Samuel Kirkland was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on December 1, 1741. He was an American missionary who spent much of his life living with native tribes. While still a student at Princeton College, he began preaching to a Seneca tribe of Indians. In 1766, Kirkland began living with the Oneida tribe. He became an important member of the tribe, offering advice, preaching, and ultimately persuading them to support the Americans in the revolution. Kirkland was a close friend of Oneida chief Skenandoah.

Following the American Revolution, Kirkland remained in close contact with members of the Six Nations Confederacy. He helped establish peace treaties and attempted to improve the general welfare of the tribes. Between 1790 and 1792, there was talk that the Six Nations would join a native uprising against the newly formed U.S. Government. Kirkland managed to subdue the revolutionary desires.

In 1793, the state of New York gave Kirkland a charter to found Hamilton Oneida Academy, a school for white and native youths. However, native enrolment was low. In 1812 the school's mandate was changed; it became a general liberal arts college with no special mandate to educate Native American students. The school continues today under the name Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.

Samuel Kirkland died on February 28, 1808, in Clinton, New York.