Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet

Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet of New York (5 November 1741 – 4 January 1830) was a Loyalist leader during the American Revolution, British Loyalist/provincial military officer, a politician in Canada and a wealthy landowner. He was the son of Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, who was the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies, based in New York province.

Sir John Johnson Bt
Superintendent of Indian Affairs
In office 1755–1774
Preceded by	William Johnson
Succeeded by	Duncan C. Napier
Personal details
Born	John Wysen Bergh (1741-11-05)5 November 1741 Amsterdam, New York
Died	4 January 1830(1830-01-04) (aged 88) Montreal, Canada
Spouse(s)	Clarissa Putman ​ ( m. 1765⁠–⁠1773) Mary Nicoll Watts ​ ( m. 1773; died 1815)
Relations	Sir William Johnson, 4th Baronet (grandson)
Children	20
Parents	Sir William Johnson, Bt Catherine Weissenberg
Education	The Academy and College of Philadelphia
Military service
Allegiance	Great Britain
Branch/service	King's Royal Regiment of New York
Rank	Brigadier general
Battles/wars	Revolutionary War

He inherited his father's baronetcy and lands in 1774. Sir John moved to Canada during the American Revolutionary War with family and allies, as he was at risk of arrest by rebel authorities. He led the King's Royal Regiment of New York and was promoted to brigadier general in 1782. That year Sir John Johnson was also appointed as Superintendent General and Inspector General of Indian affairs of First Nations in Canada, including the four Iroquois nations that had relocated there. 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 Amsterdam, New York on 5 November 1741. He was the only son of Colonel Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, and his common-law wife, Catherine Weissenberg, a Palatine German immigrant. As his parents never married, he was baptized John Wysen Bergh by Rev. Henry Barclay February 7, 1741/2 as an Anglican in the chapel at Fort Hunter.[lower-alpha 1] His father was a military commander during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) who had promoted the British settlement of the Mohawk Valley and trading with the Mohawk, and founded the community of Johnstown in Tryon County in the Province of New York.[1]

His paternal grandparents were Christopher Johnson and Lady Anne Warren, brother 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 The Academy and College of Philadelphia. From 13 years of age, he accompanied his father on military expeditions and conferences with the Indians.[2]

Career

In 1771, Johnson became the last Provincial Grand Master of Masons in the colonies of Province of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.[3] In 1774, at his father's death, Johnson succeeded to the baronetcy and inherited his father's title and extensive estates, making him a wealthy landowner. In 1775, he was appointed doorkeeper of the New York General Assembly.

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, General 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 the King 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.[4]

Johnson and his followers formed the core of the British military regiment known as the King's Royal Regiment of New York, which had substantial action against the New York colonials under his command throughout the revolutionary war. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1782.

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.[5][6] 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.[7]

Post-war years

John Johnson's Manor House in Williamstown, Ontario

In 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, establishing the independence of the American Colonies. Johnson and thousands of other Loyalists were in permanent exile in Canada. The British had transported some Loyalists from New York and New England for resettlement to Nova Scotia, including more than 3,000 Black Loyalists: African-American slaves whom they had freed as promised for their service during the war.

In 1784, Haldimand appointed Johnson to distribute Crown lands (purchased from First Nations) along the St. Lawrence River and the north shore of Lake Ontario including Amherst Island (what became known as Upper Canada) to Loyalists who had come to Canada, as some compensation for their losses in the colonies. The government wanted to encourage development of this part of Canada, as it was lightly settled. The exiles faced severe conditions in the early years, as they struggled to create settlements out of frontier lands, and the British were not able to get adequate supplies to them on time. Johnson estimated that he had arranged the settlement of 3,776 Loyalists during the first years.

In 1791, Lord Dorchester recommended Johnson as lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, but London turned this recommendation down.

In 1796, Johnson moved back to Montreal, then the seat of government, where he served in the Legislative Council of Lower Canada and as head of the Department of Indian Affairs for Lower Canada. He owned land in both Upper and Lower Canada, including the seigneuries of Monnoir and Argenteuil in Quebec.[8]

Personal life

Lady Mary Johnson, copied by Henderson, of Montreal, from a family painting

From 1765 to 1773, Johnson took as a common-law wife, fifteen year old Clarissa Putman (1751–1833), daughter of Arent V. Putman, of Dutch ancestry, and Elizabeth Peek of Tribes Hill, New York. Before their relationship ended and he married Mary Nicoll Watts, John and Clarissa were the parents of a daughter and a son:[9]

• Margaret Johnson (1765–c. 1830), who married James Van Horne, the son of Sheriff Abraham Van Horne, in 1791.[9]
• 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.[9]

On June 30, 1773, Johnson married Mary Nicoll "Polly" Watts (1751–1815), a daughter of Hon. John Watts, President of the King's Council, of New York. After he escaped to Canada in May 1776 at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Lady Johnson was detained that year by the Whigs of New York as a hostage for the good conduct of her husband. After she was freed to join Sir John in Canada, the couple lived in Montreal during the winter and spent the summers on their seigneury at Argenteuil, Ottawa on the Ottawa River. The couple also visited in England. Together, Mary and Sir John had ten sons, eight of whom served in the British army and navy, and eight daughters, including:[10]

• 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 aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington.[10]
• William Johnson (1775–1811), who married Sarah Delancey, granddaughter of Oliver Delancey.[10]
• Warren Johnson (1777–1802), a major in the 60th regiment.[10]
• Adam Gordon Johnson (1781–1843), who succeeded his father to the baronetcy.[10]
• John Johnson (1782–1841), who married Mary Diana Dillon (1809–1861).[10]
• James Stephen Johnson (1785–1812), who was killed at the 1812 Siege of Badajoz.[10]
• Catherine Maria Johnson (1786–1850), who married Major-General Barnard Foord Bowes in 1805. Bowes died at the Siege of the Salamanca Forts in 1812.[10]
• Robert Thomas Johnson (1787–1812), who drowned in the St. Lawrence River in 1812.[10]
• Charles Christopher Johnson (1787–1864), who became a vice-admiral and married Susan Griffith Colpoys, daughter of Sir Edward Griffith Colpoys.[10]
• Archibald Kennedy Johnson (1792–1866), who married Jenet Robertson and Maria Langham.[10]

Their last surviving child, an unmarried daughter, 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 at Mount Johnson, near Chambly, Quebec.[11]

Descendants

His grandson, James E. Van Horne, and great-grandson, William Van Horne, from his relationship with Clarissa Putnam, were both elected mayor of Schenectady, New York.[12]

As his eldest surviving son died without issue, his grandson William George Johnson (1830–1908), became the 4th Baronet.[1]

Legacy and honors

Vault Sir John Johnson,
Mount Johnson, 1885

• The Sir John Johnson House in Williamstown, Ontario, was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1961.[13][14][15]
• Lac Sir John, a small lake near Lakefield, Quebec (and as is the road Chemin Lac Sir John) is named after him.

References

Notes

1. 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.

Sources

1. Browning, Charles Henry (1883). Americans of Royal Descent. Philadelphia: Porter & Costes. p. 16. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
2. assnat.qc.ca: "John JOHNSON (1741-1830)"
3. The Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library of New York: The History of the Grand Lodge of New York, New York Masonic Library.
4. The Mohawk Valley During the Revolution, by Harold Frederic, 1877.
5. "White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America", Fintan O'Toole, 2005.
6. "Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
7. Sir John Johnson at Montreal and Niagara, Haldimand Collection.
8. Bryan, William (August 1874). "Sir John Johnson". American Historical Record. 3 (32): 340–344. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Morgan, Henry James, ed. (1903). Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada. Toronto: Williams Briggs. p. 179.
12. Hutchins, Stephen C. (1883). Civil List and Constitutional History of the Colony and State of New York. Weed, Parsons & Company. p. 444. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
13. Sir John Johnson House. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada.
14. Sir John Johnson House National Historic Site of Canada. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada.
15. Sir John Johnson House. Canadian Register of Historic Places.

External links

• Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet at Find a Grave
• "Biography of Sir John Johnson". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.

Political offices
Preceded by William Johnson	Superintendent of Indian Affairs 1755–1774	Succeeded by Duncan C. Napier
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by William Johnson	Baronet (of New York) 1774–1830	Succeeded by Adam Gordon Johnson