Koñwatsiãtsiaiéñni or Mary (Molly) Brant (c.1736 – April 16, 1796) was an important Mohawk woman in the era of the American Revolution. Year 1736 ( MDCCXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom Year 1796 ( MDCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Mohawk ( Kanienkeh, Kanienkehaka or Kanien’Kahake, meaning "People of the Flint" are an indigenous people of North America In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" Brant had considerable influence within the Iroquois confederacy, more than her more famous younger brother Joseph Brant. The Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the "League of Peace and Power" the "Five Nations" the "Six Nations" or the "People of the Longhouse Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant ( c 1743 &ndash 24 November 1807) was a Mohawk leader and British military officer during [1]
She was the daughter of Peter Tehonwaghkwangeraghkwa and his wife Margaret, both Mohawks of the Wolf clan from the village of Canajoharie. Canajoharie New York may refer to Canajoharie (town New York Canajoharie (village New York It is likely she was baptised at Queen Anne's chapel at Fort Hunter. Fort Hunter, New York is a hamlet in the town of Florida Montgomery County New York, on the Mohawk River at Schoharie Creek. The family moved west to the Ohio country where they stayed until Peter's death when they moved back to Canajoharie. Margaret then married Brant Kanagaradunkwa, a Mohawk sachem of the Turtle clan, on September 9, 1753. She and her brother Joseph Brant took their stepfather's surname. Their father had a substantial colonial-style frame house and dressed in European clothes. Brant's stepfather was also a friend of William Johnson, who was to become General Sir William Johnson, Superintendent for Northern Indian Affairs. Sir William Johnson 1st Baronet (1715 &ndash 11 July 1774) founder of Johnstown, New York, was an Irish pioneer and army
She was described as "pretty likely not having the smallpox". Molly grew up an Anglican and she could speak, read, and write English. There are suggestions she attended a Mission school, for her letters show good penmanship and fair knowledge of spelling and syntax. In 1754 and early 1755 she accompanied her father and a delegation of Mohawk elders to Philadelphia. Her presence with such an important delegation suggests she may have been marked for a significant political role as a clan matron. [2]
In February, 1755 she had an admirer in Captain Statts Long Morris, nephew of Governor Morris of Pennsylvania. She met Sir William Johnson sometime before 1759, and moved into his house, Old Fort Johnson, sometime before their first son Peter's birth in September, 1759. Sir William Johnson 1st Baronet (1715 &ndash 11 July 1774) founder of Johnstown, New York, was an Irish pioneer and army Old Fort Johnson, or Fort Johnson, was a two-story stone house enclosed in fortifications built by Sir William Johnson about 1749 in the town of Amsterdam She became Johnson's common-law wife and the Mohawk's treated them as a married couple. Johnson could not formally marry her because Molly was considered of a lower class. The couple had nine children together, eight of which survived. She influenced her brother, Joseph Brant, to leave Wheelock's school because she had heard that he had disgraced his manhood by working on Wheelock's farm. They moved together to Johnson Hall in 1763. Johnson Hall State Historic Site was the home of Sir William Johnson, 1715-1774 an Irish pioneer and British Major General in the Province of New York. In 1765 Molly got smallpox. In his will Molly is referred to as his "housekeeper". This term had a different meaning in the 18th century. She was the one who ran the household and supervised their large number of servants and slaves. In 1768, she attended the Treaty of Fort Stanwix and wielded her influence on the men. The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was an important Treaty between North American Indians and the British Empire. Johnson built a school nearby and they sent their three eldest children to this school.
William Johnson died in July, 1774. In his will he left each of their eight children thousands of acres of land and one-quarter of the slaves and livestock. Molly returned to Canajoharie with eight children and four slaves. She had a large house and became a trader. Her mother and her brother Joseph lived nearby. She opened a store which sold basic Indian supplies and also liquor.
In August, 1775 a passing gentleman wrote "she saluted us with an air of ease and politeness. She was dressed after the Indian manner, but her linen and other clothes were the finest of their kind".
Contents |
American Revolution
At the start of the American Revolutionary War, Molly did her best to keep the Mohawks loyal to the British. She gathered information and passed it to the British. She provided food, ammunition, and sheltered the local Loyalists. This article concerns Loyalists in the American Revolution. For information on the role of those Loyalists in Canadian history after their emigration see United Empire She hid wanted Loyalists in her house. By 1776, all the principal Loyalists and her brother Joseph and his family had left.
She is credited with passing information about the advance of the Tryon County militia to the British in advance of the Battle of Oriskany. Militia Regiments On March 8 1772 The Province of New York passed a bill for the establishment of organized militia in each county Background See also [[Battle of Saratoga]] [[Battle of Bennington]] A two-pronged attack known as the Saratoga Campaign of 1777, was launched by the In August, 1777 she fled shortly before her arrest. Her departure was so precipitate she had to leave most of her belongings behind. The Oneidas and Americans took revenge on her by pillaging her home in Canajoharie. She fled with her children to Onondaga. Onondaga is a Town located in Onondaga County, New York, United States. At Onondaga she publicly rebuked Sayenqueraghta for advising peace with the rebels. Sayenqueraghta (c1707 &ndash 1786 was the war chief of the eastern Seneca tribe in the mid 18th century Shamed, Sayenqueraghta and the other Seneca chiefs immediately "promised henceforth truthfully to keep their engagements with her late friend, the Baronet, for she is in every respect considered and esteemed by them as Sir William's Relict, and one word from her is more taken notice of by the Five Nations than a thousand from any white man". Sayenqueraghta (c1707 &ndash 1786 was the war chief of the eastern Seneca tribe in the mid 18th century She later decided to move in with the principal chief at Cayuga. Soon after arriving in Cayuga she received messages from John Butler asking for her help at Fort Niagara. John Butler may refer to John Butler (American Football (d2003 General Manager in the National Football League John Butler (baseball Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. She arrived there with her children and slaves in November 1777. In the spring she was given her own house which she regarded as unsuitable. In the summer of 1778 she travelled to New York to visit several of the villages, but was back at Fort Niagara in November. She tried to persuade Butler to give her the head of one of the prisoners from the Cherry Valley Massacre so she could kick it around the fort. Aftermath Butler purchased the captured officers from the Indians and arranged for some of the women and children prisoners to be freed
Guy Johnson said that "Molly used to go to the stores & take out everything she pleased". Guy Johnson ( c 1740 &ndash 5 March 1788) was an Irish -born military officer and diplomat for the Crown during the American Needing her Iroquois influence, few officers dared to disappoint Molly Brant. The Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the "League of Peace and Power" the "Five Nations" the "Six Nations" or the "People of the Longhouse The commander of Fort Niagara, Colonel Bolton was annoyed by Molly's complaints and interference and he wrote to Frederick Haldimand to have her transferred to Montreal. Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB ( August 11, 1718 &ndash June 5, 1791) was a British army officer and governor Haldimand sent Molly a personal invitation which she accepted. In September, 1778, when she heard of the Sullivan Campaign she decided to return to Fort Niagara. Background When the American Revolutionary War began British officials as well as the colonial Continental Congress sought the allegiance (or at least the neutrality She got as far as Cataraqui where she had to wait for a ship going to Fort Niagara, space was found for her in Fort Haldimand. Daniel Clause wrote to Haldimand that "and if she be not humoured in all her demands for herself and dependants (which are numerous) she may by the violence of her temper be led to create mischief - I therefore judge it would be better she remained where she was"[3]. A house was built for her on Carleton Island and she stayed there until the end of the war.
Molly worked during the American Revolution to keep the four of the six Iroquois as Loyalist allies of the British Crown. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the "League of Peace and Power" the "Five Nations" the "Six Nations" or the "People of the Longhouse This article concerns Loyalists in the American Revolution. For information on the role of those Loyalists in Canadian history after their emigration see United Empire The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a State in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1800 One British officer considered Molly's influence "far superior to that of all their chiefs put together".
After war years
With the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783) it was not immediately know which side of the border Carleton Island was located. The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, and approved by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784, formally In November 1783, most of the inhabitants including Molly moved to Cataraqui. (near Kingston, Ontario) The government built a mansion for her which was described as being 40 by 30 feet with one and one-half stories. Kingston Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St She needed a large house for her six children and three slaves. A house for her brother Joseph was built next door. She was also granted a pension of one hundred pounds per year. She was also awarded about twelve hundred pounds for her losses in the American Revolution.
She died April 16, 1796 in Cataraqui and was buried in an unmarked grave in St. Pauls' Churchyard in Kingston.
Clan Matron
Daniel Claus in a letter to Frederick Haldimand in 1779 referred to her as "being at the head of a society of Six Nation Matrons"[4] although historian Robert Allen writes that "there is no substantive evidence to suggest that Molly was ever a clan matron or mother within the Iroquois matrilineal society. Christian Daniel Claus (1727 - 1787 Britain) was a Superintendent of Indian affairs and a prominent Loyalist during the American Revolution. Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB ( August 11, 1718 &ndash June 5, 1791) was a British army officer and governor Clanmothers were the Elder Women of an Iroquois Clan, who were in charge of appointing Tribal Chiefs and Faithkeepers Each clan should have "[5] Much of Brant's influence came from her common-law marriage to Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies of the British Empire in North America. Common-law marriage (or Common law marriage) sometimes called de facto marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute Sir William Johnson 1st Baronet (1715 &ndash 11 July 1774) founder of Johnstown, New York, was an Irish pioneer and army Daniel Claus wrote in a letter to Sir John Johnson in 1780, "she pretends to have the same influence as when your father was [alive]"[6]
Legacy
Her son Peter Johnson captured Ethan Allen near Montreal, and died at the Battle of Mud Island, October 21, 1777. Sir John Johnson 2nd Baronet ( 5 November 1741 &ndash 4 January 1830) was a loyalist leader during the American Revolution Ethan Allen (January 10 1738 – February 12 1789 was an early American revolutionary and guerrilla leader who fought against the Province of New York Five of her daughters married non-Indians and one daughter never married.
A devout Anglican, she is commemorated in the Calendar of saints of the Anglican Church of Canada on April 16. Prior to the revision of the Anglican Church of Canada 's (ACC Book of Common Prayer (BCP in 1962 the national church followed the liturgical calendar of the 1918 Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom
│
├──────┬──────────┬──────────┬─────────┬─────┬─────┬────────┐
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
Peter Elizabeth Magdelene Margaret │ Mary Susanna Anne
│
Tekahiowake,
aka George Jacob Johnson, 1758-1843.
+?
│
│
Sakayengwaraton, aka Chief John Smoke Johnson, 1783-1886.
+Helen Martin. ????-1866.
│
│
Onwanosyshon, Chief George Johnson, 1816-1884.
+Emily (m. 1853)
Notes
References
- Allen, Robert S. "Molly Brant". American National Biography. The American National Biography is a 24 volume set containing approximately 17400 entries and 20 million words 3:432–34. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-512782-X.
- Earle, Thomas, The Three Faces of Molly Brant, 1996, ISBN 1550821768
- O'Toole, Fintan. Fintan O'Toole (born 1958) is a Columnist, assistant editor and Drama Critic for The Irish Times. White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. ISBN 0-374-28128-9.
- Graymont, Barbara. The Iroquois in the American Revolution. Syracuse University Press, 1972. ISBN 0-8156-0083-6.
- Graymont, Barbara. "Koñwatsiãtsiaiéñni". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
External links
- Cataraqui Archaeology Research Foundation: Who Was Molly Brant?
- Molly Brant – Mohawk, Consort, Mother, Loyalist
- http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume5/64-65.htm
- http://www.carf.info/kingstonpast/mollybrant.php
- http://www.meyna.com/mohawk3.html
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic