Military officer; born in
Smithtown,
County Meath, Ireland, in 1715; was educated for a merchant, but an unfortunate love affair changed the tenor of his life.
He came to
America in 1738 to take charge of landed property of his uncle,
Admiral Sir Peter Warren, in the region of the
Mohawk Valley, and seated himself there, about 24 miles west of
Schenectady, engaging in the
Indian trade.
Dealing honestly with the Indians and learning their language, he became a great favorite with them.
He conformed to their manners, and, in time, took Mary, a sister of
Brant, the famous
Mohawk chief, to his home as his wife.
When the
French and Indian War broke out
Johnson was made sole superintendent of Indian affairs, and his great influence kept the Six Nations steadily from any favoring of the
French.
He kept the frontier from injury until the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748).
In 1750 he was a member of the provincial council.
He withdrew from his post of superintendent of Indian affairs in 1753, and was a member of the convention at
Albany in 1754.
He also attended grand councils of the Indians, and was adopted into the
Mohawk tribe and made a sachem.
At the council of governors, convened by
Braddock at
Alexandria in 1755,
Johnson was appointed sole superintendent of the Six Nations, created a major-general, and afterwards led an expedition intended for the capture of
Crown Point.
The following year he was knighted, and the
King gave him the appointment of superintendent of Indian affairs in the
North; he was also made a colonial agent.
He continued in the military service during the remainder of the war, and was rewarded by his
King with the gift of 100,000 acres of land north of the
Mohawk River, which was known as “
Kingsland,” or the “Royal
Grant.”
Sir William first introduced sheep and blooded horses into the
Mohawk Valley.
He married a German girl, by whom he had a son and two daughters; also eight children by Mary (or Mollie)
Brant, who lived with him until his death.
Sir William lived in baronial style and exercised great hospitality.
He died in
Johnstown, N. Y., July 11, 1774.
