Collection #:
SC 1692
BENJAMIN PARKE
PAPERS, 1816–1818
Collection Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Folder Listing
Cataloging Information
Processed
by
Chris Harter
15
April 1998
Updated 2 December 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections
Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
www.indianahistory.org
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 2 folders
COLLECTION DATES: 1816-1818
PROVENANCE: Richard E. Banta, 16
October 1939
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this
collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society.
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: See card catalog under the following headings: Parke,
Benjamin or Johnston, John. See also: Indians of North America--Indiana,
Indians of North America--Treaties, or headings for specific tribe names (e.g. Delaware,
Miami, etc.)
ACCESSION NUMBERS: 1939.1008
NOTES: The material in this collection was formerly a part of M 0398,
Indiana Territory Collection.
Benjamin Parke (1777-1835) was born in New Jersey, moved to Lexington, Ky.,
in 1797, and studied law in the office of James Brown. In 1799 he moved to Vincennes,
Indiana (Knox Co.) and became a supporter of
Governor William Henry Harrison. He served as Attorney General of the Indiana
Territory from 1804 to 1808, and
was territorial delegate to Congress from 1805 to 1808. During the War of 1812
he was on Harrison's staff, achieving the rank of
colonel. Parke was a territorial judge from 1808 to 1817, and Judge of the U.S.
District Court from 1817 to 1835. In 1818 Parke, along with Jonathan Jennings
and Lewis Cass, represented the U.S.
when a treaty with the Delaware, Miami,
and other Indian tribes was signed at St. Mary's,
Ohio. As part of this treaty, the Delaware
gave up their occupancy rights to all land in Indiana
and the Miami ceded more than seven
million acres of land in Ohio and
Indiana. Parke was the first
president of the Indiana Historical Society. He married Eliza Barton; they had
two children, a son and a daughter. He died in Salem,
Indiana in 1835.
John Johnston (1775-1861) was born in Ballyshannon,
County Donegal, Ireland.
He came to America
in 1786 where he worked as a government clerk in Philadelphia.
Johnston later became associated
with the mercantile establishment of Judge John Creigh
at Carlisle, Pennsylvania,
as his representative in the west. His duties included driving wagons to Pittsburgh
in 1792, and he was later attached to Anthony Wayne's army on their journey
down the Ohio to Fort
Washington (Cincinnati).
He spent the winter of 1795 in Kentucky
and then returned east where he married Rachel Robinson in 1802. That same
year, he was appointed Indian factor at Fort Wayne.
His duties included the receiving of supplies for the Fort
Wayne garrison as well as gifts and annuities for the
Indians. He also acquired pelts and furs from the Indians and sent them east.
He apparently also assumed the duties of Indian agent at Fort
Wayne after the dismissal of William Wells in 1809. At
his own request, Johnston was
transferred to Piqua, Ohio,
in 1811 where he served as the Indian agent for the next twenty years, although
he had the additional duties of part time supervisor of the Fort Wayne Indian
agency as well. During the War of 1812 Johnston
served as a paymaster and a quartermaster. Politically, he was a supporter of
William Henry Harrison and the Whig Party. (See also: SC 0886, John Johnston
Papers, and BV 2611, John Johnston Account Book.)
Sources: Collection guide for M 0396, Albert Porter Papers
Greene, George E. History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana. Vol. 1. p. 281-282.
Griswold, Bert J. Fort Wayne, Gateway to the West. p. 20-22.
This collection consists of letters from Indiana
territorial judge and Indian agent Benjamin Parke to secretaries of war William
H. Crawford and John C. Calhoun regarding the proposed purchase of lands along
the White River in central Indiana
from the Miami, Delaware
and other Indian tribes (1816), and regarding the negotiations leading to the
Treaty of St. Mary's, Ohio (1818). Also present is a letter and a document
signed by John Johnston concerning a proposed treaty at Greenville,
Ohio (1818).
The first letter is from Parke to Michel Brouillet
(19 January 1816). In it
Parke mentions the illegal sale of whiskey to Indian tribes. A letter dated 31 July 1816 to Crawford discusses a
proposal from the Wea tribe for the sale of a one million acres of land in Indiana.
Parke also mentions disputes between the Potawatomis
and the Miamis.
Letters dated September 25 and October 3 continue reports on the proposed land
sale.
A letter signed by Parke, Thomas Posey and T.C. Sharpe (27 November 1816) to
Crawford discusses plans for the Delaware, Miami and Wea
tribes to assemble at Fort Harrison for negotiations and the Delawares' request for "exchange of their claim to the
whole of the country on White River for a portion of the land the United States
purchased of the Osage Indians in the Missouri Territory."
A document dated 17 January 1818
and signed by John Johnston provides an estimate of expenses for a treaty to be
held at Greenville, Ohio.
Those tribes listed in the document include the Delaware,
Miami, Potawatomi,
Kickapoo, Eel
River, Wea,
Shawanese [Shawnee],
and the Seneka [Seneca]. A letter from Johnston
to Calhoun (26 January 1818)
discusses the treaty further.
Also present is an extract of a letter (17 March 1818) written from Fort
Wayne, Indiana, by Dr. William Turner to Michigan territorial governor Lewis
Cass discussing the U. S. Senate's refusal to ratify a treaty with the Miami
and the Delaware. Turner also mentions a meeting with Jean Baptiste
Richardville (1761?-1841), the leader of the Miami.
A letter dated 6 October 1818
from Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass, and Parke to Calhoun reports of the signing
of the Treaty of St. Mary's. The final letter in the collection (7 December 1818), from Parke to
Calhoun, also discusses the treaty.
FOLDER
1 1816
2 1818
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