Annie Simerwell to Sallie Simerwell
Creator: Simerwell, Ann
Date: June 18, 1854
In this letter to her sister Sallie, Annie Simerwell explains that she has received news from their parents regarding the passage of the "Nebraska Kansas bill."

Carey Mission letter, unknown author
Creator: Carey Missionaries
Date: February 19, 1828
In this letter from the Carey Mission (in Michigan Territory) the author details the expenditures accrued during the third quarter of 1827, part of which was a result of traveling expenses for four Native American students who left the Carey Mission for Worthington in Ohio.

Colonel A.C. Pepper to Robert Simerwell
Creator: Pepper, Abel C., 1793-1860
Date: April 11, 1833
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, Indian Agent Colonel A.C. Pepper tells Simerwell that he is preparing to lead a band of Native Indians led by Quea-Quea-Tah, west in the early part of June 1833, and that the Native Indians "express a wish" that Simerwell accompany them on their journey. Pepper also states that Simerwell should talk with the Native Indians in his area to see if they are interested in moving west with the others and, if so, to meet at Logansport, Indiana on June 10, 1833.

D.D. Fishbank to Mrs. Francis Simmerwell
Creator: Fishback, D. D.
Date: May 23, 1827
This letter, from D.D. Fishback to Mrs. Francis Simmerwell, addresses some of the problems faced by the missionaries at the Carney Mission, and indicates that the Baptist Female Charitable Society had raised $20 to help the missionaries "to Christianize, and civilize, the Heathen around you." The Carey Mission, which was located in present-day Michigan, was established along the St. Joseph river by Baptist missionary Isaac Mccoy and named for English Baptist missionary William Carey. The mission's primary task was educating the local Native Americans but it also served as a stopping point for American settlers as they headed west.

Education
Creator: Simerwell, Sarah P.
Date: 1831-1867
In this letter, Sarah P. Simerwell, wife of Robert W. Simerwell, discusses her thoughts on the importance of education. In fact, she argues that education allows one to prosper throughout their life, regardless of their background. Most importantly, Simerwell includes her thoughts on the differences between the philosopher and the savage in order to reinforce her belief in the primacy of education.

Exhibit of cattle and other articles sold by the Cary Mission from April 1829 to September 1, 1830
Creator: Simerwell, Robert, 1786-1868
Date: September 1830
This item lists the livestock and items sold by the Carey Mission, Michigan Territory, prior to the closure of the mission in early September of 1830 following the passage of the Indian Removal Act.

Expenditures and receipts of the Carey Mission 2nd quarter 1829 including June, July, and August 1829
Creator: Simerwell, Robert, 1786-1868
Date: September 1829
This item includes a detailed breakdown of the expenditures and receipts of the Carey Mission, Michigan Territory, during a significant part of 1829. As such, this item details the tremendous amount of effort that went into running the Carey Mission, and the type of transactions and events that were required to support the education of Native Indians in the Michigan Territory shortly before the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830.

Expenditures and receipts of the Carey Mission first quarter which includes march april and may 1829
Creator: Simerwell, Robert, 1786-1868
Date: June 1, 1829
This item is a list of expenditures and receipts from the Carey Mission in the Michigan Territory from the first quarter of 1829, including the months of March, April, and May 1829. As such, this item contains a large amount of information regarding the activities and expenses related to the missionaries activities at the Carey Mission.

Francis Barrow to Robert Simerwell
Creator: Barrow, Francis
Date: May 27, 1828
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, Francis Barrow writes about life in and around Castleton, Vermont. Barrow tells Simerwell that they like the "yankees" but that many of the people they visit "ask to many question." In concluding, Barrow asks Simerwell about the general situation at Carey, and requests that Simerwell "I want you should tell me about the Indian when you write to me."

General rules
Creator: Simerwell, Robert, 1786-1868
Date: February 15, 1822
This item, titled General Rules for the regulation of the Fort Wayne Mission Family, details the various rules adopted by the Baptist missionaries at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the winter of 1822. Essentially, this document establishes the guidelines by which the Baptist missionaries at Fort Wayne are going to live by as they work to spread Christianity among the Native Americans in the area. Robert Simerwell was among the first group of missionaries to Fort Wayne, and he was part of the group that established the rules governing their actions at the fort.

Isaac McCoy to Robert Simerwell
Creator: McCoy, Isaac, 1784-1846
Date: July 22, 1830
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, Isaac McCoy explains what awaits Simerwell and the Indians at the Carey Mission, Michigan Territory, as well as all Indians that will soon be impacted by the passage of the Indian Removal Act. McCoy states that the Baptist Board of Missions has offered to lead the effort to re-settle the Indians if the U.S. Government is willing to help them do so.

Isaac McCoy to Robert Simerwell
Creator: McCoy, Isaac, 1784-1846
Date: February 19, 1831
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, Isaac McCoy relates the news of his recent travels. McCoy, who had been away from the Carey Mission for some time, explained that he had been busy working to achieve the best for the Indians and the Baptist Board of Missions. However, McCoy candidly admits that his efforts have been "all up-hill work."

Issac McCoy to James Barbour
Creator: McCoy, Isaac, 1784-1846
Date: October 1, 1827
This letter from Isaac McCoy, superintendent of schools among the Potawatomies and the Ottawas, to James Barbour, Secretary of War under President John Qunicy Adams, lists the equipment, animals, dwellings, land, and other important assets at the Carney Mission. Located "Twenty five miles S.E. of Lake Michigan, in Michigan Territory, among the Potawatomie indians," Carey Mission was dedicated to educating the local Native Indians according to the standards of Americans during the early to mid 1800s.

Issac McCoy to Robert Simerwell
Creator: McCoy, Isaac, 1784-1846
Date: April 12, 1830
In this letter to Robert Simerwell at the Carey Mission, Michigan Territory, Isaac McCoy addresses the "Indian removal question" that eventually resulted in the Indian Removal Act which was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830. McCoy states that "I think the measure of removal will carry," and he suggests that Simerwell will have to wait a short time before needed improvements to the Carey Mission can be addressed. In fact, McCoy explains that Simerwell may soon have to relocate depending on what might follow the passage of the Indian Removal Act.

Issac McCoy to Robert Simerwell
Creator: McCoy, Isaac, 1784-1846
Date: 1827
In this letter to Robert Simerwell and the missionaries at the Carney Mission, Isaac McCoy details the difficulties of life among the Ottawas at the Thomas Mission near Grand River in the Michigan Territory (present-day Grand Rapids, Michigan). In particular, McCoy struggles with sickness, the challenges posed by trying to learn the Ottawa language, and the fact that his life is one in which the concerns of others must come first and foremost.

Issac McCoy to Robert Simerwell and Bay
Creator: McCoy, Isaac, 1784-1846
Date: March 29, 1829
In this letter, to Robert Simerwell and Mr. Bay, Issac McCoy relays the news that the Carey Mission will likely cease to function, and that the missionaries at Carey will leave for the Osage Mission "one year from next September." In addition, McCoy addresses the problems that many missionaries soemtimes faced, stating that he is "tired-tired-tired of my wanderings--I am lonesome and homesick."

Issac McCoy to Robert Simerwell and J. Bay
Creator: McCoy, Isaac, 1784-1846
Date: May 16, 1829
In this letter to Robert Simerwell and J. Bay at the Carey Mission, Michigan Territory, Issac McCoy relays information to them concerning the Baptist Board of Missions' decision to send himself and Johnston Lykins further West. In addition, McCoy explains that the Board has decided to appoint a committee in Lexington, Kentucky and in New York for the purpose of "keeping alive the subject of Indian missions, and of promoting the interests of these missions in general."

James Pricket to Robert Simerwell
Creator: Pricket, James
Date: August 26, 1827
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, James Pricket relays the details of his current job to Simerwell and the missionaries at the Carey Mission where he was working before he left the area. In particular, Pricket mentions that he is pleased with the Ottawas that he is working with, and that he is eager to help them as much as he can with their "temporal improvements," as well as their "religious instruction."

Johnston Lykins to Robert Simerwell
Creator: Lykins, Johnston, 1800?-1876
Date: December 21, 1830
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, Johnston Lykins relates some of his activities in the late fall and early winter of 1830, most of which concerned the efforts to ready the local Native Indians for the move west of the Mississippi. Lykins states that, while at Logan Fort, he met a Wea from the Kanza River who had "collected 100 Weas & Miamis who will go on in the spring to Missouri." Lykins then explains that he plans to see the Wea soon so that the two of them can make arrangements for the 100 Native Indians that were ready to leave the Michigan Territory for the "West."

Joseph N. Bourassa to Robert Simerwell
Creator: Bourassa, Joseph Napolean, 1810-1878
Date: March 30, 1833
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, Joseph Napoleon Bourassa, man of French and Potawatomi descent, argues that good men are needed to help Indians because "the nation for which you have labored for many years is destitute of men qualified for business and more especially at the department of Chiefs."

Joseph R. John to Robert Simerwell
Creator: John, Joseph R.
Date: April 8, 1831
This item, sent from Joseph R. John to Robert Simerwell, contains a list of expenditures for Isaac McCoy from Septmber 1828 to August 1830.

Jotham Meeker to Robert Simerwell
Creator: Meeker, Jotham, 1804-1855
Date: April 9, 1829
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, Jotham Meeker discusses some of the problems at the Thomas Mission that were due to the scarcity of food. In fact, Meeker explains that the lack of corn forced the missionaries at the Thomas Mission to dismiss their students for a time because they could not properly feed them. Included in this letter is a list of expenses incurred at the Thomas Mission during portions of 1828.

L. Bolles to Robert Simerwell
Creator: Bolles, L.
Date: June 24, 1829
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, L. Boles informs Simerwell that a large portion of the funding for the Carey Mission, Michigan Territory, will be cut because the Baptist Mission Board had decided that it "could not afford to keep up a large establishment as heretofore." However, Bolles does state that there is money available to Simerwell if needed.

List of scholars at Carey Mission, Michigan Territory
Creator: Carey Missionaries
Date: October 20, 1828
This item lists the scholars (Indian students) at the Carey Mission in Michigan Territory in the fall of 1828.

Lucas Bolles to Johnston Lykins and Robert Simerwell
Creator: Bowles, Reverend Lucas
Date: October 1, 1830
In this letter to Johnston Lykins and Robert Simerwell, Reverend Lucas Bolles reports that the Baptist Board of Missions has received the reports sent by both Lykins and Simerwell and, as a result, the Board is completing the closing of the Books & winding up of affairs at Carey Mission, Michigan Territory. Bolles letter indicates that the educational department of the Carey Mission was closed on August 26, 1830, with 15 scholars in attendance at the time it ceased operations. Bolles reports that the U.S. Government has promised that a new school will be opened in the "new Country" west of the Mississippi and that the Native Americans were being moved there following the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.