Ely S. Parker (Seneca), in his own words: "see if the white race will recognize me" (Chicago, 1859; printed Buffalo, 1919)

SUMMARYEly S. Parker (Seneca), in his own words: "see if the white race will recognize me" (Chicago, 1859; printed Buffalo, 1919) [Connections: Masonic color line, asylums, castles, wight, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDArthur C. Parker, The Life of General Ely S. Parker (Buffalo Historical Society, 1919), Chapter VIII, pp. 96–98, says Parker was raised in Batavia Lodge No. 88 in 1847 and became first Master of Miners Lodge No. 273 at Galena. The book prints Parker's oration at a Masonic banquet in Chicago in 1859: "Where shall I go when the last of my race shall have gone forever?" Then: "I said, I will knock at the door of Masonry and see if the white race will recognize me as they did my ancestors." Then: "I knocked at the door of the Blue Lodge and found brotherhood around its altar." Parker later drafted the surrender terms at Appomattox and was the first Native Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1869–71)

PATTERNA Seneca leader named the lodge as a test of whether "the white race" would treat him as kin. By his account the lodge passed the test while the country around it did not

LENS (WW9)For Parker, the lodge was a place where the split might not hold

OPENPage numbers are from OCR running heads. Check them against the scan

SOURCEA.C. Parker, Life of General Ely S. Parker (1919), Internet Archive full text; Wikipedia: Ely S. Parker.