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The Foreign Mission School was an educational institution which
existed between 1817 and 1826 in Cornwall, Connecticut. It was
established by the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in order to bring
the benefits of Christianity and Western culture
to what we now consider the Third World, via education, "for the
purpose of educating youths of Heathen nations, with a view to
their being useful in their respective countries" according to Jedidiah Morse,
in his Report on Indian Affairs, 1822.[1]
Approximately one hundred young men from non-European indigenous
peoples were trained at the school with the intent of their
becoming missionaries, preachers, translators, teachers, and health workers in their native
countries.[2]
A sketch of the village by
John Warner Barber (1835) shows the
buildings used by the Foreign Mission School, to the right of the
church at center.
According to Morse,
- "there belong to it (the school) a commodious edifice for
the School, a good mansion house, with a barn, and other
out-buildings, and a garden for the Principal; a house, barn,
&. with a few acres of good tillage land for the Steward and
Commons; all situated sufficiently near to each other; and eighty
acres of excellent wood land, about a mile and a half
distant."
- "In the constitution there is a provision, that youths of
our own country, of acknowledged piety, may be admitted to the
school, at their own expense, and at the discretion of the
Agents."
- "Under the instruction of the able and highly respected
Principal, the Rev. Mr. Daggett, and his very capable and faithful
assistant, Mr. Prentice, the improvement of the pupils, in general,
has been increasing and satisfactory, and in not a few instances,
uncommonly good. Besides being taught in various branches of
learning, and made practically acquainted with the useful arts of
civilized life; they are instructed constantly, and with special
care in the doctrines and duties of Christianity. Nor has this
instruction been communicated in vain. Of the thirty-one Heathen
youths . . . seventeen are thought to have given evidence of a
living faith in the Gospel; and several others are very seriously
thoughtful on religious concerns." [1]
From its founding, the school rapidly became a symbol of
American Christianity's Second Great Awakening, and
connected the small farm town of Cornwall in Connecticut's Litchfield
Hills to the early 19th century's clash of civilizations, as epitomized by
the Trail of
Tears, the conversion of Hawaii to
Protestantism, and the worldwide Christian missionary movement. Cornwall had
been chosen for the school's location due to the devoutness of the
residents and their consequent willingness to donate their efforts,
money, and property to a devout cause, as well as their reputation
as hard-working people of good character.[1][2]
Heneri Opukahaia, the school's first pupil,
was an 18 year old Native Hawaiian
abandoned in New Haven, Connecticut in 1810
by his ship. He traveled widely to promote the school, but died in
Cornwall in 1818 at 26 before he could return home. He recruited
four more Hawaiians, including one who called himself "George Prince" with a record
of fighting in the War
of 1812, and the school printed a pamphlet with their stories
to raise money.[3]
Samuel F. B. Morse, son of Jedidiah,
painted their portaits. Other students came from distant countries
as well as many Native American
tribes[1],
bringing 24 different native languages.[2]
In its first year, the school had twelve students; seven
Hawaiians, one Hindu, one Bengali, a Native
American, and two Anglo-Americans. By the second year,
there were twenty-four; four Cherokee, two Choctaw, one Abenaki, two Chinese, two Malays, one Bengali,
one Hindu, six Hawaiians, and
two Marquesans, as well as three
Anglo-Americans.[1]
The students followed a demanding schedule befitting the devout
mission of the school, doing field work in the time unoccupied by their
mandatory church attendance, prayer, and 7 hours of daily
coursework. The program of study included astronomy, calculus, theology, geography, chemistry, navigation and surveying, French, Greek, and Latin, in addition
to practical courses such as blacksmithing and coopering.[2]
In time, as the pendulum of public opinion began to build
doubt about the purpose of the school, support began to wane; it
never came to a head, however, before the the marriages of two Cherokee students to local
girls and the potential marriages of other such couples caused
negative reactions among both the local residents and the members
of the Native American tribes who sent their sons there, and it was
closed in 1826 or 1827.[2]
Native
American students
Principal Daggett observed in a letter to Morse that, in
contrast to the Native American students, three of the students
from the Pacific
Islands had become ill and "fallen a sacrifice", which he
assigned to the climate; he mused that "it is probable, that Divine
Providence intends this school to be chiefly useful to the
Aborigines of this country." And in fact, sons of some of the most
prominent Native American leaders of the time (many of mixed
ancestry) received their education at the Foreign Mission School,
later becoming distinguished members of their nations in their own
rights. Three Cherokees
and a Choctaw came to the
school in the fall of 1818. In his report, Morse stated that there
were twenty-nine students in the school in 1820, half of whom were
Native American boys from the principal families of five or six
different tribes.[1] Some
of the Native American students cited in historical records
include:[1]
- David Brown, a
Cherokee (one quarter white on his father's side) came from a
prominent family, his half brother being a chief and judge. He
assisted in developing a spelling book for the Cherokees as well as
a Cherokee grammar. After leaving the school, he became a notable
public
speaker, studied Hebrew and divinity, and, after attending Andover became a prominent
member of the Cherokee nation and served as clerk of a delegation
to Congress.
- James Fields, another Cherokee and a
kinsman of Brown, did not distinguish himself academically, but
spent his life "taking care of his considerable property."
- Leonard Hicks was a son of Chief Charles Renatus Hicks, the
first Cherokee convert to Christianity, and considered the most
influential man in his nation. After he became homesick and left
the school, Leonard served as clerk of the Cherokee nation.
- Ta-wak (renamed David Carter) was a grandson of Nathaniel
Carter of Killingworth and Cornwall; his father was
carried off as a child, remained with the tribe when grown, and
married a Cherokee. David was dismissed from the school for unknown
reasons; he attained prominence, however, became editor of the
Cherokee Advocate and Cherokee Phoenix, and a judge of the
Supreme Court. He lived for a time in Goshen,
Connecticut, apparently with his aunt. He died about 1863.
- John
Vann, the son of a white man, Clement Vann and his Native
American wife Mary Christiana who converted to Christianity,
attended the school from 1820 to 1822. He also attained prominence,
becoming editor of the Cherokee Advocate.
- McKee Folsom and Israel Folsom, the sons of a white man, Nathaniel
Folsom, were the first Choctaws listed as attending the school,
from 1818 to 1822. Their family was very prominent in the nation,
and they assisted in arranging a Choctaw alphabet, preparing
Choctaw school books, and translating the Scriptures to
Choctaw.
- Adin C. Gibbs, a Delaware
(part white) from Pennsylvania, attended the school from
1818 to 1822. He later spent many years among the Choctaw as a
teacher and missionary.
- Holbochinto (renamed Robert Monroe), was a relative of Tally, Chief of the Osage; he attended the school from
1824 to 1826, supported by the Foreign Mission Society.
- Wah-che-oh-heh (renamed Stephen Van Rensselaer after General Stephen Van
Rensselaer, who was also president of the United Foreign
Mission Society which supported him) was also a relative of Tally;
he attended the school from 1824 to 1825. He remained at Cornwall
after the school closed, later attending Miami
University. In 1832 he was one of five from the school to act
as missionary helper. Afterwards, he served his tribe as a
blacksmith and interpreter.
- John Ridge, son of
Major Ridge,
commander of the Cherokees in the Seminole War, was a
student at the school in 1819. Suffering from a problem with his
hip, however, he was nursed for two years in the home of John P.
Northrup, steward of the school; this led to his marriage to Sarah
Bird Northrup in 1824, which was not well received by the local
citizens. Ridge subsequently went on to become a prominent leader
of the Cherokee nation.
- Kul-le-ga-nah (renamed Buck Watie, then renamed Elias Boudinot
after Elias
Boudinot who sponsored him at the school in 1818) was noted as
having calculated the date of the lunar eclipse of August 2, 1822, using
only the information supplied in his textbook. He became engaged to
marry Cornwall local Harriet R. Gold in 1825. This was bitterly
opposed by the bride's family and the citizens of Cromwell, who
burned the couple in effigy. They went on to get married
nevertheless.
- Miles Mackey, a Choctaw (half white) who attended the school
from 1823 to 1825, was dismissed "for a proposed matrimonial
union", as was James
Terrell an Osage.
The response to these marriages was negative among both the
citizens of Cornwall and those of the Native American nations; in
addition, some of the southern tribes became concerned that
residence in the northern states was harming the health of the
students sent there, and support for the school rapidly dwindled,
until it was closed in 1826 or 1827.[1]
References
- ^ a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"The Foreign Mission School at
Cornwall, Connecticut", Carolyn Thomas Foreman, The Oklahoma Historical Society
Chronicles of Oklahoma Volume 7, No. 3, September, 1929
- ^ a
b
c
d
e
"The Foreign Mission School,
1817-1826", Cornwall Historical Society
- ^ Douglas Warne (2002). "George Prince Kaumualiʻi,
the Forgotten Prince". Hawaiian Journal of History.
36. Hawaiian Historical Society.
pp. 59–71. http://hdl.handle.net/10524/203.
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