Letter from Sanders Meredith Ingram of Wake Forest Institute to Chairman of Indian Affairs, 1838 July 18
1838 letter from Wake Forest College student Samuel Meredith Ingram (1809-1905) condemning United States policy toward Native Americans.
Biographical and Historical Note
Samuel Meredith Ingram (1819-1905) was a member of the inaugural class at Wake Forest College, 1834-1835, and then returned to the college in 1838-1840. He served in the Mexican War as a volunteer from Tennessee, and briefly as a Confederate States Army lieutenant in the 38th Regt. North Carolina Infantry during the Civil War. He was a planter in Richmond County, North Carolina, and served in the North Carolina General Assembly.
Collection Overview
Letter from Sanders Meredith Ingram of Wake Forest Institute to Chairman of Indian Affairs lamenting the unjust treatment of Native Americans in the Southeast. Written in July 1838 during Meredith's second period at Wake Forest College, this letter appears to be a protest against the forced removal of Native Americans from the Southeast to west of the Mississippi River pursuant to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. He describes United States policy toward the Native Americans as "deeply disgracing to our nation [sic] character."
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by Robert Blythe, 2026 April 2
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- Letter from Sanders Meredith Ingram of Wake Forest Institute to Chairman of Indian Affairs (MS 1018), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.