New-York tribune., 1906-10-13

eeo. through the generosity OF General
-r.t+s oe Peyster. the Montgomery County
). 80 Society, os Amsterdam n. Y. came
~. ,oSsession Of the old stone mansion
So Sir william Johnson In 1912 First
IT,, - .s Mount Johnson and sometimes called
80, - Johnson. IN I755 II was surrounded by
..,,sa6e ana renamed Fort Johnson Here
= u-uusrn lived until 1763 when he moved
= -. new home. johnson Hall. in the vicin-
= ., Oh. present town OF Johnstown. The old
-. house was Sir William Johnson's head
-.-.s-s during the period OF his greatest ac-
- ss Indian Commissioner. and was the po-
,,,t,sl and social centre OF the Mohawk Valley
a., --snv years II IS the aim OF the Montgon-
- County Historical Society 10 use this fine
Ia mansion an historical museum. and its
.,ouisition has inspired AIr. Reid TO revive the
--,-,o-Ies associated with the building and with
-. family which occupied st
The volume which has resulted is a fornless
,rs iuconsecurfve collection OF historic facts,
,,beuished with occasional flights Of tusgina-
,.v. fancy. Mr.. Reid has derived his data for
,hs most part from secondary sources. and is
shls 10 throw uttle new light the story OF the
rosnsons He has, however. done real service
4. correcting some Of the misapprehensions that
hsve become current in regard 70 them and
their ola stone home. owing TO the inaccuracies
os other writer's. arising in part from the con-
soundinE Of Fort Johnson with johnson Hall.
w- Reid has unearthed. moreover, and reprint
I'd one ancient document the diary OF Will
tan Colbraith q soldier OF Colonel Gansevoort's
regiment during the siege Of For1 Schuyler IN
fT77. This gives many interesting details OF
ffe within the fort not mentioned in Colonel
Msriaus wiuett's report The most important
fact is the date CAugust 3. IND OF the rails
snR o. the FIRST American flag with the regu-
lstion stars and stripes above an American
sort The materials used were q blue cloak
-s5 flannel skirt and strips OF white cotton The
diary also makes record of the killing and scalp
tng of two girls who had wandered from the
fort. and Of the wounding and death OF a young
nan 10 whom one OF them was TO have been
married This episode Mr.. Reid uses the
foundation Of short story introduced as one
Of the chapters OF the book IN which the reader
nnds II difficult 10 separate what is fiction from
what is fact The volume opens. also with g
purely tanciful description OF the parting Of
william Johnson from his Irish sweetheart on
the eve Of his departure for America in 1877.
Il seems superauous TO waste any emotion
ever en epochryphal early romance IN the ca
reer Of G man who. great were his public ser
vices showed himself only too ready TO console
himself rCT the Joss OF Ills sweetheart 6lC wives.
HIS first wife was young Dutch bond servant
whom Re married some time after the birth OF
their three children. and when she died ne In
stalled In her place an Indian woman named
Caroline g niece OF the Indian chief known as
King Bendrick BY her he had three children.
two daughters who married white men, and q
sou who was killed al Fort Schuyler by William
Spencer. & patriotic Oneida Indian. Caroline
was followed by her niece. the famous Molly
Brant. who became the mother OF eight half
breed children. Although all these children
were handsomely remembered by Sir William
johnson II his will which Mr.. Reid prints in
full they lost their patrimony through the con-
tscs,ior ot the Johnson estate during the Revo-
lua1n. and with their mother. seem to have re-
lpsed into barbarisra. and 10 have been lost
EghI of IN history.
Joseph Brant. the brother OF Molly. and Sir
John Johnson. the Oldest son Of Sir William. fg-
ure largely in the narrative. on account Of their
active association with the British forces IN
making war upon their former friends and
neghbors Of the Mohawk Valley. Whether. If
he had lived Sir William would have been q
patriot OF q Tory Il is difficult TO say What
ever course he might have followed. the author
believes that the majority Of the inhabitants OF
Tryon now Montgomery County would have
followed him. ''in which case there would have
been no Oriskauy. no siege OF Fort Schuyler. no
Wyoming or Cherry Valley. no Indian raids or
desolarion OF the valley. and possibly no Sara
toga-" The eldest son. Sir John Johnson, was
Of different calibre from his father. He neg
lected 10 marry the mother Of his Oldest chill
dren and dismissed her 10 make room for his
wife. the vivacious and beautiful Polly Watts
Of New York. he spent some time in London
where he was made baronet IN his own right
BY the King in order that he might succeed to
his fathers rank from which his illegitinlacy
would have excluded him. This honor and his
sristocrstic associations infamed his sense OF
his own Importance and inclined him TO act in
superciAous and toplofty manner toward his
'plebeian" neighbors and the native tribesmen
His cousin. Guy Johnson. succeeded Sir Will
IAN as Indian Commissioner.
The first house built by Sir William was q
rough store and dwelling. situated about han
mile east Of the present Mohawk River brldge
st Amsterdam, on the south side. II was Whi-e
living here that ne built Fort Johnson, "con-
Etructed n q style that in those days may vel
have been termed magnificent" Many interest
ing photographs OF the old fort, interiors and
sxte-!ors are scattered through the volume, Nj,
Nancy even going so far 20 show. in a picture
q the haunted chamber. by Photographic trick
view OF its ghostly visitor. Anything in which
any Of The Johnsons were in any way con
eerTed Is sufficient excuse for the author u
Include II IN his book. We read. accordingly
OF Sir Williams subjugation OF Pontiac; we are
told the story OF the battle OF Lake George
where Sir William led the oolonists TO victory
over the French and Indians, and Of the various
actions during the Revolutionary War that tool
place IN the Mohawk Valley because tho resior
nso been long dominated by the johnson
family. Mr. Reid takes the ground that avsric'
wes the motive which induced the Indians x