Samuel Kirkland

Samuel Stephen Jack Kirkland ( December 1, 1741 , † February 28, 1808 ) was a Presbyterian missionary who spread the Christian faith in North America among the local Indian tribes .

Life

Samuel Kirkland was born in Connecticut in 1741, the tenth of twelve children of Scottish immigrants . His father had emigrated to America as a pastor on behalf of the Congregational Church , a large Protestant church movement. In 1760, Kirkland attended the school of Eleazar Wheelock, a pastor who had founded a small school for the Christian education of Indians. As early as 1761, Samuel traveled with an Indian classmate to the area of ​​the Mohawk Indians to recruit new students. Since then he has devoted himself to the language of the Mohawk. From 1762 to 1764 he attended the College of New Jersey , later Princeton University, at Wheelock's request . Then he went on his first one and a half year mission trip to the Indians of the Iroquois League . During this time he got to know the customs and traditions of the Indians, but was also able to bring them closer to the basics of Christianity. He was then officially appointed a missionary for the Congregational Church. Kirkland spent most of the next 30 years under the Iroquois, mostly with the Oneida tribe . He also maintained good contacts with the Seneca tribe . In 1790, Kirkland was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1793 he founded Hamilton Oneida College , an institution for the education of American and Native American youth, where he spent the last 15 years of his life.

American Revolution

At the time of his first missionary stay in 1775 there was a risk of a cross-tribal Indian revolt against the colonists . Kirkland's influence on the Oneidas and Tuscaroras contributed to the fact that they remained politically neutral and spoke out against supporting the already warring Iroquois . This in turn saved the colonists from asking for British support at a time when the political relationship had already cooled down considerably.

In May 1775, Kirkland attended the 2nd Continental Congress in Philadelphia , where the importance of Indian support for the revolution was recognized. Kirkland was awarded the amount of $ 300 in recognition of his political achievement in moving the Indian tribes to neutrality.

John Adams and George Washington were also convinced of the importance of his work and said before the Congress: "I cannot but intimate my sense of the importance of Mr. Kirkland's station, and of the great advantages which have and may result to the united colonies from his situation being made respectable. All accounts agree that much of the favorable disposition shown by the Indians may be ascribed to his labor and influence. " Towards the end of 1776, the Oneidas and Tuscaroras were the last tribes that did not take the side of the British, but terminated the alliance of the Six Indian Nations. This is also attributed to the influence of Kirkland, who was awarded a fee of $ 444 from the American side (in addition to another $ 300 for translator and chaplain activities). He was a member of the American armed forces and was used until 1778 at Fort Schuyler and Stockbridge, Massachusetts . He also maintained good contacts with the Oneidas and obtained strategic information about troop movements and general war processes through his Indian scouts.

family

His son, John Thornton Kirkland , was the 15th President of Harvard University from 1810 to 1828 .

literature

• Hermann Wellenreuther, Carola Wessels (ed.): Moravian Indian mission in the American Revolution: the diaries of David Zeisberger 1772 to 1781, 1995.
• Pilkington, Walter (ed.): The Journals of Samuel Kirkland- 18th Century Missionary to the Iriquois, Government Agent, Father of Hamilton College, New York, 1980.