Hinman, Samuel Dutton

(1839-Mar. 24, 1890). Missionary to the Dakota Indians. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and orphaned at an early age. Hinman studied at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut and graduated from the Seabury Divinity School in 1860. He was ordained deacon on Sept. 20, 1860, and priest on Mar. 8, 1863. Hinman began his missionary work in Redwood County, Minnesota. He established a mission to the Dakotas at the Lower Sioux Agency. In 1864 he translated most of the BCP into the Dakota language. It was published in 1865. He then worked at the Santee mission at the mouth of the Niobrara River in Nebraska. Under William Hobart Hare, Missionary Bishop of Niobrara in the Dakotas, Hinman served as Archdeacon of the Nebraska and Dakota Indian work. Bishop Hare heard rumors of Hinman's “immorality,” alleging that Hinman misused church funds and consorted with a native prostitute. On Mar. 25, 1878, Bishop Hare severed Hinman's connection with the Santee mission, and suspended him from the exercise of the active ordained ministry. Hinman refused to renounce his ministry. He demanded a trial, which was held in July 1878. Hinman was found guilty, but continued to fight with Bishop Hare. During this period Hinman worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1886 he moved to the Birch Coulee Mission in Minnesota. In 1887 his suspension was lifted. Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple received him into the Diocese of Minnesota. During his ministry he worked among the Dakota Indians in Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Hinman died in Birch Coulee, Minnesota.