Hans-Jost Herchheimer

Hans-Jost Herchheimer ( Johan Jost Herkimer in English ; baptized on June 20, 1700 in Sandhausen ; † August 25, 1775 in Albany , New York ) from Sandhausen near Heidelberg was a German emigrant, justice of the peace and wealthy trader in North America.

Life

Hans-Jost Herchheimer was born in Sandhausen near Heidelberg around 1700 and emigrated to North America via Holland in 1720. There he and other emigrants from the Electoral Palatinate settled in the Mohawk Valley in what was then the province of New York .

Today's Herkimer County is named after his son and brigadier general of the state militia during the American Revolutionary War Nikolaus Herchheimer ( English Nicholas Herkimer ).

With over 5000 hectares of land in the southern part of the valley, Hans-Jost Herchheimer was a wealthy landowner in the Palatinate . In addition, he operated trade and transport, including wheat and furs, on the Mohawk River .

history

At the beginning, Hans-Jost Herchheimer moved with his family and all his possessions, including three parcels of wheat from the city of Schenectady to German Flatts . At that time Mohawk Indians had a settlement nearby. Although Herchheimer did not speak the Mohawk language, he tried to make it clear to them with the help of bread, wheat and hand signals that he wanted to cultivate a piece of land with wheat. But the Mohawk Indians initially rejected his plan by shaking their head in a negative sense. In the end, however, the Mohawk helped him build a small hut on a fallen tree. After a few days of his arrival, the Mohawk invited him to carry a dugout canoe from the highlands down to the river. When they got to the canoe together, he grabbed one end of the canoe to see how difficult it was. While he was straightening one end, the Mohawks looked at each other in amazement because of his strength. Herchheimer then signaled the rest of the Mohawk Indians to carry the other end of the canoe. After they had carried the canoe to the river together, the Indians came up to him, patted him on the back and called him Kaouri , which means bear in German .

From this point on, he was friends with the local Indians. They helped him build a new hut, he was allowed to grow wheat on a piece of land and they shared with each other when hunting and fishing. Over time, he cultivated more and more land and took wheat to Schenectady using a canoe .

In 1728 Herchheimer built a stone house on the south side of the Mohawk River, where he and his family lived until 1740. In 1740 the British took over his area for an outpost and reinforced it with a moat and palisade . It was expanded into a fort ( Fort Herkimer ).

Herchheimer had a small shop in the garrison , continued to trade with the Indians and thus gained wealth and reputation. He was without a doubt the first of the early traders west of German Flatts .

literature

Community Sandhausen (ed.): Home directory of the community Sandhausen. Heidelberger Verlagsanstalt, Heidelberg 1986, ISBN 3-920431-56-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Community Sandhausen (ed.): Home book of the community Sandhausen. Heidelberger Verlagsanstalt, Heidelberg 1986, ISBN 3-920431-56-1 , pp. 287-289.
^ Barbara Sinotte: New York & New Jersey, a guide to the state & national parks. Hunter Publishing, Edison NJ 1996, ISBN 1-55650-737-2 , p. 39.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Nelson Greene: The Home And Name Of General Herkimer: With Some Notes and Comments on the Americanism of Herkimer and His Troops, the Americanism of the Revolutionary Mohawk Valley and the Present-Day American Ideal . In: Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association . tape 14 , 1915, ISSN 0146-3500 , p. 365-402 , JSTOR : 42890048 .
↑ WNP Dailey: To which is added sketches of Mohawk valley men and events of early days, the Iroquois, Palatines, Indian missions, Tryon county committee of safety, Sir Wm. Johnson, Joseph Brant, Arendt Van Curler, Gen. Herkimer, Reformed church in America, doctrine and progress, revolutionary residences, etc. In: The history of Montgomery classic, RCA Recorder press, Amsterdam NY 1916, p. 46 ( archive.org )

personal data
SURNAME	Herchheimer, Hans-Jost
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Herchheimer, Hans Jost; Herchheimer, Johann Jost; Herkimer, Johan Jost
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Settlers in the USA
DATE OF BIRTH	baptized June 20, 1700
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sandhausen
DATE OF DEATH	August 25, 1775
Place of death	Albany , New York

[1] Community Sandhausen (ed.): Home book of the community Sandhausen. Heidelberger Verlagsanstalt, Heidelberg 1986, ISBN 3-920431-56-1 , pp. 287-289.

[2] Barbara Sinotte: New York & New Jersey, a guide to the state & national parks. Hunter Publishing, Edison NJ 1996, ISBN 1-55650-737-2 , p. 39.

[Greene-3] Nelson Greene: The Home And Name Of General Herkimer: With Some Notes and Comments on the Americanism of Herkimer and His Troops, the Americanism of the Revolutionary Mohawk Valley and the Present-Day American Ideal . In: Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association . tape 14 , 1915, ISSN 0146-3500 , p. 365-402 , JSTOR : 42890048 .

[4] WNP Dailey: To which is added sketches of Mohawk valley men and events of early days, the Iroquois, Palatines, Indian missions, Tryon county committee of safety, Sir Wm. Johnson, Joseph Brant, Arendt Van Curler, Gen. Herkimer, Reformed church in America, doctrine and progress, revolutionary residences, etc. In: The history of Montgomery classic, RCA Recorder press, Amsterdam NY 1916, p. 46 ( archive.org )