Great Nemaha Indian Agency (Kansas)

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
Iowa, Sauk and Fox of the Missouri, Kickapoo, Potawatomi

History
The Great Nemaha Agency was the successor to the Ioway Subagency, which was created in 1825. By treaty of 17 Sep. 1836, the Iowa and Sauk and Fox of the Missouri agreed to move to reserves along the Great Nemaha River in southeastern Nebraska and northeastern Kansas. Known as the Great Nemaha Emigration, 1837-1838. By 1842, the agency headquarters was located on the Sauk and Fox land, about 5 miles south of Iowa Point, in present-day Kansas. The Great Nemaha Agency became a full agency in 1851, and the Kickapoo formerly assigned to the Fort Leavenworth Agency were moved to Great Nemaha. A separate Kickapoo Agency was established in 1855 for the Kickapoo Indians and some Potawatomi who lived with the Kickapoo. Between 1854 and 1861, the Iowa Tribe and the Sauk and Fox of the Missouri gave up lands except small reserves on the Kansas-Nebraska border. In 1858, a new agency headquarters was built on the Iowa Reserve, just east of Great Nemaha River and north of the Kansas-Nebraska line. In 1882, the Great Nemaha Agency was consolidated with the Potawatomi Agency and became the Potawatomi and Great Nemaha Agency. In 1903, that agency was divided into the Potawatomi Agency and the Kickapoo Agency.

Subagents, Agents and Appointment Dates
Andrew S. Hyughes September 5, 1828, position vacant January 8, 1838-June 5, 1840,Congrave Jackson June 5, 1840, William P.Richardson June 25, 1841, Armstrong McClintock July 25, 1845, William E. Rucker June 17, 1846, Alfred J. Vaughn March 1, 1848, William P. Richardson December 18, 1849, William P. Richardson June 30, 1851, Daniel Vanderslice April 18, 1853, John A. Burbank March 25, 1861, Chancey H. Norris March 21, 1866, Thomas Lightfoot April 22, 1869,Charles H. Roberts September 8, 1873, and Mahlon B. Kent February 26, 1875

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 Great Nemaha Agency, 1837-1876, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 307-314 . Copies are available at the National Archives and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (their ).


 * Reports of Inspection of the Field Jurisdictions of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1873-1900Reports 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 Great Nemaha Agency, 1873-1874, are on roll 18 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 ).