Conrad Weiser, a distinguished officer and Indian agent, connected with the early provincial history of Pennsylvania, was born at Astaet, in Wurtemburg, November 12, 1696. In 1709 his father emigrated from Germany, and having arrived at New York, via England, in 1710, settled upon what were then known as Queen Anne's Bounty Lands, near Schoharie. In 1714 Conrad was taken by Inaquant, a chief of the Mohawks, who adopted him into that tribe, and instructed him in its language. In 1723, owing to some defect in the title to their lands, these German emigrants, accompanied by Weiser as interpreter, left Schoharie, and journeying to the head-waters of the Susquehanna, floated down that stream to the mouth of the Swatara, which they ascended and settled upon the head waters of the Tulpehocken, in Berks County, Pennsylvania, then a wilderness, and widely separated from the English settlements on the Delaware. In 1729 Conrad Weiser removed his family from New York, and settled permanently in Heidelberg, Berks County. In 1731 he was appointed Chief Indian Agent and Interpreter to the Province by Lieutenant Governor Gordon; in which capacity for nearly thirty years he conducted the entire business with the Indians of Pennsylvania, making numerous treaties with the tribes, and journeying from the northern lakes to the Ohio, in the discharge of his official duties. His journals of these expeditions are now being published in the Pennsylvania Archives, printed under the authority of that State. During the French war of 1754 he was appointed Colonel of the Pennsylvania regiment of foot, and in that capacity, until the restoration of peace, he had charge of the frontier defences from the Susquehanna to the Delaware. He also held a commission as Justice of the Peace for many years, and always discharged the duties of the numerous offices he held with fidelity and ability. So great was his influence over the Indians, that for years after his death they made annual visits to his grave, and repeatedly refused to make treaties or transact business with the Provincial authorities until he were present to act as their interpreter, stating, in 1736, that they had ever found him "faithful and honest, a true, good man, who had spoken their words, and not his own." The Six Nations, in token of their high esteem, bestowed upon him the honors of a Sachem and Warrior, and gave him a seat in their Grand Council Lodge at Onondaga. The Provincial Assembly also termed him, in their official proceedings, "our ever faithful Conrad: Weiser." These terms show that Colonel Weiser, whilst carefully guarding and advancing the interests of the Province, also respected the rights of the Indians as the lawful proprietors of the soil, and that his honesty, integrity, and humanity won him their confidence, and secured him their friendship. He was the father-in-law of the Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, the founder of the Lutheran Church in America, and by his exertions contributed much to the establishment of the church and settlement of the German emigrants of that persuasion. He died July 13, 1760, at the age of 64 years.
Source: A Biographical Dictionary: Comprising a Summary Account of the Lives of the Most Distinguished Persons of All Ages, Nations, and Professions; Including More than Two Thousand Articles of American Biography, 13th ed. John L. Blake, Philadelphia: H. Cowperthwait & Co., 1859, pp. 1303-1304.
Contributed by: Nancy.