Nicholas Herkimer

Nicholas Herkimer was born around 1728 to Catherine and Johan Jost Herchheimer (There are many spellings for the name Herkimer.) in German Flatts south of the Mohawk River. He was a farmer and involved in trade and transport along the Mohawk. This included the portage around the "little falls" for people moving goods along the river.

Nicholas pursued a similar line of work of farming and trade near the present Little Falls area. About 1764 he built a larger home which is now Herkimer Home, State Historic Site. The building in English Georgian style was considered to be a "brick mansion" at that time.

By the 1770's Nicholas Herkimer was prominent member of the German-American community. He was a captain in the French and Indian War, and in 1776 he was elected chairman of the Tryon County Committee of Safety and commissioned brigadier general of the county's militia. In August 1777 he led a group of men toward Fort Stanwix to the west. In a ravine his men were ambushed on August 6, 1777 at the Battle of Oriskany.