Once again it's back to my old familiar stomping ground by trolling history's D-list in the eternal…read morequest to find out more about people few have heard of and even fewer care about.
Today's stop is the Conrad Weiser Homestead.
Who was Conrad Weiser? Why does he matter? Does he matter?
What will you see here? Is it worth your time coming here?
Weiser was born in Germany in 1696 as eventually one of sixteen children. From 1707-1709 a combination of invading French forces, the coldest winter in a century and the death of Weiser's mother cause the family to leave Germany for the Netherlands and eventually England.
In 1710 along with approximately 3,000 Germans they relocate to the Husdon River Valley of New York to work as indentured servants for the Crown who paid for their voyage.
Two years later released from their servitude and with the consent of his father, Conrad age fifteen left his Schenectady home to live with the Iroquois Indians for a period of eight months. During his stay in the winter and spring of 1712-1713, Weiser learned much about the Mohawk language and the customs of the Iroquois, while enduring hardships of cold, hunger, and homesickness.
Weiser's colonial service began in 1731. The Iroquois sent Shikellamy, an Oneida chief and friend of weiser, as an emissary to other tribes and the British. The Iroquois trusted him and considered him an adopted son of the Mohawks. Weiser impressed the Pennsylvania governor and council, which thereafter relied heavily on his services.
During the winter of 1737, Weiser attempted to broker a peace between southern tribes and the Iroquois. He had to survive high snow, freezing temperatures and starvation rations just to make the six-week journey to the Iroquois capital of Onondaga. Impressed with his fortitude, the Iroquois named Weiser Tarachiawagon (Holder of the Heavens). Spill-over violence from a war between the Iroquois and southern tribes such as the Catawba would have drawn Virginia and then Pennsylvania into conflict with the Iroquois. Therefore this peace-brokering had a profound effect on Native American/colonial relations.
Throughout his decades-long career, Weiser built on his knowledge of Native American languages and culture. He was a key player in treaty negotiations, land purchases, and the formulation of Pennsylvania's policies towards Native Americans. Because of his early experiences with the Iroquois, Weiser was inclined to be sympathetic to their interpretation of events, as opposed to the Lenape or the Shawnees. This may have exacerbated Pennsylvanian-Lenape/Shawnee relations, with bloody consequences in the French and Indian Wars.
Nevertheless, for many years, Weiser helped to keep the powerful Iroquois allied with the British as opposed to the French. This important service contributed to the continued survival of the British colonies and the eventual victory of the British over the French in the French and Indian Wars.
Between 1734 and 1741, Weiser became a follower of Conrad Beissel, a German Seventh Day Baptist preacher. For six years, he lived at the monastic settlement, Ephrata Cloister, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. www.yelp.com/biz/ephrata-cloister-ephrata
Weiser died on his farm on July 13, 1760. Upon his death, one Iroquois Indian noted to a group of colonists, "We are at a great loss and sit in darkness...as since his death we cannot so well understand one another." Indeed, shortly after Conrad Weiser's death, relations between the colonists and the Native Americans began a rapid decline.
There is more but Yelp only allows so many characters.
So with that said, what will you see at the Homestead. The answer I'm afraid is not much. The Conrad Weiser Homestead is on 26 acres of land. Seven total buildings exist on the property; three are open for touring. Two large monuments, a gazebo, the Weiser Family Cemetery, and a pond are also on the site.
The big draw here is actually just the park itself which is beautiful. Most of the buildings on site were built in the early 20th century when the park was being designed. The Sheetz Building (which houses the gift shop) is from the 1830's and the Weiser House may not even be where Weiser lived while he was alive so while nice, it's obviously a less than authentic experience.
Is the Homestead worth a visit once? Maybe but don't go out of your way for it and if you're really in the mood for D-List history a better choice would be Ehphrata Cloister, Daniel Boone Homestead or the Cornwall Iron Furnace sites.
Hours are below:
April through December: Open the first Sunday of every month, noon to 4 p.m. Summer Hours: June through August, Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Noon to 4 p.m.
