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
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