Mr. Schoolcraft is a native of New York, and is the descendant in the third generation, by the paternal line, of an Englishman.  James Calcraft had served with reputation in the armies of the Duke of Marlborough during the reign of Queen Anne, and was present in that general’s celebrated triumphs on the continent, in one of which he lost an eye, from the premature explosion of the priming of a cannon.  Owing to these military services he enjoyed and cherished a high reputation for bravery and loyalty.

He was a descendant of a family of that name, who came to England with William the Conqueror—­and settled under grants from the crown in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire—­three separate branches of the family having received the honor of knighthood for their military services.

In the reign of George the Second, consequently after 1727, he embarked at Liverpool in a detachment of veteran troops, intended to act against Canada.  He was present in the operations connected with the building of Forts Anne and Edwards, on the North River, and Fort William Henry on Lake George.

At the conclusion of these campaigns he settled in Albany county, N.Y., which has continued to be the residence of the family for more than a century.  Being a man of education, he at first devoted himself to the business of a land surveyor, in which capacity he was employed by Col.  Vroman, to survey the boundaries of his tract of land in the then frontier settlement of Schoharie.  At the latter place he married the only daughter and child of Christian Camerer, one of the Palatines—­a body of determined Saxons who had emigrated from the Upper Rhine in 1712, under the assurance or expectation of a patent from Queen Anne.[1] this marriage he had eight children—­namely, James, Christian, John, Margaret, Elizabeth, Lawrence, William, and Helen.

[Footnote 1:  Simms’ Schoharie.]

For many years during his old age, he conducted a large school in this settlement, being the first English school that was taught in that then frontier part of the country.  This appears to be the only tenable reason that has been assigned for the change of the family name from Calcraft to Schoolcraft.

When far advanced in life, he went to live with his son William, on the New York grants on Otter Creek, in the rich agricultural region south of Lake Champlain—­which is now included in Vermont.  Here he died at the great age of one hundred and two, having been universally esteemed for his loyalty to his king, his personal courage and energy, and the uprightness of his character.