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 , a politician in Canada and a wealthy landowner . He was the son of Sir William Johnson , 1st Baronet , who had been the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies , based in New York province , and accumulated much land and wealth . He inherited his father ' s baronetcy and lands in 1774 . Sir John removed 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 and education . Born near Amsterdam , New York , Johnson was the only son of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs , Colonel Sir William Johnson , 1st Baronet , and his common - law wife , Catherine Weisenberg , a Palatine German immigrant . He was baptized as an Anglican in the chapel at Fort Hunter . William Johnson was a military commander during the French and Indian War ( Seven Years War ) , 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 . Career . Sir John Johnson , who assumed office in 1771 , was the last Provincial Grand Master of Masons in the colonies of Province of New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . In 1774 at his father ' s death , John 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 Provincial Assembly . Marriage and family . Johnsons parents , Catherine Weissenberg and Sir William Johnson were never married and so he was Baptised John Wysen Bergh by Rev . Henry Barclay February 7 , 1741 / 2 . This means that he was never legally the second Baronet of New York . However as he had been Knighted he was Sir John Johnson in his own right . This has now ( in 2013 ) been 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 . Johnson took as a common - law wife Clarissa Putman , daughter of Arent Putman and Elizabeth Peek of Tribes Hill , New York , from 1765 to 1773 . She was of Dutch ancestry . They had a daughter Margaret in 1765 , and a son William in 1770 . On June 30 , 1773 , Johnson married Mary Watts ( 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 . The couple had ten sons and four daughters . Eight of their sons served in the British army and navy . One son , James Stephen Johnson , was killed at the siege of Badajoz , in 1814 . Their daughter Catherine Maria Johnson married Major - General Bernard Foord Bowes , who fell at Salamanca , in 1812 . Their first son Adam Gordon Johnson ( 1781 - 1843 ) succeeded his father to the baronetcy . Their daughter , Anne Nancy Johnson , married Colonel Edward MacDonnell ( Deputy Quartermaster General to the Forces in Canada , and one - time aide - de - camp to the Duke of Wellington ) . Their last surviving child , an unmarried daughter , died in London on 1 January 1868 . Lady Johnson died in Montreal , August 7 , 1815 . Her husband died in Montreal , January 4 , 1830 . Both are buried at Mount Johnson , near Chambly , Quebec . Johnson and Clarissa Putman ' s grandson , James E . Van Horne , and great - grandson , William Van Horne , were each elected mayor of Schenectady , New York . 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 . 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 war . Johnson 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 . His authority extended over all northern First Nations allied with the Crown , including four of the Iroquois League nations , who had mostly relocated to Canada after having been allies of the losing British during the revolution . Post - war years . 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 , the Crown appointed Johnson to distribute crown lands ( purchased from First Nations ) along the St . Lawrence River and the north shore of Lake Ontario ( 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 that first year . 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 Indian Department for Lower Canada . He held extensive land holdings in both Upper and Lower Canada , including the seigneuries of Monnoir and Argenteuil in Quebec . Johnson died in Montreal in 1830 at the age of 88 .