Ely S. Parker | |
---|---|
Birth name | Ely Samuel Parker |
Born | 1828 Indian Falls, New York |
Died | August 31, 1895 (aged 66–67) Fairfield, Connecticut |
Buried at | Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
Years of service | 1863–1869 |
Rank | Brevet Brigadier General |
Unit |
Western Theater Adjutant to General Grant |
Battles/wars | |
Other work | Head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs |
Ely Samuel Parker (1828 – August 31, 1895), (born Hasanoanda, later known as Donehogawa) was a Seneca attorney, engineer, and tribal diplomat. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel during the American Civil War, when he served as adjutant to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. He wrote the final draft of the Confederate surrender terms at Appomattox. Later in his career, Parker rose to the rank of brevet brigadier general. President Grant appointed him as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first Native American to hold that post.
Parker was born in 1828 as the sixth of seven children to Elizabeth and William Parker, of prominent Seneca families, at Indian Falls, New York (then part of the Tonawanda Reservation). He was named Ha-sa-no-an-da and later baptized Ely Samuel Parker. His father was a miller and a Baptist minister. The Seneca are one of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). Ely had a classical education at a missionary school, was fully bilingual speaking Seneca as well as English, and went on to college. He spent his life bridging his identities as Seneca and a resident of the United States.