Smith, Edward Parmelee, 1827-1876

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Edward Parmelee Smith was ordained a pastor of the Congregational Church in 1856. From 1863-1866 he served as field agent and field secretary of the U.S. Christian Commission. Smith was district secretary from 1866-1871, and then general field agent for the American Missionary Association from 1871-1873. He was Indian agent to the Chippewa Agency in Minnesota, and from 1873-1875, U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1875 Smith was elected president of Howard University.

From the description of Edward Parmelee Smith papers, 1849-1947 (inclusive). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702166660

From the description of Edward Parmelee Smith papers, 1849-1947 (inclusive). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82728403

Edward Parmelee Smith was ordained a pastor of the Congregational Church in 1856. From 1863-1866 he served as field agent and field secretary of the U.S. Christian Commission. Smith was district secretary from 1866-1871, and then general field agent for the American Missionary Association from 1871-1873. He was Indian agent to the Chippewa Agency in Minnesota, and from 1873-1875, U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1875 Smith was elected president of Howard University.

Edward Parmelee Smith, son of the Rev. Noah Smith (Dartmouth Coll. 1818) and Laura (Parmelee) Smith, was born in South Britain, a parish of Southbury, Conn., where his father was pastor, June 3, 1827. On the death of his father, in Oct., 1830, he was taken to the home of an uncle, Col. Ashbel Smith, of Hanover, N. H. He entered Dartmouth College in 1845, and this College two years later.

After graduation, he taught school for three years in Mobile, Ala., and then began the study of theology in the Yale Seminary. In March, 1853, he removed to N. Y. City, and studied in the Union Theol. Seminary, laboring also in connection with the Children's Aid Society, until the fall of 1854, when he went to Andover Seminary for the closing year of theological study. After another year spent in preaching in Rockville, Conn., and Pompey, N. Y., he was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Pepperell, Mass., June 11, 1856. In Jan., 1863, he offered his services to the U. S. Christian Commission, and was employed, at first as one of the General Field Agents and later as Field Secretary, until the closing of the work of the Commission, in January, 1866. He had, meantime, resigned his pastorate in 1864, and now entered the service of the American Missionary Association (devoted especially to educational work among the Freedmen) as District Secretary at Cincinnati. In 1867 he was called to N. Y. City as General Field Agent of the Association, and in that capacity performed a large share of the work of planting schools for freedmen in the South. When President Grant in 1871 invited cooperation in the work of Indian civilization, Mr. Smith resigned his position in New York, and offered his services as Indian Agent. He was appointed to the Chippewa Agency in Minnesota, and remained there until unexpectedly offered the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the U. S. Government in April, 1873.

This position he resigned in 1875, and was immediately elected President of Howard University, in Washington. He accepted the Presidency, and in the spring of 1876 sailed for Africa, on invitation of the American Missionary Association, to survey and report on the work of their missions in that country. He left Sierra Leone in May in good health, but while on board the steamship Ambric on his way from Monrovia (in Liberia) was taken with the African fever, and was too ill to land at Accra, as he had intended. He died on shipboard, in the Gulf of Guinea, near the island of Fernando Po, on the night of June 15, and was buried on the 16th at the Presbyterian Mission Station, Old Calabar.

He was married, June 3, 1856, to Hannah C., daughter of Levi Bush, of Westfield, Mass., who survives him with one of their two children.

(Taken from Yale Obituaries, 1871-1880 \).

From the guide to the Edward Parmelee Smith papers, 1849-1947, (Manuscripts and Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Edward Parmelee Smith papers, 1849-1947 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887. Papers, 1798-1893 (bulk 1827-1887) Houghton Library
creatorOf Smith, Edward Parmelee, 1827-1876. Edward Parmelee Smith papers, 1849-1947 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Copy book 1836-1888. The University of Tulsa, McFarlin Library
referencedIn Dolan, Thomas A. Report : of council proceedings with the Jicarilla Apache Indians, 1873. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf United States. Dept. of the Interior. Indian Division. [Selected files relating to Minnesota and northern plains Indian affairs], 1848-1901. Minnesota Historical Society, Division of Archives and Manuscripts
creatorOf Watkins, Erwin C., 1839-1911. Erwin Watkins-Simeon Whiteley papers, 1863-1920, bulk 1863-1878. Newberry Library
creatorOf Adams, Moses N. (Moses Newton), 1822-1902. Moses N. Adams papers, 1849-1902. Minnesota Historical Society, Division of Archives and Manuscripts
creatorOf Rust, Horatio Nelson, 1828-1906. Papers of Horatio Nelson Rust, 1799-1906 (bulk 1870-1906). Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
referencedIn Hoag, Enoch, 1812-1884. Hoag Indian letterbooks, 1870-1878. Haverford College Library
creatorOf Smith, Edward Parmelee, 1827-1876. Edward Parmalee Smith letters, 1873-1876. The University of Tulsa, McFarlin Library
creatorOf Smith, Edward Parmelee, 1827-1876. Edward Parmelee Smith papers, 1849-1947 (inclusive). Yale University Library
creatorOf United States. Office of Indian Affairs. Southeast Nevada Indian Agency. Correspondence, June 30, 1875. University of Nevada, Reno, Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
referencedIn Moses N. Adams papers, 1849-1902. Minnesota Historical Society
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Adams, Moses N. (Moses Newton), 1822-1902. person
associatedWith Chandler, Zachariah, 1813-1879. person
associatedWith Delano, Columbus. person
correspondedWith Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887 person
associatedWith Dolan, Thomas A. person
associatedWith Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. corporateBody
associatedWith Hoag, Enoch, 1812-1884. person
associatedWith Howard University. corporateBody
associatedWith McCoy, John. person
associatedWith Rust, Horatio Nelson, 1828-1906. person
associatedWith Smith, Hannah Cleveland Bush. person
associatedWith Smith, John P. person
associatedWith Taylor, James. person
associatedWith Tramper, Robert. person
associatedWith Tucker, David. person
associatedWith United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Dept. of the Interior. Indian Division. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Office of Indian Affairs. Southeast Nevada Indian Agency. corporateBody
associatedWith Watkins, Erwin C., 1839-1911. person
associatedWith Yale University. Class of 1849. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
California
California
Subject
African Americans
Cherokee Indians
Cherokee Indians
Cherokee Indians
Cherokee Indians
Cherokee Indians
Cherokee Indians
Indians of North America
Missionaries, American
Occupation
Clergy
Missionaries
Activity

Person

Birth 1827

Death 1876

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