AMERICAN INDIAN]. WILLIAMS, ELEAZAR ("The Lost Dauphin"). Autograph letter signed ("E.Williams") to Jasper Parish of Canandaigua; Oneida [New York], 27 March 1820. 2 pages, 4to, integral address leaf with panel in Williams' hand and manuscript postmark, two small holes affecting two letters and a 3/4-inch chip at one edge with loss of several words. A very good letter from this curious frontier figure, regarding the westward removal of the Six Nations tribes. Williams (l758-l859), a mixed blood Indian, was descended from John Williams (l664-l779), minister at Deerfield, Massachusetts. His grandmother, Eunice Williams, had been captured in an Indian raid in l704 and married a chief of the Caughnawaga. In l800 Eleazar, raised within the tribe, was educated among his puritan relatives in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. He served as a scout in the War of l812 and then became a lay preacher of the Episcopal Church among the Oneida Tribe. "I presume you have been informed by the Secretary of War [John C. Calhoun] of his intention to give some aid to the individuals of the Six Nations that may offer to go west & explore certain parts of the North-West territory and to make arrangements with the Indians there residing, for a portion of their Country, to be...inhabited by such of the six nations, as may choose to emigrate thither. During my stay at Washington, I had several conferences with the Secretary on this subject, and as you are the agent , you were in course brought into view. I stated...that I depended much upon your influence...." He requests that Parish keep his ltter confidential, and adds: "It is expected by the Government, that you will cooperate with us in this business...I shall wait till you come before I push this business to the last extremity ...." In l821, with the permission of Lewis Cass, Williams led a party of chiefs into the Northwest territory, where a treaty was signed with the Menominee and Winnebago granting the eastern tribes lands near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin, where they and William himself later settled. In later years Williams received much attention by perpetuating a story that he was the lost Dauphin and rightful heir to the French crown. He died in obscurity, having lost favor even with the tribes. Williams' papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society, but his letters, especially relating to his scheme for an Indian empire in the Northwest, are very rare on the market.
AMERICAN INDIAN]. WILLIAMS, ELEAZAR ("The Lost Dauphin"). Autograph letter signed ("E.Williams") to Jasper Parish of Canandaigua; Oneida [New York], 27 March 1820. 2 pages, 4to, integral address leaf with panel in Williams' hand and manuscript postmark, two small holes affecting two letters and a 3/4-inch chip at one edge with loss of several words. A very good letter from this curious frontier figure, regarding the westward removal of the Six Nations tribes. Williams (l758-l859), a mixed blood Indian, was descended from John Williams (l664-l779), minister at Deerfield, Massachusetts. His grandmother, Eunice Williams, had been captured in an Indian raid in l704 and married a chief of the Caughnawaga. In l800 Eleazar, raised within the tribe, was educated among his puritan relatives in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. He served as a scout in the War of l812 and then became a lay preacher of the Episcopal Church among the Oneida Tribe. "I presume you have been informed by the Secretary of War [John C. Calhoun] of his intention to give some aid to the individuals of the Six Nations that may offer to go west & explore certain parts of the North-West territory and to make arrangements with the Indians there residing, for a portion of their Country, to be...inhabited by such of the six nations, as may choose to emigrate thither. During my stay at Washington, I had several conferences with the Secretary on this subject, and as you are the agent , you were in course brought into view. I stated...that I depended much upon your influence...." He requests that Parish keep his ltter confidential, and adds: "It is expected by the Government, that you will cooperate with us in this business...I shall wait till you come before I push this business to the last extremity ...." In l821, with the permission of Lewis Cass, Williams led a party of chiefs into the Northwest territory, where a treaty was signed with the Menominee and Winnebago granting the eastern tribes lands near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin, where they and William himself later settled. In later years Williams received much attention by perpetuating a story that he was the lost Dauphin and rightful heir to the French crown. He died in obscurity, having lost favor even with the tribes. Williams' papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society, but his letters, especially relating to his scheme for an Indian empire in the Northwest, are very rare on the market.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
