USA > New York > Pioneer history of the Holland Purchase of western New York : embracing some account of the ancient remains > Part 27
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On the 25th of May, an Indian council was convened at Guy Park. Delegates were present from Albany and Tryon counties. The Indians, through LITTLE ABRAHAM, a Mohawk chief, assured them that they did not wish to have a quarrel with the inhabitants. That during Sir WILLIAM JOHNSON's life time, and since, they had been peaceably disposed. The delegations, and Indians, parted with mutual assurances of continued friendship; though the Mohawks declared that they were under great obligations to
17
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Sir WILLIAM JOHNSON, had a great respect for his memory, and they must guard and protect every member of his family.
On the 22d of June, 1775, a meeting of the Committees of Tryon county was held; being joined for the first time, by a Committee from the Mohawk district, which district had hitherto kept aloof, through the influence of the JOHNSONS. This meeting addressed a letter to GUY JOHNSON, in which they assured him that the people . of Tryon county, made common cause with their brethren of Massachusetts Bay; they recapitulated generally, the grievances complained of on the part of the colonies; that possessing as he did, very large estates in the county, they could not think that he differed with them upon the subject of American freedom; and they complained that peaceable meetings of the Mohawk district, had been disturbed, and a man in their interests, had been inhu- manly treated, &c.
JOHNSON in his answer, persevered in pacific assurances; said he had fortified his house, because he was apprehensive of an attack, and in doing so, he had only exercised the prerogative of all English subjects. While he professed loyalty to his king, he assured the Committee that he should continue to so discharge the duties of his office, as to best do his duty to his country, and preserve its peace; that his family had been the benefactors of the country, &c. He said the movements of the people were prema- ture, that they should wait and see what would be the final action of the home government upon the matters complained of; that they should have " nothing to apprehend from his endeavors," but that he should " be glad to promote their true interests."
Notwithstanding such professions, it would seem that he had carly been ambitious to seize upon the influence he had inherited from his father-in-law, mould the Six Nations to his will, and subserve the two-fold purpose of gratifying a personal ambition, and making an exhibition of his loyalty, to his family's patron, GEORGE the Third. Under the pretence that he could better control the Indians, and keep them peaccable, by withdrawing them from the irritating influences that surrounded them in the Mohawk Valley, he removed with his retinue to Fort Stanwix, and from thence farther west, where he was met by thirteen hundred war- riors in council. From his then location, under date of July 8th, he wrote to Mr. LIVINGSTON, the President of Congress, a letter
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which concludes thus :- "I should be much obliged by your prom- ises of discountenancing any attempts against myself, did they not appear to be made on conditions of compliance with continental or provincial Congresses, or even Committees, formed or to be formed, many of whose resolves may not consist with my conscience, duty or loyalty;"-still he assures Mr. LIVINGSTON that he shall always "manifest more humanity than to promote the destruction of innocent inhabitants of a colony, to which I have been always warmly attached."
He retired to Montreal, where he took up his residence, and "continued to act during the war as an agent of the British gov- ernment, distributing to the Indians liberal rewards for their deeds of cruelty, and stimulating them to further exertions." *
The Mohawks, almost the entire body of them, had accompanied JOHNSON and his family to the west. t In June, the Rev. SAMUEL KIRKLAND, then missionary to the Oneidas, held a conference with the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, to induce them to remain neutrals during the war. Knowing his influence with the Oncidas, the JOHNSONS had not been idle in attempts to prejudice them against him. They told him that Mr. K. "was a descendant of those New England, or Boston people, who had formerly murdered their king, and fled to this country for their lives;" that the New England ministers "were not true ministers of the gospel." All this did not succeed however, in depriving him of his influence, or the attachment of the Oneidas to him. Most of them remained neutrals during the war- a large portion of them offered to take up the hatchet in behalf of the colonies, but it was preferred to dispense with their services, except in a few instances. Some of them rendered important services, as runners, in apprising the border settlers of approaching danger.
JOSEPH BRANT -THAYENDANEGA.
An elaborate history į having been written of this noted Indian chief, no farther biographical sketch of him will be attempted, than is incidental to local narrative.
The place of his birth, parentage, &c., have been differently
* Spark's American Biography.
t Guy Johnson was accompanied by Joseph Brant, and John and Walter Butler.
# Life of Brant, by William L. Stone.
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stated by historians. It was assumed by Dr. STRACIIAN, of Toronto, in some sketches he wrote many years since, and published in the Christian Register, that BRANT was born on the Ohio river, whither his parents had emigrated from the valley of the Mohawk, and where they are said to have sojourned for several years. This information was derived from the Rev. Dr. STEWART, formerly a missionary in the Mohawk Valley. Col. STONE concedes that he was born on the Ohio river, but assumes that it was during a hunting excursion from the Mohawk, in which his parents partici- pated; and that his father was a full blooded Mohawk of the Wolf tribe. The friend of the author, (Mr. L. C. DRAPER,) to whom reference is made in the preface to this work, assumes that he was a native Cherokee, upon some evidence he has discovered in his indefatigable researches. If this is so, we are to infer that his parents were adopted Cherokee captives.
The home of his family was at the Canajoharie Castle. In July. 1761, he was sent by Sir WILLIAM JOHNSON, to the "Moor's Charity School," at Lebanon, Conn., established by the Rev. Dr. WHEELOCK, with several other Mohawk boys. He made good progress in education, and on his return from school, was employed by his patron in public business. His first military exploits, had preceded his education; when quite young, he had been upon several expeditions with Sir WILLIAM JOHNSON.
Under the circumstances-the friendship and patronage, and the family alliance that has been already spoken of-it is easy to perceive how his position was determined in the border wars; and why he followed the fortunes of the JOHNSON family. Mr. CAMPBELL, himself a descendant of severe sufferers in that terrible crisis, and enjoying good opportunities to estimate the character of BRANT, says in his Annals. - "Combining the natural sagacity of the Indian, with the skill and science of the civilized man, he was a formidable foe. He was a dreadful terror to the frontiers. His passions were strong. In his intercourse, he was affable and polite, and communicated freely, relative to his conduct. He often said that during the war he had killed but one man in cold blood, and that act he often regretted. He said he had taken a man prisoner, and was examining him; the prisoner hesitated, and he thought equivocated. Enraged at what he considered obstinacy, he struck him down. It turned out that the man's obstinacy arose from a natural hesitancy of speech."
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The statement that he had been guilty of but one assassination. does not correspond with well authenticated tradition; though he may, to have satisfied his own conscience, made a nice distinction in some instances, as to what constituted a taking of life in " cold. blood." That the bad features of his character, and his atrocities, have been much magnified, there is no doubt, as have nearly all of the events in the border wars. It is difficult to reconcile the character of JOSEPH BRANT, as given in many of our histories, with the accounts we have of him from living cotemporaries, who knew him well.
He was the companion of Judge PORTER, in a journey he made from Albany to Canandaigua, in 1794. The chief was returning from a visit to the then seat of government, (Philadelphia,) to his residence at Brantford, C. W. The Judge speaks of him as an intelligent, gentlemanly, travelling companion. The journey was on horseback. It was the first time BRANT had travelled the valley of the Mohawk, since the Revolution, and on leaving Albany, he was somewhat apprehensive of the treatment he would receive. Peace, however, and the obligations it imposed, saved him from any harm or insult, from those in whose memory the scenes with which he was associated, were painfully fresh and vivid. While he avoided being drawn into any conversation con- nected with the border wars, he pointed out such things upon the Mohawk as were associated in the reccollections of his boyhood.
JOHN GOULD, of Cambria, Niagara county, was a resident at Brantford, as early as 1791, or '2; says he has often heard BRANT relate the story of his visit to England; how he was feasted and toasted in London, &c. After his return, his house at Brantford was the resort of many of the British officers, and prominent citizens of Canada. He was hospitable, had good social qualities, and was much esteemed by the early residents of Brantford, and its vicinity. The patronage of the government had enabled him to live much in the style of an English gentleman. He retained the slaves he had brought from the Mohawk. Mr. GOULD remembers well the death of his son ISAAC, from a stab inflicted by his father. " When sober," says Mr. G. "Isaac was a good Indian-when in liquor, he was a devil. He committed many depredations. I once invited him to a raising. He excused himself on the ground, that if he went he should get a taste of liquor and commit some outrage. One day he became intoxicated, went to his father's house and
HISTORY OF THE
attacked him with a knife- they had a desperate fight, which ended in ISAAC's death. No one at the time blamed the old man, but all considered it was an act of necessary self-defence. ISAAC had before killed a saddler upon Grand River, upon some slight provocation."
Judge HOPKINS, of Lewiston, Niagara county, was a resident, near the BRANTS, in 1800 and 1801, and confirms generally, the statement of Mr. GOULD.
Others, who were early residents of Canada, and neighbors of the subject of this sketch, in the latter years of his life, have given the author many interesting reminiscences of him, derived from personal observation and conversation; but a few of which can be made available without transcending prescribed limits.
In speaking of the attack and massacre at Minisink, he excused himself upon the ground that the Americans came out under pretence of holding a parley, and fired several shots, some of which were aimed at him .* Provoked at this, he gave orders for an attack in which no quarters were to be given. He assumed that he saved the life of Capt. WooD, had him taken to Niagara, as a prisoner, where he remained until peace. He acknowledged to an informant of the author, that he took the life of Lieut. WISNER, at Minisink, very much as the inhuman act is already detailed in history; but excused the act upon the ground, that he had either to leave him to become a prey to wild beasts in his wounded and helpless condition, be encumbered with him in a retreat through an enemy's country, or adopt the terrible alternative he did. He claimed to have saved many prisoners, upon other occasions,-and generally to have been governed by the incentives of humanity; though it is difficult to reconcile these professions, even with his own versions. At Oriskany he said :- "I captured a man who had hid behind a stump; his name was WALDO or WALBRIDGE; he begged, and I ordered the Indians to save him. He conducted myself and party to his home, a mile distant; arriving there, we found that Indians had preceded us, and had bound for sacrifice, a 'beautiful girl,' the sister of our prisoner. I ordered her release."
Says another informant :- "I first.knew JOSEPH BRANT in 1797. He resided at the Mohawk village. He was the patroon of the place-his authority nearly absolute, with both Indians and whites.
* Not consistent with authentic history.
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He was in high favor with Gov. SIMCOE, and the Canadian authori- ties generally. The governor was often a partaker, with others, of his hospitalities. I have heard Capt. BRANT say, he could not regret the death of his son ISAAC; but much regretted that he had been obliged to take the life of a son."
Few mooted points of history have been more often discussed, than the question whether BRANT was present at the Wyoming massacre. The poet CAMPBELL, in his widely read and admired poem, "Gertrude of Wyoming," in a passage purporting to be a part of the speech of an Oneida chief, pending the battle, or massaere, says :-
""" But this is not a time' ;- (he started up,
And smote his breast with wo-denouncing hand) -
" This is no time to fill the joyous cup,
The mammoth comes - the foe - the monster, BRANT! With all his howling, desolating band; These eyes have seen their blade, and burning pine;
Awake at once, and silence half your land.
Red is the cup they drink; but not with wine; Awake and watch to-night, or see no morning shine. Scorning to wield the hatchet for his bribe,
'Gainst BRANT himself I went to battle forth: Accursed BRANT! he left of all my tribe, Nor man, nor child, nor thing of living birth;
No, not the dog that watched my household hearth, Escaped that night of blood upon our plains: All perished! I alone am left on earth!
To whom nor relative, nor blood remains -
No - not a kindred drop that runs in human veins."
This was admired verse, but destined to be questioned fact. JOHN BRANT, a son of the old chief, visited London in 1822. While there, he caused to be exhibited to Mr. CAMPBELL, docu- mentary evidence, showing that he had done great injustice to the memory of his father; and that he was not present at the massacre at Wyoming. Mr. CAMPBELL immediately addressed the young chief a respectful letter, in which after justifying himself by citing numerous authorities in favor of the conclusion he had favored in his poem, frankly acknowledged that the evidence presented to him had induced him to change his opinion; to which he added an expression of regret that he had been led to favor the imputation.
W. L. STONE, in his life of the Mohawk chief, assumes that he was not at Wyoming. The publication of his history was fol- lowed by a paper published in the Democratic Review, attrib-
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uted to CALEB CUSHING; in which it is assumed that BRANT was at Wyoming; and the biographer is called upon to show where he was at the time, if he was not there ?* Col. STONE replied to this, and pretty effectually justified his position.
In a conversation that took place between Col. BUTLER and JOSEPH BRANT, at Brantford, many years after the Revolution, (well remembered by one who related it to the author,) BRANT was complaining that much was laid to his charge of which he was innocent. "They say," said he, "that I was the Indian leader at Wyoming; you, Colonel, know I was not there." To which, BUTLER replied :- " To be sure, I do,-and if you had been there, you could have done no better than I did; the Indians were uncontrollable."
The author inclines to the opinion of Col. STONE, (though deem- ing him in the main, too partial to his semi-civilized hero;) the terrible instrument in the hands of his British prompters, in scenes of stealthy assault, captivity and death; the foremost and most formidable scourge of the border settlers of our state, in a crisis that found them exposed to all the evils of savage warfare- enhanced by the aid and assistance of a portion of their own race. who had not savage custom and usage to plead in extenuation of their atrocities and villanies.
JOSEPH BRANT died at his residence at Burlington Bay, on the 24th of November, 1807, aged 64 years. Previous to his death. he had become a communicant of the Episcopal church, and in his life time had aided that church materially in its missionary labors among the Indians, by translating some portions of the scriptures, and the Book of Common Prayer, into the Mohawk language.
Where the first stopping place of the Mohawks was, after leaving their home upon the Mohawk, with GUY JOHNSON and BRANT, (if they had any intermediate abiding place,) before reaching Lewiston, the author has nowhere seen named. In an early period of the border wars, BRANT's residence was at Lew- iston,-his dwelling a block house, standing near what is called "Brant's Spring," on the farm of ISAAC Cook. His followers, forming a considerable Indian village, were located along the
* A difficult task, the reader will conclude: - to go back beyond a half century, and show where the leader of a band of Indians was, whose range was a then wilderness comprising half of our entire slate, a part of Pennsylvania, and a part of Canada West; his location changing with the vicissitudes of a predatory warfare.
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Ridge Road between the Academy and the road that leads up to the Tuscarora village. There were remains of the huts standing when white settlement commenced. It would seem by reference to the books of the land office, that for several farms there, the purchasers were charged an extra price, in consequence of the improvements the Mohawks had made during their residence there. There was a log church in which the Episcopal service was usually read upon Sundays, by some one attached to the British garrison at Niagara, and occasionally a British army chaplain, or a mission- ary would be present. That church, in any history of its origin and progress, in Western New York may well assume that beyond the garrison at Niagara, Lewiston, BRANT's rude log church, was the spot where its services were first had. Upon a humble log church there could, of course, then, be no belfry or steeple. The bell that was brought from the Mohawk, was hung upon a cross- bar, resting in the crotch of a tree, and rang by a rope attached. The crotch was taken down by the Cook family, after they had purchased the land. In 1778, JOHN MOUNTPLEASANT, then but eight years old, says his Tuscarora mother used to take him down to the church, where he remembers seeing his father, Capt. MOUNT- PLEASANT, then in command of the garrison at Niagara. He speaks of the crotch and the bell, as objects that attracted his especial attention.
Our brief narrative of events in the border war, having been interrupted-to admit of some reminiscences of one who was so conspicuous in its memorable scenes-it will be resumed, but only with reference generally, to events connected with the western portion of our state.
The Tryon county General Committee, after the departure of GUY JOHNSON, and his retinue, were active in perfecting its organ- ization, and enlisting the co-operation of the citizens of the county. Sir JOHN JOHNSON had remained behind, converted his house into a rendezvous and focus of loyalty, and was actively engaged in counteracting the movements of the Committee. The public autho- rities of the county-the Judges of the court, the Magistrates, were mostly with him and against the Committee. The sheriff of the county,' ALEXANDER WHITE, had early demonstrated his position and sentiments, by using his official authority to disperse the prim-
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itive meeting in the Mohawk district, made himself especially obnoxious with the people. In a letter from the Committee to the Provincial Congress, they say : - " We must further hear that Gov. TRYON shall have again granted a commission to the great villain, ALEXANDER WHITE, for High Sheriff' in our county, but we shall never suffer any exercise in our county, of such office by said WHITE." In such an emergency, the Committee formally declared, that there was an end to the previously constituted autho- rities of the county, and constituted themselves the local govern- ment, exercising as a demand of necessity, in most matters, arbi- trary authority. It was in fact, thus early, revolution, so far as our county of Tryon was concerned.
In September, 1775, the Committee say in a letter to Congress, " there is a great many proved enemies to our association and reg- ulations thereof, being Highlanders, amounting to 200 men, accor- ding to intelligence. We are daily scandalized by them, provoked and threatened, and we must surely expect a havoc of them upon our families if we should be required and called elsewhere upon our country's cause." It was ascertained that JOHNSON kept up a continual correspondence with GUY JOHNSON at Montreal, after his retreat. In October, the Committee wrote to Sir JOHN, wish- ing to know if he would "allow the inhabitants of Johnstown and Kingsborough, to form themselves into companies according to the regulations of our Continental Congress;" whether he would lend his personal assistance to such a measure; and whether he preten- ded a "prerogative to our county court house and goal, and would hinder or interrupt the Committee making use of the same ?" He replied that he should not hinder his tenants from doing as they pleased, but that they were not disposed to engage in the cause of Congress, &c .; as to himself, he said, "sooner than lift his hand against his King, or sign any association, he would suffer his head to be cut off;" as to the court house and jail, they should be used only for the purposes for which they were built, until he was paid seven hundred pounds, advanced for their erection; and closed by charging that "two of the Canajoharie and German Flatts people had been forced to sign the association."
The Provincial Congress, addressed a letter to the committee, advising forbearance and moderation, and suggesting that they had in some particulars asked too much of Sir JOHN, yet the Congress denied that he had any right to control the court-house, as that was
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conveyed by Sir WILLIAM, for the use of the county. But the Congress advised the Committee, that as it might lead to serious consequences, they had better not confine persons in the jail "inimical to our country," but procure some other convenient place, and also advised against in any way, molesting Sir JOHN, as long as he was inactive.
In the following winter, Sir JOHN made preparations to fortify Johnson's Hall, and the rumor gained ground, that when completed, he would garrison it with three hundred Indians, besides his own men. In January, Gen. SCHUYLER, Gen. TEN BROEK, and Col. VARICK, came into Tryon county with a small party of soldiers, where they were joined by the Tryon county militia, ordered out by Gen. HERKIMER. The rendezvous was but a few miles from Johnson's Hall. From the camp, a correspondence was carried on for several days with Sir JOHN JOHNSON. It resulted in his surren- dering himself a prisoner, and disarming his tenants. This pro- duced quiet for the winter, but in May, Sir JOHN broke a parole he had entered into, and accompanied by a large number of his tenants, went to Montreal. There, or at some point in Canada, he organized a military corps of refugees, known throughout the war, as "Johnson's Greens."
The first delegates to the Provincial Congress, from Tryon county, were JOHN MARLATT and JOHN MOORE. In May, 1776, the Tryon county committee, instructed their delegates in the Provincial Congress, to vote for the entire independence of the Colonies; and the Declaration of Independence, of the 4th of July following, was hailed by the people of Tryon county with joy.
For nearly a year after this, there were but little of war movements, in the Mohawk valley. In June, 1777, BRANT appeared at Unadilla with seventy or eighty Indians, where he sought an interview with some militia officers, and the Rev. Mr. JOHNSTONE. He told them his party were in want of provisions, and that if they could not get them peaceably, they must by force. He admitted he had joined his fortunes and that of his tribe, to the King, who "was very strong," that he and his people were " natural warriors, and could not bear to be threatened by Gen. SCHUYLER." He demanded that the Mohawk people he had left behind, should be made free, to pass out of the country when they pleased. This advent was attended only by levying some supplies from the inhabitants.
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In July following, Gen. HERKIMER went to Unadilla with a corps of three hundred and eighty militia; where BRANT again appeared with one hundred and eighty warriors. He was as insolent as before. He repeated a declaration of his intention to espouse the cause of the King; said the King would "humble the Boston people that Gen. HERKIMER had joined;" and intimated that those he served, were much better able to make Indians presents, than were Gen. H. and his associates. Col. Cox, who was present, said to BRAN'T if he had determined to espouse the cause of the King, the matter was ended. At some intimation from BRANT, his warriors raised a shout, and repaired to their camp about a mile distant, when seizing their arms, they fired several guns and raised the Indian war whoop. Returning to the conference ground, Gen. HERKIMER assured BRANT that he had not come to fight; at which BRANT motioned to his warriors to keep their places; and addressing Gen. HERKIMER, in a threatening attitude, told him if his purpose was war, he was ready for him. He then proposed that Mr. STEWART the missionary among the Mohawks, (who was supposed to lean to the English side,) and the wife of Col. BUTLER, should be permitted to pass from the upper to the lower Mohawk castle. Gen. HERKIMER offered to comply upon the condition that some tories and deserters were given up to him; to which condi- tion BRANT would not yield, but elosed the conference with a threat that he would go to Oswego and hold a treaty with Col. BUTLER; or rather the conference was ended by a violent storm which obliged both parties to retreat for shelter.
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