Ely S. Parker

Ely Samuel Parker
1828 – August 31, 1895 (aged 66–67)
Ely Parker
Place of birth	Indian Falls, New York
Place of death	Fairfield, Connecticut
Place of burial	Forest Lawn Cemetery Buffalo, New York
Allegiance	United States of America
Years of service	1861 - 1865
Rank	Brevet Brigadier General
Unit	Western Theater Adjutant to General Grant
Battles/wars	American Civil War Siege of Vicksburg Battle of Chattanooga Overland Campaign Siege of Petersburg Appomattox Campaign
Other work	Head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Ely Samuel Parker (1828 – August 31, 1895), (born Hasanoanda, later known as Donehogawa) was a Native American of the Seneca nation who was an attorney, engineer, tribal diplomat, and a lieutenant colonel during the American Civil War, where he served as adjutant to General Ulysses S. Grant. He wrote the final draft of the Confederate surrender terms at Appomattox. Later in his career Parker rose to the rank of Brevet Brigadier General. President Grant appointed him Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first Native American to hold that post.^[1]

Early life and education

Ely Parker was born in 1828 at Indian Falls, New York (then part of the Tonawanda Reservation). He was of the Seneca tribe, part of the Iroquois Confederacy. He had a classical education at a missionary school, was fully bilingual, and went on to college. He spent his life bridging his identities as Seneca and American.

Parker worked in a legal firm reading law for the customary three years in Ellicotville, NY and then applied to take the bar examination. He was not permitted to take the examination because, as a Seneca, he was not a US citizen.^[2] It was not until 1924 that all American Indians were considered citizens under the Indian Citizenship Act.^[3] Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee stated Parker was refused because he was not a white man.^[4]

In the late 1840s, Parker met Lewis H. Morgan, a scholar who was studying the Iroquois. Parker became his main source of information and entree to others in the nation.

Parker then studied engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and worked as a civil engineer until the Civil War.

He married Minnie, and they had one daughter, Maud, who survived.^[5]

Career

Parker began his career in public service by working as a translator and diplomat to the Seneca chiefs in their dealings with government agencies. In recognition of his important contributions to their negotiations about land and treaty rights, in 1852 Parker was made sachem of the Seneca, Donehogawa, Keeper of the Western Door.

Before this he had met and worked with Lewis H. Morgan, a developing scholar in the field of ethnology and anthropology. Morgan was so indebted to Parker that he dedicated his book League of the Iroquois to him, published in 1851: "the materials are the fruit of our joint researches." Morgan also helped Parker gain entry to Rensselaer Polytechnic, because he recognized his abilities.^[6]

As an engineer, Parker contributed to upgrades and maintenance of the Erie Canal, among other projects. He was a supervisor of government projects in Galena, Illinois, where he first met and befriended Ulysses S. Grant. Their strong collegial relationship was useful later.^[6]

Civil War Service

Near the start of the Civil War, Parker tried to raise a regiment of Iroquois volunteers to fight for the Union, but was turned down by New York Governor Edwin D. Morgan. He then sought to join the Union Army as an engineer, but was told by Secretary of War Simon Cameron that he could not since he was Indian.^[7] Parker contacted his colleague and friend Ulysses S. Grant, who intervened. His forces suffered from a shortage of engineers, and Parker was commissioned a captain in May, 1863 and ordered to report to Brig. Gen. John Eugene Smith. General Smith appointed Parker as the chief engineer of his 7th Division during the siege of Vicksburg. Smith said he was a "good engineer".

When Ulysses S. Grant became commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi, Parker became his adjutant during the Chattanooga Campaign. He was subsequently transferred with Grant as the adjutant of the U.S. Army headquarters and served Grant through the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg. At Petersburg, Parker was appointed as the military secretary to Grant with the rank of lieutenant colonel and was responsible for writing much of the correspondence of General Grant.

Parker was present when Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865. He helped draft the surrender documents, which are in his handwriting. At the time of surrender, General Lee mistook Parker for a black man, but apologized saying "I am glad to see one real American here." Parker was said to respond, "We are all Americans, sir." Parker was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers on April 9, 1865.

Post Civil War

After the Civil War, Parker was commissioned as an officer in the 2nd United States Cavalry. He again became the military secretary to Grant as he finished out his time as general in chief. Parker resigned from the army with the brevet rank of brigadier general of Regulars.

Grant appointed Parker as Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1869 to 1871. He was the first Native American to hold the office. Parker became the chief architect of President Grant's Peace Policy in relation to the Native Americans in the West.

After leaving government service, Parker involved himself in the stock market. At first he did well, but eventually lost the fortune he had accumulated.

He lived his last years in poverty, dying in Fairfield, Connecticut on August 31, 1895. On January 20, 1897, his body was exhumed and moved to Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York, to lie next to his ancestor, Red Jacket, a famous Seneca orator and other notables of Western New York.

Parker's career and impact on contemporary Native Americans is described in Chapter 8 of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

He is said to have helped found the town of Parker, Arizona. Another individual with the surname of Parker is credited with this distinction as well.

See also

American Civil War portal

United States Army portal

Notes

References

Armstrong, William H. (1978) Warrior in Two Camps. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-0143-3.

External links

• Biography, "Ely S. Parker", The Civil War, PBS
• Article from "History of Buffalo"