Mekinges Elizabeth Conner (1785 – ca. 1861) was a
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
woman.
Little is known about Mekinges Conner considering her role in the history of
Hamilton County, Indiana
Hamilton County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. The 2020 United States Census recorded a population of 347,467. The county seat is Noblesville.
Hamilton County is part of the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
. Many articles have been written about her husband William Conner, a pioneer in the banks of the White River who worked side by side with the Lenape, establishing a trading post and fur trade. None of his prosperous business would have been possible without the help of Mekinges and her high status among the Lenape. As she was the daughter of an important Indian Chief, she had the influence to favor her white husband's business affairs.
Early life
Mekinges Elizabeth Conner was born in what is now the city of
Anderson
Anderson or Andersson may refer to:
Companies
* Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910
* Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car
* Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer
* Anderson ...
in
Madison County, Indiana
Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. The 2020 census states the population is standing at 130,129. The county seat since 1836 has been Anderson,Harden (1874), p. 23 one of three incorporated cities within the county.
Madiso ...
, in 1785. Her Indian name was "Ma cun chis" (me king ees), meaning "last born". Her name was also spelled Mckinges; there is a street in
Carmel, Indiana
Carmel is a suburban city in Indiana immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 100,777, the city spans across Clay Township in Hamilton County, Indiana, and is bordered by the White River to the east; the Hamilton-Boone county ...
that bears her name: Mckinges Circle. Conner was the daughter of the Lenape chief William "Kik tha we nund", also known as
Chief William Anderson
Kikthawenund (1757–1831), also known as William Anderson, was a leader of the Unalatchgo Lenape people. The city of Anderson in Indiana is named after him.
Early life
Anderson was born along the banks of the Susquehanna River in or about wh ...
(1740–1831), Head of the Turkey Clan of the Unami Delaware Indians. The town of Anderson was named after him. Her Mother was Mary "Ah Ke Ch Lung Un A Qua" from the Delaware Indians Turtle Clan. Her English name was Mary Anderson (1760–1825). Mrs. Conner lived with her parents until 1812 when she moved with her husband of 10 years four miles south of the town of
Noblesville, Indiana
Noblesville is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Indiana, Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, a part of the north Indianapolis suburbs along the White River (Indiana), White River. The population was 51,969 at the 2010 Unite ...
, and east of the White River. The Delaware Indians, also known as
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
, had a
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
line (the children belonged to the mother's clan) and it was common that married children lived in the same household as the mother.
Marriage
In 1802 she married a white man named
William Conner
William Conner (December 10, 1777 – August 28, 1855) was an American trader, interpreter, military scout, community leader, entrepreneur, and politician. Although Conner initially established himself as a fur trader on the Michigan and In ...
(1777–1855) who was a fur trader in central Indiana. William Conner was also an interpreter at the
Treaty of St. Mary's
The Treaty of St. Mary's may refer to one of six treaties concluded in fall of 1818 between the United States and Natives of central Indiana regarding purchase of Native land. The treaties were
*Treaty with the Wyandot, etc.
*Treaty with the Wy ...
, Ohio in 1818.
On the day of the treaty Chief William Anderson, Mekinges Conner and her husband were present. The old chief put his trust in his son-in-law expecting the negotiations to favor the Delaware Indians. What happened was exactly the opposite. William Conner was the interpreter for Chief Anderson, but also persuaded and was an active participant for a profit. He was paid very well by the US Government with land and money. His explanation was that the removal of the Indians from Indiana was going to happen any way, so why not make money in the process.
The treaty of St. Mary's assured the
Indian removals in Indiana
Indian removals in Indiana followed a series of the land cession treaties made between 1795 and 1846 that led to the removal of most of the native tribes from Indiana. Some of the removals occurred prior to 1830, but most took place between 1830 ...
, including Mekinges Conner and her six children. No one knows whether this was intentional on his part or if Mekinges wanted to leave Indiana. It is not clear if William Conner himself traveled with his Indian family turning back to Indiana half way to Missouri, or they traveled with his partner William Marshal and wife. Eight months after William Conner Indian family parted he married Elizabeth Chapman the 30 of November 1820, an 18-year-old white woman from Noblesville. She was the step-daughter of John Finch, daughter of his third wife Mehitable Brown Chapman. Judge John Finch also built the first mill and started the first blacksmith shop in Hamilton County, Indiana.
Family
Mekinges and William Conner had six children: John Conner (1802–1872), James Conner (1817-1872), Hamilton "Harry" Conner (1809-1887), Elizabeth Conner-Bullett (1818-1876), William Conner Jr.(1811-1887), and Nancy Conner (1815-1834) as testified under oath by George F. Conner at the Court of Hamilton County, State of Indiana. Data obtained from the "Abstract of Title" of a property built on land belonging to William Conner, currently located on Conner St., Noblesville, Indiana.
Mekinges's children remained with her and the Delaware Indians after she left Indiana. John and James became prominent Delaware chiefs.
Later life
When Mekinges left Indiana in September 1821, she supposedly carried her share of the business, and a promise from her husband Mr. Conner that if he received government land he would share it with his Indian children. William Conner and Mekinges had petitioned together for government land as a payment for his services to the United States Government during the
Treaty of St. Mary's
The Treaty of St. Mary's may refer to one of six treaties concluded in fall of 1818 between the United States and Natives of central Indiana regarding purchase of Native land. The treaties were
*Treaty with the Wyandot, etc.
*Treaty with the Wy ...
of 1818. He received the deed for the land in 1830. Upon his death in 1855 he left his entire estate of 6,000 acres to his second wife Elizabeth Chapman and their white children, excluding his Indian children and the promise he made to Mekinges nine years earlier. A suit was brought against the estate of William Conner and his white heirs by his Indian children at the Court of Hamilton County, State of Indiana, on 5 November 1855. The claim was "quieted" against the plaintiffs by Judge Laceb B. Smith at the Circuit Court of the US for the District of Indiana on 6 January 1863, leaving Mekinges's children with no part of William Conner's estate.
There is little information about Mekinges' life after she left Indiana with her people, the
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
of the Delaware Nation. First she went to southern Missouri along the West fork of the White River until reaching the Wabash River. She crossed southern Illinois and camped at Fort Kaskaskias. Because of bad weather conditions Mekinges and her family had to remain at the fort until the spring. It is assumed that for the next two years Mrs. Conner and her children went to southern Arkansas, but when the tribe arrived in Kansas at the Delaware Reservation Mekinges and her younger children were with them, they remained there until 1930. She appears on the 1842 census of the Delaware Indians (No. 151) as "Muck-cun-chase". It is believed she died the 3 of July 1861, however there is some evidence she might have lived many years after 1861. There is a "Mu-cun-chus" in the census of 1862 (No. 473) age 73 born about 1779. Her Indian name was written in so many ways that is almost impossible to be certain she is the one on record. It is believed she was part of the Delaware Indians who moved from their Kansas home into Indian territory because her name "Macumchis" appears as a land owner who died in the Cherokee Nation.
Mekinges Conner was not only the daughter of an Indian chief but also the mother of two Indian chiefs.
Historical site
The cabin William Conner built for his first wife Mekinges and the Federal-style home he built for his second wife Elizabeth Chapman are located in the original site at the
Conner Prairie Interactive History Park. The Federal-style house was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1980.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, Mekinges
1785 births
Native American people from Indiana
People from Anderson, Indiana
Lenape people
People from Hamilton County, Indiana
1860s deaths
19th-century Native Americans