NYYM_scrapbook_098

Complaint of Indians to Bishop Hobart 1821 To our Father the Bishop John H Hobert Father We have received your communication dated at Utica and have taken the advice you therein gave us, We have waited the return of Mr. Williams but he gives us no satisfaction, We are satisfied that he is engaged in the service of a speculating company who have for their object the routing of the Indians from their plantations. We are able to prove that a letter has been seen from the Cashier of the Bank at Geneva purporting to be an answer to one sent to him by Mr. Williams in which an application had been made to draw 250 Dollars in the name of a certain Company (which we forbear to name at this time) stating that the company would comply with his request only on condition of his removing the Indians Father We have no disposition to complain unreason- ably we wish to do right and we wanted to be treated honourably by others and espetially by our Minister we have lost our confidence in him we are afraid he is not honest We had left in the hands of judge Miller &; Nathan Williams after building our Meeting house 372 Dollars out of which we have been furnished with a bell for our Meeting house at 154 Doll, including transportation and ten Doll. for hanging it, The rest of the money Mr. Williams by some means or other has obtained without our approbation and renders no account for it We had designed that money to pay for building our Missionary house by Mr. Williams pretended that there was no money left and we have had to pay 200 Doll. out of our annuity for that Building but we have since aserta- ined how the business stands. Father, Mr. Williams is taking every measure to deceive us to bring us to the Necessity of having the Land of our Nativity He has sent a Message to Buffalo to state to the Indians there that the Oneida Tribe is preparing to go to Green Bay when we have no such intention there are a fiew individuals among us and very fiew who are agreed with his plan He seems determined to rule the Six Nations but we are determined not to be ruled by a man of so much intrigue Father, We are not a little astonished at the conduct of the man you have sent us for a Teacher We had no expectation that he would or could use the Oneida Nation as he has done but we think we have now found him out and all his plans, He is not contented in the place where you sent him but he wants to rule and have the command of the whole six nations Father We wish you to take away this man and give us one that is a true Minister of the Gospel we dont want a Man that is a speculator for a Minister we want a Man that will attend to the duties of his holy office and look to good of our souls and be content in his station We have no design of renouncing our religion we are established in the faith, but we want a good Minister to go before us, We have many pious old people among us whose feelings are much wounded with the cond- uct of Mr. Williams they say they never knew an minis- ter conduct as he has done before. Father We are sory to find that these things have a bad