Conrad Weiser papers

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biographical note

Scope and Contents note

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

Bibliography

Collection Inventory

Summary Information

Repository

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Creator - Author

Weiser, Conrad, 1696-1760.

Creator - Author

Weiser, Samuel, 1735-1794.

Title

Conrad Weiser papers

ID

0700

Date [inclusive]

1741-1783

Extent

1.33 Linear feet 2 boxes, 2 volumes

Author

Finding aid prepared by Sarah Newhouse and Anna Baechtold Georgi

Sponsor

This collection was processed during the Digital Center for Americana Project Phase II, which was funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation.

Language

English

Language of Materials note

Materials are in English and German.

Mixed materials (00006990) [Volume]

1

Mixed materials (00006991) [Volume]

2

Mixed materials (00006992) [Box]

1

Mixed materials (00006993) [Box]

2

Abstract

This collection contains the papers of Conrad Weiser (November 2, 1696 – July 13, 1760), a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania and became an Indian affairs agent and lieutenant colonel for the British forces in the French and Indian War. Weiser was responsible for negotiating many treaties with the Iroquois which transfered land ownership from the Native Americans to the colony of Pennsylvania and ensured the support of the Iroquois for the British during the war. His papers consist of correspondence, financial records, muster rolls, legal documents, and a bound ledger. The manuscripts in this collection were originally bound into two volumes, and their folders retain their volume and page numbers. The order of items in the volumes was loosely chronological and this arrangement has been kept.

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Biographical note

Conrad Weiser (November 2, 1696 – July 13, 1760) was born as Johann Conrad Weiser (Jr.) in Affstätt in the Duchy of Wurttemberg, Germany, to Johann Conrad Weiser (Sr.) (1662—1746) and Anna Magdelana Uebele (d. 1709). In 1709, Anna Uebele died and Johann Conrad Weiser Sr. joined the German Palatines as they fled the country, moving his family to England in the same year. Once there he secured land for them in what would become New York State. The Weiser family left England on December 25, 1709 and arrived in New York on June 13, 1710, where they lived at Livingston Manor in what is now Columbia County. They initially worked to repay the debt they incurred to the British crown when Queen Anne fed German refugees in London and paid for their transportation to New York. In 1713, however, the German immigrants were freed from this debt and Weiser (Sr.) became a farmer and later Commissioner to London on behalf of the German Palantine community in the colonies.

In 1712, when Conrad Weiser was sixteen years old, his father made an arrangement with a local Mohawk chief for the youth to live with the tribe in the upper Schoharie Valley. Weiser spent the winter of 1712-1713 with the Mohawks and learned much about their language and customs. The Mohawks belonged to the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee, an alliance of tribes in the New York and Pennsylvania region that was also known as the Six Nations (the six nations being the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora). The knowledge that Weiser gained during that winter thus informed him about the language and customs of not only the Mohawks, but also the Six Nations'. This knowledge would be invaluable to him during his career as an envoy to the tribes on behalf of the colonial government of Pennsylvania.

In 1720, Weiser married Anna Eve Feck (or Faeg) and they moved southward to settle on a farm in Womelsdorf, near Reading, Pennsylvania. Together they would have fourteen children, seven of whom reached adulthood. Weiser worked as a farmer and tanner before starting a career as an agent to the British representatives in the colonies. He developed a friendship with an Iroquois man named Shikellamy (the spelling of his name in Weiser's records varies), an Oneida chief who was sent as an emissary to other tribes and the British colonies. Shikellamy brought Weiser with him when he traveled to Philadelphia in 1731 to meet with a delegation of Pennsylvania leaders. The Pennsylvania governor and his council were impressed by Weiser's abilities as an interpreter and by the trust that the Iroquois had in him. This marks the beginning of his service as an envoy and interpreter between the colonial government and the Native tribes in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In 1736, Weiser and Shikellamy were instrumental in negotiating a deed of sale in which the Iroquois sold the land drained by the Delaware River and south of the Blue Mountains to the people of Pennsylvania. In making this purchase, the Pennsylvania leaders favored the Iroquois, acting on their claim to the land rather than the competing claims of the Lenape or Delaware people. This instance of taking sides in disputes between Native tribes represented a significant change in the colony's policies. Following this and other insults from the colonial authorities, the Lenape in Pennsylvania sided with the French during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), known in Europe as the North American stage of the Seven Years' War. Based on the goodwill created by the 1736 land purchase and Weiser's diplomacy, the Iroquois supported the British during the war despite the ongoing tension between the Native Americans and colonists.

Weiser acted as an interpreter not only between the British colonial government and the Six Nations, but also as a negotiator between various southern tribes and the Iroquois. For all of these negotiations he traveled widely and frequently, often making the long and difficult journey to the Iroquois capital of Onondaga.

In 1744, Weiser acted as interpreter during the negoations for the Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois sold all of their land in the Shenandoah Valley. Afterwards, the colonial officials of Virginia and Pennsylvania believed the Iroquois had sold them settlement rights to the Ohio Valley and began to move onto this land. The Iroquois, however, did not believe that this land was part of the treaty and their relationship with the colonists began to sour. Due to this expansion into the Ohio Valley and the continued activity of British traders there, the French began to move south and build a string of forts to protect their interests. When Weiser travelled to Onondaga (sometimes spelled Onondago or Onontago in contemporary texts) in 1750, he learned that the political dynamics in the Six Nations had shifted and that several Iroquois tribes were now trading with and supporting the French.

In 1754, the military conflicts of the French and Indian War began. The same year the British leaders of the colonies arranged a meeting in Albany between delegates from each colony and the Six Nations. Weiser attended this conference as part of the delegation from Pennsylvania, but even his presence did not produce the promises of support that the British officials hoped for. Delegates from the colonies were left to make their own deals with Six Nations representatives, and Weiser negotiated a successful pledge of support for Pennsylvania. Once the War began, Weiser took on a new role. In 1756, when the Lenape began to raid central Pennsylvania, government officials appointed Weiser as a Lieutenant Colonel and charged him and Benjamin Franklin with building forts between the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers. During the conflict, Weiser would continue to advocate for Pennsylvania and maintain a relationship with the Iroquois, while commanding a small company of men against the French and their allies.

Throughout his career, Weiser negotiated land deals that created the current boundaries of Pennsylvania. He also had a lasting impact on the United States' policies toward Native Americans and shaped the future of the country by strengthening and preserving alliances, thus affecting the outcome of the French and Indian War. After his death in 1760 the relationship between the British colonists and the Native Americans declined, which contributed to widespread exploitation and abuses.

Weiser played an important part in shaping the political and social landscape of the colonies in other ways, too. In 1748 he created the plan for Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1752 he was instrumental in creating Berks County, Pennsylvania from land originally part of surrounding counties, and would serve as Berks County's chief judge from 1752 until 1760. In addition to his civic duties, he was a teacher and minister in the Lutheran Church, although he spent a few years living at the Ephrata Cloister in Lancaster County. There he was baptized by the order's founder, Conrad Beissel, in 1735 and took the name Brother Enoch. It is clear, however, that he frequently left the cloister to visit his family and attend to diplomatic missions requested by the governors of Pennsylvania and New York.

Conrad Weiser died 1760 on his farm in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania. His daughter, Anna Maria, married Henry Muhlenberg, the founder of the Lutheran Church in the United States. Many of their children would be important figures in the early history of the United States. Henry Ernest Muhlenberg (17 November 1753 – 23 May 1815) was a noted botanist whose papers are held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Frederick Muhlenberg (1750–1801) was elected as the first speaker of the House of Representatives. Peter Muhlenberg (October 1, 1746 – October 1, 1807) was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

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Scope and Contents note

This collection contains the papers of Conrad Weiser, which are comprised of correspondence, financial records, muster rolls, and legal documents. The contents of this collection are found in two document boxes and two bound volumes, which contain an original and a Photostat copy of Weiser's ledger. The documents now in boxes were originally bound into two volumes, and their folders retain their volume and page numbers. This arrangement has been kept, although researchers should note that the order of items in the volumes is loosely chronological. Box 1 contains documents once bound in Volume 1; Box 2 contains those from Volume 2.

The manuscripts from Volumes 1 and 2 are mostly correspondence between Weiser and various members of the military and colonial governments in Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia. The correspondence pertains to Weiser's activities as an Indian agent, with only sparse references to his family or his other roles as minister, teacher, and farmer. His letters are often detailed, including the dates of previous correspondence, names of men involved in various issues, and the dates and locations of military conflicts. These letters often contain the details of planning meetings and treaty negotiations, offering a glimpse into the inner workings of colonial politics. Once the French and Indian War begins and he is named a lieutenant colonel, his letters focus on military matters, often describing the poor condition of the troops -- which were frequently poorly clothed, armed, and fed -- and his own difficulties. On one occasion, when trying to raise men for his company, he is in danger of being killed due to the mistrust the colonists have for a man who treats with the Native tribes (Vol. 1, Page 34). The accounts of skirmishes and battles in these letters highlight Weiser's importance to the British representatives in the colonies, as he relayed important information that helped them to plan their movements, both military and political.

Much of the correspondence is between Weiser and Richard Peters (1704-1776), an English immigrant heavily involved in Pennsylvania culture and politics. He was a rector at Christ Church in Philadelphia, secretary to a series of governors of Pennsylvania, director of the Library Company of Philadelphia (1750-1764), manager of Pennsylvania Hospital (1751-1752), member of the American Philosophical Society, and one of the founders of the University of Pennsylvania. Most of the letters between Peters and Weiser have to do with their involvement in colonial politics and relations with the Six Nations. As secretary to the governor, Peters dispatched all of Weiser's assignments as interpreter and emissary, and Weiser's reports to the governor about his diplomatic missions went through Peters.

Weiser's letters mention many men who had large roles in shaping colonial America, including Robert Hunter Morris (1700-1764), deputy governor of Pennsylvania from 1754-1756; William Johnson (c. 1715-1744), an important British commander and interpreter during the French and Indian War; Thomas Penn (1702-1775), proprietor of Pennsylvania after the death of his father, William Penn; William Allen (1704-1780), founder of Allentown, Pennsylvania, chief justice of Pennsylvania, and mayor of Philadelphia; Robert Dinwiddie (1693 -1770), lieutenant governor of Virginia; William Gooch (1681-1751), also a lieutenant governor of Virginia; George Washington (1732-1799); and fellow interpreter Andrew Montour (c. 1720-1772).

Aside from correspondence, Weiser's papers include many manuscripts. Weiser kept detailed expense accounts for his trips into the Pennsylvania and New York wilderness, which provide lists of items and people needed for these trips. These expenses include things like horses, guides, and supplies, but also gifts of food, clothing, and alcohol. These accounts frequently mention Shikellamy by name, when Weiser asks for money to pay for his services as guide and ambassador.

This collection also includes documents relating to Weiser's position as Berks County judge, which provide a glimpse into the early Pennsylvania and colonial United States legal system. More specifically, they contain an accusation of spousal abuse (Vol. 1, Page 43), an accusation from a colonist that a Nanticoke man sexually assaulted his daughter (Vol. 1, Pages 25-6), a slander case (Vol. 1, Page 20), and an accusation of adultery (Vol.1, Page 32).

Other manuscripts contain notes, speeches, muster rolls, lists of people killed, and miscellaneous writings. Of particular note is a draft of Weiser's 1741 "Advice to the Germans" in which he argues that German immigrants to the New World should be paying taxes to the British crown and encourages them to elect officials who support those taxes. He also kept notes during a meeting between himself and Six Nations representatives (vol. 1, page 22), notes which provide more details than are usually found in his letters. The last folders contain correspondence to and from one of Weiser's sons, Samuel Weiser, conducted after Conrad Weiser's death. Most of this material has to do with his debts and financial obligations, including those incurred for his father's funeral. Several documents deal with inheritance and debts that his father passed on, while others record Samuel's debts and expenses. There is also one letter from a friend that appears to anticipate the Revolutionary War, in which the writer expresses his apprehension and distaste about Great Britain's actions toward the colonies (Vol. 2, Page 213).

The two bound volumes in this collection are two versions of Weiser's ledger (an original and a Photostat copy), which contains records of his financial transactions from 1746 to 1760. The latter part of the ledger was written by his son, Conrad Weiser, a Berks County farmer, and covers the years 1773-1783.

Published manuscript guides indicate that the Conrad Weiser papers contained a Photostat copy Weiser's journal titled "A Journal of the proceedings of Conrad Weiser in his journey to Ohio" (1748). This item is missing as of 2013.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania November 2011

Conditions Governing Access note

This collection is open for research, although access to Conrad Weiser's ledger (Volume 3) and journal (Volume 5) are restricted due to their fragility. Researchers should use the photostat copy of the ledger available in this collection or access either digitized volume through our Digital Library.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

Gift of Heister H. Muhlenberg, 1838; Mr. Paul T. Anderson, 1961; Thomas F. Gordon, n.d.; portion purchased by Gratz Fund, 1936.

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Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

DuSimitiere's collection (LCP2)

Pennsylvania, Provincial Council minutes (Am .20195)

Berks and Montgomery counties miscellaneous papers (0044)

Berks County (Pa.) colonial papers (Am .1293)

Lancaster County papers (0352)

Maria Dickinson Logan collection (0382)

Northampton County papers (0456)

Penn family papers (0485A)

Jonah Thompson collection of colonial Pennsylvania documents (0655)

John Christopher Frederick Cammerhoff letters (Am .245)

Abraham H. Cassel description of the Indians Iroquois and Delaware (Am .541)

Easton Council minutes (Am .545)

The account book of Conrad Weiser, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1746-1760. Translation. (UPA Vg .1811 v.60)

Narrative of a journey from Tulpehocken, in Pennsylvania, to Onondago, the headquarters of the Six nations of Indians, made in 1737 by Conrad Weiser. Translation. (Va .64)

At other institutions:

Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA] at the National Archives (various locations).

Timothy Horsfield Papers (974.8 H78) at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

James Logan Papers (B L82) at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

Burd-Shippen Papers at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

Edward Shippen Papers (B Sh62) at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

Indian and Military Affairs of Pennsylvania (974.8 P19) at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

Miscellaneous Manuscripts (Misc. Manuscripts) at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

Benjamin Franklin Papers (B F85) at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

Minutes of Indian treaties and conferences, 1721-1760, [n.d.].at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

Manuscripts on Indian affairs (970.4 M415) at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

George Washington Papers in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C..

French and Indian War Orderly Books (1758-1760) at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, MA.

French and Indian War collection at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA.

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Controlled Access Headings

Genre(s)

• Letters.

Geographic Name(s)

• United States--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763.
• United States--Politics and government--1755-1783.

Occupation(s)

• Indian agents.

Personal Name(s)

• Abercromby, James, 1706-1781.
• Allen, William, 1704-1780.
• Bouquet, Henry, 1719-1765.
• Burd, James, 1726-1793.
• Dinwiddie, Robert, 1693-1770.
• Gooch, William, Sir, 1681-1751.
• Hamilton, James, 1710-1783.
• Handschuh, Johann Fridrich, 1714-1764.
• Hockley, Richard, d. 1774.
• Johnson, William, Sir, 1715-1774.
• Lee, Thomas, 1690-1750.
• Mercer, Hugh, ca. 1725-1777.
• Morris, Robert Hunter, ca. 1700-1764.
• Parsons, William, 1701-1757.
• Penn, Thomas, 1702-1775.
• Peters, Richard, 1704-1776.
• Washington, George, 1732-1799.

Subject(s)

• Berks County (Pa.)--History--18th century.
• Berks County (Pa.)--History.
• Iroquois Indians--18th century.
• Iroquois Indians--Early works to 1800.
• Iroquois Indians--Government relations--To 1789.
• Iroquois Indians--Government relations.
• Iroquois Indians--Land tenure--Early works to 1800.
• Iroquois Indians--Land tenure.
• Iroquois Indians--Treaties.
• Mohawk Indians--Early works to 1800.
• Mohawk Indians--Government relations.
• Mohawk Indians--History--18th century.
• Mohawk Indians--Land tenure.
• Native Americans.
• New York (State) History French and Indian War, 1755-1763.
• Pennsylvania--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763--Registers.
• Pennsylvania--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763.
• Pittsburgh (Pa.)--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763.
• Six Nations.
• United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
• United States--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763--Campaigns.
• United States--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763--Economic aspects.
• United States--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763--Personal narratives.
• United States--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763--Registers of dead.
• United States--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763--Registers.
• Virginia--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763.

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Bibliography

Conrad Weiser Homestead. n.d. Web. 10 November 2011. http://conradweiserhomestead.org

Graeff, Arthur D. Conrad Weiser -- Pennsylvania Peacemaker. Kutztown, Pa.: The Pennsylvania German Folklore Society, 1945.

Merrell, James H. Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999.

Washington, Ida H. "Conrad Weiser in fact and fiction." Monatshefte, 68.2 (Summer 1976).

Walton, Joseph Solomon. Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of Colonial Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, Pa.: George W. Jacobs & Company, 1900.

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Collection Inventory