Christian Daniel Claus (17271787) was a Deputy Agent in the

British Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Canada in 1860, thus setting ...

and a prominent Loyalist during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. He was born September 13, 1727, at

Bönnigheim Bönnigheim () is a town in the German administrative district ( Kreis) of Ludwigsburg which lies at the edge of the areas known as ''Stromberg'' and ''Zabergäu''. The nearest large towns are Ludwigsburg and Heilbronn. Geography District ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

the son of Adam Frederic Claus and his wife Anna Dorothea. He arrived in America in 1749. In 1755, he was made a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Canada in 1860, thus setting ...

and a Deputy Secretary of Indian Affairs. He had lived with Joseph Brant and the Mohawks for a while and could speak their language. In September 1775, he was replaced as the deputy superintendent by Major John Campbell. In November, Daniel Claus sailed to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to appeal his case before the British House of Lords. He was given the post of deputy confined to working with the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

refugees in Canada. In August, 1777, he was appointed as agent of the Six Nations Indians by

Frederick Haldimand Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB (11 August 1718 – 5 June 1791) was a military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. From 1778 to 1786, he serve ...

. He died November 9, 1787, near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Family

Claus married Ann "Nancy" (Johnson) Weisenberg. Their son,

William Claus William Claus (1765–1826) was a member of the Executive Council of Upper Canada, a colonel of the Colonial militia in Canada, Canadian militia during the War of 1812, and the head of the British Indian Department, Indian Department in Upper Can ...

(1765–1826), was an leading figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

, where he was a member of the Executive Council, a prominent militia officer during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, and the Deputy Superintendent of the Indian Department. Daniel's father-in-law was Sir William Johnson, who was commissioned as the British Empire's first superintendent of Indian affairs from 1755 to 1774, and whose son,

Sir John Johnson Brigadier General Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet (5 November 1741 – 4 January 1830) was an American-born military officer, magistrate, landowner and colonial official in the British Indian Department who fought as a Loyalist during the America ...

, was Superintendent General of Indian Affairs from 1782 to 1828.http://www.uelac.org/Book-Reviews/PDF/Johnson-genealogical-chart.pdf

References

* * 1727 births 1787 deaths British Indian Department Colonial American Indian agents Loyalists in the American Revolution Canadian people of German descent {{US-gov-bio-stub