Mak-Wah Daughter1

Family
Father*Mak-Wah1
Birth*Mak-Wah Daughter was probably born on St. Mary's River near Fort Wayne, Indiana.1 
Marriage*She married, as his second wife, Little Turtle, son of Aguenackgue.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.2,3,4,5,6,7,8 

Family

 Little Turtle b. bt 1747 - 1752, d. 14 Jul 1812

Citations

  1. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907), Kilsoquah, pages 79-83. Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  2. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  3. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  4. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  5. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  6. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  7. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  8. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Mak-Wah Father1

Family
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.2,3,4,5,6,7,8 

Family
Children 1.Mak-Wah+1
 2.Mak-Wah Sister+1

Citations

  1. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907), Kilsoquah, pages 79-83. Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  2. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  3. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  4. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  5. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  6. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  7. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  8. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Mak-Wah Sister1

Family
Father*Mak-Wah Father1
Birth*Mak-Wah Sister was probably born on St. Mary's River near Fort Wayne, Indiana.1 
Relationship Note*Mak-Wah Sister and Mak-Wah were siblings.1 
Marriage*She married, as his first wife, Little Turtle, son of Aguenackgue.1 
Death*She died at Turtle Village, where Little Turtle had been born, and his father before him, and the couple's children, also. She left two sons and one daughter and Little Turtle could not stay in his Village after her passing. He moved up on the trail to the Fort to be near his brother-in-law, Mak-Wah, to whom he was much devoted.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.2,3,4,5,6,7,8 

Family

 Little Turtle b. bt 1747 - 1752, d. 14 Jul 1812
Children 1.Wak-e-shen-e-quah+1,9
 2.Kat-e-mong-wah+1
 3.Wanagapeth10 b. 1773, d. 1805
 4.Ma-cute-mon-quah1

Citations

  1. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907), Kilsoquah, pages 79-83. Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  2. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  3. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  4. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  5. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  6. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  7. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  8. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  9. [S2693] Kil-so-quah Revarre 1916 Obituary, online at Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s, at www.newspapers.com, Piqua Leader-Dispatch, (Piqua, Ohio), Tuesday, February 15, 1916, Page 6, downloaded on November 4, 2024, reporting that her mother's name was "Nah-wa-mo-kwa", which meant Snow Woman, that her father, who was a son of Chief Little Turtle, was "Wok-shii-gah", which meant Crescent Moon. Hereinafter cited as Kil-so-quah Revarre 1916 Obituary.
  10. [S225] Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanagapeth. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia Encyclopedia.

Me-to-cin-yah1,2

b. 1760, d. 1839
Family
Father*Aw-taw-waw-taw3
Birth*1760Me-to-cin-yah was born about 1760.2 
Research Notes* According to The Last of the Miamis, Me-to-cin-yah's grandfather, Chief Osandiah, had once lived with his family at the Miami capital of Kekionga, which is now Fort Wayne, Indiana. He moved with his tribal band to the Big (Great) Miami river, near what is now Piqua, Ohio. There he became a prominent Indian chief. At Osandiah's death, he was succeeded by his son, Aw-taw-waw-taw, who died soon after. The chieftainship then fell to Me-to-cin-yah, son of Aw-taw-waw-taw. Regarding his name, which had earlier been written as Metosinia by the French and English settlers, the source reported that the chief is better known in history as Me-to-cin-yah. And his name was often written by the author as Metocinyah, without the hyphens. After becoming chief, Me-to-cin-yah led his tribal band back west to Indiana and settled on the Mississinewa river where he raised a large family and became an influential chief. The village of Metocinyah, which was very large and important among the Indians, was located at the mouth of Jocinah Creek in what is now the southern part of Wabash County, Indiana. Jocinah is a modification of the name Metocinyah.

Me-to-cin-yah was thought to have had ten sons and also a number of daughters. Meshingomesia, his oldest son, became the chief of the Mississinewa band when Metocinyah died in 1839. Meshingomesia, early in life, married a Miami wife, Tak-e-quah, and they had two sons and no daughters of their own, although they raised an Indian girl whose mother was an Indian and whose father was a pioneer merchant in Peru, Indiana. Meshingomesia also took an interest in a Potawatomie Indian boy and had him adopted into the Miami tribe. For forty years, Meshingomesia was a trusted leader and advisor of his people, and was the last tribal chief of the Miamis with anything like the power of the old-time chiefs. His reservation was surrounded by white people with whom he lived in peace and by whom he was held in high esteem.

The names of Meshingomesia's nine brothers were believed recorded in 1840 when the Mississinewa Reservation was granted to the entire family of Me-to-cin-yah, although only three of them had been connected to any specific recorded events at the time of the source's publication in 1935. Wapesitah married Kegetonaquah, commonly called Shickaway; Chapendocia, whose wife was No-an-ge-quah, had a number of children; and Me-ta-ke-quah, who was also known as Captain Dixon, married when she was grown, Lydia Tharp, the little white girl who had been stolen from her father's home during the War of 1812 by Mississinewa Indians and raised at the village of Metocinyah. Charles Dixon, the son of Lydia Tharp and Captain Dixon, plays a role, with some of his descendants, in our research project.1,4,5 
Marriage*Me-to-cin-yah married, possibly as his first wife, Co-po-no-quah.6 
(Miami Chief) Life Changing Event13 March 1813Whether on 13 March 1813, or in the fall of 1814, as conflicting reports have suggested, Lydia Tharp, who was about 4 years old, was stolen from her home in Indiana by the Mississinewa tribal band of Miami Indians. Within a few days she would be delivered by her captors to Chief Me-to-cin-yah.7,5,8,6 
(Miami Chief) Miami Custom-Belief It was the custom and belief of the Miami that when a loved one died, their spirit could not enter the spirit world until a replacement could be found to take their place in the living world. Only then could the spirit of the dead be released. Sometimes a friend who was unattached could be adopted. The most prevalent custom, however, was to raid an enemy camp and capture women and children. These people, as time healed their sorrow, usually adapted to their new lives and would, thereby, become an instrument of release for the spirit of a departed member of the tribe.6 
(Miami Chief) Life Changing Event The six young Indian warriors who had taken Lydia knew that she was of value to the tribe and was not to be mistreated. They travelled with her for more than three days, doing all they could for her comfort, before arriving at the village of Me-to-cin-yah, their destination. Her captors and the people of the village were excited about her arrival because she would be the replacement to free the spirit of a loved one. As she was surrounded and greeted by excited adults and children speaking a language she didn't know, she also didn't know that by becoming a new member of the tribe she would release the spirit of one who had died. She was given the Miami name Kim-qua-tah, which meant "spirit child", and placed into the care of the chief's wife, Co-po-no-quah, a kind and loving woman. Through signs for communication and an atmosphere of maternal caring, she made Lydia feel welcome and comfortable in her new home. Being so young, Lydia adjusted well to life with the Miami.6 
(Miami Chief) Life Changing Event Kim-qua-tah always remembered her earlier name had been Lydia, and retained some of the language from her original childhood. Although she had to be hidden from sight when white men visited, she shared the cheerful and untroubled life of the other Indian children.6 
Marriage*Me-to-cin-yah may have married, as his second wife, Cha-ka-pe-ah.9 
Indian Removal Act Copied in part, with minor changes, from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal:

"Following the arrival of Europeans, the Miami were disrupted by waves of disease, war, and relocation. Beginning in 1795, the Miami were forced to sign treaties giving up ever-increasing amounts of their precious homeland to the government of the United States. By the 1830s, the Miami had only about 500,000 acres, which was surrounded by land controlled by the State of Indiana. Land speculators and settlers wanted this land too.

"In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The goal of this act was to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s, many tribes suffered their own version of the “Trail of Tears” most commonly associated with the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal in 1838. Throughout this period, the Miami resisted giving up their reservation in Indiana."10 
Miami Treaty of 1838*In the 1838 treaty between the Miami Indians and the government of the United States, Chief Me-to-cin-yah received land for his band on the Mississinewa River encompassing 6,400 acres in Grant County, Indiana. The grant would be confirmed to Chief Me-to-cin-yah's son, Chief Meshingomesia, for his band in 1840 and came to be called the Meshingomesia Reserve.11 
Death*1839Me-to-cin-yah died in 1839 at about age 792 
Burial* and was buried in the Mississinewa Memorial Cemetery, Wabash, Wabash County, Indiana.2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.12,13,14,15,16,17,18 

Family 1

 Co-po-no-quah

Family 2
Children 1.Meshingomesia+1 d. 23 Dec 1879
 2.Wapesitah4,5
 3.Chapendocia5
 4.Captain Dixon+5 b. 1807, d. 1850

Family 3

 Cha-ka-pe-ah b. 1784

Citations

  1. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Metocinyah, pages 30-32. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Me-To-Sin-yah, Memorial# 39321130. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Meshingomesia, digital pages 116-122. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  4. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, pages 32-36.
  5. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, his brothers, pages 35-36.
  6. [S2915] LaMoine N. Marks, Kim-qua-tah: The Story of Hannah Thorpe, 1994; a 14-page booklet. LaMoine Marks was born 11 September 1907 in Wabash County, Indiana. He was a member of the Miami Tribe of Indians and made a lifetime study of the tribe, its people and its ways. From the oral history learned from his father, Charles Marks, to his access of research materials gathered for a tribal history, Marks wrote this personal story of his great-grandmother, Kim-qua-tah. He wrote in his foreword: "The people were real -- the story is fictionalized only enough to provide continuity." Viewed on 13 September 2025, beginning at https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/…. Hereinafter cited as Kim-qua-tah: The Story of Hannah Thorpe.
  7. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884), Chapter IX., Pioneer Reminiscences -- continued, pages 103-104, Honorable Elijah Hackleman's narrative. Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  8. [S2665] Nelle Decker Hubbard, Pinhook to Brazil, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Brazil, Indiana: Hubbard, Nelle Decker, 1936), from the final section titled, "The Whitaker Family", Chapter IX, "Thorpe Child Stolen By The Indians", (As Related by Eli Hendrix, Pioneer), pages 208-210. Hereinafter cited as Pinhook to Brazil.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, CHA-KA-PE-AH, Memorial# 35731624.
  10. [S2788] Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia, online at https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/, Myaamia Removal, https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/contents/section5/readings/…. Hereinafter cited as Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia.
  11. [S3052] Miami Indian Foundation, online at www.miamiindianfoundation.org. Hereinafter cited as Miami Indian Foundation.
  12. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  13. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  14. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  15. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  16. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  17. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  18. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Meehkwaahkonanka1

Biographical Info*Meehkwaahkonanka Benjamin was a prominent leader and member of the Miami National Council during the turbulent 1840s, a critical period defined by the forced removal of the Miami people from Indiana to Kansas. After long opposing displacement, the Miami National Council shifted its stance and signed the Removal Treaty of November 28, 1840, at the Forks of the Wabash. Following the federal removal actions in October 1846, Meehkwaahkonanka was among the key National Council leaders, alongside families like Misihkwa, Coesse, and Antoine Revarre, who sought and eventually secured exemptions to remain in or return to Indiana rather than permanently relocating to the western reservation. Acting as a leader, he worked within the council to petition Congress and negotiate rights for members who owned reservation land to stay behind, protect personal land holdings, and secure their proportional share of tribal annuities.1,2,3 
Name VariationHe was also known as Meehkwaahkonanka Benjamin.1 
Relationship Note*Meehkwaahkonanka Benjamin and Amehkoonsihkwa were married.1 
Name VariationHis name was recorded as Meehkwaahkonanka 'Benjamin' when he applied to the U.S. Congress for an exemption from Removal for his family in 1850. Only his wife's name, Amehkoonsihkwa 'wife of Benjamin', is listed by the source as receiving the exemption, so we suspect Meehkwaahkonanka 'Benjamin" had died by 1850.1 
(Miami Leader) Indian Removal Act Copied in part, with minor changes, from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal:

"Following the arrival of Europeans, the Miami were disrupted by waves of disease, war, and relocation. Beginning in 1795, the Miami were forced to sign treaties giving up ever-increasing amounts of their precious homeland to the government of the United States. By the 1830s, the Miami had only about 500,000 acres, which was surrounded by land controlled by the State of Indiana. Land speculators and settlers wanted this land too.

"In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The goal of this act was to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s, many tribes suffered their own version of the “Trail of Tears” most commonly associated with the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal in 1838. Throughout this period, the Miami resisted giving up their reservation in Indiana."4 
(Exemption Requested) Miami Removalbetween 1838 and 1845 In the Miami treaty of 1838, the Miami National Council had agreed, for the first time, to consider the possibility of a future Indian Removal, and also contained, for the family of Chief John B. Richardville, the first Exemption from Removal. The Miami treaty of 1840 provided for two additional families, those of Chief Francis Godfroy and Chief Meshingomesia, to continue to receive their share of the annuities at Fort Wayne, Indiana, essentially exempting those families also from Removal. And, on 3 March 1845, the family of Frances Slocum was exempted from Removal by a joint resolution of Congress. By 1845, most Miami National Council leaders who owned reservation land but were not exempted, also sought legal remedy to avoid Removal and protect their homes. They wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, petitioned Congress, and hired Dr. Graham Fitch to lobby for them in Congress.

Using his Indian name, Toohpia, Principal Chief Francis Toohpia LaFontaine and other Miami leaders went to Washington themselves to discuss exemptions. Their letter following the visit showed them taking a new tactic to avoid Removal for Miami landowners, reflecting the reasons for the exemption of the Godfroy family and citing Indiana state law as the impediment to their Removal.

“Certain individuals of our nation, who are not permitted by treaty or by law of Congress to remain in Indiana and draw their annuities there, hold individual reservations of land by treaty, which they have improved, and upon which they are now living, and have paid taxes. A law of the State of Indiana forbids them making private sale of these lands, declaring all contracts with our people null and void. If such of our people emigrate, their farms will be ruined or sold for taxes, and their personal property, stock, etc., sacrificed. Will not our great father permit such of our people to remain upon their lands, and draw their annuities in Indiana, in the same manner as is specified in a similar permission, by treaty and by law of Congress, to a few other of our people? Such permission to be extended to those land owners (not now having it) until the legal inability to sell their lands is removed, or the U.S. buys them….”

They pointed out the hypocrisy that the federal government could force them from their homes on lands they owned as private property, a most sacred American tradition, while at the same time, the state of Indiana refused to allow them to legally sell their property. If they were removed, Miami leaders and their families would likely be swindled out of their lands, if their property was not outright stolen from them.

Dr. Graham Fitch, as a lobbyist for the National Council, sent a list to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, of the Miami who owned reservation land and wished to stay in Indiana. The list of petitioners included additional members of the family of Chief John B. Richardville, whose name was recorded as Pinšiwa ‘Wild Cat', and also the families of Misihkwa, Mahkateehsipana 'Cotesipin', Mihtekwahkia 'Coesse', Amehkoonsa 'Seek', Meehkwaahkonanka 'Benjamin', Meesancihkwa, Šowaapinamwa 'Antoine Revarre' and Waapimaankwa 'White Loon', and the heirs of Sha-co-mo and Chief Majenica. The men on this list were all prominent Miami leaders.1,2,3 
(Removal Petitioner) Miami Removal None of the 1845 petitioners were granted exemptions before the Miami's forced emigration to Kansas began, so tragically, they and their families were also "on Removal" and had to leave their homes and lands in Indiana with all of the other displaced members of the Miami tribe. They had resisted removal for six years and, with each passing year, more families were officially exempted from removal. They believed that everyone would be able to stay on individual family allotments that had been created for decades prior to 1840. All hope of resistance to removal ended, though, when private contractors and the U.S. Army were ordered to forcibly remove those that had not been exempted. U.S. Removal Agent Joseph Sinclair, however, did allow some of the petitioner's family members to temporarily stay behind to harvest the fall crops and sell their reservation land on the assumption that the state of Indiana would lift that ban on them.1,2,3,4 
(Miami Leader) Miami Removal6 October 1846The Miami's forced emigration to the Kansas Territory began on 6 October 1846 and, among those with Miami Indian blood, the only individuals who were permitted to remain in the Wabash country and not be removed to Kansas, were those who were specifically Exempted from Removal: the Meshingomesia Band, plus descendants of Chief Richardville and Francis Godfroy, the Slocum Family and Chief LaFontaine, his wife and their children. Everyone else was "on Removal". It would be winter before their grueling one-month journey brought them to their destination. In order to share their experiences as best we know how, we've copied, without changes, the description of their journey from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal" source:

"On October 6th, 1846, hundreds of Myaamia were loaded onto three canal boats in Peru, Indiana – a place they called Iihkipihsinonki. Iihkipihsinonki translates to “straight place”. It was named because of the straight course of the Wabash River in that spot. From Iihkipihsinonki the canal boats were pulled along the Wabash-Erie Canal and followed the Wabash north to Ft. Wayne.

"The forced exodus began in earnest the next day, when more Myaamia were forcibly loaded onto canal boats in Ft. Wayne, known to the Myaamia as Kiihkayonki. Kiihkayonki was the original site of their largest village and was called “that Glorious Gate” by the Myaamia leader Mihšihkinaahkwa. That day the forced exodus began.

"On October 7th, Kiihkayonki became the gateway of the removal from Myaamionki. From Kiihkayonki, the five canal boats were pulled to the Miami-Erie canal and began a four-day journey south to Cincinnati, OH. On their way south the Myaamia passed numerous sites of great historical and cultural importance. They passed the site of Fort Defiance, the military bastion from which Anthony Wayne launched his final invasion into Myaamionki in 1794. They also passed Pinkwaawilenionki (Pickawillany) a prominent Myaamia village site in the mid-eighteenth century. Much of the Miami-Erie canal followed the course of the Ahsenisiipi (the Great Miami River); a river that originally was a major route of travel to their hunting grounds along the Ohio River and to their relatives who also called that beautiful place home.

"On October 11th, they reached the growing metropolis of Cincinnati, Ohio. In Cincinnati, the Myaamia were moved to the steamship Colorado, and on October 12th the ship began its journey west on the Kaanseenseepiiwi (Ohio River). While on route to the Mississippi River an infant passed away. After eight days of travel on the Colorado, they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri. The Myaamia were unloaded at Bloody Island, which lay in the middle of the Mississippi River. This location placed the group near the traditional village sites of their Inoka (Illinois) relatives and as such it was a place they knew well. However it was also at the western edge of Myaamionki. To the west lay the traditional homelands of groups that had formerly been their enemies; to their parents’ generation those western lands had been a dangerous place. Yet, the Americans told them these lands in the west were to be their new homes. Upon arriving at Bloody Island an elderly member of the group passed away. The elder and the infant that had passed earlier in the journey were buried on or near the Island according to Myaamia tribal traditions.

"On October 23rd, the Myaamia were loaded onto the steamship Clermont No. 2 and were taken north on the Mississippi River to its confluence with the Missouri River. From this point, they followed the Missouri River west to Kanza Landing, which today lies on the Missouri side of Kansas City. For the first time in their journey, these forced migrants were outside their traditional homelands. After a month of journeying, these Myaamia had moved from the forested bottomlands of the Wabash River Valley to the edge of the great American prairielands of the west. It was a very different landscape, and winter had set in.

"On November 1st, three hundred and twenty five Myaamia were unloaded at Kanza Landing. The next day they traveled the final fifty miles of their journey to Osage River sub-agency in the Unorganized Territory (Kansas). They arrived at Sugar Creek on Nov. 5th, of 1846. It was winter on the plains and the people were forced to sleep in government issued tents and eat government rations until they could build more permanent structures.

"After only just arriving in Kansas the Myaamia were told they had to move again. Kansas was becoming a state and hoped to move American Indians south to Oklahoma to open up land for settlers. In 1873, a small group of Myaamia traveled 150 miles south to what is today Miami, Oklahoma completing the final leg of a journey that began back in Indiana twenty-seven years earlier."4,5,6 
(Return to Indiana) Miami Removal Following the 1846 forced Miami Removal to Kansas, several Miami families quietly made their way back to their homelands in Indiana.1,2,3 
(Husband) Miami Removal1850Meehkwaahkonanka 'Benjamin' had likely died before 1850 when only his wife, Amehkoonsihkwa, was listed as a recipient of an Exemption from Removal for herself and their family.1,2,3 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.7,8,9,10,11,12,13 

Citations

  1. [S3054] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…, article published by Diane Hunter on July 2, 2021, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi- Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  2. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  3. [S3056] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi, a blog serving as a space for Myaamia ‘Miami’ people to connect, reflect, and share. Our primary goal is to provide a platform for conversations about our community, places, ecological observations, and shared pasts. It also serves as a resource for educational opportunities that support a deeper understanding of Myaamia culture, language, and identity. Aacimohtatiiyaankwi is collaboratively authored by a dedicated team from the Myaamia Center at Miami University, the Cultural Resources Office of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and guests from the Myaamia community. Through regular posts, we share insights, stories, research, and observations that reflect the ongoing efforts to support Myaamia knowledge; online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi.
  4. [S2788] Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia, online at https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/, Myaamia Removal, https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/contents/section5/readings/…. Hereinafter cited as Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia.
  5. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Chief Francis Topeah Lafontaine, Memorial# 42524370, which includes historical information contributed by various sources and authors. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  7. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  8. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  9. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  10. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  11. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  12. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  13. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Meshingomesia1

d. 23 December 1879
Family
Father*Me-to-cin-yah1 b. 1760, d. 1839
(Eldest Son) Research Notes According to The Last of the Miamis, Me-to-cin-yah's grandfather, Chief Osandiah, had once lived with his family at the Miami capital of Kekionga, which is now Fort Wayne, Indiana. He moved with his tribal band to the Big (Great) Miami river, near what is now Piqua, Ohio. There he became a prominent Indian chief. At Osandiah's death, he was succeeded by his son, Aw-taw-waw-taw, who died soon after. The chieftainship then fell to Me-to-cin-yah, son of Aw-taw-waw-taw. Regarding his name, which had earlier been written as Metosinia by the French and English settlers, the source reported that the chief is better known in history as Me-to-cin-yah. And his name was often written by the author as Metocinyah, without the hyphens. After becoming chief, Me-to-cin-yah led his tribal band back west to Indiana and settled on the Mississinewa river where he raised a large family and became an influential chief. The village of Metocinyah, which was very large and important among the Indians, was located at the mouth of Jocinah Creek in what is now the southern part of Wabash County, Indiana. Jocinah is a modification of the name Metocinyah.

Me-to-cin-yah was thought to have had ten sons and also a number of daughters. Meshingomesia, his oldest son, became the chief of the Mississinewa band when Metocinyah died in 1839. Meshingomesia, early in life, married a Miami wife, Tak-e-quah, and they had two sons and no daughters of their own, although they raised an Indian girl whose mother was an Indian and whose father was a pioneer merchant in Peru, Indiana. Meshingomesia also took an interest in a Potawatomie Indian boy and had him adopted into the Miami tribe. For forty years, Meshingomesia was a trusted leader and advisor of his people, and was the last tribal chief of the Miamis with anything like the power of the old-time chiefs. His reservation was surrounded by white people with whom he lived in peace and by whom he was held in high esteem.

The names of Meshingomesia's nine brothers were believed recorded in 1840 when the Mississinewa Reservation was granted to the entire family of Me-to-cin-yah, although only three of them had been connected to any specific recorded events at the time of the source's publication in 1935. Wapesitah married Kegetonaquah, commonly called Shickaway; Chapendocia, whose wife was No-an-ge-quah, had a number of children; and Me-ta-ke-quah, who was also known as Captain Dixon, married when she was grown, Lydia Tharp, the little white girl who had been stolen from her father's home during the War of 1812 by Mississinewa Indians and raised at the village of Metocinyah. Charles Dixon, the son of Lydia Tharp and Captain Dixon, plays a role, with some of his descendants, in our research project.1,2,3 
Marriage*Meshingomesia married Tak-e-quah.4,5,1,6 
Indian Removal Act Copied in part, with minor changes, from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal:

"Following the arrival of Europeans, the Miami were disrupted by waves of disease, war, and relocation. Beginning in 1795, the Miami were forced to sign treaties giving up ever-increasing amounts of their precious homeland to the government of the United States. By the 1830s, the Miami had only about 500,000 acres, which was surrounded by land controlled by the State of Indiana. Land speculators and settlers wanted this land too.

"In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The goal of this act was to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s, many tribes suffered their own version of the “Trail of Tears” most commonly associated with the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal in 1838. Throughout this period, the Miami resisted giving up their reservation in Indiana."7 
Miami Treaty of 1838*In the 1838 treaty between the Miami Indians and the government of the United States, Chief Me-to-cin-yah received land for his band on the Mississinewa River encompassing 6,400 acres in Grant County, Indiana. The grant would be confirmed to Chief Me-to-cin-yah's son, Chief Meshingomesia, for his band in 1840 and came to be called the Meshingomesia Reserve.8 
Relationship Note*Meshingomesia and Jane Foster were cousins.9 
Miami Treaty of 1840* Copied, with minor changes, from Otho Winger's The Last of the Miamis, The Last Indian Reservation in Indiana, page 30:

"In the days of their prosperity and power, the proud Miamis claimed at least fifty thousand square miles in the Northwest Territory. Within fifty years after the Treaty of Greenville, 1795, and within thirty years after the death of their greatest chief, Little Turtle, 1812, they had lost all of their tribal possessions except ten square miles of territory and some personal grants that had been made to the chiefs and their descendants. This last ten square miles of Miami reservation continued as a tribal possession for forty years after all other lands had been ceded to the United States, except such individual grants that the government had made.

"In the treaty made at the Forks of the Wabash, two miles west of Huntington, and concluded on the sixth of November, 1838, provision was made for this last tribal reservation in Indiana. The Indians ceded to the United States a large area of land south of the Wabash River but made the following reservations: 'The Miami tribe reserves for the band of Me-to-cin-yah, the following tract of land to wit: Beginning on the eastern boundary of the Big Reserve, where the Mississinewa River crosses the same; thence down the river with the meanders thereof to the mouth of the creek called Forked Branch; thence north two miles; thence in a direct line to a point on the eastern boundary line, two miles north from the place of beginning; thence south to the place of beginning, supposed to contain ten square miles.'

"Two years later, on November 28, 1840, at the same place another treaty was made in which the Miami Indians ceded all of their land in Indiana except the individual grants and this single reservation which had been made to Me-to-cin-yah two years before. Me-to-cin-yah had died in the meantime and the reservation was then made in 1840 to his oldest son, Meshingomesia, and to his brothers."10,11 
(Exempted in 1840) Miami Removal In the Miami treaty of 1838, the Miami National Council had agreed, for the first time, to consider the possibility of a future Indian Removal, and also contained, for the family of Chief John B. Richardville, the first Exemption from Removal. The Miami treaty of 1840 provided for two additional families, those of Chief Francis Godfroy and Chief Meshingomesia, to continue to receive their share of the annuities at Fort Wayne, Indiana, essentially exempting those families also from Removal. The family of Frances Slocum was exempted in March of 1845. Chief Francis LaFontaine requested an exemption in November 1845 for members of his extended family who were not already exempted as members of Chief Richardville's family, and even after the tribe's forced removal had begun in October of 1846, additional exemptions were made. In the treaty of 1840, as with the exemption for the Richardville family in the treaty of 1838, the term “exemption” does not appear. Instead, the treaty explicitly allows these families to be paid their portion of the Miami annual annuities in Fort Wayne, Indiana, rather than at the new reservation in what became Kansas. The assumption was that the families would have to remain in Indiana to be paid in Fort Wayne.

The Myaamia Exempt From Removal source states that, unlike the treaty articles exempting the Richardville and Godfroy families, Article VII does not specify the reasons for exempting Meshingomesia and his brothers. However, in their report to Commissioner Crawford from the treaty grounds at the Forks of the Wabash, Samuel Milroy and Allen Hamilton explained:

“…as [Mihšiinkweemiša] and his brothers never involved the tribe in debts, as has been done by most other individuals belonging to the tribe. It is possible that a portion of this band may remain on this reservation when the body of their people will have emigrated; hence the necessity for the provision, that they could receive their proportion of the annuities with the Richardville and Godfroy families, should they remain." The source found it interesting that the treaty did not exempt the entire Meshingomesia band, but only the descendants of Meshingomesia and his brothers. Their sister and her family, for example, were not explicitly exempted. In January 1845, Allen Hamilton wrote that Principal Chief Toohpia ‘Francis LaFontaine’ was afraid that the members of Meshingomesia's band who were not exempted from Removal might “cause some difficulty with Meshingomesia and his brothers who remain under the treaty's provisions” and may seek to sell the reserve.

Consequently, the following June, Toohpia and other leaders asked for exemptions for the entire Meshingomesia band, requesting that, “By treaty, the entire Meshingomesia band are permitted to remain on their ten sections — and receive and draw their annuities. Will our great father see that all the band are enrolled among those permitted to remain, and not merely the families of the three brothers?”

While it is not clear if the exemption was granted, some of Meshingomesia’s extended relatives remained on their communal reservation and were not removed. At the time of Removal, 55 members of Meshingomesia's family were exempted

Article VII of the 1840 treaty states in part: "'... And the same provision made in favour of John B. Richardville and family, in the 14th article of the treaty of the 6th of November 1838, is hereby granted and extended to the above named [Mihšiinkweemiša], and to his brothers.”.11,12,13 
Miami Removal*6 October 1846The Miami's forced emigration to the Kansas Territory began on 6 October 1846 and, among those with Miami Indian blood, the only individuals who were permitted to remain in the Wabash country and not be removed to Kansas, were those who were specifically Exempted from Removal: the Meshingomesia Band, plus descendants of Chief Richardville and Francis Godfroy, the Slocum Family and Chief LaFontaine, his wife and their children. Everyone else was "on Removal". It would be winter before their grueling one-month journey brought them to their destination. In order to share their experiences as best we know how, we've copied, without changes, the description of their journey from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal" source:

"On October 6th, 1846, hundreds of Myaamia were loaded onto three canal boats in Peru, Indiana – a place they called Iihkipihsinonki. Iihkipihsinonki translates to “straight place”. It was named because of the straight course of the Wabash River in that spot. From Iihkipihsinonki the canal boats were pulled along the Wabash-Erie Canal and followed the Wabash north to Ft. Wayne.

"The forced exodus began in earnest the next day, when more Myaamia were forcibly loaded onto canal boats in Ft. Wayne, known to the Myaamia as Kiihkayonki. Kiihkayonki was the original site of their largest village and was called “that Glorious Gate” by the Myaamia leader Mihšihkinaahkwa. That day the forced exodus began.

"On October 7th, Kiihkayonki became the gateway of the removal from Myaamionki. From Kiihkayonki, the five canal boats were pulled to the Miami-Erie canal and began a four-day journey south to Cincinnati, OH. On their way south the Myaamia passed numerous sites of great historical and cultural importance. They passed the site of Fort Defiance, the military bastion from which Anthony Wayne launched his final invasion into Myaamionki in 1794. They also passed Pinkwaawilenionki (Pickawillany) a prominent Myaamia village site in the mid-eighteenth century. Much of the Miami-Erie canal followed the course of the Ahsenisiipi (the Great Miami River); a river that originally was a major route of travel to their hunting grounds along the Ohio River and to their relatives who also called that beautiful place home.

"On October 11th, they reached the growing metropolis of Cincinnati, Ohio. In Cincinnati, the Myaamia were moved to the steamship Colorado, and on October 12th the ship began its journey west on the Kaanseenseepiiwi (Ohio River). While on route to the Mississippi River an infant passed away. After eight days of travel on the Colorado, they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri. The Myaamia were unloaded at Bloody Island, which lay in the middle of the Mississippi River. This location placed the group near the traditional village sites of their Inoka (Illinois) relatives and as such it was a place they knew well. However it was also at the western edge of Myaamionki. To the west lay the traditional homelands of groups that had formerly been their enemies; to their parents’ generation those western lands had been a dangerous place. Yet, the Americans told them these lands in the west were to be their new homes. Upon arriving at Bloody Island an elderly member of the group passed away. The elder and the infant that had passed earlier in the journey were buried on or near the Island according to Myaamia tribal traditions.

"On October 23rd, the Myaamia were loaded onto the steamship Clermont No. 2 and were taken north on the Mississippi River to its confluence with the Missouri River. From this point, they followed the Missouri River west to Kanza Landing, which today lies on the Missouri side of Kansas City. For the first time in their journey, these forced migrants were outside their traditional homelands. After a month of journeying, these Myaamia had moved from the forested bottomlands of the Wabash River Valley to the edge of the great American prairielands of the west. It was a very different landscape, and winter had set in.

"On November 1st, three hundred and twenty five Myaamia were unloaded at Kanza Landing. The next day they traveled the final fifty miles of their journey to Osage River sub-agency in the Unorganized Territory (Kansas). They arrived at Sugar Creek on Nov. 5th, of 1846. It was winter on the plains and the people were forced to sleep in government issued tents and eat government rations until they could build more permanent structures.

"After only just arriving in Kansas the Myaamia were told they had to move again. Kansas was becoming a state and hoped to move American Indians south to Oklahoma to open up land for settlers. In 1873, a small group of Myaamia traveled 150 miles south to what is today Miami, Oklahoma completing the final leg of a journey that began back in Indiana twenty-seven years earlier."7,14,15 
Research Notes*From the Miami Treaty of 1838, we learned that the Mississinewa Reserve and been granted to the entire family of Me-to-cin-yah and that, after his death, the grant has been confirmed to his son, Meshingomesia, and had come to be known as the Meshingomesia Reserve. The following is copied, with minor modifications, from Winger's The Last of the Miamis, pages 35-37:

"In many ways, Meshingomesia's Mississinewa Indians had a good thing. They were perhaps living as well as Indians ever did. True, most of their hunting grounds were gone but they could introduce agriculture as rapidly as they liked. They had many of the advantages of the white settlers if they wished to accept them. When other Indians who had received individual grants were losing all they had this reservation was secure. No mortgage could be put upon it. The Indians were not citizens but wards of the government. They could neither sue nor be sued. Their condition seemed good for Indians.

"Some of the Indians began to desire to be citizens and to have this reservation divided among individual Indians. Some of their best white friends advised them against it. Some unscrupulous white traders, looking for victims, urged them on. At last Meshingomesia yielded to the pressure and requested the government to make the division. Congress appointed commissioners to do the work. The land was surveyed and the values estimated. There were found to be sixty-three Indians of Miami blood, or adopted, who were related to Meshingomesia".... For the purpose of the division, those sixty-three individuals were grouped into the families headed by Pe-con-ge-oh, Aw-taw-waw-taw, Chapendocia, Captain Dixon, Waucoon and Jane Newman.... "To each of these sixty-three men, women and children, a portion of these ten sections of the reservation was assigned. Each Indian received a farm in size somewhat in accordance to its location and value. The farms ranged in size from seventy-five acres to one hundred ten acres.... The following names indicate the families who received farms and the number of farms received by members of each family:

"Meshingomesia and his wife, two farms.
"Peconga, wife and children, nine farms.
"Awtawwawtaw, wife, children, and grandchildren, twelve farms.
"The widow, children and grandchildren of Chapendocia, nine farms.
"The children and grandchildren of Captain Dixon, seven farms.
"Waucoon and his children, eight farms.
"Jane Newman and her children, six farms.
"Other relatives of Meshingomesia, ten farms.

"The provision of the divide was that the Indians would not become citizens nor dispose of their lands until after 1880. But many of the Indians began to build better homes and to purchase many things such as the whites had. Money was loaned to them with the promises that it would be paid when they received their money. Nelson Tawataw built a fine, large brick house nearby the Indian cabin of his grandfather, Meshingomesia. Mr. Tawataw was a good financier and had he lived would no doubt have done well. But many others were not so. Their wants were many. They did not realize that borrowed money would have to be paid for and that they were now citizens and could be sued. Many white men were all ready to loan them money. Soon their land began going. Farm after farm was lost to the Indians until by the opening of the present century very few had any possessions left. One by one the Indian families left the lands of their ancestors to move to Marion, Wabash, Peru or other places where they have intermarried with the whites and their identity as well as their history has been all but lost."16 
(Grandfather) Illness1879Meshingomesia did not live to see the mistake of the division of his reservation. During the summer of 1879 his grandson, Nelson Tawataw, became ill with tuberculosis. He had just finished building his fine new brick house. One visitor to that home reported that she saw, at one time in that house, not only Nelson Tawataw, but also his grandparents, Meshingomesia and Tak-e-quah, his father Aw-taw-waw-taw, his uncle and aunt, Pe-con-ge-oh and Aunt Polly, and other Indians. With the exception of Pe-con-ge-oh's wife, Nelson and all the others of those just named died before the following Christmas. They were buried in the Indian cemetery just back of the Indian church. Fine tombstones for that day were erected to their memory.17 
(Husband) Death15 September 1879Meshingomesia became a widower when Tak-e-quah died on 15 September 1879 possibly at about age 87.4 
Death*23 December 1879He died on 23 December 1879 in Indiana at the age of 98 years, having continued to occupy his reservation until his death.18 
Descendants* Meshingomesia and Tak-e-quah had two sons, Pe-con-ge-oh and Aw-taw-waw-taw, who married sisters of Joseph and Charles Winters. The wife of Pecongeah was Soek-o-chock-quah, who was commonly known as Aunt Polly. They had five sons and one daughter whose English names were William, Robert, Jacob, Thomas, Peter and Mary. William Peconga and Robert Peconga married granddaughters of Frances Slocum. William had no children. The rest of the Peconga family had children and there were many descendants in 1935. Aw-taw-waw-taw's wife was Me-ta-ke-ke-quah, who was commonly known as Aunt Betsy. They had five children: Nelson, John, Anna, Lucy and Ellen. Anna Tawatah married Millard Prickett and left one son, Nelson, who was still living in Marion, Indiana in 1935. Nelson Tawataw married Melvina, a daughter of O-zah-shin-quah. They had a family of several children. Their oldest daughter married John Walters and left a number of children. By 1935, though, no one was left to perpetuate the name of Awtawwawtaw, or Tawataw as it had come to be known.1,6 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.19,20,21,22,23,24,25 

Family 1

 Tak-e-quah b. 1789, d. 15 Sep 1879
Children 1.Pe-con-ge-oh+2 b. 1815, d. 16 Sep 1879
 2.Aw-taw-waw-taw+2 b. 1817, d. 26 Dec 1879

Family 2
Child 1.Louisa Miller26,27 b. Nov 1831, d. 15 Jul 1922

Citations

  1. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Metocinyah, pages 30-32. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  2. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, pages 32-36.
  3. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, his brothers, pages 35-36.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Takeequah Aw-Taw-Waw-Taw, Memorial# 58900409. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Chief Me-Shing-O-Me-Sia, Memorial# 11565673.
  6. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, his family, pages 32-36.
  7. [S2788] Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia, online at https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/, Myaamia Removal, https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/contents/section5/readings/…. Hereinafter cited as Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia.
  8. [S3052] Miami Indian Foundation, online at www.miamiindianfoundation.org. Hereinafter cited as Miami Indian Foundation.
  9. [S2689] Otho Winger, The Frances Slocum Trail, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (North Manchester, Indiana: L. W. Schultz, Revised and Enlarged c1943; Original c1933), Indian Land, pages 64-65. Hereinafter cited as The Frances Slocum Trail.
  10. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, The Last Indian Reservation in Indiana, page 30.
  11. [S3054] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…, article published by Diane Hunter on July 2, 2021, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi- Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  12. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  13. [S3056] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi, a blog serving as a space for Myaamia ‘Miami’ people to connect, reflect, and share. Our primary goal is to provide a platform for conversations about our community, places, ecological observations, and shared pasts. It also serves as a resource for educational opportunities that support a deeper understanding of Myaamia culture, language, and identity. Aacimohtatiiyaankwi is collaboratively authored by a dedicated team from the Myaamia Center at Miami University, the Cultural Resources Office of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and guests from the Myaamia community. Through regular posts, we share insights, stories, research, and observations that reflect the ongoing efforts to support Myaamia knowledge; online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi.
  14. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  15. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Chief Francis Topeah Lafontaine, Memorial# 42524370, which includes historical information contributed by various sources and authors.
  16. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, The Last of the Reservation, pages 36-37.
  17. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Introduction, pages 3-4.
  18. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884), Chapter IX., Pioneer Reminiscences -- continued, Honorable Elijah Hackleman's narrative, The Treaty of 1838, pages 104-105, stating that Me-shin-go-me-sia continued to occupy his reservation until his death on 23 December 1879 at the age of 98 years. Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  19. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  20. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  21. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  22. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  23. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  24. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  25. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  26. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Louisa (Miller) Winters, Memorial# 58901880.
  27. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, his family, pages 32-33; Louisa Miller's name was reported to have been Eliza Miller.

Misihkwa1

Biographical Info* Misihkwa was a prominent Miami leader and signatory on the Miami National Council who played a key role during the tumultuous Miami Removal era of the 1840s. He was a signer of the Treaty of 1840, in which the Miami National Council yielded to U.S. pressure and agreed to cede their remaining lands in Indiana for relocation west of the Mississippi River. Alongside Francis Toohpia LaFontaine and other council leaders, Misihkwa worked to protect tribal interests, negotiate exemptions, and question the U.S. government's coercive tactics regarding the timeline and enforcement of removal. After the forced removal of many Miami to Kansas in 1846, Misihkwa's family was among those who made their way back to Indiana, leading to an official U.S. Congressional exemption in 1850 that allowed them to legally remain on their homelands.1,2,3 
(Miami Leader) Indian Removal Act Copied in part, with minor changes, from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal:

"Following the arrival of Europeans, the Miami were disrupted by waves of disease, war, and relocation. Beginning in 1795, the Miami were forced to sign treaties giving up ever-increasing amounts of their precious homeland to the government of the United States. By the 1830s, the Miami had only about 500,000 acres, which was surrounded by land controlled by the State of Indiana. Land speculators and settlers wanted this land too.

"In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The goal of this act was to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s, many tribes suffered their own version of the “Trail of Tears” most commonly associated with the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal in 1838. Throughout this period, the Miami resisted giving up their reservation in Indiana."4 
(Exemption Requested) Miami Removalbetween 1838 and 1845 In the Miami treaty of 1838, the Miami National Council had agreed, for the first time, to consider the possibility of a future Indian Removal, and also contained, for the family of Chief John B. Richardville, the first Exemption from Removal. The Miami treaty of 1840 provided for two additional families, those of Chief Francis Godfroy and Chief Meshingomesia, to continue to receive their share of the annuities at Fort Wayne, Indiana, essentially exempting those families also from Removal. And, on 3 March 1845, the family of Frances Slocum was exempted from Removal by a joint resolution of Congress. By 1845, most Miami National Council leaders who owned reservation land but were not exempted, also sought legal remedy to avoid Removal and protect their homes. They wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, petitioned Congress, and hired Dr. Graham Fitch to lobby for them in Congress.

Using his Indian name, Toohpia, Principal Chief Francis Toohpia LaFontaine and other Miami leaders went to Washington themselves to discuss exemptions. Their letter following the visit showed them taking a new tactic to avoid Removal for Miami landowners, reflecting the reasons for the exemption of the Godfroy family and citing Indiana state law as the impediment to their Removal.

“Certain individuals of our nation, who are not permitted by treaty or by law of Congress to remain in Indiana and draw their annuities there, hold individual reservations of land by treaty, which they have improved, and upon which they are now living, and have paid taxes. A law of the State of Indiana forbids them making private sale of these lands, declaring all contracts with our people null and void. If such of our people emigrate, their farms will be ruined or sold for taxes, and their personal property, stock, etc., sacrificed. Will not our great father permit such of our people to remain upon their lands, and draw their annuities in Indiana, in the same manner as is specified in a similar permission, by treaty and by law of Congress, to a few other of our people? Such permission to be extended to those land owners (not now having it) until the legal inability to sell their lands is removed, or the U.S. buys them….”

They pointed out the hypocrisy that the federal government could force them from their homes on lands they owned as private property, a most sacred American tradition, while at the same time, the state of Indiana refused to allow them to legally sell their property. If they were removed, Miami leaders and their families would likely be swindled out of their lands, if their property was not outright stolen from them.

Dr. Graham Fitch, as a lobbyist for the National Council, sent a list to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, of the Miami who owned reservation land and wished to stay in Indiana. The list of petitioners included additional members of the family of Chief John B. Richardville, whose name was recorded as Pinšiwa ‘Wild Cat', and also the families of Misihkwa, Mahkateehsipana 'Cotesipin', Mihtekwahkia 'Coesse', Amehkoonsa 'Seek', Meehkwaahkonanka 'Benjamin', Meesancihkwa, Šowaapinamwa 'Antoine Revarre' and Waapimaankwa 'White Loon', and the heirs of Sha-co-mo and Chief Majenica. The men on this list were all prominent Miami leaders.1,2,3 
(Removal Petitioner) Miami Removal None of the 1845 petitioners were granted exemptions before the Miami's forced emigration to Kansas began, so tragically, they and their families were also "on Removal" and had to leave their homes and lands in Indiana with all of the other displaced members of the Miami tribe. They had resisted removal for six years and, with each passing year, more families were officially exempted from removal. They believed that everyone would be able to stay on individual family allotments that had been created for decades prior to 1840. All hope of resistance to removal ended, though, when private contractors and the U.S. Army were ordered to forcibly remove those that had not been exempted. U.S. Removal Agent Joseph Sinclair, however, did allow some of the petitioner's family members to temporarily stay behind to harvest the fall crops and sell their reservation land on the assumption that the state of Indiana would lift that ban on them.1,2,3,4 
(Miami Leader) Miami Removal6 October 1846The Miami's forced emigration to the Kansas Territory began on 6 October 1846 and, among those with Miami Indian blood, the only individuals who were permitted to remain in the Wabash country and not be removed to Kansas, were those who were specifically Exempted from Removal: the Meshingomesia Band, plus descendants of Chief Richardville and Francis Godfroy, the Slocum Family and Chief LaFontaine, his wife and their children. Everyone else was "on Removal". It would be winter before their grueling one-month journey brought them to their destination. In order to share their experiences as best we know how, we've copied, without changes, the description of their journey from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal" source:

"On October 6th, 1846, hundreds of Myaamia were loaded onto three canal boats in Peru, Indiana – a place they called Iihkipihsinonki. Iihkipihsinonki translates to “straight place”. It was named because of the straight course of the Wabash River in that spot. From Iihkipihsinonki the canal boats were pulled along the Wabash-Erie Canal and followed the Wabash north to Ft. Wayne.

"The forced exodus began in earnest the next day, when more Myaamia were forcibly loaded onto canal boats in Ft. Wayne, known to the Myaamia as Kiihkayonki. Kiihkayonki was the original site of their largest village and was called “that Glorious Gate” by the Myaamia leader Mihšihkinaahkwa. That day the forced exodus began.

"On October 7th, Kiihkayonki became the gateway of the removal from Myaamionki. From Kiihkayonki, the five canal boats were pulled to the Miami-Erie canal and began a four-day journey south to Cincinnati, OH. On their way south the Myaamia passed numerous sites of great historical and cultural importance. They passed the site of Fort Defiance, the military bastion from which Anthony Wayne launched his final invasion into Myaamionki in 1794. They also passed Pinkwaawilenionki (Pickawillany) a prominent Myaamia village site in the mid-eighteenth century. Much of the Miami-Erie canal followed the course of the Ahsenisiipi (the Great Miami River); a river that originally was a major route of travel to their hunting grounds along the Ohio River and to their relatives who also called that beautiful place home.

"On October 11th, they reached the growing metropolis of Cincinnati, Ohio. In Cincinnati, the Myaamia were moved to the steamship Colorado, and on October 12th the ship began its journey west on the Kaanseenseepiiwi (Ohio River). While on route to the Mississippi River an infant passed away. After eight days of travel on the Colorado, they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri. The Myaamia were unloaded at Bloody Island, which lay in the middle of the Mississippi River. This location placed the group near the traditional village sites of their Inoka (Illinois) relatives and as such it was a place they knew well. However it was also at the western edge of Myaamionki. To the west lay the traditional homelands of groups that had formerly been their enemies; to their parents’ generation those western lands had been a dangerous place. Yet, the Americans told them these lands in the west were to be their new homes. Upon arriving at Bloody Island an elderly member of the group passed away. The elder and the infant that had passed earlier in the journey were buried on or near the Island according to Myaamia tribal traditions.

"On October 23rd, the Myaamia were loaded onto the steamship Clermont No. 2 and were taken north on the Mississippi River to its confluence with the Missouri River. From this point, they followed the Missouri River west to Kanza Landing, which today lies on the Missouri side of Kansas City. For the first time in their journey, these forced migrants were outside their traditional homelands. After a month of journeying, these Myaamia had moved from the forested bottomlands of the Wabash River Valley to the edge of the great American prairielands of the west. It was a very different landscape, and winter had set in.

"On November 1st, three hundred and twenty five Myaamia were unloaded at Kanza Landing. The next day they traveled the final fifty miles of their journey to Osage River sub-agency in the Unorganized Territory (Kansas). They arrived at Sugar Creek on Nov. 5th, of 1846. It was winter on the plains and the people were forced to sleep in government issued tents and eat government rations until they could build more permanent structures.

"After only just arriving in Kansas the Myaamia were told they had to move again. Kansas was becoming a state and hoped to move American Indians south to Oklahoma to open up land for settlers. In 1873, a small group of Myaamia traveled 150 miles south to what is today Miami, Oklahoma completing the final leg of a journey that began back in Indiana twenty-seven years earlier."4,5,6 
(Return to Indiana) Miami Removal Following the 1846 forced Miami Removal to Kansas, several Miami families quietly made their way back to their homelands in Indiana.1,2,3 
(Exempted in 1850) Miami Removal1850 In 1850, the U.S. Congress granted official removal exemptions to the additional members of the family of Miami Chief John B. Richardville, whose name was recorded as Pinšiwa ‘Wild Cat', and also the families of Waapimaankwa 'White Loon', Šowaapinamwa 'Antoine Revarre', Mihtekwahkia 'Coesse', Misihkwa, Oonseentia 'John Osandiah', Mahkateehsipana 'Cotesipin', Amehkoonsa 'Seek', Mahkateemaankwa, Amehkoonsihkwa 'wife of Benjamin', Kinooseensa 'Peter Langlois' and Elizabeth Langlois, identifying them as specific Miami tribal leaders, community members, individuals, families, and their descendants who had returned to Indiana after the forced removals. With this action, Congress formally legalized their returns, allowing them to remain in Indiana permanently.

The names of Sha-co-mo, Chief Majenica and Meesancihkwa, or Chief Little Turtle, whose family members had also requested exemptions from Removal, were not included, nor was any mention of their heirs.1,2,3 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.7,8,9,10,11,12,13 

Citations

  1. [S3054] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…, article published by Diane Hunter on July 2, 2021, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi- Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  2. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  3. [S3056] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi, a blog serving as a space for Myaamia ‘Miami’ people to connect, reflect, and share. Our primary goal is to provide a platform for conversations about our community, places, ecological observations, and shared pasts. It also serves as a resource for educational opportunities that support a deeper understanding of Myaamia culture, language, and identity. Aacimohtatiiyaankwi is collaboratively authored by a dedicated team from the Myaamia Center at Miami University, the Cultural Resources Office of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and guests from the Myaamia community. Through regular posts, we share insights, stories, research, and observations that reflect the ongoing efforts to support Myaamia knowledge; online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi.
  4. [S2788] Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia, online at https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/, Myaamia Removal, https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/contents/section5/readings/…. Hereinafter cited as Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia.
  5. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Chief Francis Topeah Lafontaine, Memorial# 42524370, which includes historical information contributed by various sources and authors. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  7. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  8. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  9. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  10. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  11. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  12. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  13. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Moaque1

Family
Biographical Info* The Langlois family in Indiana was descended from Pierre Langlois Sr., a prominent French fur trader who married a Miami woman named Moaque, which was also spelled Moquah. Because of their strong tribal ties, their alignment with tribal leadership, and their standing as landholders, the family played an essential role in early 19th-century regional diplomacy. Following the Treaty of 1840, the United States government forced the Miami people out of their Indiana homelands to reservations further west. However, on May 1, 1850, the U.S. Congress passed a special joint resolution granting formal exemptions from this forced removal to specific individuals and their families who were residing in Indiana. Kinooseensa, whose English name was Peter Langlois, and his sister, Elizabeth Langlois, were explicitly named in this legislation. Their legal exemption allowed them and their descendants to remain in Indiana and eventually become integrated as U.S. citizens.1,2,3 
Name VariationAnother spelling of her name was Moquah.4,1 
Marriage*She married, as his first wife, Pierre Langlois Sr.. He was a French fur trader and she was a full-blooded Miami woman.1,4 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.5,6,7,8,9,10,11 

Family

 Pierre Langlois Sr. b. 1770, d. 1834
Children 1.Peter Langlois Jr.1 b. 1796, d. 16 Oct 1871
 2.Elizabeth Langlois1 b. 1813, d. 8 Dec 1858

Citations

  1. [S3054] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…, article published by Diane Hunter on July 2, 2021, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi- Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  2. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  3. [S3056] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi, a blog serving as a space for Myaamia ‘Miami’ people to connect, reflect, and share. Our primary goal is to provide a platform for conversations about our community, places, ecological observations, and shared pasts. It also serves as a resource for educational opportunities that support a deeper understanding of Myaamia culture, language, and identity. Aacimohtatiiyaankwi is collaboratively authored by a dedicated team from the Myaamia Center at Miami University, the Cultural Resources Office of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and guests from the Myaamia community. Through regular posts, we share insights, stories, research, and observations that reflect the ongoing efforts to support Myaamia knowledge; online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Peter Langlois Jr., Memorial# 13040301. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  5. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  6. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  7. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  8. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  9. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  10. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  11. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Mon-go-sau1

Family
Mother*La Blonde Richardville2,1 d. b 1 Jun 1847
Birth*Mon-go-sau was born. 
Name VariationWe also found his name written as Mon go saw.2 
(Son of Eldest Daughter) Will9 April 1841His paternal grandfather, Chief John B. Richardville, prepared his will dated 9 April 1841 in Allen County, Indiana, naming his three daughters, Catees, Susan and La Blonde, one son-in-law, Francis LaFontaine, his surviving son, Mia-que-ah, and his two deceased sons, John B. Richardville and Joseph Richardville. His will named a niece, Margaret Lafalia, and nineteen grandchildren which included three granddaughters, Che-Pe-Quay, Che-me-qua and Alin-Ben-Che-Quay, and three grandsons, Wa-pa-se-pah, Wa-ka-shin-qua and John B. LaFontaine, from his daughter, Catees; one grandson, Ma-ca-the-mun-qua from his daughter, Susan; two grandsons, Ca-the-mun-qua and Shap-pen-do-u-ah, and two granddaughters, Ca-the-mun-quah-quah and Wa-ka-com-me qua, from his deceased son John B. Richardville; one granddaughter, Mon-go-se-quah, and two grandsons, Mon-go-sau and Ke-la-ke-mo-ke-ah, from his daughter, La Blonde; one grandson, Alin-na-ben-she-shau, from his deceased son Joseph Richardville, and four grandchildren from his son, Mia-que-ah, whose names he was unable to recollect. His heirs also included two great grandchildren. The first was identified as the granddaughter of his daughter, Susan, from her son, Ma-ca-the-mun-qua, and was described as the "Daughter Child" by his former wife, Ke she co quah, who was a daughter of Pichiwa; his second great grandchild was identified as Thomas F. Richardville, son of his deceased grandson, Crescent, who was the son of his deceased son Joseph Richardville. Our transcription of his will follows:

In the name of God. Amen!

I, John B. Richardville of the County of Allen, Indiana, Principal Chief of the Miami Tribe of Indians, being of sound mind and memory, knowing the uncertainty of life and desirous to dispose of my affairs while in a sound state of mind, doth make, publish and declare this instrument of writing my last will and testament in manner following, to wit:

First. I commit my soul to that God who gave it, my burial to be under the direction of my executor hereinafter named.

Item First. I devise, will and bequeath to my daughter Catees (alias Catherine), wife of LaFontaine, her heirs and assigns forever, the three following sections of land, to wit: One section of the same situate in the County of Huntington at the forks of the Wabash to be laid out for her by my executor so as to include my houses and improvements there. The other two sections of land to commence at the confluence of the Mississinewa and Wabash rivers running down the Wabash to the lower line of the two sections and back for quantity.

Item 2. I devise, will and bequeath to my daughter La Blonde (alias Maria Louisa) and her heirs and assigns forever, three sections of land on the St. Marys river in the County of Allen, known as my residence on that river.

Item 3. I give, devise, will and bequeath to my daughter Susan and her heirs and assigns forever, three sections of land as follows. One of said sections lying in the County of Huntington nearly opposite Vermilya's Mill and the other two commencing at the confluence of the Salamonie River and the Wabash, to run so far down as a line run to the back line will embrace two sections of land, being the upper two sections of my reserve on the Wabash River below and adjoining the Salamonie.

Item 4. I devise, will and bequeath to my son Mi-aw-que-ah (alias Blind Eyed Richardville) and his heirs and assigns forever, one section of land situate on the Mississinewa river at what is called the Osage Village.

Item 5. I give, will and bequeath to my granddaughter Mon-go-se-quah, the daughter of La Blonde, her heirs and assigns forever, one section of land on the Wabash adjoining the Salamonie river, the residue of said reserve being devised to my daughter Susan.

Item 6. I devise, will and bequeath to my grandson Wa-pa-se-pah (alias Louis La Fontaine) and his heirs and assigns forever, one section of land situated in Miami County, lying on the Wabash River opposite the mouth of the Mississinewa river.

Item 7. I give, devise, will and bequeath to my niece Margaret Lafalia, her heirs and assigns forever, one-half section of land commencing at a point on the Wabash and Erie Canal where Clear Creek intersects the same in Huntington County, thence up the canal until it strikes the lots laid out for the town of Richardville and back for quantity.

Item 8. I give, devise, will and bequeath to each of my grand and great grandchildren, and to their heirs and assigns forever, one-half section of land each, to wit: to the following five children of my daughter Catees, Che-pe-quay, Che-me-qua, Alin-ben-che-quay, her three daughters; to Wa-ka-shin-qua and to John B. Lafontaine (alias Old Man), her two sons, these are the five children of Catees to whom I give ½ section of land each. To Ma-ca-the-mun-qua (alias John), son of Susan and to his daughter child by his former wife, the daughter of Push-ne, each one-half section of land. To Ca-the-mun-qua and to Shap-pen-do-u-ah, sons of my deceased son John B. Richardville Junior, to Ca-the-mun-quah-quah and to Wa-ka-com-me-qua, daughters of said deceased son John B. Richardville, each of the four one-half section of land. To Mon-go-sau and Ke-la-com-me-ka, sons of my daughter La Blonde, each one-half section of land. To Alin-na-ben-she-shau, son of my deceased son Joseph Richardville, one-half section of land; to my great grandson, the son of Crescent, who was the son of Joseph Richardville one-half section of land. To my four grandchildren, the children of my son Mi-aw-que ah, whose names I do not recollect, each one-half section of land.

It is my further will and I hereby direct that my executors cause to be surveyed and set apart to each of the devisees to whom one-half section of land is devised by this my last will and testament, the separate tract to each individual out of any lands I may possess at the time of my death not expressly devised to any individual by this will and file a record of such division with the name of the person to which each tract belongs, in the county where the land lies, a certificate of which shall be evidence of title to such devisee. Setting apart to the children of Catees the section I bought from Black Loon in Huntington County and the section and a half at my mill on the Wabash at Rock Creek. Should I own them at the time of my death being to the children of Catees, ½ section each. Should I dispose of the same in my life time, then they've to be selected as the others.

Item Ninth. All the property both real and personal or mixed, lands or tenements, credits, moneys and effects which I may possess at the time of my death not devised to any devisee in this my last will and testament and all my cattle and household furniture I devise, will and bequeath to my three daughters, La Blonde, Susan and Catees, their heirs and assigns forever.

And lastly, I constitute and appoint Allen Hamilton and the Reverend Julian Benoit as executors of this my last will and testament, and in the case of death, refusal to serve or removal of either beyond the limits of this state, it is my will that the Probate Court appoint and executor in place of the one removed, refusing to serve or deceased, so that there shall be at all times two executors to this my last will and testament.

In testimony whereof, I John B. Richardville have hereunto set my hand and seal this ninth day of April in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred forty-one.

Signing as his witnesses were John P. Hedges and John E. Hill.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.3,4,5,6,7,8,9 

Citations

  1. [S2621] Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999, online at www.ancestry.com, will of John B. Richardville, Principal Chief of the Miami Tribe of Indians, dated 9 April 1841 in Allen County, Indiana, Probate Will Record, Volumes 1-2a, 1831-1875, pages 35-38, Ancestry online images 40-42 of 815. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999.
  2. [S2691] Richardville Family Tree, from the Elizabeth Glenn Collection, "Richardville, LaFontaine, Langlois, Cass, and Little Turtle genealogical tree", RG-04-01-40-B06-F25-052_Page-10, Ball State University, Digital Media Repository, a project of the university's libraries,, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3447/. Hereinafter cited as Richardville Family Tree.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  4. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  5. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  6. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Moohswa1

Family
Marriage*He married Susan Richardville, daughter of John B. Richardville and Not-to-ma-quah.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.2,3,4,5,6,7,8 

Family

 Susan Richardville
Child 1.John Richardville+1

Citations

  1. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, from the family of Miami Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville, whose Indian name was Pinšiwa, Aahsansamhkwa, English name Susan Richardville, Daughter; Moohswa, Aahsansamhkwa's husband; Mahkateemaankwa, English name John Richardville, Aahsansamhkwa's son; Kiišikohkwa, English name Josephine Wildcat, married names Richardville and Osandiah, Mahkateemaankwa's wife; Waahseehkamohkwa, English name Mary Richardville, Mahkateemaankwa and Kiišikohkwa's daughter. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  2. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  3. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  4. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  5. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  6. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  7. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  8. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Mun-go-sah-quah1

b. 1846
Family
Mother*Jane Richardville1 b. 1820
Birth*1846Mun-go-sah-quah was born about 1846 in Indiana.1 
(Grandson) Miami Annuity List1854Mun-go-sah-quah was listed with his mother and maternal grandparents on the Miami Annuity Pay-Roll List for 1854 near Huntington, Indian Country, Indiana. He was 8 years old.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.2,3,4,5,6,7,8 

Citations

  1. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere; Annuity Pay-Roll, Miami Indians of Indiana, 1854, which includes a list of Miami Indians who signed the treaty of 5 June 1854 and were to draw annuities in Indiana, page 3, the family of Mi ah gue ah. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  2. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  3. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php
  4. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  5. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  6. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  7. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  8. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Nah-wa-kah-mo-kwa1

Family
Marriage*She married Wak-e-shen-e-quah, son of Little Turtle and Mak-Wah Sister.1,2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.3,4,5,6,7,8,9 

Family

 Wak-e-shen-e-quah
Child 1.Kilsoquah+1 b. May 1810, d. 4 Sep 1915

Citations

  1. [S1571] Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2017, online at www.ancestry.com, death on 4 September 1915 in Jackson, Huntington, Indiana, USA, of Margaret (Kil-so-quah) Revarre, age 105, Widow of Anthony Revarre, born in May 1810 to "Wok-WA-Gah" and "Nah-WA-Kah-MO-Kwa" in Indiana, informant her son Anthony Revarre, burial in Glenwood Cemetery, Roanoke, referencing Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1910-1919; Roll: 09. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2017.
  2. [S2693] Kil-so-quah Revarre 1916 Obituary, online at Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s, at www.newspapers.com, Piqua Leader-Dispatch, (Piqua, Ohio), Tuesday, February 15, 1916, Page 6, downloaded on November 4, 2024, reporting that her mother's name was "Nah-wa-mo-kwa", which meant Snow Woman, that her father, who was a son of Chief Little Turtle, was "Wok-shii-gah", which meant Crescent Moon. Hereinafter cited as Kil-so-quah Revarre 1916 Obituary.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  4. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  5. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  6. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

No-an-ge-quah1

Family
(Wife of 3rd Son) Research Notes According to The Last of the Miamis, Me-to-cin-yah's grandfather, Chief Osandiah, had once lived with his family at the Miami capital of Kekionga, which is now Fort Wayne, Indiana. He moved with his tribal band to the Big (Great) Miami river, near what is now Piqua, Ohio. There he became a prominent Indian chief. At Osandiah's death, he was succeeded by his son, Aw-taw-waw-taw, who died soon after. The chieftainship then fell to Me-to-cin-yah, son of Aw-taw-waw-taw. Regarding his name, which had earlier been written as Metosinia by the French and English settlers, the source reported that the chief is better known in history as Me-to-cin-yah. And his name was often written by the author as Metocinyah, without the hyphens. After becoming chief, Me-to-cin-yah led his tribal band back west to Indiana and settled on the Mississinewa river where he raised a large family and became an influential chief. The village of Metocinyah, which was very large and important among the Indians, was located at the mouth of Jocinah Creek in what is now the southern part of Wabash County, Indiana. Jocinah is a modification of the name Metocinyah.

Me-to-cin-yah was thought to have had ten sons and also a number of daughters. Meshingomesia, his oldest son, became the chief of the Mississinewa band when Metocinyah died in 1839. Meshingomesia, early in life, married a Miami wife, Tak-e-quah, and they had two sons and no daughters of their own, although they raised an Indian girl whose mother was an Indian and whose father was a pioneer merchant in Peru, Indiana. Meshingomesia also took an interest in a Potawatomie Indian boy and had him adopted into the Miami tribe. For forty years, Meshingomesia was a trusted leader and advisor of his people, and was the last tribal chief of the Miamis with anything like the power of the old-time chiefs. His reservation was surrounded by white people with whom he lived in peace and by whom he was held in high esteem.

The names of Meshingomesia's nine brothers were believed recorded in 1840 when the Mississinewa Reservation was granted to the entire family of Me-to-cin-yah, although only three of them had been connected to any specific recorded events at the time of the source's publication in 1935. Wapesitah married Kegetonaquah, commonly called Shickaway; Chapendocia, whose wife was No-an-ge-quah, had a number of children; and Me-ta-ke-quah, who was also known as Captain Dixon, married when she was grown, Lydia Tharp, the little white girl who had been stolen from her father's home during the War of 1812 by Mississinewa Indians and raised at the village of Metocinyah. Charles Dixon, the son of Lydia Tharp and Captain Dixon, plays a role, with some of his descendants, in our research project.2,3,1 
Marriage*She was the wife of Chapendocia, son of Me-to-cin-yah, and a younger brother of Meshingomesia, who succeeded their father as Chief of the Mississinewa tribal band of Miami Indians.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.4,5,6,7,8,9,10 

Family

 Chapendocia

Citations

  1. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Meshingomesia, his brothers, pages 35-36. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  2. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Metocinyah, pages 30-32.
  3. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, pages 32-36.
  4. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  5. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  6. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  7. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  8. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  9. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  10. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Not-to-ma-quah1

Family
Mother*White Racoon2
Marriage*She married John B. Richardville, son of Antoine-Joseph Drouet de Richerville and Tah-cum-wah.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.3,4,5,6,7,8,9 

Family

 John B. Richardville b. 1761, d. 13 Aug 1841
Children 1.Joseph Richardville+1
 2.Louis Richardville+1 b. 1790
 3.La Blonde Richardville+1 d. b 1 Jun 1847
 4.Susan Richardville+1
 5.John Baptiste Richardville+1
 6.Catharine Richardville+1,10,11,12 b. 1810, d. 19 Dec 1848

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Catherine Pocongoquah “Cates” (Richardville) Lafontaine Laselle, Memorial# 42524979. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S2691] Richardville Family Tree, from the Elizabeth Glenn Collection, "Richardville, LaFontaine, Langlois, Cass, and Little Turtle genealogical tree", RG-04-01-40-B06-F25-052_Page-10, Ball State University, Digital Media Repository, a project of the university's libraries,, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3447/. Hereinafter cited as Richardville Family Tree.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  4. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  5. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  6. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  10. [S2621] Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999, online at www.ancestry.com, will of John B. Richardville, Principal Chief of the Miami Tribe of Indians, dated 9 April 1841 in Allen County, Indiana, Probate Will Record, Volumes 1-2a, 1831-1875, pages 35-38, Ancestry online images 40-42 of 815. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999.
  11. [S2621] Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999, online at www.ancestry.com, will of La Blonde Richardville dated 23 May 1846 in Allen County, Indiana, Probate Will Record, Volumes 1-2a, 1831-1875, pages 118-121, Ancestry online images 82-83 of 815.
  12. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, John B. Richardville, pages 13-15.

O-zah-shin-quah1,2

b. October 1809, d. 25 January 1877
Family
Jane O-zah-shin-quah Bondy
Father*She-po-con-ah3,4,2 d. 1833
Mother*Frances Slocum5 b. 4 Mar 1773, d. 9 Mar 1847
(Family Member) Name Spellings In this research project, everyone with the surname Bondy or Bundy was a member of the same family. When Peter BONDY returned to the United States from Canada in 1840, his surname, as it was recorded, was spelled BONDY. By the early 1900's, Peter's surname, and the surname of most of his children, had begun to morph and was, in many cases, being recorded as BUNDY, although some of his children retained the BONDY surname. Over the years, as Peter made his way into the history books, he became known as Peter BUNDY.6,7,8,9 
Birth*October 1809O-zah-shin-quah, which meant "Yellow Leaf", was born in October 1809 in Peru, Miami County, Indiana.2,10 
Marriage*She married first, as his first wife, Louis Godfroy, son of Francis Godfroy and Sac-a-che-quah.11 
(Daughter) Frances Slocum Story1835From the History of Miami County, "Late in the year of 1834 or early in the year of 1835, Colonel George W. Ewing, an Indian trader, of Logansport. who had a large trade with the Miamis, stopped for the night at the Deaf Man's village, situated on the Mississinewa river a few miles above its mouth. He was given the hospitality of an Indian home, the mistress of which was a respectable Indian woman, and during the evening he noticed that her children and grandchildren treated her with great respect and obedience. Tired out with his day's travel, Ewing retired soon after eating his supper to a bed of skins and blankets that had been prepared for him in one corner of the cabin. But he did not go to sleep. All the members of the family soon after disappeared, except the old woman, who occupied herself for a time in attending to some ordinary household duties. As she moved about the cabin the trader watched her, noticing something peculiarly striking in her appearance, especially her hair, until he began to suspect that this was a white woman. His suspicion was soon afterward confirmed, when one of her arms was accidentally bared and he saw that the skin above the elbow was white. He then began a conversation with her in the Miami tongue—for she could speak but little English—and on gaining her confidence to some extent asked her pointedly if she was not a white woman.

"The question apparently startled her and at first she gave an evasive answer. But Colonel Ewing made her understand that he was her friend and she finally told him her story, or what she could remember of her early life. She said she had been carried away from near some town on the Susquehanna river when she was a little girl, that she thought her father's name was Slocum and that he was a Quaker.

"Upon arriving at his home the next day Colonel Ewing told his mother what he had learned. She advised him to write to the woman's friends in Pennsylvania. This was almost an impossible task, as Frances could not remember where they lived, further than it was near some town on the Susquehanna river, and nearly three score years had elapsed since she had been carried away from her home. He finally remembered that Lancaster was an old town, near the Susquehanna, and decided to write to the postmaster there, hoping that through this medium the relatives of the 'Lost Sister of Wyoming' might learn of her existence. Following is Colonel Ewing 's letter (dated) Logansport, Indiana, January 20, 1835:

"'Dear Sir: In the hope that some good may result from it, I have taken this means of giving to your fellow-citizens—say the descendants of the early settlers of the Susquehanna—the following information; and if there be any now living whose name is Slocum, to them, I hope, the following may be communicated through the public prints of your place:

"'There is now living near this place, an aged white woman, who a few days ago told me, while I lodged in the camp one night, that she was taken away from her father's house, on or near the Susquehanna, when she was very young—say from five to eight years old, as she thinks—by the Delaware Indians, who were then hostile toward the whites. She says her father's name was Slocum, that he was a Quaker, rather small in stature, and wore a large brimmed hat; was of sandy hair and light complexioned and much freckled; that he lived about half a mile from a town where there was a fort; that they lived in a wooden house of two stories high, and had a spring near the house. She says three Delawares came to the house in the daytime, when all were absent but herself, and perhaps two other children; her father and brothers were absent working in the field. The Indians carried her off, and she was adopted into a family of Delawares, who raised her and treated her as their own child. They died about forty years ago, somewhere in Ohio. She was then married to a Miami, by whom she had four children; two of them are now living—they are both daughters—and she lives with them. Her husband is dead; she is old and feeble, and thinks she will not live long.

"'These considerations induced her to give the present history of herself, which she would never do before, fearing that her kindred would come and force her away. She has lived long and happy as an Indian, and, but for her color, would not be suspected of being anything else than such. She is very respectable and wealthy, sober and honest. Her name is without reproach. She says her father had a large family, say eight children in all—six older than herself, one younger, as well as she can recollect—and she doubts not there are yet living many of their descendants, but seems to think that all her brothers and sisters must be dead, as she is very old herself, not far from the age of eighty. She thinks she was taken prisoner before the last two wars, which must mean the Revolutionary war, as Wayne's war and the late war have been since that one. She has entirely lost her mother tongue, and speaks only as an Indian, which I also understand, and she gave me a full history of herself.

"'Her own Christian name she has forgotten, but says her father's name was Slocum. and he was a Quaker. She also recollects that it was upon the Susquehanna river that they lived, but does not recollect the name of the town near which they lived. I have thought that from this letter you might cause something to be inserted in the newspapers of your country that might possibly catch the eye of some of the descendants of the Slocum family, who have knowledge of a girl having been carried off by the Indians some seventy years ago. This they might know from family tradition. If so, and they will come here, I will carry them where they may see the object of my letter alive and happy, though old and far advanced in life.

"'I can form no idea whereabout upon the Susquehanna river this family could have lived at that early period, namely, about the time of the Revolutionary war, but perhaps you can ascertain more about it. If so, I hope you will interest yourself, and, if possible, let her brothers and sisters, if any be alive—if not, their children—know where they may once more see a relative whose fate has been wrapped in mystery for seventy years, and for whom her bereaved and afflicted parents doubtless shed many a bitter tear. They have long since found their graves, though their lost child they never found. I have been much affected with the disclosure, and hope the surviving friends may obtain, through your goodness, the information I desire for them. If I can be of any service to them, they may command me. In the meantime, I hope you will excuse me for the freedom I have taken with you, a total stranger, and believe me to be, sir, with much respect,

"'Your obedient servant,

"'George W. Ewing.1'" 
Marriage*1835She married Wop-Shing-Qua in 1835.11 
(Daughter) Frances Slocum Story1837 "Colonel Ewing was somewhat mistaken as to the age of Frances and the time she had been in captivity. At the time his letter was written she was about sixty-two years old and had dwelt among the Indians for approximately fifty-seven years. When the letter was received by Mrs. Mary Dickson, then postmistress at Lancaster and also the owner of a newspaper called the Lancaster Intelligencer, instead of publishing it she cast it aside and for about two years it lay among a lot of old papers that were considered of no value. In March 1837, John W. Forney became one of the editors and publishers of the paper and soon afterward the letter was handed to him by one who had accidently found it a short time before. Mr. Forney published the letter in the Intelligencer, in a 'special temperance edition,' copies of which were sent to every clergyman in Pennsylvania. Reverend Samuel Bowman, an Episcopal minister, who had lived at one time in Wilkes-Barre, and who knew the story of Frances Slocum, mailed one of the papers to Joseph Slocum at Wilkes-Barre."1 
Marriage*She married third Tak-ko-nah.11 
Children* They had one son together, who died in infancy.11 
(Daughter) Frances Slocum Story8 August 1837In a letter dated 8 August 1837, Jonathan J. Slocum, a son of Frances's brother, Joseph Slocum, "wrote to Colonel Ewing as follows:

"'Geo. W. Ewing, Esq.,

"'Dear Sir: At the suggestion of my father and other relations, I have taken the liberty to write to you, although an entire stranger.

"'We have received, but a few days since, a letter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster, of this state, upon a subject of deep and intense interest to our family. How the matter should have lain so long wrapped in obscurity we cannot conceive. An aunt of mine—sister of my father—was taken away when five years old, by the Indians, and since then we have only had vague and indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter we deem to have entirely revealed the whole matter, and set everything at rest. The description is so perfect, and the incidents (with the exception of her age) so correct, that we feel confident.

"'Steps will be taken immediately to investigate the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our power to restore a lost relative who has been sixty years in Indian bondage.

"'Your friend and obedient servant,

"'Jno. J. Slocum.'"

Colonel Ewing had not forgotten the letter written by him in January, 1835, and no doubt had often wondered as to its fate. Upon the receipt of Mr. Slocum's letter he at once sent the following reply:

"'Logansport, Ind., August 26, 1837

"'Jno. J. Slocum. Esq., Wilkes-Barre,

"'Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and in answer can add, that the female I spoke of in January 1835, is still alive; nor can I for a moment doubt but that she is the identical relative that has been so long lost to your family.

"'I feel much gratified to think that I have been thus instrumental in disclosing to yourself and friends such facts in relation to her as will enable you to visit her and satisfy yourselves more fully. She recovered from the temporary illness by which she was afflicted about the time I spent the night with her in January 1835, and which was, no doubt, the cause that induced her to speak so freely of her early captivity.

"'Although she is now, by long habit, an Indian, and her manners and customs precisely theirs, yet she will doubtless be happy to see any of you, and I myself will take great pleasure in accompanying you to the house. Should you come out for that purpose, I advise you to repair directly to this place : and should it so happen that I should be absent at the time, you will find others who can take you to her. Bring with you this letter; show it to James T. .Miller, of Peru, Ind., a small town not far from this place. He knows her well. He is a young man whom we have raised. He speaks the Miami tongue and will accompany you if I should not be at home. Inquire for the old white woman, mother-in-law to Brouillette, living on the Mississinewa river, about ten miles above its mouth. There you will find the long lost sister of your father, and, as before stated, you will not have to blush on her account. She is highly respectable, and her name as an Indian is without reproach. Her daughter, too, and her son-in-law, Brouillette, who is also a half-blood, being part French, are both very respectable and interesting people—none in the nation are more so. As Indians they live well, and will be pleased to see you. Should you visit here this fall, I may be absent, as I purpose starting for New York in a few days, and shall not be back till sometime in October. But this need not stop you : for, although I should be gratified to see you, yet it will be sufficient to learn that I have furthered your wishes in this truly interesting manner.

"'The very kind manner in which you have been pleased to speak of me shall be fully appreciated.

"'There are perhaps men who could have heard her story unmoved; but for me, I could not; and when I reflected that there was, perhaps, still lingering on this side of the grave some brother or sister of that ill-fated woman, to whom such information would be deeply interesting, I resolved on the course which I adopted, and entertained the fond hope that my letter, if ever it should go before the public, would attract the attention of someone interested. In this it seems, at last, I have not been disappointed, although I have long since supposed it had failed to effect the object for which I wrote it. Like you, I regret that it should have been delayed so long, nor can I conceive how anyone should neglect to publish such a letter.

"'As to the age of this female, I think she herself is mistaken, and that she is not so old as she imagines herself to be. Indeed, I entertain no doubt but that she is the same person that your family have mourned after for more than half a century past.

"'Your obedient humble servant,

"' George W. Ewing.1'" 
Marriage*She married fourth Mah-Mah-mum-drah.12,13 
(Daughter) Frances Slocum Story "In due time Colonel Ewing 's letter reached the waiting members of the family at Wilkes-Barre. Arrangements were at once commenced for Joseph Slocum to go to the home of his sister, Mrs. Mary Towne, in central Ohio, and with her proceed to Peru, Indiana, while his brother Isaac, who lived near Sandusky, was to join them there as soon as possible. As the distance from Sandusky to the Miami village was much shorter than that which Joseph and Mrs. Towne had to travel, he arrived several days in advance of his brother and sister. His anxiety to meet the sister, who had so long been mourned as lost, was so great that he could not wait for the arrival of his brother and sister. Accompanied by James T. Miller as interpreter, he repaired to the house of Frances, where he was received with that stolid indifference peculiar to the Indian. She manifested neither pleasure nor surprise at his coming and seemed rather reluctant to tell anything of herself to a stranger. Before she was captured in her childhood, while she and one of her brothers were playing in the blacksmith shop one day, her brother struck the fore finger of her left hand with a hammer and inflicted such an injury that the nail was completely destroyed. As Isaac conversed with the old woman he kept watching her hands. At last, seeing the marked finger, he took hold of her hand and asked how it came to be in that condition.

"'My brother struck it with a hammer in the shop, a long time ago, before I was carried away,' came the answer, but without any show of emotion.

"Isaac Slocum was now convinced that this was his sister. Sadly he returned to Peru to await the coming of Joseph and Mrs. Towne. They arrived a few days later and the three, with Mr. Miller and James B. Fulwiler, went to the house of the old woman whose long life among the Indians had made her an alien to her own race. Mr. Fulwiler afterward said that Frances was 'as cold as an iceberg,' and that her reception of her relatives so affected him that he was compelled to leave the room. The injured finger was again examined and with much persuasion she was induced to tell them something of her life. Her story corresponded in all the essentials to that she had told Colonel Ewing, nearly three years before. She had forgotten her Christian name and when asked if she would remember it if she should hear it she answered, 'It is a long time; I do not know.'"

"'Was it Frances?' asked one of the party. For the first time during the interview something like emotion seemed to move her hitherto expressionless features, and after a few brief moments a faint smile illumined her face as she exclaimed, 'Yes, Franca, Franca !'”.1 
(Daughter) Frances Slocum Story "All doubts were now removed. This indeed was the little auburn haired sister that had been taken from her home in the Wyoming valley sixty-four years before. The company then proposed to Frances that she, with her son-in-law and daughters, accompany them to Peru, but she declined to give an answer until she could consult Chief Godfroy."1 
(Daughter) Frances Slocum Story "The chief advised her to accept the invitation and she promised to visit them the next Sunday and dine with them at the hotel. When they arrived and were conducted into the hotel, before any intimacy could be established, it was necessary that a formal pledge of friendship should be given and received, according to the custom of the Miami Indians. One of the daughters therefore advanced to the table and laid upon it a bundle wrapped in a clean, white cloth. Through the interpreter she then explained that it was a pledge of their confidence and friendship. Instructed by Mr. Miller, Mrs. Towne accepted the pledge in the same solemn and formal manner, and when the bundle was opened it was found to contain a hind quarter of a deer, which had no doubt been killed for the occasion. Through the medium of this ceremony, confidence was established and the visitors conversed more freely than when the brothers and sister visited Frances in her home. [John Franklin] Meginness [in his 1891 Biography of Frances Slocum, the lost sister of Wyoming] says: 'The food cooked by civilized methods did not agree with them (the visitors) and they did not relish it. The circumstances and surroundings had a depressing effect upon Frances and she sought relief in accordance with the customs of savage life. She slipped away quietly, and a few minutes afterwards was found with her blanket pulled over her head, lying on the stoop fast asleep.'"

"When it was proposed that Frances' story should be reduced to writing she at first objected, until the reasons for such a proceeding were explained to her by the interpreter. She then told her story, the main points of which correspond to the facts as narrated in this chapter. At the conclusion of her story, her brothers and sister urged her to return home with them, promising her a home and a share of all they possessed.

”'No, I cannot,' said Frances. 'I have always lived with the Indians; they have always used me very kindly; I am used to them. The Great Spirit has always allowed me to live with them, and I wish to live and die with them. Your wah-puh-mone (looking-glass) may be longer than mine, but this is my home. I do not wish to live any better, or anywhere else, and I think the Great Spirit has permitted me to live so long because I have always lived with the Indians. I should have died sooner if I had left them. My husband and my boys are buried here and I cannot leave them. On his dying day my husband charged me not to leave the Indians. I have a house and large lands, two daughters, a son-in-law, three grandchildren and everything to make me comfortable, why should I go and be like a fish out of water?'"

"In this determination she was supported by her son-in-law and daughters, and when her relatives then asked her to go with them merely for a visit, promising to allow her to return to her children, she answered: 'I cannot, I cannot. I am an old tree. I cannot move about. I was a sapling when they took me away. It is all gone past. I am afraid I should die and never come back. I am happy here. I shall die and lie in that graveyard, and they will raise the pole at my grave with the white flag on it, and the Great Spirit will know where to find me. I should not be happy with my white relatives. I am glad enough to see them, but I cannot go, I cannot go. I have done.1'" 
Marriage*She married as her fifth and final husband, Peter Bundy, son of Antoine Bondy.7,2,11,14,15 
Description*Her husband, Peter Bondy, was a quiet man with a kindly disposition and gave more evidence in his appearance of his Indian ancestry than of his French. The nobility of his foster Indian father, the influence of his French blood, and his later relationship to the Slocum family all contributed to his character in later life.7,11 
(Adoptive Mother) AdoptionShe and her husband, Jackson Coon Bundy, adopted Samuel Bundy.6 
(Adoptive Mother) AdoptionShe and her husband, Peter Bundy, adopted Jackson Coon Bundy and Samuel Bundy.6 
(Younger Daughter) ResidenceIn 1845 by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress, her mother and her family, which included on that date 22 individuals, were exempted from the Removal Order forcing the Miami from Indiana. The family lived on a prosperous farm and owned cattle, hogs, chickens and a large herd of ponies. Her mother's settlement included her two grown daughters, Nancy Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah Brouillette and Jane O-zah-shin-quah Bundy, their husbands, John B. Brouillette and Peter Bundy and the four children of Jane's younger sister, Eliza Ke-pa-ke-min-quah Godfroy, Frances Godfroy, Ki po ki na mo qua and Ching-o-shing-quah. In 1846, the year of the forced Removal, Jane's mother persuaded her white nephew, Reverend George R. Slocum, to come from Ohio and help her manage the farm.16 
(Daughter) Death9 March 1847Her mother died on 9 March 1847 at age 74.17 
(Sister) Death13 March 1847Her sister, Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah, died at about age 47, on 13 March 1847, just four days after the death of their mother. Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah was very afraid that she might be buried alive and requested from her family that she be buried in a coffin with no bottom in it, and that her body be laid on the ground with the bottom-less coffin placed over it.1,18,11 
Inheritance*O-zah-shin-quah became the sole owner of the Slocum farm after the deaths of her mother and sister.11 
(Mother-in-Law) Census US 185019 September 1850O-zah-shin-quah and her husband, Peter Bundy, were enumerated with their extended family on the 1850 census taken on 19 September 1850 in the household of Ke-pa-ke-min-quah and John B. Brouillette in Waltz Township, Wabash County, Indiana. Peter, whose surname was recorded as "Bendy", was 30 years of age, reported no occupation, and had real estate valued at $400. O-zah-shin-quah, who was the mother of Ke-pa-ke-min-quah Brouillette, was 33 years of age and had real estate valued at $9,600. Enumerated with them in the Brouillette household were O-zah-shin-quah's other daughters from her previous marriages. Frances, Elizabeth and Melvina, ages 17, 13 and 11 years, respectively, were all recorded with the surname "Godfroy" and had attended school within the census year. The Bundy's two daughters, Mary and Anna, whose surnames were recorded as "Bondy", were ages 3 years and 5 months, respectively. The Brouillette household also included Peter Bundy's two adopted sons, Samuel and Jackson Bundy, whose surnames were also recorded as "Bondy". Samuel and Jackson were ages 17 and 19 years, respectively, were working as farmers, and had attended school within the census year.6 
Will*10 July 1873O-zah-shin-quah prepared her will dated 10 July 1873 in Wabash County, Indiana. Her beneficiaries included her husband, Peter Wah-pa-pe-tah Bondy, whom she also nominated and appointed executor of her estate; her daughters, Rose Ann Pe-me-sah-quah Bondy, Hannah Sah-co-quit-ah Mongosa, Frances Wah-pah-nock-shin-quah Wilson, Eliza Ke-pa-ke-min-quah Brouillette, Elizabeth Ki po ki na mo qua Godfroy and Ching-o-shing-quah Tawataw; her sons, Judson Ke-pah-ke-kap-wah Bondy and Camillious Tak-quah-ke-uh Bondy; and a granddaughter, Nancy On-za-noc-ke-sum-quah Mongosa. Her will also mentioned her deceased sister, Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah Brouillette, and a son-in-law, Nelson Tawataw.14 
Death*25 January 1877She died on 25 January 1877 in Waltz Township, Wabash County, Indiana, at age 672 
Burial* and was buried in the Slocum Cemetery, Waltz Township.2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.19,20,21,22,3,23,24 

Family 1

 Poqua Godfroy b. 1809, d. 1845
Children 1.Eliza Godfroy+25 b. 1832, d. 8 Jan 1900
 2.Frances Godfroy26 b. Feb 1833, d. 22 Feb 1904

Family 2

 Wop-Shing-Qua
Child 1.Ki po ki na mo qua+9,11 b. 25 Sep 1836, d. 28 Oct 1879

Family 3

 Tak-ko-nah

Family 4

 Mah-Mah-mum-drah
Child 1.Ching-o-shing-quah2,13,27,12 b. 1839, d. 27 Feb 1894

Family 5

 Peter Bundy b. 16 Jul 1813, d. 14 Jun 1897
Children 1.Jackson Coon Bundy+28,6 b. 1831, d. 30 Oct 1868
 2.Samuel Bundy+6 b. 17 Mar 1835, d. 7 Apr 1875
 3.Mary Bondy6 b. 1847
 4.Rose Ann Bundy8 b. Apr 1850, d. 19 Apr 1901
 5.Hannah Bundy+29 b. 26 Feb 1851, d. 10 Sep 1897
 6.Camillious Bundy+30,2 b. 23 Sep 1854, d. 25 Jan 1935
 7.Judson Bondy31 b. 1855, d. 1 Feb 1918

Citations

  1. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Jane O-ZAH-SHIN-QUAH “Yellow Leaf” (Slocum) Bondy, Memorial# 34693520. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, “Deaf Man” She-Po-Con-Ah, Memorial# 34694557.
  5. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51.
  6. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of John B. Brouillette, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Waltz, Wabash, Indiana; Roll: 178; Page: 358a. Hereinafter cited as 1850 United States Federal Census.
  7. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Rev Peter “Wah-pa-pe-tah” Bondy, Memorial# 34693723.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Rose Ann “Pe-me-sah-quah” (Bondy) Peconga, Memorial# 34693752.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Elizabeth “Ki po ki na mo qua” (Bondy) Godfroy, Memorial# 37551417.
  10. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3633. Hereinafter cited as Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection.
  11. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), John B. Brouillette, pages 23-27. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  12. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, John B. Brouillette, pages 23-27, reporting in part that Ozahshinquah, by her fourth husband, Mah-mah-mum-drah, had one daughter, Chang-ching-quah, who became the wife of Nelson Tawataw.
  13. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Melvina “Ching-o-shing-quah” Tawataw, Memorial# 11567279.
  14. [S2621] Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999, online at www.ancestry.com, will of O-zah-shin-quah, or Jane Bondy, of Wabash County, Indiana, dated 10 July 1873, Wabash County Will Records, Volumes A-B, 1842-1880, Book B, pages 220-228, Ancestry online images 371-375 of 482. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999.
  15. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of John B. Brouillette, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Waltz, Wabash, Indiana; Roll: 178; Page: 358a; Melvina was recorded as 11 years old, and her year of birth estimated as 1839.
  16. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Bundy, digital pages 123-131. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  17. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian.
  18. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Nancy “Ke-Ke-Na-Kush-wa" "Cut Finger” Brouillett, Memorial# 115146096.
  19. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  20. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  21. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  22. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  23. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  24. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  25. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Eliza “Ke-pa-ke-min-quah” (Godfroy) Cain, Memorial# 199894143.
  26. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Frances (Godfroy) Peconga, Memorial# 240888974.
  27. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, his family, pages 32-33; reporting that Awtawwawtaw and Aunt Betsy had five children, Nelson, John, Anna, Lucy and Ellen; that Anna married Millard Prickett and left one son named Nelson who was still living (1935) in Marion; that Nelson Tawataw married Melvina, a daughter of Ozahshinquah, and had several children, and their oldest daughter married John Walters and had left a number of children, but no one was left (1935) to perpetuate the name of Awtawwawtaw, or Tawataw, as it came to be known.
  28. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jackson Coon “Wah-pa-si-pon-ah” Bundy, Memorial# 11565645.
  29. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Hannah “Sah-co-quit-ah” (Bondy) Buble, Memorial# 34694011.
  30. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Camillious “Pim-y-oh-tah-mah” Bondy, Memorial# 34693358.
  31. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Judson Cary “Ke-pah-ke-kap-wah” Bondy, Memorial# 34693555.

Oonseentia1

Biographical Info* Oonseentia, who was also known in English as John Osandiah, was a prominent Miami leader and Miami National Council participant in Indiana during the 1830s and 1840s. He held a designated land reserve in Indiana called the Oonseentia Reserve, and following the forced removal of the Miami Nation from Indiana to Kansas in 1846, Oonseentia's family was among those who temporarily returned to Indiana. Due to the persistent efforts and negotiations of the Council, Oonseentia (John Osandiah) and several other key Miami family leaders were officially granted legal exemptions from western removal by the U.S. Congress in 1850.1,2,3 
Name VariationHis name was recorded as Oonseentia 'John Osandiah' when his family was granted an exemption from Removal by the U.S. Congress in 1850.1 
Name VariationHis English name was John Osandiah.1 
(Miami Leader) Indian Removal Act Copied in part, with minor changes, from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal:

"Following the arrival of Europeans, the Miami were disrupted by waves of disease, war, and relocation. Beginning in 1795, the Miami were forced to sign treaties giving up ever-increasing amounts of their precious homeland to the government of the United States. By the 1830s, the Miami had only about 500,000 acres, which was surrounded by land controlled by the State of Indiana. Land speculators and settlers wanted this land too.

"In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The goal of this act was to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s, many tribes suffered their own version of the “Trail of Tears” most commonly associated with the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal in 1838. Throughout this period, the Miami resisted giving up their reservation in Indiana."4 
(Miami Leader) Miami Removalbetween 1838 and 1845 In the Miami treaty of 1838, the Miami National Council had agreed, for the first time, to consider the possibility of a future Indian Removal, and also contained, for the family of Chief John B. Richardville, the first Exemption from Removal. The Miami treaty of 1840 provided for two additional families, those of Chief Francis Godfroy and Chief Meshingomesia, to continue to receive their share of the annuities at Fort Wayne, Indiana, essentially exempting those families also from Removal. And, on 3 March 1845, the family of Frances Slocum was exempted from Removal by a joint resolution of Congress. By 1845, most Miami National Council leaders who owned reservation land but were not exempted, also sought legal remedy to avoid Removal and protect their homes. They wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, petitioned Congress, and hired Dr. Graham Fitch to lobby for them in Congress.

Using his Indian name, Toohpia, Principal Chief Francis Toohpia LaFontaine and other Miami leaders went to Washington themselves to discuss exemptions. Their letter following the visit showed them taking a new tactic to avoid Removal for Miami landowners, reflecting the reasons for the exemption of the Godfroy family and citing Indiana state law as the impediment to their Removal.

“Certain individuals of our nation, who are not permitted by treaty or by law of Congress to remain in Indiana and draw their annuities there, hold individual reservations of land by treaty, which they have improved, and upon which they are now living, and have paid taxes. A law of the State of Indiana forbids them making private sale of these lands, declaring all contracts with our people null and void. If such of our people emigrate, their farms will be ruined or sold for taxes, and their personal property, stock, etc., sacrificed. Will not our great father permit such of our people to remain upon their lands, and draw their annuities in Indiana, in the same manner as is specified in a similar permission, by treaty and by law of Congress, to a few other of our people? Such permission to be extended to those land owners (not now having it) until the legal inability to sell their lands is removed, or the U.S. buys them….”

They pointed out the hypocrisy that the federal government could force them from their homes on lands they owned as private property, a most sacred American tradition, while at the same time, the state of Indiana refused to allow them to legally sell their property. If they were removed, Miami leaders and their families would likely be swindled out of their lands, if their property was not outright stolen from them.

Dr. Graham Fitch, as a lobbyist for the National Council, sent a list to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, of the Miami who owned reservation land and wished to stay in Indiana. The list of petitioners included additional members of the family of Chief John B. Richardville, whose name was recorded as Pinšiwa ‘Wild Cat', and also the families of Misihkwa, Mahkateehsipana 'Cotesipin', Mihtekwahkia 'Coesse', Amehkoonsa 'Seek', Meehkwaahkonanka 'Benjamin', Meesancihkwa, Šowaapinamwa 'Antoine Revarre' and Waapimaankwa 'White Loon', and the heirs of Sha-co-mo and Chief Majenica. The men on this list were all prominent Miami leaders.1,2,3 
(Miami Leader) Miami Removal6 October 1846The Miami's forced emigration to the Kansas Territory began on 6 October 1846 and, among those with Miami Indian blood, the only individuals who were permitted to remain in the Wabash country and not be removed to Kansas, were those who were specifically Exempted from Removal: the Meshingomesia Band, plus descendants of Chief Richardville and Francis Godfroy, the Slocum Family and Chief LaFontaine, his wife and their children. Everyone else was "on Removal". It would be winter before their grueling one-month journey brought them to their destination. In order to share their experiences as best we know how, we've copied, without changes, the description of their journey from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal" source:

"On October 6th, 1846, hundreds of Myaamia were loaded onto three canal boats in Peru, Indiana – a place they called Iihkipihsinonki. Iihkipihsinonki translates to “straight place”. It was named because of the straight course of the Wabash River in that spot. From Iihkipihsinonki the canal boats were pulled along the Wabash-Erie Canal and followed the Wabash north to Ft. Wayne.

"The forced exodus began in earnest the next day, when more Myaamia were forcibly loaded onto canal boats in Ft. Wayne, known to the Myaamia as Kiihkayonki. Kiihkayonki was the original site of their largest village and was called “that Glorious Gate” by the Myaamia leader Mihšihkinaahkwa. That day the forced exodus began.

"On October 7th, Kiihkayonki became the gateway of the removal from Myaamionki. From Kiihkayonki, the five canal boats were pulled to the Miami-Erie canal and began a four-day journey south to Cincinnati, OH. On their way south the Myaamia passed numerous sites of great historical and cultural importance. They passed the site of Fort Defiance, the military bastion from which Anthony Wayne launched his final invasion into Myaamionki in 1794. They also passed Pinkwaawilenionki (Pickawillany) a prominent Myaamia village site in the mid-eighteenth century. Much of the Miami-Erie canal followed the course of the Ahsenisiipi (the Great Miami River); a river that originally was a major route of travel to their hunting grounds along the Ohio River and to their relatives who also called that beautiful place home.

"On October 11th, they reached the growing metropolis of Cincinnati, Ohio. In Cincinnati, the Myaamia were moved to the steamship Colorado, and on October 12th the ship began its journey west on the Kaanseenseepiiwi (Ohio River). While on route to the Mississippi River an infant passed away. After eight days of travel on the Colorado, they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri. The Myaamia were unloaded at Bloody Island, which lay in the middle of the Mississippi River. This location placed the group near the traditional village sites of their Inoka (Illinois) relatives and as such it was a place they knew well. However it was also at the western edge of Myaamionki. To the west lay the traditional homelands of groups that had formerly been their enemies; to their parents’ generation those western lands had been a dangerous place. Yet, the Americans told them these lands in the west were to be their new homes. Upon arriving at Bloody Island an elderly member of the group passed away. The elder and the infant that had passed earlier in the journey were buried on or near the Island according to Myaamia tribal traditions.

"On October 23rd, the Myaamia were loaded onto the steamship Clermont No. 2 and were taken north on the Mississippi River to its confluence with the Missouri River. From this point, they followed the Missouri River west to Kanza Landing, which today lies on the Missouri side of Kansas City. For the first time in their journey, these forced migrants were outside their traditional homelands. After a month of journeying, these Myaamia had moved from the forested bottomlands of the Wabash River Valley to the edge of the great American prairielands of the west. It was a very different landscape, and winter had set in.

"On November 1st, three hundred and twenty five Myaamia were unloaded at Kanza Landing. The next day they traveled the final fifty miles of their journey to Osage River sub-agency in the Unorganized Territory (Kansas). They arrived at Sugar Creek on Nov. 5th, of 1846. It was winter on the plains and the people were forced to sleep in government issued tents and eat government rations until they could build more permanent structures.

"After only just arriving in Kansas the Myaamia were told they had to move again. Kansas was becoming a state and hoped to move American Indians south to Oklahoma to open up land for settlers. In 1873, a small group of Myaamia traveled 150 miles south to what is today Miami, Oklahoma completing the final leg of a journey that began back in Indiana twenty-seven years earlier."4,5,6 
(Return to Indiana) Miami Removal Following the 1846 forced Miami Removal to Kansas, several Miami families quietly made their way back to their homelands in Indiana.1,2,3 
(Exempted in 1850) Miami Removal1850 In 1850, the U.S. Congress granted official removal exemptions to the additional members of the family of Miami Chief John B. Richardville, whose name was recorded as Pinšiwa ‘Wild Cat', and also the families of Waapimaankwa 'White Loon', Šowaapinamwa 'Antoine Revarre', Mihtekwahkia 'Coesse', Misihkwa, Oonseentia 'John Osandiah', Mahkateehsipana 'Cotesipin', Amehkoonsa 'Seek', Mahkateemaankwa, Amehkoonsihkwa 'wife of Benjamin', Kinooseensa 'Peter Langlois' and Elizabeth Langlois, identifying them as specific Miami tribal leaders, community members, individuals, families, and their descendants who had returned to Indiana after the forced removals. With this action, Congress formally legalized their returns, allowing them to remain in Indiana permanently.

The names of Sha-co-mo, Chief Majenica and Meesancihkwa, or Chief Little Turtle, whose family members had also requested exemptions from Removal, were not included, nor was any mention of their heirs.1,2,3 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.7,8,9,10,11,12,13 

Citations

  1. [S3054] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…, article published by Diane Hunter on July 2, 2021, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi- Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  2. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  3. [S3056] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi, a blog serving as a space for Myaamia ‘Miami’ people to connect, reflect, and share. Our primary goal is to provide a platform for conversations about our community, places, ecological observations, and shared pasts. It also serves as a resource for educational opportunities that support a deeper understanding of Myaamia culture, language, and identity. Aacimohtatiiyaankwi is collaboratively authored by a dedicated team from the Myaamia Center at Miami University, the Cultural Resources Office of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and guests from the Myaamia community. Through regular posts, we share insights, stories, research, and observations that reflect the ongoing efforts to support Myaamia knowledge; online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi.
  4. [S2788] Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia, online at https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/, Myaamia Removal, https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/contents/section5/readings/…. Hereinafter cited as Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia.
  5. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Chief Francis Topeah Lafontaine, Memorial# 42524370, which includes historical information contributed by various sources and authors. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  7. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  8. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  9. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  10. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  11. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  12. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  13. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Chief Osage1

d. 1832
Family
Death*1832He died in 1832.2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.3,4,5,6,7,8,9 

Family
Child 1.Saakacaahkwa+1 d. 1823

Citations

  1. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Godfroy, digital pages 104-116. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  2. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990, Historical Report (Bar), Splitting the Tribe, 1840-1846, digital pages 41-43.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  4. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  5. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  6. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Osandiah1,2

Family
Research Notes* According to The Last of the Miamis, Chief Osandiah had once lived with his family at the Miami capital of Kekionga, which is now Fort Wayne, Indiana. He moved with his tribal band to the Big (Great) Miami river, near what is now Piqua, Ohio. There he became a prominent Indian chief. At Osandiah's death, he was succeeded by his son, Aw-taw-waw-taw, who died soon after. The chieftainship then fell to Me-to-cin-yah, son of Aw-taw-waw-taw.1 
(Father-in-Law) MarriageHis daughter married _____ Coleman, a white man who had been captured, or stolen, by the Shawnees when a child in Kentucky, and grew up among the Indians. He was reported to have acted as an interpreter for the Miamis at the treaty of Greenville in 1795.3,4,5 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.6,7,8,9,10,11,12 

Family
Children 1.Aw-taw-waw-taw+1,13
 2.Osandiah Daughter+3

Citations

  1. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Metocinyah, pages 30-32. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  2. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3630. Hereinafter cited as Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Godfroy, digital pages 104-116. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  4. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Francis Godfroy, pages 17-19.
  5. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, a site dedicated to transcribing historical and genealogical information helpful to researchers, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…; reporting Chief Francis Godfroy's first wife as Sac-a-chequah, the daughter of a white man named Cole, who was captured when a child in Kentucky by the Shawnees, grew up among the Indians and acted as interpreter at the treaty of Greenville in 1795, and Godfroy's second wife as a Miami woman named Sac-a-qua-tah. Hereinafter cited as Genealogy Trails.
  6. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  7. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  8. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  9. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  10. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  11. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  12. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  13. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990, Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Meshingomesia, digital pages 116-122.

Osandiah Daughter1

Family
Father*Osandiah1
Birth*She was a daughter of Chief Osandiah2,3,1 
Marriage* and married _____ Coleman, a white man who had been captured, or stolen, by the Shawnees when a child in Kentucky, and grew up among the Indians. He was reported to have acted as an interpreter for the Miamis at the treaty of Greenville in 1795.1,3,2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.4,5,6,7,8,9,10 

Family

 _____ Coleman
Child 1.Sac-a-qua-tah+1 b. 1786, d. 24 Feb 1869

Citations

  1. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Godfroy, digital pages 104-116. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  2. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, a site dedicated to transcribing historical and genealogical information helpful to researchers, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…; reporting Chief Francis Godfroy's first wife as Sac-a-chequah, the daughter of a white man named Cole, who was captured when a child in Kentucky by the Shawnees, grew up among the Indians and acted as interpreter at the treaty of Greenville in 1795, and Godfroy's second wife as a Miami woman named Sac-a-qua-tah. Hereinafter cited as Genealogy Trails.
  3. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Francis Godfroy, pages 17-19. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  4. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  5. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  6. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  7. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  8. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  9. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  10. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Pacanne1

b. 1737, d. 1814
Family
Father*Aguenackgue1
Birth*1737Pacanne was born about 1737.1 
(Brother) Divorce1774His sister, Tah-cum-wah, divorced her husband, Antoine-Joseph Drouet de Richerville, after he sided with Alexander and Francis Maisonville for control of the Long Portage, an 8-mile strip of land between the Maumee and Wabash Rivers that was controlled by her brother Chief Pacanne.2 
(Brother) Court Action18 September 1774In addition to leading to his sister's divorce, the couple's argument over his sister Tah-cum-wah's property rights ended up in court. The case was centered around the marriage of Tacumwah and Richardville, the larger effort being to "maintain control of a large amount of capital in the form of slaves, cattle, corn and wampum, and of control of a pivotal portage that Tacumwah had inherited by virtue of her Miami lineage." For Tacumwah, the fact that she had been raised by a mother brought up in a matrilineal tradition which could have bearing in how Tacumwah carried herself. Pacanne alluded to this when he referred to his sister's possessions as belonging to her and not her husband since they had been inherited from her mother. This confirmed that Tacumwah's mother had gained valuable belongings in her own right, and her right to pass these onto her daughter was indisputable. It was decided that Pacanne would keep control of the portage, and Tacumwah would keep all her property.2 
Death*1814He died in 1814.3 
(Miami Chief) Historical Note1815 An election was held by the Miami chiefs for the selection of a general chief to succeed Little Turtle, who had died in July of 1812. John B. Richardville, Little Turtle's nephew, was chosen their new chief. The source speculated that the election was delayed because of the confusion resulting from the War of 1812 and the defeat of the Miami who, with other Indian tribes, had joined with the British in the conflict. The two most prominent Miami chiefs following the death of Little Turtle were Pacanne and Le Gris. Pacanne was chief of the village on the east side of the St. Joseph river at Kekionga while Le Gris was chief of the village on the west side. Both of these chiefs were closely associated with Little Turtle. Pacanne, who generally represented the Miamis in dealing with the Americans during that period, had died in 1814.3 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.4,5,6,7,8,9,10 

Citations

  1. [S225] Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacanne. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
  2. [S225] Wikipedia Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacumwah
  3. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), John B. Richardville, page 13. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  4. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  5. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  6. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  7. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  8. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  9. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  10. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Pe-con-ge-oh1

b. 1815, d. 16 September 1879
Family
Father*Meshingomesia2 d. 23 Dec 1879
Mother*Tak-e-quah2 b. 1789, d. 15 Sep 1879
Birth*1815He was born with the Indian name Pe-con-ge-oh about 1815 in Indiana.1 
Name VariationOther spellings of his Indian name found in our research included Po-con-ge-ah3 
Name Variation and Pocongeah.3 
Name VariationLater, about the early 1840s, Peconga became used as the family's surname2 
Name Variation and he added an English given name and became known as Charles Peconga.1 
Marriage*1843He married Mary Soek-o-chock-quah Robertson, daughter of Sarah __?__, about 1843. The wife of Pecongeah was Sock-o-chock-quah, who was commonly
known as Aunt Polly. They had five sons and one daughter
whose English names were William, Robert, Jacob, Thomas, Peter and
Mary. William and Robert married granddaughters of Frances Slocum.
William had no children. The rest of the Peconga family had
children and there are many descendants today.2,4,3 
Children*The wives of Pe-con-ge-oh and his brother, Aw-taw-waw-taw, were sisters of Charles and Joseph Winters. The wife of Pecongeah, Soek-o-chock-quah, whose English name was Mary, was commonly known as Aunt Polly. They had five sons and one daughter together whose English names were William, Robert, Jacob, Thomas, Peter and Mary. William and Robert Peconga married granddaughters of Frances Slocum. William had no children. Robert and his other siblings created many descendants.5 
(Husband) Relationship Note Although the relationship between the WINTERS siblings has been reported clearly by earlier researchers, their works, when merged with our own research, have left us with unanswered questions. We need, and request, help. Here are the facts as we know them:

Betsy Winters and Mary Robertson were reported to be sisters of Joseph Winters and Charles Winters. It was also reported that the sisters, Betsy and Mary, married brothers, Awtawwawtaw and Pe-con-ge-oh, respectively, and that Joseph Winters married Louisa Miller, an adopted sister of Awtawwawtaw and Pe-con-ge-oh. Additionally, Joseph Winter's mother was reported to be Sarah (__?__) Winters, and we suspect, therefore, that she was, probably, also the mother of Betsy Winters, Mary Robertson, and Charles Winters, whom we've not yet even identified. Mary's maiden name was recorded as Robertson and her birth year estimated as 1824, and Betsy's maiden name was recorded as Winters, and her year of birth estimated as 1822. Puzzling, right? Where did the surname Robertson come from? The logical answer is that their mother had married a Robertson before she married Winters. If that's true, though, why is it only the second daughter who was a Robertson? Was Mary Robertson, perhaps, the daughter of a first husband of Sarah, and a stepsister to her Winters siblings? There are so many possibilities: was Mary Robertson a full sister, a half-sister, a stepsister, an adopted sister -- or something else? We have found no helpful information that tells us about their mother, Sarah (__?__) Winters, and would love to have help from someone who knows the answers to our questions!6,7,4,1,8,9,10 
(Uncle) Illness1879He did not live to see the mistake of the division of his father's reservation. During the summer of 1879, Pe-con-ge-oh's nephew, Nelson Tawataw, became ill with tuberculosis. He had just finished building his fine new brick house. One visitor to that home reported that she saw, at one time in that house, not only Nelson Tawataw, but also his grandparents, Meshingomesia and Tak-e-quah, his father Aw-taw-waw-taw, his uncle and aunt, Pe-con-ge-oh and Aunt Polly, and other Indians. With the exception of Pe-con-ge-oh's wife, Nelson and all the others of those just named died before the following Christmas. They were buried in the Indian cemetery just back of the Indian church. Fine tombstones for that day were erected to their memory.11 
Death*16 September 1879He died on 16 September 1879 in Grant County, Indiana, at about age 641 
Burial* and was buried in the Miami Indian Cemetery, Fox, Grant County.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.12,13,14,15,16,17,18 

Family

 Mary Soek-o-chock-quah Robertson b. 1824, d. 20 Sep 1888
Children 1.William Peconga2 b. 15 Mar 1844, d. 3 Jun 1916
 2.Robert Peconga d. Nov 1896
 3.Thomas Peconga19,1 b. Jan 1858, d. 27 Apr 1932

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Charles “Pe-con-ge-oh” Peconga, Memorial# 11567172. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Meshingomesia, pages 32-36. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  3. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, his family, pages 32-33.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Mary “Polly” (Robertson) Peconga, Memorial# 58901002.
  5. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, his family, pages 32-36.
  6. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, his family, pages 32-33; reporting that the wives of Meshingomesia's two sons were sisters of Joseph and Charles Winters, and that the wife of Po-con-ge-ah was Soek-o-chock-quah and was commonly known as Aunt Polly, and that the wife of Awtawwawtaw was Me-ta-ke-ke-quah and was commonly known as Aunt Betsy.
  7. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Betsy “Ta-Ke-E-Quah” Winters, Memorial# 11565659.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Aw-Taw-Waw-Taw, Memorial# 11565654.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Louisa (Miller) Winters, Memorial# 58901880.
  10. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Sarah Winters, Memorial# 11567296.
  11. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Introduction, pages 3-4.
  12. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  13. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  14. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  15. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  16. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  17. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  18. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  19. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Thomas Peconga, Memorial# 11567192.

Pe-con-ze-quah1

Family
Name VariationWe also found her Indian name spelled Pakankihkwa.2 
Marriage*She married, as his second wife, Poqua Godfroy, son of Francis Godfroy and Sac-a-che-quah.1 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.3,4,5,6,7,8,9 

Family

 Poqua Godfroy b. 1809, d. 1845

Citations

  1. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3633. Hereinafter cited as Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection.
  2. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, from the descendants of Miami Chief Francis Godfroy, whose Indian name was Palaanswa, Pakankihkwa, his daughter-in-law, Louis Godfroy's widow, her married names Godfroy and Kilecomequah; Kinooseensa, English name John Godfroy, Louis Godfroy's son, On Removal; Waapinaakihšinka Godfroy, his English name not known, Louis Godfroy's son, On Removal; Mihtekonsehkwa, English name Jane Godfroy, married name Doles, Louis Godfroy and Pakankihkwa's daughter. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  4. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  5. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  6. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Pichiwa1

Family
Name VariationWe also found his name transcribed as Push-ne.2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.3,4,5,6,7,8,9 

Family
Child 1.Ke she co quah+1

Citations

  1. [S2691] Richardville Family Tree, from the Elizabeth Glenn Collection, "Richardville, LaFontaine, Langlois, Cass, and Little Turtle genealogical tree", RG-04-01-40-B06-F25-052_Page-10, Ball State University, Digital Media Repository, a project of the university's libraries,, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3447/. Hereinafter cited as Richardville Family Tree.
  2. [S2621] Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999, online at www.ancestry.com, will of John B. Richardville, Principal Chief of the Miami Tribe of Indians, dated 9 April 1841 in Allen County, Indiana, Probate Will Record, Volumes 1-2a, 1831-1875, pages 35-38, Ancestry online images 40-42 of 815. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  4. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  5. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  6. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Pimyotomah1

Family
Father*_____ Coleman1
Relationship Note*Pimyotomah and Sac-a-qua-tah were siblings.1,2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.3,4,5,6,7,8,9 

Citations

  1. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; The "Individual" Miamis, 1846-1895, digital page 62. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  2. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990, Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Godfroy, digital pages 104-116.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  4. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  5. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  6. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Saakacaahkwa1,2

d. 1823
Family
Father*Chief Osage2 d. 1832
Marriage*She married, as his third wife, Jacques Godfroy, son of James Godfroy de Mauboeuf and Mary St. Onge dit Chene. Their marriage was recorded in Detroit, Michigan, and it was reported that, "In recognition of his valuable services as Interpreter with the Indians, James received, after the fashion of the Indians, as his wife, the favorite daughter of a Miami Chief."3 
Death*1823She died in 1823 at the home of a pioneer family in what would become Jay County, Indiana. She was identified only as the mother of Francois Godfroy.4 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.5,6,7,8,9,10,11 

Family

 Jacques Godfroy b. 1722
Children 1.Louis Godfroy+12 b. 1785, d. 1833
 2.Francis Godfroy+3,2 b. Mar 1788, d. 1 May 1840

Citations

  1. [S2674] Miami (Indian) University: Aacimwahkionkonci; Stories from the Land, online at https://mc.miamioh.edu/aacimwahkionkonci/, Francis Godfroy, Miami Indian name: Palaanswa; Father: Jacques Godfroy, a French merchant operating in Kiihkahyonki (what became Fort Wayne) and Detroit; Mother: Saakacaahkwa, online at https://mc.miamioh.edu/aacimwahkionkonci/people/94; her name spelled "Saakacaahkwa". Hereinafter cited as Miami (Indian) University: Aacimwahkionkonci; Stories from the Land.
  2. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Godfroy, digital pages 104-116. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  3. [S2674] Miami (Indian) University: Aacimwahkionkonci; Stories from the Land, online at https://mc.miamioh.edu/aacimwahkionkonci/, Francis Godfroy, Miami Indian name: Palaanswa; Father: Jacques Godfroy, a French merchant operating in Kiihkahyonki (what became Fort Wayne) and Detroit; Mother: Saakacaahkwa, online at https://mc.miamioh.edu/aacimwahkionkonci/people/94
  4. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3295. Hereinafter cited as Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection.
  5. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  6. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  7. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  8. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  9. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  10. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  11. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  12. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51.

Sac-a-che-quah1,2

d. 18 March 1840
Family
Marriage*She was a Miami, and in the early 1800s, married, as his first wife, Francis Godfroy, son of Jacques Godfroy and Saakacaahkwa.3,4,5,2,6 
(First Wife) Marriage1818Her husband married, as a second wife, Sac-a-qua-tah, daughter of ______ Coleman and a granddaughter of Chief Osandiah, in 1818.3,4,7,2 
Family Life* Francis Godfroy and his first wife, Sac-a-che-quah, had been married eleven years and had six children when Francis married his second wife, Sac-a-qua-tah. Although he had, at the same time, two wives and would have two families of children, his marital arrangement was described as both polygynous and amicable. Between 1808 and 1818, with his first wife, Sac-a-che-quah, he had six children, three sons and three daughters; and between 1819 and 1835, with his second wife, Sac-a-qua-tah, he had another six children, also three sons and three daughters.3,8,9,10 
(Wife) Will26 February 1840Her husband prepared his will dated 26 February 1840 in Miami County, Indiana, naming his two wives, Sac-a-che-quah and Sac-a-qua-tah, his six sons, Poqua Godfroy, James R. Godfroy, Thomas Godfroy, William Godfroy, George W. Godfroy and Gabriel Godfroy, and his five surviving daughters, Catherine (Godfroy) Goodboo, Louisa Godfroy, Sallie Godfroy, Frances Godfroy and Clemence Godfroy. A short time before his death he added a codicil, and the completed documents read:

"I, Francis Godfroy, a Miami Indian, of the county of Miami, Indiana, being desirous to settle and dispose of my worldly affairs while in a sound mind, memory and understanding, do publish and declare this as my last will and testament:

"First, I desire my body to be decently interred, at the discretion of my executors hereinafter named.

"Second, It is my will and I hereby bequeath to my beloved son, James R. Godfroy, one section of land, to include my mill on the creek below Peru, commonly called Pipe creek.

"Third, I will and bequeath to my beloved son, William Godfroy, one section of land lying on the Mississinewa river, being the section of land granted to O-san-di-ah at the treaty between the United States and the Miami Indians of 1838, which I purchased of the said O-san-di-ah.

"Fourth, I will and bequeath to my beloved son, George Washington, the section of land lying opposite the town of Peru, on the Wabash, being the same on which Peter Gibout now lives.

"Fifth, I will and bequeath to my dearly beloved sons, Thomas Godfroy and Gabriel Godfroy, as tenants in common, three-fourths of the section lying above and adjoining the town of Peru, which said three-fourths of a section so bequeathed as aforesaid is a part of the section granted to me adjoining the town of Peru at the treaty between the United States and the Miami Indians of October, 1834.

"Sixth, For the purpose of educating my son Gabriel, I hereby will and bequeath to him, in addition to my former bequest, the one-quarter section of land lying opposite my house, being the same purchased of John B. Richardville.

"Seventh, I will and bequeath unto my two wives, or the mothers of my children, Sac-a-che-quah and Sac-kah-quet-tah, and my beloved children, my eldest unmarried daughter, Louisa, to my daughter Sally, to my daughter Frances, to my daughter Clemence, the four sections of land and improvements where I now live, during the lifetime of my said wives, to be decided in case of dispute by my executors during the lives of my wives. The two of the four sections of land aforesaid to include the houses and improvements, I will and bequeath to my said daughters, Louisa, Sally, Frances and Clemence, as tenants in common and to their heirs forever. The remaining two of the four sections aforesaid, I will and bequeath to all my children and their heirs and assigns, as well as those who are devisees to this will, as also Poqua, and the wife of Goodboo, to be equally divided among them all.

"Eighth, It is my will that after the personal property, which I may be possessed of at the time of my death, should be exhausted, that my executors, or the survivor of them, or the person who may administer on my estate, shall sell so much of my real estate as he or they may deem necessary for the payment of my debts, the same to be sold for such prices as he or they may deem reasonable. Such real estate to be sold as is not devised individually to any member of my family.

"Ninth, I will and bequeath such property as I may die possessed of, both real and personal, not heretofore disposed of, after my debts are paid, to be equally divided among all my children, share and share alike.

"Tenth, All the property devised to all the devisees in this my last will is hereby bequeathed to them, their heirs and assigns forever.

"Lastly, I hereby constitute and appoint Allen Hamilton and John B. Richardville, of the county of Allen, to be the sole executors of this my last will and testament. In the case of the death of either of them, the other to be sole executor, or in case one fails to serve, then the other to be the executor.

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the twenty-sixth day of February, 1840.


"Francis Godfroy signed and sealed the document with his X mark

"Signed, sealed, published and declared by the testator as and for his last will and testament, executed in the presence of the undersigned, who signed the same as witnesses in the presence of each other, and in the presence of the testator subscribed their names as such witnesses at the request of said testator, the 26th day of February, 1840.

"Edward A. Godfroy signed his name
"Peter Andre signed with his X mark
"B. H. Scott signed his name
"F. S. Corn-wall signed his name"

In the codicil, provisions were made for defending the titles to several tracts of land bought by Godfroy from Wap-pa-piu-sha and other Indians by the employment of James Raridon as attorney, and that the sum of $1,000 should be paid by his executors to his wife, Sac-kah-quet-tah, immediately after his decease, the money to be used for the support of the infant children. The principal provisions of the codicil, however, were as follows:

"I do further will and direct that my executor or administrator lay off, within three months after my decease, on the quarter section of land immediately adjoining the town of Peru, town lots and streets in continuation and corresponding in size and width with the lots and streets in Peru, excepting only that portion of the said quarter section near the sand hill, suitable for tannery sites, for which purpose I desire that it should be laid off in lots of two acres each; that every fourth of the town lots and tannery sites be reserved and titles for the same executed to my son, James Godfrey, and the remaining three-fourths of each description of said lots be sold at public auction to the highest bidder, on the following conditions, to wit: One-third of the purchase money to be paid at the expiration of six months from the day of sale, the remainder in two equal payments at the expiration of twelve and eighteen months from the day of sale; and I hereby authorize and empower my said executor or administrator, when full payment is made by the purchasers, to make, seal and deliver deeds for the conveyance of said lots to the purchasers, their heirs and assigns, hereby vesting him with full power and authority to act in the premises as fully to every intent and purpose as I myself could do if living. The proceeds of the sales of the aforesaid lots I hereby direct my said executor or administrator to apply to the discharge of my just debts, and in the event of there being thereafter a surplus, that the same be by my said executor invested in bank stock, and the annual interest thereon be applied to the discharge of the taxes on my real estate”.11
 
Death*18 March 1840She died of apoplexy on 18 March 1840 at her Mount Pleasant home, near Peru, Miami County, Indiana. In a letter dated 19 March 1840, her husband, Francis Godfroy, wrote to Allen Hamilton: "I have the unpleasant duty to inform you of the death of my Dear Wife (that is the older one). She departed this World last evening."12,11 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.13,14,15,16,17,18,19 

Family

 Francis Godfroy b. Mar 1788, d. 1 May 1840
Children 1.Catherine Godfroy10 b. 1808, d. 14 Apr 1856
 2.Poqua Godfroy+20 b. 1809, d. 1845
 3.James R. Godfroy+1 b. Jul 1810, d. 21 Jul 1894
 4.Thomas Godfroy10,21 b. 1812, d. 10 Apr 1847
 5.Tac-con-ze-quah Godfroy10 b. 1815, d. b 26 Feb 1840
 6.Louisa Godfroy+10 b. 1818, d. 1849

Citations

  1. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, a site dedicated to transcribing historical and genealogical information helpful to researchers, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…, reporting that Francis Godfroy's father was a Frenchman and his mother was a Miami woman; that Francis was over six feet in height, weighed about three hundred pounds, and carried the air of one '' born to command"; that his first wife was Sac-a-che-quah, the daughter of a white man named Cole, who was captured when a child in Kentucky by the Shawnees, grew up among the Indians and acted as interpreter at the treaty of Greenville in 1795; that his sister became the wife of White Wolf; that by his first marriage Francis Godfroy had six children: Poqua, Tac-con-ze-quah, Catherine, Louisa, James R. and William; that his second wife was a Miami woman named Sac-a-qua-tah, who also bore him six children: Sallie, George W., Thomas, Gabriel, Clemence and Frances; that his son, George Washington, when only fourteen years of age, was killed by a bolt of lightning, which came from an almost clear sky, in May, 1841, while he was sitting on his horse in front of his father's trading house; that the incident was regarded with profound superstition by the Miamis and a large, boulder near the place was for many years pointed out as marking the place of his tragic death

    In his personal appearance Francis Godfroy. Hereinafter cited as Genealogy Trails.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Catherine "Sa-ca-che-quah" (Cole) Godfroy, Memorial# 244648911; our research indicates that this memorial has confused the Indian names of the two wives of Chief Francis Godfroy; his first wife was Sacachequah, a Miami or Pottawatomi, who died in 1840, and before her husband who died in May of that year; his second wife was Sac-a-qua-tah, her birth name Catherine Coleman; she outlived her husband and died on 24 February 1869. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3343 and 3344. Hereinafter cited as Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection.
  4. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Godfroy, digital pages 104-116. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  5. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…, reporting that Francis Godfroy's father was a Frenchman and his mother was a Miami woman; that Francis was over six feet in height, weighed about three hundred pounds, and carried the air of one '' born to command"; that his first wife was Sac-a-che-quah, the daughter of a white man named Cole, who was captured when a child in Kentucky by the Shawnees, grew up among the Indians and acted as interpreter at the treaty of Greenville in 1795; that his sister became the wife of White Wolf; that by his first marriage Francis Godfroy had six children: Poqua, Tac-con-ze-quah, Catherine, Louisa, James R. and William; that his second wife was a Miami woman named Sac-a-qua-tah, who also bore him six children: Sallie, George W., Thomas, Gabriel, Clemence and Frances; that his son, George Washington, when only fourteen years of age, was killed by a bolt of lightning, which came from an almost clear sky, in May, 1841, while he was sitting on his horse in front of his father's trading house; that the incident was regarded with profound superstition by the Miamis and a large, boulder near the place was for many years pointed out as marking the place of his tragic death.
  6. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3630
  7. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…; reporting Chief Francis Godfroy's first wife as Sac-a-chequah, the daughter of a white man named Cole, who was captured when a child in Kentucky by the Shawnees, grew up among the Indians and acted as interpreter at the treaty of Greenville in 1795, and Godfroy's second wife as a Miami woman named Sac-a-qua-tah.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Francis Godfroy, pages 17-19. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  10. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…
  11. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, Will of Chief Francis Godfroy, pages 36-39.
  12. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3331
  13. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  14. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  15. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  16. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  17. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  18. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  19. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  20. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3633
  21. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3634

Sac-a-qua-tah1

b. 1786, d. 24 February 1869
Family
Father*_____ Coleman2,3
Mother*Osandiah Daughter4
Birth*1786Sac-a-qua-tah was born about 1786 in Ohio. Her father was a white man named Cole or Coleman, who was captured, or stolen, when a child in Kentucky by the Shawnees, grew up among the Indians and was reported to have acted as an interpreter for the Miamis at the treaty of Greenville in 1795. Her mother was a daughter of Chief Osandiah, the Chieftain of his Osandiah band of Miamis.4,5,3,6 
Name VariationHer birth name was Catherine Coleman, and we also found her surname shortened to "Cole" in some records.4,3,6 
Name VariationWhile we usually found her name spelled Sac-a-qua-tah, Sac-a-quah-tah or Sacaquatah, in her husband's will dated 26 February 1840, it was spelled Sac-kah-quet-tah.4,7,8 
Relationship NoteSac-a-qua-tah and Pimyotomah were siblings.9,4 
Marriage*1818She married in 1818, as his second wife, Francis Godfroy, son of Jacques Godfroy and Saakacaahkwa.10,4,3,6 
Family Life* When Francis Godfroy married Sac-a-qua-tah, he already had a wife, and after their marriage he would have, at the same time, two wives and two families of children. His marital arrangement was described as both polygynous and amicable. Between 1808 and 1818, with his first wife, Sac-a-che-quah, he had six children, three sons and three daughters; and between 1819 and 1835, with his second wife, Sac-a-qua-tah, he had another six children, also three sons and three daughters.10,5,11,1 
(Wife) Will26 February 1840Her husband prepared his will dated 26 February 1840 in Miami County, Indiana, naming his two wives, Sac-a-che-quah and Sac-a-qua-tah, his six sons, Poqua Godfroy, James R. Godfroy, Thomas Godfroy, William Godfroy, George W. Godfroy and Gabriel Godfroy, and his five surviving daughters, Catherine (Godfroy) Goodboo, Louisa Godfroy, Sallie Godfroy, Frances Godfroy and Clemence Godfroy. A short time before his death he added a codicil, and the completed documents read:

"I, Francis Godfroy, a Miami Indian, of the county of Miami, Indiana, being desirous to settle and dispose of my worldly affairs while in a sound mind, memory and understanding, do publish and declare this as my last will and testament:

"First, I desire my body to be decently interred, at the discretion of my executors hereinafter named.

"Second, It is my will and I hereby bequeath to my beloved son, James R. Godfroy, one section of land, to include my mill on the creek below Peru, commonly called Pipe creek.

"Third, I will and bequeath to my beloved son, William Godfroy, one section of land lying on the Mississinewa river, being the section of land granted to O-san-di-ah at the treaty between the United States and the Miami Indians of 1838, which I purchased of the said O-san-di-ah.

"Fourth, I will and bequeath to my beloved son, George Washington, the section of land lying opposite the town of Peru, on the Wabash, being the same on which Peter Gibout now lives.

"Fifth, I will and bequeath to my dearly beloved sons, Thomas Godfroy and Gabriel Godfroy, as tenants in common, three-fourths of the section lying above and adjoining the town of Peru, which said three-fourths of a section so bequeathed as aforesaid is a part of the section granted to me adjoining the town of Peru at the treaty between the United States and the Miami Indians of October, 1834.

"Sixth, For the purpose of educating my son Gabriel, I hereby will and bequeath to him, in addition to my former bequest, the one-quarter section of land lying opposite my house, being the same purchased of John B. Richardville.

"Seventh, I will and bequeath unto my two wives, or the mothers of my children, Sac-a-che-quah and Sac-kah-quet-tah, and my beloved children, my eldest unmarried daughter, Louisa, to my daughter Sally, to my daughter Frances, to my daughter Clemence, the four sections of land and improvements where I now live, during the lifetime of my said wives, to be decided in case of dispute by my executors during the lives of my wives. The two of the four sections of land aforesaid to include the houses and improvements, I will and bequeath to my said daughters, Louisa, Sally, Frances and Clemence, as tenants in common and to their heirs forever. The remaining two of the four sections aforesaid, I will and bequeath to all my children and their heirs and assigns, as well as those who are devisees to this will, as also Poqua, and the wife of Goodboo, to be equally divided among them all.

"Eighth, It is my will that after the personal property, which I may be possessed of at the time of my death, should be exhausted, that my executors, or the survivor of them, or the person who may administer on my estate, shall sell so much of my real estate as he or they may deem necessary for the payment of my debts, the same to be sold for such prices as he or they may deem reasonable. Such real estate to be sold as is not devised individually to any member of my family.

"Ninth, I will and bequeath such property as I may die possessed of, both real and personal, not heretofore disposed of, after my debts are paid, to be equally divided among all my children, share and share alike.

"Tenth, All the property devised to all the devisees in this my last will is hereby bequeathed to them, their heirs and assigns forever.

"Lastly, I hereby constitute and appoint Allen Hamilton and John B. Richardville, of the county of Allen, to be the sole executors of this my last will and testament. In the case of the death of either of them, the other to be sole executor, or in case one fails to serve, then the other to be the executor.

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the twenty-sixth day of February, 1840.


"Francis Godfroy signed and sealed the document with his X mark

"Signed, sealed, published and declared by the testator as and for his last will and testament, executed in the presence of the undersigned, who signed the same as witnesses in the presence of each other, and in the presence of the testator subscribed their names as such witnesses at the request of said testator, the 26th day of February, 1840.

"Edward A. Godfroy signed his name
"Peter Andre signed with his X mark
"B. H. Scott signed his name
"F. S. Corn-wall signed his name"

In the codicil, provisions were made for defending the titles to several tracts of land bought by Godfroy from Wap-pa-piu-sha and other Indians by the employment of James Raridon as attorney, and that the sum of $1,000 should be paid by his executors to his wife, Sac-kah-quet-tah, immediately after his decease, the money to be used for the support of the infant children. The principal provisions of the codicil, however, were as follows:

"I do further will and direct that my executor or administrator lay off, within three months after my decease, on the quarter section of land immediately adjoining the town of Peru, town lots and streets in continuation and corresponding in size and width with the lots and streets in Peru, excepting only that portion of the said quarter section near the sand hill, suitable for tannery sites, for which purpose I desire that it should be laid off in lots of two acres each; that every fourth of the town lots and tannery sites be reserved and titles for the same executed to my son, James Godfrey, and the remaining three-fourths of each description of said lots be sold at public auction to the highest bidder, on the following conditions, to wit: One-third of the purchase money to be paid at the expiration of six months from the day of sale, the remainder in two equal payments at the expiration of twelve and eighteen months from the day of sale; and I hereby authorize and empower my said executor or administrator, when full payment is made by the purchasers, to make, seal and deliver deeds for the conveyance of said lots to the purchasers, their heirs and assigns, hereby vesting him with full power and authority to act in the premises as fully to every intent and purpose as I myself could do if living. The proceeds of the sales of the aforesaid lots I hereby direct my said executor or administrator to apply to the discharge of my just debts, and in the event of there being thereafter a surplus, that the same be by my said executor invested in bank stock, and the annual interest thereon be applied to the discharge of the taxes on my real estate”.7
 
(Second Wife) Death18 March 1840Her husband's older wife, whom he had married first, Sacachequah Godfroy, died of apoplexy on 18 March 1840 at their Mount Pleasant home, near Peru, Miami County, Indiana. In a letter dated 19 March 1840, Chief Godfroy wrote to Allen Hamilton: "I have the unpleasant duty to inform you of the death of my Dear Wife (that is the older one). She departed this World last evening."12,7 
(Second Wife) Death1 May 1840Sac-a-qua-tah became a widow when Chief Francis Godfroy died on 1 May 1840 at age 52. He died six weeks after the death of his first, older wife, Sac-a-che-quah, and his death left his second wife, Sac-a-qua-tah, with eleven surviving children from her husband's two families.13,1 
Death*24 February 1869She died on 24 February 1869 in Indiana at about age 836,2 
Burial* and was buried in Francis Godfroy Cemetery, Peru, Miami County, Indiana.6 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.14,15,16,17,18,19,20 

Family

 Francis Godfroy b. Mar 1788, d. 1 May 1840
Children 1.William Godfroy10,21,1 b. Sep 1819, d. 19 Jul 1911
 2.Sallie Godfroy1 b. 1825, d. 2 Apr 1856
 3.George W. Godfroy1 b. 1827, d. May 1841
 4.Frances Godfroy+1 b. 1832, d. 18 Nov 1896
 5.Gabriel Godfroy+1 b. 1 Jan 1834, d. 14 Aug 1910
 6.Mary Clemence Godfroy1 b. 1835, d. 10 Sep 1868

Citations

  1. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, a site dedicated to transcribing historical and genealogical information helpful to researchers, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…. Hereinafter cited as Genealogy Trails.
  2. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3630. Hereinafter cited as Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection.
  3. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…; reporting Chief Francis Godfroy's first wife as Sac-a-chequah, the daughter of a white man named Cole, who was captured when a child in Kentucky by the Shawnees, grew up among the Indians and acted as interpreter at the treaty of Greenville in 1795, and Godfroy's second wife as a Miami woman named Sac-a-qua-tah.
  4. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024; Anthropological Report (Contractor), Social and Political Organization, Godfroy, digital pages 104-116. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  5. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Francis Godfroy, pages 17-19. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Catherine "Sa-ca-che-quah" (Cole) Godfroy, Memorial# 244648911; our research indicates that this memorial has confused the Indian names of the two wives of Chief Francis Godfroy; his first wife was Sacachequah, a Miami or Pottawatomi, who died in 1840, and before her husband who died in May of that year; his second wife was Sac-a-qua-tah, her birth name Catherine Coleman; she outlived her husband and died on 24 February 1869. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, Will of Chief Francis Godfroy, pages 36-39. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3630
  9. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990, The "Individual" Miamis, 1846-1895, digital page 62.
  10. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3343 and 3344.
  11. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51.
  12. [S2701] Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Elizabeth Glenn Collection, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/search, Elizabeth Glenn Collection, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3331
  13. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Francis Godfroy, Memorial# 5181233.
  14. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", 12 July 1990.
  15. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  16. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  17. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  18. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  19. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  20. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  21. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, William “She-quah-ah” Godfroy, Memorial# 148808584.

Sha-co-mo1

Biographical Info* Sha-co-mo was a prominent Miami leader and headman whose heirs sought land ownership and exemptions from the forced western removal of the Miami people to Kansas during the 1840s. The Miami National Council worked through lobbyists like Dr. Graham Fitch to protect the property and residency rights of key leaders and their families in Indiana, and the heirs of Sha-co-mo were Included on official lists compiled by tribal representatives requesting permission to remain on private reservation lands in Indiana rather than move.1,2,3 
(Miami Leader) Indian Removal Act Copied in part, with minor changes, from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal:

"Following the arrival of Europeans, the Miami were disrupted by waves of disease, war, and relocation. Beginning in 1795, the Miami were forced to sign treaties giving up ever-increasing amounts of their precious homeland to the government of the United States. By the 1830s, the Miami had only about 500,000 acres, which was surrounded by land controlled by the State of Indiana. Land speculators and settlers wanted this land too.

"In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The goal of this act was to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s, many tribes suffered their own version of the “Trail of Tears” most commonly associated with the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal in 1838. Throughout this period, the Miami resisted giving up their reservation in Indiana."4 
(Exemption for Heirs) Miami Removalbetween 1838 and 1845 In the Miami treaty of 1838, the Miami National Council had agreed, for the first time, to consider the possibility of a future Indian Removal, and also contained, for the family of Chief John B. Richardville, the first Exemption from Removal. The Miami treaty of 1840 provided for two additional families, those of Chief Francis Godfroy and Chief Meshingomesia, to continue to receive their share of the annuities at Fort Wayne, Indiana, essentially exempting those families also from Removal. And, on 3 March 1845, the family of Frances Slocum was exempted from Removal by a joint resolution of Congress. By 1845, most Miami National Council leaders who owned reservation land but were not exempted, also sought legal remedy to avoid Removal and protect their homes. They wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, petitioned Congress, and hired Dr. Graham Fitch to lobby for them in Congress.

Using his Indian name, Toohpia, Principal Chief Francis Toohpia LaFontaine and other Miami leaders went to Washington themselves to discuss exemptions. Their letter following the visit showed them taking a new tactic to avoid Removal for Miami landowners, reflecting the reasons for the exemption of the Godfroy family and citing Indiana state law as the impediment to their Removal.

“Certain individuals of our nation, who are not permitted by treaty or by law of Congress to remain in Indiana and draw their annuities there, hold individual reservations of land by treaty, which they have improved, and upon which they are now living, and have paid taxes. A law of the State of Indiana forbids them making private sale of these lands, declaring all contracts with our people null and void. If such of our people emigrate, their farms will be ruined or sold for taxes, and their personal property, stock, etc., sacrificed. Will not our great father permit such of our people to remain upon their lands, and draw their annuities in Indiana, in the same manner as is specified in a similar permission, by treaty and by law of Congress, to a few other of our people? Such permission to be extended to those land owners (not now having it) until the legal inability to sell their lands is removed, or the U.S. buys them….”

They pointed out the hypocrisy that the federal government could force them from their homes on lands they owned as private property, a most sacred American tradition, while at the same time, the state of Indiana refused to allow them to legally sell their property. If they were removed, Miami leaders and their families would likely be swindled out of their lands, if their property was not outright stolen from them.

Dr. Graham Fitch, as a lobbyist for the National Council, sent a list to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, of the Miami who owned reservation land and wished to stay in Indiana. The list of petitioners included additional members of the family of Chief John B. Richardville, whose name was recorded as Pinšiwa ‘Wild Cat', and also the families of Misihkwa, Mahkateehsipana 'Cotesipin', Mihtekwahkia 'Coesse', Amehkoonsa 'Seek', Meehkwaahkonanka 'Benjamin', Meesancihkwa, Šowaapinamwa 'Antoine Revarre' and Waapimaankwa 'White Loon', and the heirs of Sha-co-mo and Chief Majenica. The men on this list were all prominent Miami leaders.1,2,3 
(Removal Petitioner) Miami Removal None of the 1845 petitioners were granted exemptions before the Miami's forced emigration to Kansas began, so tragically, they and their families were also "on Removal" and had to leave their homes and lands in Indiana with all of the other displaced members of the Miami tribe. They had resisted removal for six years and, with each passing year, more families were officially exempted from removal. They believed that everyone would be able to stay on individual family allotments that had been created for decades prior to 1840. All hope of resistance to removal ended, though, when private contractors and the U.S. Army were ordered to forcibly remove those that had not been exempted. U.S. Removal Agent Joseph Sinclair, however, did allow some of the petitioner's family members to temporarily stay behind to harvest the fall crops and sell their reservation land on the assumption that the state of Indiana would lift that ban on them.1,2,3,4 
(Miami Leader) Miami Removal6 October 1846The Miami's forced emigration to the Kansas Territory began on 6 October 1846 and, among those with Miami Indian blood, the only individuals who were permitted to remain in the Wabash country and not be removed to Kansas, were those who were specifically Exempted from Removal: the Meshingomesia Band, plus descendants of Chief Richardville and Francis Godfroy, the Slocum Family and Chief LaFontaine, his wife and their children. Everyone else was "on Removal". It would be winter before their grueling one-month journey brought them to their destination. In order to share their experiences as best we know how, we've copied, without changes, the description of their journey from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal" source:

"On October 6th, 1846, hundreds of Myaamia were loaded onto three canal boats in Peru, Indiana – a place they called Iihkipihsinonki. Iihkipihsinonki translates to “straight place”. It was named because of the straight course of the Wabash River in that spot. From Iihkipihsinonki the canal boats were pulled along the Wabash-Erie Canal and followed the Wabash north to Ft. Wayne.

"The forced exodus began in earnest the next day, when more Myaamia were forcibly loaded onto canal boats in Ft. Wayne, known to the Myaamia as Kiihkayonki. Kiihkayonki was the original site of their largest village and was called “that Glorious Gate” by the Myaamia leader Mihšihkinaahkwa. That day the forced exodus began.

"On October 7th, Kiihkayonki became the gateway of the removal from Myaamionki. From Kiihkayonki, the five canal boats were pulled to the Miami-Erie canal and began a four-day journey south to Cincinnati, OH. On their way south the Myaamia passed numerous sites of great historical and cultural importance. They passed the site of Fort Defiance, the military bastion from which Anthony Wayne launched his final invasion into Myaamionki in 1794. They also passed Pinkwaawilenionki (Pickawillany) a prominent Myaamia village site in the mid-eighteenth century. Much of the Miami-Erie canal followed the course of the Ahsenisiipi (the Great Miami River); a river that originally was a major route of travel to their hunting grounds along the Ohio River and to their relatives who also called that beautiful place home.

"On October 11th, they reached the growing metropolis of Cincinnati, Ohio. In Cincinnati, the Myaamia were moved to the steamship Colorado, and on October 12th the ship began its journey west on the Kaanseenseepiiwi (Ohio River). While on route to the Mississippi River an infant passed away. After eight days of travel on the Colorado, they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri. The Myaamia were unloaded at Bloody Island, which lay in the middle of the Mississippi River. This location placed the group near the traditional village sites of their Inoka (Illinois) relatives and as such it was a place they knew well. However it was also at the western edge of Myaamionki. To the west lay the traditional homelands of groups that had formerly been their enemies; to their parents’ generation those western lands had been a dangerous place. Yet, the Americans told them these lands in the west were to be their new homes. Upon arriving at Bloody Island an elderly member of the group passed away. The elder and the infant that had passed earlier in the journey were buried on or near the Island according to Myaamia tribal traditions.

"On October 23rd, the Myaamia were loaded onto the steamship Clermont No. 2 and were taken north on the Mississippi River to its confluence with the Missouri River. From this point, they followed the Missouri River west to Kanza Landing, which today lies on the Missouri side of Kansas City. For the first time in their journey, these forced migrants were outside their traditional homelands. After a month of journeying, these Myaamia had moved from the forested bottomlands of the Wabash River Valley to the edge of the great American prairielands of the west. It was a very different landscape, and winter had set in.

"On November 1st, three hundred and twenty five Myaamia were unloaded at Kanza Landing. The next day they traveled the final fifty miles of their journey to Osage River sub-agency in the Unorganized Territory (Kansas). They arrived at Sugar Creek on Nov. 5th, of 1846. It was winter on the plains and the people were forced to sleep in government issued tents and eat government rations until they could build more permanent structures.

"After only just arriving in Kansas the Myaamia were told they had to move again. Kansas was becoming a state and hoped to move American Indians south to Oklahoma to open up land for settlers. In 1873, a small group of Myaamia traveled 150 miles south to what is today Miami, Oklahoma completing the final leg of a journey that began back in Indiana twenty-seven years earlier."4,5,6 
(Removal Petitioner) Miami Removal1850The name of Sha-co-mo was not included, nor was a mention of his heirs, in 1850, when the U.S. Congress granted official Removal Exemptions to several others, identifying them as specific Miami tribal leaders, community members, individuals, families, and their descendants who had returned to Indiana after the forced removals. The 1850 Removal Exemptions were granted to Waapimaankwa 'White Loon', Šowaapinamwa 'Antoine Revarre', Mihtekwahkia 'Coesse', Misihkwa, Oonseentia 'John Osandiah', Mahkateehsipana 'Cotesipin', Amehkoonsa 'Seek', Mahkateemaankwa, Amehkoonsihkwa 'wife of Benjamin', Kinooseensa 'Peter Langlois' and Elizabeth Langlois. With this action, Congress formally legalized their returns, allowing them to remain in Indiana permanently.1,2,3 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.7,8,9,10,11,12,13 

Citations

  1. [S3054] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…, article published by Diane Hunter on July 2, 2021, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/07/02/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi- Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  2. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet, https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  3. [S3056] Aacimohtaatiiyankwi, a blog serving as a space for Myaamia ‘Miami’ people to connect, reflect, and share. Our primary goal is to provide a platform for conversations about our community, places, ecological observations, and shared pasts. It also serves as a resource for educational opportunities that support a deeper understanding of Myaamia culture, language, and identity. Aacimohtatiiyaankwi is collaboratively authored by a dedicated team from the Myaamia Center at Miami University, the Cultural Resources Office of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and guests from the Myaamia community. Through regular posts, we share insights, stories, research, and observations that reflect the ongoing efforts to support Myaamia knowledge; online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org. Hereinafter cited as Aacimohtaatiiyankwi.
  4. [S2788] Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia, online at https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/, Myaamia Removal, https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/contents/section5/readings/…. Hereinafter cited as Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia.
  5. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Chief Francis Topeah Lafontaine, Memorial# 42524370, which includes historical information contributed by various sources and authors. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  7. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  8. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  9. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…
  10. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  11. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  12. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  13. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

Shap-pen-do-u-ah1,2

Family
Father*John Baptiste Richardville1
Name VariationWe also found his Indian name written as Shap pen do she ah.1 
(Son-Youngest Son) Will9 April 1841His paternal grandfather, Chief John B. Richardville, prepared his will dated 9 April 1841 in Allen County, Indiana, naming his three daughters, Catees, Susan and La Blonde, one son-in-law, Francis LaFontaine, his surviving son, Mia-que-ah, and his two deceased sons, John B. Richardville and Joseph Richardville. His will named a niece, Margaret Lafalia, and nineteen grandchildren which included three granddaughters, Che-Pe-Quay, Che-me-qua and Alin-Ben-Che-Quay, and three grandsons, Wa-pa-se-pah, Wa-ka-shin-qua and John B. LaFontaine, from his daughter, Catees; one grandson, Ma-ca-the-mun-qua from his daughter, Susan; two grandsons, Ca-the-mun-qua and Shap-pen-do-u-ah, and two granddaughters, Ca-the-mun-quah-quah and Wa-ka-com-me qua, from his deceased son John B. Richardville; one granddaughter, Mon-go-se-quah, and two grandsons, Mon-go-sau and Ke-la-ke-mo-ke-ah, from his daughter, La Blonde; one grandson, Alin-na-ben-she-shau, from his deceased son Joseph Richardville, and four grandchildren from his son, Mia-que-ah, whose names he was unable to recollect. His heirs also included two great grandchildren. The first was identified as the granddaughter of his daughter, Susan, from her son, Ma-ca-the-mun-qua, and was described as the "Daughter Child" by his former wife, Ke she co quah, who was a daughter of Pichiwa; his second great grandchild was identified as Thomas F. Richardville, son of his deceased grandson, Crescent, who was the son of his deceased son Joseph Richardville. Our transcription of his will follows:

In the name of God. Amen!

I, John B. Richardville of the County of Allen, Indiana, Principal Chief of the Miami Tribe of Indians, being of sound mind and memory, knowing the uncertainty of life and desirous to dispose of my affairs while in a sound state of mind, doth make, publish and declare this instrument of writing my last will and testament in manner following, to wit:

First. I commit my soul to that God who gave it, my burial to be under the direction of my executor hereinafter named.

Item First. I devise, will and bequeath to my daughter Catees (alias Catherine), wife of LaFontaine, her heirs and assigns forever, the three following sections of land, to wit: One section of the same situate in the County of Huntington at the forks of the Wabash to be laid out for her by my executor so as to include my houses and improvements there. The other two sections of land to commence at the confluence of the Mississinewa and Wabash rivers running down the Wabash to the lower line of the two sections and back for quantity.

Item 2. I devise, will and bequeath to my daughter La Blonde (alias Maria Louisa) and her heirs and assigns forever, three sections of land on the St. Marys river in the County of Allen, known as my residence on that river.

Item 3. I give, devise, will and bequeath to my daughter Susan and her heirs and assigns forever, three sections of land as follows. One of said sections lying in the County of Huntington nearly opposite Vermilya's Mill and the other two commencing at the confluence of the Salamonie River and the Wabash, to run so far down as a line run to the back line will embrace two sections of land, being the upper two sections of my reserve on the Wabash River below and adjoining the Salamonie.

Item 4. I devise, will and bequeath to my son Mi-aw-que-ah (alias Blind Eyed Richardville) and his heirs and assigns forever, one section of land situate on the Mississinewa river at what is called the Osage Village.

Item 5. I give, will and bequeath to my granddaughter Mon-go-se-quah, the daughter of La Blonde, her heirs and assigns forever, one section of land on the Wabash adjoining the Salamonie river, the residue of said reserve being devised to my daughter Susan.

Item 6. I devise, will and bequeath to my grandson Wa-pa-se-pah (alias Louis La Fontaine) and his heirs and assigns forever, one section of land situated in Miami County, lying on the Wabash River opposite the mouth of the Mississinewa river.

Item 7. I give, devise, will and bequeath to my niece Margaret Lafalia, her heirs and assigns forever, one-half section of land commencing at a point on the Wabash and Erie Canal where Clear Creek intersects the same in Huntington County, thence up the canal until it strikes the lots laid out for the town of Richardville and back for quantity.

Item 8. I give, devise, will and bequeath to each of my grand and great grandchildren, and to their heirs and assigns forever, one-half section of land each, to wit: to the following five children of my daughter Catees, Che-pe-quay, Che-me-qua, Alin-ben-che-quay, her three daughters; to Wa-ka-shin-qua and to John B. Lafontaine (alias Old Man), her two sons, these are the five children of Catees to whom I give ½ section of land each. To Ma-ca-the-mun-qua (alias John), son of Susan and to his daughter child by his former wife, the daughter of Push-ne, each one-half section of land. To Ca-the-mun-qua and to Shap-pen-do-u-ah, sons of my deceased son John B. Richardville Junior, to Ca-the-mun-quah-quah and to Wa-ka-com-me-qua, daughters of said deceased son John B. Richardville, each of the four one-half section of land. To Mon-go-sau and Ke-la-com-me-ka, sons of my daughter La Blonde, each one-half section of land. To Alin-na-ben-she-shau, son of my deceased son Joseph Richardville, one-half section of land; to my great grandson, the son of Crescent, who was the son of Joseph Richardville one-half section of land. To my four grandchildren, the children of my son Mi-aw-que ah, whose names I do not recollect, each one-half section of land.

It is my further will and I hereby direct that my executors cause to be surveyed and set apart to each of the devisees to whom one-half section of land is devised by this my last will and testament, the separate tract to each individual out of any lands I may possess at the time of my death not expressly devised to any individual by this will and file a record of such division with the name of the person to which each tract belongs, in the county where the land lies, a certificate of which shall be evidence of title to such devisee. Setting apart to the children of Catees the section I bought from Black Loon in Huntington County and the section and a half at my mill on the Wabash at Rock Creek. Should I own them at the time of my death being to the children of Catees, ½ section each. Should I dispose of the same in my life time, then they've to be selected as the others.

Item Ninth. All the property both real and personal or mixed, lands or tenements, credits, moneys and effects which I may possess at the time of my death not devised to any devisee in this my last will and testament and all my cattle and household furniture I devise, will and bequeath to my three daughters, La Blonde, Susan and Catees, their heirs and assigns forever.

And lastly, I constitute and appoint Allen Hamilton and the Reverend Julian Benoit as executors of this my last will and testament, and in the case of death, refusal to serve or removal of either beyond the limits of this state, it is my will that the Probate Court appoint and executor in place of the one removed, refusing to serve or deceased, so that there shall be at all times two executors to this my last will and testament.

In testimony whereof, I John B. Richardville have hereunto set my hand and seal this ninth day of April in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred forty-one.

Signing as his witnesses were John P. Hedges and John E. Hill.2 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.3,4,5,6,7,8,9 

Citations

  1. [S2691] Richardville Family Tree, from the Elizabeth Glenn Collection, "Richardville, LaFontaine, Langlois, Cass, and Little Turtle genealogical tree", RG-04-01-40-B06-F25-052_Page-10, Ball State University, Digital Media Repository, a project of the university's libraries,, online at https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/GlennElizaC/id/3447/. Hereinafter cited as Richardville Family Tree.
  2. [S2621] Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999, online at www.ancestry.com, will of John B. Richardville, Principal Chief of the Miami Tribe of Indians, dated 9 April 1841 in Allen County, Indiana, Probate Will Record, Volumes 1-2a, 1831-1875, pages 35-38, Ancestry online images 40-42 of 815. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999.
  3. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  4. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  5. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  6. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  7. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  8. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  9. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.

She-po-con-ah1

d. 1833
Family
Biographical Info* Shepoconah was a Miami village chief whose village was in Wabash County near the line that separated, in 1919, the counties of Miami and Wabash, Indiana. He was the husband of Frances Slocum, and became War Chief when Chief John B. Richardville became the Miami's principal chief. She-po-con-ah was described as a large, heavy set man and a great warrior until his hearing became affected and he became known as Deaf Man. His headquarters were at the Osage village, near the mouth of the Mississinewa river. After he retired from the chieftainship, he moved further up the river where a settlement grew up that became known as Deaf Man's village.2,1 
Name VariationIn his later years, he was known as Deaf Man.1 
Marriage*He married, as her second husband, Frances Slocum, the auburn-haired daughter of Jonathan Slocum and Ruth Tripp of Pennsylvania. Frances had been a 5-year-old white child stolen by Delaware Indians 20 years earlier. Upon her second marriage to She-po-con-ah, Frances became a Miami and took the name of Ma-con-a-quah, which meant "a young female bear" or "female lion". From the History of Miami County we learned that her name was probably chosen because of her great strength and athletic ability at the time. She could handle the lariat with great skill and thought nothing of lassoing a pony and bringing him under her control, and she "could run as fast as most of the men of her tribe."1,3,4 
Children*His marriage to Ma-con-a-quah was a happy one, and they had four children together, two sons and two daughters. The two sons died in childhood, and both daughters grew to maturity.5 
Historical Note* During the earlier years, with Chief Little Turtle, the functions of Civil Ruler, or Principal Chief, and War Chief were combined. After Little Turtle's death, and John B. Richardville was elected the Principal Chief, the responsibility of the War Chief was granted to She-po-con-ah, who was later known as Deaf Man, and was the husband of Frances Slocum. Shepoconah was a large, heavy set man and a great warrior until his hearing became affected. His headquarters were at the Osage village, near the mouth of the Mississinewa river. After he retired from the chieftainship, he moved further up the river and built a log house, where a settlement grew up that became known as Deaf Man's village. He died in the early 1830s and was buried on a knoll a few hundred yards from his dwelling.1,6 
(Miami Chief) Indian Removal Act Copied in part, with minor changes, from the "Myaamia, A Living History: Myaamia Removal:

"Following the arrival of Europeans, the Miami were disrupted by waves of disease, war, and relocation. Beginning in 1795, the Miami were forced to sign treaties giving up ever-increasing amounts of their precious homeland to the government of the United States. By the 1830s, the Miami had only about 500,000 acres, which was surrounded by land controlled by the State of Indiana. Land speculators and settlers wanted this land too.

"In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The goal of this act was to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s, many tribes suffered their own version of the “Trail of Tears” most commonly associated with the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal in 1838. Throughout this period, the Miami resisted giving up their reservation in Indiana."7 
Death*1833He died in 1833 near Peru, Miami County, Indiana, at an advanced age5,4 
Burial* and was buried in the Slocum Cemetery, Wabash County, Indiana.4 
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.8,9,10,11,12,13,14 

Family

 Frances Slocum b. 4 Mar 1773, d. 9 Mar 1847
Children 1.Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah5,4,15 b. 1800, d. 13 Mar 1847
 2.O-zah-shin-quah+12,4,16 b. Oct 1809, d. 25 Jan 1877

Citations

  1. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), Volume I, Chapter III, Indian Chiefs and Treaties, pages 28-51. Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  2. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Chapter II, Aboriginal Inhabitants, The Indians, pages 20-27.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Frances “Ma-con-a-quah” Slocum, Memorial# 7457979, which includes comprehensive information and photos of her captivity and life as a Miami Indian; and regarding her marriages, recommends page 78 of the 1891 book, "Frances Slocum, the Lost Sister of Wyoming: A Complete Narrative of Her Captivity and Wanderings Among the Indians" by John Franklin Meginness. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, “Deaf Man” She-Po-Con-Ah, Memorial# 34694557.
  5. [S2688] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes. This has been an excellent source for us as we've strived to learn more about the Delaware and Miami Indians, and their theft of little Frances Slocum. We've used quotes to identify information taken directly from Bodurtha's book. Additionally, the attached document has been copied directly from Chapter IV, so that you might enjoy his presentation of the full story as much as we have; Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as Bodurtha's History of Miami County : Volume I, Chapter IV, The Story of Frances Slocum, pages 52-66.
  6. [S2673] Genealogy Trails, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/, a site dedicated to transcribing historical and genealogical information helpful to researchers, Miami County, Indiana: Indian Chiefs and Treaties, online at https://www.genealogytrails.com/ind/miami/…. Hereinafter cited as Genealogy Trails.
  7. [S2788] Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia, online at https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/, Myaamia Removal, https://teachmyaamiahistory.org/contents/section5/readings/…. Hereinafter cited as Telling Our Story: A Living History of the Myaamia.
  8. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  9. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  10. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  11. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  12. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  13. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935). Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  14. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884). Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  15. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Nancy “Ke-Ke-Na-Kush-wa" "Cut Finger” Brouillett, Memorial# 115146096.
  16. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jane O-ZAH-SHIN-QUAH “Yellow Leaf” (Slocum) Bondy, Memorial# 34693520.