One Real American: The Life of Ely S. Parker

Ely Parker was born in 1928, a time when many Tonawanda Senecas in New York state were adopting many European conventions, in dress, homes, and sometimes even religion, in the way they lived. Unfortunately, they also had to deal with whites wanting to take their land. Having learned Latin, Greek and other topics taught during this time period, Parker had few academic problems when he attended the Cayuga Academy, although his classmates were often abusive. His education helped him assist a delegation of Tonawanda chiefs on a trip to Washington, D.C. to discuss government settlements that they wished to refuse. He impressed the president and other officials, and even met with John Ross, the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. He had been considering a career in law, but a friend convinced him that going into engineering would be a better path, and Parker eventually became the resident engineer for New York State Canals. He was also chosen as the "grand sachem" of the Iroquois Confederacy in 1851. While his education and insistence on fashionable frock coats gained him a lot of ground with the white government officials, his knowledge of and respect for his Native culture helped him in the ranks of the Six Nations. When the Civil War started, he tried to enlist, but was turned away. In 1863, John E. Smith asked that Parker be appointed to his staff, and this military service culminated in Parker being the highest ranking Native American in the Union Army, and the man who wrote out the official copy of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. After the war, Parker married Minnie Orton Sackett, a white woman, and struggled to find jobs. He remained active in Native affairs, and passed away in 1895.