John Johnston Letter to Thomas Rotch Regarding the Treaty of St. Mary's

This three-page letter, which measures 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm), from Indian Agent John Johnston was written to Thomas Rotch of Kendal, Ohio (now Massillon). Johnston (1775-1861) provides details of the Treaty of St. Mary's, which granted the Miami Indians $15,000 annually in exchange for nine million acres in western Ohio. An advocate for American Indians, Johnston poignantly mentions the dismay of the Mohegan Indians from New York, who, while traveling through the Upper Piqua area of Ohio en route to Indiana, learned that their tribal lands on the White River had been sold. However, Johnston also writes of the American Indians and "the too free use of ardent spirits--this evil is making dreadful havoc among them before many years." Thomas Rotch (1767-1823), a Quaker and early settler of Kendal, was active in the abolition movement and conducted slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. He also served as a correspondent for the Committee on Indian Concerns. The Rotch-Wales Collection comprises several thousand items, including Quaker and abolitionist materials, household remedies and recipes, weather reports and machinery plans, and personal letters of Thomas and Charity Rotch and their family. It contains personal and business correspondence, diaries, documents, accounts, ledgers, and daybooks. A large portion of the collection consists of the personal and business correspondence, documents, and business papers of Arvine Wales I (1785-1854), who accompanied Rotch from Hartford to Ohio in 1811, worked for him, and carried on Rotch's business interests after his death. The papers of his son, Arvine C. Wales (1827-1882), a lawyer and civic leader in Massillon, are also part of the collection