John Johnson

Battles of Stone Arabia, Klock’s Field Archeological Study Complete

November 11, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On October 19, 1780, Loyalists, Native Allies and British soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Johnson and Captain Joseph Brant began destroying farms in Stone Arabia, a village about a mile north of Fort Keyser, in what was then Tryon County (today, Palatine Township in Montgomery County).

Colonel John Brown, leading a force of New York and Massachusetts revolutionaries left Fort Paris in Stone Arabia in an attempt to attack what he believed was a smaller, isolated enemy force. [Read more…] about Battles of Stone Arabia, Klock’s Field Archeological Study Complete

Revolutionary Albany: Setbacks As The War Presses Toward Albany

March 7, 2022 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

After a late-summer of preparations, too late in the fall of 1775, the Colonial Army mounted a two-pronged invasion of Canada. General Schuyler invaded Montreal from Fort Ticonderoga and General Benedict Arnold attacked Quebec.

Schuyler fell ill and was replaced by General Richard Montgomery. Montgomery took Montreal and then marched to assist Arnold at Quebec. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Albany: Setbacks As The War Presses Toward Albany

Herkimer County Loyalist Raids & The Battle of West Canada Creek

February 15, 2022 by Louis Baum 6 Comments

During the American Revolution, British loyalists frequently raided the farms and homes of their former friends and neighbors in what is now Herkimer County, NY, with the support of their Native allies.

Among the communities raided were Andrustown (July 18, 1778), Rheimensnyders Bush (April 3, 1780, also known as Yellow Church), Shells Bush (August 6, 1781) and Little Falls (June 1782). The Loyalists knew the landscape well, for many of them had lived there for a generation or two. Many were relatives and friends of the recently deceased Sir William Johnson who had been Commissioner of Indian Affairs for North America.

One of these raids resulted in what has become known as the Battle of West Canada Creek, which occurred in September 1781. [Read more…] about Herkimer County Loyalist Raids & The Battle of West Canada Creek

Revolutionary Albany: Organizing The Committee of Safety, Protection and Correspondence

February 14, 2022 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

Beginning in 1764, the Parliament of Great Britain passed a series of tax acts attempting to tax the colonies to help pay for the costs of troops provided during and after the French and Indian War (which had ended the year before). Various taxes were imposed on sugar, newspapers, printed documents, dice and playing cards and later, glass, lead, paint, paper and tea. British tax collectors were physically threatened and prevented from collecting the tax and British goods were boycotted. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Albany: Organizing The Committee of Safety, Protection and Correspondence

The Jessup Brothers in the American Revolution

April 3, 2018 by Marie Williams Leave a Comment

In the mid-1760s, brothers Edward and Ebenezer Jessup moved from Dutchess County, NY, to Albany and engaged in land speculation in the Hudson River Valley and Lake George area.

The Jessups would become friendly with Sir William Johnson, who had built Fort William Henry in 1755. Thanks to his close relationship with the Mohawk, Johnson became the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The Jessups acquired much of their land from Johnson and the Mohawks. [Read more…] about The Jessup Brothers in the American Revolution

John Johnson’s Escape from Johnstown, 1776

July 1, 2016 by Bob Cudmore 3 Comments

This week on “The Historians” podcast Johnson Hall site manager Wade Wells describes loyalist Sir John Johnson’s escape from his family estate in Johnstown, N.Y., in 1776 as rebel soldiers were on their way there to arrest him. Listen to the podcast here. [Read more…] about John Johnson’s Escape from Johnstown, 1776

New Evidence About Cannon Found In Adirondacks

July 7, 2015 by Glenn Pearsall 4 Comments

The story goes that, in the summer of 1970, a Town of Johnsburg highway crew was straightening a Garnet Lake Road near Crane Mountain in Northern Warren County in the Adirondacks. While removing some of the ancient corduroy logs that once carried the road across a swampy section, they discovered what appeared to be an old cannon.

Vincent Schaefer had the cannon dated at the Watervliet Arsenal and it was determined that it was a swivel gun of the type probably used by Benedict Arnold’s troops during the battle of Valcour Island. [Read more…] about New Evidence About Cannon Found In Adirondacks

The Oneida Nation Supported American Rebels

June 15, 2015 by Bob Cudmore 2 Comments

James Kirby Martin, a history professor at the University of Houston, traces his interest in the Mohawk Valley to his birthplace in northern Ohio.

Joseph Brant of the Mohawk Nation was born in what is now Ohio in 1743 and Martin was fascinated by Brant’s life. The younger brother of Sir William Johnson’s longtime consort Molly Brant, Joseph Brant and Sir William’s son John led devastating raids in the Mohawk Valley during the American Revolution.

Sir William, Britain’s Indian agent in our region, died in 1774 before the war. However, his good relations with the Iroquois Confederacy kept most of them on the side of the British during the Revolution. [Read more…] about The Oneida Nation Supported American Rebels