| abstract | - He was the son of Palatine German immigrants Catherine Petrie and Johann Jost Herchheimer (one of various spellings) from the German Electorate of the Palatinate living in German Flats in the Mohawk Valley in the Colony of New York, and the elder brother of Captain Johan Host Herkimer. He was of slender build, dark complexion, black hair, and not quite 6 feet tall. He could speak both German and Iroquois. During the Attack on German Flatts in the French and Indian War, he was involved in its defense. He was made a captain in the militia on January 5, 1758 and he repelled a second attack on German Flatts in April 1758. He built his new house in 1764 near the present day city of Little Falls on the south shore of the Mohawk. He used a large number of slaves on his estate.
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