Jeanne Calment, has been documented to have lived more than 120 years. Chainbreaker was known to have lived an exceptionally long life, at least reaching the age of 100. He likely became recognized as a war chief for actions taken as a young adult. According to the historian Draper, Chainbreaker said he was two years old at the time of William Johnson's defeat of the French on Lake George in 1755, and 22 at the time of the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill. His death on December 26, 1859, was well documented. In his youth, Chainbreaker accompanied his uncle Cornplanter "on special missions to see General George Washington as well as to members of the Continental Congress". After the Revolutionary War, in 1788 Chainbreaker moved to the large area of land in Pennsylvania granted to his uncle Cornplanter for his service by the state legislature, after his home village (Canawaugus) was sold to the United States in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of Seneca lands. Converted to his uncle Handsome Lake's religion, Chainbreaker became an active promoter of traditional ways. In 1803, he moved with Handsome Lake to nearby Coldspring after a dispute with Cornplanter. While Chainbreaker continued to advocate "temperance, morality, and adherence to the overall principles of Handsome Lake," he rejected his uncle's "proscription against Indian participation in the 'white man's wars". By the 1840s Chainbreaker had formulated his own version of his uncle's traditional ways. He generally urged finding a path of compromise. He permitted missionaries and Western schooling on the Reservation and encouraged his followers to work toward social harmony and to take advantage of schooling. Involvement in regional warfare In 1777 Chainbreaker took part in the siege of Fort Stanwix and the Battle of Oriskany in British General St. Leger's part of the Saratoga campaign. In 1778 he participated in the Battle of Wyoming under the command of Colonel John Butler. In 1779 he attempted to defend Seneca settlements against the raid of Colonel Daniel Brodhead. Blacksnake carried messages for the British on a trail that passed through today's Napoli, New York. After his work on behalf of the British in the Revolutionary War, Chainbreaker became reconciled to the fact that United States had established independence and had forced the Seneca and other Iroquois nations from most of their lands. He fought on the American side in the War of 1812, and participated in the