| Family pages for Sir William Johnson, Sir John Johnson, and Fort Johnson in the Mohawk Valley. | ||||||||||||
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This is page 2 of theJohnson Family. Sir William Johnson story, we have come to know, begins with his arrival in Boston 1737. These pages will develop into the story of the Johnson family and associates through articles, biographies, opinion, family papers, and web links throughout North America. We welcome your feedback and help, with our understanding of this influential and complex family that helped shape the Northeastern America we live in today. If you know of a historically accurate website or resource, that we could include on these pages, please contact us at webmaster@oldfortjohnson. Thank you for your interest and we hope you are able to visit the fort this coming season. |
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| SIR JOHN JOHNSON
Sir John Johnson, the eldest son and heir of Sir William Johnson and Catherine Weisenberg, was born at Warrenbush, November 5, 1742. He was one of his father's chief lieutenants during the French and Indian War and was sent to London in 1765 to be knighted for his services. He stayed in London until 1767 and returned to the Valley as a great supporter of the King. When Sir William moved to Johnson Hall in 1763, Sir John took up residence at Fort Johnson and is responsible for the major renovations that occurred at the Fort before his marriage to Mary (Polly) Watts on June 30, 1773. John and Polly remained at Fort Johnson until his Sir William’s death in 1774, and then moved to Johnson Hall. In the Revolution he led several devastating raids on the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys. After the Revolution, he remained in Canada where he played a major role in Canadian history as the founder of the province of Ontario. He died at the age of eighty-eight at Montreal, January 4, 1830.. |
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| Rootsweb article of John Johnson Short bio and picture. |
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| Reprint from the PublicBookshelf site We are reprinting this short article, rather than linking to the site, because there are some HTML problems with the page currently. |
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| Johnson Mill We are linking to an article by John A. Macdonell. |
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| Johnson House in Williamstown Ontario Couple of pictures and directions to the house, on the Canadian site. Along the banks of the Raisin River in the village of Williamstown can be found one of the oldest homes in Ontario. The five-bay Georgian style log house was built for Sir John Johnson between 1784-1792. The house, with its associated grist and saw mills, provided a focus for the community of United Empire Loyalists and later, for the fir traders of the North West Company. Another site about Sir John's house at Williamstown. |
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Catherine Weisenberg played an important role in William Johnsons early years in the Mohawk Valley. She was at his side as he began a prosperous trade with the Mohawk Indians and bore him three children, Ann, Mary and John. She died in 1759 while at Fort Johnson and the location of her grave remains a mystery to this day.
 This artwork by Tom Lydon, can be seen at artworkoriginals Mary or Magdalene ‘Molly’ Brant, a Mohawk Indian, was born about 1736. William Johnson’s relationship with her began in 1759 when she was 23 and he 44. Their relationship was important not only to themselves but to the whole continent. She ran his household, governed their 8 children, successfully interacted with his many important guests, actively assisted Sir William in Indian-related matters, and was much more than the ‘housekeeper’ she was diplomatically titled in Johnson’s will. After Sir William’s death Molly moved to Canajoharie and attempted to live quietly, but when the Revolutionary War began she sought sanctuary with the British at Niagara. Throughout the war, Molly Brant was of much service to the crown. A house was built for her and she was awarded some compensation for her losses and a life pension of one hundred pounds per year. After the war, Molly was forced by circumstances to remake her life in Ontario. She died in Kingston on April 16th, 1796.  The image on this 1986 Canada Post stamp is an idealized portrait. There are no known paintings or illustrations of Molly Brant |
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| Who is Molly Brant of Fort Johnson Biographical and archaeological article on the Cataraqui Archaeoligical Research Foundation site in Canada. Canadian Biography Online Woman of Two Worlds, Molly Brant |
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| Molly Brant -influential Mohawk woman Essay on Molly at nativepubs.com site. |
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| Woman Spirit -by Julie White Article we found on the nicely designed "Innerspace" site. Family Tree is from Wikipedia  |
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| Back to page 1 and William Johnson | ||||||||||||
| Please report broken links to webmaster@oldfortjohnson.org | ||||||||||||