Matthew Elliott ( – May 7, 1814) was a

British Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations in Canada, First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Cana ...

officer, merchant and politician. He was active in

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

during and after the era of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Elliott held a key position in Anglo-Indian affairs during the time period. Elliott came to America in 1761 and settled in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. As a trader in western Pennsylvania and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in the 1760s and 1770s, and as a captain in the Indian Department during the Revolution, he had lived and fought among the tribes of the Northwest, particularly the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

. He was married to a Shawnee woman and spoke the language fluently, his sympathies with the Indians. With the Shawnee woman, Elliott had two sons named Alexander and Matthew. He later married Sarah Donovan and they had another two sons, Francis Gore and Robert Herriot Barclay. In 1778 Elliott, along with Alexander McKee and

Simon Girty Simon Girty (14 November 1741 – 18 February 1818) was an interpreter with the British Indian Department during the American Revolutionary War and Northwest Indian War. As a child he and his brothers James and George were captured and adopted b ...

fled to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. He served as a scout on Henry Hamilton's expedition to Vincennes in the autumn of 1778 but left before Hamilton was captured by the Americans in February 1779. For the remainder of the Revolution Elliott served as a British Indian agent. After the Revolution, Elliott established himself on a farm at what became

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town ...

, Ontario in Upper Canada. He eventually owned over 4,000 acres and numerous slaves, a number of whom he had acquired in the course of raids during the Revolution and refused to relinquish despite government pressure. Elliott is mentioned as a slave owner whose slaves were particularly fearful of. He had installed a lashing ring to a tree in front of his house to instill fear in his slaves; which instead encouraged many to try to escape. In partnership with William Caldwell, he renewed his trading activities, dealing with the Indians of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, bringing provisions from Pittsburgh to sell to them as well as in Detroit. Business became so difficult to maintain in such a disputed area, that his company went bankrupt in 1787. Despite this, and the fact that Elliott was illiterate, he became a justice of the peace for the new District of Hesse in 1788. He went on to become superintendent at Amherstburg in 1796, but had been dismissed two years later in 1798 after a dispute over the irregularities in the issuing of provisions. In 1790, Elliott became assistant to McKee, who was Indian superintendent at Detroit while Elliott continued to encourage the Shawnee and other native groups to oppose American advance across the Ohio River. With McKee, Elliott helped organize the different tribes to resist occupancy and land cessions. Elliott went on to become "superintendent of Indians and of Indian Affairs for the District of Detroit" in the summer of 1796, but by December 1797 he was dismissed. During the next ten years he tried significantly to gain reinstatement, travelling to England in 1804 and even gaining the support of fellow politicians. None of this worked, though from 1800 to 1804, he was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Li ...

. He was also re-elected in 1804 and 1808, though at these dates he attended meetings less frequently due to other business. When Anglo-American relations soured again in 1807, the great importance of Elliott's influence among the Indians was recognized and in 1808 he was reappointed superintendent in place of Thomas McKee. By the fall of 1808 it became apparent that the Indians were preparing for war, and the British did not want to be blamed. Elliott worked closely with

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

for an alliance. Before the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, Elliott had succeeded in gaining the Indian alliance with natives in American territory as well as British. During the last few months of his life, Elliott led Indian raids on the Niagara frontier. He died from illness in 1814 in the Burlington area of Ontario.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Matthew 1730s births 1814 deaths British Indian Department British people of Pontiac's War British people of the War of 1812 Colonial American Indian agents Canadian fur traders Irish slave owners Loyalist military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada People from Burlington, Ontario Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Irish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Immigrants to the Province of Quebec (1763–1791) Loyalists in the American Revolution from Pennsylvania Canadian people of the War of 1812 Merchants from colonial Pennsylvania 18th-century American merchants