Note 1 — Chapter I · HER HISTORY UNTIL SHE ENTERED THE MISSION SCHOOL AT BRAINERD.
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A more particular account of the family of Catharine, may be acceptable to the reader.
Mr. John Brown was the son of a man named Brown, who has long been dead. It is not known whether he was a white man, or partly Indian. The mother of Mr. Brown was a “full-blooded” Cherokee. So, also, was the mother of Mrs. Brown; but her father was white. Catharine’s parents were brought up like others of their nation;—no better acquainted with the language, religion, manners, or customs of the white people.
Mr. Brown has had three wives. The first had two children, neither of whom are living. One of these children became a man of much distinction. In the Creek war he had the title of Colonel, as he commanded a large number of Cherokees, who made a part of the army under General Jackson. He was severely wounded at the battle of the Horse-shoe; but recovered, and died subsequently of a fever, or consumption. He is said to have possessed uncommon powers of mind, and to have exerted much influence among his people. He is familiarly referred to by the name of Col. Dick Brown.
The children of Sarah, the second and present wife of Mr. Brown, were John, who died in the Christian faith, February 1822, leaving a widow, Susannah, who is a professor of religion; Catharine, the subject of this memoir; and David, of whose piety hopes have been entertained for almost five years.
The children of the third wife, named Wottee, or Betsey, who, for some years, has been living in the Arkansas Territory, are Polly, (or Mrs. Gilbreth,) Alexander, Susan, and Edmund. Polly and Susan are esteemed pious.
Sarah and Betsey lived with Mr. Brown at the same time. But some difficulty arising, the latter separated from him.
Sarah was the wife of a man named Webber, before she married Mr. Brown. The children, by this marriage, are Betsey, (now Mrs. Looney,) a professor of religion, and Walter, called Col. Webber. He was at Washington city, about two years since, and possesses a handsome property. These children were quite young, when their father died. Col. Webber is now about thirty-five years old.
It appears, therefore, that of Mr. Brown’s family no less than nine have become hopefully pious, within the last seven years, viz. Mr. and Mrs. Brown, John, Catharine, David, Polly, Susan, Susannah, and Mrs. Looney.
The reader will be apt to infer, when he sees individuals called by names and titles, with which he is familiar, that they are very much like other individuals, whom he has known under similar titles; in short, that they are civilized and intelligent persons. Such an inference, however, is not warranted. The mere possession of an English name, in an Indian country, is no evidence that the person thus distinguished is able to speak the English language; much less, that his habits are those of civilized life, or that his mind has been in any degree cultivated.
As to the military titles of captain, major, colonel, and even general, they are conferred as a matter of courtesy, in consequence of some sort of undefined authority, which is exercised over others, and which is supposed to bear some distant analogy to the authority, implied in these titles, among us. Of course, the titles are conferred by the whites. In some instances, when Indian auxiliaries have been employed in active warfare, by European governments, or by the United States, individuals may have received regular commissions. Mr. Brown and his son John, were both denominated Captain.