Samuel Worcester
Encyclopedia
Samuel Austin Worcester (19 January 1798 – 20 April 1859), was a missionary
to the Cherokee
, translator of the Bible
, printer and defender of the Cherokee
's sovereignty. He was a party in Worcester v. Georgia
(1832), a case that went to the United States Supreme Court, in which Chief Justice John Marshall
defined the exclusive relationship of the federal government to the Indian nations and recognized the latter's sovereignty, above state laws.
on January 19, 1798, to the Rev. Leonard Worcester, a minister. He was the sixth generation of pastors in his family, dating back to ancestors who lived in England
. According to Charles Perry of the Peacham Historical Association, his father also worked as a printer
in the town. The young Worcester attended common schools and studied printing with his father.
Samuel Worcester became a Congregational minister and decided to become a missionary to the American Indians
.
, another missionary at New Echota. The two had become close friends over the two years they had known each other. The Cherokee Sequoyah
developed a syllabary
to create a writing system for the Cherokee language. He and his people had admired the written papers of the European Americans, which they called the "Talking Leaves." Boudinot asked Worcester to use his printing experience to establish a Cherokee newspaper. Worcester believed the newspaper could be a tool for Cherokee literacy, and a means to draw the loose Cherokee community together; it would help promote a more unified Cherokee Nation.
Using his missionary connection, Worcester secured funds to build a printing office, buy the printing press and ink, and cast the syllabary's characters. Since the 86-character syllabary was new, type had to be created. The two missionaries helped produce the Cherokee Phoenix
, which first rolled off the presses in 1828 at New Echota
(now Calhoun, Georgia
). From this point on, Worcester probably participated in most Cherokee publications until his death.
, a former U.S. Attorney General the Cherokee tried to argue their position before the US Supreme Court in Georgia v. Tassel (the court granted a writ of error for a Cherokee convicted in a Georgia court for a murder occurring in Cherokee territory, though the state refused to accept the writ) and Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
(1831) (the court dismissed this on technical grounds for lack of jurisdiction).
The Cherokee finally reached the Supreme Court with their third case, Worcester v. Georgia
(1832). Worcester and eleven other missionaries had met at New Echota
and published a resolution in protest of a recent Georgia law prohibiting all white men from living on Native American
land without a state license. While the state law was an effort to restrict white settlement on Cherokee territory, Worcester reasoned that obeying the law would, in effect, be surrendering the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation to manage their own territory. Once the law had taken effect, Governor George Rockingham Gilmer
ordered the militia to arrest Worcester and the others who signed the document and refused to get a license.
After two series of trials, all eleven men were convicted and sentenced to four years of hard labor. Nine accepted pardons, but Worcester and Elizur Butler declined their pardons so the Cherokee could take the case to the Supreme Court. William Wirt argued the case, but Georgia refused to have a legal counsel represent it, claiming that no Indian could drag it into court. In its late 1832 decision, the Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was independent and all dealings with them fell under federal authority. President Andrew Jackson
ignored the ruling by continuing to lobby Congress for a new treaty with the Cherokee, and Governor Gilmer continued to hold the two men prisoner.
Wilson Lumpkin
assumed the governorship early the next year. Faced with the Nullification Crisis in neighboring South Carolina
, he chose to free Worcester and Butler if they agreed to minor concessions. Having won the Supreme Court decision, Worcester believed that he would be more effective outside prison and left. He realized then that the larger battle had been lost, because the state and settlers refused to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. He moved to Oklahoma in 1835 to prepare for the coming of the Cherokee. Within three years, the Cherokee Nation was forced to follow the "Trail of Tears
".
, Indian Territory
.
The Worcesters lived in the house from 1828 until 1834, when it was confiscated by a Georgian who obtained title in the 1832 Land Lottery. The house was owned by many Georgians through the years until 1952. The house was turned over to the state of Georgia, and in 1954 to the former government agency, the Georgia Historical Commission. It is managed by the Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, part of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. In 1962, the New Echota Historic Site was opened to the public; it preserves the restored Worcester House as an important symbol of New Echota and Cherokee civilization.
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, translator of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, printer and defender of the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
's sovereignty. He was a party in Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester and held that the Georgia criminal statute that prohibited non-Indians from being present on Indian lands without a license from the state was unconstitutional.The...
(1832), a case that went to the United States Supreme Court, in which Chief Justice John Marshall
John Marshall
John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...
defined the exclusive relationship of the federal government to the Indian nations and recognized the latter's sovereignty, above state laws.
Early life and education
Worcester was born in Peacham, VermontPeacham, Vermont
Peacham is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 665 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 47.7 square miles , of which 46.7 square miles is land and 0.9 square mile is...
on January 19, 1798, to the Rev. Leonard Worcester, a minister. He was the sixth generation of pastors in his family, dating back to ancestors who lived in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. According to Charles Perry of the Peacham Historical Association, his father also worked as a printer
Printer (publisher)
In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...
in the town. The young Worcester attended common schools and studied printing with his father.
Samuel Worcester became a Congregational minister and decided to become a missionary to the American Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
.
Marriage and family
Worcester married and had a family. They accompanied him to New Echota, where he went as a missionary to the Cherokee. Later they accompanied him to Indian Territory before 1835.Cherokee Phoenix
Worcester was strongly influenced by Elias BoudinotElias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a U.S. Congressman for New Jersey...
, another missionary at New Echota. The two had become close friends over the two years they had known each other. The Cherokee Sequoyah
Sequoyah
Sequoyah , named in English George Gist or George Guess, was a Cherokee silversmith. In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible...
developed a syllabary
Syllabary
A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent syllables, which make up words. In a syllabary, there is no systematic similarity between the symbols which represent syllables with the same consonant or vowel...
to create a writing system for the Cherokee language. He and his people had admired the written papers of the European Americans, which they called the "Talking Leaves." Boudinot asked Worcester to use his printing experience to establish a Cherokee newspaper. Worcester believed the newspaper could be a tool for Cherokee literacy, and a means to draw the loose Cherokee community together; it would help promote a more unified Cherokee Nation.
Using his missionary connection, Worcester secured funds to build a printing office, buy the printing press and ink, and cast the syllabary's characters. Since the 86-character syllabary was new, type had to be created. The two missionaries helped produce the Cherokee Phoenix
Cherokee Phoenix
The Cherokee Phoenix was the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the United States and the first published in a Native American language. The first issue was published in English and Cherokee on February 21, 1828, in New Echota, capital of the Cherokee Nation . The paper continued...
, which first rolled off the presses in 1828 at New Echota
New Echota
New Echota was the capital of the Cherokee Nation prior to their forced removal in the 1830s. New Echota is 3.68 miles north of present-day Calhoun, Georgia, and south of Resaca, Georgia. The site is a state park and an historic site....
(now Calhoun, Georgia
Calhoun, Georgia
Calhoun is a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,650. The city is the county seat of Gordon County.-Geography:Calhoun is located at , along the Oostanaula River....
). From this point on, Worcester probably participated in most Cherokee publications until his death.
Worcester in court and prison
The westward push of European-American settlers from coastal areas had begun to dramatically encroach on the Cherokee. With the help of Worcester and his sponsor, the American Board, they made a plan to fight the encroachment by using the courts. They wanted to take a case to the US Supreme Court to define the relationship between the federal and state governments, and establish the sovereignty of the Cherokee nation. No other civil authority would support Cherokee sovereignty to their land and self-government in their territory. Hiring William WirtWilliam Wirt (Attorney General)
William Wirt was an American author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of United States Attorney General into one of influence.-History:...
, a former U.S. Attorney General the Cherokee tried to argue their position before the US Supreme Court in Georgia v. Tassel (the court granted a writ of error for a Cherokee convicted in a Georgia court for a murder occurring in Cherokee territory, though the state refused to accept the writ) and Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, , was a United States Supreme Court case. The Cherokee Nation sought a federal injunction against laws passed by the state of Georgia depriving them of rights within its boundaries, but the Supreme Court did not hear the case on its merits...
(1831) (the court dismissed this on technical grounds for lack of jurisdiction).
The Cherokee finally reached the Supreme Court with their third case, Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester and held that the Georgia criminal statute that prohibited non-Indians from being present on Indian lands without a license from the state was unconstitutional.The...
(1832). Worcester and eleven other missionaries had met at New Echota
New Echota
New Echota was the capital of the Cherokee Nation prior to their forced removal in the 1830s. New Echota is 3.68 miles north of present-day Calhoun, Georgia, and south of Resaca, Georgia. The site is a state park and an historic site....
and published a resolution in protest of a recent Georgia law prohibiting all white men from living on Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
land without a state license. While the state law was an effort to restrict white settlement on Cherokee territory, Worcester reasoned that obeying the law would, in effect, be surrendering the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation to manage their own territory. Once the law had taken effect, Governor George Rockingham Gilmer
George Rockingham Gilmer
George Rockingham Gilmer was an American statesman and politician. He served two non-consecutive terms as the 34th Governor of Georgia, the first from 1829 to 1831 and the second from 1837 to 1839...
ordered the militia to arrest Worcester and the others who signed the document and refused to get a license.
After two series of trials, all eleven men were convicted and sentenced to four years of hard labor. Nine accepted pardons, but Worcester and Elizur Butler declined their pardons so the Cherokee could take the case to the Supreme Court. William Wirt argued the case, but Georgia refused to have a legal counsel represent it, claiming that no Indian could drag it into court. In its late 1832 decision, the Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was independent and all dealings with them fell under federal authority. President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
ignored the ruling by continuing to lobby Congress for a new treaty with the Cherokee, and Governor Gilmer continued to hold the two men prisoner.
Wilson Lumpkin
Wilson Lumpkin
Wilson Lumpkin was a governor of Georgia, and a United States Representative and Senator.-Biography:Born near Dan River, Virginia, he moved in 1784 to Oglethorpe County, Georgia with his parents, who settled near Point Peter and subsequently at Lexington, Georgia...
assumed the governorship early the next year. Faced with the Nullification Crisis in neighboring South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, he chose to free Worcester and Butler if they agreed to minor concessions. Having won the Supreme Court decision, Worcester believed that he would be more effective outside prison and left. He realized then that the larger battle had been lost, because the state and settlers refused to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. He moved to Oklahoma in 1835 to prepare for the coming of the Cherokee. Within three years, the Cherokee Nation was forced to follow the "Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
".
Later life in Oklahoma
After moving to Oklahoma, Worcester continued to preach to the Indians. He worked tirelessly to help resolved the differences between the Georgia Cherokee and the "Old Settlers", some of whom had relocated there in the late 1820s. On April 20, 1859, he died in Park HillPark Hill, Oklahoma
Park Hill is a census-designated place in southwestern Cherokee County, Oklahoma in the United States. The population was 3,936 at the 2000 census. It lies near Tahlequah, east of the junction of U.S. Route 62 and State Highway 82.-History:...
, Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
.
Worcester House
Worcester House is the only surviving original house on the land of the former Cherokee community of New Echota. The rest of the original buildings were destroyed after the Cherokee were forced to leave Georgia on the "Trail of Tears." The house was constructed in 1828 as a two-story building.The Worcesters lived in the house from 1828 until 1834, when it was confiscated by a Georgian who obtained title in the 1832 Land Lottery. The house was owned by many Georgians through the years until 1952. The house was turned over to the state of Georgia, and in 1954 to the former government agency, the Georgia Historical Commission. It is managed by the Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, part of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. In 1962, the New Echota Historic Site was opened to the public; it preserves the restored Worcester House as an important symbol of New Echota and Cherokee civilization.
External links
- "Samuel Worcester", New Georgia Encyclopedia
- "Samuel Austin Worcester", Oklahoma Historical Society
- New Echota Historic Site
- New Echota Historic Site, Georgia State Parks
- "Worcester House Photo Gallery"