352 



BIBLIOGEAPHY OF THE 



Meeker (J.) — Continued. 



Title verso blank 1 1. text (with the excep- 

 tion of the headings, which are in English, en- 

 tirely in the Ottawa language) pp. 3-92, index in 

 Ottawa pp. 93-96, 18°. 



Copies seen : Boston Athenaeum. 



— Hymns | in | the Ottawa language, 

 j original and select, | by | Jotham 

 Meeker, | missionary of the American 

 baptist mis. union. | Third edition. | 

 [Two lines scripture in English.] | 



Ottawa baptist mission station. | J. 

 Meeker, printer. | 1850. 



Title verso blank 1 1, text (with the excep- 

 tion of headings in English entirely in the Ot- 

 tawa language) pp. 3-122, index pp. 123-127, 24°. 

 Copies seen: Shea. 



Two Delaware primers are titled in Sabin's 

 Dictionary (no. 47377, note), under Mr. Meeker's 

 name as author, which were in fact only printed 

 by him. The error was caused by twisting the 

 titles, in copying them, successively, from 

 Triibner's BibliograpMcal Guide to American 

 Literature (1859), p. 250; Ludewig's Literature 

 of American Aboriginal Languages (1858), p. 66; 

 and Schoolcraft's Bibliographical Catalogue 

 (1849), nos. 66 and 67, where they were first 

 printed. 



Mr. Jotham Meeker joined the Baptist mis- 

 sionaries at Carey station, Michigan territory, 

 in November, 1825, when about twenty-one 

 years of age. He was from Cincinnati, Ohio, 

 and a printer by trade. Eor a while he assisted 

 Mr. Johnston Lykins and Mr. Eobert Simerwell 

 in teaching the Indian children. In August, 

 1827, having been duly licensed to preach, he 

 was placed in charge of the mission among the 

 Ottatv^as at Thomas station on Grand river. 

 On this occasion the Indians conferred on him 

 the name of Mdn6'-kek6-t6h', signifying "he 

 that speaks good words." He had by this time 

 acquired sufficient knowledge of the Ottawa 

 language to enable him to read religious dis- 

 courses in it to the Indians. 



In September, 1830, Mr. Meeker was married, 

 and in the following year, on the breaking up 

 of the mission and the removal of Mr. Lykins 

 to the Indiau territory, he returned to Cincin- 

 nati, with the intention of going into the print- 

 ing business. The other missionaries, how- 

 ever, soon persuaded him to change his design, 

 and to resume the Indian work. It was at first 

 proposed to put a printing press in operation 

 among the Cherokees of Arkansas, under his 

 management, but the plan failed for want of 

 support. 



The Chippewa mission next attracted Mr. 

 Meeker's attention. As he had acquired "a 

 pretty correct knowledge of the Ottawa lan- 

 guage, which is virtually the same as the Chip- 

 pewa and Putawatomie," he yielded to a desire 

 to labor among a people with whom he could 

 converse. In the autumn of 1832, having ob 

 tained the consent and support of the Baptist 



Meeker (J.) — Continued. 



board of missions, he set off" with Mrs. Meeker 

 for the lakes. At Detroit they were joined by 

 Kev. Moses Merrill and his wife, with whom 

 they proceeded to Sault Ste. Marie, between 

 lakes Huron and Superior, where they asso- 

 ciated themselves with the Chippewa mission 

 under the care of Eev. A. Bingham, who had 

 been located there since 1828. They remained 

 in this place, however, only a few months. 

 Early in the spring of 1833, the board directed 

 both Mr. Meeker and Mr. Merrill to abandon 

 the Lake Superior mission, and to proceed at 

 once to the Indian territory. 



In September or October, 1833, Mr. Meeker 

 arrived at the Shawanoe mission station with 

 his wife. By direction of the board he brought 

 with him a printing press and types, which he 

 had purchased in Cincinnati. On the 9th of 

 March, 1834, with the assistance of "William 

 Ash, "he commenced printing, first printing^ 

 50 copies of the alphabet for several tribes, and 

 on the 21st he completed the first book printed 

 in the Territory— a primer of 24 pages in an. 

 Indian language." See Linapi'e. By the 10th 

 of May an elementary book in Shawanoe, pre- 

 pared by Mr. Lykins, was also printed. Other 

 works in the Delaware, Shawanoe, Putawato- 

 mie, Otoe, Choctaw, Muscogee or Creek, Wea, 

 and Kansas languages, were printed by Mr. 

 Meeker during the next three years, besides a 

 number of pamphlets in English. 



A few Ottawas had, by this time, located in 

 the Indian territory, and as Mr. Meeker still 

 desired to labor for that tribe, the requisite 

 authority was obtained from the Indian depart- 

 ment at Washington to establish a mission 

 among them. This was early in the year 1835. 

 The proposed undertaking was delayed, how- 

 ever, by other atfairs, and especially by the 

 work of the printing press, which employed 

 much of Mr. Meeker's time. His labors were 

 largely increased in 1836 by the long continued 

 illness of Mr. Lykins, and in September of the 

 same year his own health became so poor that 

 he was unable to attend to the press. Arrange- 

 ments were thereupon made to obtain another 

 printer. 



On the 14th of May, 1837, Mr. J. G. Pratt of 

 Massachusetts arrived at the Shawanoe mission 

 and took charge of the printing office. la 

 June, Mr. and Mrs. Meeker removed to the 

 Ottawa settlements, about thirty miles west of 

 the Missouri state line, near the site of the 

 present city of Ottawa, Kansas. Bere a school 

 was opened, and preaching held. In the follow- 

 ing year Mr. Meeker prepared one or two ele- 

 mentary books in the Ottawa language, which 

 were printed at the Shawanoe press. 



The state of the Ottawa mission in 1839 is 

 described by Mr. McCoy as follows: "Mr. 

 Meeker has a small school, in which instruc- 

 tion is imparted in the English language, and 

 he receives pretty good attention to preaching. 

 David Green, an Ottawa, who has been baptized 

 within the last two years, takes a part in the 



