From a
similar school established at Stockbridge, Mass., and which appears to
have been favored by the influence and good will of the celebrated
Jonathan Edwards, Mr. Hawley was sent to Oquaga on the Susquehanna.
Oquaga was the Indian settlement near the site of the present village
of Windsor in Broome county. Mr. Hawley's journey was from Albany up
the Mohawk, across the mountains to Schoharie, thence along the valley
to Schenevus creek and westward. As his letter, in the form of a
journal, contains the earliest account that is known of the presence
of white people within the present territorial limits of Oneonta, I
hope the quotations I make from it may prove of some interest. The
letter is dated July 31st, 1794. The first entry is as follows:
JULY 31st, 1794.
"It is forty years this date since I was ordained a
missionary to the Indians, in the old South Meeting House,
when the Rev. Dr. Sewall preached on the occasion and the
Rev. Mr. Prince gave the charge. The Rev. Mr. Foxcroft and
Dr. Chauncey of Cambridge, assisted upon the occasion, and
Mr. Appleton. I entered upon this arduous business at
Stockbridge, under the patronage of the Rev.
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