Jones, Peter (Kahkewaquonaby, Kahkewagwonnaby). A
mixed-blood Missisauga chief, missionary, and author; born Jan. 1, 1802, died
June 29, 1856. His father was a white man of Welsh descent named Augustus Jones,
who maintained the closest friendship with Brant during the latter's life.
Peter's mother was Tuhbenahneeguay, daughter of Wahbanosay, a chief of the
Missisauga on Credit r., at the extreme w. end of L. Ontario, where, on a tract
of land known as Burlington heights, Peter and his brother John were born. He
remained with his tribe, following their customs and accompanying them on their
excursions, until his 16th year, when his father, who was then a government
surveyor, had him baptized by Rev. Ralph Leeming, an English Episcopal minister,
at the Mohawk church on Grand r., near Brantford, Ont. Having professed religion
at a camp meeting held near Ancaster, Ont. , and taken an active part in the
religious exercises of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Peter was sent on a
missionary tour, in 1827, to L. Simcoe, St Clair, Muncey, and other points in w.
Ontario, although not yet ordained. He had by this time entered upon his
literary work, as in this year was published a hymn book translated by him into
Chippewa. He was constituted a deacon of the Wesleyan Methodist conference in
1830, and as minister by Rev. George Marsden at the Toronto conference in 1833.
The remainder of his life was devoted chiefly to missionary work among the
Missisauga and Chippewa, and to some extent among the Iroquois. His position as
a Christian pastor and ruling chief of his tribe gave him great influence, not
only among his own people, but among all the Chippewa tribes. He visited England
and New York, and made repeated journeys to Toronto in the prosecution of his
work and in behalf of his people. It was largely through his efforts that the
titles of the Credit Indians to their lands were perfected. Although inured to
out-door life and of a somewhat robust frame, his constitution began to yield to
excessive exposures, resulting in his death, near Brantford, in 1856. A monument
was erected to his memory, in 1857, with the inscription: "Erected by the
Ojibeway and other Indian tribes to their revered and beloved chief,
Kahkewaquonaby (the Rev. Peter Jones)." A memorial tablet was placed by his
family in the Indian church at the New Credit settlement.
Ryerson (Ojebway Indians, 18, 1861) describes Jones as "a man of athletic
frame, as well as of masculine intellect; a man of clear perception, good
judgment, great decision of character; a sound preacher, fervent and powerful in
his appeals; very well informed on general subjects, extensively acquainted with
men and things." His wife was an English woman, who with 4 sons survived him.
His seventh son, Peter E. Jones, who bore his father's name
(Kah-ke-wa-quo-na-by), was editor of a periodical, The Indian, published at
Hagersville, Ont., in 1885-86.
In addition to the volume of hymns, first printed in 1829, republished in 1836,
and in various enlarged editions in later years, Jones translated also into
Chippewa a volume of Additional Hymns (1861), an Ojibway Spelling Book (1828),
Part of the New Testament (1829), The First Book of Moses (1835), and Part of
the Discipline of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada (1835). He also wrote
the Life and Journals of Kah-ke-wa-quo-na-by (Rev. Peter Jones), 1860, and a
History of the Ojebway Indians, with Especial Reference to their Conversion to
Christianity, 1861. Consult Pilling, Bib-Hog. Algonq. Lang., Bull. B. A. E.,
1891.
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Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
