Pre-1900 Indigenous Students
Indigenous Students Who Attended Wesleyan Seminary
*(asterisk) Notes that catalogs for the intervening years are missing.
Atawish, Antwine (Probably Antoine)
Resident, Old Wing Mission (Ningwegah) on the Black River, in Holland, Township, Allegan County
Attended Seminary winter term, 1845-46 in the Scientific Department
Barrows, Lorenzo D. (Nah-yah-na-qua-unk)
Resident, Saginaw Mission
Attended Seminary, 1850-51
Named after famous Methodist divine, Lorenzo Dow
Bennett, Lyman (A’h-yah-pe-los-sung) or Kah-ba-ya-bah-mee)
Resident, Saginaw Mission
Attended Seminary, 1850-51 and 1852-53.
Chrisman, John B. (Man-do-kah)
Resident, Battle Creek
Attended Seminary, 1850-51
Son of John Ma-gua-go, chieftain of the Pottawattomies at Nottawa mission. Accounts of Man-do-kah’s mother are confusing. A statement in Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections (Vol.III, p.370) claims that Marchia (or Marcho-no-qua, Mar-chee, or Mar-chee-o-no-qua) was his mother, but elsewhere in the same source (Vol.X, p.149), she is called John Ma-gua-go’s sister. John Ma-gua-go is given three sons: Man-do-ka, Mo-qua, and Me-mie. Marchia is given four children: Man-do-ka, Muckie (probably equivalent to Mo-qua See William Farley), an unnamed child, and daughter, Ponseekman (or Pont-sig-na – See Mary Ann Stacy). It is unknown whether this double relationship was possible among the Potawatomis. Mary, or Men-do-kah, (See Mary Jennings) is the name given to Man-do-kah’s wife.
See transcription of Io Triumphe article for more information.
Clark, John (Ke-we-ta-pe-ne-ce)
Resident, Sault Ste. Marie
Attended Seminary, 1852-53 and 1853-54
Named for John Clark, the missionary
Farley, William (Mach-ee)
Resident, Pine Creek
Attended Seminary summer term, 1846-47
He may be the brother of John B. Chrisman, his name given as Muckie or Mo-qua.
Fisher, Robert (Kah-kah-ne-ke-shig or Kah-kah-ne-ke-shing)
Resident, Saginaw
Attended Seminary winter and summer terms, 1847-48, and 1850-51.
Hall, Daniel (Wah-bah-doh)
Resident, Saginaw
Attended Seminary, 1850-51.
Jennings, Mary (Men-do-kah)
Resident, Battle Creek
Attended Seminary, 1850-51
She is possibly the Mary spoken of as the wife of John B. Chrisman. She had a sister, Sarah, who was possibly Sarah Preston, or another Sarah who may have attended the Seminary in the years for which no catalogues of students exist (1848-49 and 1849-50).
See Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections (Vol.X, p.149) for more information.
See transcription of Io Triumphe article for more information.
Kahbeeje, Rebecca (Sah-kah-nah-qua-do-qua)
Resident, Flint
Attended Seminary summer and winter terms, 1846-47 and 1847-48
Wife or daughter of John Kahbeeje (or Kahbeige), a well-known and well-traveled Native American interpreter and apparently a missionary. Ronald J. Brunger says in his History of the Taymouth Methodist Indian Mission that "In 1846, and probably from 1845 to 1848, John Kahbeige was living at Pe-wah-ne-go-ing – Taymouth in Saginaw Co. – Under the tutelage of this Canadian Chippewa Indian who had risen to the position of teacher and preacher, the sons of Chim-e-gas were strengthened in the faith…" Rebecca, if John’s wife, apparently taught school on the Flint River Mission in 1846 (according to Brunger) – but this fact adds support to her being a daughter, for Rebecca was attending Albion at the same time.
See also Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections(Vol.IV, pp.544-556) for additional material on John.
Kimball, Albert (Wah-we-yah-tum)
Resident, Pine Creek
Attended Seminary winter and summer terms, 1847-58
Listed as deceased for the following summer. In the records of Riverside Cemetary in Albion, the following notation was discovered "Indian at Cemetary, died 8 July 1847, aged 19, buried Stranger’s Field." No name was given, but it was probably Albert.
Kirkland, Samuel (Ma-she-be-sheor Mah-me shah-sunk)
Resident Nabesing, 1845-46
Resident Bell River, 1846-48
Attended Seminary summer term, 1845-46, and winter and summer terms for 1846-47 and 1847-48
According to Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections, Vol.IV, p.544ff, he was physically handicapped in some way, but still served as a guide and interpreter.
In History of the Taymouth Methodist Indian Mission, Brunger mentions him as teaching in an Indian school in 1855-56, but the location is not given.
Marvin, Voluntine (Marvin Ta-mee or Tamee)
Resident, Flint
Attended Seminary winter and summer terms, 1844-45 and 1845-46; summer term, 1846-47
Nelson, Jeremiah H. (Ne-bah-quah)
Resident, Pine Creek
Attended Seminary summer term, 1846-47; winter and summer terms, 1847-48
Nelson, Jeremiah S. (Kah-bay-yah-ge-won)
Resident, Flint
Attended Seminary summer term, 1846-47; winter and summer terms, 1847-48; and 1850-51*
O’Shawano, Edward
Son of Shawano, chief of the Chippewas of the Sault Ste. Marie section of the Upper Peninsula
See transcription of Io Triumphe article for more information.
Preston, Sarah (Ne-be-nah-yah-nah-qua-do-qua)
Resident, Flint
Attended Seminary summer term, 1846-47; winter and summer terms, 1847-48; and 1850-51*
She may be the sister of Mary Jennings.
See Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections, Vol.X, p.151f.
See transcription of Io Triumphe article for more information.
Russell, Elizabeth B. (Ah-wah-no-qua)
Resident, Saginaw
Attended Seminary winter and summer terms, 1847-48; and 1850-51*
Sargent, John (Re-che-wah-we-gund)
Resident, Saginaw Bay
Attended Seminary summer term, 1845-46
Stacy, Mary Ann (Bah-nah-se-ge-mum or Pont-sig-num)
Resident, Pine Creek
Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections, Vol.X, p.149 states that she was educated at Albion and died before she was twenty years old. It is unclear as to whether she is the Mary who was the wife or daughter of John B. Chrisman.
Street, John (Mahaigeosing, Wah-ai-ge-at-ing or Mah-ahr-je-ah-sing)
Resident, Keewaweenon Mission
Attended Seminary, 1843-44 (only Native American listed that year); also attended winter and summer terms, 1844-45, 1845-46, and 1846-47
He may be the same John Street, Brunger mentions in History of the Taymouth Methodist Indian Mission as having taught at Pe-see-gun-ning, 30 miles north of the mouth of the Saginaw River, in 1854, but who had left during the year to visit his friends on Lake Superior and failed to return.
Sutherland, Peter
Resident, Sault Ste. Marie
Attended Seminary winter and summer terms, 1844-45 and 1845-46.
Tuttle, Jonathan (O-she-nah-we-ge-shick)
Resident, Sandy Lake, Wisconsin
Attended Seminary, 1850-51.
Wahazoo, Joseph
Resident, Old Wing
Attended Seminary winter term, 1845-46.
Wawanosh, David
Resident, Port Sarnia, Canada West (Sarnia, Ontario)
Attended Seminary winter and summer terms, 1845-46.
See Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections (Vol.XIII, pp.338-342) for an account of his probably family. It is not known whether he is the "Old Wawenash" spoken of, or one of his sons.
See transcription of Io Triumphe article for more information.
Whedon, Daniel D. (or Wheaton, A-she-dah-ne-qua-bey)
Resident, Flint
Attended Seminary, 1850-51
He was born about 1826-32, a son of Chim-e-gas. He was named after a Professor at the University of Michigan, who was a member of the Board of Visitors that oversaw affairs at the Seminary. He became a noted Native American minister in the Methodist Church and an educator. He died 27 August 1911, age approximately 85.
See Brunger’s History of the Taymouth Methodist Indian Mission for a full account of Whedon’s activities.
OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Albion College Archives. "Teachers in the Indian Department." 4 March 2003. Special Collections, Albion College.
Albion’s Copper-Colored Sons of the Forest, Io Triumphe, 1973.
Brunger, Ronald J. History of the Taymouth Methodist Indian Mission.
Albion College Archives. "Native American Students." College History Files. Special Collections, Albion College.
Michigan Historical Commission. Michigan Pioneer & Historical Collections, Vol.I-X. Lansing, MI: 1907.