The only remaining letter of this branch of Captain Brant's correspondence which has been obtained, was addressed to James Wheelock, in October, 1804. It relates to matters indifferent to the present work, save only the mention that by the bursting of a gun, his son Jacob's left hand had been shattered, and that he was "about marrying one of our Mohawk girls." [FN] The whole of this correspondence, however, speaks the old Chief exceedingly well in his domestic relations. No parent could have been more solicitous for the moral and intellectual training of his offspring. His letters are characterised by an amiable temper, and by good, sound, common sense—breathing a spirit of kindness and affection throughout. And such was his general character in his family.
[FN] Joseph Brant, Jr. died several years ago. Jacob Brant is yet living, [July, 1837.] A daughter of Captain Brant married a Frenchman, who, in June, 1789, was killed by a party of Indians while peaceably traveling up the Wabash River. He was in company with nine others, four of whom were killed, and three wounded. When the hostile party came up to them, and discovered the son-in-law of the Mohawk Chief, they assisted in drawing the arrows from the wounded, and then went off—Carey's Museum—quoted by Drake.
In addition to his correspondence upon public affairs, upon the business of his own nation exclusively, and in regard to his private and domestic concerns, which must have been very extensive, Captain Brant wrote many letters upon miscellaneous subjects to which his attention was from time to time invited. His fame was co-extensive with England and the United States, and he must have had acquaintances in France. His personal friends were very numerous, and those to whom he was known, far more numerous still. The consequence of these friendships and this celebrity, was frequent applications analogous to those made by Doctor Miller, for information in regard to the history, condition, and polity of his own people, or for the purpose of eliciting his own views and opinions upon given subjects. Of these miscellaneous letters, but few have been preserved. The annexed is given as an example. It had long been contended by physiologists, both in Europe and America, that the American aboriginals naturally have no beards. Nor is the opinion uncommon at the present day. It was for a solution of this question that a Mr. McCauseland wrote to Brant, soon after the close of the American war. The following was the Chiefs reply:—
"Niagara, April 19, 1783.
"The men of the Six Nations have all beards by nature; as have likewise all other Indian nations of North America, which I have seen. Some Indians allow a part of the beard upon the chin and upper lip to grow, and a few of the Mohawks shave with razors, in the same manner as Europeans; but the generality pluck out the hairs of the beard by the roots, as soon as they begin to appear; and as they continue this practice all their lives, they appear to have no beard, or, at most, only a few straggling hairs, which they have neglected to pluck out. I am however of opinion, that if the Indians were to shave, they would never have beards altogether so thick us the Europeans; and there are some to be met with who have actually very little beard.
"Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea."
Among others, the late eccentric Samuel Peters, LL. D., either opened, or attempted to open, a correspondence with the Chief, a few years before his decease. Dr. Peters was a native of Hebron, (Conn.) He was graduated at Yale College in 1757, and, taking orders in the Episcopal Church, had charge of the churches at Hartford and Hebron, at the commencement of the Revolutionary contest. Being a friend of the crown, he went to England, where he remained many years, and in 1781 published his extraordinary, and in many respects fabulous, history of his native state. In the year 1805, he returned to the United States; and in 1817 or 1818, made a journey into the country of the great northwestern lakes, to the Falls of St Anthony; claiming a large extent of territory in that region, under a grant to the ancient traveler, Captain Carver. [FN]
[FN] A letter of Dr. Peters to Captain Brant, written in April, 1803, is so characteristic of its author that a place has been assigned to it in the Appendix, (No. XVII,) as a curiosity. Doctor, or Bishop Peters, as he was called, died in the city of New-York, April 19,1826, at the advanced age of 90. His remains were interred at Hebron.