Eleazer Williams Papers, 1634-1964
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Summary Information

Title: Eleazer Williams Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1634-1964

Creator:
  • Williams, Eleazer, 1787-1858
Call Number: Green Bay Mss 76; Green Bay Micro 19; Micro 844

Quantity: 4.4 cubic feet (11 archives boxes) and 7 reels of microfilm (35 mm)

Repository:
Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:
UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:
Papers of Eleazer Williams, an Episcopal missionary to the Oneida Indians in New York and Green Bay, Wisconsin, who was of mixed English, French, and Indian lineage and claimed to be the “lost dauphin” of France. Williams, who lived in or near Green Bay from 1822 until 1850, was instrumental in encouraging some members of the Oneida and Stockbridge Indian tribes to immigrate to Wisconsin during the 1820s. The papers consist of materials by Williams including correspondence, 1801-1856, which pertains to his efforts to secure land for the New York Indians; his connections with land companies and French fur traders; his relationship with church and government officials; his repudiation by the Oneida Indians in 1832; and the “lost dauphin” controversy. Other materials written by Williams include autobiographies covering his life to about 1833; notes about Great Lakes geography and early exploration, fur trade, and missionary activities among the Indians, especially the Six Iroquois Nations; journals and journal fragments; sermons and notes; and a few speeches.
Materials about Williams include a scrapbook, clippings, pamphlets, a small amount of correspondence to Lyman Draper from acquaintances of Williams, and an article about Williams by Albert G. Ellis. Materials in the collection collected by Williams include journals, narratives, and sermons of several of Williams' ancestors; two diaries of Mrs. Williams, 1834-1839 and 1858-1878; journals of two acquaintances, Albert G. Ellis and John Sargeant; dictionaries and documents in an Indian language, presumably Mohawk or Iroquois; fur trade accounts of Grignon, Lawe, and Porlier, 1818-1832; and almanacs, pamphlets, and books from Williams' library.

Language: English, Mohawk, Oneida, Ottawa

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0076
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