The Life of (John) Conrad Weiser, the German Pioneer, Patriot, and Patron of Two RacesJohn Conrad Weiser was among very few colonial settlers to achieve fluency in Native American languages, working for decades as an interpreter and peacemaker between European settlers and native tribes. The services rendered by Conrad Weiser were immensely important to the colonists of North America. He spent time living with the Maqua tribe, learning their customs and culture, and achieving supreme command of their language. When disputes arose, Weiser was called upon - on several occasions, his mediation and diplomacy prevented disagreements from descending into violence. In maturity, he served as Superintendent of the Indian Bureau; an agency which promoted peaceful cooperation between Native Americans and white Europeans. This biography charts Weiser's humble beginnings in Germany, his boyhood emigration to America, and his first communications and residence with the Maqua. His greatest successes as interpreter and promoter of peaceful understanding are related in detail. Strongly revered for decades after his death in 1760, George Washington himself revisited Weiser's gravesite in 1793 to remember his contributions. Weiser remains a pivotal figure in the history of colonial America, and his house in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania is today a museum dedicated to study of the era. The author of this biography, Clement Zwingli Weiser, was a descendent keen on family research, who lived at the turn of the 20th century. |
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... Frederick Weiser , of the direct line , is at this time a resident of Gross - Aspach a statement which a lately emigrated nephew confirms . We may also state , on written and verbal authority , that the name Weiser may be traced on the ...
... Frederick , Christopher Frederick , Barbara and John Frederick . Seven of their children must , then , have preceded her to that unknown and silent shore . We feel constrained to add a tribute of regard over the ashes of such a " mother ...
... Frederick and Christopher Frederick , " were bound out , in 1711 , by the Governor of New York , with the consent of my father , to a gentleman on Long Island . " He speaks of another thus : " My youngest brother , John Frederick , died ...
... Frederick Hæger , Reformed clergyman , on the 22d of November , in my father's house , at Schoharie . " * The maiden name of his wife we have never found mentioned ; nor has any one else , so far as we could learn . Were we open to ...
... Frederick and Peter , had to go to Shamokin in his stead . His household seems to have been in the employ of the Province , as well as he . On the 31st day of October Governor Morris forwards his commission as " Colonel . " He ...