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                                                                                                                                      Connessauga  C.N. Jan 234e 1836

Dear Brother Butler

                                         Your dear favour of the 16th not came to hand a few days ago & I embrace the first moments of leisure for answer the inquiries of Mr. Payne. 
    I doubt very much whether a "History of our Cherokee Mission" has ever been published separately, at least I have never seen or heard of such a work. There is an English work extant entitled "Historical Sketches of the Missions of the united Brethren, by Rev John Holmes which however my Library does not contain. Mr. R. can get said work either at Bethlehem P. or of the Pastors of our Churches in Philadelphia & New York, & in said work we may find such notices of our Cherokee Mission as may serve his purpose. The manuscript Journal of the Mission is here, & might ennable any one to compile something of a history but this would require a considerable amount of time & labour as it is written in the German language. The history of the last year of the evidence of our illusion at Spring place is still son fresh in my memory that I can very readily retake such particulars as may interest Mr. Payne, without recurring to the Journals & which I will embody in this Letter as followsl
    In the Spring of 1832 I took charge of the Mission at Spring place, as successor to the Rev. Gottlieb Byham, who had laboured, at two different periods for about 17 years at this place, & who was one of those who in 1801 had aided in the establishment of this first Mission among the Cherokees. During the first & only year of my residence at Spring place a general survey of that part of the Cherokee Nation lying within, the so called limits of Georgia took place preparatory to a Land lottery by which, the vast domain the rightful property of the Red Man, was to be parcelled out in stirke out: half 160 Acre lots, to thousand of "Fortunate drawers" The internal state of the Mission during this year was quite encouraging; we had as many Indian scholars as we could possibly accommodate  & very many applications for admittance to one school we were reluctantly forced to refuse merely for most of room Our church also increased by divers accessions - & every Sabbath brought together a respectable congregation of Cherokees; neither the inclemency of the weather, nor distance were heeded by them for Spring place was to them, a dear of loved spot. Early in the Fall, the survey before mentioned was completed, & one of the