Three Rivers
Hudson~Mohawk~Schoharie
History From America's Most Famous Valleys

The Story of Old Fort Plain and the Middle Mohawk Valley
by Nelson Greene
O'Connor Brothers Publishers, Fort Plain, NY 1915

CHAPTER III.
1774-Johnson Hall-Sir William, Sir John, Joseph and Molly Brant.

While Johnstown was not in the districts of either Canajoharie or Palatine, but was located in the Mohawk district, still it was the county seat and thus of importance to all of Tryon. The influence of the Johnson party was so strong before the Revolution and they formed such a large element of the Tory invaders of the valley that a glance at the Johnson Hall of pre-Revolutionary times is in order. This was the real seat of government in Tryon county. From the following standard accounts may readily be gained the secret of Sir William Johnson's tremendous popularity with the Indians and with all classes of the settlers. Prior to the Revolution Johnson Hall was the center of the political and social life of the county and for the people of its five districts of Mohawk, Canajoharie, Palatine, German Flats and Kingsland.

Beer's History of Montgomery and Fulton Counties (1878) gives the following account of Johnson Hall and the life about it prior to the death of Sir William Johnson in 1774: "After a residence of 24 years in the eastern part of the present county of Montgomery [at Fort Johnson]. during which he " had gained an immense estate by the profits of trade and the generosity of his Indian neighbors and had won a baronetcy by his successful campaign against the French and their Indian allies in 1755, Sir William removed to a stately mansion finished by him in the spring of 1763. The motive assigned for the baronets removal to this neighborhood is the promotion of settlements on his large domains hereabouts, on which he had already settled over one hundred families, generally leasing but sometimes selling the land. Among those to whom he leased, with the supposed purpose of establishing a baronial estate for his descendants, were Dr. William Adams; Gilbert Tice, innkeeper; Peter Young, miller; William Phillips, wagonmaker; James Davis, hatter; Peter Yost, tanner; Adrian Van Sickler, Maj. John Little and Zephaniah Bachelor.

"Johnson Hall, as Sir William Johnson named his new residence, at Johnstown, was at that time one of the finest mansions in the state outside of New York city. During its eleven years occupancy, like his former home on the Mohawk, it was a place of frequent resort for his Indian friends for grave councils and for less serious affairs. Here at the Hall, Johnson had the Indians hold annually a tournament of their national games. Concerning this, Gov. Seymour wrote: 'It was from this spot that the agents went forth to treat with the Indians of the west, and keep the chain of friendship bright. Here came the scouts from the forests and lakes of the north to tell of any dangerous movements of the enemy. Here were written the reports to the Crown, which were to shape the policy of nations; and to this place were sent the orders that called upon the settlers and savages to go out upon the war path.' Among the more illustrious guests of Colonial times, who divided with the Iroquois braves, the hospitalities of Johnson Hall were: Lady O'Brian, daughter of the Earl of Ilchester; Lord Gordon, whom Sir John Johnson accompanied to England, where he was knighted; Sir Henry Moore, governor of New York; Gov. Franklin of New Jersey, and other Colonial dignitaries. [Johnson Hall is still (1912) standing at Johnstown and is a most interesting place of resort for those who care for matters concerning Colonial New York and its life.] It is a wooden building sixty feet in length by forty in width, and two stories high, facing southeastwardly across lands sloping to the adjoining creek, on the higher ground beyond which the city stands. A spacious hall, fifteen feet wide crossed it in the center, into which on each floor opened large and lofty rooms wainscotted with pine panels and heavy carved work. At either end of the northwestern wall, a little apart from the house stood a square stone structure, loopholed, to serve as a blockhouse for the defense of the Hall. They were part of the fortifications, including a stockade, thrown up around the Hall in 1T63, in apprehension of an attack by the western tribes under Pontiac.

"Whatever time Sir William's official duties left him, was actively employed in the improvement of his estate and the condition of agriculture In the settlement. We find him obtaining superior seed oats from Saybrook, Conn., scions for grafting from Philadelphia, fruit trees from New London and choice seed from England. He delighted in horticulture and had a famous garden and nursery to the south of the Hall. He was the first to introduce sheep and blooded horses in the Mohawk valley. Fairs were held under his supervision at Johnstown, the baronet paying the premiums. His own farming was done by ten or fifteen slaves under an overseer named Flood. They and their families lived in cabins built for them across Cayadutta creek from the Hall. They dressed very much like the Indians, but wore coats made from blankets on the place. Sir William's legal affairs were conducted by a lawyer-secretary named Lefferty, who was the county surrogate at the time of Johnson's death. A family physician named Daly was retained by the baronet, serving also as his social companion in numerous pleasure excursions. A butler, a gardener, a tailor and a blacksmith were among the employees at the Hall, across the road from which the last two had shops.

"Sir William took a constant and lively interest in the welfare of his tenants, not only extending his bounty to their material needs, but providing for their spiritual and intellectual wants. One of his devices for their entertainment was the institution of 'sport days' at the Hall, at which the yeomanry of the neighborhood competed in the field sports of England, especially boxing and footracing. In the latter the contestants sometimes ran with their feet in bags [the modern sack race] and more amusement was furnished by horse races in which the riders faced backward; by the chase of the greased pig and the climbing of the greased pole; and by the efforts, of another class of competitors, to make the wryest face and sing the worst song, the winner being rewarded with a bearskin jacket and a few pounds of tobacco. A bladder of Scotch snuff was awarded to the greatest scold in a contest between two old women.

"Johnson died July 11, 1774, aged 59 years. He had long been liable to attacks of dysentery. In combating his disease he had, in 1767, visited and drunk of the spring, now famous as the High Rock of Saratoga. He is believed to have been the first white man to visit this spring, whose medical virtues had been reported to him by the Mohawks, a band of whom accompanied him to the spot, bearing him part of the way through the wilderness on a litter. His cure was only partial but even that becoming known, was the foundation of the popularity of the Saratoga springs. At the time of Sir William's death, the Indians were exasperated over the outrages committed upon them by the Ohio frontiersmen, Including the butchery of the famous Logan's kindred. The Iroquois had come with an indignant complaint to Johnson Hall. On the day the baronet died, he addressed them for over two hours under a burning sun. Immediately after he was taken with an acute attack of his malady and shortly died. Johnson had prophesied that he would never live to take part in the "struggle which all saw was then Impending.

"The baronet's funeral took place on the Wednesday following: his death and the pall bearers included Gov. Franklin of New Jersey and the judges of the New York supreme court. Among the cortege of 2,000 people who followed the remains to their burial, under the chancel of the stone church which Sir William had erected In the village, were the 600 Indians who had gathered at the Hall. These, on the next day, performed their ceremony of condolence before the friends of the deceased, presenting symbolic belts of wampum with an appropriate address."

Lossing in his "Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution," says of Johnson and Johnson's Hall: "Here Sir William lived in all the elegance and comparative power of a English baron of the Middle Ages. * * * * * * His Hall was his castle and around it, beyond the wings a heavy stone breastwork, about twelve feet high, was thrown up. Invested with the power and influence of an Indian agent of his government in its transactions with the Confederated Six Nations, possessed of a fine person and dignity of manners, and a certain style of oratory that pleased the Indians, he acquired an ascendancy over the tribes never before held by a white man. When in 1760, General Amherst embarked at Oswego on his expedition to Canada, Sir William Johnson brought to him at that place, 1,000 Indian warriors of the Six Nations, which was the largest number that had ever been seen in arms at one time in the cause of England. He made confidants of many of the chiefs, and to them was in the habit of giving a diploma testifying to their good conduct. His house was the resort of the sachems of the Six Nations for counsel and for trade, and there the presents, sent out by his government, were annually distributed to the Indians. On these occasions he amused himself and gratified his guests by fetes and games, many of which were highly ludicrous. Young Indians and squaws were often seen running toot races or wrestling for trinkets, and feats of astonishing agility were frequently performed by the Indians of both sexes. * * * * Sir William had two wives, although they were not made so until they had lived long with the baronet. Simms says that his first wife was a young German girl, who according to the custom of the times, had been sold to a man named Phillips living in the Mohawk valley, to pay her passage money lo the captain of the emigrant ship in which she came to this country. She was a handsome girl and attracted considerable attention. A neighbor of Sir William, who had heard him express a determination never to marry, asked him why he d'-d not get the pretty German girl for a housekeeper. He replied "I will." Not long afterward the neighbor called at Phillips's and inquired where the 'High Dutch' girl was. Phillips replied, 'Johnson, that tammed Irishman came tother day and offered me five pounds for her, threatening to horsewhip me and steal her if I would not sell her. I thought five pounds petter than a flogging and took it, and he's got the gal.' She was the mother of Sir John Johnson and two daughters, who became the wives respectively of Guy Johnson and Daniel Claus. These two girls, who were left by their dying mother to the care of a friend, were educated almost in solitude. That friend was the widow of an officer who was killed in battle, and, retiring from the world, devoted her whole time to the care of these children. They were carefully instructed in religious duties, and in various, kinds of needlework, but were themselves kept entirely from society. At the age of sixteen, they had never seen a lady, except their mother and her friend, or a gentleman, except Sir William, who visited their room daily. Their dress was not conformed to the fashions, but always consisted of wrappers of finest chintz over greensilk petticoats. Their hair, which was long and beautiful, was tied behind with a simple band of ribbon. After their marriage they soon acquired the habits of society, and made excellent wives. When she [the German wife] was on her deathbed Sir William was married to her in order to legitimate her children. After her death, her place was supplied by Molly Brant, sister of the Mohawk sachem, by whom he had several children. Toward the close of his life. Sir William married her in order to legitimate her children also, and her descendants are now some of the most respected people in upper Canada. Sir William's first interview and acquaintance with her * * * have considerable romance. She was a very sprightly and beautiful girl, about sixteen, when he first saw her at a militia muster. One of the field officers, riding upon a fine horse came near her and, by way of banter, she asked permission to mount behind. Not supposing she could perform the exploit, he said she might. At the word, she leaped upon the crupper with the agility of a gazelle. The horse sprang off at full speed, and clinging to the officer, her blanket flying and her dark hair streaming In the wind, she flew about the parade ground as swift as an arrow. The baronet, who was a witness of the spectacle, admiring the spirit of the young squaw and becoming enamored of her person, took her home as his wife. According to Indian customs, this act made her really his wife, and in all her relations of wife and mother she was very exemplary."

Joseph Brant was the strongest supporter of the Tory cause among the Iroquois. He was a fullbooded Mohawk. His father was a chief of the Onondaga nation and had three sons in the army with Sir William Johnson, under King Hendrick, in the battle at Lake George in 1755. Joseph Brant, his youngest son, whose Indian name was Thayendanegea, -which signified a bundle of sticks or, in other words, Strength, was born on the banks of the Ohio in 1742, whither his parents immigrated from the Mohawk valley. His mother returned to Canajoharie [district] with Mary or Molly and Thayendanegea or Joseph. His father Tehowaghwengaraghkwin, a chief of the Wolf tribe of the Mohawks, seems to have died in the Ohio country. Joseph's mother, after her return, married an Indian named Carrabigo (news-carrier), whom the whites named Barnet; but by way of contraction, he was called Barut and finally, Brant. Thayendanegea became known as Brant's Joseph or Joseph Brant. Sir William Johnson sent the young Mohawk to the school of Dr. Wheelock of Lebanon Crank (now Columbia), Connecticut, and, after he was well educated, employed him as secretary and as agent in public affairs. He was employed as missionary interpreter from 1762 to 1765 and exerted himself for the religious instruction of the tribe. When the Revolution broke out, he attached himself to the British cause, and in 1775 left the Mohawk valley, went to Canada and finally to England, where his education, and his business and social connection with Sir William Johnson, gave him free access to the nobility. The Earl of Warwick commissioned Romney, the eminent painter, to make a portrait of him for his collection, and from this celebrated painting most of the pictures of Brant have been reproduced. Throughout the Revolution, at the head of the Indian forces, he was engaged in warfare chiefly upon the border settlements of New York and Pennsylvania, in connection with the Johnsons and Butlers. He held a colonel's commission from the King but he is generally called Captain Brant. After the peace in 1783, Brant again visited England, and on returning to America, devoted himself to the social and religious improvement of the Mohawks who were settled upon the Grand River in upper Canada upon lands procured for them by Brant from Haldimand, governor of the province. This territory embraced six miles on both sides of the river from its mouth to its source. He translated the Gospel of St. Mark into the Mohawk language, and in many ways his efforts, for the uplifting of his people, were successful. He died at his residence at the head of Lake Ontario, Nov. 24, 1807, aged 65.

Sir John Johnson was the son of Sir William Johnson by his German wife. He was born in 1742 and succeeded to his father's title and estate In 1774. He was unsocial and without any of his father's brilliant cleverness. Soon after the close of the war. Sir John went to England and on returning in 1785, settled in Canada. He was appointed superintendent and Inspector general of Indian affairs in North America and for several years he was a member of the Canadian legislative council. To compensate him for the loss of his Tryon county property through confiscation, the British government made him several grants of land. He died at the house of his daughter, Mrs. Bowes, in Montreal, In 1830, aged 88 years. His son, Adam Gordon Johnson, succeeded him in his title.

John Butler was one of the leading Tories of Tryon county during the war of the Revolution. Before the war he was in close official connection with Sir William Johnson and, after his death, with his son and nephew, Sir John and Guy Johnson. When he fled with the Johnsons to Canada, his family were left behind and were subsequently exchanged for the wife and children of Colonel Samuel Campbell of Cherry Valley. He was active in the predatory warfare that so long distressed Tryon county, and commanded the 1,100 Tories and Indians who perpetrated the infamous Wyoming massacre in 1778. He was of the Tory and Indian force that fought Sullivan and Clinton in the Indian country in 1779. He accompanied Sir John Johnson in his Schoharie and Mohawk valley raid of 1780 which ended so disastrously for them at Klock's Field. After the war he went to Canada. His property upon the Mohawk was confiscated, but he was made an Indian agent, succeeding Guy Johnson at a salary of $2,000 per year and was granted a pension, as a military officer, of $1,000 more. Like his son, Walter, he was detested for his cruelties by the more honorable English officers and, after the massacre at Wyoming, Sir Haldimand, then Governor of Canada, sent word that he did not wish to see him. It is but justice to Col. Butler to say that he was far more humane than his son Walter. He died In Canada about 1800.