Editing Nicholas Herkimer (section)

==Early life and career==

Herkimer was born in the vicinity of [[German Flatts, New York|German Flatts]] in the [[Mohawk River|Mohawk Valley]] of the [[Province of New York]], and was the elder brother of [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] officer [[Johan Jost Herkimer]]. Their parents were Catherine Petri and Johann Jost Herchheimer, a son of the [[Palatines|Palatine]] immigrant Georg Herchheimer or Hirchemer from [[Sandhausen]] in the parish of [[Leimen (Baden)|Leimen]] south of [[Heidelberg]].<ref>[[Henry Z Jones, Jr.|Jones, Henry Z, Jr.]], ''The Palatine Families of New York 1710''; Universal City, California. 1985, Vol. 1, p. 388-390.</ref> Nicholas was of slender build, with a dark complexion and black hair; he was not quite six feet tall. He could speak German, English and Mohawk. 

During the [[Attack on German Flatts (1757)|attack on German Flatts]] in the [[French and Indian War]], he was involved in its defense. He was made a captain in the [[New York Army National Guard|New York Militia]] on January 5, 1758, and repelled a second attack on German Flatts in April of that year. He built his new house in 1764 on the south shore of the Mohawk River, near the falls and the present-day city of [[Little Falls (city), New York|Little Falls]]; the estate was attended by Irish indentured servants and slaves.<ref>Falk, Cynthia G. "Forts, Rum, Slaves, and the Herkimer's Rise to Power in the Mohawk Valley," ''New York History'', 89 (Summer 2008), 221–34.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-22 |title=Slavery In The Mohawk Valley Event Thursday - New York Almanack |url=https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2017/08/slavery-in-the-mohawk-valley-event-thursday/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="paulaboehlert">{{cite book |title=The Battle of Oriskany and General Nicholas Herkimer: Revolution in the Mohawk Valley|author=Paul A Boehlert|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2013|pages=163}}</ref> Herkimer joined the [[Scottish Rite Freemasonry]], being initiated in the St. Patrick's Lodge in [[Johnstown, New York]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.matawanlodge.org/famous.htm | title = U.S. Famous Freemasons | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080510153526/http://www.matawanlodge.org/famous.htm | archive-date = May 10, 2008 | url-status = usurped}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://mastermason.com/PGH32/famousmasons.html | title = Famous Master Mason | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160104173702/http://mastermason.com/PGH32/famousmasons.html | archive-date = Jan 4, 2016 | url-status = live}}</ref>