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The Genealogy of the Indians of Brothertown, New York

Updated June 30, 2009

Caroline K Andler
randler1@wi.rr.com

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"...Whilst our forefathers were blind, and ignorant yea drowned in Spirituous Liquors; the English striped them, yea as it were cut off their Right Hands; - and now we their Children just opening our eyes, and having knowledge grafted, and growing in our hearts, and just reviving, or coming to our senses, like one that has been drunk - I say that now we begin to look around and Consider and we percieve that we are striped indeed, having nothing to help ourselves, and thus our English Brethren leaves us and laugh. So now Brethren, we leave the English those who have acted unjustly towards us in New England, I say we leave them all in the hands of that God who knoweth all things, and will reward every one according to their deeds whether good or evil." Joseph Johnson, Mohegan, January 20, 1774

And so began the establishment of Eeyamquittoowauconnuck - the Settlement of Brothertown, New York


Family Photos

  • Oscar & Alice Baldwin Welch (33 KB)
    Oscar and Alice Baldwin and their son Platt and his wife Rachel. Picture taken in Brothertown, Calumet Co., WI.
  • Arthur Potter and his wife Sadie Quinney (25 KB)
    Sadie was the daughter of Absolum Quinney, a Stockbridge Indian. She was born in Stockbridge and died when her newborn daughter was only 4 weeks old.
  • Erastus Welch, Sr. (36 KB)
    Erastus served in the Civil War.
  • George Baker in the Civil War (186 KB)
    George Baker married Julia Ann Coyhis. They had 12 children. He died 8 February 1922 at Chilton, Calumet Co., WI.
  • Polly Moore (38 KB)
    Polly Moore, wife of Joseph DeGroat
  • Baptist Pilgrimage at Brothertown, WI (239 KB)
    These are 17 of 38 Brothertown Indians still living in the village in 1935.
  • Lyman Fowler (15 KB)
    The Brothertown were great musicians and enjoyed singing. Dances at the Four corners were always well attended.
  • John Morris DeGroat (148 KB)
    John Morris DeGroat enlisted in the Civil War in New York on Feb. 23, 1865. He was a private in Co F 48th NY Vol. He died at the Post Hospital, Raleigh, NC. Pension papers No. 112.242 of Harriet L. DeGroat, widow.
  • Lyman Palmer Fowler (47 KB)
    Lyman Fowler photo taken in Washington DC on one of his many trips there "seeing about Brothertown Indians business". DIED. September 14, 1892. At his home this morning, Mr. Lyman P. Fowler, of consumption, aged 69 years. Mr. Fowler was one of the early settlers of this town and has held positions of trust, both in town and county affairs and was a man loved and respected by all who knew him. In his death he leaves a widow and seven grown up children to mourn him
  • George Bertram Shelley (154 KB)
    George was born and lived his entire life in Unity, Colby Co., WI. He was a farmer.
  • Joseph Manuel Johnson and Catherine Welch (133 KB)
    Joseph Manuel was born 05 Aug 1830 in Vernon, Oneida Co., NY. Catherine Welch born 24 Dec 1839, Madison Co., NY. They were married abt. 1855 in Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac Co., WI.
  • Loren Murray Johnson (296 KB)
    Loren Murray Johnson served in the Civil War in Co A 2nd Wis Calvary, enlisting on the 16th of October 1861 at Fond du Lac, WI. He was honorably discharged on April 3rd, 1866. Loren Murray was the chaplain and a charter member of the GAR Post 112 when it was organized in 1883. He was born June 8th, 1840 in Brothertown, Calumet Co., WIand died March 19, 1886 in Colby, WI.
  • John Morris DeGroat and Ida Luella Welch family (264 KB)
    John born 13 May 1878 in Stockbridge, Calumet Co., WI; Ida born 15 Jan 1878 in Redwood Falls, Redwood Co., MN. They were married 9 Sep 1899 in Redwood Falls.
  • Brothertown Court Book, kept by Peacemakers in NY (3527 KB)
    The New York Legislature’s Act of March 4, 1796 set off a tract of land given to the Brothertown Indians by the Oneidas into 149 lots and arrangements for town government. The governor and council was to appoint five Indians as “Keepers of the Peace,” or “Peacemakers,” who should hold office as long as the governor saw fit. They were to hold court on the first Monday of the month at Brothertown and hear and determine all disputes concerning debts and trespass where damage did not exceed 5 pounds and also all violations of town laws. This is from the old court record book dating from 1797 to April 4, 1843 At the same Court of the Peacemakers held in Brothertown of the first Monday in September 1797 Present David Fowler John Tuhie John Skeesuck Isaac Wauby Samuel Scipio The last entry in the old record book reads, ”In 1843 there was no courts held in the Brothertown tribe or nation of Indians in consequence of there being no process returned.” Dated Brothertown April 4th 1843 Jas. Wiggins Clerke Thus after 46 years of service the Brothertown Court closed its books
  • Baptist Pilgrimage at Brothertown, WI (14 KB)
    The Baptist gathered at Phillips Woods in Brothertown, WI on August 19, 1934, celebrating the first Baptist Church in Wisconsin - 100 years ago. The Brothertown Indians present included John Hammer, 83; Louise Fowler, 79; Hiram Johnson, 80; Lura Kindness, 74; and Frances Hammer, 82.
  • Francis Hamilton DeGroat and Lydia Amity Welch (239 KB)
    "Frank" born 12 Mar 1848, Town of Onondaga, Onondaga Co., NY; Lydia born 12 Jul 1848, Stockbridge, Calumet Co., WI. They were married 23 Aug 1867 in Stockbridge.
  • Wampum belt belonging to the Brothertown Indians (8 KB)
    The cultural item is a wampum belt, which is composed of purple beads with white beads forming the design of four pairs of diamonds. It is interwoven with buckskin and has fringe at the ends. The wampum belt measures 3 feet 8\1/8\ inches long without the fringe. The Field Museum of Natural History purchased the wampum belt in 1900 from Henry Hysen of Wisconsin. The Field Museum of Natural History accessioned the wampum belt into its collection the same year (catalog number 68567). Museum records indicate that Mr. Hysen purchased the wampum belt ``from the owner who lived on the Stock Ridge Reservation, one of the Brotherton Indians whose family had held the belt since it was sent to them by Chief Black Hawk as a message to the tribes of the Michigan and Wisconsin Indians assembled at Travers bay to hold them in control during his warfare.''
  • Students at Carlisle (12 KB)
    Brothertown Indians attending Carlisle Institute in Pennsylvania in 1900 included Herman Niles, born in 1879 in Brothertown, WI and Samuel Brushel, born in 1878 in Brothertown.
  • Hezekiah Fowler (21 KB)
    Hezekiah Fowler was born in the Brothertown settlement in New York on 15 Mar 1813. He was married twice, first to Fanny Francis Skeesuck and second to Pauline Pangburn.
  • Polly Johnson married to Samuel Hammer (25 KB)
    Brothertown Indians, Polly born about 1815 in Brothertown, NY, married Samuel, born 1810, in Brothertown, NY. Samuel died between 1839 and 1850 at Brothertown, Calumet Co., WI
  • Selona Hammer, daughter of Polly and Samuel (25 KB)
    Selona born 1838 in Brothertown, Calumet Co., WI, married George Washington Smith, on May 19, 1856 in Manchester (later called Brothertown). George was born Nov. 25, 1833 in Cato, Cayuga Co., NY. Selona died on May 3, 1868 in Gravesville, Calumet Co., WI
  • A Young Lyman Fowler (29 KB)
    Lyman Palmer Fowler was born 20 Jul 1823 in the Brothertown settlement in NY. He married Aurilla Dick in April of 1845. He served in the Civil War in both the 22nd Inf Reg and the 3rd.
  • Edgar Maurice Dick (14 KB)
    E.M. Dick was a Headman of the Brothertown Indians, born 28 Oct 1843 in Brothertown, WI, he married Abba Loretta Fowler. He joined Co A of the 21st Wis Inf on Aug 13, 1862 and spent the winter on Lookout MT., TN. He accompanied Sherman on his march to the sea and fought in 27 battles in the Civil War.
  • Methodist Church, Brothertown, Calumet Co., WI (11 KB)
    The church was razed in March 1967. The original church was built on Hwy 151 in 1842. The building that was torn down was extensively remodeled in 1906. Originally made of logs, they were covered with clapboard siding. Three acres of land was purchased from Thomas Commuck for $35. In the beginning it had plain glass windows and two single doors facing the highway. Later members donated stained glass windows. Worshippers tied their horses to surrounding locust trees. Built by the Brothertown Indians, whites from the neighborhood also attended services there.
  • Lathrop Fowler and E.M. Dick (27 KB)
    The deaths of two of West Brothertown's pioneer settlers and prominent citizens, both veterans of the Civil War, Lathrop Fowler and Edgar M. Dick, occurred on the same day, Tuesday, May 14th, 1918 in the same dwelling and only nine hours apart.
  • Letitia Schooner in Front of Her Brothertown Home (18 KB)
    Written by Letitia Schooner – William Johnson and wife Charlotte Johnson, great grandparents were born in New York State and came in the early 1832 to Brothertown. Their children were William and Orrin, Esther, who married John C. Hammer and Nancy, who was the wife of Jonathan Schooner. Nancy and Johnathan Schooner, my grandparents, were born in New York State, and came by boat to Green Bay in 1840. They came by oxteam with a few household possessions to Manchester, now Brothertown. They first build a shanty near Nancy’s parents, several years later they built this log home. They cleared land that was a wilderness when they came. Jonathan Schooner was surveyor inthis town and for the county. Their children were Elisha; Elizabeth, Charlotte, my mother; Luther, a baker by trade and alwilda who died when she was 20 years old of lung trouble.
  • Solomon Niles, Billy Johnson, Luke Schooner (21 KB)
    All three Brothertown Indians were veterans of the Civil War.
  • Charlotte Fowler Potter's Home in Brothertown (13 KB)
    An early log house built by the Brothertown Indians, it stood on the south bank of the creek next to the cheese factory. It still stood in 1935.
  • Eva Beaman Welch (228 KB)
    Eva married Ai Welch on May 7, 1879.
  • Laton Dick Johnson and Fredericka Pemberton (25 KB)
    Laton was born in Brothertown, WI on Feb. 8, 1856. At the age of 21, he homesteaded a tract of land in Reynolds Township, Todd Co., MN. When the Great Northern Railroad extended it's line to Long Prairie, MN, he was one of the pioneers who assisted in the construction work.
  • Hannah Fowler Dick (25 KB)
    Hannah, daughter of Jacob Fowler, wife of Isaac Dick, lived with her son-in-law, Oscar Johnson when she died in Brothertown WI in 1893.
  • Wealthy Johnson, wife of Albert Madison (32 KB)
    Wealthy Johnson, born 27 Feb 1856 in Brothertown, Calumet Co., WI, was the daughter of Orrin Johnson and Mary crowell, granddaughter of William Johnson and Charlotte Skeesuck. She died in Long Prairie, Todd Co., MN on 07 Feb 1896.
  • James Fowler (121 KB)
    James Fowler drove the "taxi" from Brothertown to Fond du Lac
  • Red springs Mission Church (14 KB)
    At Red Springs, Shawano Co., WI
  • Mary Victory Johnson (15 KB)
    Mary V. Johnson was the daughter of Emanuel and married Lorenzo David Fowler, son of Jacob in Utica, NY
  • Red Springs Indian Boarding School (14 KB)
    The school started boarding Indian children to give them a Christian education around 1908. The first employees were Gus Abrams and his wife, Abigail Welch Abrams and her sister "Sis" Welch, all of Quinney. Allison and Elizabeth Cuish Sears were employed there for awhile also.
  • Alexander Fowler, b. 28 Jan 1815 ; d. 02Dec 1879. (103 KB)
    Alexander Fowler, son of Jacob Fowler, a Montauk Indian through his father and a Narragansett Indian through his mother. His grandparents were David Fowler and Hannah Garret.
  • Laton Kindness, b. 14 Aug 1833 in NY d.02 Sep 1910 (1 KB)
    Thomas Layton Kindness, called Laton or Layton, was the son of James and Hannah Kindness of the Brothertown tribe. He was late in migrating to Wisconsin and when he arrived, he found that he preferred New York and returned. In NY he lived near Lewis Kindness in Chautauqa Co. under the name Dr. Kanistanaux for 25 years. He then went to Colorado, where he died.
 

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    In August 1782, a list of all the Indians belonging to the tribe of Mohegans was made out, and sent to the Assembly for the purpose of making a division of the tribal lands. The following was copied from the original paper on file in the office of the State Library at Hartford (this book was printed about 1898).
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    The Brothertown Indians at a town meeting held on April 6, 1824 voted “that a purchase shall be made of land at Green Bay.”Some Brothertown men went to Green Bay with Thomas Dean where they bought a tract of land from the Menomonee tribe. It was on the east bank of the Fox River at Little Kaukaulin, or Little Rapids, for which they paid $950 from their annuity.
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    A group of Brothertown Indians from Wisconsin took a bus trip to their ancestral home.
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  • Stockbridge Indians who attend ed Carlisle (48 KB)
    The Carlisle Indian Industrial School (CIIS) operated in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. from 1879 to 1918. During that time, somewhere between 8000 to 12000 students attended this first non-reservation, co-educational, government funded boarding school exclusively for Native Americans.
  • Stambaugh Treaty - 1831 (69 KB)
    The removal of the New York Indians - Oneida, Stockbridge/Munsee, and Brothertown - to Wisconsin.
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    April 11, 1898 This was a petition by the Indians who were parties to the treaty of Buffalo Creek, N. Y., on January 15, 1838 (7 Stat. 550), to enforce an alleged liability of the United States forthe value of certain lands in Kansas, set apart for these Indians, and subsequently sold by the United States, as well as for certain amounts of money agreed to be paid upon their removal.
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    The New England Indians who became the amalgamated tribe called the Brothertown Indians were heathens, using the pipe and tobbaco in their ceremonies to their Gods.
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    Descendents of the Brothertown Indians who had settled in Marshall and Kirkland gathered this summer from Wisconsin, Washington, Texas and other states to pay homage to their earliest brethren.
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    Members of the Brothertown Nation have been meeting in April in Minnesota for many years. The story of the courageous Brothertown ancestors who created a closely knit community in the densely forested wilderness of Minnesota is one of perseverance and survival..
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    Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Buffalo Creek in the State of New York, the fifteenth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, by Ransom H. Gillet, a commissioner on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, head men and warriors of the several tribes of New York Indians assembled in council
  • The Steamship, the Manchester in Lake Winnebago (6 KB)
    A small steamboat called the Manchester, was the pioneer steam craft plying the waters of Lake Winnebago in 1843, was built by the Brothertown Indians under the direction of Capt. Hoteling.
  • Wampum belt belonging to the Brothertown Indians (9 KB)
    The cultural item is a wampum belt, which is composed of purple beads with white beads forming the design of four pairs of diamonds. It is interwoven with buckskin and has fringe at the ends. The wampum belt measures 3 feet 8\1/8\ inches long without the fringe. The Field Museum of Natural History purchased the wampum belt in 1900 from Henry Hysen of Wisconsin. The Field Museum of Natural History accessioned the wampum belt into its collection the same year (catalog number 68567). Museum records indicate that Mr. Hysen purchased the wampum belt ``from the owner who lived on the Stock Ridge Reservation, one of the Brotherton Indians whose family had held the belt since it was sent to them by Chief Black Hawk as a message to the tribes of the Michigan and Wisconsin Indians assembled at Travers bay to hold them in control during his warfare.''
 

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