Carey Mission
Encyclopedia
The Carey Mission was established by Baptist
missionary
Isaac McCoy
among the Potawatomi
tribe of American Indian
s on the St. Joseph River
near Niles, Michigan
, USA in December, 1822. It was named for William Carey, a noted English Baptist missionary. The Carey Mission’s official nature and reputation made it a headquarters for settlers and a point from which the American frontier was extended.
, the second governor of the Michigan Territory
, signed the Treaty of Chicago
on August 29, 1821, with the chiefs of the Ottawa
, Chippewa, and Potawatomi nations. The Potawatomi agreed to cede to the United States all the territory lying west and north of the St. Joseph River, and the United States agreed to provide funds for a blacksmith and a teacher, to reside on "one mile square on the south side of the St. Joseph" within a tract that the Potawatomis had reserved for their villages. McCoy, who had previously traveled to Detroit and petitioned Cass to provide funds for Indian missions in the 1821 Treaty, secured the position of teacher.
In December 1822, McCoy and his family, and a group of Indians who had elected to accompany them (32 persons in all), set out for southwestern Michigan. They emigrated from the vicinity of Fort Wayne, Indiana
, to a point about a mile west of the present city of Niles, and by the following year they had built six mission houses.
The first school at Carey was opened on January 27, 1823, and originally had 30 Indian pupils. An expedition that visited the mission in June 1823 reported, "The school consists of from forty to sixty children, of which fifteen are females. They are either children of Indians, or half-breed descendants of French and Indian parents; there being about an equal number of each. It is contemplated that the school will soon be increased to one hundred."
In 1824 an agent for Cass reported that the Carey Mission was "a colony firmly settled, numerous, civilized and happy". Fifty densely wooded acres had been cleared and fenced, and workers had raised large amounts of corn, oats, and potatoes. By 1826 over 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of land had been cleared, and 58 acres (234,717.9 m²) had been planted.
The mission became a way station for white settlers of the Michigan Territory. McCoy realized that they would soon supplant the native Indians. He wrote: "Our location was so remote from the settlements of white people when we first made it, and the inconveniences of reaching and residing at it so great, that we hoped, at that time, to be able to push forward the work of civilization to a state not much liable to injury by the proximity of white population, before we should be crowded by it."
During the period from 1827 to 1829, southwestern Michigan began to be actively settled, and the Carey Mission declined, as a result of the U.S. policy of Indian removal
. In 1827, in the Treaty of St. Joseph, the Potawatomi tribe ceded some of their reserved lands in southwestern Michigan. The treaty stated that its purpose was "to consolidate some of the dispersed bands of the Potawatamie Tribe in the Territory of Michigan at a point removed from the road leading from Detroit to Chicago, and as far as practicable from the settlements of the Whites”. In 1829 McCoy removed to the Thomas station, another mission he had established near the Grand River
. The only missionary who remained at Carey was Robert Simerwell. With passage of the Indian Removal Act
in 1830, the school at Carey Mission was discontinued, and in 1831 McCoy led a number of the Potawatomi to a new mission in Kansas
.
, "the pioneer step in the way of settlement.” Bacon remarked that in 1822, when the mission was established, the region was considered by European settlers to be dangerous and hostile. Within recent memory were the Battle of Tippecanoe
in Indiana
and the Battle of Fort Dearborn in Illinois. “Emigration had in a great measure stopped. Very few dared to venture beyond the older settlements, until McCoy boldly entered into the heart of the Indian country, and began his mission school among the Pottawottomies who dwelt on the river St. Joseph. The fact was soon made known throughout Indiana and Ohio, and at once adventurers began to prepare to follow the example of the missionary, who had led the way."
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
Isaac McCoy
Isaac McCoy
Isaac McCoy was a Baptist missionary among the Native Americans in present-day Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. He was an advocate of Indian removal from the eastern United States, proposing an Indian state in what is now Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma...
among the Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
tribe of American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
s on the St. Joseph River
St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)
The St. Joseph River is a river, approximately long, in southern Michigan and northern Indiana in the United States. It drains a primarily rural farming area in the watershed of Lake Michigan...
near Niles, Michigan
Niles, Michigan
Niles is a city in Berrien and Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near South Bend, Indiana. The population was 11,600 at the 2010 census. It is the greater populated of two principal cities of and included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a...
, USA in December, 1822. It was named for William Carey, a noted English Baptist missionary. The Carey Mission’s official nature and reputation made it a headquarters for settlers and a point from which the American frontier was extended.
History
Lewis CassLewis Cass
Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...
, the second governor of the Michigan Territory
Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...
, signed the Treaty of Chicago
Treaty of Chicago
The Treaty of Chicago may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in Chicago, Illinois between the United States and the Ottawa, Ojibwe , and Potawatomi Native American peoples.-1821 Treaty of Chicago:...
on August 29, 1821, with the chiefs of the Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Chippewa, and Potawatomi nations. The Potawatomi agreed to cede to the United States all the territory lying west and north of the St. Joseph River, and the United States agreed to provide funds for a blacksmith and a teacher, to reside on "one mile square on the south side of the St. Joseph" within a tract that the Potawatomis had reserved for their villages. McCoy, who had previously traveled to Detroit and petitioned Cass to provide funds for Indian missions in the 1821 Treaty, secured the position of teacher.
In December 1822, McCoy and his family, and a group of Indians who had elected to accompany them (32 persons in all), set out for southwestern Michigan. They emigrated from the vicinity of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
, to a point about a mile west of the present city of Niles, and by the following year they had built six mission houses.
The first school at Carey was opened on January 27, 1823, and originally had 30 Indian pupils. An expedition that visited the mission in June 1823 reported, "The school consists of from forty to sixty children, of which fifteen are females. They are either children of Indians, or half-breed descendants of French and Indian parents; there being about an equal number of each. It is contemplated that the school will soon be increased to one hundred."
In 1824 an agent for Cass reported that the Carey Mission was "a colony firmly settled, numerous, civilized and happy". Fifty densely wooded acres had been cleared and fenced, and workers had raised large amounts of corn, oats, and potatoes. By 1826 over 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of land had been cleared, and 58 acres (234,717.9 m²) had been planted.
The mission became a way station for white settlers of the Michigan Territory. McCoy realized that they would soon supplant the native Indians. He wrote: "Our location was so remote from the settlements of white people when we first made it, and the inconveniences of reaching and residing at it so great, that we hoped, at that time, to be able to push forward the work of civilization to a state not much liable to injury by the proximity of white population, before we should be crowded by it."
During the period from 1827 to 1829, southwestern Michigan began to be actively settled, and the Carey Mission declined, as a result of the U.S. policy of Indian removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
. In 1827, in the Treaty of St. Joseph, the Potawatomi tribe ceded some of their reserved lands in southwestern Michigan. The treaty stated that its purpose was "to consolidate some of the dispersed bands of the Potawatamie Tribe in the Territory of Michigan at a point removed from the road leading from Detroit to Chicago, and as far as practicable from the settlements of the Whites”. In 1829 McCoy removed to the Thomas station, another mission he had established near the Grand River
Grand River (Michigan)
The Grand River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It runs through the cities of Jackson, Eaton Rapids, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Grand Haven.-Description:...
. The only missionary who remained at Carey was Robert Simerwell. With passage of the Indian Removal Act
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830.The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in...
in 1830, the school at Carey Mission was discontinued, and in 1831 McCoy led a number of the Potawatomi to a new mission in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
.
Significance
The founding of the Carey Mission was, according to Michigan jurist Nathaniel BaconNathaniel Bacon (Michigan jurist)
Nathaniel Bacon was a member of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1855 to 1857.Bacon was born at Ballston Spa, New York. He graduated from Union College in 1824. He was admitted to the bar in 1827 and in 1828 opened law offices in Rochester, New York. In 1833 he moved to Niles, Michigan...
, "the pioneer step in the way of settlement.” Bacon remarked that in 1822, when the mission was established, the region was considered by European settlers to be dangerous and hostile. Within recent memory were the Battle of Tippecanoe
Battle of Tippecanoe
The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, between United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Native American warriors associated with the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa were leaders of a confederacy of...
in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
and the Battle of Fort Dearborn in Illinois. “Emigration had in a great measure stopped. Very few dared to venture beyond the older settlements, until McCoy boldly entered into the heart of the Indian country, and began his mission school among the Pottawottomies who dwelt on the river St. Joseph. The fact was soon made known throughout Indiana and Ohio, and at once adventurers began to prepare to follow the example of the missionary, who had led the way."