History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 18

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920

USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 18

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¿ This statement is predicated upon information obtained by Rev. Dr. Stewart, formerly a missionary in the Mohawk Valley. [ Stone's Life of Brant, p. 2.]

A MIILE

Los. Brank Thayendanegen

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The house of the family was at the Canajoharie Castle, the central one of the three Mohawk towns, and the capital of the Wolf tribe. In the London Magazine for July, 1776, containing a sketch of Brant, it is stated that he was a grandson of one of the five sachems who, under the man- agement of Colonel Peter Schuyler, visited England in 1710.

The reputed father of Joseph was a prominent chief during the wars from 1755 to 1763, and rendered efficient aid to the English. Both father and son are frequently mentioned in Sir Wm. Johnson's correspondence and official papers.

On the 16th of April, 1758, Sir William held a council with the Indians at Canajoharie, at which speeches were made by himself and the elder Brant, relating to the war then in progress. The elder Brant is called by Sir William the chief sachem at Canajoharie, in November, 1758, and he mentions his return from a grand council held at Easton, Pa., with the Governors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. IIe makes mention of him again in 1761, on the occasion of his visit to Detroit, after its surrender to the English, in which journey Sir William was accompanied by a detach- ment of troops, his son (afterwards Sir John), and a band of Mohawk warriors.

Young Joseph first joined the warriors of his nation in 1755, when but thirteen years of age, and was present at the bloody battles around Lake George, which ended in the defeat of the Baron Dieskau. For this victory, General William Johnson was raised to a baronet, and the govern- ment presented him large grants of land. In speaking of these engagements to Dr. Stewart, Brant said " he was seized with a tremor when the firing began, and was obliged to take hold of a small sapling to steady himself, but after a few discharges he recovered himself so as to appear a brave man." In after-life he said, when speaking of music, " I like the harpischord well, and the organ still better ; but I like the drum and trumpet best of all, for they make my heart beat quick." He accompanied Sir William Johnson on the Niagara campaign in 1759, and greatly distinguished himself, particularly on the 24th of July, upon which day occurred the defeat of M. d'Aubrey, who was approaching to raise the siege.

Sir William Johnson, who was ever foremost in the in- troduction of improvements among the Indians and in the establishment of missions, took a great interest in the young chief. At the request of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, he selected a number of Mohawk youths to be sent to the Moor Charity School,* at Lebanon, Conn., and among them was young Thay-en-dan-e-gea, the precocious brother of " Molly." This school was opened for the reception of Indian pupils in 1748. It was afterwards liberally endowed by the Earl of Dartmouth and others, and removed to Hanover, N. H., where it became known as Dartmouth College.

The young chief remained about two years at this school, when he returned to active life. In 1763 he was engaged in the war precipitated by the celebrated Ottawa chief, the great Pontiac. Brant fought on the side of the English,

and is said to have distinguished himself in the neighbor- hood of Detroit, where Pontiac commanded in person. He is mentioned by Rev. Dr. Wheelock, in 1768, at which time the latter visited him at his home on the Mohawk. From the last-mentioned date until the breaking out of the Revolution, Brant was engaged in peaceful pursuits, and among other commendable labors performed by him, he assisted the Reverend Doctors John Ogilvie and Stewart in compiling a prayer-book, and other religious works, in the Mohawk tongue. About 1772 he became interested in religious matters, and joined the Episcopal church.

Brant was three times married. His first two wives were Oneidus, and they both died previous to the Revolu- tion.

About this time, in compliance with an Indian custom, he selected a bosom friend, a half-pay lieutenant in the British army by the name of Provost, then residing in the Mohawk Valley. Upon the opening of the American Revo- lution the officer was transferred to a foreign station, and Thay-en-dan-e-gea mourned for a long time. As a mark of his esteem he procured an entire Indian enstume, made of the richest furs, and sent it to his friend in Jamaica, W. I.

He was employed more or less by Sir William Johnson, and upon the death of the baronet, in 1774, was appointed secretary to Colonel Guy Johnson, who succeeded Sir Wil- liam as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Brant was very active in promoting the English interests, and his influence was powerfully exerted in persuading the Six Nations to take up arms for the king. He succeeded with all the nations save the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, who were undoubtedly prevented from joining their brethren by the persuasive eloquence of Rev. Samuel Kirkland. Of this influence Brant was fully aware, and by sharp intrigue he succeeded in getting the missionary removed from his position. It is claimed that he persuaded a dissolute sachem of the Oneidas to prefer charges against him, by means of which Colonel Guy Johnson was influenced to forbid his further labors among the Oneidas.

Brant was the principal war-chief of the Six Nations during the War of the Revolution, and was constantly active through the whole of those gloomy years in which the colonies were struggling for independence. He figured conspicuously in the raids into the Mohawk Valley, and the valleys of the Schoharie Creek and those of the head streams of the Susquehanna, and was the central figure on the British side in the desperate battle of Oriskany, upon the result of which hung the issues of the war. At the close of the war he located at the western end of Lake Ontario, in Upper Canada. In 1775 he visited England, and was everywhere received with distinguished honors by all classes. While on this visit he sat several times for his picture. At the close of the Revolution, in 1785, he again visited England, and was a second time treated with the most distinguished consideration by the royal family and the nobility of the kingdom.

Brant was engaged for years after his settlement in Canada in furthering the interests of his nation who had located upon the Grand River, which discharges into Lake Erie about 35 miles west of Buffalo. He was also inter-

# Named from its founder, Joshua Moor, of Mansfield.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

ested in nearly all the Indian councils held with the United States, and in some of the wars of the west. It is generally supposed that he assisted the famous Miami chief, Little Turtle, in defeating General St. Clair, on the 4th of No- vember, 1791, at the head-waters of the Wabash, in the present county of Mercer, Ohio. He visited the various cities of the United States at different periods, and was treated with great respect by the American authorities, though the people of the valley of the Mohawk were never reconciled to such a condition of things, and he traversed the valley at great personal risk. He held the commission of captain in the British army, though he is often desig- nated as " Colonel Brant."

Thay-en-dan-e-gea died at his residence on Lake Ontario, on the 24th of November, 1807, at the age of sixty-five years. His remains were deposited in the burying-ground of the church which he had erected in the Mohawk village on Grand River. For many years subsequent to his death Brant was greatly misrepresented by nearly all the writers of the day ; but a clearer knowledge of his character leads to the belief that he was a very remarkable and highly in- tellectual Indian, and that the charges of inhumanity and blood-thirstiness so often reiterated against him were wholly false, and made through either ignorance or malice. He was a distinguished warrior, and probably the ablest and most successful statesman and diplomatist which any of the savage nations of America have ever produced. As an Indian chieftain he led his warriors to battle after the In- dian custom, and if he did not wholly control them in the interests of humanity, he at least softened and mitigated to a considerable degree the horrors of the many deadly con- flicts in which he was engaged. The testimony of many eye-witnesses is plain upon this point.

The slanghter of American troops by the armies of Great Britain at Fort Griswold and Paoli, and the frightful mas- sacre of the Moravian Indians in Ohio by Colonel William- son, at the head of a body of Pennsylvania militia, eclipse in fiendish atrocity anything occurring under the control of Brant, notwithstanding he commanded what we are pleased to term savages.

When we consider that the Indians had no written records, and that all that has been written concerning them has come through channels marked by the white man's prejudices, and in many instances furnished wholly by bitter enemies, it becomes apparent that a fair and candid judg- ment would assign the Mohawk chief the qualities of a most remarkable man, who certainly exhibited distinguished skill as a military leader, and, under the circumstances by which he was surrounded, preserved to a remarkable degree the character of a humane and generous leader.

Colonel Stone, in his life of the chieftain, has done him- self great credit by the manner in which he has handled the subject, and though it is possible that he may at times have slightly overdrawn his conclusions, yet, on the whole, the work is undoubtedly reliable and non-partisan, and must remain the standard for a true estimation of the character of the great chieftain. When the troubles between Great Britain and her American colonies culminated in a resort to arms, it is not strange that Brant followed the fortunes of the Crown, for the Six Nations had ever been firm allies

(with the exception of here and there a wild, ungovernable band) since the English succeeded the Dutch in the occu- pation of the valley of the Hudson. From the English they had received their supplies, and with them exchanged their furs and peltries to the mutual advantage of both parties. In short, the relations had been exceedingly ad- vantageous to the Indians, and they saw no good reason for breaking the ancient covenant chain of friendship between them. Their conclusions were thoroughly logical, and at this day, with all the facts before us, we cannot blame them for the course they pursued. Could all the consequences of the war have been foreseen, it is probable the Indians might have acted differently ; but to their comprehension there seemed little prospect of success for the colonies, and they very naturally took up arms on the side which promised the least risk and the greatest possible gain to themselves.

The Tory element of the colony was a prominent one, and had for leaders such men as Sir John and Colonel Guy Johnson, Colonel John Butler and his son Walter, Colonel Daniel Clans (or Claesse), Major Watts, Captain Herkimer, and others.

With the possible exception of Colonel Barry St. Leger, who was undoubtedly a good officer, and Thay-en-dan-e-gea, however, the Whigs of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys had by far the ablest and most determined leaders, and this fact alone was undoubtedly the salvation of the colony ; for during the advance of Burgoyne from Lake Champlain, the inhabitants of Tryon County sccmed to have lost all heart, and it appeared as if they were willing to sit quietly and allow the enemy to overrun the whole region. But such men as General Philip Schuyler, General Nicholas Herkimer, Colonel Peter Gansevoort, Colonel Marinus Wil- lett, Colonel John Harper, the gallant Colonel Brown, and Colonel Van Schaick, among military men; and Yates, Paris, Frey, Fink, McDougal, Campbell, Klock, Van Slyck, Moore, Petry, Helmer, and scores of others in the civil walks of life, were more than a match for the three cle- ments, British, Tory, and Indian, combined, and eventually triumphed in the contest, though many of them laid down their lives for the cause.

Sir William Johnson died very suddenly, at Johnson Hall, on the 24th of June, 1774, and was succeeded in his titles and estates by his son, John Johnson. The position of Superintendent of Indian Affairs was, for some reason not explained, bestowed upon his son-in-law, Colonel Guy Johnson .* What course Sir William would have pursued during the War of the Revolution we have no means of knowing, but into whichever scale he might have thrown his influence it would have had a marked bearing upon the issues of the conflict. He visited England in the autumn of 1773, and returned with his loyalty considerably strengthened, no doubt ; but the baronet was too sagacious not to perceive that the cause of the colonies was a just one, and quite likely to emerge victorious from a conflict which would be most expensive and disastrous to Great Britain, even when considered in the most favorable light. It was true he had been loaded with favors by the English govern-

# Colonel Guy Johnson had long been assistant, or secretary, to Sir William.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

ment ; but he realized at the same time that titles and lands are ouly bestowed upon those who have already rendered their full equivalent, in duties well performed, to the gov- ernment which lavishes them. On the other hand, he had accumulated a handsome property in the course of a quarter of a century spent among the colonists, and all his interests were here. If the British government succeeded in putting down the rebellion, he would be safe in adhering to its cause; but if the reverse should happen, his losses would inelude everything but an empty title. His influence would no doubt have controlled the Six Nations in either direction, and their weight thrown into the seule in favor of the colo- nies would have been ruinous to any attempt at a British invasion from the Canadas.

His sudden death, at the threshold of the Revolution, left his titles and estates in the hands of his son and sons- in-law, Sir John and Colonel Guy Johnson, and Colonel Daniel Claus, who speedily demonstrated their loyalty by stirring up the Loyalists of the valley, and four of the Six Nations, against the uprising of the colonies; and who subsequently disgraced their father's memory and the hon- ored name of soldier by their destructive inroads into and inhuman massaeres in the beautiful valley of the Mohawk. The ultimate result of the war eradicated the Johnson family from the colony, and completely disintegrated and scattered those members of the great Indian confederacy who ranged themselves on the side of tyranny and oppression.

The situation immediately subsequent to the death of Sir William is clearly set forth by Colonel Stone, from whom we quote the following paragraphs :

" The successors of Sir William Johnson did not, how- ever, possess the same degree of moral power over the population of Tryon County, Indian or white, as had been exercised by him. But they, nevertheless, derived essential aid from ' Miss Molly,'* who was a woman of talent as well as taet, and possessed great infinenee among the-In- dians, who were her own people. Molly was in turn aided by the counsels and exertions of her brother, Joseph Thay-en-dan-e-gea, who had been much in the service of Sir William during the latter years of his life, and who, on the death of the baronet, was advanced to the post of secretary of Guy Johnson. These gentlemen, however (Sir John Johnson, Colonel Guy Johnson, and Colonel Claus), living in great splendor, at and in the neighborhood of Johnstown, and thus allied with the family of a powerful Mohawk sachem, were still enabled to exert a decided influ- enee, especially among the Indians. They were likewisc in elose official and political alliance with Colonel John Butler, an opulent and influential gentleman of that connty, and his son, Walter N. Butler-names rendered memorable, if nothing worse, by association with certain bloody transae- tions, which will be developed in the progress of the present volume.

" But notwithstanding all their influence,-and no family in America had ever been regarded with greater deference by the surrounding population than that of the Johnsons, --- they were not long in discovering that the principles now openly avowed in Massachusetts could not be confined

within the limits of that colony, or even of New England. Though less openly proclaimed, yet, as the waters of a fountain ooze through the earth unseen until they have gathered force enough to break the surface and gush forth, so was it with the principles of Liberty, sent abroad by the ' Boston rebels,' as they worked their way np the valley of the Mohawk ; and the snceessors of Sir William Johnson were not long in discovering that, although they could still count among their retainers a large number of adherents, the leaven of civil liberty had nevertheless been more deeply at work than they had desired or probably supposed. The celebrated ' Boston Port Bill,' enacted in consequence of the destruction of the tea in that harbor in 1773, had gone into operation only a month preceding the death of Sir William ; and in the next month subsequent to his deeease, a publie meeting was held in the Palatine distriet, warmly seconding the proposition of Massachusetts for the assemb- ling of a general Congress for mutual consultation and conn- sel in the existing posture of the political affairs of the colonies. The original draft of the proceedings of that meeting is yet in existence, in the handwriting of Colonel Christopher P. Yates,-a patriot who embarked early in the struggle, and served to the end. They breathed the genuine spirit of freedom, and, as a declaration of rights, are well entitled to a place among the fervid papers of that day, which were so powerful in their operation upon the pub- lie mind. After setting forth the concern and sorrow felt by the meeting at the shutting up of the port of Boston and the tendency of the acts of Parliament for raising a revenne in the American colonies, which they held to be an abridg- ment of the liberties of the people, the meeting resolved :

" Ist. That they recognize the king as their lawful sov- ereign, would bear true faith and allegiance to him, and would, with their lives and fortnnes, support and maintain him on the throne of his ancestors ; and the just dependence of the colonies upon the crown of Great Britain. 2d. That they considered it their greatest happiness to be gov- erned by British laws, and would pay cheerful submission to them as far as they could do so, consistently with the security of the constitutional rights of English subjeets, ' which were so sacred that they could not permit them to be violated.' 3d. That all taxes without their own consent, or the consent of their representatives, were unjust and un- constitutional ; and the acts of Parliament upon the subject were denounced as obvious eneroachments upon the rights and liberties of British subjeets. 4th. That the aet elosing the port of Boston was arbitrary and oppressive to the in- habitants, whom they considered to be suffering in the com- mon eanse. 5th. That they would unite with their brethren elsewhere in relieving the necessities of the suffering poor in Boston, and in 'anything tending to support our rights and liberties.' 6th. Approving the calling of a general Congress, and of the five members who had already been appointed by their brethren of New York. 7th. That they wonld abide by such regulations as might be agreed upon by the said Congress. 8th. Appointing a committee of correspondence for that district,t and recommending the other distriets of the county to do the same.

t This committee was composed of Christopher P. Yates, Isaac Paris, and John Frey.

Sir William's Indian wife.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

" The Congress met in Philadelphia, in September, 1774, and after adopting a declaration of rights, and setting forth wherein those rights had been violated, they agreed upon an address to the king, exhibiting the grievances of the colonies, and praying for his majesty's interposition for their removal. An address to the people of British America was likewise adopted, together with an appeal to the people of Great Britain, as also a letter to the people of Canada .* The Congress then adjourned to meet again in May, 1775. The papers put forth from that assembly had a powerful effect upon the public mind. They were highly extolled by Lord Chatham, in the House of Peers, who declared, that 'in all his reading and observation,-and it had been his favorite study, for he had read Thucydides, and had studied and admired the master states of the world,-for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of con- clusion under such complication of circumstances, no nation or body of men could stand in preference to the General Congress at Philadelphia.'

" The Provincial Assembly of New York was the only legislature in the colonies that withheld its approbation from the proceedings of the Congress, the loyalists of that colony being, from a variety of causes, more numerous and influ- ential than in any other of the provinces. In the valley of the Mohawk they were particularly zealous and active, and the Johnson family, with their associates, were cease- less in their efforts to divert the revolutionary spirit which was but too obviously abroad."

But notwithstanding the petitions and remonstrances of the colonies, the home government did not relax the heavy pressure brought to bear upon them. The people of America were not wanting in able advocates and powerful friends in the British Parliament ; but notwithstanding the generous efforts and ringing words of Lord Chatham and other far-seeing nien, the king and his ministers brought forward new and still more stringent measures for compelling the colonies to obedience. Lord Chatham's address to the king for the removal of British troops from Boston was rejected by a large majority, and his " Conciliatory Bill" shared the same fate. The petition of the American Con- gress for a redress of grievances was, after an angry debate, denied the privilege of being presented to the House of Commons.

Bills were rapidly framed and passed by the headstrong majority, restraining all the thirteen colonies, except New York, Delaware, and North Carolina, from trading with any nation except Great Britain and her dependencies, and the Eastern States were excluded from the valuable fisheries of Newfoundland. Discontent in consequence of these op- pressive measures grew every hour more widespread and outspoken ; and notwithstanding the government's apparent favors shown a portion of the colonies, its action against the others united them all in a general determination to secure release or perish in the attempt.

At the very time when these tyrannical measures were being proposed in England, the Legislature of the colony of New York was engaged in preparing a memorial to the

Crown praying for a redress of the general grievances. This address, while reiterating the loyalty of the petitioners to the Crown, at the same time denounced in the strongest terms the oppressive measures of the government. It goes on to say, " We feel the most ardent desire to promote a cordial reconciliation with the parent state, which can be rendered permanent and solid only by ascertaining the line of parliamentary authority and American freedom on just, equitable, and constitutional grounds. . . . From the year 1683 till the close of the late war they had enjoyed a Legis- lature consisting of three distinct branches,-a Governor, Council, and General Assembly, under which political frame the representatives had uniformly exercised the right of their own civil government, and the administration of jus- tice in the colony. It is, therefore, with inexpressible grief that we have of late years seen measures adopted by the British Parliament subversive of that constitution under which the good people of this colony have always enjoyed the same rights and privileges so highly and deservedly prized by their fellow-subjects of Great Britain." In speak- ing of the privileges of trial by jury, they " view with horror the construction of the statute of Henry VIII., as held up by the joint address of both houses of Parliament in 1769, advising his majesty to send for persons guilty of treasons and misprisions of treasons in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, in order to be tried in England."

They complained of the act of George III., requiring the Legislature of this colony to make provision for the expense of the troops quartered among them, of the act suspending their legislative powers till they should have complied, and of the Quebec act. They also considered themselves interested in whatever might affect their sister- colonies, and could not help feeling for the distresses of their brethren in Massachusetts, resulting from the enforcement of the several acts of Parliament relating to that province, and earnestly remonstrated in their behalf. The memorial closes with the following words : " We claim but a resto- ration of those rights which we enjoyed by general consent before the close of the late war; we desire no more than a continuance of that ancient government to which we are entitled by the principles of the British constitution, and by which alone can be secured to us the rights of English- men." This dignified and manly address was presented in the House of Commons by Mr. Burke; but that body, in the narrowest spirit of partisanship, did not deign even to take it into consideration.t

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 18

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 920

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920