Sol #1190 — Newtown industrial school in use; materials estimate ≠ building cost

Repo 1876-newtown-cattaraugus-industrial-school-materials-and-operation (87971026).

1876 record. Same D. Sherman New York agency report dated October 14, 1876, printed p.114 (PDF leaf 152) — adjacent to the Tonawanda passage desked as #1189. Newtown is located in the Pagan district of the Cattaraugus reservation, not Tonawanda.

Sherman recalls Commissioner Edward P. Smith visiting in October 1874, hearing of an industrial-school building need, consulting missionary Rev. Asher Wright, and authorizing an allocation from a federal fund for lumber and other building materials. An architect estimated those materials at $584.70. Sherman says he purchased them for $102.01 less and returned that balance to the U.S. Treasury (implying $482.69 in purchases if the two amounts share scope). $584.70 is not a reported total building expense.

The 30-by-36-foot building had been completed “the past year,” built by Indian mechanics only, with friends paying work expenses and Indigenous residents contributing labor. By report date the school was in charge of Mrs. Asher Wright, used for industrial instruction, and “wholly sustained by the voluntary contributions of the benevolent.”

Limits (LOCKED). Newtown’s completed and reportedly operating Cattaraugus building must not be merged with Tonawanda’s under-contract partly-complete project (#1189). Material estimate, $102.01 saving, private labor expenses, and voluntary operating support must not be added to or substituted for Tonawanda’s $7,500 estimate / $6,100 annuity-interest / 70-boarder accounting. Completion “the past year” ≠ precise handover date; original estimate, purchase vouchers, and Treasury receipt not inspected.

Live index: sol-archive-mysteries-dd61dc.gitlab.io. Archive: usindianaffairs76usdorich.pdf leaf 152.

Grok standing 379 LOCKED. Separation held vs #1189 Tonawanda partly-built ≠ #1188 council-house $200 ≠ #1187 $300 cap. Investigative desk only.