Last updated: October 10, 2024
Person
Daniel Claus
Library and Archives Canada
Quick Facts
Place of Birth:
Boennigheim, Germany
Date of Birth:
September 13, 1727
Place of Death:
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Date of Death:
November 9, 1787
Claus emigrated from the German states to North America in 1749. He engaged as the tutor to the son of Conrad Weiser, a Palatine German in Pennsylvania working as a liaison between that colony and the Six Nations Indians.
Claus accompanied Weiser on a mission to meet with the Onondagas in 1750. There he first met Sir William Johnson. Claus seems to have become enamored with the business of Indian affairs, and with the support of Pennsylvania’s governor, he returned to the Mohawk Valley to immerse himself completely in the culture of the Six Nations. It was the governor’s request that Claus work particularly with the Mohawk community at Ft. Hunter, and he established himself there in 1751. Claus also resumed his friendship with Johnson. Claus learned the Mohawk language and immersed himself in the Six Nation’s culture. When William Johnson received his appointment as Indian superintendent in 1755, it ended all colonial governors’ authority to conduct Indian affairs on their own and released Claus from his duties to Pennsylvania. Claus then accepted a commission from Johnson as a lieutenant in the Indian department and an appointment as deputy superintendent of Indian affairs. Claus accompanied Johnson on his campaign against Ft. St. Fredric (Crown Point) and took part in the Battle of Lake George. When the war ended, Claus continued his deputy superintendent position and Johnson put him directly in charge of the Indian nations of Canada. Claus married one of Sir William’s daughters in 1762. Despite his position as superintendent of the Canadian Indians, He and his wife settled in a house in the modern Amsterdam area, near Ft. Johnson. In 1768, Claus was appointed colonel of a regiment of Albany county militia. Claus retained his position as deputy superintendent after Johnson’s death, when Sir William’s nephew Guy Johnson became the new superintendent.
With the coming of the American Revolution, Claus retained his British loyalties. In 1775, he fled to Canada with Guy Johnson. Arriving there, he learned the British governor of Canada, Sir Guy Carleton had created his own Indian department and replaced Claus. He traveled to Britain in the winter of 1775 and spent two years there attempting to reestablish a position for himself. He finally returned in the spring of 1777 with a commission as superintendent of the Indians for the St. Leger expedition. It was the Indian scouts sent out by Claus that brought back reports that Fort Stanwix was too strong to be damaged by the small cannon St. Leger had with him. In the end however, St. Leger dismissed this information. Claus would later claim to his superiors that the scouting report was given early enough for St. Leger to have sent for heavier artillery if he had chosen to act upon it. The failure of the Stanwix expedition was also a personal blow for Claus as it ended his hopes of returning to his home, property, and life in the Mohawk Valley. In 1778, a new British governor, Sir Fredrick Haldimand, was appointed to Canada, and with more and more Six Nations Indians seeking refuge in Canada, Haldimand appointed Claus Deputy Superintendent of the Six Nations in Canada.
For the remainder of the war Claus would be based in Montreal overseeing scouting and intelligence gathering operations by combined groups of Six Nations Indians and Indian department rangers.
After the war, Claus worked at establishing lands and communities for Six Nations Indians who decided to settle in Canada. He also collaborated with Mohawk leader Joseph Brant to translate the English “Common Book of Prayer” into the Mohawk language. Claus actively pursued compensation from the British government for the loses he incurred in supporting the British during the war. It was during one of these trips to England seeking compensation that he died on November 9, 1787.