Adam London HSTY 7390 May 14, 2012 Sheldon Jackson and the Comity Plan In his book,

Alaskan Apostle, author Arthur Lazell chronicles the life of Sheldon Jackson, the most famous Alaska missionary of all time. Lazell writes about how Jackson was unyielding in the effort of the Church to keep pace with the developing nation. As Jackson strove to advance the church in Alaska, he became most well-known for his efforts in education, the reindeer project, and advancing medical care for the Eskimo people. Lazell claims early on of Jackson: He was responsible for saving the Alaskan Eskimos from extinction and for the founding of Alaskas school system. He did more than any other person in the nineteenth century to inform the American nation about Alaskas needs and people. i Certainly one of the main reasons why Jackson was able to do so much good for the Eskimo people was that he was both a missionary and a statesman. He maintained both an active ministry life and was a government official (General Agent of Education) and lobbyist. For the most part, the way that Jackson partnered his time allowed for incredible advances in the Alaska church. However, there were many who were not friends of the church that felt Jackson was robbing the government and giving to the church what it did not deserve. Those who loved Jackson defended him vigorously and those who hated him did everything in their power to plot the demise of his government career. The opposition of Jackson came to a head when he was arrested on the trumped-up charge that he had built a school in Sitka on property which he had no rights. The charge basically was he had built a sidewalk for his church industrial school on government property. The only reason such a seemingly trivial offense was cause for arrest was that four of the top government officers, including one Mr. Haskett,ii in Alaska had conspired against Jackson. iii The case was thrown out of the court and those that conspired against him were eventually forced out of their jobs. Jackson, like most early Alaska church missionaries realized that the effects of Western culture were often detrimental to the Native people. Jackson was reportedly, Deeply disturbed by the low moral status of the Indians, for which he felt the white man was largely responsible In correspondence with his friend John Brady on the subject, Brady wrote to Jackson stating In fact, we are more truly heathen than the natives.iv As a result, Jackson began searching for help within his own Presbyterian denomination as well as other denominations that would be willing to reach out to the Natives. Jackson wrote a book about Alaska in 1880 and began to write letters to anyone who would listen. Also, Duringseven years he made about nine hundred speeches before church groups and secular organization, enlisted the interest of the National Education Association in developing a public school system in Alaska, and wrote a book about the territory.vAccording to Lazell, The Eskimoswe estimated by an 1880-82 census to number 17,617.vi

Jackson always was a man with a faith, sometimes a little impractical, quite often stubborn, always convinced that one cannot make compromises between the right and the wrong.vii Jackson, born May 18, 1847 in Minaville, New York heard the call to become a missionary early in his life. After he graduated from Undergraduate school and Seminary, Jackson sought to enter the foreign mission field. However, he was rejected for foreign missionary workon the ground that he was not strong enough physicallyviii Instead of sending Jackson abroad, the board decided to send him to do ministry at the Choctaw Indian mission school at Spencer, Oklahoma. Jackson was a man on the move, and always wanted to make ministries bigger and better. While in his early ministry, in May 1858, Jackson married Mary Voorhees who would become his most stalwart supporter. Shortly afterwards Jackson began to oversee several ministries in the La Crescent field in addition to the Choctaw school. In order to supplement the churchs funding for the field, Jackson began contacting individuals and churches asking for funds. However, the Presbyterian board was not particularly thrilled with his approach. In spite of the fact that the board tried to discourage him from raising funds from private sources, Jackson believed that he was justified in asking friends and church congregations he knew to contribute to the support of needy missionaries and churches in the La Crescent field.ix Even as Jackson was tending to multiple churches in the field, he also found time to become the full-time Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Rochester, Minnesota. However, Jackson could not be contained long as it was Jacksons inclination to open new fields and then discover means of maintaining them.x Additionally, Jackson had a gift for finding the right men to do the work that had to be done. Furthermore, the men who worked with Jackson felt great loyalty toward him.xi As part of Jacksons pioneer missionary spirit, he rarely stayed long when a church was established. He was always on the lookout for the next place that God would call him to bring the Gospel to those who needed to hear it. Lazell comments that Jackson took the Church to people who wanted it when they needed it.xii Because Jackson was on the go so much and always searching for ministry opportunities, he often would over-extend himself. However, as Lazell points out, Jackson, in a sense, was responsible for his own predicament, for he found it impossible to say No.xiii Additionally, Jackson caused himself grief when his superiors were unhappy with him. There were, of course, some lessons that Jackson never learned. Among them was the necessity for keeping his superiors fully informed about what he was doing and where he was working.xiv Jackson first heard about the need in Alaska through a letter that was written in 1877. The Army had been stationed in Alaska since the United States purchased the territory. Interestingly, it was the Army that was the loudest voice calling to the Lower 48 for missionaries. Major General O. O. Howard had reported the need for missionaries in Alaska

as early as 1871.xv Years later an army private J. S. Brown, stationed at Wrangell wrote a letter to General Howard in the spring of 1877: I write you hoping that you may be able and willing to assist these poor creatures in their endeavors to learn more of the good Saviour of whom they have learned but recently. Since the advent of the traders and miners among them, lewdness and debauchery have held high carnival, and the decimation of their numbers is the result. If a school and mission were established at Wrangell there would, no doubt be an Indian population of over 1,000 souls located within reach of its benefitsCan you not, will you not, make it your business to build up and foster this mission to Alaska? Send out a shepherd who may reclaim a mighty flock from the error of their ways, and gather them into the true fold.xvi Lazell then reports the events leading up to Jackson receiving the letter: Howard gave the Brown letter to Lindsley, who in turn gave it to a minister about to leave for a meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Chicago. The clergyman met Jackson at the meeting and gave him Browns letter. Jackson had it published in the Chicago Tribune and a number of church publicationsxvii After redistributing Browns letter, Jackson was determined to go to Alaska to set up a mission. Unfortunately, the Presbyterian board was very firm that under no circumstances was Jackson to leave his post, for he had more than enough work in his field (which had been moved to supervising the churches in the Rocky Mountains). Jackson was not deterred in his efforts to reach Alaska. Instead of going himself, Jackson recruited Amanda McFarland to go (though interestingly Lazell never used her first name). Lazell reports that Mrs. McFarland agreed to start a mission school while [Jackson] promised to raise the necessary funds and so the Presbyterians were launched in Alaska. Alas, Jackson once again forgot to seek permission from the board to send McFarland. When Jackson returned to New York, he discovered that the mission board was not pleased with what he had done.xviii Sometimes Jackson may have thought that it is better to ask forgiveness than permission, because the board figured what was done was done and they were forever drawn into the Alaska field. During McFarlands time, she wrote letters regularly to Jackson to update him on the progress of the mission. In one letter she repeated the desperate request of an Indian chief, who was upset because his tribe was not being taught about Jesus, whereas several other tribes in the Wrangell area had received Christian instruction.xix McFarland noticed a phenomena that many early Alaska missionaries also noted; that the Native people were Spiritually hungry and were actively seeking someone to teach them about Jesus. No doubt the reported Spiritual hunger was a driving factor for an unique earlier Christian group coming to Alaska. Lazell reports that in 1876 a group of Christian Indians from Metlakahtla in British Columbia came to Wrangellthese Christian Indians also carried on

evangelization among the Indians living in and around the settlementone of their number remained in Wrangell to work as a lay preacher.xx Shortly after McFarland arrived in Alaska, she was joined by Reverend John Brady and Reverend S. Hall Young in 1878. Brady quickly went to work in creating a school which was up and running by the spring of that same year. Lazell reports that This school became known as the Sheldon Jackson Institute, not being officially named the Sitka Industrial Training School until 1884.xxi Seeing that Jackson would not let go of Alaska, the Presbyterian board soon allowed Jackson to get his hands dirty in Alaska. Jackson quickly set sail for Wrangell where he organized the first official Presbyterian church in Alaska with eighteen Indians and five whites.xxii While in Alaska he recorded the words of an Alaskan Indian chief that echoed McFarlands earlier letter: We ask of our father in Washington that we be recognized as a peoplethat we be civilized, Christianized, educated. Give us a chance and we will show to the world that we can become peaceable citizens and good Christians.xxiii Shortly after his trip to Alaska, Jackson published a book about the territory of Alaska and its great need for missionaries. Jackson also at some point shortly thereafter became the General Agent of Education for Alaska (though Lazell never mentions how or when). With the church in one hand and the government in the other, Jackson went to work beating the Alaska drum for any Christian, no matter their denomination, who would listen. As Jackson met with leaders from many different denominations, a plan was beginning to be hatched which would affect the future of the Alaska church forever. That plan would become known as The Comity Plan. Lazell writes about The Comity Plan: In 1880, in a fine example of interchurch co-operation, Jackson met with representatives of other denominations to work out a division of mission fields in Alaska. The Baptists undertook the development of Kodiak Island and the Cook Inlet region. The Episcopal Church was already at work in the Yukon and retained that region as its responsibility. The Methodists accepted the Aleutian and Shumagin Islands. The Moravians concentrated on the valleys of the Kuskokwim and Nushagak Rivers. The Congregationalists accepted the Cape Prince of Wales area. The Presbyterians kept the southeast as their major bailiwick while agreeing to start work at Point Barrow, which became the northernmost mission station in the world.xxiv Despite Lazells matter-of-fact reporting, the history books offer conflicting reports regarding The Comity Plan. Many are not sure that a physical meeting ever took place. Many also argue about the date, and many also argue about which denominations were actually represented in the agreement. One glaring reason why records may be spotty is because Jackson went about this Comity Plan without any official charge to do so by either the church or the state. Regardless of the details, one thing is certain. By 1900, there were over 10 denominations that

had their very own region of Alaska in which to do their mission work and the churches very rarely (with the possible exception of the Russian Orthodoxxxv) had any conflicts with one another. At first, Lazell reports that Jacksons authority as a government official was limited in scope and constantly subject to criticism.xxvi In the early years he was much more interested in starting schools in undisputed villages which most white men cared nothing for. Jackson always chose missionaries to staff these village schools. These schools were a blend of government and church financial support. According to Lazell, American denominations spent about eighty thousand dollars a year [as of 1893] on teachers salaries and improvements to school properties at their missions. This was above the annual federal appropriation of fifty thousand dollars.xxvii One such missionary was William Duncan, a Protestant Episcopal, who began to work with Jackson at the industrial school at Sitka in 1888. In this way, Jacksons authority began to grow rapidly as he brought education to the deepest parts of Alaska. As Jackson travelled Alaska, visiting the missionary schools, he was met constantly with the decimation of the Native population by the white man. From the overhunting for sport of the whale, walrus, and caribou to the evils of whiskey, prostitution, and illnesses to which the natives had no resistance and little defense, Jackson feared that the Eskimos were on the brink of extinction. To make matters worse, few white people considered the Eskimos worth the effort it would take to help them.xxviii Lazell recounted several stories of the decimation mention above, but few as gripping as the story of St. Lawrence Island: St. Lawrence Islandthe summer of 1888everyone in the village was deadThe same scene was repeated at the next two villages visited by the revenue menThe natives in the three upper settlements had then gone on a drinking spree which lasted through the weeks when they should have been hunting and fishing. The few who made an effort to get food were in such poor physical condition from the effects of the whiskey that they brought back only enough for day-to-day needs and nothing to stockpile against the coming winter. Lazell, p. 85 Jackson began to fight for the survival of the Eskimos on two fronts (beside education, which was already advancing steadily); spiritual and physical. Spiritually, Jackson continued to recruit more missionaries would be willing to give the natives evidence of what Christianity means in practice. Jackson published a series of newspaper articles on living conditions in the Arctic[and] advertised in the religious press for Christian teachers for mission schoolsTwenty-four men and women applied for the positions.xxix On the physical front, Jackson got his inspiration from his opportunity to witness the Siberian Eskimos on the Russian side of the Bering Strait. The Siberians had an age old way solution to solving hunger: reindeer herding. In times of famine, the Eskimos in Siberia relied

upon the great supplies of reindeer that were herded by the people. Jackson made the logical step thinking that introduction of reindeer wouldpreserve the self-respect of the peoplexxx Thus began the Reindeer Project, which would be harshly criticized as a waste of time and money by his opponents. However, as Lazell points out: In general, those who objected labeled the proposal as another of Jacksons schemes to make something out of heathens who could not be changed.xxxi Jackson first imported reindeer from Siberia as well as herders out of privately donated funds (from Christian individuals). Later, the government saw the potential for the reindeer not to help the Natives, but to help starving gold prospectors on the Yukon river. Lazell reports: The Secretary had decided that the only way to get relief to the Yukon area was to organize a reindeer expedition. Since there were not enough animals in Alaska broken to harness for an expedition of the size required, Jackson was instructed to go to Lapland and buy five hundred trained reindeer, sleds, and other necessary equipment, hire the services of fifty drivers, and arrange for the transportation of the animals, sleds, and men to the United States.xxxii While in Lapland (Norway), Jackson recruited several reindeer herder families, as well as the Norwegian Lutheran Pastor, Tollef Brevig. The most famous man to work at original the Teller reindeer station where the Lapps settled was William Kjelmann.xxxiii One of the reasons the Reindeer Project was so hotly criticized was the ownership of the reindeer. Jackson wanted Natives and mission stations to own as many as possible for their benefit, so he created rules which allowed them to gain ownership of a certain number per year if they would care for the herds. By 1905 the federal government owned 30% of the reindeer, the mission stations held 21%, and the Lapps held 11%. The reindeer in the mission stations were often mostly owned by the Natives. By 1906 Natives owned around seven thousand animals or 50%. According to Lazell, by 1912 [the reindeer] were centered around twenty-eight stations, eighteen of them government owned and the remaining ten related to mission stations.xxxiv Mission stations included Kivalina, Kotzebue, Shishmaref, Wales, Teller, Golovin, Unalakleet, and Bethel. As a Covenant minister, I took special interest to the latter 3 reindeer stations. However, Lazell never once mentioned the Covenant church by name, as he appeared to confuse the Covenant with the Swedish Lutheran church. In one account Lazell says, the vessel reached the Swedish Lutheran mission at Yakutat to go ashore and visit the spot.xxxv However, further research showed that there was only a single Swedish Lutheran church operated at Sitka from 1842 to 1867.xxxvi Later Lazell calls the same mission the Swedish Evangelical Mission at Yakutatxxxvii Lazell also reports that Jackson stopped at the Swedish Evangelical and Moravian mission stations to check the condition of their buildings so that repair work could be

planned for 1900He also made arrangements with the Swedish mission at Golovin Bay for establishing a herd there the following year.xxxviii In Lazells defense, Jackson himself showed occasional confusion about the Covenant church in some of his reports. In an early 1900 report, Jackson mislabeled the Covenant church stating that, The Swedish Lutheran Church has three missions at Yakutat, Golofnin, and Unalaklik while the Norwegian Lutherans took station at Teller. The last three missions have become especially important from their association with reindeer workxxxix In that same report, Jackson also later calls them the Swedish Evangelical Union missions at Golofnin and Unalaklik.xl Getting back to the story at hand, Jackson was known to be He was the right man in the right place at the right time.xli Despite the fact that He is a born politician and has made more enemies than any other man, missionary or otherwise, who has ever visited Alaska or any other territory.xlii Even though Jackson sometimes got on the wrong side of the Presbyterian board, they ultimately loved him and greatly supported his ministry. In fact, in 1897, Jackson was elected the moderator of the General Assembly, the highest office in the Presbyterian church. During the addresses prior to the election, Jackson was proclaimed by others to be the greatest missionary the world [has] ever seen since the Apostle Paul went far hence unto the Gentiles and died upon the scaffoldxliii With his health beginning to fail, Jackson made his final trip to Alaska in 1902, but continued to fight for Alaska from the Lower 48 until his death May 2, 1909. In Jacksons absence, the government sent an official, Frank C. Churchill to provide a report of the state of Alaska. His report was slanderous Jackson, who was unable to defend himself. Churchill was particularly disturbed about the placement of herds at mission stations, implying that Jackson did this to enable to missions to develop at government expenseAs for the missionaries, he felt that they were not equipped to cover all the needs of the Eskimos.xliv Churchill exemplified Jackson observation that Most signs point to the fact that the white Alaskans were interested in preferred, rather than relatively equal treatment.xlv Unfortunately this paper has grown too long to mention much of Jacksons work in the medical field, however medical historian Robert Fortuine chronicles a great deal of the work of the medical missionaries in his book, Chills and Fever. Jackson was the driving force for both the early Presbyterian and the larger church in Alaska. Without him, countless souls would never have come to faith, and countless lives would have been lost to starvation and disease. The church of today has a lot of work to do to match the faithfulness of Jackson in serving Christ with all that we have.

Resources Fortuine, Robert. Chills and Fever: Health and Disease in the Early History of Alaska. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press, 1992: 179-196. Greely, Adolphus Washington. Handbook of Alaska: its resources products and attractions. New York: Charles Scribners Sons. 1919. Also available at: http://www.stateofalaskaguide.com/xxi-education-and-missions.htm. Last accessed May 7, 2012.) Lazell, J. Arthur. Alaskan Apostle. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1960. Unknown Author. Russian, Indian Beliefs Blend in Alaska Life. The Milwaukee Journal, Monday, August 6, 1962. Page 6. Williams, Maria Shaa Tlaa, ed. The Alaska Native Reader. London: Duke University Press, 2009: 151-162.

Endnotes
i

xxiv xxv

P. 9 P. 16 iii P. 13 iv P. 201 v P. 14 vi P. 23 vii P. 24 viii P. 25 ix P. 28 x P. 33 xi P. 38 xii P. 44 xiii P. 49 xiv P. 50 xv P. 52 xvi P. 53-54 xvii P. 54 xviii P. 56 xix P. 56 xx P. 53 xxi P. 67 xxii P. 63 xxiii P. 64
ii

P. 65 P. 118 xxvi P. 69 xxvii P. 114 xxviii P. 82 xxix P. 84-86 xxx P. 88 xxxi P. 90 xxxii P. 139 xxxiii P. 111 xxxiv P. 195 xxxv P. 91 xxxvi Russian, Indian Beliefs Blend in Alaska Life. The Milwaukee Journal, Monday, August 6, 1962. Page 6. xxxvii P. 114 xxxviii P. 184 xxxix Greely, p. 195 xl Ibid, p. 201 xli P. 132 xlii P. 110 xliii P. 157 xliv P. 192 xlv P. 198