Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Hendrick

HENDRICK, Mohawk chief, b. about 1680; d. near Fort George, N. Y., 8 Sept., 1755. His home was at the Upper Castle, on the Mohawk river. At an early age he cast his lot, with most of the Six Nations, on the side of the British, whom he ever served with courage and fidelity. In 1751 he was consulted by the commissioners of Massachusetts on the project of removing the Mohawks to Stockbridge, to be instructed and domesticated, and in June, 1754, attended the congress, at Albany, that was called for the purpose of making a treaty with the Six Nations. At this meeting Lieut.-Gov. James De Lancey made an address to the sachems on pending military affairs, to which Hendrick replied with earnestness and eloquence. He accused the British generals altogether of over-cautious tardiness and a lack of military spirit. In 1755 he joined the army of Sir William Johnson, with a body of several hundred Indian warriors, and marched against the French forces under Baron Dieskau. At Rocky Point a detachment of 1,200 British and Indians, led by Col. Williams and himself, fell into an ambuscade, and in the action both leaders were slain. Several years before his death Hendrick induced the tribes to transfer to Sir William Johnson about 100,000 acres of choice land for a nominal consideration. When he was in battle this chief usually wore the uniform of a British officer, and sometimes a veil also, as seen in the accompanying portrait.