Amelia Stone Quinton
Biography and Correspondence
Amelia Stone Quinton (July 31, 1833-June 23, 1926) grew up in a Baptist family in New York State. She was deeply religious and was often involved in charitable work with the poor and prisoners. She also taught for a year in a Georgia seminary. In 1874 she joined the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and was the state organizer until 1877. After a brief visit to Britain, she married Rev. Richard L. Quinton of London and settled down in Philadelphia. In 1879 she visited a friend of hers, Mary Lucinda Bonney, who she knew from her time as a teacher. From Bonney she learned that there were political moves to open Indian Territory for white settlement, in violation of earlier treaties.
Quinton and Bonney became active in raising awareness of this move to violate the treaties with Native Americans. They collected thousands of signatures and Quinton called on Congress to develop a new federal Indian policy that would provide free education, grant Native Americans citizenship, help make Native Americans equal before the law, and provide land to Native Americans. By 1883 Quinton and Bonney formed the Women’s National Indian Association. Through working with other Indian rights associations, Quinton was instrumental in the passing of the Dawes General Allotment Act.
Sadly, the Dawes General Allotment Act, established with the best of intentions, did much to negatively affect Native Americans. It provided for Native Americans to become citizens and get allotments of land for farming, but in order to pass Congress, a compromise also allowed whites a chance to purchase Native American land as well. Quinton and others of her day, saw the best hope of Native Americans was to become like white society, and so this move meant to protect Native American land and give them citizenship, also resulted in a loss of land and an increasing loss of community and culture. Mission schools also played a negative role in this process until changes in federal Indian policy in the 1930’s. While recognizing these negative results, it is also important to remember that without Quinton and Bonney, it is very likely that much more Native American territory would have been taken by laws Congress was considering, and neither citizenship, equality before the law, or funds for education were considered for compensation.
In 1901, the Women’s National Indian Association allowed men to join and became the National Indian Association, working for Native American rights. Amelia Quinton went on to found some fifty missions among Native Americans providing resources to build homes, provide teachers, and establish libraries on reservations. In a time when most white Christians had little concern for Native American issues, Amelia Stone Quinton stands as a shining example of a Christian concerns for diversity and equal rights for Native Americans.
Newark, NY
Thurs. Oct. 26, 1887
Bless you darling,
For all your lovely letters and work and for all your goodness to me. You have blessed me and cheered me fainting many a time but never so much as now in this emergency. Heart failing with domestic griefs and this new place of care and now you stand by me solidly and I do bless you for it. It helps us you can’t realize unless you had been in my place. Your spoken trust, confidence, kindness pull me up out of the depths and make me feel I can go on. Dear saint Miriam! She is an angel. God bless her. He will! He does!
I hope to see you next week. Just off for Morristown meeting. Am guest of the ex Gov. Randolph there. God does uphold.
All love ever to thee my own precious beloved sister from,
Thy Amy
(Amelia Stone Quinton)
