For a couple of years, from 1830 to 1832, we’re not sure what Electa was up to. Puzzle pieces, again, are missing. She might have continued teaching in Statesburg.
We do know that on Monday, September 17, 1832, she started teaching at a school in Smithfield, Wisconsin.
Smithfield, another Indian village on the Fox River, was not far from Statesburg. Today, it is part of the village of Kimberly. Electa’s new school had about 30 students.
A few months earlier, a young Methodist missionary had come to Smithfield. His name was Daniel Adams. Daniel was a Mohawk Indian from Canada.
Before he moved to Wisconsin, Daniel worked as a missionary to the Oneida Indians in New York. Daniel was good at his job. In New York, he convinced 100 Oneida Indians to join his church.
Daniel could speak the Oneida language, and many other Indian languages, too. He was tall like Electa, and he was handsome. Thomas Morris, a Methodist bishop, called him an “excellent man.” And he was a good singer.
On Sunday, September 16, the day before Electa’s school opened, Daniel and Reverend John Clark, a minister from New York City, held a church service at Smithfield. The service took place in a newly built mission house made of logs. Once again, the mission house also served as Electa’s school.
Electa’s schools in Statesburg and Smithfield probably looked similar to this one.
Soon, John Clark moved on to visit other churches. He left Daniel in charge of the church at Smithfield and Electa in charge of the school.
“We have so many good meetings here,” Daniel wrote in 1832 in a letter to John Clark. “I have, indeed, for my part, experienced the greatest blessings.”
Daniel had another reason to be happy. He and Electa would soon be married. Their wedding was on July 25, 1833, in Statesburg. John Clark was the minister. He was a close friend. Electa and Daniel later named one of their sons, John Clark Adams, after him.
In 1833, John Clark wrote that Electa’s students were doing well in every subject. They were especially good in geography, math, and history.
Electa and Daniel didn’t live in Smithfield very long. The village was on land owned by the Menominee Indians. In a treaty in 1822, the Menominee had agreed to let the Stockbridge and Oneida Indians live on their land along the Fox River.
The Indians from New York thought that they had bought the land. But the Menominee believed that they were only sharing the land with the New York tribes.
Menominee chief Ma-ko-me-ta in 1827. Long before the Stockbridge Indians came to Wisconsin, other Indian tribes lived there.
In 1831 and 1832, 2 new treaties ended the disagreement. The Menominee ceded millions of acres to the United States government, including the land that contained Statesburg and Smithfield. The Stockbridge Indians agreed to leave Statesburg and to move to Calumet County on the eastern shore of Lake Winnebago. The Oneida Indians said they would move to Duck Creek, near Green Bay. Some Oneida Indians were already living there. Today, the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin still has a reservation along the creek.
Electa and Daniel went to live at Duck Creek, too. There they lived in a house made of logs. Once again, Daniel worked in the church and Electa taught school.
Daniel and Electa lived at Duck Creek until 1836. Then, changes came to Wisconsin.
In 1836, Wisconsin became its own US territory. Wisconsin Territory was big. It included all of what would later be the states of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, as well as parts of North and South Dakota. Wisconsin was no longer a part of Michigan Territory. Michigan was getting ready to become a state in 1837.
Soon, Wisconsin Territory began to look a lot like New York had before the Stockbridge Indians left. Lots of white settlers began moving in. The Menominee and other Indian tribes continued to cede land to the US government. As in New York, the Indian land was resold to white settlers to build their homes and farms and to companies that built roads and cities.
A map of Wisconsin Territory in 1836
The Great Seal of the Territory of Wisconsin
Also around this time, the US government created a place called Indian Territory. Indian Territory was far away from Wisconsin, but lots of Indians were living there. Daniel knew many of the languages spoken there. He wanted to go there to teach Indians to be Christians.
Daniel and Electa had a big decision to make. Should they stay in Wisconsin? Or should they move to Indian Territory, where Daniel could work as a missionary?
