William Frederick Milton Arny by the Mathew Brady Studio

William Frederick Milton Arny (May 9, 1813 – September 18, 1881) was an Indian agent for the United States, who served as Secretary of

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...

in 1862–1867.

Biography

Arny was born on May 9, 1813, in

Georgetown, Maryland Georgetown is an unincorporated community in northeastern Kent County, Maryland, United States. The community was laid out in 1736. Georgetown was named for Prince George who later became King of the United Kingdom. Georgetown is located on the ...

, the son of Joseph Arny from Krummenau, St. Gallen, Switzerland, a confectioner, and his first wife, Elizabeth Hyde, who was from England.William F. M. Arny. An Address on Church Organization and Discipline Delivered at Lexington, Missouri, March 13, 1848. St. Louis: S. B. Aden, 1848
''Introduction and Commentary''
by Christopher R. Hutson, 2015 He was educated in the public schools and gained employment at the Bethany College, at Bethany, Virginia. He was for several years secretary of Bethany College, when the celebrated preacher, Alexander Campbell was its president.Thrapp, Dan L
''Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography,''
Vol: A-O. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991, pp. 35-36 In 1850 Arny removed to McLean County, Illinois after a rift developed between Campbell and him. He became involved with the anti-slavery movement and later on with the fledgling Illinois Republican Party. He befriended Abraham Lincoln, though Lincoln declined in 1856 his offer to join the anti-slavery

National Kansas Committee National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, where Arny was active. Arny delivered aid to Kansas during the Bleeding Kansas crisis. He also helped to establish a town of Hyatt in Kansas, now Garnett. He decided to move from Illinois to Kansas in 1857 and settled at Hyatt where he was elected both a mayor and county judge. He worked as the general agent for the National Kansas Committee and was in charge of distributing aid collected in the East to Free Staters in the southern Kansas. Together with

Samuel C. Pomeroy Samuel Clarke Pomeroy (January 3, 1816 – August 27, 1891) was a United States senator from Kansas in the mid-19th century. He served in the United States Senate during the American Civil War. Pomeroy also served in the Massachusetts House of ...

, who was responsible for the northern Kansas, they distributed over 8 million pounds of provision and $85,000 in cash. Arny also served as a delegate to the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention and was a member of the 1858 Kansas Territorial legislature, as well as the Topeka legislature He moved to New Mexico after he was appointed United States Indian agent for the Utes and Jicarilla, Native-American tribes in northern New Mexico, replacing Kit Carson. His appointment was confirmed by the Senate on July 16, 1861. In December 1861, Arny made a trip to Washington, D.C. to voice his plans and ideas to the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

. He visited reception at White House wearing a frontier-type dress and carrying a bow and arrows. He presented Lincoln with a Native American blanket made by a

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

woman. In July 1862, President Lincoln made him Secretary of the

, and he settled at Santa Fe and served in this capacity for the next five years. After Governor Henry Connelly died in July 1866, he served as acting governor for around six months until

Robert B. Mitchell Robert Byington Mitchell (April 4, 1823January 26, 1882) was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and the Governor of the New Mexico Territory from 1866 to 1869. Early life and career Mitchell was born on April 4, ...

arrived. Upon the expiration of his service in 1867, he was again appointed as an Indian agent of the Utes and Jicarilla in the

. In 1873, Arny became an Indian agent for the

s serving for several years in this capacity. He quarreled with traders selling at the Navajo reservations being described by his enemies as "the worst agent the Navajos ever had to deal with." In July 1875 he chose to resign. He represented New Mexico at the Centennial Exposition in 1876 at Philadelphia. W. F. M. Arny died September 18, 1881, in Topeka, Kansas where he lived for the last five years of his life on a tight budget. A collection was arranged to transport his body to Santa Fe where a funeral service was held.''A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans''
written & compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1918

References

External links

*
William Frederick Milton Arny Letter, Fray Anglico Chavez History Library, Santa Fe, New Mexico
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arny, William Frederick Milton 1813 births 1881 deaths People from Garnett, Kansas Bleeding Kansas New Mexico Territory officials Illinois Republicans

Biography

References

Further reading

External links