Journal: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Volume: DBSJ 30:1 (NA 2025)
Article: The Stockbridge Indian Mission: A Historical Reappraisal
Author: Brandon James Crawford

DBSJ 30 (2025) p. 41

The Stockbridge Indian Mission: A Historical Reappraisal

Brandon James Crawford1

From 1751–1758, Jonathan Edwards was a missionary to the Native American community in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a “praying town” along the Housatonic River at the frontier’s edge. These years have not received the same kind attention the rest of Edwards’s life has received,2 and when they are discussed, these years are often depicted as a “quiet retreat” for Edwards3 or even a seven-year holiday spent in “retirement and leisure.”4 Stockbridge was a “dot in the wilderness,”5 it is alleged, where Edwards “could preach old sermons to a handful of Indians and a smaller handful of whites, close the door on his four-by-eight-foot study, and make up his mind about the freedom of the will.”6

Behind each of these statements lies the perception that Stockbridge was a place of no great importance—just a backwater mission requiring a part-time attendant. The assumption immediately encounters a logical difficulty, of course, for to accept this notion we must believe that the man who occupied one of New England’s most prestigious pulpits before moving to Stockbridge, and who became president of one of its leading educational institutions afterwards, was somehow relegated to obscurity during the interregnum.

But an even greater challenge to this view is the historical record itself. As this essay will show, the extant primary documents reveal

DBSJ 30 (2025) p. 42

Stockbridge to be a town of real historical importance, abiding at the nexus of colonial politics, military strategy, and missionary concern. Moreover, the men who founded Stockbridge were among the era’s leading lights, including governors, military leaders, and prominent clergymen. On the Indians’ side, the town’s promoters even included a chief sachem. No, Stockbridge was not just a “dot in the wilderness.” It was a frontier embassy.7

Early English Contact And Evangelization Efforts

The story begins with the Mohican Indians’ first contact with European settlers. While some variation exists between the various accounts, the basic details agree: The Indians noticed an object approaching on the water. At first it looked like a great fish or a large canoe. As it approached, the Indians observed men on board. As the ship made landfa...