Historic Herkimer, NY ⋆ Living In Central New York

from wikipedia

History

German Flatts

In 1700, the region was part of the territory of the Iroquois Mohawk Native American tribe. The villages were linked by winding paths through the wilderness and the Mohawk River.

Palatine Germans first arrived in New York State in August 1708, with most arriving in the summer of 1710. Refugees from religious wars in Europe, they had agreed to exchange work for passage to the New York colony. This was arranged by Queen Anne’s government, and in 1710 nearly 2800 Germans arrived in ten ships at present-day Manhattan. They were at first quarantined on Nutter’s Island, until the ship fevers ran their course. In exchange they worked for some time in camps along the Hudson River to manufacture British naval supplies. Some went to the Mohawk Valley as early as 1712.

In 1722, in response to the request by the German Palatine leaders Joseph Petrie and Conrad Rickert, Governor Burnet granted the Palatines a lease to purchase land from the Mohawk in the vicinity of where the West Canada Creek flows into the Mohawk River. After the land was surveyed in 1723, most of the original settlers arrived between 1723 and 1725. The Burnetsfield patent, granted April 13, 1725, assigned 100-acre (0.40 km²) lots to about ninety heads of family. They settled on both the north and south sides of the river. This area was originally known as Burnetsfield, named in honor of the Governor. It was also referred to as Stone Ridge, The Flats, The Falls, and most commonly, because of the mostly German population and the flat topography, as German Flatts.

Shortly after 1722, a blockhouse and a church were erected in the village at the present site of the Reformed Church. The first known minister was the Reverend George Michael Weiss who served from 1735 to 1742. He was followed in 1751 by the Elder Rosencrantz, who was succeeded by his son the Reverend Abraham Rosencrantz, the latter serving until his death in 1796.

A schoolhouse was erected in 1745.

During the French and Indian War the town was twice attacked, by the French and their native allies on November 1757 (Attack on German Flatts (1757)) and April, 1758 (Attack on German Flatts (1758). In 1758, the settlement on the south side of the river and Fort Herkimer was attacked, and about 30 settlers were killed. Captain Nicholas Herkimer held the command of the fort, and he assembled all the settlers he could within the fort.

During the Revolutionary War, the town was attacked multiple times by loyalists, as were other German settlements in the valley. One of these raids was by the Butler’s Rangers in September 1778. (see Attack on German Flatts (1778)) The village was defended by Fort Dayton.

Fort Herkimer and the settlement on the south side were also attacked. George, Catherine and Nicholas Demuth were among children captured by the Onondaga during a raid, as they were playing outside the fort. After the war, during prisoner exchange, George and Catherine returned to their Demuth family. Nicholas, the youngest, had been adopted by an Onondaga chief and chose to stay with the people for the rest of his life. He went with them to a reservation outside Syracuse and worked as an interpreter.

The town was attacked by the last time on July 15, 1782 by about five hundred Tories and Iroquois. Two residents were killed, Johann Christian Schell and his son, Denis Augustinius Schell. The rest managed to reach the safety of the fort. Fifty horses were taken and fifteen killed, 180 cattle were taken and thirteen killed, thirteen houses and two barns were burnt.

Herkimer

By 1797, the village had a courthouse, jail, and the Reformed Dutch Church, and about 40 houses and a population of about 250. The village was incorporated in 1807. Its charter was amended in 1832 to enlarge the village. In 1875, the village dispensed with its special charter and organized the village under the state law of the time.

In the mid-20th century, the disparaging epithet “Herkimer Jerkimer,” referring to the name of the village, developed currency in larger cities, particularly inNew York City. Its meaning is essentially the same as “yokel”.^[2]^[3]^[4]