John F. Schermerhorn
Rev. John F. Schermerhorn | |
---|---|
Commissioner for Indian Affairs | |
In office 1832–1836 | |
President | Andrew Jackson |
Personal details | |
Born | John Freeman Schermerhorn September 24, 1786 Schenectady, New York, U.S. |
Died | March 15, 1851 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. | (aged 64)
Spouses | Catharine Yates
(m. 1813; died 1835)Elizabeth Louisa Spottswood
(m. 1837) |
Children | 11 |
Parent(s) | Barnard Freeman Schermerhorn Ariaantje Van der Bogart |
Alma mater | Union College |
Occupation | Minister |
John Freeman Schermerhorn (September 24, 1786 – March 16, 1851) was an American minister and commissioner for Indian Affairs during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, a friend of his.[1]
Early life
John Freeman Schermerhorn was born on September 24, 1786, in Schenectady, New York. He was the son of Barnard Freeman Schermerhorn and Ariaantje Van der Bogart. In 1809, he graduated from Union College with the degree of A.B.[2]
Career
Immediately after graduation he was sent out by the
He entered the ministry of the
In 1817, he visited upper Canada with Reverend Jacob Van Vechten and worked three months among the Dutch Churches there. In 1819, he was constituted a Life Member of the American Bible Society, by subscriptions raised by his congregation in Middleburgh. He preached his first Protestant sermon in New Orleans, where he went with a letter of introduction to Pére Antoine, a well loved priest of that city. He made most of the trip to New Orleans on horseback. As well as being a personal friend of President Andrew Jackson, he visited him on more than one occasion at "The Hermitage," Jackson's home, a few miles outside the city of Nashville, Tennessee.[2]
In 1828, he was appointed Secretary of Domestic Missions by the Northern Board of the Missionary Society of the Reformed Church, which resulted in the organizations of Reformed Churches in Utica, Ithaca and Geneva, among others. Serious difficulties embarrassed his administration and though they were eventually amicably adjusted, he resigned the office in 1832.[4] He never afterwards held a pastoral charge, but was frequently a leading member of the ecclesiastical assemblies, and continued to interest himself in the benevolent movements of the Church.[2]
Indian Commissioner
In 1832, President Andrew Jackson appointed him one of a Commission to remove the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians[5] beyond the Mississippi River (later to be known as the Trail of Tears).[6][7][8] Schermerhorn helped negotiate the Treaty of New Echota,[9] proposing that in exchange for all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi River, the Cherokees would receive $5,000,000 from the U.S. (to be distributed per capita to all members of the tribe), an additional $500,000 for educational funds, title in perpetuity to land in Indian Territory equal to that given up, and full compensation for all property left behind.[9] The treaty included a clause to allow all Cherokees who so desired to remain and become citizens of the states in which they resided, on individual allotments of 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land. With that clause, it was unanimously approved by the contingent at New Echota, then signed by the negotiating committee of twenty, But that clause was struck out by President Jackson.[10] The treaty was concluded at New Echota, Georgia, on 29 December 1835 and signed on 1 March 1836.[11]
While Indian Commissioner, he acquired large tracts of land in Highland, Grayson, Bath and Wythe Counties, Virginia, in all about 400,000 acres (1,600 km2). After long litigation the disposition of this property finally resulted in favor of his heirs.[12] John F. Schermerhorn moved to Carroll County, Indiana, in 1840.[2]
Personal life
He married twice, first on August 6, 1813, to Catharine Yates (1788–1835), the daughter of
- Christopher Schermerhorn (b. 1814)
- Harriet Adriana Schermerhorn (1815–1886)
- Mary Yates Schermerhorn (b. 1817)
- Catherine Yates Schermerhorn (1819–1839)
- Bernard Schermerhorn (1821–1883), who married Josephine Case
- John Ingold Schermerhorn (1824–1876), who married Louisa Turner
- Sarah Ingold Schermerhorn (b. 1826)
- Susan Yates Schermerhorn (1828–1912), who married James Orr (1805–1876)
After the death of his first wife, he married again to Elizabeth "Eliza" Louisa (Hening) Spottswood of Virginia on April 6, 1837. Together, they had three children:[1]
- William Waller Schermerhorn (b. 1838)
- Catherine Virginia Schermerhorn (b. 1841)
- Janette Egmont Schermerhorn (b. 1844).
Schermerhorn died on March 16, 1851, in Richmond, Virginia.
Descendants
Harriet, a daughter by his first wife, lived in Buffalo, New York, and after the death of her husband, Aurelian Conkling[16] son of Alfred Conkling and brother of Roscoe and Frederick A. Conkling, went abroad and remained four years, most of the time in Paris, France. She travelled extensively through Spain, Germany, and Switzerland. During the Franco-Prussian War, she was in Paris, and was Directress of the Woman's Department of the American Ambulance Corps, organized by Dr. Evans, dentist to the Emperor. It was to his house that the Empress Eugenie fled when she left the Tuileries Palace. Mrs. Conkling assisted Dr. Evans in effecting the escape of the Empress, whom he took in his private carriage to the coast. She remained in Paris during the reign of the Commune and witnessed many blood-curdling scenes.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Griffin, M. "Schermerhorn, John Freeman (1787-1859), Papers, 1809-1909" (PDF). shsmo.org. University of Missouri. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g Schermerhorn, Richard A., Schermerhorn Genealogy and Family Chronicles. New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1914: 93-97.
- ^ Brownlee, William Craig (1 January 1827). "The Magazine of the Reformed Dutch Church". Rutgers Press: 123. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
John F. Schermerhorn.
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(help) - ^ Library, Robert G. Sullivan, Schenectady County Public. "Schermerhorn Genealogy and Family Chronicles - Chapter II: Descendants of Ryer Jacobse Schermerhorn (Part 4 of 4)". www.schenectadyhistory.org. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Kappler, Charles Joseph (1904). Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Trail of Tears". www.crystalinks.com. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- The Library of Congress. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ISBN 9780313381164. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ ISBN 0-585-19424-6.
- ^ Brown, p. 498-499
- ^ "Treaty of New Echota". www.cherokee.org. Cherokee Nation. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ The Southeastern Reporter. St. Paul: West Publishing Company. 1892. p. 178. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution. 1922. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Yates, Christopher P., addressed to the Hon. Abraham Yates Esq., in Congress, New York". NYPL Digital Collections. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 17
- ^ "NYC Marriage & Death Notices 1843-1856 | New York Society Library". www.nysoclib.org. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
Further reading
- Schermerhorn, Richard A., Schermerhorn Genealogy and Family Chronicles. New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1914: 93-97.