Ethan Allen Hitchcock collection on Indian removal
Collection
Call Number: WA MSS S-2678
Scope and Contents
The collection documents several episodes in the history of Indian removal in the Southeastern United States, focusing on the activities of Generals Ethan Allen Hitchcock and Thomas Sidney Jesup in the 1830s and early 1840s. Material includes autograph letters, signed, and manuscript reports, diaries, and maps.
Dates
- 1804 - 1896
Creator
Language of Materials
Chiefly in English. Includes letters in Choctaw and Spanish.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Ethan Allen Hitchcock Collection on Indian Removal is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from various sources, 1963-1994, as noted in the description of each acquisition.
Arrangement
Organized into five groupings: 1963 Acquisition, 1964 Acquisition, 1986 Acquisition, 1992 Acquisitions, 1994 Acquisition.
Extent
1.05 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The collection documents several episodes in the history of Indian removal in the southeastern United States and Missouri, focusing on the activities of Generals Ethan Allen Hitchcock and Thomas Sidney Jesup in the 1830s and early 1840s. Material includes autograph letters, signed, and manuscript reports, diaries, and maps.
Ethan Allen Hitchcock (1798-1870)
Ethan Allen Hitchcock was born in Vergennes, Vermont in 1798. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1817 and was a career Army officer. He served in the Second Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the Civil War. A philosopher and scholar, he published several monographs, including Remarks Upon Alchemy and the Alchemists (1857), Swedenborg: A Hermetic Philosopher (1858), and Christ the Spirit (1860). His memoirs are collected in A Traveler in Indian Territory: The Journal of Ethan Allen Hitchcock (Cedar Rapids, Ia., The Torch Press,1930).
Custodial History
The custodial history of material described here is not entirely known. Notes that accompany some acquisitions indicate that Ethan Allen Hitchcock collected documentation relating to the Creek War of 1836, to the Second Seminole War, and to Indian removal campaigns generally. In order to facilitate research on Hitchcock’s activities relating to Indian removal, the Beinecke Library has described several acquisitions of topically related material as a collection.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization, in 2012. Various acquisitions associated with the collection have not been merged and organized as a whole. Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below, titled according to the date of acquisition.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Former call numbers: WA MSS S-947, WA MSS S-1068, Uncat WA MSS 55, Uncat WA MSS 146, Uncat WA MSS 147, Uncat WA MSS 174
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization, in 2012. Various acquisitions associated with the collection have not been merged and organized as a whole. Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below, titled according to the date of acquisition.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Former call numbers: WA MSS S-947, WA MSS S-1068, Uncat WA MSS 55, Uncat WA MSS 146, Uncat WA MSS 147, Uncat WA MSS 174
- Alabama
- Cherokee Indians
- Choctaw Indians
- Cogswell, Jonathan
- Creek Indians
- Creek War, 1836
- Florida
- Fort Gibson (Okla.)
- Fort Wayne (Ind.)
- Generals -- United States
- Generals -- United States
- Georgia
- Harris, Carey A.
- Hitchcock, Ethan Allen, 1798-1870
- Indian Removal, 1813-1903
- Indian agents
- Indian agents -- 19th century
- Indians of North America -- Alabama
- Indians of North America -- Florida
- Indians of North America -- Georgia
- Indians of North America -- Government relations
- Indians of North America -- Missouri
- Indians of North America -- Oklahoma
- Indians of North America -- Treaties
- Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1815-1875
- Jesup, Thomas Sidney, 1788-1860
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Osceola, Seminole chief, 1804-1838
- Seminole Indians
- Seminole War, 2nd, 1835-1842
- Soldiers -- United States
- Soldiers -- United States -- 19th century
- Southern States
- Spencer, John C. (John Canfield), 1788-1855
- United States -- History -- 1815-1861
- United States. Army (Military life)
- United States. Office of Indian Affairs
- Title
- Guide to the Ethan Allen Hitchcock Collection on Indian Removal
- Author
- by Lisa Conathan
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.