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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... tell his own experience : " I went accordingly , on my father's request . I endured a great deal of cold in my situation , and by spring my hunger surpassed the cold by much , although I had but poor clothing . On account of the ...
... tell her name . She was a German emigrant , and of the province of New York . We judge her to have been her husband's junior by much , since she survived him by many years . Her step - son does not speak kindly of her . We will let the ...
... tell what more to call her . We , therefore , call for the record . And until that is produced , or its equavalent , we will permit John Rolfe , the handsome English planter of Virginia , to remain alone in the glory of having won and ...
... tell another . In speaking of the manners and customs of the Indians , the doctor says : The same hospitality , es- teemed among them as a principal virtue , is practised by private persons ; of which Conrad Weiser , our interpreter ...
... tell you so ; they have told me the same ; but I doubt the truth of what they say , and I will tell you my reasons . I went lately to Albany , to sell my skins , and buy blankets , knives , powder , rum , etc. You know I used generally ...