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Kirkland, Samuel

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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a Congregational minister, was born Dec. 1, 1741, at Norwich, Conn. He received his degree from the College of New Jersey, 1765, though not present himself. In Nov. 1765, he went on a missionary visit to the Seneca Indians, and returning in May, 1766, he was duly ordained and appointed missionary by the Connecticut Board of Correspondents of the society in Scotland. He settled at Oneida in the midst of the Oneida tribe, and labored until the Revolution suspended his mission. During the war he served as chaplain in the army, and was engaged in negotiations with the Indians, for which services he was rewarded by Congress in 1785. As soon as the war was ended he continued his missionary labors among the Indians. In 1788 the Indians and New York State presented him with valuable lands, part of which he improved and occupied. During the year 1791 he made a Statement of the Numbers and Situation of the Six United Nations of Indians in North America, and in the winter conducted a delegation of some forty warriors to meet Congress in Philadelphia. In 1793 he was instrumental in procuring a charter for the Hamilton Oneida Academy, which has since become a college. His connection with the society in Scotland was broken off in 1797, for what reason he knew not, but he continued his accustomed work until his death, Feb. 28,1808.-Sprague, Annals, i, 623.