Green Bay Indian Agency (Wisconsin)

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Menominee, Winnebago, Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Oneida, and the Stockbridge, Munsee, and Brothertown Indians

History
The Green Bay Agency was established in 1815 for the tribes living in the area of Green Bay, Wisconsin, including the Menominee, Winnebago, Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Oneida, and the Stockbridge, Munsee, and Brotherton Indians who had moved in from New York.

In 1829, a separate Fort Winnebago subagency was established for the Winnebago Indians and in 1831, the Rock River Subagency was also established. By that time, only the Menominee and the New York Indians were assigned to the Green Bay Agency, with its headquarters on the Fox River, about 3 miles above Fort Howard. The original agency was abolished at the end of 1836.

In the Spring of 1837, a subagency was established at Green Bay for the Menominee and the New York Indians. By 1839, however, the Stockbridge and Munsee had moved to Kansas and were assigned to the Fort Leavenworth Agency.

In 1855, the Green Bay Subagency was restored to full agency status and was located on Wolf River on the Menominee Reservation. It was sometimes called the Menominee Agency. By that time, the most of the remaining Munsee and the Brotherton Indians had moved or given up their status as Indians. The remaining Stockbridge occupied the southwestern corner of the Menominee Reservation. The Oneida lived near Green Bay.

In 1857, the agency headquarters was located at Keshena, but was moved to Fond du Lac in 1858. The agent did not always live on the reservation and moved around rather frequently. In 1861, he operated from Portage, in 1863 from Appleton, from 1866 to 1874 from Green Bay, and after 1874 from Keshena. The Green Bay Agency was renamed the Keshena Agency in 1909.

Agents
1815-1837

Charles Jouett 1815, John Bowyer 1816, John Biddle1821, Henry B. Brevoort 1822, Samuel C. Stambaugh 1830, Brig Gen. George M. Brooks

Subagents, 1837-1855

George Boyd,George W. Lawe, David Jones, Albert G. Ellis, William H. Bruce, George Lawe, Jon V. Suydam, Ephraim Shaler

Agents, 1855-1880

Benjamin Hunkins, Frederick Moscowitt, Augustus D. Bonesteel, Moses M. Davis, Morgan L. Martin, A.H. Reed, Lt. J. A. Manley, Lt. W. R. Bourne, William T. Richardson, Isaac W. Hutchins, Thomas N. Chase, Joseph C. Bridgeman, [Ebenezer+Stephens&amp;orderBy=&amp;page=82 Ebenezer Stephens]

Records
Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value (for the tribe and tribal members) were created by and maintained by the agencies.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Green Bay Agency, 1824-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 315-336. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (their ).

A few textual records for this agency have been transferred to the Great Lakes Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Chicago. The records of the Green Bay Agency and for the Green Bay Subagency have been briefly described on the National Archives web site online. Some small amount of correspondence for the Green Bay Subagency for 1850 has been microfilmed by the National Archives as their Microcopy M951.

Reports of Inspection of the Field Jurisdictions of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1873-1900 have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of Microcopy Number M1070. The reports for Green Bay Agency, 1873-1899, are on rolls 18-19 of that Microcopy set. Copies are available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (their ).

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1885, 1888-1889, and from 1891 thru 1908. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 172 thru 174. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (their ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.