Foreign Mission School
Encyclopedia
The Foreign Mission School was an educational institution
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

  which existed between 1817 and 1826 in Cornwall, Connecticut
Cornwall, Connecticut
Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,434 at the 2000 census.In 1939 poet Mark Van Doren wrote "The Hills of Little Cornwall", a short poem in which the beauties of the countryside were portrayed as seductive:The town was also home to the Foreign...

. It was established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. It was proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World...

 to bring Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 and Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...

 to non-caucasian people by educating missionaries of their own culture.

History

The school was called a seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

 at the time, "for the purpose of educating youths of Heathen nations, with a view to their being useful in their respective countries" according to Jedidiah Morse
Jedidiah Morse
Jedidiah Morse was a notable geographer whose textbooks became a staple for students in the United States. He was the father of Samuel F. B. Morse, the man who developed Morse code.-Early life and education:...

.
The school was established in the last few months of 1816, and opened in May 1817. The first principal was Edwin Welles Dwight (1789–1841). After the first year, Dwight was replaced by Reverend Herman Daggett (1789–1832) who ran the school for the next six years.

Daggett was nephew of Naphtali Daggett
Naphtali Daggett
Naphtali Daggett was an American academic and educator. He graduated from Yale University in 1748. Three years later, he became pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Smithtown, Long Island...

 who had been president of Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...

, and Dwight was distant cousin of the Yale president in 1817, Timothy Dwight IV
Timothy Dwight IV
Timothy Dwight was an American academic and educator, a Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author...

.
Approximately one hundred young men from non-European indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....

 were trained at the school with the intent of their becoming missionaries, preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...

s, translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...

s, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

s, and health workers in their native communities.
According to Morse,
"there belong to it (the school) a commodious edifice for the School, a good mansion house, with a barn, and other out-buildings, and a garden for the Principal; a house, barn, &. with a few acres of good tillage land for the Steward and Commons; all situated sufficiently near to each other; and eighty acres of excellent wood land, about a mile and a half distant."
"In the constitution there is a provision, that youths of our own country, of acknowledged piety, may be admitted to the school, at their own expense, and at the discretion of the Agents."
"Under the instruction of the able and highly respected Principal, the Rev. Mr. Daggett, and his very capable and faithful assistant, Mr. Prentice, the improvement of the pupils, in general, has been increasing and satisfactory, and in not a few instances, uncommonly good. Besides being taught in various branches of learning, and made practically acquainted with the useful arts of civilized life; they are instructed constantly, and with special care in the doctrines and duties of Christianity. Nor has this instruction been communicated in vain. Of the thirty-one Heathen youths . . . seventeen are thought to have given evidence of a living faith in the Gospel; and several others are very seriously thoughtful on religious concerns."


From its founding, the school rapidly became a symbol of American Christianity's Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...

, and connected the small farm town of Cornwall in Connecticut's Litchfield Hills
Litchfield Hills
The Litchfield Hills is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Connecticut located in the northwestern corner of the state. It is a term that is roughly coterminous with the boundaries of Litchfield County, for which it is named...

 to the early 19th century's clash of civilizations
Clash of Civilizations
The Clash of Civilizations is a theory, proposed by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world....

, as epitomized by the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...

, the conversion of Hawaii to Protestantism, and the worldwide Christian missionary movement. Cornwall had been chosen for the school's location due to the devoutness of the residents and their consequent willingness to donate their efforts, money, and property to a devout cause, as well as their reputation as hard-working people of good character.
Henry Opukahaia, the school's first pupil, was an 18 year old Native Hawaiian abandoned in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

 in 1810 by his ship. He traveled widely to promote the school, but died in Cornwall in 1818 at 26 before he could return home. He recruited four more Hawaiians, including one who called himself "George Prince
Humehume
Humehume , known by many different names during his time, such as George Prince, George Prince Kaumualii, Tamoree or Kumoree by American writers, was a son of the king of part of the Hawaiian Islands. He traveled widely, served in the U.S...

" with a record of fighting in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, and the school printed a pamphlet with their stories to raise money. Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, co-inventor of the Morse code, and an accomplished painter.-Birth and education:...

, son of Jedidiah, painted their portraits. Other students came from distant countries as well as many Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 tribes, bringing 24 different native languages.

In its first year, the school had twelve students; seven Hawaiians, one Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

, one Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...

, a Native American, and two Anglo-Americans
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

. By the second year, there were twenty-four; four Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

, two Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...

, one Abenaki, two Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

, two Malays
Malay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...

, one Bengali, one Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

, six Hawaiians, and two Marquesans, as well as three Anglo-Americans.

The students followed a demanding schedule befitting the devout mission of the school, doing field work  in the time unoccupied by their mandatory church attendance, prayer, and 7 hours of daily coursework. The program of study included astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

, calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...

, theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

, navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

 and surveying
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

, French, Greek, and Latin, in addition to practical courses such as blacksmithing and coopering.

In time, as the pendulum
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...

 of public opinion began to build doubt about the purpose of the school, support began to wane; it never came to a head, however, before the marriages of two Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 students to local girls and the potential marriages of other such couples caused negative reactions among both the local residents and the members of the Native American tribes who sent their sons there, and it was closed in 1826 or 1827.

Native American students

Principal Daggett observed in a letter to Morse that, in contrast to the Native American students, three of the students from the Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....

 had become ill and "fallen a sacrifice", which he assigned to the climate; he mused that "it is probable, that Divine Providence
Divine Providence
In Christian theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's activity in the world. " Providence" is also used as a title of God exercising His providence, and then the word are usually capitalized...

 intends this school to be chiefly useful to the Aborigines of this country." And in fact, sons of some of the most prominent Native American leaders of the time (many of mixed ancestry) received their education at the Foreign Mission School, later becoming distinguished members of their nations. Three Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

s and a Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...

 came to the school in the fall of 1818. In his report, Morse stated that there were twenty-nine students in the school in 1820, half of whom were Native American boys from the principal families of five or six different tribes.
Some of the Native American students include:
  • David Brown, a Cherokee (one quarter white on his father's side) came from a prominent family, his half brother being a chief and judge. He assisted in developing a spelling book for the Cherokees as well as a Cherokee grammar. After leaving the school, he became a notable public speaker, studied Hebrew and divinity
    Divinity
    Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...

    , and, after attending Andover
    Andover Newton Theological School
    Andover Newton Theological School is a graduate school and seminary located in Newton, Massachusetts. It is America's oldest graduate seminary and the nation's first graduate institution of any kind...

     became a prominent member of the Cherokee nation and served as clerk of a delegation to Congress.
  • James Fields, another Cherokee and a kinsman of Brown, did not distinguish himself academically, but spent his life "taking care of his considerable property."
  • Leonard Hicks was a son of Chief Charles Renatus Hicks
    Charles R. Hicks
    Charles Renatus Hicks was one of the most important Cherokee leaders in the early 19th century; together with James Vann and Major Ridge, he was one of a triumvirate of younger chiefs urging the tribe to acculturate to European-American ways and supported a Moravian mission school to educate the...

    , the first Cherokee convert to Christianity, and considered the most influential man in his nation. After he became homesick and left the school, Leonard served as clerk of the Cherokee nation.
  • Ta-wak (renamed David Carter) was a grandson of Nathaniel Carter of Killingworth
    Killingworth
    Killingworth, formerly Killingworth Township, is a town north of Newcastle Upon Tyne, in North Tyneside, United Kingdom.Built as a planned town in the 1960s, most of Killingworth's residents commute to Newcastle, or the city's surrounding area. However, Killingworth itself has a sizeable...

     and Cornwall; his father was carried off as a child, remained with the tribe when grown, and married a Cherokee. David was dismissed from the school for unknown reasons; he attained prominence, however, became editor of the Cherokee Phoenix
    Cherokee Phoenix
    The Cherokee Phoenix was the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the United States and the first published in a Native American language. The first issue was published in English and Cherokee on February 21, 1828, in New Echota, capital of the Cherokee Nation . The paper continued...

     newspaper and a judge of the Supreme Court. He lived for a time in Goshen, Connecticut
    Goshen, Connecticut
    Goshen is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,697 at the 2000 census.Each July, the Connecticut Agricultural Fair is held in town. It is also home to the Goshen players.-Geography:...

    , apparently with his aunt. He died about 1863.
  • John Vann, the son of a white man, Clement Vann and his Native American wife Mary Christiana who converted to Christianity, attended the school from 1820 to 1822. He became editor of the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper.
  • McKee Folsom and Israel Folsom, the sons of a white man, Nathaniel Folsom
    Nathaniel Folsom
    Nathaniel Folsom was an American merchant and statesman.He was a delegate for New Hampshire in the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1777 to 1780, as well as the Major General of the New Hampshire Militia.-Private life:Folsom was born into a large family in Exeter, New Hampshire...

    , were the first Choctaws listed as attending the school, from 1818 to 1822. Their family was very prominent in the nation, and they assisted in arranging a Choctaw alphabet, preparing Choctaw school books, and translating the Scriptures to Choctaw.
  • Adin C. Gibbs, a Delaware
    Lenape
    The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...

     (part white) from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

    , attended the school from 1818 to 1822. He later spent many years among the Choctaw as a teacher and missionary.
  • Holbochinto (renamed Robert Monroe), was a relative of Tally, Chief of the Osage Nation
    Osage Nation
    The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...

    . He attended the school from 1824 to 1826, supported by the Foreign Mission Society.
  • Wah-che-oh-heh, (renamed Stephen Van Rensselaer after General Stephen Van Rensselaer III, who was also president of the United Foreign Mission Society which supported him) was also a relative of Tally; he attended the school from 1824 to 1825. He remained at Cornwall after the school closed, later attending Miami University
    Miami University
    Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...

    . In 1832 he was one of five from the school to act as missionary helper. Afterwards, he served his tribe as a blacksmith and interpreter.
  • John Ridge
    John Ridge
    John Ridge, born Skah-tle-loh-skee , was from a prominent family of the Cherokee Nation, then located in present-day Georgia. He married Sarah Bird Northup, of a New England family, whom he had met while studying at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut...

    , son of Major Ridge
    Major Ridge
    Major Ridge, The Ridge was a Cherokee Indian member of the tribal council, a lawmaker, and a leader. He was a veteran of the Chickamauga Wars, the Creek War, and the First Seminole War.Along with Charles R...

    , commander of the Cherokees in the Seminole War, was a student at the school in 1819. Suffering from a problem with his hip, he was nursed for two years in the home of John P. Northrup, steward of the school; this led to his marriage to Sarah Bird Northrup in 1824, which was not well received by the local citizens. Ridge subsequently went on to become a prominent leader of the Cherokee nation.
  • Kul-le-ga-nah
    Elias Boudinot (Cherokee)
    Elias Boudinot , was a member of an important Cherokee family in present-day Georgia. They believed that rapid acculturation was critical to Cherokee survival. In 1828 Boudinot became the editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, which was published in Cherokee and English...

     (renamed Buck Watie, then renamed Elias Boudinot after Elias Boudinot
    Elias Boudinot
    Elias Boudinot was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a U.S. Congressman for New Jersey...

     who sponsored him at the school in 1818) calculated the date of the lunar eclipse
    Lunar eclipse
    A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a...

     of August 2, 1822, using only the information supplied in his textbook. He became engaged to marry Cornwall local Harriet R. Gold
    Harriet R. Gold Boudinot
    Harriet Ruggles Gold Boudinot was the wife of the Cherokee leader Elias Boudinot , the editor of the Cherokee Nation newspaper The Cherokee Phoenix. Harriett was the youngest daughter of Colonel Benjamin and Eleanor Gold; theirs was a prominent Congregationalist family in Cornwall, Connecticut.The...

     in 1825. This was bitterly opposed by the bride's family and the citizens of Cromwell, who burned the couple in effigy. They went on to get married nevertheless.
  • Miles Mackey, a Choctaw (half white) who attended the school from 1823 to 1825, was dismissed "for a proposed matrimonial union", as was James Terrell an Osage.

The response to these marriages was negative among both the citizens of Cornwall and those of the Native American nations; in addition, some of the southern tribes became concerned that residence in the northern states was harming the health of the students sent there, and support for the school rapidly dwindled, until it was closed in 1826 or 1827.

The school was dramatized in an episode of the American Experience
American Experience
American Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service Public television stations in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history...

 television series in 2009.

External links

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