Ely Samuel Parker, born Hasanoanda, later known as Donehogawa, was an engineer, U.S. Army officer, aide to General Ulysses Grant, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in charge of the government's relations with Native Americans. He was bilingual, speaking both Seneca and English, and became friends with Lewis Henry Morgan, who became a student of the Iroquois in Upstate New York. Parker earned an engineering degree in college and worked on the Erie Canal, and other projects.

The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War (1861–1865). It was the final engagement of Confederate General in Chief Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia before they surrendered to the Union Army of the Potomac under the Commanding General of the United States Army, Ulysses S. Grant.