Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet of New York ( – 11 July 1774), was a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
officer and colonial administrator from
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
. As a young man, Johnson moved to the
Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...
to manage an estate purchased by his uncle,
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
officer
Peter Warren, which was located in territory of the
Mohawk, one of the Six Nations of the
Iroquois League
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
, or ''
Haudenosaunee
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
''. Johnson learned the
Mohawk language
Mohawk (; ''Kanienʼkéha'', " anguageof the Flint Place") is an Iroquoian language currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the Mohawk nation, located primarily in current or former Haudenosaunee territories, predominately Canada (souther ...
and Iroquois customs, and was appointed the British agent to the Iroquois. Because of his success, he was appointed in 1756 as British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for all the northern colonies. Throughout his career as a British official among the Iroquois, Johnson combined personal business with official diplomacy, acquiring tens of thousands of acres of Native land and becoming very wealthy.
Johnson commanded Iroquois and colonial militia forces against the French and their allies during the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
, the North American theater of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
(1754–1763) in Europe. His role in the British victory at the
Battle of Lake George in 1755 earned him a
baronetcy of New York. His
capture of Fort Niagara from the French in 1759 brought him additional renown. Serving as the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern district from 1756 until his death in 1774, Johnson worked to keep American Indians attached to the British interest. Johnson's counterpart for the southern colonies was
John Stuart.
Early life and career
William Johnson was born around 1715 in
County Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...
, in the
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label= Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...
. He was the eldest son of Christopher Johnson (1687–1764) of Smithstown,
Co. Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the so ...
and Anne Warren, daughter of Michael Warren of Warrenstown,
Co. Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the so ...
and Catherine Aylmer, sister of Admiral
Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer
Admiral of the Fleet Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer (ca. 1650 – 18 August 1720), of Covent Garden, Westminster, and Westcliffe, near Dover, was an Anglo-Irish Royal Navy officer and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House o ...
.
His mother Anne was from an "
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
" Catholic
gentry
Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past.
Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies
''Gentry'', in its widest c ...
family who had, in previous generations, lost much of their status to
Protestant English colonists. Christopher Johnson was descended from the
O'Neill of the Fews dynasty of
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...
. William Johnson's paternal grandfather was originally known as William MacShane, but changed his surname to ''Johnson'', the Anglicization of the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...
''Mac Seáin''. Some early biographers portrayed William Johnson as living in poverty in Ireland, but modern studies reveal that his family lived a comfortable, if modest, lifestyle. Although the Johnson family had a history of
Jacobitism
, war =
, image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766
, active ...
, William Johnson's uncle
Peter Warren was raised as a Protestant to enable him to pursue a career in the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
. He achieved considerable success, gaining wealth along the way.
As a Catholic, William Johnson had limited opportunities for advancement in the institutions of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
. Never particularly religious, Johnson converted to Protestantism when offered an opportunity to work for his uncle in
British America
British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas fro ...
.
Immigration to the colonies
Peter Warren had purchased a large tract of undeveloped land along the south side of the
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk ...
in the
province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...
. Warren convinced Johnson to lead an effort to establish a settlement there, to be known as Warrensburgh, with the implied understanding that Johnson would inherit much of the land. Johnson arrived in about 1738 with twelve Irish Protestant families and began to clear the land. He purchased
enslaved Africans to do the heavy labor of clearance; they were the first of many slaves bought by Johnson.
Warren intended Johnson to become involved in trading with
American Indians, largely the Mohawk and other of the Six Nations of the Iroquois, tribes who dominated the area west of
Albany. Johnson soon discovered that the trade routes were to the north, on the opposite side of the river from Warrensburgh. Acting on his own initiative, in 1739 Johnson bought a house and small farm on the north side of the river, where he built a store and a sawmill. From this location, which he called "Mount Johnson", Johnson was able to cut into Albany's Indian trade. He supplied goods to traders who were headed to
Fort Oswego, and bought furs from them when they returned downriver. He dealt directly with New York City merchants, thus avoiding the middlemen at Albany. The Albany merchants were irate, and Warren was not pleased that his nephew was becoming independent.
Johnson became closely associated with the
Mohawk, the easternmost nation of the Six Nations of the
Iroquois League
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
. By the time Johnson arrived, their population had collapsed to 580 persons, due to chronic
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...
s unwittingly introduced by Europeans and warfare with competing tribes related to the lucrative
beaver trade. The Mohawk thought an alliance with Johnson could advance their interests in the British imperial system. Around 1742, they adopted him as an honorary
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
, or civil chief, and gave him the name ''Warraghiyagey,'' which he translated as "A Man who undertakes great Things".
King George's War
In 1744, the
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George ...
spread to
colonial America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
, where it was known as
King George's War
King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...
. Because of his close relationship with the Mohawk, in 1746 Johnson was appointed by the British colonial government as New York's agent to the Iroquois, replacing the Albany-based Indian commissioners. The newly created "Colonel of the Warriors of the Six Nations" was instructed to enlist and equip colonists and Indians for a campaign against the French. Recruiting Iroquois warriors was difficult: ever since the so-called
Grand Settlement of 1701, the Iroquois nations had maintained a policy of neutrality in colonial wars between France and Great Britain. Working with the Mohawk
chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the bo ...
Hendrick Theyanoguin
Hendrick Theyanoguin (c. 1691 – September 8, 1755), whose name had several spelling variations, was a Mohawk leader and member of the Bear Clan. He resided at Canajoharie or the Upper Mohawk Castle in colonial New York.Sivertsen, Barbara J. ...
, Johnson recruited Mohawk warriors to fight on the side of the British.
Johnson organized small raiding parties, which were sent against the settlements of the French and their Indian allies. In accordance with New York's Scalp Act of 1747, Johnson paid bounties for
scalps, although he realized this encouraged the scalping of non-combatants of all ages and both sexes. In June 1748, Johnson was appointed as "Colonel of the New York levies", a position that gave him additional responsibility for the colonial militias at Albany. In July 1748, word was received of a peace settlement. The Mohawk had suffered heavy casualties in the war, which lessened Johnson's prestige among them for a while.
In 1748, Johnson built a new stone house upriver from Mount Johnson, which became known as
Fort Johnson. The home was strongly fortified when the next war approached. In 1755, Johnson shifted the primary meeting place for diplomatic councils between the British and the Iroquois from Albany to Fort Johnson. He also bought houses in
Schenectady
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
and Albany to stop at on his business trips to New York Town.
After King George's War, Johnson was caught between rival New York political factions. One faction was led by Governor
George Clinton, who had appointed Johnson as New York's Indian agent and, in 1750, appointed him to the
Governor's Council. Governor Clinton urged the
New York Assembly to repay Johnson's outstanding wartime expenses, which amounted to £2,000. Repayment was blocked by Clinton's political rivals, a faction led by Lieutenant Governor
James De Lancey, who was connected to the Albany Indian commissioners whom Johnson had supplanted. De Lancey was also the brother-in-law of Admiral Peter Warren, which added to the strain in the relationship between Johnson and Warren.
An exasperated Johnson resigned as New York's Indian commissioner in 1751. When Warren died in July 1752, he left nothing to Johnson in his will. Although Warren died a very wealthy man, in his will he required that Johnson repay the expenses incurred while settling Warren's land.
French and Indian War
In June 1753,
Hendrick Theyanoguin
Hendrick Theyanoguin (c. 1691 – September 8, 1755), whose name had several spelling variations, was a Mohawk leader and member of the Bear Clan. He resided at Canajoharie or the Upper Mohawk Castle in colonial New York.Sivertsen, Barbara J. ...
and a delegation of Mohawk traveled to New York City, where they announced to Governor Clinton that the
Covenant Chain—the diplomatic relationship between the British and the Iroquois—was broken. The British government ordered Clinton to convene the
Albany Congress of 1754 to repair the Covenant Chain. At the Congress, the Mohawk insisted that the alliance would be restored only if Johnson were reinstated as their agent.
Johnson's reinstatement as Indian agent came the following year, just as the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
, the North American theater of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, was escalating. In 1755, Major General
Edward Braddock
Major-General Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europ ...
, sent to North America to direct the British war effort, appointed Johnson as his agent to the Iroquois. Although Johnson had little military experience, he was commissioned as a
major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
and instructed to lead an expedition against the
French fort at
Crown Point. His troops were provincial soldiers paid for by the colonies, and not regular soldiers of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
, which meant that he had to deal with six different colonial governments while organizing the expedition.
Johnson initially had nearly 5,000 colonials at his command, but General
William Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts commissioned to lead a simultaneous expedition to
Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes. The fort is on the river's e ...
, shifted some of Johnson's men and resources to his own campaign against the French post. Tensions escalated as the two generals worked against each other in recruiting Native allies. The dispute was complicated by the unusual command structure: as Braddock's second-in-command, General Shirley was Johnson's superior officer, but when it came to Indian affairs, Johnson was theoretically in charge. In time, Shirley would blame the failure of his expedition on Johnson's refusal to provide him with adequate Indian support. According to the Johnson biographer Milton Hamilton, historians usually portrayed Johnson as acting unreasonably in the controversy with Shirley, but Hamilton argued that Johnson was reacting to Shirley's clumsy Indian diplomacy, which harmed the British relationship with the Six Nations.
Crown Point expedition
Marching north into French territory, in August 1755 Johnson renamed Lac du Saint-Sacrement to
Lake George in honour of his king. On 8 September 1755, Johnson's forces held their ground in the
Battle of Lake George. Johnson was wounded by a ball that was to remain in his hip or thigh for the rest of his life.
Hendrick Theyanoguin
Hendrick Theyanoguin (c. 1691 – September 8, 1755), whose name had several spelling variations, was a Mohawk leader and member of the Bear Clan. He resided at Canajoharie or the Upper Mohawk Castle in colonial New York.Sivertsen, Barbara J. ...
, Johnson's Mohawk ally, was killed in the battle, and
Baron Dieskau, the French commander, was captured. Johnson prevented the Mohawk from killing the wounded Dieskau, an act memorialized in later paintings of the event.
The battle ended the expedition against Crown Point. Johnson built
Fort William Henry at Lake George to strengthen British defences. In December, tired of army life, Johnson resigned his commission as a major general. General Shirley, who had become the commander-in-chief upon Braddock's death, sought to have Johnson's commission as Indian agent modified so that Johnson would be placed under his command. But Shirley was soon replaced both as governor and commander-in-chief, while Johnson's star was on the rise.
Although the Battle of Lake George was hardly a decisive victory, the British needed a military hero in a year of major setbacks, and Johnson became that man. Claims that Johnson had been disabled by his wound early in the battle, and thus did not participate in the victory, did not reduce the recognition given to him. As a reward for his services, Parliament voted Johnson £5,000 and
King George made him a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...
.
"Never was such an insignificant encounter so generously rewarded", wrote the historian Julian Gwyn.
In January 1756, the British government made Johnson sole
Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies. This position gave him great influence and power, since he would report directly to the government in London and would not be controlled by provincial governments, as the Indian Department was a military one. Of all the Indian nations in the northern colonies, Johnson was most knowledgeable about, and most closely connected to, the Iroquois Six Nations, especially the Mohawk. As superintendent, he would make the Iroquois the focus of British diplomacy, promoting and even exaggerating the power of the Iroquois Confederacy. Johnson also began a long process of trying to control Iroquois diplomacy, attempting "nothing less than the refurbishment of the Iroquois confederacy with himself as to its centre".
Capture of Fort Niagara
Although Johnson was no longer a British general, he continued to lead Iroquois and frontier militia. In August 1757, after the French began their
siege of Fort William Henry
The siege of Fort William Henry (3–9 August 1757, french: Bataille de Fort William Henry) was conducted by a French and Indian force led by Louis-Joseph de Montcalm against the British-held Fort William Henry. The fort, located at the south ...
, Johnson arrived at
Fort Edward with 180 Indians and 1,500 militia. Greatly overestimating the size of the French army, British General
Daniel Webb decided against sending a relief force from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry. The British were compelled to surrender Fort William Henry, after which many were killed in an infamous massacre. Stories circulated that Johnson was enraged by Webb's decision not to send help, and that he stripped naked in front of Webb to express his disgust.
With the war going badly for the British, Johnson found it difficult to enlist the support of the Six Nations, who were not eager to join a losing cause. In July 1758, he managed to raise 450 warriors to take part in a massive expedition led by the new British commander, General
James Abercrombie. The campaign ended ingloriously with Abercrombie's disastrous attempt to
take Fort Carillon from the French. Johnson and his Indian auxiliaries could do little as British forces stormed the French positions in fruitless frontal assaults.
In 1758, with the capture of
Louisbourg
Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia.
History
The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour ...
,
Fort Frontenac
Fort Frontenac was a French trading post and military fort built in July 1673 at the mouth of the Cataraqui River where the St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario (at what is now the western end of the La Salle Causeway), in a location traditiona ...
, and
Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed a ...
, the war's momentum began to shift in favour of the British. Johnson was able to recruit more Iroquois warriors. In the summer of 1759, he led nearly 1,000 Iroquois warriors—practically the entire military strength of the Six Nations—as part of General
John Prideaux's expedition to
capture Fort Niagara. When Prideaux was killed, Johnson took command.
He captured the fort after ambushing and defeating a French relief force at the
Battle of La Belle-Famille
The Battle of La Belle-Famille occurred on July 24, 1759, during the French and Indian War along the Niagara River portage trail. François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery's French relief force for the besieged French garrison at Fort Niagara fel ...
. Johnson is usually credited with leading or at least planning this ambush, but the historian
Francis Jennings
Francis "Fritz" Jennings (1918November 17, 2000) was an American historian, best known for his works on the colonial history of the United States. He taught at Cedar Crest College from 1968 to 1976, and at the Moore College of Art from 1966 to ...
argued that Johnson was not present at the battle, and that he exaggerated his role in official dispatches.
The conquest of Niagara drove the French line back from the Great Lakes. Once more, Johnson was celebrated as a hero, although some professional soldiers expressed doubts about his military abilities and the value of the Iroquois in the victory. Johnson commanded the "largest Native American force ever assembled under the British flag."
Johnson accompanied General
Jeffery Amherst in the final North American campaign of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, the
capture of Montreal in 1760. With the fall of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
to the British, Johnson and his deputy
George Croghan
George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governin ...
spent much time negotiating with the former Indian allies of the French. In 1761, Johnson made a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) round trip to Detroit to hold a conference with the regional American Indians. Johnson confronted the assembled chiefs about the anti-British rumours that were circulating among the Natives, and managed, for the time being, to forestall outright resistance to the British military occupation of the West.
Normand Macleod met Johnson at this conference and returned with him to New York. Macleod was later appointed as commander of
Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario.
Postwar development
After the French and Indian War, Johnson hoped to concentrate on expanding and improving his land holdings. In December 1760, the Mohawk of
Canajoharie
Canajoharie (), also known as the "Upper Castle", was the name of one of two major towns of the Mohawk nation in 1738. The community stretched for a mile and a half along the southern bank of the Mohawk River, from a village known as ''Dekanohag ...
gave Johnson a tract of about north of the Mohawk River. This grant proved to be controversial because other land speculators had already obtained licenses to purchase lands that the Mohawk released for sale, but Sir William had not. In 1769, after years of manoeuvring and lobbying, Johnson finally gained royal approval for the grant. This was one of several large tracts of land that Johnson acquired from the Mohawk and Iroquois using his position as a royal Indian agent. By the time of his death, Johnson had accumulated about and was one of the largest land owners in
British America
British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas fro ...
, surpassed only by the
Penn and
van Rensselaer families. According to historian Julian Gwyn:
In all this he acted no differently from dozens of other speculators in Indian lands. He was distinguished only by the great advantages he possessed through his office and his long intimacy with the Indians. He was indeed one of their principal exploiters....
In 1762, Johnson founded the city of
Johnstown on his grant, about west of
Schenectady
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
, New York, north of the Mohawk River. He named the new settlement, originally called John's Town, after his son John. There, at the Crown expense,
he established a free school for both white and Mohawk children.
Outside the town, in 1763 he built
Johnson Hall, where he lived until his death. He recruited numerous Irish immigrant tenant farmers for his extensive lands, and lived essentially as a feudal landlord. He also purchased enslaved Africans to work as labourers, especially in his lumber operations. Johnson had some 60 slaves working for him, making him the largest slaveholder in the county and likely in the province, comparable to major
planters
Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentil ...
in the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. In 1766, Johnson organised St. Patrick's Lodge, No. 4, a
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
lodge, at Johnson Hall, and was installed as its master. His nephew
Guy Johnson succeeded him as master of this lodge in 1770.
Johnson was a strong supporter of the Anglican Church in the colony.
To counter the influence of French Catholic missionaries in western New York, in 1769 he paid for the construction of an Anglican church for the Mohawk of ''
Canajoharie
Canajoharie (), also known as the "Upper Castle", was the name of one of two major towns of the Mohawk nation in 1738. The community stretched for a mile and a half along the southern bank of the Mohawk River, from a village known as ''Dekanohag ...
'', a village the British called the "Upper Castle". The building, later used by European-American congregations and known as
Indian Castle Church
Indian Castle Church is a historic mission church at Indian Castle in Herkimer County, New York. The church is located on NYS Route 5S near present-day Danube. It is a one-story, rectangular wood-frame structure, clad in clapboard with a gable ...
, still stands near
Danube, New York
Danube is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 1,039 at the 2010 census. Early Palatine German immigrants in the eighteenth century named the town after the Danube River in Europe.
The town is in southeastern Her ...
. It is part of the
Mohawk Upper Castle Historic District, a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
. In 1771, Johnson built St. John's Episcopal Church in Johnstown, but soon complained that it was "small and very ill built." Within five years, he arranged for a larger church of stone to be constructed to accommodate the growing congregation in Johnstown. The historic church is still operating.
Pontiac's War and final years
In 1763,
Pontiac's War
Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–17 ...
resulted from Native American discontent with British policy following the French and Indian War. For several years prior to the uprising, Johnson had advised General
Jeffery Amherst to observe Iroquois diplomatic practices, for instance, awarding gifts to Native leaders, a practice they considered an important cultural symbol of respect and significant to maintaining good relations. Amherst, who rejected Johnson's advice, was recalled to London and replaced by General
Thomas Gage
General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army general officer and colonial official best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as British commander-in-chief in the early days of t ...
. Amherst's recall strengthened Johnson's position, because a policy of compromise was required with the Indians, and this was Johnson's domain. Johnson negotiated a treaty with
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
in 1766, which finally ended the war.
From July to August 1764, Johnson negotiated a
treaty at Fort Niagara with about 2,000 American Indians in attendance, primarily Iroquois. Although most Iroquois had stayed out of the war, the Seneca from the
Genesee River
The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States.
The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...
valley had taken up arms against the British, and Johnson worked to bring them back into the
Covenant Chain alliance. Johnson convinced the Iroquois to send a war party against the Seneca involved in the uprising, but otherwise the Iroquois did not contribute to the war effort as much as Johnson had desired.
Johnson was a proponent of the
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. The Procla ...
, which called for tighter imperial control and restraint of westward colonial expansion. Johnson negotiated the details of the boundary defined in the
Fort Stanwix Treaty
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotiated between Sir William ...
of 1768. Against instructions from London, Johnson pushed the boundary to the west, enabling him and other land speculators to acquire much more land than originally authorised by the British government. Johnson was strongly criticised for exceeding his instructions, but many of the land speculators were well-connected in the government, and the expanded boundary was allowed to stand. During this time he became a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
through his election to membership in 1768.
Native American discontent continued to grow in the west in the 1770s. Johnson spent his final years attempting to prevent another uprising like Pontiac's War. Pursuing a policy of
divide and rule
Divide and rule policy ( la, divide et impera), or divide and conquer, in politics and sociology is gaining and maintaining power divisively. Historically, this strategy was used in many different ways by empires seeking to expand their ter ...
, he worked to block the emergence of intertribal Native American alliances. His final success was his isolation of the
Shawnee
The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
before
Dunmore's War in 1774.
Marriage and family
In his lifetime, Johnson gained a reputation as a man who had numerous children with several European and Native American women. At the time, men were not ostracised for having illegitimate children, as long as they could afford it and supported them. One 20th-century scholar estimated that Johnson had perhaps 100 illegitimate children, but the historian Francis Jennings argued that "there is no truth in wild stories that he slept with innumerable Mohawk women."
In his will, Johnson acknowledged children by Catherine Weisenberg and
Molly Brant, German and Mohawk, respectively, with whom he had long-term relationships. He implicitly acknowledged several other children by unnamed mothers.
In 1739, shortly after arriving in America, Johnson began a relationship with Catherine Weisenberg (c. 1723–1759), a German immigrant from the
Electorate of the Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine o ...
. She originally came to the colonies as an
indentured servant
Indentured servitude is a form of Work (human activity), labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensa ...
, but had run away, perhaps with the help of friends or relatives. According to tradition, she was working for another family near Warrensburgh when Johnson purchased the remainder of her indenture contract, perhaps initially to have her serve as his housekeeper. While there is no record that the couple ever formally married, New York did not require civil marriage licenses or certificates to be filed at that time, and Weisenberg was Johnson's
common-law wife.
The couple had three known children together, including daughters
Nancy and Mary (Polly), and a son John, first christened only under the surname Weisenberg at Fort Hunter. The senior Johnson later arranged for his son John to inherit his title and estates as
John Johnson. A grandson of Sir William Johnson was the 3rd Baronet Sir Adam Gordon Johnson who was, through his grandmother Ann Watts, a descendant of the
Schuyler,
Delancey, and
Van Cortlandt families of
British North America
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestow ...
.
At the same time, Johnson had a relationship with Elizabeth Brant, a Mohawk woman by whom he had three known children: ''Keghneghtago'' or Brant (born in 1742), Thomas (1744) and Christian (1745); the latter two boys died in infancy. About 1750, Johnson had a son named ''Tagawirunta,'' also known as William of
Canajoharie
Canajoharie (), also known as the "Upper Castle", was the name of one of two major towns of the Mohawk nation in 1738. The community stretched for a mile and a half along the southern bank of the Mohawk River, from a village known as ''Dekanohag ...
, by a Mohawk woman, possibly Margaret Brant, Elizabeth's younger sister. Johnson may have also been intimate with the sisters Susannah and Elizabeth Wormwood, and an Irish woman named Mary McGrath by whom he appeared to have had a daughter named Mary. Mary, ''Keghneghtago'' (Brant), and ''Tagawirunta'' (William) received inheritances in Johnson's will.
In 1759, Johnson began a common-law relationship with
Molly Brant, a Mohawk woman who lived with Johnson as his consort at
Johnson Hall for the rest of his life. Molly was the older sister of
Joseph Brant
Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. Perhaps ...
, who joined the household when he was young. Johnson's relationship with Molly gave him additional influence with the Mohawk. The couple had eight children together, all of whom received land from Johnson by his will. A grandson of William Johnson and Molly Brant was William Johnson Kerr, who married Elizabeth Brant, a daughter of
Joseph Brant
Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. Perhaps ...
and granddaughter of
George Croghan
George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governin ...
and their Mohawk wives.
Death and legacy
Johnson died from a stroke at Johnson Hall on 11 July 1774 during an Indian conference.
Guy Johnson, William's nephew and son-in-law (he had married Mary/Polly), reported that Johnson died when he was "seized of a suffocation." His funeral in Johnstown was attended by more than 2,000 people. His pallbearers included Governor
William Franklin
William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial Go ...
of New Jersey and the justices of the New York Supreme Court. He was buried beneath the altar in
St. John's Episcopal church, the church he founded in Johnstown. The next day chiefs of the Six Nations performed the
condolence ceremony
The condolence ceremony or condolence council is a part of the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace. It governs succession to political offices after a leader dies.
The ceremony is held in the community whose leader has died. Attendees are divided int ...
and recognized Guy Johnson as Sir William's successor.
During the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, the rebel New York legislature seized all of Johnson's lands and property, as his heirs were
Loyalists
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
. In 1960 Johnson Hall was named a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
. It is a designated
State Historic Site and open to the public.
Johnson's most important legacy is the comparatively peaceful co-existence of Anglo-Americans and Indians during his tenure as Indian Agent for British North America. As an adopted Mohawk chief and husband of Mohawk Mary (Molly) Brant, according to Iroquois law, he was a trusted counselor and member of the Mohawk nation. Through that affiliation, he was considered a member of the Six Nations of the Iroquois. That position gave him standing not only to lead Iroquois into battle on the side of the English, but also to negotiate two treaties of
Fort Stanwix (which developed as modern-day
Rome, New York
Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which l ...
). While the treaties deprived many Indians of land without their knowledge, they gave favorable terms to the Iroquois, and resulted in decades of comparative peace between traditional Indian residents and new settlers.
Co-existence was part of Johnson's other major historical legacy: the protection of British sovereignty and Anglo-American settlement as a bulwark against French control of northern New York and the
Great Lakes region
The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...
more generally. Johnson was instrumental in sustaining British-Iroquois alliance through the
Covenant Chain, which consolidated both Iroquois and British territorial and commercial interests against the rival Algonquin and French interests in
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
before 1763. After Britain assumed control of former French territories east of the Mississippi River, Johnson eventually won a political dispute over Indian policy with
Lord Jeffery Amherst. He had disdained the Iroquois alliance which Johnson had so devoted himself to nurturing and defending. It was to Johnson that
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
finally surrendered after the eventual failure of the
conflict named for him.
Old Fort Johnson
Old Fort Johnson is a historic house museum and historic site at 2 Mergner Road (junction of New York State Routes 5 and 67) in Fort Johnson, New York. It is the site of Fort Johnson, a two-story stone house originally enclosed in fortifica ...
, his first home built in 1749, is on the
Historic American Buildings Survey
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
. It is now used by the Montgomery County Historical Society, which operates a museum and gift shop there, as well as allowing it to be an event venue.
Guy Park Manor, built in 1773, for Sir William's daughter Mary (Polly) and her husband, his nephew Guy Johnson, is also open to the public.
In popular culture
The
Johnstown High School mascot is the "Sir Bill" in Johnson's honor (or "Lady Bill" for all-female teams). The teams' sportswear often depicts Johnson's silhouette, wearing a
tricorne hat.
Johnson appears as an
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist.
Etymology
The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, ri ...
as a secret member of the
Templar Order in the 2012 video game ''
Assassin's Creed III.'' He is instructed by the Templars to seize and control Native American lands and in retaliation he is killed by the game's Mohawk
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
,
Ratonhnhaké:ton. He also makes an appearance in the 2014 video game prequel ''
Assassin's Creed Rogue'' where he allies and helps mentor the game's protagonist,
Shay Patrick Cormac
The ''Assassin's Creed'' media franchise, which primarily consists of a series of open-world action-adventure stealth video games published by Ubisoft, features an extensive cast of characters in its historical fiction and science fiction-bas ...
.
He is a prominent character in the book ''
Manituana
''Manituana'' is a novel by Wu Ming first published in Italian in 2007.
Wu Ming is a collective of five authors founded in 2000. The members were formerly associated with the Luther Blissett Project and wrote the international best-selling novel ...
'' by
Wu Ming. He also features in
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
's novel, ''
The Master of Ballantrae'' (1889).
Johnson was portrayed by
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 ('' GoldenEye'', '' Tomorro ...
in the
television movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''
The Broken Chain'' (1993).
Johnson was portrayed by actor Jeff Monahan in the PBS docudrama
The War that Made America
''The War that Made America'' is a PBS miniseries (produced by WQED Pittsburgh) about the French and Indian War, which was first aired in two parts on January 18 and 25, 2006. The series features extensive reenactments of historical events, with ...
(2006). Monahan studied contemporary physical deportment and speaking in a northern Irish accent for the role.
''Wilderness Empire'' (1968), by
Allan W Eckert, tells Johnson's story through the device of
historical fiction
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...
. Eckert bases his novel on historical documents but also creates imagined events and dialogs that make it accessible to the average reader.
Ancestors
References
Citations
General References
*
*
*
*
Further reading
External links
Sir William Johnson, 1715-1774 - Papers, 1738-1808 (finding aid)at the
New York State Library
The New York State Library is a research library in Albany, New York, United States. It was established in 1818 to serve the state government of New York and is part of the New York State Education Department. The library is one of the largest ...
, accessed May 18, 2016.
Johnson Hall State Historic SiteFort Johnson Historic Landmark*
at
the Newberry LibraryReferences to Sir William Johnson in Haldimand Collection (Papers) recording purchases of daily goods made by Johnson's household between the years 1768–1773. A transcription (by Dr. Michael D. Elliot) of Hamilton's 1962 edition.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, William, Sir, 1st Baronet
1715 births
1774 deaths
British Indian Department
People of the Province of New York
People from County Meath
18th-century Irish people
Irish soldiers
Irish generals
Irish slave owners
Irish colonial officials
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
British military personnel of the French and Indian War
British people of Pontiac's War
Colonial American generals
Colonial American Indian agents
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Kingdom of Ireland emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
O'Neill dynasty
American city founders
Members of the New York Executive Council