In 1710, nearly 3,000 Palatines came to the colony of New York. Originally from an area in southwestern Germany known as the Lower Palatinate, they were displaced when the French attacked and destroyed their lands. They first fled to Holland, then found temporary refuge in England. From there, most were sent to camps on New York's Hudson River to produce tar for the Royal Navy. Within a few years the tar camps closed, and the Palatines were again displaced.
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By 1723, New York's colonial Governor, William Burnet, secured 24 miles of land on both sides of the Mohawk River west of the Little falls for the Palatines. Johan Jost Herkimer was among the original settlers. He began farming, trading in furs, and buying and transporting supplies under contract to the British forts to the west. By the mid-18th century, Jost Herkimer had become one of the principal leaders of the Palatine community and had acquired more than 5,000 acres around the Little Falls, including the south portage road (today's Route 5S).
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