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DsP-20
State of New York
Conservation Department
Historic Trust
MEMORANDUA
April 23, 1970
Members New York State prah eer
Historic Trust
Mark Lawton
Attached Report
The attached is a rough draft of the Historical Analysis
of the Nicholas Herkimer Farm. This draft is meant to acquaint
you with the subject before the Trust meeting on Tuesday. .
At that time, a complete,corrected copy will be available
to you.
at
The Appalachian Mountain system forms a geographic barrier
which has fundamentally influenced the patterns of American settle-
ment and trade from early colonial times. New York, with its
river system providing the most convenient water level route
through this mountain barrier, soon became the major colonial
trading center and gateway for transportation to the west.
Early traders found the Mohawk River navigable for boats
almost the entire distance from Schenectady to Fort Stanwix, located
what is now Rome e An easy portage led from the Mohawk to
Wood creek, and from thence the trade route led to Oswego on
Lake Ontario. During the 18th century, Oswego became a place
of major military importance where Albany merchants often spent
the entire summer trading with the Indians.1
In contrast to the lower valley, the upper Mohawk narrows
considerably and the fertile, flat river land becomes less and
less extensive. About fifty miles above Schenectady, a mountain
barrier forms the only serious impediment to travel along this
route, however. Here the upper Mohawk falls into a deep, rocky
ravine between high mountains, and a portage was required around
the "Little Falls" at this place. Travelers marvelled at the
height of "Fall Hill," which became a well known landmark on
the south side of the Mohawk. A French description in 1757
explained that ". . .we go up a mountain that occupies two hours
to ascend and descend. The country throughout the whole of this
space is covered with wood, "7 A traveler going up the Mohawk in
1802 noted "the mountains drawing to a point, upon the 2 sides
of the river. When we come to the river, there is only a narrow
pass for about 3/4ths of a mile between the river and the foot
of the rocks. When we come to-the Falls the scene which presents
is sublime. "9 |
The Indian village of Canajoharie, located on the river
flat about four miles below Little Falls, and the Palatine settle-
ment in the 1720's of German Flatts above the falls, made this
portion of the Mohawk Valley of particular strategic value in
the Indian trade. Owners of land along the Mohawk between these
points in effect, could hold some control Of access to the portage,
and for the trader, this location was indeed a valuable one.
Through the narrowing valley below the falls passed traders
leaving Canajoharie and going westward before starting the mile-
long portage, while travellers from Oswego arrived here after
descending this difficult carrying place. Consequently, on May 6,
1736, the Governor's Council approved a grant of 3000 acres on
the south side of the river extending above the Indian €astle at
Canajoharie toward the falls, and this patent was finally conveyed
on August 24 to Philip Livingston and John Lindesay.* John
Lindesay was ‘a merchant who had become a freeman of New York
City in 1730,> and with the Livingstons, Lindesay had a special
interest in the trade at Oswego. Sir William Johnson may have
. . . . . xX
(“ considered the proximity of their patent to Canajohary and the
“OL 2
__ trade route a direct threat to his own influence, Maa in July
1743, as a commissioner of Indian Affairs, Philip Livingston, Jr.,
accused Johnson of selling rum and cloth illegally to enemy
Indians. °
A serious controversy soon developed concerning the lands
which Livingston owned near canajonark. On October 9, 1745, the
Indians complained that Livingston had taken more land than he
had originally purchased, / and that the surveyor had secretly
surveyed the land at night by moonlight. In 1746 these Mohawks
petitioned that Philip Livingston's patent for the lands adjacent
to the canajohar¥’ castle and Nowadaga Flatts be annulled.8.
In October, 1747, Lieutenant John Lindesay received
orders to take command at Oswego, upon petition of the Oswego
traders and Indians.2 Nevertheless, and in Spite of better
relations with Sir William Johnson, Lindesay was also later
accused by the Indians of unfairness to them.!° Lieutenant
John Lindesay died without a will in 1751, and in November,
the administration of his estate was granted to William Livingston.
The controversy with the Indians over the Livingston lands
continued, but the subsequent distribution of Lindesya's interest
is not clear. On June 12, 1751, Johan Jost Herkimer and his son
Hendrick Herkimer petitioned Governor George Clinton for a patent
of 2000 acres on the south side of the Mohawk above the Lindesay
and Livingston land and extending above the Little Falls. Known
as the Fall Hill Patent, this tract surrounded the vitally
-Linus King a Negro boy named Sambo for £50.
12
important carrying place on the south side of the River. Johan
Jost Herkimer, a prosperous inhabitant of German Flatts, is believed
! ‘ } . : |
r
Ppt 4
to have been born in) Baden, Germany, in 1700. As early as October
ry
1744, with Gerrit A. Lansing, Henry van Rensselaer, and others,
13
he was supplying the Oswego garrison. He apparently continued
in this business as a partner with Lansing as late as 1747, 14
about when Lindesay took command there.
The Fall Hill Patent was granted at New York City to the
Herkimers on April 13, 1752, and included a small island of two
acres in the river. It is very possible that this served as a
preparation for Nicholas Herkimer's intended settlement on this
j
land and on land which until very recently had been John Lindesays.
Still in New York City three days later, on April 15, 1752,
Nicholas Herkimer also, a son of Johan Jost, purchased from
15 Such an investment
ante!
by young Nicholas Herkimer indicates his plans to improve the
land and establish a settlement. It coincides closely with the
date of the patent, and Nicholas Herkimer must very soon have
built a house at or near the present homestead location. On.
May 30, 1755, a patent granted across the river to Jacob Timberman
and Johan Jost Schnell specifically refers to "a young wallnut
tree marked on three sides standing opposite to the dwelling
house of Johan Nickoll Herchheimer," thus referring to the
present homestead location. 16
The Fall Hill Patent, like the neighboring Lindesay and
Livingston Patent, required settlement and effective cultivation
of at least six per cent of the cultivable acreage within three
years. Specifically, the Royal Commissioners "had regard to the
profitable and unprofitable Acres and have taken Care that the
Length of the said Tracts of Land do not extend along the banks
of any River otherwise than is Conformable to our Royal
Instructions. . .." The upland in these patents is hilly and
very rocky, and while undesirable for cultivation it was never-
theless adaptable as pasture. Nicholas Herkimer 's house, which
actually stood on a corner of the old Lindesay and Livingston
Patent, faced the only sizeable piece low, flat, river alluvium
land in the entire patent, and even this was generally not as
good as the land farther down the river.
It is clear that these lands were valuable for other
reasons. There were many natural mill sites and numerous
streams, including» a stream in the deep ravine hear Herkimer's
house. Timber on the land was structly reserved to the Crown
for masts and for planks, knees, and other things necessary for
the Royal Navy, and the owners were advised not to burn or
otherwise destroy the timber needlessly. Such an area never-
theless provided many Opportunities for industrial activity, and
some of the Herkimers were blacksmiths. In February 1756, :
Hendrick Herkimer, a smith, received £53 from Sir William
Johnson for repairing guns for the Canajoharie Indians, 18
and in May 1770, Hendrick Herkimer made iron door hinges for
19
the new church at Indian Castle.
The Herkimers were active during the critical time of
the French and Indian War, having provided valuable service in
transportation of supplies around the Little Falls in 1755 and
1756. 2° Effective communication during the war was essential,
although the Herkimers and other German families tended to
resent the interference of so many British on their trade
route. In 1756, Johan Jost Herkimer refused to help open a
new road by land to Oswego,?! and he strongly resented the
British garrison in his house near German Flatts, called Fort
Herkimer. A British officer named Horatio Gates seemed especially
22 and in 1758 General Abercromby asked Johnson to warn
obnoxious,
the Herkimers and other Germans not to interfere with the Indian
trade.
Nicholas Herkimer's house was apparently mentioned in
the French description of Fall Hill in 1757. Going eastward,
it said, "After descending, two houses somewhat distant one
from the other, are in the league, which is to be traveled to
get to Cannatchocari."*4 such information was undoubtedly
important to the French in their analysis of the enemy territory
around German Flatts, for on January 5, 1758, Lieutenant Governor
James De Lancey commissioned Nicholas Herkimer as second
lieutenant of Captain William Wormwood's militia company in
the Schenectady Battalion.22 The house was the scene of
continued military activity, and on June 28, 1760, General
Jeffery Amherst visited the place. "I went in the morning to
young Herkimers House. The lst R Highland Battn was encamped
on the opposite side. Took a batteau & went to the little
carrying place; sent my horses around to meet me two miles
above the carrying place, which is about a mile over "76
On May 16, 1760, Johan Jost Herkimer gave his son a
deed for this farm which Nicholas had successfully established
along the Mohawk below the Little Falls. Nicholas Herkimer
received 500 acres lying mostly in the old Lindesay and
Lihvingston Patent but extending ‘into the Fall Hill Patent.
Lying along the south side of the Mohawk, the tract clearly
maximized river frontage below the natural barrier of Fall
Hill itself. The deed specifically required Nicholas Herkimer
to keep open a sufficient "wagen or Slea Routh" through his
land to the landing place and to the Little Falls. ?/
Although French power in America had crumbled, the
threat of Indian attack continued in the German Flatts area.
On July 31, 1762, a sudden alarm was sent to Sir William Johnson
28 The next day
of a serious Indian attack on German Flatts.
Johnson ordered the militia officers to proceed under arms
with their companies "to the House of Han Nichles Herkemer"
and to remain there, sending out frequent scouts to German.
Flatts.29 once again, on July 24, 1763, came alarming news
to Sir William Johnson from German Flatts of a threatened
Indian attack there.39 In November he ordered that any
Genesee Indians who came to German Flatts to trade were to
be considered enemies and were to be arrested, 3!
That, however, was one of the last threats of danger
from Indian attack in this area. With peace reestablished
and with a firm title to his land, Nicholas Herkimer could
now safely consider a larger investment in his property.
The Indian trade promised even greater prosperity, and an
elegant house was appropriate as the center of a place of
rendezvous for merchants, traders, and travellers. It seems
likely that during 1764, Herkimer at least remodeled the roof
and probably made it into a gambrel which was- then the height
of fashion on fine two-story houses. One document records
Nicholas Herkimer's order from Captain Jelles Fonda in June
n32 Visitors
1764, of "half as many bricks for a chimney. .. .
were naturally impressed with Herkimer's establishment. On
May 15, 1767, a British officer noted ". . .we arrived young
Mr. Horskyman's nouse which is pleasantly situated on a rising
ground above a most beautiful farm which extends on a fine flat
to the river. Here we rested all night after having despatched
the batteaus to the little falls which are two miles farther
133 :
up the river.
Herkimer participated directly in the movement of trade
through the area, and in March 1772 he was appointed a commissioner
to regulate highways in Canajohary District.?* Records for 1772
Of dangerous local Tories.
and 1773 show that he exchanged wheat and large numbers of
beaver skins for rum, wine, sand, and window glass which he
purchased from Jacob Cuyler of Schenectady. 3°
The sand and window glass purchased early in 1773 may
indicate additional building activity, and in June 1774 he
made plans for a new grist mill. The proposed mill measured
60 by 30 feet and contained three pair of stones. The water
wheels were to be inside the mill structure.3© Herkimer referred
in his will to this grist mill, the location of which is not
known. : =
The Herkimer family had become angry with Sir William
Johnson in May 1772, and the situation worsened as the Revolution
approached.37 In July 1775, Nicholas Herkimer sent urgent
warning that Guy Johnson intended to attack below Little Falls
with nearly 900 Indians, and Herkimer begged for an equal force
with which to meet this threat. 38 The situation improved slightly
the following mouth, after Nicholas Herkimer, as chairman of the
Tryon County Committee of Correspondence, supervised the capture >
39
Herkimer's commission as brigadier general of the Tryon
County Militia on September 5, 1776, is evidence of his importance
locally as well as his continued demonstrations of patriotism.
Herkimer immediately continued his investigation of Tory activi-
ties in the Canajoharie vicinity. In March 1777, he reported
the capture of Tories which apparently included some of his own
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nephews, namely George Herkimer, Jr. and Thomas Bell.49 tn June,
‘Herkimer was considered a most promising candidate for Senator
for Tryon County. 41
Meanwhile, Herkimer's activity in his search for Tories
extended down the Susquehanna as far as Unadilla, while gathering
valuable intelligence concerning an intended British invasion
42 |
from Oswego, Early in August, Herkimer marched westward from
his home, and on August. 6 with his militia, he met the enemy at
Oriskany. General Herkimer was seriously wounded, and despite a
broken thigh, he refused to be carried from the field and sat on
a log with a drawn sword, inspiring his men.*3 Eleven days later,
in his home, he died only a few hours after his leg was: amputated. 44
Herkimer’ s will indicates his considerable wealth in land
and currency. To his wife Maria he gave the use of the room in
the northeast corner of his house, together with a quarter acre
in one of the gardens, apple trees, Firewood, water, a Slave, _
horses, cows, sheep, hogs, and numerous household utensils. He
gave the remainder of his house, together with the 500 acre farm
as well as an adjoining woodland tract of 130 acres which apparently |
contained the grist mill, to his brother George Herkimer. 4°
Herkimer's widow did not stay long in the house. In
January 1778 she deeded her remaining inherited rights there
to George Herkimer, while rétatiing income from certain lands
which had been left to her . 46 General Herkimer had meanwhile
-~ll-
become a national hero, and the Continental Congress resolved
to erect a monument in his memory at a cost of 9500. The pro-
posed memorial was to be erected near the "yellow church" in
Canajoharie, */ but by June 1778, the increased danger in the
area from attack apparently delayed these plans.
On sune 6, a party of hostile Indians was seen across
the river from Herkimer's house, and reports came of a British
ae Charges that George Herkimer was
attack near Little Falls.
assisting the Loyalists complicated the situation, and in spite
of his angry protest, George Herkimer was ordered not to leave
the limits of his farm. *?
Herkimer seems to have cooperated,
and in January 1779 he was given freedom to go at large.
Due to its strategic location, the house was in an area
of frequent military activity. In September 1781, tragedy
struck when a party of 38 men under Lieutenant Solomon Woodworth
were attacked near Fall Hill. Woodworth and 26 men were killed;
the rest escaped.°l Other troops tere stationed at the house,
as in July 1782, when a company of the Second New Hampshire
Regiment was on duty at "EsqY¥ Harkimers & the Indian Castle."°>?2
Following George Herkimer's death, his estate, including
the old Nicholas Herkimer farm, was surveyed and subdivided in
1798. Mrs. George Herkimer and her sons, John and Joseph,
continued to occupy the house. A map surveyed for the canal
in 1803 shows the Herkimer house with formal gardens in front
and two outbuildings at the rear.
~12-
Construction of the canal during the 1820's insured the
continued importance of the Herkimer house as a stopping place
on this major transportation route. The house was apparently
a tavern, and the brick may have been painted. William Darby
in 1818 mentioned that "An elegant white tavern house stands
near the entrance into the narrow glen below the cataract.
After passing the house a few yards, the road turns suddenly
to the right, and scenes of grandeur succeed each other in
n53 The canal bed followed the original road
rapid review.
leading from the house to the Little Falls, and a map of the
canal in 1834 shows the canal in front of the house with a
bridge and with a small building on the other side. This may
have been a store for the canal, like many other canal stores
and taverns in the area. John Herkimer appears as the owner
of the Herkimer house in 1834,°4 “a this time, one of the two
outbuildings shown on the 1798 and 1803 maps near the house
had disappeared, but the 1834 map shows a small wing added to —
the southwest corner of the main house. A part of this rear
wing seems to appear as a frame structure attached to the
house in the drawing published in Lossing's Field-Book in 1860.
The nearby grave of General Nicholas Herkimer remained
unmarked until 1847, when his grant. nephew, Warren Herkimer,
erected a plain marble stone to identify the grave. Benson J.
Lossing visited the house in 1848 and found it occupied by
Daniel Connor, a farmer who was "modernizing" it. Connor was
building "a long fashionable piazza in front, in place of the
small old porch, or stoop. . .." Connor also apparently raised
the gambrel roof and added the fine Greek Revival cornice and
narrow windows about this time. Otherwise, according to
Lossing, Connor carefully preserved the interiors of the two
front rooms, while "improving" other rooms in the house. The
two front rooms, one of which had presumably been widow Mary
Herkimer'’s in 1777, were "handsomely wainscoted with white pine,
wrought into neat moldings and panels, and the casements of the
deep windows are of the same material and in the same style."°
In 1860, according to French's gazetteer of New york State,
"Some of the rooms were finished in panel work and were plastered
on the brick walls. ">6
Lossing also mentioned the heavy masonry subterraneén
storage cellar southwest of the house, and he visited the family
burial ground on a knoll southeast of the house. A map of the
area made in 1857 shows, besides Daniel Connor's house, a
separate building designated the "Connor Store" standing on
the south side of the canal east of the main house. Connor
occupied these buildings anti after 1860, but the 1868 map
Shows the same buildings occupied by M. Bidleman. Both the |
1857 and 1868 maps show a road to the house which appears to
follow the present road. The 1798 map shows a road in the
same location but which runs more straight from the house to
present Highway 5S.
-14-
The canal period was characterized by other taverns and
stores west of Herkimer house at Fink's Basin and to the
east at Schuyler's Store. The buildings around Schuyler's
Store were part of an older settlement on Herkimer's land,
appearing as early as 1798 on the Second Allotment in George
Herkimer's estate.
About 1890 the Oneida Historical Society initiated a
movement to erect a monument over Herkimer's grave. The New
York State Legislature finally appropriated money for this
in 1895 and 1896, and the obelisk was erected and a stone
wall was laid around the burial plot.
The Legislature passed an act in 1913 providing funds
for the purchase of the General Herkimer Home, and by 1915,
the house grounds and burial plot were open to the public.
Under the care of the General Nicholas Herkimer Homestead
Association, a collection of relics and furnishings for
the house was assembled during restoration work. This work
included demolition of two old frame buildings southwest of
the house. One of these was a small "wood shed" close to
the house, measuring about 18 by 20 feet, with an entrance on
the west side. The other structure was a large elevated barn
part of which covered the old root cellar. This barn measured
approximately 20 by 68 feet with large entrance doors facing
north. The present driveway to the house runs across the
Site. Unfortunately, photographs of these buildings are
~15-
missing, but both structures are shown on Rufus A. Grider's
drawing of the house dated August 10, 1895.
