Christian History Institute Presents Pastwords #73: Memoir of Catherine Brown a Christian Indian of the Cherokee Nation by Rufus Anderson ©2007

Catharine Brown was born about the year 1800. The place of her nativity was a beautiful plain, covered with tall forest trees, in a part of the country belonging to the Cherokee Indians, which is now called Wills-Valley, and is within the chartered limits of the State of Alabama. It is between the Raccoon and Lookout mountains, twenty-five miles southeast of the Tennessee river. David, the brother of Catharine, says, that the name, by which the place is known among his countrymen, is Tsu-say-ya-sah, or the ruins of a great city. But, if such ruins ever existed, all traces of them have long since disappeared.

The Indian name of Catharine's father, is Yau-nu-gung-yah-ski, which signifies the drowned by a bear. He is, however, known among the whites by the name of John Brown. The Cherokee name of her mother is Tsa-luh. The whites call her Sarah. -- Neither of Catharine's parents understand the English language. . . .

. . . In 1801, a Moravian mission was established at what is now called Springplace, and one or two excellent men have, since that period, resided there. But, their means having been limited, their influence could not be extensive. Very commendable exertions, in support of a school among the Cherokees, were also made, for a few years subsequent to 1803, by the Rev. Gideon Blackburn.

Excepting these efforts, there was, until the year 1816, nothing done for the Cherokees by the Christian church, nothing by the civilized world. . . .

. . . Early in the autumn of 1816, a missionary, sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, made his appearance in a general Council of the Cherokees, and offered to establish schools among them. His offer was favourably received. After consultation, a principal chief came forward, took him by the hand, and said: "You have appeared in our full Council. We have listened to what you have said, and understand it. We are glad to see you. We wish to have the schools established, and hope they will be of great advantage to the nation." This missionary was the Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, who, after commencing and aiding in the formation of the first establishment of the Board among the Cherokees, took up his residence among the Choctaws, was the chief agent in forming the stations of Elliot and Mayhew, and is now the superintendent of the Choctaw mission.

The place selected for the first school, was then called Chickamaugah; but it subsequently received the name of Brainerd, in memory of David Brainerd, that devoted friend and benefactor of the American Indians, who stands pre-eminent among modern missionaries. Early in the following spring, Mr. Moody Hall and Mr. Loring S. Williams, with their wives, arrived as assistant missionaries; and, soon after their arrival, a school was opened, with fair prospects of success.

Information of these proceedings soon spread through the nation. It came to the ears of Catharine, then living at the distance of a hundred miles, and excited in her a desire to attend the school. She besought her parents to send her, and they granted her request. Accordingly, on the 9th of July 1817, when she was about seventeen or eighteen years of age, she became a member of the missionary school at Brainerd.

GOD'S GRACE CUTS ACROSS CULTURAL BARRIERS

. . . Catharine was of the middle stature, erect, of comely features, and blooming complexion.

. . . The mind of Catharine was of a delicate texture, well proportioned, and happily balanced. . .

. . . But, until she came to the age, at which the females of our nation have nearly, or quite, completed their education, she derived no benefit whatever from the perusal of books, and enjoyed very little intercourse with civilized people. Her mind, like the wilderness in which she had her home, was uncultivated. But a small degree of intellectual, and scarcely any moral truth, had enlightened it. Bacon, and Newton, and Locke, and St. Paul, and a multitude of others possessing powerful intellects, who had brought the grandest truths in the natural and moral worlds within the comprehension of infantile genius, had, so far as she was concerned, lived in vain. In short, even at that late period, she had every thing to lear

he lived but six years after her admission to the school at Brainerd. A desire for knowledge evidently brought her there; and that same desire, strengthened and sanctified by grace, attended her through li

. . . Her acquaintance with the geographical features of the earth, must have been exceedingly vague and limited, hardly extending beyond the wilderness, that embosomed heir father's house. After her introduction to the missionaries, that acquaintance was extended to the great natural divisions of the world, its physical aspect, and its civil departments.

Her astronomical views, untutored as she was, may easily be conjectured. But she was instructed to contemplate worlds and suns and systems, in uncounted numbers, wheeling, at the command of their Creator, through immensit

Her apprehensions respecting the human race were so imperfect, that she supposed her own people a distinct order of beings. But soon she learns, that God "hath made of one blood all nations of men.&quo

How exceedingly confined, also, how next to nothing, must have been her knowledge of history. Ages that were past, must have been to her almost as much a blank, as ages that were to come. But soon the Bible, the wisest, most sure, most comprehensive history of man, is placed in her hands; and she has besides, access to a variety of the most useful human compends. Being thus favoured, it may well be presumed, that the more interesting events of antiquity rose, in rapid succession, above her mental horizon.

Such changes as these elevate the mind immeasurably above the standard of the mere child of nature, and, when beheld in any human soul, must be, to a philanthropist, a subject of grateful contemplatio

2. The greatest and infinitely the most important acquisitions of Catharine, however, had respect to moral subjects, -- to God, and a future state, to the character, duty and highest interest of man, and the provisions made for his salvation. On all subjects of this class, her ideas, when she came to Brainerd, were very confused and imperfect; and in regard to some of the most momentous of them, she was in total ignorance. She went there an untutored pagan. Scarcely a ray of moral light had gleamed upon her soul. The visible creation was indeed open and bright before her. But how little of the divine perfections does fallen man discern there, until they are pointed out by the finger of revelatio

Of the moral perfections of God, such as holiness, justice, and goodness, she had no conceptions at all, when she entered the mission school. Her knowledge of God, like that of most of her countrymen, was confined almost to the narrowest possible limits. Galunlahtiahi, or the Great Being above, was thought to possess a material form, and his most prominent attribute to be physical strength. The Indian languages are said to have no word that signifies spirit, nor the pagan Indians any idea of a spiritual substance. The spirituality of Jehovah, his holy character, his love of holiness, his hatred of sin, the strictness of his law, his righteous government over the world, and his illimitable benevolence, were things of which Catharine knew little, or nothin

But soon we find her mind richly furnished with all these views of God. His moral perfections arrest her attention, and she sees, in all their exhibitions, a lovely and attractive glory. What new views of the Eternal must have been, which drew forth such language as this: -- "O, he is good, kind, merciful." "I feel it is good to be afflicted, knowing that the Lord is good, and will always do what is right." "I thank God, I am entirely in his hands." "The Lord's will be done, and not mine." "O happy day, when God himself shall be my joy!" No heathen ever used such language as this. It springs only from the illuminations of Christianity. Of the Lord Jesus Christ she had no knowledge, when introduced to the missionaries; and when told of him, for the first time, she supposed, that what he had done for sinners had no reference to her, or her peopl

But the united testimony of all is, that, after her conversion, the SAVIOUR was her favourite theme of contemplation and discourse. He was her ALPHA and OMEGA, her ALL IN ALL. His person, character, and work, appeared to her amazingly interesting. How often does she express a desire to know him better, to love him more, to be more grateful for what he has done, to do more in return, to be with him, to see him, and to sing his praises. "O," she exclaims, "how delightful is the view of my Saviour." "He is precious to me. I often enjoy his presence. I long to be where I can enjoy him without sin." "He has bought me with his blood, and I wish not to have any will of my own. He is good, and can do nothing wrong.&quo

And what new ______ did she acquire, with regard to the people of God. At first, she thought them unhappy, and was fearful they would render her unhappy. But soon she thinks them the happiest people in the world, and longs for their society more than for that of any others. With them she wishes to live, with them to die, with them to be forever. What amount of earthly good would have induced her to forego their company, for a single year, and cast her lot among the giddy sons and daughters of fashionable pleasur

"I cannot," she remarks, "express how much I love the missionaries with whom I live. I feel not my privileges, until I am away from them, and mingle with worldly people. Then I long to get back, and be with Christians." "I often think of the glorious day, when I shall meet all good missionaries in the kingdom of our Saviour. I shall then be always with those dear friends, who have told me so much about heaven, and taught me to love and serve Christ." "O, happy day, when I shall see all the Christians, who have ever lived." We also perceive a great alteration in her views of herself. She has declared, that when she came to Brainerd, she did not know she was a sinner; and we are informed, that she was vain of her person, vain of her decorations, and satisfied with herself. Yet what self-abasing views had she, ever after her conversion. "I see nothing," she observes, "to trouble me, but my wicked heart. It appears to me, that the more I sin. I seem never to have done any thing good in the sight of God.&quo

. . . Observe, too, what a revolution was effected in her views of this world. And Indian's heaven, even when most distinctly apprehended, has fewer points of attraction, than the earth. Catharine, on coming to Brainerd, evidently regarded it, when she thought of it at all, as a remote, obscure, undefined something, more to be dreaded, than desired. Hence her imagination had contemplated whatever is lovely and attractive, as shining forth only in this world. If she made any comparisons, they only deepened the conviction, that earthly objects were most desirabl

But after her conversion, what a change! Her contemplations are elevated to a superior world of realities. She learns of a higher state of existence, designed for the good of the human race; where the inhabitants are all holy, their employments holy, their joys holy; where the disorders and miseries of earth are not known; where "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain;" and where there is "no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Now, her views of the world are changed. The contrast of earthly with heavenly things, and of the creature with God, hath spoiled the glories of the worl

"How vain," she says, "does this world appear in my eyes. It is nothing but vanity and sin." "Sweet and reviving is the thought, that I am not to continue long in this world, but hope soon to rest in the city of my God." "When I enjoy the presence of my Saviour, I long to be gone." "How happy shall I feel, when I land on the shores of eternal felicity.&quo

To proceed farther in this analysis, is unnecessary. Enough has been said to illustrate the changes, which occurred in her apprehensions on moral subjects. She seems to have possessed much of that kind of understanding, which is denominated, in the word of God, a "spiritual understanding." She appears to have received a spiritual discernment, which enabled her, by the simple reading of the Scriptures, meditation and prayer, to acquire a knowledge of the hidden glories of spiritual things. Hence, the spiritual world, which had been concealed before her conversion, was to her, ever after, a world of beauties, upon which she loved to dwell. . . . With regard to the general character of her religious affections, it may be remarked, that they were uniformly tender, often lively, but never enthusiastic. Dr. Campbell observes, "that she never appeared to receive the Christian system of faith otherwise than on the force of evidence, and that evidence drawn from the Bible. The extravagance of feeling, which is the effect chiefly of animal excitement, she could not comprehend, but felt satisfied with possessing that holiness of heart, which leads to supreme love to God." -- "She was never enthusiastic," says Mrs. Potter, "yet had seasons of exalted joy, when, to use her own language, 'she felt as though she was in heaven, and was disappointed, when her thoughts returned to earth, and she found herself here!' She had, also, seasons of deep sorrow of heart, when she mourned the hidings of her Saviour's countenance, and groaned under the pressure of indwelling sin.&quo

Catharine possessed nothing of that stoical insensibility to pleasure, or pain, for which the Indian character has been considered remarkable. There was never any thing in her deportment like unfeeling hardihood. The very reverse of this was true. She had a heart for friendship, for sympathy, for tender emotion. This is apparent in all her writings and in her whole history; and is amply confirmed by her intimate friend and companion, Mrs. Potter. She remarks, "Catharine possessed a heart, that could feel for another's wo, and rejoice in another's prosperity."

To the Saviour her love was uncommonly strong, and continued so, in every variety of circumstance. Who has not been impressed with this, while reading her journal, her letters, and her recorded sayings, and while contemplating the events of her life? Love to the Saviour, was her ruling principle. She knew his voice. She delighted to sit at his feet. She was overwhelmed with wonder at his condescending goodness. She was enraptured at the thought of beholding his face. Hear her own words. "I will go wherever the Saviour calls me." "How good it is to lie at the feet of Jesus." "O how good is he in permitting me to partake of his grace." "Sweet is the thought of soon beholding the face of the Redeemer."

Here again Dr. Campbell will be quoted. "The Saviour seemed to be continually the anchor of her hope, the source of her constant and greatness happiness, and the object of her most ardent love. With her friends, she was at all times communicative and interesting; but when He became the theme of conversation, the faculties of her soul appeared to receive new vigour, and she became doubly interesting. Every expression shewed, that she was charmed with the goodness of God, in making such provision for fallen, lost man. Although on other subjects she was not generally animated, her whole soul seemed to feel the importance of this, which produced an earnestness of expression and manner, that constrained those around her to feel its importance too.&quo

Hence she felt, and uniformly manifested, a deep interest in the cause of Christ. Especially did she long to have her own people savingly acquainted with the Lord Jesus. For this object chiefly she wished to live. This made her almost unwilling to die. "My heart bleeds for my poor people," was her language; "I am determined to pray for them, while God lends me breath." . . . There is no reason to believe, that any thing in the conduct of Catharine ever approached to what is denominated immoral, And this is very remarkable, considering her early circumstances. Yet, until she came to Brainerd, she was not religious. She did not lead a life of piety. Till then, the only tendency of her mind and heart and conduct, was towards the world. As she neither knew, nor loved "those things which are above," so neither did she seek them. But a change occurred in her objects of pursuit; a revolution took place in the general course and tenor of her life. We find new aims, new plans, new habits of action. "Old things are passed away.&quo

Her habits of devotion might well render her an example of others. Not only did she delight to be present in the public assembly, not only did she love to gather little circles of her Cherokee friends for social prayer, but she was constant and earnest in her more private approaches to her God and Saviou

Mrs. Potter observes; "The Bible, was her constant companion. The law of God was her delight and meditation all the day. And I think I may safely say, that no mourning, or evening passed, during her residence with us, (which was considerably more than a year,) when she did not return to hold communion with her God. At these seasons of devotion, I was not unfrequently permitted to be by her side, and listen to the fervent breathings of her soul. In strains of the deepest humility, she confessed her sins, acknowledged her obligations to her heavenly Father, and with great fervency prayed for complete conformity to the divine will. Her dear people were never forgotten, and her petitions were extended from them to all mankind." . .

Nor was she ever unmindful of the duties she owed her people, and she seems to have closely watched for opportunities to do them good. Indeed, their conversion to God was her favourite object, to which she clung, with unyielding tenacity, through every vicissitude of health and circumstance, down to the hour of her dissolutio

. . . It cannot be forgotten by the reader, how diligently she pursued her studies, both at Brainerd and at Creek-Path, in order that she might be more eminently fitted for usefulness; nor how meekly she bore those acquisitions, which elevated her above every other female of her tribe. "Through faith in the Lord Jesus," says the first spiritual guide she ever had, the Rev. Mr. Kingsbury, "she was enabled to bring forth the fruits of righteousness, has left a bright example of the power of divine grace over one who was born in the darkness of heathenism, and is now rejoicing with her Saviour.&quo

CONCLUSION. Such was Catharine Brown, the converted Cherokee. Such, too, were the changes wrought in her, through the blessing of Almighty God on the labours of Missionaries. They, and only they, as the instruments of divine grace, had the formation of her Christian character; and that character, excellent and lovely as it was, resulted from the nature of their instructions. Her expansion of mind her enlargement of views, her elevated affections, her untiring benevolence, are all to be traced, under God, to her intercourse with them. The glory belongs to God; but the instrumental agency, the effective labour, the subordinate success, were thei

In her history, we see how much can be made of the Indian character. Catharine was an Indian. She might have said, as her brother did to thousands, while passing through these States, "Aboriginal blood flows through my veins," True, it was not unmixed; but the same may be affirmed of many others of her people. Her parentage, her early circumstances and education, with a few unimportant exceptions, were like those of the Cherokees generally. She dwelt in the same wilderness, was conversant with the same society, was actuated by the same fears, and hopes, and expectations, and naturally possessed the same traits of character. Yet what did she become! How agreeable as an associate, how affectionate as a friend, how exemplary as a member of the domestic and social circle and of the Christian church, how blameless and lovely in all the walks of life! Her Christian character was esteemed by all who knew her, while she lived, and will bear the strictest scrutiny, now she is dead. To such an excellence may the Indian character attain; for, to such an excellence did it actually attain in he

And why may it not arrive at the same excellence, in other Indians? Are there no other minds among them as susceptible of discipline and culture? no other spirits, that, in the plastic hands of the Divine Agent, can receive as beautiful a conformation? Are these not dispositions as gentle, hearts as full of feeling, minds as lively and strong? And cannot such minds be so fashioned and adorned, that heavenly grace shall beam as charmingly from them, as it did from hers? . .

Catharine was not the only convert from her people. There have been others, both among the old and the young, in whom similar transformations have been wrought. Her aged and venerable parents, who are much and justly respected by all who know them, are instances. Others still might be named, were it not probable that these pages will fall under their notice. More than fifty Cherokees were added to the church, the first year after the decease of Catharine, the great proportion of whom adorn their profession in a manner resembling what we admire in her. It is hardly possible, indeed, that any of these converts should become so well known to our community, as she was. Circumstances have changed. The novelty of Indian missions is gone. The multiplication of converts diminishes our curiosity respecting individuals. But excellence and worth of character, are none the less real for being unnoticed and unknow

The present is emphatically the time for vigorous Christian effort. Probably it is the only time when great success is possible. Various unpropitious causes press heavily upon the poor Indians; and it is believed, that nothing will save them from extinction, as a people, but the general prevalence of true religion. All things else will be vain without this. The position, that civilization must precede Christianity, is so unsupported by facts, is so opposed to all experience, that one would think it could hardly be advanced by enlightened philosophers, or be received by rational Christians. What is civilization? In Pagan and Mohammedan countries, it is, it ever has been, a state of society, where moral excellence is little known, and domestic and social happiness little enjoyned; where man is a lordly tyrant, and woman is a slave. True civilization is found only in Christian countries; and no where, but as the result of Christianity; of Christianity, too, planted, in the first instance, by missionary enterpri

. . . Let the life of Catharine Brown operate as an appeal to the benevolence of the Christian community. Though dead, she speaks: and oh, let her voice fall with persuasive and irresistible eloquence upon every ea

Shall her people, of whom, by the purifying and ennobling influences of the Gospel, so much can be made, be abandoned to ignorance and wo? Shall beings, who are capable of knowing God, of understanding the grand economy of his grace, of enjoying the imperishable blessings of his salvation, be shut out eternally from such wisdom, and debarred forever from such enjoymen

. . . Say, ye missionaries of the cross, should ye repent of your self-denying toils, if this had proved your only reward? Say, ye churches of the Redeemer, would ye recal her sainted spirit from the skies, if what ye have expended for her nations could be refunded? A thousand worlds would not be worth what you have, through the grace of God, secured to her, as is humbly believed, in the regions of the blessed. And when ye, also, stand on the heights of the Zion above, and behold her ransomed spirit "filled with all the fulness of God," and exulting amid the hosts of heaven, will ye have any regrets for the sacrifices it cost you to send the Gospel to her people? O let sloth be driven away; let the grasp of avarice be loosened; let benevolence assume the dominion; let a spirit of enterprise be kindled; let the messengers of salvation be quickly sent to every tribe that roams the western wilds. Then "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." FINI