Simmons, Henry

This collection is comprised of the handwritten correspondence and a handwritten copy of the manuscript "Some Account of my Journey Among the Seneca" by Halliday Jackson.

This collection is comprised of the single volume manuscript describing Joshua Sharpless's visit to Native American tribes in New York state with John Pierce and Henry Simmons. The inside cover includes the signature of Aaron Sharpless, and it appears that he may have copied the manuscript from the diaries of Joshua Sharpless.

Entries describe Sharpless's travel to, and time spent in, Cornplanter's village during 1798.

The commonplace book of Henry Simmons includes "A Memorable instance of Divine guidance and protection," prayers, a speech made by the King of England to the Quakers, “A Testimony concerning Elisha Kirk," a memorial for his wife, Priscilla Yarnall, and a memorial for Robert Jordan.

Henry Simmons was a Quaker missionary to the Seneca Nation and a member Middletown Monthly Meeting. Henry Simmons's journals are related to time Simmons spent with the Oneida and Seneca nations.

Henry Simmons, who belonged to the Middletown Monthly Meeting, spent a year with the Seneca near Cornplanter's village along with Halliday Jackson and Joel Swayne. There, the group of missionaries set up a school and model farm. Simmons's letterbooks are comprised of business and government correspondence related to his work with various Indigenous nations.

Joel Swayne's diary entries describe his journey to the Seneca nation and the two years he spent there. Swayne provides detailed descriptions of Cornplanter (Gaiänt'wakê), the chief, his family, the village and villagers, cultural differences between the Quakers and the Senecas, the difficulty of the language barrier, and discussions between Quaker missionaries and Seneca members.