Parker, General Eli Samuel - A mixed blood Seneca, grandson of the celebrated Chief Red jacket, who rose to the rank of brigadier general in the United States Army and later was appointed by President ulysses S. Grant as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.  General Parker had the distinction, as General Grant's secretary, of drawing up articles of General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.

General Parker was born on the Tonawanda Reservation in New York in 1826.  He later became an "eighth chief" of the Seneca Indians.

After his education in the common schools he studied civil engineering and at the start of the Civil War was employed as an engineer on a government project at Galena, Illinois, then the home of General Grant.  He and Grant became fast friends and joined the Union Army together.  Grant made him a member of his staff, after Parker had distinguished himself at Vicksburg.

Following the war Parker was appointed Commissioner of indian Affairs, a position he held for three years.  He practiced his profession at Fairfield, Connecticut, until his death on August 21, 1895.  With his friend, Lewis H. Morgan, he wrote The league of the Iroquois, a work of value, as Parker, a sachem of his tribe, had full knowledge of the institutions of his people.
 

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