EARLY
EDUCATION IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY
An address delivered before a joint meeting of the
Mohawk Valley Historical Association and the Van Epps-Hartley
Chapter,
New York State Archeological Assn.,
at Canajoharie, NY, May 2, 1936.
Typed by MaryLee Zappieri
An Address Delivered Before a Joint Meeting of the Mohawk Valley Historical Association and the Van Epps-Hartley Chapter, New York State Archeological Assn., at Canajoharie, N. Y., May 2, 1936. (By Dr. A. C. Flick, State Historian)
Note S. P. G. stands for: Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, or the S. P. G. as it is commonly known.
The political, social, religious and economic history of the Mohawk valley has been fairly well written up from the sources; but little has been done to clarify the cultural history of the valley during the Colonial and Revolutionary periods. This neglect is not due to indifference but to the difficulty of the task owing to the meager sources and records relating to the evolution of valley culture. Any person who attempts to interpret the growth of education, literature and art in this region in early times will soon be discouraged because of the lack of primary materials.
The human factors that condition such a study are apparent to any one acquainted with the general development of civilization in this valley. In the first place there is the Indian background. Not only were the Indians the first occupants of the valley but they continued to be a factor until the conclusion of the American Revolution. In the second place, the Dutch through Fort Orange and the Patronship of Rensselaerwick were the first group of whites to plant their institutions in the Mohawk valley and their contributions were felt for more than a century after Dutch rule came to an end. In the third place, the French through their missionaries, traders and governors exercised a noticeable influence although culturally it was a minor one. In the fourth place, under the English the most marked cultural results are noticeable. During their regime the Palatines filled the valley to leave an indelible impression its life and civilization; and Sir William Johnson became the greatest domination force. Finally the Revolution witnessed the elimination of both the Mohawks and the Johnsons, introduced a more democratic spirit and replaced British with American control. It is the purpose of this paper to consider in sequence these various contributions to the cultural growth of this region.
I -- Indian Period.
It may be startling to some of you to hear the assertion that the Mohawk valley has been the abode of man for 10,000 or more years; but the statement will not be a surprise to your archeological enthusiasts. Compared with the dusky Asiatic occupants, the light colored Europeans are very recent arrivals. We are well acquainted with the Iroquoian Mohawks; but they too were late comers compared with Algonquin predecessors. These Algonquins, in turn followed earlier intrusions of groups that left few remains and about whom in consequence we know little or nothing. When fort Orange was settled in 1624, the lower Mohawk valley was still peopled by a tribe of the Algonquins while the Mohawks held the middle and upper stretches of the river; but the former were soon forced by war to remove to the eastern side of the Hudson. Thus the greater part of the Mohawk valley was left in the hands of the powerful, progressive Mohawks.
II -- Dutch Period.
In their dealings with the Mohawks the Dutch pursued an enlightened policy: They adopted the practice of peace instead of war; and not once during the Dutch period was the hatchet raised against Fort Orange. Their attitude towards the Red Man was humane and friendly. Their trade relations were on the whole fair and honest. They won the confidence and respect of the Mohawks and consequently exercised tremendous influence over them. While politically Dutch relations with the Mohawks covered only fifty years, nevertheless the high standards set by them in treaties and trade were followed by the English and Americans for the next century and a quarter.
To just what extent this impact of the Dutch modified the civilization of the Mohawks cannot be measured with exactitude. However, it as greater than one might surmise. It brought to the Indian's attention a new type of a home, strange modes of dress, schools, churches, medicines, live stock, larger boats, new seeds, improved inventions like firearms, metal knives, hatchets, axes and saws. One must not forget that at the same time rum was introduced. The Red Man was quick to see advantage of the gun and metal cutlery and to feel the delights of fire water. He was much slower in adopting the white man's was of life, but he did imitate many of them gradually as his own wealth and skill developed. The Dutch at first gave little thought to planting churches and schools among the Mohawks, thinking that a good example was sufficiently beneficial.
For many years after the fall of New Netherlands, the Dutch of Albany exercised an influence on Mohawk civilization. Dutch fur traders continued to trade with them. Dutchmen like Peter Schuyler, first mayor of the city of Albany, who held office under the English , managed Indian affairs wisely and humanely. Dutch ministers became more solicitous about the souls of the Red Men. Dutch schoolmasters opened schools among them and taught the Indian youths the Dutch tongue. Many a Dutchman learned the Mohawk language and through it imparted Dutch civilization directly to the Mohawks; and in turn not a few Mohawks had a scattering of Dutch and some spoke it fluently.
The effects of the impact of the Dutch on the Mohawks were probably greater than we realize today. They found them savages and started them on the path toward a higher civilization. By precept and example they gave their dusky neighbors a glimpse of a new and strange world which be came more and more familiar as the years passed by. It is not too much to say that the whole cultural outlook of the Mohawks was greatly modified by this contact with the Dutch.
Furthermore it must not by forgotten that the English adopted and perpetuated the Dutch policy of helpful amicable relations Indian affairs. Although the English sought to monopolize the trade with the Mohawks and did for the most part, these commercial dealings were established on the basis of equity and fair dealing. If English profits were large, so were the gains for the Mohawks. If much of the Mohawk's land was obtained by the whites, it was always by treaty agreement and paid for even though the price was oft times ridiculously small.
III--French Influence.
Although the French were not located as near to the Mohawks as the Dutch, nevertheless the former developed close relations with these red men during the 17th century. At an early date French traders were bidding for the furs of the Iroquois tribes, as is shown by Van den Bogaert's Journal in 1634-35. The Jesuits Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil and Guillaume Couture in the summer of 1642 were captured by the Mohawks who were at war with the French. Through the assistance of the Dutch at Albany, father Jogues escaped to France, but he returned three years later to establish a station among his dusky foes.
Accompanied by Jean Bourdon, he visited the Mohawks in 1646 on a friendly mission. Shortly after he and Lelande were taken prisoners and put to death. After the capture of Father Poncet in 1653, the Mohawks made peace with the French and the next year asked for a Jesuit to live among them. Father Simon Le Moyne was received in 1655 with rejoicing , and other French Fathers worked in the same field for some years. Not only did they teach the Mohawks the Christian religion but were so active in directing trade towards Quebec and promoting French political interests that Governor Dongan warned them to stick to spiritual matters.
The Christian Mohawks in 1691 begged Governor Sloughter to send Protestant missionaries to instruct them as did the French priests, and he promised to have Dominie Dellius return to them. There is no record that the French established any schools among the Mohawks, but they did exercise a pronounced civilizing influence on them. In 1700 Governor Bellomont forbade Jesuits and Catholic priests living in New York and with the passage of that act practically all French efforts in the Mohawk valley ceased.
IV--Dutch and English Religious Education of the Mohawks.
Prior to 1700 comparatively little was done directly by either Dutch or English to educate the Indians. The ministers and school masters at Albany and Schenectady made some feeble attempts to teach them the catechism but organized no schools for them.
Governor Bellomont employed Rev. Bernardus Freeman, Dutch minister at Albany to convert the Indians and to teach them how to read the Dutch Catechism. But they soon forgot all they learned. Freeman also translated the litany, prayers, creed and parts of the Bible into the Mohawk tongue. In the beginning of Queen Ann's reign the leading sachems of the Mohawks made touching appeals to her to give them religious instructions.
This request had the support of the government of New York. A few years later four chiefs went to England to make a personal request for missionaries and schoolmasters. Rev. Thoroughgood Moore was sent to Albany to start a mission for Indians but because of his inability to get on with them his work was short lived. Rev. Thomas Barclay followed Moore in the work and was somewhat more successful.
V--Schools Among the Mohawks.
The planting of schools among the Mohawks was taken up in earnest during the 18th century. The agency through which this educational work was carried out was the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, or the S. P. G. as it is commonly known. This organization was chartered in 1701 and the next year began to send missionaries to New York and other colonies. From 1710 until the Revolution the S. P. G. was unceasing in its endeavors to send schoolmasters to the Mohawk valley to give an elementary education to the Indian boys and girls.
The most valuable sources for information about the growth of education among the Mohawks are the records of the S. P. G. Each missionary schoolmaster was required to report every six months the daily attendance, the total number of pupils taught, how many were baptized in the church of England, the number of Indian and Negro children, the number of children of Dissenters, the number of other schools and their denomination and what additional employment he followed. These reports, so far as they were made and preserved, give a fair picture of what was being done in the valley in the English period.
Two missionaries were sent in 1710 to the Mohawks "together with an interpreter and schoolmaster to teach the young Indians." Rev. William Andrews was one of the missionaries, Claussen the interpreter and John Oliver the schoolmaster who was expected to give all his time inducing the warriors to permit their children to learn English.
When Oliver discovered that the Indian parents "obstinately refused" to allow instruction in English, he did his best to teach them their own language-- a task that was much more difficult for the teacher than the pupils. Nor would the Indians permit teachers to punish their children for refusing to get their lessons. In 1712 Andrews and his assistants were working up the valley. Since the Indians refused to have their children taught in any tongue but Indian, their progress in learning was slow. Andrews reported in 1713 that the Indians had built at Fort Hunter a school house 20 feet by 30 feet and that 40 boys and girls -- some of them 18 years old-- were enrolled. After three or four months he reported that "most of them grew weary" of the work and were irregular in attendance. He was teaching four of the brightest English and had taken two of them into his own home.
The next report showed 20 children "fairly regular at school" but Andrews found that it was necessary to feed them to persuade them to attend. In 1716 the pupils had dropped to six despite the inducement of free meals and the traders were blamed for decrying learning which spoiled good hunters and thus injured their business.
The persistent and resourceful Andrews then tried a new incentive. He offered prizes and rewards of shirts, beads, knives, forks, looking glasses, rings and buttons for attendance and good work. He also employed Reverend Bernardus Freeman to translate suitable books into the Mohawk tongue and sent the manuscripts to the S. P. G. for publication. When the Indian Hornbooks, which were printed in England, were sent to Andrews, there were forwarded with them several dozen Gilt Primers in English, leather inkhorns, penknives, and various kinds of paper. At New York were printed in Mohawk 150 spelling books, catechisms and common Prayer Books by direction of Governor Hunter. Perhaps the most useful of all the books suggested was a small dictionary of Indian and English words, but it was never printed. "While the Indian children care so little for school," wrote Andrews, it would be useless to print more books or continue schoolmasters." If Andrews and his aides had only had the modern comics and funnies, their problem would have been solved.
Indian School Abandoned.
Discouraged, Andrews had the schoolmaster dismissed, taught the few remaining pupils himself, and finally recommended the abandonment of the mission. He complained that the Indians soon "grew weary of instructions" and that when the boys left school to go hunt, "all the schoolmaster's labors" were lost. At the end of his endeavors he exclaimed in disgust, "Heathen they are and heathen they will still be!" Governor Hunter reported that the experiment was a failure but not through any fault of Andrews. So in 1719 Andrews left the Mohawks after placing in the hands of a bright Mohawk lad, four Indian girls who could read and the white interpreter a manuscript copy of the Gospel of St. Matthew in Mohawk, the Indianized catechisms and a bunch of special sermons. So pessimistic was he that he thought even these star pupils would soon forget all that they had learned. Thus was closed the first chapter in the effort to educate the young Mohawks.
The Rev. William Andrews threw up the sponge in failure and disappointment, but the S. P. G. 3,000 miles away was not deterred from making another effort. When Rev. John Miln was sent to the mission at Albany in 1728, he was given an addition of 10 pounds to his salary to care for the Indians. In 1734 Henry Barclay, a Yale graduate, joined him to serve as a school master among the Mohawks. After living in the valley at Fort Hunter for 18 months, it was reported that Barclay had mastered the Indian tongue fairly well and was teaching 40 children to read and write in their own language. After being called to the mission at Albany, Barclay gave only part time to the Mohawks and this later work was mostly religious. In 1740 he asked for a school master as an "absolute necessity." He thought that there were several Indian youths who were qualified for that office. With the approval of the S. P. G. and on the advice of Lieut. Gov. Clarke and the Indian Commissioners, he appointed Chief Cornelius at the Lower Castle (Fort Hunter 1743-45) and Daniel at the Upper Castle (Canajoharie 1743-45).
Until he was called to Trinity Church in New York city, Barclay sent his dusky school masters books, materials and trinkets; and repotted satisfactory progress in the two schools. But by 1746 the Indian trader, Lydius, had spread so much dissatisfaction among the Mohawks that the schools were closed. Thus ended the second chapter.