Manuscripts Collection
Thomas Smith Williamson was born in Union District, South Carolina in March of 1800, the son of William and Mary (Smith) Williamson. He graduated from Jefferson College, Cannonsburgh, Pennsylvania, and studied medicine in West Union and Cincinnati, Ohio. He received his medical license in 1823 and took further medical education at Yale University in 1824. From 1824 to 1833 he practiced medicine in West Union and Ripley, Ohio. In 1833 he began the study of theology at Lane Seminary (Presbyterian) Walnut Hills, Ohio, and was ordained in September of 1834.
In April of 1835, Williamson and Alexander G. Huggins left Ohio for Minnesota, under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. They arrived at Fort Snelling in May of that year, and in July, Williamson arrived at the mission of Lac Qui Parle. From that time until 1862 Williamson was engaged in missionary activities at the Lac Qui Parle mission and at Kaposia. Following the U.S.-Dakota War in 1862, Williamson moved to St. Peter, Minnesota, where he lived until his death on June 24, 1879.
Most of the correspondence (1861-1879) is between Thomas S. and his son John P., a missionary to the Dakota Indians in Dakota Territory; it gives information on the Indians' removal from Minnesota following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, life in the Indian agencies, and family matters. Other letters are from his sister, Jane S. Williamson, a teacher at the Yellow Medicine mission; from other family members; from Stephen R. Riggs regarding his Indian mission work on the Missouri in 1870; from Selah B. Treat, secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, about Indian agents in South Dakota; and from Gideon H. Pond discussing John Other Day, and Indians taken prisoner during the U.S.-Dakota War.
Among the papers are also articles and addresses by Williamson, his son Andrew, and others on the Dakota language, Indian mission work, and United States Indian policy; manuscripts of works, mainly Bible translations, written in the Dakota language by Williamson; a volume of accounts (1834-1871) with the mission board and with persons whom he attended as a physician; and biographical miscellany.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota
Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics should
Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.
M155: St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society, 1971.
Microfilm available for interlibrary loan or sale from the Minnesota Historical Society.
Originals of copied manuscripts are located at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota; Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; South Dakota Historical Society, Pierre; Mrs. Peter Burghart, Excelsior, Minnesota. Originals of M155 at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Accession number: 1820F; 2214; 2420; 3025; 4652; 4867; 5058; 5092; 6835; 10,979; 16,450
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant
awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Catalog ID number: 001733716
The bulk of the correspondence is between Thomas S. Williamson and his son John Poage. The letters give information on the removal of the Indians from Minnesota, routine life in the agencies, and family matters. The miscellaneous papers include information regarding financial accounts, receipts, letters written by Indians, and genealogical materials.
Thirteen packages containing Williamson's writings in the Dakota language. Most of the works are selections from the Bible. None of the items have been translated.
Discusses John Other Day and Indians taken prisoner during the Dakota Conflict.
Digital version
Digital version
Digital version
Created from the correspondence and miscellaneous papers series in Box 1.