Emma Jane Camp Mead (1866 – December 4, 1934) was a hotelkeeper and herbalist in the Adirondacks; she was a member of the Oneida people, like her mother; her father's family was Abenaki.

Emma Camp Mead
A woman dark hair and eyes, fair skin, wearing a hat and a dark dress with a high collar
Emma Camp Mead, from a 1916 publication
Born
Emma Jane Camp

1866
Indian Lake, New York
DiedDecember 4, 1934
Indian Lake, New York
Occupation(s)Hotelkeeper, herbalist
RelativesPolly Cooper (great-grandmother)
Beulah Dark Cloud (cousin)

Early life and education

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Emma Camp was born near Indian Lake, New York, the daughter of Elijah Camp and Elizabeth Kennedy Camp. Her father was Abenaki and her mother was Oneida. Her parents ran a hunting lodge, and her father worked as a wilderness guide.[1] She was a great-granddaughter of Polly Cooper. Actress Beulah Dark Cloud was her cousin.[2][3]

Career

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With a large settlement from her former husband's family, Mead opened a dry goods store in Indian Lake, and later opened Adirondack House near Indian Lake, renting rooms and cabins to hunting and fishing vacationers in the area.[4] She also maintained a farm, and sold her own herbal remedies.[5][6] She also interpreted news reports for locals who were not literate in English, especially in the events leading up to the Indian Citizenship Law of 1924.[3]

Personal life

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In 1882, Camp married Gabriel Mead, a white man. His family, opposing the marriage, paid her ten thousand dollars to agree to an annulment of the marriage.[7] This arrangement was reported in newspapers across the United States in August 1883.[1][8] The couple remarried in 1885, and had a daughter, Bessie, born in 1886. Gabriel soon left the marriage again,[8] and Bessie died in a fall when she was three years old. Emma Mead died in 1934, at the age of 68.[2][9] There is a collection of her papers held by the Indian Lake Historical Society.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b "What Spoiled an Adirondack Romance". Little Falls Transcript. 1883-08-31. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Watson, Kandice. "Gold, Silver and an Annulment – Oneida Indian Nation". Oneida Indian Nation. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  3. ^ a b c Bruchac, Margaret M.; Zobel, Melissa Fawcett Tantaquidgeon (2018-04-10). Savage Kin: Indigenous Informants and American Anthropologists. University of Arizona Press. pp. 48–54, 201, note 4. ISBN 978-0-8165-3706-8.
  4. ^ DeMarsh, Arnold W. (2007). Indian Lake, Hamilton County. Arcadia Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7385-5526-3.
  5. ^ "Emma Mead · Remarkable Women of the Adirondacks". Adirondack History Museum Exhibition Archives. 2005. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  6. ^ "Emma P. Mead, Proprietor". American Indian Magazine. 4 (2): 177–178, photo between 190 and 191. April–June 1916.
  7. ^ Aber, Ted; King, Stella Brooks (1965). The History of Hamilton County. Great Wilderness Books. p. 23.
  8. ^ a b "A Twice Deserted Indian Bride". The Post-Star. 1887-07-23. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Funeral of Mrs. Mead". The Post-Star. 1934-12-08. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-08-23 – via Newspapers.com.
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