Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet
John Johnson | |
|---|---|
 A portrait of Johnson in 1792 | |
| Superintendent General of Indian Affairs | |
| In office March 14, 1782 – January 4, 1830 | |
| Preceded by | Guy Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Duncan Campbell Napier |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Wysen Bergh 5 November 1741 Amsterdam, New York |
| Died | 4 January 1830 (aged 88) Montreal, Canada |
| Spouses | Clarissa Putman
(1765–1773)Mary Nicoll Watts
(m. 1773; died 1815) |
| Children | 20 |
| Parent(s) | Brigadier general |
| Battles/wars | Revolutionary War |
Sir John moved to Canada during the American Revolutionary War with his family and allies, as he was at risk of arrest by Patriot authorities. During the war, he led the King's Royal Regiment of New York and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1782. That year Sir John Johnson was also appointed as Superintendent General and Inspector General of Indian affairs, a position he filled until his death in 1830. After the war, he was appointed by the Crown to distribute lands in Upper Canada to exiled Loyalists, and estimated he helped resettle nearly 3800 in 1784. He also served in the Legislative Council of Lower Canada.
Early life
Johnson was born near
His paternal grandparents were Christopher Johnson and Lady Anne Warren, sister of Vice Admiral Sir Peter Warren (who married his eventual wife's aunt, Susannah Delancey, a daughter of Stephen Delancey), descendants of King William the Conqueror.[1]
From 1757 until 1760, John studied sporadically at
Career
In 1771, Johnson became the last Provincial
American Revolution
In January 1776, nine months after the outbreak of the American Revolution, Johnson gathered several hundred armed supporters at Johnstown. He sent a letter to Governor William Tryon, through Captain John McDonell, saying that he and his Loyalist neighbors had conferred about raising a battalion for the British cause. He also said he could raise 500 Indian warriors who, when used with his regular troops, could retake all of the forts captured by the rebels.
On January 20, 1776, Major General Philip Schuyler, with a force of Continental troops and the Tryon County militia numbering around 3,000, disarmed Johnson and about 300 of his Loyalist supporters; Schuyler paroled Johnson. Hearing in May 1776 of another force being sent to arrest him, Johnson decided to flee with his family and supporters to Canada. He led about 170 of his tenants and allies among the Iroquois Confederacy to Montreal, Quebec. Sir John's loyalty to King George III cost him his home in Johnstown and extensive property in the Mohawk Valley, all of which was confiscated after the war by the State of New York.[6]
Johnson and his followers formed the core of the
On March 14, 1782, he received the appointment of Superintendent General and Inspector General of Indian affairs from Sir Frederick Haldimand, due to the dismissal of his cousin Guy Johnson.[7][8] In 1781, General MacLean reported that Guy Johnson's wartime accounts were "Extravagant, wonderful & fictitious, and the quality of articles so extraordinary, new & uncommon". Guy Johnson was suspended as superintendent and summoned to Montreal, where Haldimand criticized his conduct as "reprehensible". Guy Johnson was disgraced and departed for London to defend his reports to the government, but met with no success. Sir John took over Fort Niagara as superintendent of Indian affairs in his cousin's absence, later to be appointed in full. The authority of the position extended over all northern First Nations allied with the Crown, including four of the Iroquois League nations, most of whom had relocated to Canada after having been allies of the British during the revolution.[9]
Post-war Years
In 1783, the
In 1784, Haldimand appointed Johnson to distribute Crown lands (purchased from First Nations) along the
In 1791,
In 1796, Johnson moved back to
Personal life
From 1765 to 1773, Johnson took as a
- Margaret Johnson (1765–c. 1830), who married James Van Horne, the son of Sheriff Abraham Van Horne, in 1791.[12]
- William Johnson (1770–1836), who was taken to Canada by Johnson where he was educated and became the lock master at The Cascades in Lower Canada.[12]
On June 30, 1773, Johnson married Mary Nicoll "Polly" Watts (1751–1815), a daughter of Hon.
- Anne Nancy Johnson (1774–1848), who married Colonel Edward MacDonnell (1766–1812), the Deputy Quartermaster General to the Forces in Canada who served as an Duke of Wellington.[13]
- William Johnson (1775–1811), Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, who married Sarah Delancey, granddaughter of Oliver Delancey.[13][14]
- Warren Johnson (1777–1802), Major in the
- Adam Gordon Johnson (1781–1843), Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Battalion of Militia, who succeeded his father to the
- John Johnson of Point Olivier, Montreal (1782–1841), Colonel-Commandant of 6th Battalion of Militia, who married Mary Diana Dillon (1809–1861).[13][14]
- James Stephen Johnson (1785–1812), Captain in the
- Catherine Maria Johnson (1786–1850), who married Major-General Siege of the Salamanca Forts in 1812.[13]
- Robert Thomas Johnson (1787–1812), Captain in the Army, who drowned in the St. Lawrence River in 1812.[13][15]
- Charles Christopher Johnson (1789–1854), Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, who married Susan Griffith Colpoys, daughter of Sir Edward Griffith Colpoys.[13]
- Archibald Kennedy Johnson (1792–1866), who married Jenet Robertson and Maria Langham.[13]
Their last surviving child, Marianne Johnson (1791–1868), never married. She died in London on 1 January 1868.
Lady Johnson died in Montreal on August 7, 1815.[2] Sir John died, at the age of 88, in Montreal, while still Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on January 4, 1830. Both are buried in a vault at Mount Johnson, near Chambly, Quebec.[16]
Legacy and honors
Mount Johnson, 1885
- The Sir John Johnson House in
- Lac Sir John, a small lake near Lakefield, Quebec (and as is the road Chemin Lac Sir John) is named after him.
References
Notes
- ^ As his parents never married, he could not have legally become the second baronet. However, as he had been Knighted he was Sir John Johnson in his own right. In 2013, it was brought to the attention of the Ministry of Justice at the House of Lords in London by a 5 x great grand daughter of Catherine Weissenberg.[citation needed]
Sources
- ^ a b Browning, Charles Henry (1883). Americans of Royal Descent. Philadelphia: Porter & Costes. p. 16. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ a b assnat.qc.ca: "John JOHNSON (1741-1830)"
- ^ The Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library of New York: The History of the Grand Lodge of New York, New York Masonic Library.
- ^ Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, page 37
- ^ The Life and Times of Sir William Johnson, Bart, Volume 2, Page 512
- ^ The Mohawk Valley During the Revolution, by Harold Frederic, 1877.
- ^ "White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America", Fintan O'Toole, 2005.
- ^ "Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
- ^ Sir John Johnson at Montreal and Niagara, Haldimand Collection.
- ^ Bryan, William (August 1874). "Sir John Johnson". American Historical Record. 3 (32): 340–344. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ^ Gorgen, Paul F. (2017). "Ladies of the Valley: Molly Brant, Clarissa Putman and other women with Rona'sharón:nih (European) Partners". Iroquoia. 3: 7–40. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ a b c Vrooman, John J. (1950). Clarissa Putman of Tribes Hill: A Romantic History of Sir William Johnson, His Family and Mohawk Valley Neighbors Through the Flaming Years 1767-1780. Baronet Litho Company. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Debrett, John (1839). The Baronetage of England; With Alphabetical Lists of Such Baronetcies as Have Merged In The Peerage, Or Have Become Extinct. And Also of The Existing Baronets of Nova Scotia and Ireland. Seventh Edition: Including The New Baronets Created at Her Majesty's Coronation in 1839, With The Arms Complete, From Drawings by Harvey. London: J. G. & F. Rivington. p. 176. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ a b c Burke, J. Bernard (1854). Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. London, p. 558.
- ^ a b c Burke, J. Bernard (1854). Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. London, p. 559.
- ^ Morgan, Henry James (ed.). Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada. Toronto.
- ^ Sir John Johnson House. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada.
- ^ Sir John Johnson House National Historic Site of Canada. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada.
- ^ Sir John Johnson House. Canadian Register of Historic Places.
External links
- "Biography of Sir John Johnson". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
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