A Civil War hero and Seneca leader, Ely Samuel Parker, was posthumously admitted to the New York State Bar on Friday, correcting a 130-year-old injustice that barred him from practicing law during his lifetime because of his Native American heritage.

The ceremonial admission took place in a Buffalo courthouse, culminating a years-long effort by Parker’s descendants to secure recognition for their ancestor, who was denied admission to the bar because Native Americans were not considered U.S. citizens until 1924, nearly three decades after his death.

“Today we correct that injustice,” said Melissa Parker Leonard, Parker’s great-great-great-grandniece, addressing an audience that included numerous robed judges. “We acknowledge that the failure was never his. It was the law itself.”

Parker’s historical significance extends far beyond this posthumous honor. He played a pivotal role during the Civil War’s conclusion, standing at General Ulysses S. Grant’s side during Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in 1865. It was Parker who transcribed the final terms of surrender that both generals signed, cementing his place in American history.

Following the war, Grant appointed Parker as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, making him the first Native American to hold this significant federal position. According to retired Judge John Browning, who assisted with the application, Parker is also the first Native American to receive posthumous admission to any state bar.

Judge Gerald Whalen, presiding justice of the 4th Appellate Division, noted the clear qualifications Parker possessed. “Even a cursory review of his biography will show that Mr. Parker was not only clearly qualified for admission to the bar, but he in fact exemplified the best and highest ideals of the legal profession that the bar represents,” Whalen stated before finalizing the admission.

Born on the Seneca Nation of Indians’ Tonawanda reservation near Buffalo in 1828, Parker was educated at a Baptist mission school where he adopted the name Ely Samuel Parker instead of his Seneca name, Hasanoanda. He later studied law at a firm in Ellicottville, New York, but his career aspirations were thwarted by discriminatory citizenship requirements.

Parker’s story reflects the complex relationship between Native Americans and the United States government throughout the 19th century. Native Americans weren’t granted citizenship until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, long after Parker’s death in 1895.

Unable to practice law formally, Parker pivoted to civil engineering. However, he continued applying his legal knowledge to defend Seneca lands, partnering with attorney John Martindale to secure important legal victories in both the New York Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, achievements that demonstrated his legal acumen despite official barriers.

His friendship with Ulysses S. Grant began in Galena, Illinois, where Parker was supervising construction of a federal building as an engineer for the U.S. Treasury Department. This connection would later prove pivotal when Grant brought Parker into his military circle during the Civil War as his military secretary, ultimately elevating him to brigadier general.

The historic admission ceremony represents not just recognition of Parker’s individual accomplishments but acknowledges broader historical injustices faced by Native Americans.

“Today is Ely’s triumph, but it is also all of ours, too,” said Lee Redeye, deputy counsel for the Seneca Nation of Indians, during the ceremony. “For we stand victorious over the prejudice of the past.”

Parker’s remains rest in Buffalo’s Forest Lawn Cemetery, but his legacy continues through this recognition and the ongoing efforts to acknowledge historical figures whose contributions were overlooked due to prejudice and discrimination.

“This moment is deeply personal for our family,” Leonard said at the ceremony. “It allows Ely to rest in the knowledge that he did his best, and that his best changed the course of our history.”