Pound, Arthur; Day, Richard E. Johnson of the Mohawks : A Biography of Sir William Johnson, Irish Immigrant, Mohawk War Chief, American Soldier, Empire Builder. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1930. New Edition with Supplementary Chapter. [12009]
Red cloth, no dj, light corner tip bumps, a bit of edge-wear, 9 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches. Map end papers; the front end paper hinge looks like it has been repaired with paste at sometime or other (not recently). [xx], 568 clean pp., many b/w illustrations. Good. Hardcover.
Sir William Johnson (1715-1774). b. Meath, Ireland; d. Johnstown, NY. The life story of a truly amazing character, brought to New York by his ship captain uncle who wanted him to set up a trading post in the then-wilderness north of Albany, New York. Johnson became the signal most important figure of colonial New York, establishing trade with the Mohawks and other tribes, becoming accepted by them as an adopted son, and taking as a common-law wife Molly Brant, a Mohawk Clan mother.
In 1755 he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs and appointed Major General of American and Six Nation forces.
During the Seven Years (French & Indian) War, his success in battle against the French in northern New York earned him knighthood and the aristocratic rank of Baron. Johnson won other battles and accolades for his conduct during that war, and he worked to keep the Six Nations of the Iroquois on the side of the British.
The strength of his character and his skill in diplomacy kept the New York natives within the British fold until the American Revolution, when the Oneidas took sides with the American patriots.
At just the beginnings of that conflict, in 1774, Johnson suddenly died in the midst of a great conference with the Indian tribes at his home in Johnstown.
