NATURALIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



613 



MORGAN, LEWIS HEXBY, born near Aurora, 

 New York, November 21, 1818; died in 

 Rochester, New York, December 17, 1881. 

 He graduated at Union College in 1840 and 

 studied law until 1844. About that time he 

 joined a secret society known as the " Grand 

 Order of the Iroquois," and this had immense 

 influence on his future career. The organiza- 

 tion was modeled after the pattern of the In- 

 dian tribes, and, to become better acquainted 

 with their social polity, young Morgan went 

 among the Indians of his State, and permitted 

 himself to be adopted by a tribe of Senecas. 

 The Grand Order of the Iroquois flourished for 

 a long timd. The ceremonies were very pict- 

 uresque and attractive, being conducted in the 

 woods by night, and illuminated by immense 

 camp-fires. The sachems, dressed in the In- 

 dian costume, with plumes of eagle-feathers 

 and beautiful moccasins, partook with great 

 enjoymant in the wild sports. Bat Mr. Mar- 

 gin's business claims finally obliged him to 

 abandon the society, and his departure caused 

 the decay of the order. He published from his 

 ample store of material a volume of great in- 

 terest, called " The League of the Iroquois," 

 in which he explained the organization and 

 governmant of their wonderful federation. 

 Their daily life, their superstitions, customs, 

 and traditions were ably treated of, and this 

 work gives the first scientific account of an 

 Indian tribe ever published. It appsarei in 

 1851. 



The field of research he had entered was so 

 vast, and the study so fascinating, that Mr. 

 Morgan devoted all his spare time to it. In 

 1858 he went to Marquette and found an en- 

 campment of Ojibway Indians; he discovered, 

 with much surprise, that while the language 

 was essentially different, the organization and 

 system of government in this tribe were pre- 

 cisely the same as those of the Iroquois. It nat- 

 urally occurred to him that the similarity of 

 characteristics in tribal governments might ex- 

 tend further, and he determined to pursue his 

 investigations among other Indians. "With this 

 object in view, he issued schedules of inquiry 

 for circulation among persons conversant with 

 Indian life, and distributed them far and wide. 

 The Smithsonian Institution rendered him much 

 assistance, as did also General Cass, who was 

 at that time Secretary of State. The returns 

 came in so slowly that, to expedite matters, he 



went through Kansas and Nebraska, to the 

 Hudson Bay Territory and Lake Winnipeg, to 

 Fort Benton and the Rocky Mountains. From 

 the tribes of these sections he gleaned an 

 amazing amount of information, to which were 

 added the returns from his schedules, which 

 began to pour in from all quarters. Not only 

 was the kinship of the Indians investigated, 

 but that of a large portion of mankind. 



The Smithsonian Institution published the 

 result as one of its " Contributions to Knowl- 

 edge," under the title of " Systems of Consan- 

 guinity and Affinity of the Human Family." It 

 is a quarto volume of 600 pages, and a wonder 

 of patient research. The kindred systems of 

 eighty tribes of North American Indians, togeth- 

 er with those of a great number of the prin- 

 cipal nations and tribes of the Old World and 

 the islands of the sea, are fully recorded in its 

 pages. During the earlier years of his labors 

 in this great undertaking, Mr. Morgan carried 

 on an extensive law practice, and was engaged 

 upon a railroad enterprise in Michigan. On 

 the shores of Lake Superior he became ab- 

 sorbed in the study of the beaver, and in 1868 

 he published " The American Beaver and his 

 "Works." His researches were extended to many 

 subjects not comprised in the volume published 

 by the Smithsonian Institution. He contributed 

 a number of articles to the " North American 

 Review," the first of which was printed in 1869, 

 and entitled " The Seven Cities of Cibola." He 

 came to the qualified conclusion that the ruins 

 on the Chaco, in New Mexico, represent what 

 remains of the so-called cities described by the 

 ancient Spanish travelers. In 1871 lie published 

 what he considered to be the great work of his 

 life, under the title "Ancient Society." It is 

 divided into four parts, as follows : Part I, 

 "Growth of Intelligence through Inventions 

 and Discoveries"; Part II, "Growth of the 

 Idea of Government " ; Part III, " Growth of 

 the Idea of Family " ; Part IV, " Growth of 

 the Idea of Property." Mr. Morgan presided 

 over the last meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science, and his 

 last work is the " House-Life and Architecture 

 of the North American Indians." He was a 

 member of the New York Assembly in 1861, 

 and of the Semite in 1868. Upon the sub- 

 jects treated of in his publications he was 

 considered an authority in this county and 

 abroad. 



NATURALIZATION IN THE UNITED 

 STATES : ITS VALIDITY. An important ques- 

 tion of naturalization was raised during the 

 year, and left pending at its close, by Secre- 

 tary Elaine's protest against the decision given 

 in the Buzzi case by Count Lewenhaupt, act- 

 ing as umpire, under the agreement between 

 Spain and the United States, for the arbitra- 



tion of claims ot citizens of the United States 

 for property seized by the Spanish authorities 

 during the Cuban rebellion. Buzzi claimed to 

 be a naturalized citizen of the United States, 

 and presented his naturalization certificate to 

 the commission. The umpire decided that the 

 certificate was not valid, and hence that Buzzi 

 was not entitled to appear before the commis- 



