Guy Johnson
Guy Johnson (c. 1740 – 5 March 1788) was an Irish military officer and diplomat. He served on the side of the
Guy was appointed as William's successor in 1774. The following year, Johnson relocated with Loyalist supporters to Canada as tensions rose in New York during the American Revolution. He directed joint militia and Mohawk military actions in the Mohawk Valley. Accused of falsifying reports, he went to London to defend himself after the war, and died there in 1788.
Early life and education
Guy was the son of either John or Warren Johnson of Smithstown, Dunshaughlin,
In 1756, he sailed from Ireland and joined his uncle William in the Mohawk Valley of the Province of New York. He assisted his uncle, who was British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies. He was agent to the Iroquois, with whom the British had a strong trading diplomatic relationship.
Marriage and family
On 1763, Guy Johnson married William's daughter Mary (Polly), one of his children by his first consort, Catherine Weisenberg. His uncle (now also father-in-law) gave them a square mile of land on the Mohawk River, located in what is now Amsterdam. In 1773, their first home was destroyed by a lightning strike.
They replaced it in 1774 with a large limestone house in the Georgian style, which they called Guy Park. Soon after, they were forced to leave because of rising tensions in the area prior to the American Revolution. With other Loyalists, they went to Canada to settle near Fort Niagara. On the way, Polly Johnson died at Oswego.
Career
Guy Johnson became a deputy to Sir William in his uncle's position as British
American War of Independence
When the New York
Johnson received a letter from British commander
In September 1775, John Campbell was appointed in Montreal as the superintendent of the Canadian Indians.
Johnson and Brant returned to North America, landing in
He led forces against the colonials in the Mohawk Valley frontier, and his subordinates carried out the actions in what the Americans called massacres at
In 1781, General MacLean reported that Johnson's wartime accounts were "Extravagant, wonderful & fictitious, and the quality of articles so extraordinary, new & uncommon".[citation needed] Johnson was suspended as superintendent and summoned to Montreal, where the governor-in-chief, Frederick Haldimand, criticized his conduct as "reprehensible". Although never convicted, Johnson was in disgrace and in limbo. He went to London to defend his reports to the government and remained there. He died in 1788.
Legacy
The state of New York confiscated the property of Loyalists and sold the house after the war. While in private hands, the house was used as a stagecoach stop during the extensive nineteenth-century westward migration through New York State. Since the early twentieth century, the house has been preserved as a state historic site. Recently used as the Walter Elwood Museum for local history, it was severely damaged in late August 2011 by the flooding caused by Hurricane Irene.[4]
References
- Citations
- ^ Thomas S. Abler, "Guy Johnson, Benjamin West, and Cohoes Falls: Issues of (Mis)Identification" Archived 2010-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, New York History, Spring 2008, accessed May 4, 2010.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 472.
- ^ a b Leighton, Douglas (1979). "Campbell, John (1721-95)". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. IV (1771–1800) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Leyden, Liz (1 September 2011). "Manor That Has Stood for Centuries Teeters in Storm's Wake". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- Books
- Kelsay, Isabel. Joseph Brant, 1743–1807: Man of Two Worlds. 1984. ISBN 0-8156-0182-4
- ISBN 0-374-28128-9.
- Taylor, Alan. The Divided Ground. 2006. ISBN 0-679-45471-3