne%2C%20John%20Howard%2C%201791%2D 1852%2E&PID=SV098olr8uERHm1YmMkkuM2&SEQ=20111111222523&SID=3 (accessed Nov. 11, 2011); Ayer Manuscript Collection, 14 vols. of John Howard Payne Papers, TSS, CD-R, Newberry Library, Chicago.

204 entangled as we found it, seems indispensible to perspicuity.”

Based upon the

correspondence he received from Butrick, the compilation of “Indian Antiquities” was arduous. It appears that there were many frustrating hours spent awaiting material or sorting through the muddle of antiquities. Volume 3 contained a one hundred and twenty-five page draft of “Indian Antiquities.” This was a dense collection of sayings by Butrick’s informants. Butrick apologized for its lack of polish: Permit me, with fraternal confidence to submit the preceding communication for your personal perusal. You will find it defective, doubtless, with regard to orthography, punctuation, and diction. I have written in haste, and must ask your indulgence, even if you should find it difficult in some cases, to spell out 30 my blind hand. Despite Butrick’s lack of attention to detail, Payne was able to organize the information. Volume 4 contained the bulk of correspondence that had accompanied the collection of Cherokee antiquities in Volume 3. Volume 9 contained a second grouping of Butrick’s letters. The material was primarily concerned with the politics of the Cherokee removal crisis, Cherokee detainment in the stockades, the Trail of Tears, and Butrick’s decision to censure Samuel A. Worcester and the other members of the New Echota Treaty Party from his church. Butrick said of this material, “Will you forgive my heaping, what I fear you will call trash upon your hands? Do remember I am among Indians, have long been shut up in the wilderness, and scarcely have a 29

“Notes on Cherokee Customs and Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:5.

Brainerd [GA], Jan. 21, 1837, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:87.

205 31

glimpse of the civilized world.”

Butrick closed his apology by affirming that the quality of

his correspondence was scrawl, and that he was currently writing to Payne on his knee while at a Cherokee Council.

As their collaboration dragged on, Butrick became apologetic,

indicating that the tone of the (now lost) letters he received from Payne were short and direct. There is also evidence that the famous author was frequently impatient and frank with the missionary. This tone could have been the byproduct of Payne’s theatrical flair, but upon survey of the disorganized correspondence received from Butrick, it could also be he was just plain frustrated with Butrick’s novice research style. In support of the first impression, that Payne’s tone was a byproduct of his personality, is a letter received from the missionary Dr. Elizur Butler, dated May 25, 1836. Dr. Butler wrote at the close of his short letter: If I have been too frank [emphasis Butler] forgive me, and let it not be remembered against me. Missionaries are sometimes requested by their friends to tell them frankly what articles they need. This lends us perhaps into an undue readiness to comply with such requests—But where there is 33 frankness in the inquiry I suppose there should be frankness in the reply … . Butler addressed the curtness of Payne’s request for information. Earlier in the letter, Butler informed Payne that he had directed an inquiry for information concerning the Cherokee 31

Butrick, [Dwight, OK] June 6, 1839, Ayer Manuscript Collection, vol. 9 of John Howard Payne Papers, TSS, CD-R, Newberry Library, Chicago (Hereafter cited as Payne Papers). 32

Ibid.

Elizur Butler, Red Clay [TN], May 25, 1836, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:244.

206 High Priest to Butrick. It is possible that Payne’s abruptness carried with it a sense of impatience because of the difficulties he was having with Butrick. In support of the second impression, that Payne’s tone was also the result of frustration, is the same letter written by Dr. Elizur Butler on May 25, 1836. Supposing that Butler responded immediately to Payne’s “frank” inquiry, the earliest that Payne might have sent it was April 28, 1836. Mail delivery was painfully slow. For example, in December 1835 Butrick had mailed at least fifteen pages of antiquities to Payne in Charleston, South Carolina, roughly three hundred and thirty miles distant from Carmel, Georgia. During the 1830s stagecoaches and people on horseback would travel thirty miles per day, on average. Stagecoach inns like Traveler’s Rest, in Toccoa, Georgia were generally a day’s ride from each other so travelers could stop at twilight. Therefore, it took at least ten to fifteen days for this letter to reach Charleston.

Based upon this estimation, one speculates about the “frankness” of Payne’s letter to Butler. Supposing that Payne mailed a letter dated February 24 from his New York address, the letter had to cross a distance of eight hundred and fifteen miles. Thus it took roughly twenty-eight days for it to reach Butrick; this February 24th letter reached its destination a month later. Then Butrick did not respond to it for nearly two months, until on May 13th he finally wrote a reply. Shortly before Butrick mailed this May 13th letter to Payne, 34

Butrick, Dec. 15, 1835, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:16–25; George William Featherstonehaugh, Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor; with an account of the lead and copper deposits in Wisconsin; of the gold region in the Cherokee country; and sketches of popular manners (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1970), 264.

207 Payne had grown tired of waiting and sent Butler the “frank” request for information he had not yet received from Butrick.

Early in their collaboration, Butrick attempted to set a standard about apologies—which he was never able to uphold. He wrote in a letter: In writing by mail, if much time is devoted to apologies, reasons, explanations, &c. but little room is left for the subject matter of the communication. On this account I did not state to you the reason why I withheld some information which you requested, and forwarded some, 36 perhaps, which you did not request. Butrick’s personal conviction that he must hold a national council to approve his research before its release also impeded the process. He encouraged Payne that the unanimous approval by these antiquarians and Chief Ross would validate “Indian Antiquities.” Six months later, in a letter written from Carmel dated January 19, 1836, Butrick affirmed that he had received Payne’s letter written twenty-five days earlier. Payne likely mailed it from Charleston, South Carolina, where one speculates he was staying for the winter. Butrick had not yet been able to secure an audience with Chief Ross’s antiquarians, but he went ahead and provided Payne with a several page sampling of stories about the great Cherokee deluge and the legendary lawgiver, Wasi. In his postscript Butrick humbly expressed his concern that these few pages might not meet Payne’s approval. On November 10, 1835, Payne was a guest at Chief Ross’s home when the Georgia Guard entered the residence and arrested him. This fueled his interest in the politics 35

“Dear Sir, Yours of Feb. 25th was duly received, though various hindrances have prevented my answering it till now.” Butrick, Brainerd [TN], May 13, 1836, PayneButrick Papers, 2:25. 36

Ibid.

208 of the Cherokee removal crisis. Payne violated a state law prohibiting white men from living within the Cherokee nation. This was the state’s initial response to the Cherokee nation’s refusal to leave their native homeland. Upon Payne’s return to New York he collected correspondence about the drama unfolding in the Southeast. Butrick sent the bulk of his correspondence to Payne before the onset of the Trail of Tears in the autumn of 1838. The antiquities were insightful and lighthearted compared to the horrific depictions of Cherokee persecution sent by Butrick after the Cherokee removal. Payne had already constructed an outline of Cherokee history and had written several narratives based on facts he had acquired. About the time Butrick’s material became politically inflammatory, it appears that Payne’s progress on the project stagnated. On April 5, 1839 Butrick wrote to Payne informing him that he had just arrived at Dwight, Arkansas after a five-month journey on the Trail of Tears.

On June 6,

1839 Butrick sent him his journal. His genteel and apologetic tone seems to mask the venom of his desire to publicize the political failures of his mission board and injustices wrought upon the Cherokee by the American government: I have forwarded to you … a packet which I fear you can scarcely have patience to read. I can only excuse myself by saying that I can seldom find persons like minded, who will naturally care for the poor Indians. And as you have kindly undertaken their cause, and an investigation into their true character, though the whole tide of popular feeling should turn against you, yet it could not move your steady purpose, nor prevent your completing a work so calculated to wipe the falling tears from the dear children of the forest. Do forgive me if I take liberties which I ought not, in burdening your 38 mind with the cares and distresses of the afflicted Indians. 37

Butrick, Dwight [OK], Apr. 5, 1839, vol. 9, Payne Papers.

Ibid., June 6, 1839.

209 In addition to his personal journal entries, Butrick was hoping Payne would include the Trail of Tears material in his work on Cherokee history. Regardless of Butrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s politeness, the missionary was very bitter over his recent experiences and likely hoped to publish the controversial material he sent to Payne. On January 12, 1841 Butrick sent Payne information concerning his battle against the policies of his mission board. He included extracts of different documents that demonstrated how he had attempted to convince the ABCFM to abandon their political course of action and he detailed his argument that patriotism and following Jesus do not coincide.

Payne had requested information concerning the ABCFMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s civil protest in 1832.

What he received was copies of correspondence that Butrick kept concerning what he perceived as the ABCFMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hypocrisy over the past nine years. There are a few years of silence in the record of correspondence. Then a letter dated January 19, 1844 serves as an ending to their collaboration.

Butrick described the

New Echota Treaty as a moral evil and then talked about the close relationship he had with those who had signed it, and their untimely murders. He also included information about how the ABCFM had petitioned the federal government for compensation for their financial losses in Georgia. Butrick maintained a cordial and affectionate tone with Payne in a letter characterized by a surprisingly forgiving attitude towards the ABCFM. 39

Butrick, Mount Zion [AR], Jan. 12, 1841, vol. 9, Payne Papers.

Ibid., Jan. 19, 1844.

210 Butrick sought to make amends with his brethren. In 1844 he was extremely sick and was beginning to consider dismissal from the service of the ABCFM. He evidently hoped Payne would include the statement in his history. He let go of his anger over his brethren’s mismanagement of the Cherokee removal crisis enough to express sorrow over his long-standing differences with them. The First Volume of John Howard Payne Esquire’s “Cherokee Customs and Antiquities” and Other Lost Causes and Fruitless Ventures Mr. Leigh Robinson (dates unknown) was a lawyer who had known John Howard Payne during the final years of his life in the 1840s. He delivered the oration at Payne’s funeral in 1852 and was among the very first storytellers to interpret the life of the first great American thespian and songwriter. Robinson argued that Payne’s fame as a dramatist faded into obscurity during the early 1830s when he went in pursuit of other artistic ventures. Robinson said, “The projects which thenceforth engaged his attention were the desperate after-game of life, — international reviews, sacred history, the Cherokees, and what not, — projects of a fertile rather than a practical brain, — the double flowering tree, fruitful of promise, void of fruit.”

Robinson’s perspective that the early years of Payne’s life were full of potential and later efforts were void of significance was a standard interpretation of his career by biographers during the late nineteenth-century. The historian Grace Overmyer believed that “immoderate judgments [(like Robinson’s)] were based at best on a superficial 41

Charles H. Brainard, John Howard Payne: A Biographical Sketch (Washington: Coolidge, 1885), 137.

211 42

acquaintance with the subject.”

A similar view has lingered in reference to explaining the

reasons why Payne’s Cherokee history manuscripts remained unpublished. The historian Maureen Konkle attempted to wrap her thoughts around the complexity of material preserved in the nine volumes of the Newberry Library’s John Howard Payne Papers and concluded: He apparently thought Cherokee traditions would be suitable for inclusion in a genteel literary magazine—quaint, amusing, and romantic Indian traditions were common in such publications—but ended up with a voluminous collection of complicated history, tradition, and political struggle that he 43 possibly, although one can’t say for sure, didn’t know what to do with. It appears that Payne’s trouble completing the project originated from the difficulty in collecting information from Butrick in a timely manner. It was a challenge for Payne to prioritize completing the project amidst the various financial and political dilemmas he faced. By the time he had completed the manuscript the Trail of Tears had passed and the work lost any perceivable political relevance. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) offered insight into the financial dilemma that prevented the publication of Payne’s “Indian Antiquities.” The editors were confident that Payne had completed his Cherokee antiquities project by 1848 and was prepared to deliver it to a printer. They wrote of the unpublished manuscript: It is evident that Payne had taken special care in recording the volume: the handwriting is marvelously legible, with no stricken words, and the footnotes are in good order on each page, properly labeled by letter rather than by the 42

Overmyer, America’s First Hamlet, 14–15.

Maureen Konkle, Writing Indian Nations: Native Intellectuals and the Politics of Historiography 1827–1863 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 92.

212 less conventional symbols used by both Payne and Butrick in their informal accounts. Also Payne wrote Ross in 1848, telling him that the first volume of his Cherokee History was ‘ready for press’ but that he had no money. Payne was seeking an advance to publish one volume, which, ‘could be put to press 44 immediately and published by September.’ Payne’s financial burdens overshadowed the idyllic charm that had fostered his interest in the project. In the end he needed to finance the publication of the Cherokee history and turn a profit to publish future volumes—debts needed to be paid. Payne possessed a unique ideological interest in defending the Cherokee cause; nevertheless his literary efforts on their behalf had to provide an income. In 1832 he traveled into the Cherokee nation searching for source material that would potentially reestablish himself financially. Regardless of good intentions, he entered the nation hopeful for financial gain—the basic motivation of Georgian prospectors and land speculators. Instead of nuggets or homesteads, Payne sought to turn a profit through the publication of the source material—oral traditions that he would mine and sell to a publisher. If Payne had foreseen how long it would take to finish the project, and the apparent lack of public interest once it was complete, one wonders if he would have searched elsewhere for inspiration. During the 1830s the Cherokee had entered the larger world where their secure smoke-covered Appalachian coves could no longer provide isolation. They had to engage the political rhetoric of American society in order to survive as a people. They entered this reality when they refused to join Tecumseh’s Indian confederacy in 1814 and 44

“Cherokees Vol. 1,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:3.

213 instead fought alongside Colonel Andrew Jackson against the Muskogee (Creek Indians) for the right to maintain their remaining land holdings.

During the 1830s, Cherokee leaders waged a rhetorical war as they pleaded their case before the United States Supreme Court. They published propaganda that vilified Georgia’s governmental body and argued every conceivable angle for the protection of their lands. Chief Ross endorsed Butrick’s research in an attempt to win the favor of evangelical sensibilities. Cherokee Phoenix newspaper editor Elias Boudinot sensationalized the controversy in an attempt to anger northern readers by singling out the white southerners’ rebellion against the founding principles of constitutional law. And they welcomed Payne championing their cause in the publication of John Howard Payne to his Countrymen in newspapers during 1835. Before the Trail of Tears, Chief John Ross foresaw possible diplomatic benefits that might stem from an eventual publication of “Indian Antiquities.” The historian William G. McLoughlin wrote, “Ross knew how to titillate Christian consciences.”

McLoughlin argued that Chief Charles Hicks went along with Chief Ross’s support for Butrick’s research because this study might promote a positive image for the Cherokee. McLoughlin also wrote, “Some Native Americans welcomed the effort of missionaries to relate them to the ten lost tribes of Israel. They thought this lineage would gain them more respect in the eyes of Anglo-Americans and link their destiny with that of 45

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 28–29.

William G. McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 1789–1839 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), 346.

214 Christianity.”

He believed that Chief Ross viewed this as a rhetorical argument that, if

satisfactorily proven, might elicit Protestant American support for the Cherokee nation. McLoughlin backed his opinion by citing a speech Chief Ross made to the American people on December 2, 1835. In this speech, he argued that the Protestant Americans who believed the lost tribe theory should keep in mind the prophetic promise that the lost tribes would return home just before the second coming of Christ, and this would be fulfilled if the Cherokee could retain their native homeland.

In a letter addressed to Payne from Chief John Ross on July 4, 1837, Chief Ross instructed Payne to add a Cherokee Christian tradition to the “Indian Antiquities” manuscript. This insertion contained a Trinitarian-like formula and a reference to the most sacred name of God, “Ye:Ho:Wa”. He asked that this be placed at the beginning of the draft. Thus a parallel between Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” and the opening chapters of the book of Genesis was made. It is likely that Chief Ross encouraged these stylistic changes so that the intended audience might identify the parallel and interpret the current situation in the Cherokee nation as a continuation of the Old Testament story.

William Gerald McLoughlin and Walter H. Conser, The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794–1870: Essays on Acculturation and Cultural Persistence (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1994), 157. 48

McLoughlin, Cherokees and Missionaries, 346.

John Ross, Red Clay [TN], July 4, 1837, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:5–6.

215 A biographer of Payne called him the “American Roscius.”

Quintus Roscius

Gallus (126–62 BCE) was the famous Roman thespian and orator, who was acclaimed for his detailed performances. In a description of Payne’s narrative about a Cherokee murder trial, historian Grant Foreman said, “His assurance of minute accuracy of his work must carry conviction to the reader, as his conscientious striving for a faithful portrayal of all he saw.”

If this “American Roscius” was the studied writer Foreman praised him to be, then he surely identified the difficulties of publishing Butrick’s political and religious perspective. There was a stark honesty in all of Butrick’s writings. However, at times his descriptions seemed to be loaded down with a private agenda for retribution. In Payne’s copy of Butrick’s Trail of Tears journal the missionary wrote, “Many of the poor Cherokees might now take the words from the mouth of the weeping prophet, and say ‘Is it nothing to you, all ye who pass by, behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.’”

The

advocacy that drove his antiquities, the searing pain and frustration of his words, and the disillusionment towards the ABCFM and American people, was very clear. When “Indian Antiquities” was ready for publication in 1848 (a decade after the Trail of Tears) Payne had “a voluminous collection of complicated history, tradition, and 50

Overmyer, America’s First Hamlet, 109.

Payne and Foreman, Indian Justice, xxiii.

Butrick, [Dwight, OK] June 6, 1839, vol. 9, Payne Papers. “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger” (Lam. 1:12 KJV).

216 political struggle” that had lost its political and social relevance as a current affair. It was a project collecting dust; he hoped that there might still be a use for it. “What, Restored! Restored! Ha! Ha! Ha!”: Payne’s Cherokee History as An Expression of Art The legend goes that while on a trip to Italy John Howard Payne listened to a peasant girl hum a melody. Upon his return to England, while sitting on the steps of a cathedral, he wrote what would become his landmark achievement—a simple song—“Home Sweet Home!” He included the tune in his opera Clari: The Maid of Milan (Covenant Gardens, May 8, 1823). Payne never received any royalties for this creation: Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam; Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like Home! A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there Which, seek through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere! An exile from Home, splendor dazzles in vain! Oh, give me my lowly thatched cottage again! The birds singing gaily, that came at my call— Give me them—with the peace of mind dearer to all! Home, home! Sweet, sweet Home! There’s no place like Home! 53 There’s no place like Home! Payne’s polished draft of “Indian Antiquities” contained a similar thematic longing for restoration as found in “Home Sweet Home!”

He wrote about his discovery, “of what their

Gabriel Harrison, John Howard Payne: Dramatist, Poet, Actor, and Author of Home, Sweet Home; His Life and Writing (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1969), 119–20. 54

“Cherokees Vol. 1,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:5–79.

217 first creed was, and when and how they came to diverge from it; branching off, afterwards, into innumerable varieties.”

His ascription to the Indian-Hebrew theory was a subtle aspect of the literary work of art he created for John Ross and the Cherokee nation. His belief that American Indians were descendants of the lost Israelites would be evident to those familiar with the theory. His nuanced approach to presenting Cherokee ancient Jewish heritage was similar to the famous American artist George Catlin’s (1796–1872) mention of the Indian-Hebrew theory in his writings and illustrations. Like Payne, Catlin rarely specifically stated the similarities between the folkways of the Indians and Ancient Jews.

Payne’s writings reflected an attitude that truth is self-evident—there is moral responsibility and common goodness that humans are to uphold. Payne acted according to the “historical and moral traditions” of his own upbringing as he portrayed those that the ancient Indians had reportedly received.

The product he created might rightly be described as an

“Cherokees Vol. 1,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:5.

Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians By Geo[rge] Catlin. Written During Eight Years’ Travel Amongst the Wildest Tribes of Indians in North America, in 1832, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 ... With Four Hundred Illustrations, Carefully Engraved from His Original Paintings (New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1844). The editors of Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) note that Payne possibly visited with Catlin in Saint Louis, Missouri, and reviewed some of his anthropological material and sketches on the American Indians. Chief John Ross and Payne also attended a lecture given by Catlin in 1838. Notes to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:335:n13. Catlin was one of Daniel S. Butrick’s sources, see “Jews and Indians,” Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 3 of ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM). 57

“Cherokees Vol. 1,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:7.

218 Old Testament Pentateuch through a Cherokee perspective. In the first chapter, he related what the Cherokee remembered about their early and orthodox religion. In the second chapter he described what their folkways had become once they departed from their earliest system of faith and worship.

Generally the work was an expression of who he was as a nineteenth-century evangelical. In a letter addressed to his mother during a break from his studies at Union College (1806–1808) Payne wrote: Tho’ I am not versed in the intricacies of sacred lore, I adore my God, and profoundly venerate the Christian Religion. I seek to avoid theological discussions and all the perplexities of abstruse speculation. My intent is to make myself perfectly familiar with the Scriptures; and my ruling principle to love, honor, fear and obey the Deity, to avoid evil as much as I can, and to do all the good which may be in my power. The Christian Religion is sweet and consoling; and perhaps not the least convincing proof of its divine origin springs from the inward consciousness of having done our duty which is 59 produced by a compliance with its mandates. Payne sought to accentuate the sublime attributes that the Deity grafted onto the human consciousness. He longed to see the injustices he experienced in the world made right. He hoped for a happy conclusion similar to the one he wrote for his character Rolamo in Clari: the Maid of Milan. Rolamo triumphantly exclaimed, “Restored! Restored! Ha! Ha! Ha! Stand from about me—Let me see my child! My lost child found! My child that I can own.”

“Cherokees Vol. 1,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:7, 17.

Hanson, Early Life of John Howard Payne, 99.

John Howard Payne, Clari, or, The maid of Milan: an opera, in three acts, as first performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, on Thursday, May 8th, 1823 (London).

219 “The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites. By John Howard Payne, Esq.” (1849) Payne was a poor financial manager and was continually weighed down with debt. His time as a manager at the Saddlerswell Theater in England landed him in debtors’ prison. He fled from that situation into the world of the Parisian art scene, which was likely another costly affair. In 1835 he needed money and he capitalized on the Cherokee situation. Upon establishing his relationships in the Cherokee nation, Payne returned to New York, New York. During the late 1830s he dedicated a large sum of time to corresponding with various informants while advocating politically on behalf of the Cherokee. In 1837, as Daniel Butrick worked on compiling the initial packet of antiquities he would send to New York, Payne undertook a variety of side projects in order to supply a steady income.

In 1838 he took a job as writer for The Democratic Review in the

District of Columbia. In October 1840, Payne visited the Cherokee nation in Indian Territory 62

and wrote Indian Justice: A Cherokee Murder Trial at Tahlequah in 1840.

By October 30,

1842 Payne was also working as a treaty negotiator for Chief Ross. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) explain that after Payne departed Indian Territory in January 1841 the United States Secretary of War hired him “To investigate the execution of the New Echota Treaty, … . Payne whose salary was $1,600 annually, submitted his Memorandum in March 1842. The following month, apparently 61

“Met Messrs. John Howard Payne and Dr. Brown? at Mr. Andrew Ross’” Sat., [Oct. 10?] 1840, Butrick’s Journal. For Payne’s contributions to a monthly magazine entitled The Ladies Companion in 1836–37, see Stearns, “Payne as an Editor”: 225–26. 62

Payne and Foreman, Indian Justice.

220 displeased with Payne’s report, the secretary of war fired Payne.” received an ambassadorship to Tunis, Africa.

The following year he

After a short assignment as ambassador, Payne spent some time traveling across Europe. Then in 1849 he published a short and interesting article based on the unpublished “Indian Antiquities” manuscript. It was entitled “The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites: By John Howard Payne, Esquire.” He published it in Quarterly Register and Magazine. A footnote on the first page stated: “We have been kindly furnished with these very curious traditions gleaned by the learned author during his residence in the Cherokee Country … embracing an account of ancient festivals, rites, and religious theories, which must prove highly interesting and valuable.”

There was no mention of the lost tribes, nor any reference to the traditions influenced by Old Testament motifs. Despite its genteel tone, the content was largely 63

Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xix.

Rosa Pendleton Chiles. John Howard Payne; American Poet, Actor, Playwright, Consul and the Author of “Home, Sweet Home” (Washington, DC: Press of W. F. Roberts Co., 1930). Payne possessed an elegant rhetorical style that conveyed an air of sophistication on behalf of the Cherokee in their treaty negotiations. “I hope, that if they do not afford the light which is wanted, they may at least supply a clue to the manner in which it may be attained.” John Howard Payne, “Autograph Manuscript in Reference to the Cherokee Treaty of 1835,” Ayer Manuscript Collection, vol. 12 of John Howard Payne Papers, TSS, CD-R, Newberry Library, Chicago (Hereafter cited as Payne Papers), 1. For speculations on the lost ten tribes motif by a promoter who served as a diplomat to Tunis in 1814, see Mordecai Noah, Discourses or Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendents of the Lost Tribes of Israel (New York: 1837). 65

John Howard Payne, The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites (Philadelphia: 1849).

221 objective and could be likened to the work of ethnologists such as Ruth Landes or James Mooney years later. One speculates that Payne’s research into the topic of Cherokee Hebraic origins may have raised some concerns as to the validity of the theory. In a lost letter written in April 1837, he asked Butrick about a prophecy in the book of Hosea.” In May 1837 Butrick said this about Hosea 9:17: “This seems to present an objection to the Indians being of the ten tribes, as they were to be wanderers among the nations, whereas the Indians are cast out from the nations.”

Butrick’s words seem to echo the issue that Payne sought to

resolve. Whether this reply to Hosea’s prophecy resolved Payne’s concerns is unknown. Over a decade later he published his work on antiquities for curiosity’s sake. It possessed a mystical tone. He did some justice in his respectful and dignified handling of the traditions of Butrick’s informants. Instead of connecting them to ancient Israelites he spoke of Cherokee traditions as if they were a lost magic from a distant time. He implied that their folkways consisted of magic stones, prayers that directed the affairs of nature, and divining talismans that could uncover lost things and reveal the future. Butrick believed that his job was to faithfully preach the Gospel of Christ and avoid political controversy. Yet the things that made him endearing were also his most crippling liabilities. His compassion for the Cherokee compelled him to stay with them through their persecution.

His desperation to see justice fulfilled drew him into a hurtful

May 10, 1837, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:123, 124.

“With regard to the west, all is dark as midnight. Our labours and distresses for three months past, cannot be told; and yet the prospect is that they will rather be

222 fight with his brethren and board. His utilization of a traditional motif as a form of advocacy kept him engaged with the divisive politics he believed were unbiblical. Butrick’s obsession to champion the Cherokee swept him into captivity. In contrast, Payne was about business. “Indians Antiquities” was not as profitable as originally imagined. It gathered dust in his study as he pursued other projects and remained unpublished nearly a decade later. Then in a stroke of inspiration, Payne abandoned the planned treatise on the lost ten tribes and produced a short work that faithfully portrayed the Cherokee, as he knew them to be. By ending the project Payne brought about an accomplishment that went unnoticed by his biographers. He published some of his papers and began to free himself of the unprofitable project. The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) argue that Payne published the piece in order to muster some public interest for “Indian Antiquities” and locate a benefactor who would finance its publication.

The short article certainly offered some

closure to the antiquities project that had been part of his life for nearly two decades. With its publication, he also held up his end of the commitment to the missionary. Payne began to clear his desk of these papers and his association with Butrick became history.

increased than diminished, for twelve months to come; if indeed we shall be able to sustain them, and yet we still call for more grief, and say ‘O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of my people. [Jer. 9:1 KJV]’” Daniel S. Butrick to David Greene, Aug. 21, 1838, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM). 68

Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xix.

223 Reverend Daniel Butrick’s Hope amidst Heartache: The Unpublished “Jews and Indians” Manuscript Daniel Butrick did not abandon “Indian Antiquities” after his collaboration with John Howard Payne because he still believed that God would use the project to benefit the Cherokee. He continued to compile information amidst the strain of his experiences in Indian Territory. Many of his personal journal entries after the Trail of Tears directly challenged the viewpoints of his mission board in such a way that one wonders if he knew they would eventually read them. It could just be that he needed a place to vent his frustration. In either case, Butrick was always sincere in what he wrote. His hope was that all of the Cherokee nation would find restoration in a relationship with Christ. The tragic reality was that he lived in a shattered world where the despair of their situation in Indian Territory was too much for many of the Cherokee to bear: The full [blood] Cherokees are in a worse condition generally than they ever have been since I came to the nation, with the exception of such as are true Christians and perhaps some of their friends and a few others. They are more destitute for food and clothing and money and stock; and more reckless of life, both their own and that of others, and more ready to yield to entire desperation, having lost all confidence in white men, missionaries as well as others, and yet now they’re held up to the Christian public as a civilized nation, almost out of the reach of heathenism. Is this not from mere policy to conceal the fact that by means of the New Echota Treaty they have been despoiled of property, virtue and of friends. So that life, in their view, is scarcely worth enjoying. By treachery they have been robbed of their chiefs, their fathers and mothers, they are bound together by no common tie, and being ignorant to futurity, they seem ready, by almost any means, to 69 throw off the will of life. 69

“Private Journal of Daniel S. Butrick,” Mon., Apr. 13, 1844, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as Butrick’s Journal).

224 In the years following the Trail of Tears he filled his journals with hearsay about the perpetual state of lawlessness and immorality in the territory. The generally optimistic tone his journal entries possessed decades earlier was gone. Contained in the dynamics of the lost tribes motif was a hope of deliverance for God’s exiled people. Butrick hoped for so much more than deliverance from worldly trouble. In 1845 he journaled: If the manuscripts remain in the hand of Brother Jones wilt thou direct him whether to make any use of them or to destroy them, and if they shall be used in any way may it be only in that way which may be best calculated to promote thine infinite glory and the good of thy dear people Amen and 70 Amen. Butrick turned his papers on the history of the Cherokee removal crisis over to Baptist 71

Missionary John Buttrick Jones who also inherited a copy of “Jews and Indians.”

Some years earlier, Butrick had requested that Payne burn the manuscripts if no good would come from them. He made the same plea to God as he committed the papers to Jones’s care. In 1832 Butrick had big plans. He would give a copy to the Society of Enquiry at Andover for posterity, the ABCFM Prudential Committee for publicity, and to Payne for publication. These plans had not yet been fulfilled. A decade later Butrick prayed 70

July 8, 1845, Butrick’s Journal.

Butrick, “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM; Daniel S. Buttrick, Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (Vinita: Indian Territory: Indian Chieftain, 1884).

225 for a redemption of the project. On Christmas Day, 1844, Butrick coughed up a large amount 72

of blood. In spite of his sickness, he copied fragments of “Indian Antiquities.”

Butrick’s illness, which he referred to as rheumatism, worsened. He complained of being a burden to his mission family, and was frequently bedridden in 1845. During one period he wrote about how he would lie awake at night crying and praying for restoration. He likened this experience to holding an all-night vigil for the Lord. He laid aside other projects and continued to compile antiquities amidst this suffering. One of the final sermons recorded in his private journal was about the perseverance of the saints. Butrick’s harsh criticism of the ABCFM’s policy and the numerous descriptions of violence and theft in the Cherokee nation tapered off during this time. His failing health pushed him to look past the scars produced by the betrayal of the Trail of Tears and infighting with his mission board. There was goodness amidst the trouble. Butrick wrote, “I have been able to preach but little, and have improved much time in writing and reading, which I pray may not be altogether in vain.”

He frequently prayed for the Cherokee and asked that God’s hand

would guide the affairs of his family and friends.

He mulled over the sayings of his

informants who had long since departed. During these years Butrick reworked all of the “Indian Antiquities” he had sent to John Howard Payne. He wrote, “God was the sole king of 72

Butrick, [Dwight, OK] June 6, 1839, vol. 9, Payne Papers; Butrick to Greene, June 5, 1834, ABCFM; Dec. 28, 1844, Butrick’s Journal. 73

Aug. 25, 1845, Butrick’s Journal

Ibid.

226 the ancient Cherokees. He gave them the law, or constitution of their government, and other laws for the regulation of their judicial, religious and civil affairs, so that they referred directly to God, as the author of such and such laws and ordinances.”

Butrick’s continued research was an essential part of his mission. Not only did it provide him with opportunities to learn more about his Cherokee Christian friends, but through it he was also able to preserve the memory of lost loved ones. Equally he hoped that it would lead the Cherokee out of the privation and violence characteristic of their nation in the early 1840s, back to the standards God had initially established for them. Nu:tsa:wi told Butrick, “The Indians are the direct descendants from Adam or the first man. He was red. All were Indians before the flood.”

In the stories of Nu:tsa:wi

and the other antiquarians Butrick imagined an anointed people of God who had become lost in captivity. They were not heathens in need of salvation; rather they were rightful heirs of God’s promises. The most wonderful aspect of Butrick’s promotion of the lost ten tribes motif was the sheer obsession of it. He chose to live in stark contrast to everyone else because he possessed a desperate hope that the moment Christ heard all the heart-wrenching prayers and brought the Cherokee nation to their rightful place in his Kingdom of God, Butrick and his family would share in the release. The “Jews and Indians” manuscript is stored with the ABCFM papers in the Houghton Library Archive at Harvard University. The work began with an eighty-page 75

Butrick, “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, pt. 2.

Ibid., pt. 1:77. Carmel [GA], and “Indian Antiquities,” Jan. 19, 1836, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:28–3, 211–13.

227 comparison between the Cherokee and Hebrew languages. The hand-written references are spaced so that Butrick could update information as needed. The next section, delineated with a large “NO 1,” was an eighteen-page apologetic of his work footnoted throughout this thesis as the introduction. The next five hundred and forty-five pages contained a potpourri of primary and secondary anthropological comparisons. “Jews and Indians” was an updated compilation of the research for “Indian Antiquities” and appears to be a work in progress. He wrote the first portions prior to 1840, and the last section written in “1847–48” remained unfinished. The size of the “Jews and Indians” manuscript is striking. The amount of material surpassed what Butrick needed to demonstrate his premise. He was a busy writer who was involved with multiple projects during the course of his career as a missionary. These projects range from material reflective of his emotional responses, such as his daily journals and correspondence with the Prudential Committee, to those projects involving record keeping, such as Brainerd Mission Journal logs and financial reports he prepared. Aside from the eighteen-page apologetic at the heart of “Jews and Indians,” the work was a vast compilation of anthropological data. Butrick explained the motivation behind his drive to amass this information in a letter to Payne, dated July 6, 1839: The missionaries of the cross, who have gone among the Indians, do not love them. They act from a professed pity, and a desire for their final salvation yet retain the ancient feelings of their ancestors towards these poor wretches, as they often call them. And with regard to their ancient customs, they will use no exertions whatever to inform themselves, and after being in the nation twenty years, remain as ignorant to the real character of the Indians as almost any child in New York. And yet when we speak of the Indians being a part of

228 the ten tribes, they will make it a subject of ridicule, and thus most, though Christians, to this infidel method of putting to silence all who establish a truth 77 so disgusting to their feelings. He claimed that he undertook this research to demonstrate to these missionaries that they had been arrogant toward the Cherokee. He was referring to all missionaries in general. However, a specific connection to his own circle of missionaries was implied. 77

Butrick, [Dwight, OK] July 6, 1839, vol. 9, Payne Papers.

CHAPTER 4 “LIKE A TRAVELER ON A LONG JOURNEY AND HAD NEVER REACHED HIS HOME”: THE FULFILLMENT OF DANIEL SABIN BUTRICK’S MISSION TO THE CHEROKEE NATION One may (I think) say, Both his laughs and his cries / May well be guessed at by his watery eyes. / Some things are of that nature as to make / One’s fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache. / When Jacob saw his Rachel with the sheep, / He did at the same time both kiss and weep. —John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) Chapter 4 concludes the narrative about Butrick’s forty-year career as a missionary to the American Indians. This interpretation of his final years begins at the close of the Cherokee Trail of Tears in Indian Territory. The narrative shifts from the general sense of disillusionment and grief that characterized his writings during the early 1840s to the fulfillment of his mission that arrived shortly before his death in 1851. Butrick began to realize the restitution he hoped for his whole life as he was able to take to heart the encouragement of his wife, forgive his brethren for their shortcomings, and renew his spiritual ministry among the Five Civilized Tribes. It is no small coincidence that the name of the place where Butrick worked as a pastor in Indian Territory was Mount Zion Mission Station—named after the Lord’s Holy Mountain. Towards the end of his journey on the Trail of Tears, Butrick wrote:

229

230 Cherokee nation west. The country is beautiful. In descending the road toward Fort Smith, at once a green meadow, almost without bounds, opened to our view. This was sprinkled here and there with beautiful shade trees, and sometimes with delightful groves, waving in the breeze, our minds were at once captivated, and we rushed forward to catch the fascinating view, at once we were met with a nauseous sickly breeze, which told us the dead were there, and that we were drawing near the chambers of death. … on the opposite side 1 of the river, the unfortunate Cherokees were landed last summer. The country he traveled to with the Cherokee was equally cruel and deprived of justice. The name of his mission hints at the hope of its settlers that God would make this world right.

For years Butrick had cried out to the Lord for healing from his rheumatism, but it progressively worsened. He prayed for spiritual deliverance from his sin and wretchedness, but he continued to possess his numerous failings. He begged that his beloved Cherokee would embrace the gospel message, only to witness the complete unraveling of their society, with so many of his people dying violently. The aforementioned description of the beauty of Indian Territory was among the last that Butrick wrote concerning the beauty of the world in general. Henceforth he would report its injustice. A survey of the scripture passages he preached every Sabbath revealed an emphasis on the commands of God, attaining salvation in Christ, and loving each other. 1

“Private Journal of Daniel S. Butrick,” Apr. 4, 1839, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as Butrick’s Journal); Daniel S. Butrick, [Dwight, OK] June 6, 1839, Ayer Manuscript Collection, vol. 9 of John Howard Payne Papers, TSS, CD-R, Newberry Library, Chicago (Hereafter cited as Payne Papers). 2

John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: from this world to that which is to come [New York: Revell, 1903]: 177. Butrick had carried a copy of this book during the Trail of Tears. In the poem, some people had complained that the Pilgrim was overly emotional and lost in his thoughts. Bunyan responded that it was a justified response amidst the simultaneous beauty and tragedy of life. Bunyan referenced how Jacob the Patriarch had finally found his beloved Rachel after his long journey through the wilderness.

231 Butrick longed to see the world restored. And when restoration did not come, there is no evidence that he ever challenged God’s goodness and his providential hand, or doubted that divine judgment would befall the unrepentant sinners who broke the Sabbath, profaned the Lord’s name, drank and gambled, stole, murdered, and shot their guns off in the streets. In 1844, during a horrible bout of sickness, his thoughts were on his eventual crossing of the river of promise: “O wilt thou carry us to and through the waters of Jordan, 3

and be our portion forever.” Even in 1839 Butrick longed to be in the Promised Land: O how pleasant to see here some of the same dear friends who used to be our rejoicing in the old nation, yet I can have no idea of home in this country … to look on anything here as only a traveler, I was pleased with delightful prospects and pleasant plans, as in any other strange land, but could not even begin to feel the interest in any place as a home. Whether I am soon to leave all this world of sin, and sorrow, or whether we are destined to some other place, I know not, but every other place in this lower world, has lost its beauty. All is polluted, and now I feel ready to listen to the Prophet, “Arise 4 depart here, for this is not thy rest.” I have been grieved beyond expression. These were the rapturous moments of Butrick’s spiritual life. Butrick equally suffered through long periods of worldliness, depression, and a lack of love for God and the Church. The sheer fact remained that God was merciful to Butrick. He sustained him through all his years of heartbreak alongside the Cherokee. And despite Butrick’s every shortcoming, he was sure that God forgave him and was using him in an unseen way. Butrick became a side-note in a larger story. He was one of the only witnesses to the Trail of Tears who recorded the tragedy. His letters served as a powerful voice on behalf of Cherokee tradition and culture in an era wherein few white missionaries took such a stance. Most 3

Sat., Dec. 28, 1844, Butrick’s Journal.

Ibid., Mon., Apr. 1839.

232 importantly, he preserved the traditions of many Cherokee Christians who died because of the injustice delivered to them by citizens of the early American republic. On the Trail of Tears Butrick prayed, “We hope if the Lord will, before another holy Sabbath to be in the country toward which we have been long traveling. O how kind has the Lord been in preserving us thus far on this tedious journey; and now what can we hope or desire but his kind direction and his supporting presence. O for faith to confide 5

only in Him.” Butrick longed for the journey to be over. He longed to arrive at the other side of a particular river, in a new country where he could find rest. Even though he had not yet arrived he took comfort in the reality that Christ’s presence was with him and the tedious journey would have an end. The Grace We Need to Honor Our Lord and Savior: Elizabeth (Proctor) Butrick’s Journey With her Beloved Daniel The historian Marion Starkey wrote of the circumstances that had brought Butrick and his dear Elizabeth together in the late 1820s. Starkey began this story by assuring her readers, “Butrick had matured somewhat since his early impulsive days, a change had 6

come into his life in 1827.” She explained that “Butrick’s mind was just then hardly on the 7

Cherokees at all” amidst the uproar of their newly ratified constitution. He was busy writing 5

Sabbath, Mar. 1839, Butrick’s Journal.

Marion L. Starkey, The Cherokee Nation (North Dighton, MA: JG Press,

1995), 133–34. 7

Ibid.

233 his Prudential Committee regarding the release from a vow of celibacy he had made with them years earlier. Starkey wrote: The Board had hardly time to deliberate this problem when it had another letter presenting them with a fait accompli. [italics Starkey] Late in April Butrick had passed through Carmel on the way to the Valley Towns and had found Sister Elizabeth Proctor all alone with her scholars at the mission. ‘Dear loves, said I, how can I leave them immediately alone in this wild desert?’ So he stopped there, lodging with the boys in their cabin. A question of propriety then arose. Butrick decided to continue his journey, but his horse had run away. He sought lodging with a neighbor; there was no room. There was only one other way to protect the fair name of the young woman: marriage. To his happy surprise, Butrick found that Sister Proctor welcomed this solution. The surprised Chamberlin was summoned 8 and duly performed the ceremony. Elizabeth Proctor was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts on February 1, 1783 and arrived at the 9

Hightower Mission Station on February 11, 1823. She married Daniel on April 29, 1827. The next day Daniel prayed on behalf of the spiritual good his union with Elizabeth might produce. He journaled:

I have been wicked. I can scarcely remember anything but sin my whole life. Sins of the blackest dye, and now can I hope that our dear Redeemer will be with us and bless our union. O thou condescending Redeemer, Thou dear Jesus, wilt thou be with us, and wherein we have been influenced by wrong motives, wilt thou,—canst thou forgive? … ‘To thee we consecrate our days’ but without thee we can do nothing. We are weak as infants ourselves, and 10 much less to lead sinners to God. The ABCFM archive at Harvard University’s Houghton Library contains a solitary short letter written by Mrs. Butrick amidst the hundreds authored by her husband. 8

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 133–34.

Robert Sparks Walker, Torchlights to the Cherokees; The Brainerd Mission (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1931), 44. 10

Hightower, Apr. 30, 1827, Butrick’s Journal.

234 She addressed the letter to Corresponding Secretary Jeremiah Evarts immediately after the Georgia Guard arrested her brethren in March 1831. Her closing remark reflected the contrast between her husband’s worries over the future of the ABCFM’s spiritual mission to the Cherokee and her trust that God had the power to give them the hope needed to succeed. She wrote, “Brother appeared quite composed but O’ how much grace we need to honor our Lord and Savior. Sister appears very calm, under such gloomy prospects. 11

We know there is no hope but in God.”

Daniel made regular references to Elizabeth in his journal. He frequently mentioned her at his side at “the family altar” and on horseback with him as they attended the 12

monthly “concerts of prayer.”

On October 4, 1838 the Butricks prepared to follow the

Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Daniel wrote this concerning his wife: Left Brainerd with my dear wife for the Cherokee camps, near Mr. [Joseph H.] Vann’s [1798–1844]. Thus we leave this place, perhaps never to return. O what scenes of distress we have experienced here for these two years past. Yet the Lord has been kind and sustained us under all our afflictions, so that the 11

Elizabeth (Proctor) Butrick to Jeremiah Evarts, Carmel, GA Mar. 12, 1831, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 7 of ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM). 12

The church historian Garth M. Rosell described “concerts of prayer” as prayer meetings that reinforced a congregation’s interest in evangelism, provided a “seedbed for mission initiative,” and was a “feeder system for new missionary recruits.” The professor of American religious history Stephen J. Stein defined “concerts of prayer” as “an important institutional expression of the awakenings … . The groups were usually homogeneous, composed of men or women, young or old, who met at designated times for corporate prayer.” Garth Rosell, Boston’s Historic Park Street Church: The Story of an Evangelical Landmark (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2009), 60; and Stephen J. Stein, introduction to Apocalyptic Writings, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977), 5:36–7.

235 water floods have not overflowed us. And now I set out for Arkansas, bound 13 in spirit, feeling that afflictions await us. On the road to Indian Territory they could not escape the constant stream of blasphemy from the mouths of drunken soldiers, nor the white men who wandered the camps at night enticing the Cherokee to drink and gamble. One speculates that the frequent use of the pronoun “we” in his journal referenced experiences that he shared with his wife on the Trail of Tears. There was very little that Daniel could do to protect her from suffering on the journey. The expressions of grief he journaled were certainly also felt by her. One evening Daniel journaled: “I could but weep in view of the poor Cherokees, who, on the brink of destruction, seemed yet emulous to exult in those awful practices which have provoked the Lord to leave them to suffer these evils; and I told some of our dear brethren that if an angel could weep, he must weep in view of such a spectacle.”

Several times on the journey,

Daniel was invited into houses where he warmed his wife by the hearth, or to tables where they could sit and enjoy a meal. Prior to the Trail of Tears, Elizabeth attempted to comfort the refugees huddled into the stockades. She received permission from the soldiers to shelter the sick wife and eighteen-month-old child of Daniel’s informant Epenetus Achaia.

Marion Starkey

related that Elizabeth “brought the mothers into her kitchen and helped them strip their shuddering, blue lipped babies by the fire, warmed milk for them, and helped dry their 13

Thur., Oct. 4, 1838, Butrick’s Journal.

Ibid., Tues., Nov. 1838.

Ibid., Thur., May 31, 1838.

236 clothes.”

On the Trail of Tears, Daniel reported how Elizabeth tended to the severe burns of

an exhausted elderly Cherokee who had fallen asleep too close to the Butricks campfire— catching fire.

Keeping with a long-standing New Year’s Day tradition, Daniel journaled about the good things God had done over the course of his life. On the first day of 1839, and midway on the Trail of Tears, Daniel recounted some of his personal failures and then thanked the Lord for dear Elizabeth: The health of my dear wife the year past calls for the most unfeigned gratitude to God. During almost the whole of last winter I was confined to the house with sickness. She arose first in the morning, saw to fires being made, and to all the domestic concerns of the house. By this means without hiring help, we proceeded with the school, boarding ten children and the teacher, and attending to the constant flow of company that called on us. Thus also through the whole summer and fall her labors have been particularly trying; and since we have been on this journey, for three long months, she has slept in a wagon or a tent, and been exposed to cold and wet, and at present has to go forward again, and take care of me in my ill health. Yet she has not sunk under her burthens. The Lord has sustained her, and blessed be his name. O’ that her 18 health, spiritual and temporal, may be still preserved. Through the month of January the Butricks had become so ill that at times they could barely walk. The journey of the Trail of Tears lasted a total of five months with the couple arriving in Indian Territory with their detachment of “wandering” Cherokee on March 25, 1839. 16

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 289.

Sabbath, Nov. 1838, Butrick’s Journal.

Ibid., Tues., Jan. 1, 1839.

Ibid., Sat., Mar. 23, 1839.

237 The Butricks served at these missions in Indian Territory, performing the following duties over the final years of their lives together. The highlights of Daniel’s service were as follows: 1. Fairfield Mission Station in Indian Territory (1839–40): After the Trail of Tears Daniel Butrick briefly “[took] charge of the Church, and attend[ed] to the general concerns of 20 the Station.” Dr. Elizur Butler assumed control of the mission station in October 1840. 2. Beatty’s Prairie / Mt. Zion Mission Station (1841–1843) Daniel Butrick arrived January 1841. He officially changed the name from Brainerd to Mt. Zion in March 1841. He helped establish the school while serving as pastor at the church and overseeing the other operational concerns of the station. Due to personal illness the Butricks boarded at the Dwight Mission Station during the winter of 1843. That following summer he traveled with Elizabeth between the mission stations at Parkhill, Dwight and Mt. Zion where he administered communion and preached. 3. On May 22, 1844 Butrick wrote a letter of demission (abdication) from service with the ABCFM (withdrawn in September 1844). On February 20, 1845, he renewed his request for a dismissal based upon personal illness, and a desire to return home to Western New 21 York. The Butricks continued to oversee the operations at Mt. Zion when the ABCFM failed to locate a missionary family willing to take their place. Butrick petitioned the United Brethren (Moravians) for help. They eventually took control of Mt. Zion (renaming it Canaan) in 1852. Elizabeth died of a heart attack at the Dwight mission station on August 10, 1847. Upon composing himself to write Corresponding Secretary David Greene, Daniel said this about her passing: “From the time I was taken so severely ill at Mount Zion my dear wife 20

Butrick to Greene, Fairfield [Indian Territory], Aug. 31, 1840, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM). 21

Ibid., Feb. 20, 1845.

238 spared no pains in nursing, comforting, and strengthening me, seeming to forget altogether the dangers to which she was exposing herself.”

Concerning the details of Elizabeth’s passing, during the previous three years Daniel suffered from a horrible bout of sickness—maybe tuberculosis. Upon regaining his health, he proposed visiting the Choctaw nation with dear Elizabeth. He wrote, “She was ready to undertake it, if it would promise any benefit to me, though, as she has told me since, she feared the effects on her own constitution, on account of the heat of summer, yet was 23

willing to go, should it even occasion her death.”

On the way to the Choctaw nation Elizabeth suffered from heat exhaustion. After a few days of rest at her brother’s residence in Mount Pleasant, the Butricks attempted to ride the 30 to 40 miles home. Then in the middle of a vast sunbaked prairie, she had a heart attack. Daniel brought her home and cared for her, then she passed away. In the aftermath of her death, Daniel wrote about the consequence of his relationship with her: 22

Butrick to Greene, Dwight [OK], Aug. 10, 1847, and Mar. 20, 1847, ABCFM. Butrick described his wife’s illness as “yellow jaundice.” An 1830 medical text offers insight into the symptoms of Elizabeth disease: “Discoloration of the skin … [that] varies, however, greatly in intensity. Sometimes the yellow tinge is so slight as to be perceptible only in the conjunctiva. At other times the whole skin becomes deeply imbued with it … But independent of symptoms obviously referable to the presence of bile in the circulation, there are others of a different character, very frequently met with in jaundice; such as languor and lassitude, lowness of spirits, an itching of the skin (often exceedingly obstinate and troublesome,) a sluggish pulse, and great debility. Jaundice too is commonly attended with the usual marks of indigestion; loss of appetite, flatulence, and acid eructations.” George Gregory, F. J. V. Broussais, and Daniel L. M. Peixotto, Elements of the Theory and Practice of Physic: Designed for the Use of Students (NewYork: Sherman, 1830), 425–26. 23

Butrick to Greene, Dwight [OK], Aug. 10, 1847, ABCFM.

239 Weeping is my repost but why? I fear I have fixed my attention so long on one dear object as to forget, too much, [tear-stain Butrick] my obligations to the rest rest of the world [tear-stain and strikethrough Butrick] But our circumstances, a few years past, have been particularly calculated to concentrate our of fictions, [sic] and render parting the more painful; yet I know that the same savior who supported my [tear-stain Butrick] dear wife in the hour of death, can support me and turn the shadow of death into the morning; and that my only business is to inquire what the Lord will have me 24 do; and how can I best improve the little wick of life remaining. After the Trail of Tears, amidst the trouble facing the Cherokee nation in Arkansas and Indian Territory, Butrick had focused upon the “fictions” of the comfort he found in his wife, rather than his obligations as a missionary to the Cherokee. In actuality, he was still recovering from the consequences of the Trail of Tears and a long life-threatening spell of sickness. More so, he was bereaved and at an absolute loss about how to move forward.

In Memorial of Elizabeth (Proctor) Butrick, “BUTTRICK, ELIZABETH, missionary among the Cherokees, died at Dwight Aug. 3, 1847, aged 67. She was the daughter of Jonathan Proctor of Ipswich, Mass. Having been a teacher in New England, she went among the Cherokees in Georgia, as a teacher, in 1823. In 1827 she married Daniel S. Buttrick, who had been a missionary nine years. Their labors were among the Indians on the east side of the Mississippi till 1838, and afterwards on the west, at Fairfield and Mount Zion. In her last hours, ‘all was peaceful and joyful.’ She had toiled faithfully twenty-four years among a dark-minded people”

Butrick to Greene, Dwight [OK], Aug. 10, 1847, ABCFM.

The American Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Account of the Lives, Characters, and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons Deceased in North America from Its First Settlement. By William Allen (1857), 178.

240 “The Times of Restitution of All Things” (Acts 3:21KJV): What Daniel Found amidst All That He Had Lost All the wisdom that Elizabeth had tried to communicate to Daniel, the advice that he stubbornly disregarded, became an unintended inheritance for him at her death. Everything that was ever wonderful about her glistened in his memory and encouraged him to serve the Lord more passionately than before. It is part of our human nature that when a loved one is lost (like Daniel’s Elizabeth) the impact their life had upon ours becomes evident. Thomas Nu:tsa:wi believed that the spirit of the ones he loved and lost remained nearby for a short time; at Elizabeth’s passing Daniel’s heart ached with a longing to fulfill the hopes and desires she voiced to him during their twenty years together. The conclusion of her journey began the final chapter of his forty years of ministry to the Cherokee nation. “There are two perspectives of history,” the historian Emilio Campi said in the Kantzer Lecture Hall on the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School campus one evening: “The perception of the believer versus the perception of the skeptic. It is one level of perception versus the other. There is no way to read history as a divine sign because it cuts both ways.”

Campi valued a critical reading of history that accommodates an objective point of

view. “Divine signs” are subjective and unverifiable from the perspective of a skeptic. They cause history to lose relevance if skeptics can easily dismiss the claims of historians. Butrick nonetheless believed in divine signs and what he was able to accomplish during the final four years of his life was nothing short of miraculous. Whether it 26

Emilio Campi, “Bullinger” (lecture, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL, Oct. 24, 2006).

241 was the result of dear Elizabeth’s passing in August 1847 and the death of Corresponding Secretary David Greene two months later, or Jesus Christ himself interceding on Daniel’s behalf, is open to interpretation. In either case, Butrick found the restoration he hoped for his whole life during the years before he died in June 1852. Larghetto (♪=108) “How Beautiful are the Feet of Those that Preach the Gospel of Peace, and Bring Glad Tidings of Good Things”: Butrick’s Ministry among the Five Civilized Tribes Daniel Butrick defined restitution as: “‘Restitution’ (Acts 3:21) signifies both to restore and to end, we cannot certainly determine whether our Lord will personally restore the kingdom vis. before the millennium or end—finish vis. at the last day.”

When Butrick’s

time of restoration arrived there were not any archangels in attendance. Nor did Christ descend from his heavenly throne to end the apocalypse and commence his millennial reign; nor did choruses from Handel’s “Messiah” rain down from on high. Butrick simply packed his bags, climbed atop his horse and departed for the Choctaw nation.

Butrick traveled south to the Choctaw nation (on the Red River) hoping to avoid a snowy winter in the northern region of Indian Territory. While there he visited friends, talked with a number of Indians and attended several camp meetings (outdoor 27

Butrick to Greene, Dwight [OK] Nov. 13, 1843, ABCFM. Butrick believed that society was in a state of moral decline. He speculated that by the 1940s America would become the most violent nation in world history. He believed that the Antichrist would reign at the end of the twentieth-century and Christ would return to defeat Satan and establish his thousand-year reign at the beginning of the twenty-first-century. 28

Ibid., Oct. 12, 1847.

242 revivals). By winter’s end, he was discussing with some of his ABCFM brethren the possibility of participating in mission work among the Five Civilized Tribes.

Of Butrick’s final years, the historian Marion Starkey wrote, “He seemed to be on good terms with his fellow missionaries, above all with the Methodists. In 1847 he 30

indulged himself in a visit to the Choctaws.”

He indulged himself in the fulfillment of a

long suppressed desire—a fresh start. The sixty eight year-old Butrick reclaimed the sense of purpose that had defined his life after his “Profession of Religion” at age fourteen. He no longer argued about the consequences of the Trail of Tears with David Greene, nor recorded the reports of murder and mayhem in Indian Territory. His correspondence to the new Corresponding Secretary Selah B. Treat was upbeat at the start of these final years. Regarding his mission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Butrick’s spirit was willing, but years of sickness had weakened him. During several brief periods of good health he paid these Indian nations a visit to preach and enjoy their company. A particular journey he made in October 1848 is worthy of mention as a nostalgic final comment about his collaboration with John Howard Payne roughly a decade earlier. Butrick and an Indian named Mr. Payne rode together to meet some friends from the Delaware nation. Butrick wrote of the adventure, “I received some information from the Delawares, interesting, at least to me, relative to the ancient customs of their people. I 29

The Five Civilized Tribes are the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole nations. 30

Starkey, Cherokee Nation, 318.

243 have also received of late some very important facts relative to the Chippeway language.”

If nothing else, the incident demonstrates that Butrick had not forgotten about his still unpublished collaboration with John Howard Payne. One speculates whether Butrick appreciated his nostalgic ride with “Mr. Payne (a Cherokee) who keeps a boarding house” as a symbolic conclusion to his relationship with the famous playwright years earlier. Butrick said of the memories that stirred his timeworn heart, “I know that in reviewing scenes long past, as the events of childhood, we are apt to retain in mind only the beautiful, thus making the present more gloomy.”

In view of the gloomy and uncertain

reality around him, Butrick reminisced about the beautiful moments he shared with the people who had once been part of his life. Restitution began to occur as he let go of the past and extended grace to his brethren for their faults. In a sense, Butrick finally acted upon the advice Corresponding Secretary Jeremiah Evarts gave him long ago: “If you should differ from your brethren … simply consider how very probable it is that you may be wrong, and 33

there leave the subject.”

(July 1848) “I Sometimes Feel Very Confident Of What I Afterwards Find to be Incorrect”: Butrick Trusts the Savior’s Reasons For His Deteriorating Health Butrick’s May 1848 letter to the new Corresponding Secretary Selah B. Treat began a series of topical conversations that brought closure to all the major issues he 31

Butrick to Selah B. Treat, Dwight [OK], Oct. 26, 1848, ABCFM.

Ibid., May 11, 1848, ABCFM.

Butrick to Evarts, Haweis [GA], Apr. 19, 1826, ABCFM.

244 struggled with during his forty-year career with the ABCFM. Butrick likely chose the topics in order to introduce his perspectives to the newly appointed Corresponding Secretary. Butrick wrote a brief history of the ABCFM’s mission to the Cherokee nation reflecting his perspective on events that shaped his career. Butrick’s comment about a professor of theology whose positions he disagreed with opened the letter containing the history of his mission. Butrick wrote, “Finding a copy of Prof. Stuart’s exposition of the Apocalypse, I concluded to give it a more thorough reading, and therefore devoted about three weeks at most entirely to it. I formerly had a peculiar respect and veneration for Prof. Stuart. His exposition of Romans, however, 34

never appeared to be wholly orthodox.”

Butrick thoughts about Stuart’s work end with, “In less than 20 years it will probably be very dangerous … to speak openly and decidedly against the whore of Babylon, in the United States.”

The folklorist Keith Cunningham argued that many of the memories

and stories people share concern “life, its meaning, and its aftermath.”

Accordingly, one

interprets Butrick’s story and warning about Professor Stuart for what he was communicating about the life lessons he had learned. 34

Butrick to Selah B. Treat, Dwight [OK], May 11, 1848, ABCFM. Professor Stuart (1780–1852 ), see Moses Stuart, A Commentary on the Apocalypse (Andover: Allen, Morrill, and Wardwell, 1845). 35

Ibid.

245 Butrick’s recollection of Lyman Beecher and Jedidiah Morse’s plea for America’s Christians to champion the cause of missions in heathen lands had taken on new meaning after the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Accordingly, Butrick introduced himself to Treat by warning that just because a theologian is “respected and venerated” does not mean that they are correct. He prefaced his account of Cherokee history with a story that warned about the fallibility of a teacher’s perspective. He concluded that the problem would grow worse in time because a satanic presence was hard at work in America seeking to silence those who attempt to speak on God’s behalf. Following Butrick’s warning about the failings of some theologians was an allusion to his own shortcomings. Butrick made a subtle reference to his struggle with the Cherokee language in the early 1820s by mentioning his Baptist friend Reverend Evan Jones’s work on a Cherokee Grammar, “Though his other cares prevent its speedy completion.”

Then Butrick proceeded to give a brief history of the ABCFM’s work among

the Indians. He told Treat that his brethren failed at their mission because, “Mammon was placed above God,—earth above heaven, and time made more important than eternity.”

Butrick’s story about the difficulties faced by his brethren culminated in a musing about the importance of love: Love is the life of the spiritual world, as blood is of the animal. When blood ceases to flow in our arteries, how vain to talk of change, or condition to render us active. For when love ceases to flow among the professed members of the body of Christ, what can they do? If they love not their brother whom 37

Butrick to Selah B. Treat, Dwight [OK], May 11, 1848, ABCFM.

Ibid.

246 they have seen, how can they love God whom they have not seen? If they 39 cannot love each other, how can they love the heathen? Butrick intended to inform Treat of the history of his brethren’s mission but ended up providing him with a letter full of the lessons that he learned from those years of struggle. As with other Corresponding Secretaries, Treat missed the point Butrick hoped to communicate and responded with a letter pointing out Butrick’s numerous factual errors. In Butrick’s July 1848 response to Treat, he admitted that his memory for the factual details of the ABCFM mission was flawed and instructed Treat to burn the May 1848 letter. Butrick simply considered that he was wrong, and there left the subject. The blessedness of Butrick’s forgetfulness was that it forced him to abandon his obsession to clarify the record concerning his brethren’s failings during the Cherokee removal crisis.

That summer Butrick offered Treat some wisdom concerning the sanctity of a chronic illness. “Sickness is the kind messenger of our blessed redeemer to lead his people gently to the banks of Jordan, we can scarcely regret its approach, or wish to detain, beyond the appointed time any of his dear children from the bosom of infinite love.”

Butrick

apparently had found peace concerning his physical ailments. He was also able to trust God’s reasons for allowing the reality of death to enter the world. 39

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], May 11, 1848, ABCFM.

“Blessed are the forgetful: for they get ‘the better even’ of their blunders.” Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (New York: Boni and Liveright, 1885), 161. 41

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], June 17, 1848, ABCFM.

247 His final letters were wonderfully absent of a tone of bitterness. His memory of the arguments he entered into with Corresponding Secretaries Jeremiah Evarts and David Greene on the issue of Cherokee removal led Butrick to beg Treat’s pardon concerning his stand on abolition: “[I] pray that I may not be a source of grief to you. And I trust you will not cease to pray for me, as a child—an infant—the least infant, that I can be sustained a moment only in the bosom of the infinitely kind and condescending Jesus.”

(Sept. 1848) “Ambassadors of Christ Can Never Preach the Gospel to Every Creature If They Must Be Made In Any Way Responsible For the Political And Civil Rights Of Men”: Butrick and the Abolition Movement Butrick certainly believed that Africans were the descendants of Noah’s son Ham. After God had delivered humanity from the great flood that had destroyed the world, Noah planted a vineyard and fermented some wine. The account in Genesis reads, And he drank from the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. … And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. (Genesis 9:21–23, 25 KJV) The editors of The Payne-Butrick Papers (2010) noted, “This Bible story is supposed to justify racism and slavery.”

While this story justified racism and slavery for some

nineteenth-century Evangelicals, Butrick had his own reading of the narrative. 42

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], Sept. 6, 1848, ABCFM.

John Howard Payne et al., notes to The Payne-Butrick Papers, 2 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010), 1:238:n2.

248 Upon reviewing the story of Noah’s son Ham, and other Bible verses, Butrick formed an opinion about slavery that was very similar to his thinking regarding entering into the politics of the Cherokee removal crisis. He argued: God had appointed another order of ministers by whom he was governing the world, and all the political and civil destinies of men, and from whom he would require, a strict account of their stewardship; and that I, as a missionary to the heathen had better keep close by the side of Saint Paul, knowing nothing but Christ and him crucified, and seeking nothing comparatively, but 44 the glory of God. Butrick believed that a reckoning awaited those rulers who abused their authority over the people whose lives they governed. Regardless of political affairs, Butrick’s only concern was for the salvation of the souls for whom Christ had died to save. He believed in abolition, but refused to take sides because of who he was as a minister of the gospel to the heathen. The conversation about abolition began with Treat offering Butrick sympathetic and kind “exhortations with regard to spirituality” in his letters.

One speculates

that Butrick found release in the comforting responses of this Corresponding Secretary who appeared generally interested in hearing Butrick’s opinion. The warm tone of Butrick’s writings to Treat resulted in an apology of sorts for his history of arguing with the late David Greene. Butrick wrote, “It is particularly painful to say or do anything to grieve that Committee from whom we have received so many thousands [of] favors; and especially is it painful to find my sentiments at variance with that 44

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], Sept. 6, 1848, ABCFM.

Ibid.

249 dear Cor. Secretary whose memory I trust, I shall ever cherish with my fondest recollections till we meet in a world of light, where no moral darkness can obstruct our view.”

When the Prudential Committee instructed Treat to pressure the missionaries to denounce the practice of slavery in their congregations in January 1849, the missionaries deliberated amongst themselves for several months and then responded in July with a refusal to engage the issue. Butrick chaired the meetings of his brethren and Samuel A. Worcester served as clerk. Both signed a statement reading: “Resolved, that we do earnestly desire and hope to be excused from further correspondence on the subject of slavery.”

Treat increased his pressure on Butrick and his brethren to take a unified stand against the practice of slavery at their mission stations. In turn Butrick wrote more comprehensively on the topic, in an attempt to persuade the board of his perspective. In April 1849 he wrote: “I have no desire to agitate the issue of slavery.” Then he defended the ABCFM’s position on the issue in 1822, wherein they defined slavery as a moral evil that was outside their “province as a missionary board” to turn into a political issue.

A month later Butrick wrote a long letter to Treat wherein he shared about some opportunities he had to evangelize among the African slaves. He defined slaves as members of the human family and quoted the teachings of Jesus that proclaimed their 46

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], Oct. 30, 1848, ABCFM.

Butrick and Samuel A. Worcester to Treat, Dwight [OK], July 11, 1849,

ABCFM. 48

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], Apr. 17, 1849, ABCFM.

250 equality and value in the sight of God. He argued that more important than abolition was the importance of imparting to slaves a clear understanding of divine truth. Butrick proclaimed: The Bible is not merely a light, but it warms, nourishes and vivifies the soul, and enables it to bring forth fruit to the glory of God. How often are even experienced Christians chilled and frozen as by a Greenland winter, and find every expedient fail of affording relief, till they open the sacred page, when their winter is changed to spring, and their ice melts into a flood of tears at 49 Emmanuel’s feet. It appeared for a moment that Treat humbly yielded to Butrick’s perspective. Treat wrote to him stating, “I am satisfied that the matter should remain just where it is.”

Butrick was

rapturous. Believing that his arguments against the ABCFM entering another political battle won over his Corresponding Secretary, Butrick visited Dr. Elizur Butler to share the triumphant news. Butler quickly informed Butrick that he had misread the letter and it was a less consequential matter that had been resolved. Butrick again stood corrected. He mused that 51

the relief he felt “on the death of our poor friend abolitionism, was rather premature.” Butrick stubbornly held his position.

In September 1849 Treat put on hold his attempts to convince Butrick of his shortsightedness on the matter. With little else to discuss, Treat gave Butrick an open invitation to keep in touch. In January 1850, Butrick wrote about his lifelong love for the 49

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], June 20, 1849, ABCFM.

Treat to Butrick, Boston, May 25, 1849, ABCFM

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], June 27, 1849, ABCFM.

251 Indians and faith that they are the lost ten tribes of Israel.

Then in February he wrote

regarding the successful spiritual mission of the Baptist missionaries among the Cherokee in Indian Territory. In March Treat responded to Butrick by informing him to call another meeting of the brethren to discuss the issue of abolition. A severely ill Butrick wrote to Treat and told him that a meeting of the brethren was called April, then he wrote “I am grieved exceedingly … [I] state the subject to which our attention is demanded as it appears in my own mind, and just refer once to that immovable foundation on which all my religious principles are and must be based [Underscores Butrick].” He restated that his brethren were not proslavery and then he listed the various reasons they had given in 1849 for their refusal to enter into another political controversy.

At the close of the letter, Butrick resigned from the services of the ABCFM

and informed Treat that what he was demanding had absolutely nothing to do with the welfare of the Cherokee mission.

A month later an apologetic and clearly disheartened Butrick wrote to Treat confessing that he did not mention the subject of abolition at the meeting held in April (as 52

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], Jan. 1, 1850, ABCFM.

Ibid., Apr. 17, 1850. “The Congregational missionaries, almost all from New England, told their boards that while they personally abhorred the institution of slavery, it was not feasible for them to openly oppose it among the slaveholding tribes. Not only were missionaries supposed to avoid meddling in political affairs, but [also] to do so would risk their being expelled. Moreover, due to the shortage of labor in Indian nations (since Indians did not like to work for missionaries), they often had to hire slaves to work for them.” William Gerald McLoughlin, After the Trail of Tears: The Cherokees’ Struggle for Sovereignty, 1839–1880 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 137. 54

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], Apr. 14, 1850, ABCFM.

252 instructed) because he did not feel that the topic needed to be rehashed among his brethren. Butrick failed under the political pressure, lied to his Corresponding Secretary and then resigned his post. Butrick confessed, “My only apology for writing individually, as I did, on a subject which was coming before the mission, is, I had no thought of saying anything on the subject during the meeting of the mission.”

“A Simple Expression of the Already Fixed Position Of my Mind”: The Fulfillment of D. S. Butrick’s Spiritual Mission to the Cherokee Nation From his bedside Butrick wrote Treat a brief account of his activities for the past few months even though he was no longer a missionary for the American Board. By January 1851 his health had improved and he reported to Treat that he had attended a meeting of his brethren wherein he served as an unofficial clerk. Since October he had been performing all of the duties that had characterized his years of service with the ABCFM. He preached, attended camp meetings, spent time traveling with the Reverend Jones, visited a newly organized Cherokee Church over 200 miles away, and among an assortment of other ministerial duties led a dying woman to the Lord. At the close of the journal contained in the letter, Butrick was sick and bedridden again.

In a final letter to Treat that was dated March 1851, Butrick resigned his unofficial position as clerk at his brethren’s business meetings in order to save the Corresponding Secretary the embarrassment of having to overrule the unanimous vote that had placed him in the position. Butrick signed the letter and then jotted a short postscript 55

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], May 29, 1850, ABCFM.

Ibid., Oct. 24, 1850; and Jan. 19, 1851.

253 assuring the Corresponding Secretary that he really was resigning his unofficial affiliation with the Board this time. His relationship with the ABCFM, and mission to the Cherokee nation, concluded with this stubborn sentence: “The above is a simple expression of the already fixed position of my mind.”

In Memorial of Daniel Sabin Buttrick, “I presume you have been informed that Mr. Buttrick [sic] was lying very low. … His decline was gradual, and his death not unexpected either to himself or others. I had not seen him since he was quite confined to his room. I heard of him about a week before his death, then scarcely able to speak so as to be heard, but in the utmost tranquility awaiting his departure. He was eminently a man of prayer, and was a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have reason to rest assured that he is gone to the enjoyment of a rich reward for many years of self-denying labor for the souls of this people. I hope we may all be admonished to fill up, with diligence, the remainder of our allotted time in efforts to save 58

immortal souls.”

Butrick to Treat, Mar. 11, 1851, ABCFM.

Samuel A. Worcester to Treat, Park Hill [OK], June 9, 1851, ABCFM.

CONCLUSION Last night, in my sleep, I thought I had a view of our Divine Redeemer … It was a representation of our Savior, in two persons, hanging on the gallows. I remarked, thus we can see that our Lord died twice; first he was hung, and coming to life was afterward crucified. Again during the night, I thought the Savior was brought, a corpse, into the house. But after he was laid down he opened his eyes. I knelt down and put my face to his cheek, but do not recollect what I said. O was this view of my suffering Savior brought before me, to reprove my backwardness to suffer for his name? O thou Divine Redeemer, Thou alone earnt [sic] arm me for the conflict; or prepare me to suffer “all thy righteous will; and to the end endure.” —Personal Journal of Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick, 1844

This is the thesis question: What was the relevance of Daniel Sabin Butrick’s theological perspective as it influenced his relationships with his missionary brethren, Christian Cherokee informants and editor John Howard Payne? I chose to resolve this question with aesthetic creativity and panache because “Indian Antiquities” was more than a collection of valuable data. It contained stories about relationships—particularly those influenced by Butrick’s propagation of the lost ten tribes of Israel motif. The current academic discussion has neglected to address the relationship Protestant missionaries and Cherokee Indians had with their Christian theology. The historian William G. McLoughlin’s life work dealt with this topic. As a self-proclaimed ethno-historian he addressed the socio-religious impact Christianity had upon the Cherokee; missionary theology was a peripheral concern. 254

255 In the first chapter, I discussed how Butrick patterned his life according to a literal theological interpretation of Scripture. He engaged the policies of his mission board and brethren according to that standard. The ten tribes motif maintained his connection to his own Church tradition as he embraced a Cherokee-centered worldview. His work on “Indian Antiquities” was a theological response to the social policy enforced by his brethren. Butrick was passionate about evangelism and viewed his use of the motif as verifiable historic evidence that the Cherokee belonged to God. He hoped that the research would be a divine sign for those who read it. In chapter 2, I demonstrated the legacy of Butrick’s “Indian Antiquities” manuscript. The pamphlet entitled, Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (1884) was the only publication of his research. The notable Cherokee author Walter Adair Duncan, criticized the impact of Butrick’s argument while respecting his legacy. This critic believed that the antiquities lost their relevance when Butrick died because they were part of his larger ministry to the Cherokee. I believe that Duncan was right that the relevance of “Indian Antiquities” was buried with its author—but Butrick prayed for restoration. In the autumn of 2010 the John Howard Payne Papers were published and the relevance of “Indian Antiquities” was revived.

Those who mined his research for facts did not demonstrate a respect for Butrick’s faith. Their treatment of the “Indian Antiquities” manuscript neglected the spiritual 1

John Howard Payne et al., The Payne-Butrick Papers, 2 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010).

256 2

intention of its author and contributors. This is tragic because Butrick’s attempt to connect the Cherokee to the lost Israelites resulted in more than a collection of data. The benefit of his theological perspective was evident in the story of his relationships within the nation. The living stories of his informants handwritten into Butrick’s manuscripts are the ancestors of the stories told by the current generation of Cherokee Christians. His privileged perspective resulted in preservation of the memory of people like Thomas Nu:tsa:wi. In chapter 3, I analyzed John Howard Payne’s response to Butrick’s privileged perspective. Payne entered into the collaboration as a business venture. His rendering of 3

Butrick’s research portrayed ancient Cherokee folkways as a lost treasure. He wrote this quaint interpretation of “Indian Antiquities” in order to stir public interest and free himself of the unprofitable project. Chapter 4 concluded the narrative of Butrick’s forty-year career as a missionary to the American Indians. This interpretation of his final years begins at the close of the Cherokee Trail of Tears in Indian Territory. Butrick began to realize the restitution he hoped for his whole life as he was able to take to heart the encouragement of his wife, forgive his brethren for their shortcomings, and renew his spiritual ministry among the Five Civilized Tribes. 2

Daniel S. Buttrick, Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (Vinita: Indian Territory: Indian Chieftain, 1884); Rev. Daniel Sabin Buttrick, “A Cherokee Rebuttal to Buttrick,” in Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (A Machine-readable Transcription) ed. Jeffrey Freeman-Fuller, rev. ed.(Little Rock, AR: American Native Press Archives and Sequoyah Research Center, 2007), http://anpa.ualr.edu/digital_library/buttrick/buttrick.htm #A Cherokee Rebuttal to Buttrick (accessed Nov. 11, 2011). 3

John Howard Payne, The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites (Philadelphia: 1849).

257 Butrick’s investment in the affairs of the Cherokee nation set the slow pace of his correspondence with Payne. The apologetic tone of Butrick’s letters suggests Payne was also frustrated with the quality of the work. When the antiquities finally arrived, Butrick had not cited the sources of his loosely organized material. Two years later Payne had resolved many of these issues as he produced two edited drafts of the manuscript. There is no evidence that Payne intended to become a promoter of the ten tribes motif. The complicated political discourses that accompanied the antiquities undermined the works’ profitability. Payne moved on to other opportunities once the project became agenda-driven. When the collaboration ended, Butrick continued his work on “Indian 4

Antiquities” in a manuscript entitled “Jews and Indians,” Without a publisher, Butrick continued the research in hope that God would somehow redeem it. I believe that at this point it had become such a large part of his theological perspective that he was unable to let it go. Butrick’s Inheritance to the Cherokee Nation: The Good News Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick was a man of faith who relied on the Bible for instruction about how to respond to the cataclysmic issue of Cherokee removal. Within his first two years of missionary service to the Cherokee nation, he formulated opinions concerning the relocation of the tribe west of the Mississippi River and into Indian 5

Territory. During the Cherokee removal crisis (1830s), Butrick distanced himself from the 4

Butrick arrived at the Brainerd Mission Station on January 4, 1818. Daniel S. Butrick to Samuel Worcester D.D., Brainerd [TN], Jan. 1, 1819, Papers of the American

258 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) policy of civil disobedience in their fight against the State of Georgia. He stubbornly insisted that “as Christians and ministers we were as really bound to adhere to the word of God, [sic] as we were under the general direction of a missionary society only to enable us to serve Christ more effectually among the heathen.”

Butrick’s decision to champion the necessity of spiritual conversion over the call for social action, defined his legacy among the Cherokee. The historian William McLoughlin (1922–1992) said this regarding his decision to emphasize matters of faith: … [He] quoted Jesus to the Cherokees when they looked askance at his stand: “Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” [Luke 12:14] Though Butrick, in my opinion, took the weaker side on the issue of 1829–1833, his position enabled him to take a stronger stand than [the missionary Samuel A.] Worcester and the American Board in the later stage of the removal crisis from 1834 to 1839. Without reversing his principles one iota, at least so far as he was concerned, he emerged in this period as a supporter of the Cherokees, 7 almost equal to [Samuel A.] Worcester. Between 1834 and 1839 Butrick compiled “Indian Antiquities” in an attempt to establish a written record of the Cherokee nation’s ancestral past, as a response to Cherokee removal. He intended to challenge the racial, moral, and religious stereotypes held by the majority of frontier Americans towards the Indians; more so, he hoped to demonstrate, beyond every doubt, that the Cherokee were indeed the lost ten tribes of Israel.

Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as ABCFM) 6

Butrick to David Greene, Candeys Creek [TN], Nov. 30, 1831, ABCFM.

William Gerald McLoughlin, Walter H. Conser, and Virginia Duffy, The Cherokee Ghost Dance: Essays on the Southeastern Indians, 1789–1861 (Macon, GA: Mercer, 1984), 429.

259 Butrick’s hope for the restoration of the Cherokee nation (lost ten tribes of Israel) was spiritual in nature, rooted in his passion to impart to them “a clearer knowledge of 8

divine things.” He was convinced that the Americans’ avarice for Cherokee land and property was insurmountable—their only hope was that God might fight on the Indians’ behalf, once the Cherokee restored their relationship with him, through his son Jesus Christ. Butrick believed that “by being handed down through successive generations, 9

their traditions have become burthened with much rubbish.” This was because the ancient priests betrayed their duty to communicate God’s word faithfully. He wrote of those leaders: Cherokee and Creeks [Muskogee], (and probably all the other tribes anninlly [annually]) had a distinct order of men whose official duty it was to preserve all the sacred traditions, laws, instructions, civil and religious ordinances vis. as a sacred deposit, and hand them down to their successors in office uncorrupted and unchanged. And although the people were to be instructed in all practical points necessary for their observance, yet with regard to some if 10 not many things they were not instructed at all [sic]. As spiritual shepherds, these Indian priests had betrayed the truth of God’s word in order to win the affections of their people. Butrick believed that it was his duty—his calling—to restore the Cherokee to the truth that their ancestors had departed from. He sought to restore the historical memory that they were a people chosen and set apart by God. During his thirty8

Butrick to Jeremiah Evarts, Calhoun, TN, Nov. 7, 1824, ABCFM; Marion L. Starkey, The Cherokee Nation (North Dighton, MA: JG Press, 1995), 8. Some historians believed that Butrick was attempting to prove that the Cherokee were one of the lost ten tribes of Israel. Starkey is among the scholars who shared this misinformed view. It is my position that Butrick was attempting to prove that the Cherokee were descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel. “All the red people on this continent are one people, the descendants of the same family.” “Indian Antiquities,” Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:201–291. 9

Brainerd [TN], May l3, 1836, Payne-Butrick Papers, 2:26.

Butrick, introduction to “Jews and Indians,” ABCFM, 8, 9.

260 four years of service to the Cherokee, Butrick continually struggled to remain faithful to the importance of this mission. In 1824 a Cherokee informant named William (dates unknown) shared with Butrick the story of the Thunder Boys, who created the world. In response, Butrick “endeavored to tell him [William] something of the Word of God and the plan of salvation, and urged him to listen to what Br. Reese might, from time to time, say on these subjects.”

This encounter with the storyteller was Butrick’s first documented effort to challenge the corrupted folkways of Cherokee tradition. Upon his return home, he recorded a detailed account of the antiquarian’s stories on two full pages of the public journal, sent to the ABCFM Prudential Committee for possible inclusion in a periodical. Interestingly this same letter also contained one of the few outlines of a sermon preached by Butrick. That week Butrick had preached a sermon entitled “the duty of a shepherd” (Ezekiel 34). The substance of this message was a summation of a chapter he had read on the topic in a Bible commentary shelved at the Cherokee Mission Library.

Butrick preached,

“Missionaries are shepherds in the strictest sense of the word … There is no excuse for 11

Butrick to Evarts, Calhoun, TN, Nov. 27, 1824, ABCFM. Brother Reese was possibly Charles Reese (1787–1846) who was one of Brainerd Mission’s first Cherokee converts. Biographical sketches to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:320. 12

Butrick to Evarts, Calhoun, TN, Nov. 27, 1824, ABCFM; “List of books belonging to the Cherokee Mission Library,” 1822, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 2 of ABC 18.3.1 (Hereafter cited as Brainerd Journal), 163; Samuel Turell Armstrong, and Jonathan Leavitt, The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments, According to the Authorized Version; with Explanatory Notes, Practical Observations, and Copious Marginal References, by Thomas Scott, Rector of Aston Sandford, Bucks; Vol. I[–VI] (Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 1827), 575–79.

261 unfaithful shepherds. The Lord is against them and … [nothing will] form the least apology. If they do not attend to the spiritual concerns of the flock, visit the sick, strengthen the weak, bring back the wandering, vis., they must answer for it at the last day.”

The situation faced by the backcountry, financially poor Cherokee in 1832 was dire, and Butrick believed that their need for spiritual restoration was urgent. He prayed: O how dark and gloomy is the night to them. Their dear children in the jaws of the great adversary,—carried away by temptation as with a flood,— deprived of schools and all means of improvement, and themselves immersed in thick darkness, but seldom enjoying the means of grace. O thou dear Jesus thou canst do all things. O do help us in this time of great distress. O I long to be with them,—not as a wayfaring man, but as their shepherd, to lead and 14 guide and take care of them. Grounded firmly in this identity as a shepherd, he prioritized the faith of his converts over a political fight for their homeland. Butrick championed theology because he believed that their faith in Christ was more important that the instinctual desire to defend a home. In 1833 Butrick spent an evening in conversation with Mr. Taylor.

The two

discussed “the real cause why the Indians have been, for ages, wasting away, vis., their sins 13

Butrick to Evarts, Calhoun, TN, Nov. 27, 1824, ABCFM.

“Private Journal of Daniel S. Butrick,” Mon. [Mar. 28], 1832, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, ABC 18.3.3 (Hereafter cited as Butrick’s Journal). 15

“However, Butrick openly opposed removal and shared the resentment against the treaty party, thereby contradicting his stand on the nonpolitical role of the missionary.” Introduction to Payne-Butrick Papers, 1:xxi. It is clear in his writings that the reasons for this contradiction stem from his emotional investment with the Cherokee amidst the horrors of their removal crisis, Trail of Tears, and resettlement in Indian Territory. 16

Possibly Captain Richard Taylor (1788–1853) who was a wealthy halfbreed. Joyce B. Phillips and Paul Gary Phillips, The Brainerd Journal: A Mission to the Cherokees, 1817–1823, Indians of the Southeast (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,

262 against God, directly or indirectly. [Then Butrick] urged the necessity of national repentance, and reformation, in order to the enjoyment and preservation of national mercies.”

suggested to Mr. Taylor, (and the ABCFM, to whom he was writing) that “our Cherokee brethren had better call the attention of their people to this subject, rather than dwell altogether on the oppression of their enemies, who were only a sword in the hand of God.”

Butrick’s hope for restoration was spiritual in the sense that he prayed the Cherokee would repent of their sins and give their hearts to Jesus. Then the God of Israel would champion their cause against the Americans. “Indian Antiquities” was his attempt to preserve the biblical truth that had remained in their folkways, in spite centuries of neglect by unfaithful storytellers. He also hoped that through its publication Americans claiming to be Christians would know that their violence against the Indians was unjustified—“They are a dear people and very evidently a part of the lost ten tribes. Their ancient traditions and 19

customs establish this point, I think, almost beyond the possibility of doubt.”

1998), 530. As a member of the national committee, he participated in a couple of treaty negotiations before Butrick’s arrival in the Nation. He was one of the signers of the New Echota Treaty (March 29, 1835) that relinquished the right of the Cherokee to their ancestral homeland. Biographical sketches to Payne-Butrick Papers 1:327–8. 17

Butrick to Greene, Calhoun, TN, Feb. 11, 1823, ABCFM.

Ibid., Feb. 11, 1823.

Ibid., Carmel [GA], Dec. 31, 1835.

263 Thesis Relevance: “Indian Antiquities” Testify To the Fortitude of Butrick’s Faith Privileged perspectives belong to neither the propagators nor the critics of divine signs. They belong to those who respond faithfully to the revelation they have received. Butrick reacted to what he believed were lost Israelites in America by championing his pastoral relationship with the Cherokee. Consequently, it estranged him from his brethren and muddled his collaboration with John Howard Payne. Evidence suggests that what began as a theological inquiry became the obsession that caused him to persevere in his mission. The privilege of his perspective was what sustained him. In the introduction of this thesis, I likened the experience of the Cherokee nation during the 1830s to the effects a cataclysmic Category Five hurricane. The State of Georgia wrought a deluge of trouble upon the Cherokee during the years of the removal crisis. Their expulsion from the homeland in 1838 saturated the Cherokee with grief. In addition, the resulting civil war in Indian Territory became a scourge upon the nation. This chain of events swamped Butrick’s life like a terrible flood. He did not know whether the Cherokee converts would weather the storm. The road ahead was stormy, but where they had come from was clear. “Indian Antiquities” demonstrated to him that God established their folkways. Butrick prayed the Cherokee would realize this truth. He obsessively proclaimed that gospel truth was the only hope of their restoration. Butrick’s propagation of the motif was similar to that of the main character of a traditional Cherokee story recorded by ethnographer James Mooney. My rendition of the Cherokee story emphasizes the influence of a privileged perspective.

264 A Cherokee named Tsuwe΄năhĭ met a stranger in the woods who told him about the hidden country under Pilot Knob in western North Carolina. The duo traveled to a cave and then down into the earth.

The Mountain Cherokee who lived in the hidden

country made Tsuwe΄năhĭ sit on the back of a tortoise by a counsel fire so he could reconnect with the heart of Cherokee tradition and then receive their welcome. A week went by before he became homesick and requested to leave. Tsuwe΄năhĭ returned to his village where his friends ridiculed his story. But he persisted telling it, until he convinced everyone to follow him to Pilot Knob. They travelled together into a country hidden there and reconnected with the folkways of their ancestors. Like Tsuwe΄năhĭ, Butrick’s journey also began with failure. Butrick bemoaned the failure of his society. His brethren’s dependence upon the good favor of their northern financial supporters undercut their protest when the threat of southern secession became an issue.

And his mission board abandoned the Cherokee nation

when the battle no longer satisfied their political interests. These failings are small compared to the callousness of frontier Americans. Southerners deprived the Cherokee nation of justice as they pillaged the land and persecuted the Indians. In view of this larger story, the historian 20

James Mooney’s History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees: Containing the Full Texts of Myths of the Cherokee (1900) and The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891) As Published by the Bureau of American Ethnology: with a New Biographical Introduction, James Mooney and the Eastern Cherokees (Asheville, NC: Historical Images, 1992), 341–342. 21

During the Nullification Crisis of 1832, South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union because of a debate over federal tariffs. Combined with the publicized Cherokee removal crisis in Georgia, there was a large amount of unwelcomed Northern attention brought upon this corner of the country. Politicians pressured the incarcerated missionaries to abandon their efforts against Georgia’s attack on Cherokee sovereignty for fear that the protest would break apart the Union.

265 Marion Starkey’s construal of Butrick’s imperfections pale in comparison. He was flawed, but so was everyone else. We remember him because he tried to live out the teachings of Jesus rather than distinguish himself among his fellows. He faithfully responded to the revelation of the gospel message and convinced himself that he was part of God’s plan to restore the Cherokee nation. He became obsessed with the privileged perspective that lost Israelites inhabited the wilderness and that his research would prove that they were central to God’s plan. He doubted that the American public would embrace this favorable view of the Indians. The Cherokee informants valued his perspective enough to hand over their inheritance of living stories. John Howard Payne was the first to reinterpret Butrick’s vision; since then scholars have ignored Butrick entirely as they mined the antiquities for data. Butrick persisted with his story in spite of his critics. “Indian Antiquities” was Butrick’s way of remembering that God had not abandoned the Cherokee to the injustice the Americans had delivered upon them. Butrick’s belief in the lost ten tribes of Israel motif supplied the fortitude he needed to remain with the Cherokee amidst crushing circumstances. As such, it is time to reassess its value within the John Howard Payne Papers. Its archival preservation is clearly an answer to Daniel Sabin Butrick’s prayer. Butrick’s Access to Christ’s Holy Mountain: Release from Captivity Beyond the perceivable absurdity of his research and folly of his conclusions awaits a blessing—a treasure that he obsessively thrusts in the face of our privileged perspectives. His words uphold what he believed to be the divine sign of history and insist

266 that Christ will have a day of reckoning with unbelievers. Butrick’s prophetic voice still resonates within John Howard Payne’s Papers. His manuscripts are the legacy of his faith. He frequently knelt in worship during his daily devotion time that he referred to as the “Family Altar.” In these moments he was aware of the empty spaces once occupied by his departed Cherokee mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and his beloved Elizabeth. A grey-haired and coughing Butrick hoped that before the end of his journey Christ would resurrect these beloved people whom he lost. He prayed, “That our infinitely kind Shepherd may guide my course, fix my attention on things above and in his own due time, permit me to unite with our dear, departed, above in celebrating his praise.”

In household worship, he also struggled with the unrighteousness of Americans and consequences of his own iniquities. He hoped Christ would deliver justice and restitution to the Cherokee nation. He prayed to the Son of God who understood what it was to live in the shadow of gallows and weep over murdered friends stretched out on parlor room tables. Daniel looked beyond this Vail of Tears to Mount Zion anticipating release … . 22

Butrick to Treat, Dwight [OK], Aug. 10, 1847, ABCFM.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Of course we can expect the attention only of a pious few to the following pages. I leave them as a tribute of respect and gratitude to the Cherokee Indians, and as containing in my own view, a true and faithful statement of Indian, compared with Jewish antiquities. —Introduction to “Jews and Indians” by Daniel Sabin Butrick (n.d.) I organized the bibliography according to the primacy of resources, by topic. I have listed the sources by their usage in this thesis. This list is divided as follows: 1. General Resources Archival Materials ................................................................................ 268 Journal Articles .................................................................................... 269 Theses, Dissertations, and Other Research Papers................................. 271 2. Primary Resources Books Belonging to the Cherokee Mission Library, Or Accessed by Butrick for “Jews and Indians” And “Indian Antiquities” ................................................................... 271 Cherokee Nation and American Indians ................................................ 274 Details about Daniel Sabin Butrick ....................................................... 275 Fiction, Almanacs, and Magazines ....................................................... 277 Historical Theology Pertaining to the American Board Of Commissioners for Foreign Missions ............................................ 277 Promotions of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel .......................................... 279

267

268 Rebuttals of American Indian Hebraic Origins ..................................... 281 Studies on Folklore and Storytelling ..................................................... 281 3. Secondary Resources American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions History .............................................................................................. 282 American Religious, Intellectual and Cultural Histories ........................ 283 Cherokee History and American Indian Cultural Studies ................................................................................. 284 European History and Philosophy ......................................................... 286 Lost Ten Tribes of Israel ...................................................................... 287 John Howard Payne .............................................................................. 288 General Resources Archival Materials American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), 1811–1819. Unit 6, Cherokee Mission, 1816–1859. Houghton Library, Harvard University, Boston, MA. ABCFM, 18.3.1 “vol. 2. Cherokee Mission. Joint Communications, 1818–1824.” ABCFM, 18.3.1 “vol. 3. Cherokee Mission, Individual Missionaries.” ABCFM, 18.3.1 “vols. 4 & 5. Cherokees, 1824–1831. Pt. 1.” ABCFM, 18.3.1 “vol. 7. Cherokees, 1831–1837. Pt. 1.” ABCFM, 18.3.1 “vol. 8. Cherokees, 1831–1837. Pt. 2.” ABCFM, 18.3.1 “vol. 10. Cherokee Mission, 1838–1844.” ABCFM, 18.3.1 “vol. 11. Cherokees, 1824–1859. Early Documents. vol. 1.” ABCFM, 18.3.1 “vol. 13. Cherokees, 1824–1859. vol. 3.” ABC 18.3.2. “vol. 1. Cherokee Mission, 1821–1841.”

269 ABC 18.3.2. “vol. 2. Cherokee Mission, 1821–1846.” ABC 18.3.2. “vol. 3. Cherokee Mission, 1822–1846.” ABC 18.3.2. “vol. 4. Cherokee Mission, 1824–1846.” ABCFM, 18.3.3 “vol. 2. Papers relating to the controversy with Georgia over the Indians, 1833–1840.” ABCFM, 18.3.3 “vol. 3. A Cherokee Missionary [Daniel Sabin Butrick] on Jews and Indians. 2 vols.” ABCFM, 18.3.3 “vol. 4. The Journal of an Unidentified Missionary to the Cherokees [Daniel Sabin Butrick], 1819–1845.” ABCFM, 18.3.3 “vol. 5. Journal of Daniel S. Butrick, Missionary, Dec. 1844.” American Indian Studies at the Newberry Library. “Edward E. Ayer Collection.” The Newberry Library. http://www.newberry.org/collections/ayer.html (accessed Dec. 28, 2010). John Howard Payne Papers. Ayer Manuscript Collection. Newberry Library, Chicago, IL. Now Searching: Newberry Library [non-circulating]. “Payne, John Howard, 1791–1852.” The Newberry Library. https://i-share.carli.illinois.edu/nby/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi? v1=12&ti=1,12&Search%5FArg=John%20Howard%20Payne%20papers&SL=None &Search%5FCode=FT%2A&CNT=20&PID=I5yGZUOf5CKhA99fBoLxo&SEQ=20 110109083419&SID=1 (accessed Jan. 10, 2011). Journal Articles Berek, Peter. “The Jew as Renaissance Man.” Renaissance Quarterly 51, no. 1 (1998): 128. Bushnell, David. “The Treatment of the Indians in Plymouth Colony.” New England Quarterly 26, no. 2 (1953): 193–218. Coulter, E. Merton. “John Howard Payne’s Visit to Georgia.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 46, no. 4 (Dec. 1962): 333–76. Fogelson, Raymond. “The Conjurer in Eastern Cherokee Society.” Journal of Cherokee Studies 5(Fall 1980):60–87. ______. “Who Were the Ani:Kutàni? An Excursion into Cherokee Historical Thought.” Ethnohistory 4, no. 4 (1984): 255–263.

270 Hellenbrand, Harold. “Not ‘To Destroy But to Fulfil’: Jefferson, Indians, and Republican Dispensation.” Eighteenth Century Studies. 18, no. 4 (1985): 523–549. Hudson, Charles, and James Adair. “James Adair as Anthropologist.” Ethnohistory 24, no. 4 (1977): 311–328. McDermott, Gerald R. “Jonathan Edwards and American Indians: The Devil Sucks Their Blood.” New England Quarterly 72, no. 4 (1999): 539–557. McLachlan, Carrie Anne. “Gi(h)li, The Dog in Cherokee Thought.” Journal of Cherokee Studies 23(2002):4–18. McLoughlin, William G. “Civil Disobedience and Evangelism among the Missionaries to the Cherokee.” Journal of Presbyterian History 51, no. 2 (Summer 1973): 116–139. Novinsky, Anita. “Padre Antonio Vieira, the Inquisition, and the Jews.” Jewish History 6, no. 2 (1992): 151–162. Payne, John Howard. “Prospectus of Jan Jehan Nima.” Georgia Journal 26, no. 58 (Sept. 22, 1835). Ranlet, Philip. “Another Look at the Causes of King Philip’s War.” New England Quarterly 61, no. 1 (1988): 79–100. Saunt, Claudio. “Telling Stories: The Political Uses of Myth and History in the Cherokee and Creek Nations.” Journal of American History 93, no. 3 (2006): 673–697. Shoemaker, Nancy. “How Indians Got to Be Red.” The American Historical Review 102, no. 3 (June 1997): 625–644. Smith-Rosenberg, Carrol. “Davey Crockett as Trickster: Pornography, Liminality and Symbolic Inversion in Victorian America.’” Journal of Contemporary History 17, no. 2 (Apr. 1982): 325–50. Stearns, Bertha-Monica. “John Howard Payne as an Editor.” American Literature 5, no. 3 (1933): 215–228. Thomas, Mark G, Tudor Parfitt, Deborah A Weiss, Karl Skorecki, James F Wilson, Magdel le Roux, Neil Bradman, and David B Goldstein. “Original Articles - Y Chromosomes Traveling South: The Cohen Modal Haplotype and the Origins of the Lemba – The “Black Jews of Southern Africa.” American Journal of Human Genetics 66, no. 2 (2000): 674. Witthoft, John. “Cherokee Beliefs Concerning Death.” Journal of Cherokee Studies 8 (Fall 1983): 68–72.

271 Vaughan, Alden T. “From White Man to Redskin: Changing Anglo-American Perceptions of the American Indian.” The American Historical Review 87, no. 4 (Oct. 1982): 917– 953. Yagelski, Robert. “A Rhetoric of Contact: Tecumseh and the Native American Confederacy.” Rhetoric Review 14, no. 1 (1995): 64–77. Young, Otis E. “The Southern Gold Rush, 1828–1836.” The Journal of Southern History 48, no. 3 (1982): 373–392. Theses, Dissertations, and Other Research Papers Donahoo, William D. “The Missionary Expression of American Evangelical Social Beliefs.” PhD diss., Johns Hopkins University, 1977. Murray, Michael J. “The Private Journal of Daniel S. Butrick: A New Interpretation of American Missionaries and Cherokee Removal.” MA Thesis, University of New Hampshire, 1996. Nixon-August , Nicol. “The Rhetoric of Nuna Dual Tsuny: Retelling the Cherokee Trail of Tears.” PhD diss., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2006. Robinson, Shoshana Miriam. “Experience Beyond Policy: Daniel Sabin Butrick's Mission to the Cherokee Nation, 1817–1851.” Thesis (A. B., Honors), Harvard University, 1986. Primary Resources Books Belonging to the Cherokee Mission Library, Or Accessed by Butrick for “Jews and Indians” And “Indian Antiquities” “List of books belonging to the Cherokee Mission Library,” 1822, Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, MSS, Houghton Library, Harvard University, vol. 2 of ABC 18.3.1 Cherokee Removal: The “William Penn” Essays and Other Writings by Jeremiah Evarts. Edited by Francis Paul Prucha. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1981. The Christian Observer. (Boston, MA: William Wells and T. B. Wait and Co.), 1802. The Christian Spectator. New Haven, CT: 1819. The Panoplist, and Missionary Herald. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 1818–1820. The Panoplist, and Missionary Magazine. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 1812–1817.

272 The Panoplist, or, The Christian’s Armory. Boston: 1806–1808. “An Address to the Jews.” The Panoplist and Missionary Herald. Sept. 1820. “An Address to the Jews.” The Panoplist and Missionary Herald. Oct. 1820. “Translations of the Scriptures.” The Panoplist and Missionary Magazine. Dec. 1812. Armstrong, Samuel Turell. Scott’s Family Bible, First Boston Edition: Samuel T. Armstrong, No. 50, Cornhill, Boston, Proposes to Republish Dr. Scott’s Family Bible, in Six Volumes Octavo. Boston: s.n., 1815. Boudinot, Elias. A star in the West: or, A humble attempt to discover the long Lost Ten tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city, Jerusalem. Trenton, NJ: D. Fenton, S. Hutchinson and J. Dunham, 1816. Bower, Alexander. The Life of Luther, With an Account of the Early Progress of the Reformation. London: P. Baldwin, 1813. Brown, John. A Dictionary of the Holy Bible: Containing an Historical Account of the Persons; a Geographical and Historical Account of the Places; a Literal, Critical, and Systematical Description of Other Objects, Whether Natural, Artificial, Civil, Religious, or Military: and the Explication of the Appelative Terms Mentioned in the Writings of the Old and New Testament ... Withe the Life of the Author. Berwick: Printed by & for W. Gracie, 1816. Brown, William, and Adam Clarke. The History of Missions, or, Of the Propagation of Christianity Among the Heathen Since the Reformation. Philadelphia: B. Coles, 1816. Brown, William, and David Jennings. Antiquities of the Jews: Carefully Compiled from Authentic Sources, and Their Customs Illustrated from Modern Travels. To Which Is Added, A Dissertation on the Hebrew Language. Edinburgh: Waugh, 1826. Buchanan, Claudius. Christian Researches in Asia With Notices on the Translation of the Scriptures into the Oriental Languages: to Which Is Added, The Star in the East. Lexington, KY: Printed and sold by Thomas T. Skillman, 1813. Bunyan, John. The Pilgrim’s Progress: from this world to that which is to come. [New York: Revell, 1903]. Butler, Frederick. Sketches of Universal History Sacred and Profane, from the Creation of the World to the Year 1818. Hartford [CT]: Cooke & Hale, 1819.

273 Calmet, Augustin, C. Taylor, Edward Robinson, George W. Boynton, and Jonathan Leavitt. Calmet’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible, As Published by the Late Mr. Charles Taylor, with the Fragments Incorporated. The Whole Condensed and Arranged in Alphabetical Order: American Edition. Revised, with Large Additions, by Edward Robinson, Professor Extraordinary of Sacred Literature in the Theological Seminary, Andover: Illustrated with Maps, and Engravings on Wood. Boston: Published by Crocker and Brewster, 47 Washington Street, 1832. Catlin, George. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians By Geo. Catlin. Written During Eight Years’ Travel Amongst the Wildest Tribes of Indians in North America, in 1832, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 ... With Four Hundred Illustrations, Carefully Engraved from His Original Paintings. New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1844. Dwight, Timothy. Theology Explained and Defended in a Series of Sermons: With a Memoir of the Life of the Author. 4 vols. New York: G. & C. Carvill, 1828. Edwards, Jonathan, and John Erskine. A History of the Work of Redemption Containing the Outlines of a Body of Divinity, in a Method Entirely New. Worcester [MA]: Printed by Isaiah Thomas, Jun., sold by him, 1808. Edwards, Jonathan, Samuel Austin, Isaiah Thomas, Isaac Sturtevant, Abner Reed, and David Brainerd. The Works of President Edwards: In Eight Volumes. Volume I[–VIII]: Containing. Worcester [MA]: by Isaiah Thomas, June Isaac Sturtevant, printer, 1808. Fenton, William N., William A. Starna, and Jack Campisi. William Fenton: Selected Writings. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009. Heckewelder, John. An Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighbouring States, by the Rev. John Heckewelder. Philadelphia: A. Small, 1819. Horne, Thomas Hartwell. An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. 4 vols. London: Cadell, 1828. Josephus, Flavius, George Henry Maynard, and Edward Kimpton. The Whole Genuine and Complete Works of Flavius Josephus The Learned and Authentic Jewish Historian and Celebrated Warrior. ... Translated from the Original Greek Language and Diligently Revised and Compared with the Writings of Co[N]Temporary Authors ... to Which Is Added Various Useful Indexes ... Also a Contribution of the History of the Jews from Josephus Down to the Present Time. New York: printed and sold by William Durell at his bookstore, No. 208, Pearl Street, near the Fly Market, 1794. Penn, William. The Select Works of William Penn In Five Volumes. London: Printed and sold by James Phillips, 1782.

274 Penn, William, [pseud.]. Essays on the Present Crisis in the Condition of the American Indians; First Published in the National Intelligencer, Under the Signature of William Penn. 1829. Pickering, John. An Essay on a Uniform Orthography for the Indian Languages of North America. 1820. Prideaux, Humphrey. The Old and New Testament Connected, In the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations ... By Humphrey Prideaux. Edinburgh: printed by D. Schaw & Co., 1799. Scott, Thomas, Samuel Turell Armstrong, and Jonathan Leavitt. The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments, According to the Authorized Version; with Explanatory Notes, Practical Observations, and Copious Marginal References, by Thomas Scott, Rector of Aston Sandford, Bucks; Vol. I[–VI]. Boston: Published by Samuel T. Armstrong, and Crocker and Brewster. New-York, J. Leavitt. Stereotyped by T. H. Carter & Co., Boston Type and Stereotype Foundry, 1827. Smith, Samuel. The History of the Colony of Nova-Caesaria, or New Jersey Containing, an Account of Its First Settlement. Burlington, NJ: Printed and sold by James Parker, 1765. Spring, Gardiner. Essays on the Distinguishing Traits of Christian Character. New York: Dodge & Sayre, 1813. Stuart, Moses. A Commentary on the Apocalypse. Andover [MA]: Allen, Morrill, and Wardwell, 1845. Styles, John, and Jonathan Edwards. The Life of David Brainerd, Missionary to the Indians With an Abridgment of His Diary and Journal, from President Edwards. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 1812. Upham, Thomas Cogswell. Jahn’s Biblical Archeology, Translated from the Latin, with Additions and Corrections by T. C. Upham. Andover, MA: Flagg and Gould, 1823. Winslow, Miron. A Sketch of Missions, or, History of the Principal Attempts to Propagate Christianity Among the Heathen. Andover [MA]: Flagg and Gould, 1819. Cherokee Nation and American Indians Cherokee Vision of Eloh’. Edited by Howard L. Meredith and Virginia E. Milan. Muskogee, OK: Indian University Press, 1981. eloh’. Vinita, Indian Territory: Indian Chieftain Publishers, 1896.

275 Boudinot, Elias. Cherokee Phoenix, and Indians’ Advocate. New Echota, GA: Cherokee Nation, 1829. Butrick, Daniel S. Cherokee Removal: The Journal of Rev. Daniel S. Butrick, May 19, 1838– April 1, 1839. Park Hill, OK: The Trail of Tears Association, Oklahoma Chapter, 1998. Landes, Ruth. The Prairie Potawatomi; Tradition and Ritual in the Twentieth Century. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1970. Mooney, James. James Mooney’s History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees: Containing the Full Texts of Myths of the Cherokee (1900) and The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891) As Published by the Bureau of American Ethnology with a New Biographical Introduction, James Mooney and the Eastern Cherokees. Asheville, NC: Historical Images, 1992. Payne, John Howard. The Ancient Cherokee Traditions and Religious Rites. Philadelphia: 1849. Phillips, Joyce B., and Paul Gary Phillips. The Brainerd Journal: A Mission to the Cherokees, 1817–1823. Indians of the Southeast. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. Ross, John. Letter from John Ross: The Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, to a Gentleman of Philadelphia. I.E. Job R. Tyson, 1838. Ross, John, and Gary E. Moulton. The Papers of Chief John Ross, 1807–1866. 2 vols. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985. Payne, John Howard, and Clemens De Baillou. John Howard Payne to His Countrymen. University of Georgia Libraries miscellanea publications, no. 2. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1961. Payne, John Howard, and Grant Foreman. Indian Justice: A Cherokee Murder Trial at Tahlequah in 1840. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002. Washburn, Cephas, and J. W. Moore. Reminiscences of the Indians. Richmond: Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1869. Details about Daniel Sabin Butrick Allen, William. The American Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Account of the Lives, Characters, and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons Deceased in North America from Its First Settlement. By William Allen. 1857.

276 Butrick, D. S., and David Brown. Tsvlvki sqclvclv. A Cherokee spelling book. Knoxville [TN]: Printed by F. S. Heiskell & H. Brown, 1819. Clarke, Albert. Early Cooperstown and the Methodist Episcopal Church. [Cooperstown, NY?]: s.n, 1913. Cooper, James Fenimore. A History of Cooperstown: Including “The Chronicles of Cooperstown” by James Fenimore Cooper, “The History of Cooperstown” 1839– 1886 by Samuel M. Shaw, “The History of Cooperstown” 1886–1929 by Walter R. Littell. Cooperstown, NY: Freeman’s Journal Co, 1929. Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pioneers. G. P. Putnam, 1853. Cowles, George W. Landmarks of Wayne County, New York. Syracuse [NY]: D. Mason and Co., 1895. Featherstonehaugh, George William. A Canoe Voyage Up the Minnay Sotor; With an Account of the Lead and Copper Deposits in Wisconsin; of the Gold Region in the Cherokee Country; and Sketches of Popular Manners. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1970. Foster, Geo[rge] E. Story of the Cherokee Bible: An Address, With Additional and Explanatory Notes, Delivered Before the Meeting of the Ladies’ Missionary Society of the First Congregational Church, Ithaca, N. Y., Feb. 5, 1897. Ithaca, NY: Democrat Press, 1899. George, Gregory, F. J. V. Broussais, and Daniel L. M. Peixotto. Elements of the Theory and Practice of Physic: Designed for the Use of Students. NewYork: Sherman, 1830. Hale, Will T., and Dixon Lanier Merritt. A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans; The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1913. Hitchcock, Ethan Allen. A Traveler in Indian Territory: The Journal of Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Late Major-General in the United States Army, ed. Grant Foreman Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. Hotchkin, James H. A History of the Purchase and Settlement of Western New York: And of the Rise, Progress and Present State of the Presbyterian Church in That Section. New York: M. W. Dodd, 1848. Hurd, Duane Hamilton. History of Otsego County, N.Y. with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia: Everts and Fariss, 1878.

277 Parsons, Levi. History of Rochester Presbytery From the Earliest Settlement of the Country, Embracing Original Records of Ontario Association, and the Presbyteries of Ontario, Rochester (Former), Genesee River, and Rochester City, to Which Are Appended Biographical Sketches of Deceased Ministers and Brief Histories of Individual Churches. Rochester, NY: Democrat-Chronicle Press, 1889. Pickering, James H. “Cooper’s Otsego Heritage: The Sources of The Pioneers.” In Test, Cooper His Country and His Art, 11–39. Test, George A. James Fenimore Cooper His Country and His Art: Papers from the 1979 Conference at State University College of New York, Oneonta and Cooperstown. Oneonta, NY: State University of New York College at Oneonta, 1980. Walker, Robert Sparks. Torchlights to the Cherokees; The Brainerd Mission. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1931. Fiction, Almanacs, and Magazines Crockett’s Yaller Flower Almanac for '36. New York: 1835. Davey Crockett’s Almanac 1835–1841. Nashville: 1835–41. Thespian Mirror. No. 1. Dec. 28, 1805. Cervantes, Miguel de. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote, 2 vols. 1605 and 1615. Frazier, Charles. Thirteen Moons: A Novel. New York: Random House, 2006. Irving, Washington, and Charles Neider. The Complete Tales of Washington Irving. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975. Payne, John Howard. Clari, or, The maid of Milan: an opera, in three acts, as first performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, on Thursday, May 8th, 1823. London, 1823. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus. Lexington, KY: [Superior Pub. House], 2010. Historical Theology Pertaining to the American Board Of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Autobiography, Correspondence, Etc., of Lyman Beecher, D. D. Edited by Charles Beecher. New York: Harper and Bros., 1864. Andover Theological Seminary. Catalogue of the Library Belonging to the Theological Institution in Andover. Andover, [MA]: Printed by Flagg and Gould, 1819.

278 ______. General Catalogue of the Theological Seminary Andover, Massachusetts, 1808â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1908. Boston: T. Todd, 1909. Beecher, Lyman, Samuel Spring, Joshua Huntington, Jedidiah Morse, and Joshua Bates. The Bible a Code of Laws; A Sermon, Delivered in Park Street Church, Boston, Sept. 3, 1817, at the Ordination of Mr. Sereno Edwards Dwight, As Pastor of That Church; and of Messrs. Elisha P. Swift, Allen Graves, John Nichols, Levi Parsons, & Daniel Buttrick, As Missionaries to the Heathen. Andover [MA]: Printed by Flagg and Gould, 1818. Calvin, Jean. Institution de la Religion Chrestienne. Gen ve: Jean Crespin, 1560. Calvin, Jean, and John Allen. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Vol. 1. New Haven [CT]: Hezekiah Howe, 1816. Calvin, John. Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations. Vol. 4. Edinburgh, Calvin Translation Society, 1855 Calvin, Iean, Iean Bud , and Charles de Ionuillier. Lecons ou Commentaires et Expositions de Iean Calvin, tant sur les Revelations que sur les Lamentations du Prophete Ieremie. Lyon: C. Senneton, 1565. Clarke, Joseph S., Henry M. Dexter, Alonzo H. Quint, and Isaac P. Langyworth. The Congregational Quarterly. Vol. 3. Boston: 1861. Eliot, John. The Christian Commonwealth: Or, The Civil Policy of the Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Written Before the Interruption of the Government. London: 1659. Heywood, Oliver. A Family Altar erected to the Honour of the Eternal God, or a Solemn Essay to promote the Worship of God in Private Houses. Dated Feb. 2. 1692â&#x20AC;&#x201C;3. London, 1693. Heywood, Oliver, Richard Slate, and William Vint. The Whole Works of the Rev. Oliver Heywood, B. A., Now First Collected, Revised, and Arranged, Including Some Tracts Extremely Scarce and Others from Unpublished Manuscripts ; With a Memoir of His Life. Idle: Printed by John Vint, 1824. Hutchinson, William R. Errand to the World: American Protestant Thought & Foreign Missions. [S.l.]: University Of Chicago Press, 1987. Morse, Jedidiah. A Report to the Secretary of War of the United States, on Indian Affairs, Comprising a Narrative of a Tour Performed in the Summer of 1820... for the Purpose of Ascertaining... the Actual State of the Indian Tribes in Our Country... by the Rev. Jedidiah Morse,... Appendix. Newhaven: printed by S. Converse, 1822.

279 Promotions of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel Adair, James. The History of the American-Indians, particularly those Nations adjoining the Mississippi, East and West Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia. London, 1775. Armstrong, Samuel Turell, and Ethan Smith. Smith on the Prophecies. Just Published by Samuel T. Armstrong, Boston, and for Sale at His Bookstore, and by the Author at Hopkinton, (N.H.) a New Edition of Smith’s Dissertation on the Prophecies. Boston: Printed by Samuel T. Armstrong, 1813. Beatty, Charles. The Journal of a Two Months Tour, with a View of Promoting Religion Among the Frontier Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and of Introducing Christianity Among the Indians to the Westward of the Alegh-Geny Mountains... by Charles Beatty. London: W. Davenhill, 1768. ben Israel, Menasseh. The hope of Israel Written By Menasseh Ben Israel: An Hebrew Divine, and Philosopher. Newly extant, and Printed in Amsterdam, and Dedicated by the Author, to the High Court, the Parliament of England, and to the Councell of State. Translated into English, and published by Authority. In this Treatise is shewed the place where the ten Tribes at this present are, proved, partly by the strange relation of one Antony Monte-zimus, a Jew, of what befell him as he tra-velled over the Mountaines Cordillaere, with divers other particulars about therestoration of the Jewes, and the time when. London: by R. I. for Hannah Allen, at the Crown in Popeshead Alley, 1650. ben Israel, Manasseh. Manasseh Ben Israel’s Mission to Oliver Cromwell: Being a Reprint of the Pamphlets Published by Menasseh Ben Israel to Promote the Re-Admission of the Jews to England, 1649–1656. London: Published for the Jewish Historical Society of England by Macmillan & Co., 1901. Buttrick, Daniel S. Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (A Machine-readable Transcription). Edited by Jeffrey Freeman-Fuller. Little Rock, AR: American Native Press Archives and Sequoyah Research Center, 2007. http://anpa.ualr.edu/digital_library/buttrick /buttrick.htm (accessed Nov. 11, 2011). Buttrick, Daniel S. Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians. Vinita, Indian Territory: Indian Chieftain. 1884. Edwards, Bryan. The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies. Dublin: Luke White. 1793 Eliot, John, Thomas Thorowgood, Richard Baxter, and Michael Clark. The Eliot Tracts: With Letters from John Eliot to Thomas Thorowgood and Richard Baxter. Contributions in American history, no. 199. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003.

280 Glaser, Lynn, and Manasseh ben Israel. Indians or Jews? An Introduction to a Reprint of Manasseh Ben Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Hope of Israel. Gilroy, CA: R. V. Boswell, 1973. Grant, Asahel, and A. C. Lathrop. Memoir of Asahel Grant, M.D.: Missionary to the Nestorians. New York: M. W. Dodd, 1847. Grant, Asahel, and H. L. Murre-van den Berg. The Nestorians, or, The Lost Tribes: Containing Evidence of Their Identity, an Account of Their Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies, Together with Sketches of Travels in Ancient Assyria, Armenia, Media, and Mesopotamia, Illustration of Scripture Prophecy and Appendices. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2004. Hines, Edward. Identification of the British Nation with Lost Israel. London, 1874. Munster, Sebastian. Asia wie es jetziger zeit nach den fuernemesten Herrschafften abgetheilet und beschriben ist. Basel: Henric Petri, 1550. Noah, Mordecai. Discourses or Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendents of the Lost Tribes of Israel. New York: 1837. Ortelius, Abraham. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum / Ortelius, Abraham. 1570. Antwerp: Aegidius Coppenius Diesth, 1570. Parker, Samuel. Journal of an Exploring Tour Beyond the Rocky Mountains, Under the Direction of the A.B.C.F.M. in the years 1835, 36, and 37: containing a description of the geography, geology, climate, productions of the country, and the numbers, manners, and customs of the natives, with a map of Oregon Territory. Ithaca, NY: Mack, Andrus & Woodruff; Crocker & Brewster; Dayton & Saxton; Collins, Keese; Grigg & Elliott: Wiley & Putnam, 1842. Payne, John Howard, D. S. Butrick, William L. Anderson, Jane L. Brown, and Anne F. Rogers. The Payne-Butrick Papers. 2 vols. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010. Smith, Ethan. View of the Hebrews; Or, The Tribes of Israel in America. Poultney, VT: Smith & Shute, 1825. Thorowgood, Thomas and John Eliot. Jews in America, or Probabilities, That Those Indians Are Judaical, Made More Probable by Some Additionals to the Former Conjectures. An Accurate Discourse Is Premised of Mr. John Elliot, (Who First Preached the Gospel to the Natives in Their Own Language) Touching Their Origination, and His Vindication of the Planters. London: H. Brome, 1660. Wilson, John. Lectures on Our Israelitish Origins. London: 1840.

281 Winslow, Edward, J. D., Thomas Mayhew, and John Eliot. The Glorious Progress of the Gospel Amongst the Indians in New England Manifested by Three Letters Under the Hand of That Famous Instrument of the Lord, Mr. John Eliot, and Another from Mr. Thomas Mayhew, Jun., Both Preachers of the Word, As Well to the English As Indians in New England ... Together with an Appendix to the Foregoing Letters, Holding Forth Conjectures, Observations, and Applications, by I.D … . London: Printed for Hannah Allen in Popes-head-Alley, 1649. Worsley, Israel. A View of the American Indians: Their General Character, Customs, Language, Public Festivals, Religious Rites, and Traditions. London: Printed for the author, and sold by R. Hunter, 1828. Rebuttals of American Indian Hebraic Origins (Review of) A star in the West: or, A humble attempt to discover the long Lost Ten tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city, Jerusalem. Baltimore, MD: 1818. Duncan, Walter Adair. “A Cherokee Rebuttal to Buttrick.” In Buttrick, Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians (A Machine-readable Transcription), http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/ digital _library/Antiquities%20of%20the%20Cherokee%20Indians.htm#ACherokee RebuttaltoButtrick (accessed Nov. 1, 2011). Evans, Arise. Lights for the Jews or the means to convert them in answer to a book of their called the Hope of Israel. London: 1656. L’Estrange, Sir Hamon. Americans No Iewes, or Improbabilities That the Americans Are of That Race. London: printed by William Wilson for Henry Seile over against St. Dunstans Church in Fleetstreet, 1651. Viera, Padre Antonio. Esperanças de Portugal, quinto império do mundo: primeira e seunda vids de El-Rei Dom Joā o quarto, escritas por Gonçalves Bandarra. Liboa: Editorial Nova Ática, (n.d.). Studies on Folklore and Storytelling Perspectives on the Southeast: Linguistics, Archeology, and Ethnohistory. Edited by Patricia B. Kwachka. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996. Cunningham, Keith. American Indians’ Kitchen-Table Stories: Contemporary Conversations with Cherokee, Sioux, Hopi, Osage, Navajo, Zuni, and Members of Other Nations. The American folklore series. Little Rock: August House Publishers, 1992.

282 Duncan, Barbara R., and Davey Arch. Living Stories of the Cherokee. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998. Kilpatrick, Jack Frederick, and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick. Friends of Thunder, Folktales of the Oklahoma Cherokees. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1964. ______. Notebook of a Cherokee Shaman. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970. ______. Run Toward the Nightland: Magic of the Oklahoma Cherokees. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1967. Tedlock, Dennis. Finding the Center: The Art of the Zuni Storyteller. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. Secondary Sources American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Annual report - American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Volumes 75–78. 1885. Commemorative Exercises at the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Organization of Park Street Church, February 26–March 3, 1909. Edited by Arcturus Z. Conrad. Boston, MA: Published by the Park Street Centennial Committee, 1909. Andrew, John A. Rebuilding the Christian Commonwealth: New England Congregationalists & Foreign Missions, 1800–1830. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1976. Andrew, John A., III. From Revivals to Removal Jeremiah Evarts, the Cherokee Nation, and the Search for the Soul of America. University of Georgia Press, 2007. Bartlett, Samuel Colcord. Historical Sketches of the Missions of the American Board. Boston: Published by the Board, 1876. Chappell, David L. A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow. Chapel Hill [u.a.]: University of North Carolina Press, 2004. Elkins, Caroline. Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya. New York: Henry Holt and Co, 2005. Englizian, H. Crosby. Brimstone Corner: Park Street Church Boston. Chicago: Moody Press, 1968.

283 Hanley, Mark Y. “Revolution at Home and Abroad: Radical Implications of the Protestant Call to Missions, 1825–1870.” In Daniel H. Bays, and Grant Wacker. The Foreign Missionary Enterprise at Home: Explorations in North American Cultural History, 44-60. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2003. Stein, Stephen J. Introduction to Apocalyptic Writings. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977. Strong, William Ellsworth. The Story of the American Board; An Account of the First Hundred Years of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Boston: The Pilgrim Press, 1910. ______. “Park Street Church and the American Board.” In Commemorative Exercises, ed. Conrad, 177–81. Phillips, Clifton Jackson. Protestant America and the Pagan World: the first half century of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1810–1860. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969. Pickering, John. A Grammar of the Cherokee Language. 1825. Rosell, Garth. Boston’s Historic Park Street Church: The Story of an Evangelical Landmark. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2009. Withrow, John Lindsay. Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of Park Street Congregational Church, John L. Withrow, Pastor. Sermon and Address, Sunday, March 2, 1884. Boston, MA: Brown & Clark, 1884. American Religious, Intellectual and Cultural Histories Cogley, Richard W. John Eliot’s Mission to the Indians Before King Philip’s War. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. Cole, Sally Cooper. Ruth Landes: A Life in Anthropology. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. Edwards, Jonathan. An Account of the Life of the Late Rev. David Brainerd. 1749. Faragher, John Mack, Mari Jo Buhle, Susan H. Armitage, and Daniel J. Czitrom. Out of Many: A History of the American People. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006. Hinsley, Curtis M. Savages and Scientists: The Smithsonian Institution and the Development of American Anthropology, 1846–1910. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981.

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