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CHEROKEE INDIANS. 
No. 47. 
PARK HILL, September 24, 1856. 
DEAR SIR: Your note of the 10th instant was duly received, re- 
questing me to furnish information in reference to the condition of 
the Methodist church in the nation. The Cherokee district is divided 
into five (5) circuits and the Tahlequah and Riley chapel station. To 
fill these appointments we have eight white missionaries and eight 
natives, including the interpreters.  I believe they have all been 
faithful to their work, devoting their time and talents in preaching 
the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
We have, I believe, some seventy preaching places. Some of these 
are meeing-houses and others are private residences, where we preach, 
form classes, and carry out the rules of church discipline. We have, 
during the present year, received into the church some two hundred 
members. But whether this will give us an increase from last year 
I cannot say, as some have died and others have been dropped. I re- 
gret that I have not the statistics before me, as they would enable me 
to give a more satisfactory report. It is believed, however, that the 
church never was more prosperous than at the present. We have 
peace through all our societies; our congregations have been generally 
large, and, take them all in all, as respectful and well behaved as can 
be found anywhere. By the blessing of God, I have been enabled to 
attend all the quarterly meetings through the present conference year, 
and, in addition to this, have had the privilege of visiting and preach-
ing in nearly every neighborhood in the nation. This has given me 
an opportunity of looking into the condition of the Cherokee people; 
and, so far as I can judge, law and order prevail everywhere in refer- 
ence to both civil and religious institutions. There is certainly an 
increased desire to educate the rising generation, and their schools 
generally are doing well. 
Agricultural pursuits, also, are on the increase; farms are being 
enlarged. Corn, wheat, and oats are raised in abundance to supply 
all the wants of life. God grant that these blessings and privileges 
may long be perpetuated. 
Accept my best wishes for your happiness, both in this life and 
that which is to come. 
JOHN HARRELL, 
P. E. Cherokee District M. E. Church South. 
GEORGE BUTLER, Esq., 
Cherokee Agent. 
No. 48. 
OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC ScOOLS, 
Tahlequah, September 25, 1856. 
DEAR SIR: I have the honor herewith to transmit an abstract of 
my annual report to the national council of the common public 
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