History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 49: 1760, General Amherst Conquers Canada by Way of the Mohawk Valley., concluded ...
Of the Indians, 163 made the full journey to Montreal.
111 of these were Six Nations Indians and 76 of them were Mohawks.
It is probable that as many of the Mohawk Valley militia as could be safely spared were joined to the conquering army which finally subdued Canada.
This Valley militia force may have numbered 500 or more soldiers.
Although there is no way of ascertaining the exact number of these Valley soldiers, Amherst's order to strip the Valley forts of even their guards, in order to swell his strength as much as possible, would indicate that as many of the 800 or more Valley militia would have been taken as could have been done and, at the same time, have left a few to safeguard their homes and settlements.
Several of the Mohawk Valley militia officers are mentioned in Fonda's diary.
On October 24th, 1760, Sir William Johnson addressed a letter to Sir William Pitt, Prime Minister of England, detailing his major activities, during the war just brought to a close by the capture of Montreal.
Much of the matter covered in this important letter, deals with the Seven Years War, as it concerned the Mohawks, the Mohawk Valley and the Mohawk Valley militia, as well as the great military movements through the Valley.
Johnson also says that he had not received any salary as Major General or Indian Superintendent.
This letter appears in the "Sir William Johnson Papers", Vol. III, pages 269-275.
That General Sir William Johnson's services had received favorable attention from the English government is shown by Johnson's letter to General Amherst, under date of January 18th, 1761, in which he says: "The notice his Majesty was pleased to take of my small Service, (as Signified to you by Mr. Pitt) does me great Honour, and at the same time that it demands my most grateful acknowledgments, it lays me under the greatest obligations to your Excellency, from whose favourable representations it must proceed, of which I shall ever retain a due Sense."
Pitt's commendation of Johnson's great services, during the war, appear in Pitt's letter to Amherst, under date of October 24th, 1760, the same day on which Johnson wrote Pitt the aforementioned letter.
On November 8th, 1760, Amherst wrote Johnson that a reduction of the military forces was necessary and instructed Sir William to drop the following Indian Officers from the rolls: Captains John Butler and Jelles Fonda and Lieutenants William Hair and Henry Nellus (Nellis).
Indian officers were military messengers and deputies, who had a general supervision or command of Indian forces on military expeditions, as we have seen in the case of Captain Fonda, as detailed in his journal, here published.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 50: Schenectady in Colonial Wars.
Part of an interesting chapter on the military part played in America's colonial wars by the township of Schenectady, from 1700 to 1762 — from History of Schenectady County, by Hon. Austin A. Yates.
From Yates' History of Schenectady County:
All through the eighteenth century the names of the Schenectady burghers are proportionately more numerous than any of the then military divisions of the Province.
The Mohawker was born in the midst of war's alarms, baptized to the music of the twang of the bowstring and crack of musketry.
Often and often the hands that sprinkled his forehead, or made the sign of the cross above it, had become familiar with the stain of blood, as priest or parson performed the last duty to the dying.
Among the old names, all the blood is soldier's blood.
Beginning with the year 1700 the roll of fighters is long and heroic.
Some of the names are still well known and prominent, some have died out.
It is surprising to know of so many whose ancestors, two centuries ago, fought and suffered, and died for God and King, whose record is among the easily attained archives of New York, and yet who know nothing about that recorded story of ancient valor that may well be the pride of their children's children.
From as exhaustive an examination of Colonial Mss., as their immense volume will permit, we give here the companies and regiments from Schenectady, then part of Albany County, which did duty in the protection of home and in the service of William and Mary, Anne and the three Georges of England.
By examination of the genealogical records that follow, it will be possible for thousands of her people to learn just the fighting stock from which they came.
The first roll is that of a company of foot.
The official record is John Sanders Glen, Captain, Adam Vrooman, Lieutenant and Harman Van Slyck Ensign, in the years 1700-14. [Given in Chapter 29 of this work.]
In 1717 there were two companies in existence in the city.
Glen, Capt., Gerrit Symonse, Lieut., and John Wemple, Ensign, of the one; Harman Van Slyck, Capt., Hendrick Vrooman, Lieut., Jacob Glen, Ensign, of the other.
Niskayuna furnished a company of foot, Jacob Van Schoonhoven was Capt., Hans Hansen, Ensign and John Wendell, Lieut.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 50: Schenectady in Colonial Wars.
Part of an interesting chapter on the military part played in America's colonial wars by the township of Schenectady, from 1700 to 1762 — from History of Schenectady County, by Hon. Austin A. Yates.
From Yates' History of Schenectady County:
All through the eighteenth century the names of the Schenectady burghers are proportionately more numerous than any of the then military divisions of the Province.
The Mohawker was born in the midst of war's alarms, baptized to the music of the twang of the bowstring and crack of musketry.
Often and often the hands that sprinkled his forehead, or made the sign of the cross above it, had become familiar with the stain of blood, as priest or parson performed the last duty to the dying.
Among the old names, all the blood is soldier's blood.
Beginning with the year 1700 the roll of fighters is long and heroic.
Some of the names are still well known and prominent, some have died out.
It is surprising to know of so many whose ancestors, two centuries ago, fought and suffered, and died for God and King, whose record is among the easily attained archives of New York, and yet who know nothing about that recorded story of ancient valor that may well be the pride of their children's children.
From as exhaustive an examination of Colonial Mss., as their immense volume will permit, we give here the companies and regiments from Schenectady, then part of Albany County, which did duty in the protection of home and in the service of William and Mary, Anne and the three Georges of England.
By examination of the genealogical records that follow, it will be possible for thousands of her people to learn just the fighting stock from which they came.
The first roll is that of a company of foot.
The official record is John Sanders Glen, Captain, Adam Vrooman, Lieutenant and Harman Van Slyck Ensign, in the years 1700-14. [Given in Chapter 29 of this work.]
In 1717 there were two companies in existence in the city.
Glen, Capt., Gerrit Symonse, Lieut., and John Wemple, Ensign, of the one; Harman Van Slyck, Capt., Hendrick Vrooman, Lieut., Jacob Glen, Ensign, of the other.
Niskayuna furnished a company of foot, Jacob Van Schoonhoven was Capt., Hans Hansen, Ensign and John Wendell, Lieut.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 50: Schenectady in Colonial Wars., continued ...
In 1733 there were three companies of infantry in Schenectady, officered as follows:
The First Company. Wilhemus Veeder, Capt., in the room of Jacob Glen, Lieut. John Vedder, Lieut. Abraham Truax, Ensign, Jan Baptiste Van Eps.
The Second Company. Capt. Abraham Glen, Lieut. Andries A. Bradt, Lieut. Jan B. Wemple, Ensign Hendrick Wemple.
The Third Company. Jacob Van Slyck, Capt., William Teller, Lieut., Myndert Mynderse, Lieut., John A. Bradt, Ensign.
In the meanwhile Daniel Campbell in 1754 came here and settled in Rotterdam to enter the service of the king.
Very soon after his coming, John Duncan came the year following, to not only serve under the king, but to remain in it all through the Revolution, and to take command of a company under Sir John Johnson and attack the settlements on the Mohawk River.
Joseph Yates had emigrated from Albany and had settled at the Aalplaus, where is now the property of Mr. Pierre Hoag, and must have prospered as he owned a large plantation, cultivated by slaves, which extended from the Aalplaus Creek, along the north bank of the river to what is now Freeman's Bridge.
He had two sons, Christopher (Stoeffle) and Jelis, the Dutch for Giles.
These men were fort officers in the service of the king.
The soldiers of that militia did as much duty as either, in fact had seen more brave fighting in many instances than either of the others.
They certainly had in the Mohawk Valley.
The militiaman did not, as did his successors long years afterward, enlist for his personal beauty, his gaudy trappings, the pomp and circumstances of holiday parade, but to be ready at a moment's call to guard his and his neighbor's home.
And in the early latter half of the century, the system of keeping the rolls and records was established which enables us to find out just who were those who did soldierly duty for their king, as long as such duties were consistent with patriotism.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 50: Schenectady in Colonial Wars., continued ...
In 1733 there were three companies of infantry in Schenectady, officered as follows:
The First Company. Wilhemus Veeder, Capt., in the room of Jacob Glen, Lieut. John Vedder, Lieut. Abraham Truax, Ensign, Jan Baptiste Van Eps.
The Second Company. Capt. Abraham Glen, Lieut. Andries A. Bradt, Lieut. Jan B. Wemple, Ensign Hendrick Wemple.
The Third Company. Jacob Van Slyck, Capt., William Teller, Lieut., Myndert Mynderse, Lieut., John A. Bradt, Ensign.
In the meanwhile Daniel Campbell in 1754 came here and settled in Rotterdam to enter the service of the king.
Very soon after his coming, John Duncan came the year following, to not only serve under the king, but to remain in it all through the Revolution, and to take command of a company under Sir John Johnson and attack the settlements on the Mohawk River.
Joseph Yates had emigrated from Albany and had settled at the Aalplaus, where is now the property of Mr. Pierre Hoag, and must have prospered as he owned a large plantation, cultivated by slaves, which extended from the Aalplaus Creek, along the north bank of the river to what is now Freeman's Bridge.
He had two sons, Christopher (Stoeffle) and Jelis, the Dutch for Giles.
These men were fort officers in the service of the king.
The soldiers of that militia did as much duty as either, in fact had seen more brave fighting in many instances than either of the others.
They certainly had in the Mohawk Valley.
The militiaman did not, as did his successors long years afterward, enlist for his personal beauty, his gaudy trappings, the pomp and circumstances of holiday parade, but to be ready at a moment's call to guard his and his neighbor's home.
And in the early latter half of the century, the system of keeping the rolls and records was established which enables us to find out just who were those who did soldierly duty for their king, as long as such duties were consistent with patriotism.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 50: Schenectady in Colonial Wars., concluded ...
One of the best known old soldiers of Colonial days was Jellis Fonda, father of the heroic Major Jellis of the Revolution.
He was a lieutenant in Mathews Company in 1755.
He was major under Sir William Johnson of the Third Regiment of Albany.
He was the close companion, comrade and friend of Sir William Johnson.
Two of the most ferocious old fighters of Colonial days were Captains Jonathan Stevens and William McGinnis, both killed beside King Hendrick and Col. Williams, founder of Williams College [at the battle of Lake George in 1755].
They both commanded Schenectady companies.
Sir William Johnson reported officially that McGinnis, Stevens and the Schenectady men fought like lions.
Stevens was killed at the age of twenty-eight, leaving no lineal descendants.
[In the Yates History of Schenectady County at this point appears the diary of Lieutenant Christopher Yates in the Fort Niagara expedition of 1759. It is given in Chapter 48 of this work.]
Captain Cornelius Van Dyck commanded a company in 1762, mustered at Schenectady.
But two Schenectady names appear on the roll of privates, Peter Prunus and John Dauce.
Van Dyck was afterwards one of the most heroic officers of the Revolution.
As colonel of the First Regiment of the line he participated in Monmouth, Yorktown and almost every battle.
His descendants are numerous.
Van Dyck was present at the surrender of Colonel Wallace.
Daniel Campbell, Andrew Truax, John Vrooman and Gerrit Lansing were commissioned captains in 1762.
On the roll of Captain Campbell's company appear only the following Schenectady names: Philip Truax, Arent Wemple, Barent Wemple, Isaac Jacob Swits, Daniel DeGraff, Isaac I. Swits, Thomas Little, Simon Samuel, John and Joseph Brougham, Dirck and Philip Van Patten and Robert Shannon, William, James and Matthew Thornton.
Captain Gerrit A. Lansing's company was composed of Schenectady men.
The names are spelled with perfect devotion to Dutch pronunciation, but in absolute contempt of correctness, yet the reader will readily distinguish the familiar titles.
Capt. Gerritt A. Lansing's Company.
A list of the officers and men in the Second Schenectady Company of Militia, with the dates of officers' commissions, 1767:
Capt. Gerritt A. Lansing, 2d day of November, 1754.
First Lieut. John S. Glen, 23d day of October, 1758.
Second Lieut. Abraham Wemple, 23d day of October, 1759 [afterwards colonel of Second Albany Co. Militia].
Ensign Samuel Van Slyck, 23d day of October, 1759.
Sergt. Harman Hagadorn, Sergt. Mass Van Vranken, Sergt. Hendrick Veeder, Sergt. John Fort. Corporal Peter Steers, Corporal Cornelius Barhydt. Drummer, Abraham N. Leythall [Lighthall].
Privates: Robert Hagadorn, Wm. Beth [Bath], Albert Vedder, Robert Beth, Peter Van Vorst, Phillip Van Vorst, Arent Stevens, Tobias Luypard, John S. Van Eps, Cornelius P. Van Slyck, Cornelius Van Slyck, Jr., Elias Post, Gerrit Tellor, Cornelius Van Guyseling, Jacob Van Guyseling, Elias Van Guyseling, Ryer Schermerhorn, Simon Schermerhorn, John Schermerhorn, Carel Scherfer, John Mercelis, Jakel Mercelis, Nicholas Vedder, Symon Groot, Barent Mynderse, Johannes Jure Kraft, John Dinny, Symon Janson, Peter Veeder, John Steers, Abraham Fonda, Tekeris Van De Bogart, Bartal, Frederick Clute, John Hall, Frederick Luypard, Hendrick Charlo, Abraham Van Vorst, Teron Barhydt, Jacob Farlie, Petrus Van Der Volgen, Jacob S. Vrooman, Johannes Bastianse, Martin Van Benthuisen, Gerrit Wendell, Abraham Groot, Rikert Van Vraken [Van Vranken?], John Meb, Richard James, Samuel Bradt, Samuel S. Bradt, Arent Bradt, Jacob Bradt, Frederick Bradt, Johannes Schoenmaker, John Tellor.
Officers 4, sergeants 4, corporals 2, drummer 1, privates 55.
Total 66.
Captain John Duncan's company contains the honored names of Wemple, Wendell and Samuel Fuller, very probably the remainder followed their captain into war.
Schenectady was devoted to the King to the day of the Revolution.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 50: Schenectady in Colonial Wars., concluded ...
One of the best known old soldiers of Colonial days was Jellis Fonda, father of the heroic Major Jellis of the Revolution.
He was a lieutenant in Mathews Company in 1755.
He was major under Sir William Johnson of the Third Regiment of Albany.
He was the close companion, comrade and friend of Sir William Johnson.
Two of the most ferocious old fighters of Colonial days were Captains Jonathan Stevens and William McGinnis, both killed beside King Hendrick and Col. Williams, founder of Williams College [at the battle of Lake George in 1755].
They both commanded Schenectady companies.
Sir William Johnson reported officially that McGinnis, Stevens and the Schenectady men fought like lions.
Stevens was killed at the age of twenty-eight, leaving no lineal descendants.
[In the Yates History of Schenectady County at this point appears the diary of Lieutenant Christopher Yates in the Fort Niagara expedition of 1759. It is given in Chapter 48 of this work.]
Captain Cornelius Van Dyck commanded a company in 1762, mustered at Schenectady.
But two Schenectady names appear on the roll of privates, Peter Prunus and John Dauce.
Van Dyck was afterwards one of the most heroic officers of the Revolution.
As colonel of the First Regiment of the line he participated in Monmouth, Yorktown and almost every battle.
His descendants are numerous.
Van Dyck was present at the surrender of Colonel Wallace.
Daniel Campbell, Andrew Truax, John Vrooman and Gerrit Lansing were commissioned captains in 1762.
On the roll of Captain Campbell's company appear only the following Schenectady names: Philip Truax, Arent Wemple, Barent Wemple, Isaac Jacob Swits, Daniel DeGraff, Isaac I. Swits, Thomas Little, Simon Samuel, John and Joseph Brougham, Dirck and Philip Van Patten and Robert Shannon, William, James and Matthew Thornton.
Captain Gerrit A. Lansing's company was composed of Schenectady men.
The names are spelled with perfect devotion to Dutch pronunciation, but in absolute contempt of correctness, yet the reader will readily distinguish the familiar titles.
Capt. Gerritt A. Lansing's Company.
A list of the officers and men in the Second Schenectady Company of Militia, with the dates of officers' commissions, 1767:
Capt. Gerritt A. Lansing, 2d day of November, 1754.
First Lieut. John S. Glen, 23d day of October, 1758.
Second Lieut. Abraham Wemple, 23d day of October, 1759 [afterwards colonel of Second Albany Co. Militia].
Ensign Samuel Van Slyck, 23d day of October, 1759.
Sergt. Harman Hagadorn, Sergt. Mass Van Vranken, Sergt. Hendrick Veeder, Sergt. John Fort. Corporal Peter Steers, Corporal Cornelius Barhydt. Drummer, Abraham N. Leythall [Lighthall].
Privates: Robert Hagadorn, Wm. Beth [Bath], Albert Vedder, Robert Beth, Peter Van Vorst, Phillip Van Vorst, Arent Stevens, Tobias Luypard, John S. Van Eps, Cornelius P. Van Slyck, Cornelius Van Slyck, Jr., Elias Post, Gerrit Tellor, Cornelius Van Guyseling, Jacob Van Guyseling, Elias Van Guyseling, Ryer Schermerhorn, Simon Schermerhorn, John Schermerhorn, Carel Scherfer, John Mercelis, Jakel Mercelis, Nicholas Vedder, Symon Groot, Barent Mynderse, Johannes Jure Kraft, John Dinny, Symon Janson, Peter Veeder, John Steers, Abraham Fonda, Tekeris Van De Bogart, Bartal, Frederick Clute, John Hall, Frederick Luypard, Hendrick Charlo, Abraham Van Vorst, Teron Barhydt, Jacob Farlie, Petrus Van Der Volgen, Jacob S. Vrooman, Johannes Bastianse, Martin Van Benthuisen, Gerrit Wendell, Abraham Groot, Rikert Van Vraken [Van Vranken?], John Meb, Richard James, Samuel Bradt, Samuel S. Bradt, Arent Bradt, Jacob Bradt, Frederick Bradt, Johannes Schoenmaker, John Tellor.
Officers 4, sergeants 4, corporals 2, drummer 1, privates 55.
Total 66.
Captain John Duncan's company contains the honored names of Wemple, Wendell and Samuel Fuller, very probably the remainder followed their captain into war.
Schenectady was devoted to the King to the day of the Revolution.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774.
History of Sir William Johnson and the Mohawk Valley from the close of the French and Indian war in 1760 to the beginning of the Revolution in 1775 — Sir William a great colonial leader — The Valley's greatest period of building and development — The Tory-Whig party divisions — Sir William Johnson a strong loyalist — 1755-9, Settlement of Johnstown — 1760, First settlement at Rome — Building of the churches of St. George's, Schenectady, 1762; Caughnawaga, Fonda, 1763; Fort Herkimer, 1767; Indian Castle, 1769; Palatine, 1770; St. John's, Johnstown, 1771; Schoharie, 1772-1761, Indian troubles menace the frontier — Johnson's Detroit trip produces temporary calm — Mohawks angered by land frauds — 1762, Building of Johnson Hall; Sir William Johnson moves from Fort Johnson to Johnstown — 1763, Oswegatchie Indian village — 1763, Pontiac's War — 1764, Johnson holds great Indian council at Niagara — Settlement of New Petersburg, (East Schuyler) — Building of General Herkimer home — 1765, Schenectady made a borough — 1766, Kirkland a missionary at Oneida castle — 1766, Johnson holds council with Pontiac at Oswego, ending Pontiac's War — Formation of St. Patrick's Lodge, No. 4, F. and A. M., at Johnson Hall — Building of Guy Park — 1768, Great treaty of Fort Stanwix with Six Nations, settling Iroquois boundary line — 1772, Formation of Tryon County — Building of Johnstown court house and jail — 1773, First settlement of Utica — First settlement of Ephratah — 1774, Death of Sir William Johnson — 1774, Formation of St. John's Lodge, F. and A. M., No. 6, at Schenectady — 1774, August 27, formation of Palatine District Committee of Safety.
The story of the Mohawk Valley, from 1760 to 1775, covers the relatively greatest period of development in our three hundred years of growth as a civilized region.
The population of Albany County, in 1756, was 14,805 whites and 2,656 blacks, a total of 17,424.
Figuring the Mohawk Valley's population as one-third that of Albany County would give a total of about 5,500 in our Valley in 1756.
The population of the Province of New York was then 96,765, with Albany County having the largest population of any of the ten counties of the Province.
This population of the Mohawk Valley (5,500 in 1756) had been greatly depleted at the end of the Seven Years war in 1760.
In 1771, the population of Albany County had increased to 42,706, or two-and-one-half times that of 1756.
The population of the Mohawk Valley probably formed one-third of that of Albany County and may have been about 14,000 in 1771.
The population of the Province of New York was 168,007 in 1771.
The rapid increase of population continued up to 1775 in Albany County and the Mohawk Valley, which had been set off from Albany County and formed part of Tryon County in 1772.
It is probable that, by the year 1775, the population of the Mohawk Valley had grown to over 20,000 people, of whom over 1,000 were negro slaves.
This estimate does not include the Indian population which was probably not much more than 2,000, as the Mohawks were then depleted in numbers, and only a few Oneidas lived within the limits of the Mohawk watershed, while the number of the Schoharies was then lessening.
The Mohawks probably numbered only 500 or 600 people in 1775.
Frothingham estimated the population of Tryon County to be 10,000 at its formation in 1772, which is probably low.
Including present Schenectady County and the Mohawk River outlet section, the Mohawk Valley white population must have numbered 20,000 or more at the outbreak of the Revolution, while that of the Province of New York must have been close to 200,000.
People who had fled from their homes, on the exposed frontier of the Mohawk Valley returned to them at the end of the French war.
Newcomers came in and cleared land for themselves.
Most of the new settlers were Americans of Holland Dutch descent from the Hudson River and New Jersey, with a number of New Englanders and Germans and a considerable proportion of Scotch and Irish and a few people of French descent.
Some of the settlers of this period also came directly into the Mohawk Valley from Great Britain, Holland and Germany.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774.
History of Sir William Johnson and the Mohawk Valley from the close of the French and Indian war in 1760 to the beginning of the Revolution in 1775 — Sir William a great colonial leader — The Valley's greatest period of building and development — The Tory-Whig party divisions — Sir William Johnson a strong loyalist — 1755-9, Settlement of Johnstown — 1760, First settlement at Rome — Building of the churches of St. George's, Schenectady, 1762; Caughnawaga, Fonda, 1763; Fort Herkimer, 1767; Indian Castle, 1769; Palatine, 1770; St. John's, Johnstown, 1771; Schoharie, 1772-1761, Indian troubles menace the frontier — Johnson's Detroit trip produces temporary calm — Mohawks angered by land frauds — 1762, Building of Johnson Hall; Sir William Johnson moves from Fort Johnson to Johnstown — 1763, Oswegatchie Indian village — 1763, Pontiac's War — 1764, Johnson holds great Indian council at Niagara — Settlement of New Petersburg, (East Schuyler) — Building of General Herkimer home — 1765, Schenectady made a borough — 1766, Kirkland a missionary at Oneida castle — 1766, Johnson holds council with Pontiac at Oswego, ending Pontiac's War — Formation of St. Patrick's Lodge, No. 4, F. and A. M., at Johnson Hall — Building of Guy Park — 1768, Great treaty of Fort Stanwix with Six Nations, settling Iroquois boundary line — 1772, Formation of Tryon County — Building of Johnstown court house and jail — 1773, First settlement of Utica — First settlement of Ephratah — 1774, Death of Sir William Johnson — 1774, Formation of St. John's Lodge, F. and A. M., No. 6, at Schenectady — 1774, August 27, formation of Palatine District Committee of Safety.
The story of the Mohawk Valley, from 1760 to 1775, covers the relatively greatest period of development in our three hundred years of growth as a civilized region.
The population of Albany County, in 1756, was 14,805 whites and 2,656 blacks, a total of 17,424.
Figuring the Mohawk Valley's population as one-third that of Albany County would give a total of about 5,500 in our Valley in 1756.
The population of the Province of New York was then 96,765, with Albany County having the largest population of any of the ten counties of the Province.
This population of the Mohawk Valley (5,500 in 1756) had been greatly depleted at the end of the Seven Years war in 1760.
In 1771, the population of Albany County had increased to 42,706, or two-and-one-half times that of 1756.
The population of the Mohawk Valley probably formed one-third of that of Albany County and may have been about 14,000 in 1771.
The population of the Province of New York was 168,007 in 1771.
The rapid increase of population continued up to 1775 in Albany County and the Mohawk Valley, which had been set off from Albany County and formed part of Tryon County in 1772.
It is probable that, by the year 1775, the population of the Mohawk Valley had grown to over 20,000 people, of whom over 1,000 were negro slaves.
This estimate does not include the Indian population which was probably not much more than 2,000, as the Mohawks were then depleted in numbers, and only a few Oneidas lived within the limits of the Mohawk watershed, while the number of the Schoharies was then lessening.
The Mohawks probably numbered only 500 or 600 people in 1775.
Frothingham estimated the population of Tryon County to be 10,000 at its formation in 1772, which is probably low.
Including present Schenectady County and the Mohawk River outlet section, the Mohawk Valley white population must have numbered 20,000 or more at the outbreak of the Revolution, while that of the Province of New York must have been close to 200,000.
People who had fled from their homes, on the exposed frontier of the Mohawk Valley returned to them at the end of the French war.
Newcomers came in and cleared land for themselves.
Most of the new settlers were Americans of Holland Dutch descent from the Hudson River and New Jersey, with a number of New Englanders and Germans and a considerable proportion of Scotch and Irish and a few people of French descent.
Some of the settlers of this period also came directly into the Mohawk Valley from Great Britain, Holland and Germany.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
In 1770, Sir William added to the Scotch population by locating Scotch Highland families of 400 people on his baronial estate about and to the north of Johnstown.
They became the chief Tory element in the Mohawk Valley and the greater part of them moved to Canada at the beginning of the Revolution.
Only the western section of the Mohawk Valley comprised in German Flats, suffered from the devastation of the Seven Years war, but that region had been frightfully ravaged and desolated.
The two French-Indian raids of 1757 and 1758 had completely destroyed the Palatine settlements in the Upper Mohawk Valley region, now comprised in the Mohawk River section of Herkimer County.
Following the erection of Fort Stanwix in 1758, the surviving settlers again began to erect houses, barns and mills on the German Flats but it was well on toward the early years of the Revolution before the ravages of the French and Indian war had been repaired in this fertile and picturesque Mohawk River section.
In these fruitful years, preceding the War of Independence, there was general building activity, land clearing and a general bustle and active, robust life in all the settled regions of the Mohawk Valley.
Five important Valley churches, now standing, were erected during the last years of the Colonial period — 1760-1774.
With the dates of their erection, they are — St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church of Schenectady, stone, 1762; Caughnawaga (Fonda) Reformed Dutch, 1763; Fort Herkimer Reformed Dutch Church, stone, 1767; Indian Castle Mohawk Mission Chapel, 1769; Palatine Lutheran Church, 1770; Schoharie Reformed Dutch Church, 1772.
Besides these, a number of Valley houses were built, which were considered large mansions for that period.
The chief of these were — Johnson Hall, frame, Johnstown, 1762; General Herkimer Home, brick, Danube, Herkimer County, 1764; Guy Park, stone, Amsterdam, 1766; Jelles Fonda house, brick, Schenck's Hollow, Montgomery County (burned in the Revolution).
The majority of the houses, which were erected during this and former periods in the Mohawk Valley west of the present Schenectady County line, were burned by enemy raiding parties during the Revolution.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
In 1770, Sir William added to the Scotch population by locating Scotch Highland families of 400 people on his baronial estate about and to the north of Johnstown.
They became the chief Tory element in the Mohawk Valley and the greater part of them moved to Canada at the beginning of the Revolution.
Only the western section of the Mohawk Valley comprised in German Flats, suffered from the devastation of the Seven Years war, but that region had been frightfully ravaged and desolated.
The two French-Indian raids of 1757 and 1758 had completely destroyed the Palatine settlements in the Upper Mohawk Valley region, now comprised in the Mohawk River section of Herkimer County.
Following the erection of Fort Stanwix in 1758, the surviving settlers again began to erect houses, barns and mills on the German Flats but it was well on toward the early years of the Revolution before the ravages of the French and Indian war had been repaired in this fertile and picturesque Mohawk River section.
In these fruitful years, preceding the War of Independence, there was general building activity, land clearing and a general bustle and active, robust life in all the settled regions of the Mohawk Valley.
Five important Valley churches, now standing, were erected during the last years of the Colonial period — 1760-1774.
With the dates of their erection, they are — St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church of Schenectady, stone, 1762; Caughnawaga (Fonda) Reformed Dutch, 1763; Fort Herkimer Reformed Dutch Church, stone, 1767; Indian Castle Mohawk Mission Chapel, 1769; Palatine Lutheran Church, 1770; Schoharie Reformed Dutch Church, 1772.
Besides these, a number of Valley houses were built, which were considered large mansions for that period.
The chief of these were — Johnson Hall, frame, Johnstown, 1762; General Herkimer Home, brick, Danube, Herkimer County, 1764; Guy Park, stone, Amsterdam, 1766; Jelles Fonda house, brick, Schenck's Hollow, Montgomery County (burned in the Revolution).
The majority of the houses, which were erected during this and former periods in the Mohawk Valley west of the present Schenectady County line, were burned by enemy raiding parties during the Revolution.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
The time, from 1760 to 1775, was one of the greatest development periods the Mohawk Valley has ever witnessed.
Churches, school houses, mills, taverns, stores, shops, houses and barns were erected in great numbers.
River traffic was brisk and the highways were developed and improved.
The Revolution was later to eliminate practically all of this great material progress, leaving the few survivors practically to recreate civilization along the Mohawk at the end of this terrible scourge of diabolical devastation.
This pre-Revolutionary time was one not only of material growth, but also one in which the two forces which caused the Revolution developed in acute opposition to each other.
As elsewhere in the English Colonies, the people of the Mohawk Valley were violently stirred by the principles and events which brought on the war.
Although our Valley was a great patriot, or Whig, stronghold, still there was much Loyalist, or Tory, sentiment.
Families were divided and much bitter feeling prevailed along the Mohawk and Schoharie long before the first gun of the Revolution was fired.
October 26th, 1760, George III came to the throne of England.
His ministers soon undertook to enforce obnoxious and repressive trade laws which dated from the Navigation Act of 1651, the main object of which was to force the American Colonists to buy and sell only among themselves or in England.
These laws had been allowed to lapse, by force of American public opinion.
Upon opposition to them by the people of Boston, so-called "writs of assistance" were issued, which were virtually blanket search warrants enabling customs officers to go over a citizen's premises in a search for smuggled goods.
An English army was then sent to America, with the avowed object of its protection from attack but, in reality, to enforce the hated laws.
The Colonists were informed that taxes would be levied on them for the support of its unwanted and detested foreign army.
This brought out the cry of "No taxation without representation."
The Mohawk Valley people were soon divided into Whigs and Tories.
The uncompromising struggle between the despotic stupidity of George the Third and his arrogant ministry and the spirit of American liberty was soon on in full force.
In this violent turmoil and conflict of ideas and opinions, Sir William Johnson remained a firm bulwark of the English Crown and the Loyalist cause.
His letters of the period absolutely contradict the modern supposition that he might have sided with the Colonies had he lived until the actual beginning of warfare.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
The time, from 1760 to 1775, was one of the greatest development periods the Mohawk Valley has ever witnessed.
Churches, school houses, mills, taverns, stores, shops, houses and barns were erected in great numbers.
River traffic was brisk and the highways were developed and improved.
The Revolution was later to eliminate practically all of this great material progress, leaving the few survivors practically to recreate civilization along the Mohawk at the end of this terrible scourge of diabolical devastation.
This pre-Revolutionary time was one not only of material growth, but also one in which the two forces which caused the Revolution developed in acute opposition to each other.
As elsewhere in the English Colonies, the people of the Mohawk Valley were violently stirred by the principles and events which brought on the war.
Although our Valley was a great patriot, or Whig, stronghold, still there was much Loyalist, or Tory, sentiment.
Families were divided and much bitter feeling prevailed along the Mohawk and Schoharie long before the first gun of the Revolution was fired.
October 26th, 1760, George III came to the throne of England.
His ministers soon undertook to enforce obnoxious and repressive trade laws which dated from the Navigation Act of 1651, the main object of which was to force the American Colonists to buy and sell only among themselves or in England.
These laws had been allowed to lapse, by force of American public opinion.
Upon opposition to them by the people of Boston, so-called "writs of assistance" were issued, which were virtually blanket search warrants enabling customs officers to go over a citizen's premises in a search for smuggled goods.
An English army was then sent to America, with the avowed object of its protection from attack but, in reality, to enforce the hated laws.
The Colonists were informed that taxes would be levied on them for the support of its unwanted and detested foreign army.
This brought out the cry of "No taxation without representation."
The Mohawk Valley people were soon divided into Whigs and Tories.
The uncompromising struggle between the despotic stupidity of George the Third and his arrogant ministry and the spirit of American liberty was soon on in full force.
In this violent turmoil and conflict of ideas and opinions, Sir William Johnson remained a firm bulwark of the English Crown and the Loyalist cause.
His letters of the period absolutely contradict the modern supposition that he might have sided with the Colonies had he lived until the actual beginning of warfare.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
Great rejoicing filled the Colonies at the final conquest of New France in 1760.
This was particularly marked in the Mohawk Valley, which, for many years of the preceding century, had been open to attack from the French and Indians of Canada.
In the hundred years prior to the fall of Montreal, there had been twenty-eight years of actual warfare with New France and many other years when scalping parties committed depredations, although the rival powers had been nominally at peace.
The red Mohawks and the white militiamen of the Valley had borne their full share of conflict and our long, narrow mountain pass had enabled Amherst to execute his successful expedition against Montreal.
Indeed, it is a historical fact that Canada was conquered through the Mohawk Valley.
No man in all America emerged from this dreadful conflict with higher honors than Sir William Johnson.
His keen intellect, boundless energy, and masterful diplomacy had held the Six Nations in the covenant chain of friendship, through the first five years of almost constant English disaster, while the same qualities enabled him to take full advantage of the turn of the tide and the last two years of English success.
Amherst, Wolfe, Johnson and Washington are outstanding figures of the great French war.
It is the writer's opinion that, aside from the two British commanders, Johnson is the greatest figure of the closing years of the conflict and the succeeding interval lasting until the beginning of the Revolution.
Johnson's services in holding the Iroquois in allegiance or neutrality, through the seven years of warfare was one of the main causes of final English success.
Sir William certainly was one of the most powerful influences in the eventual making of North America into an English-speaking continent.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
Great rejoicing filled the Colonies at the final conquest of New France in 1760.
This was particularly marked in the Mohawk Valley, which, for many years of the preceding century, had been open to attack from the French and Indians of Canada.
In the hundred years prior to the fall of Montreal, there had been twenty-eight years of actual warfare with New France and many other years when scalping parties committed depredations, although the rival powers had been nominally at peace.
The red Mohawks and the white militiamen of the Valley had borne their full share of conflict and our long, narrow mountain pass had enabled Amherst to execute his successful expedition against Montreal.
Indeed, it is a historical fact that Canada was conquered through the Mohawk Valley.
No man in all America emerged from this dreadful conflict with higher honors than Sir William Johnson.
His keen intellect, boundless energy, and masterful diplomacy had held the Six Nations in the covenant chain of friendship, through the first five years of almost constant English disaster, while the same qualities enabled him to take full advantage of the turn of the tide and the last two years of English success.
Amherst, Wolfe, Johnson and Washington are outstanding figures of the great French war.
It is the writer's opinion that, aside from the two British commanders, Johnson is the greatest figure of the closing years of the conflict and the succeeding interval lasting until the beginning of the Revolution.
Johnson's services in holding the Iroquois in allegiance or neutrality, through the seven years of warfare was one of the main causes of final English success.
Sir William certainly was one of the most powerful influences in the eventual making of North America into an English-speaking continent.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
Sir William Johnson's life subsequent to the French and Indian war, was of great value and beneficial effect on Mohawk Valley life and progress.
His greatest works of this period were first, his final settlement and treaty, made with Pontiac in 1766, after the latter's western warfare; second, his founding of Johnstown in 1759-62; third, his creation of Tryon County, which was set off entirely through his influence.
Through all this time, Johnson may properly be considered New York's first citizen, in spite of the general neglect by most historians of the potency and value of the life and works of Sir William.
Many chroniclers pay far more attention to Johnson's real or fictitious amours and the fact that he was not legally married to Molly Brant than they do to his epoch-making deeds, with their world-wide influence.
His fame has suffered at the hands of certain Valley historians from the fact that his son, Sir John Johnson, conducted several bloody raids through the Mohawk Valley during the Revolution.
The name of Johnson became despised hereabouts on that account and, among the ignorant, the deeds of the son are often credited to the illustrious father.
During this constructive period of Mohawk Valley history, the life and widespread activities of Sir William Johnson are considered in connection with the general annals of the Valley.
More detailed mention of Sir William's new baronial seat of Johnson Hall and his founding of Johnstown, together with mention of his children, John, Anna, and Mary, their marriages and homes, enter into a separate chapter covering these subjects.
In 1760, Johannes Roof made the first settlement within the borders of present Oneida County, locating at Fort Stanwix, on the present site of Rome, where he cleared land and built a farm house and barns, as well as working as a carter on the Fort Stanwix portage.
There had been a military post there, garrisoned by British and American soldiers, from a period as far back as 1728, but Roof made the first settlement as a farmer.
He was compelled to leave his home on the approach of St. Leger's army in 1777, when his buildings were burned.
He then went to Canajoharie and bought Schremling's tavern.
In 1760, Gose Van Alstine built the first mill on Canajoharie Creek.
Sir William Johnson, in 1760, built a fishing lodge at Northampton on the Sacandaga, which he called Fish House.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
Sir William Johnson's life subsequent to the French and Indian war, was of great value and beneficial effect on Mohawk Valley life and progress.
His greatest works of this period were first, his final settlement and treaty, made with Pontiac in 1766, after the latter's western warfare; second, his founding of Johnstown in 1759-62; third, his creation of Tryon County, which was set off entirely through his influence.
Through all this time, Johnson may properly be considered New York's first citizen, in spite of the general neglect by most historians of the potency and value of the life and works of Sir William.
Many chroniclers pay far more attention to Johnson's real or fictitious amours and the fact that he was not legally married to Molly Brant than they do to his epoch-making deeds, with their world-wide influence.
His fame has suffered at the hands of certain Valley historians from the fact that his son, Sir John Johnson, conducted several bloody raids through the Mohawk Valley during the Revolution.
The name of Johnson became despised hereabouts on that account and, among the ignorant, the deeds of the son are often credited to the illustrious father.
During this constructive period of Mohawk Valley history, the life and widespread activities of Sir William Johnson are considered in connection with the general annals of the Valley.
More detailed mention of Sir William's new baronial seat of Johnson Hall and his founding of Johnstown, together with mention of his children, John, Anna, and Mary, their marriages and homes, enter into a separate chapter covering these subjects.
In 1760, Johannes Roof made the first settlement within the borders of present Oneida County, locating at Fort Stanwix, on the present site of Rome, where he cleared land and built a farm house and barns, as well as working as a carter on the Fort Stanwix portage.
There had been a military post there, garrisoned by British and American soldiers, from a period as far back as 1728, but Roof made the first settlement as a farmer.
He was compelled to leave his home on the approach of St. Leger's army in 1777, when his buildings were burned.
He then went to Canajoharie and bought Schremling's tavern.
In 1760, Gose Van Alstine built the first mill on Canajoharie Creek.
Sir William Johnson, in 1760, built a fishing lodge at Northampton on the Sacandaga, which he called Fish House.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
Far from retiring to a quiet and peaceful life at the end of his strenuous exertions during the French and Indian war, Sir William Johnson's duties as Colonial Indian Commissioner now kept him in the saddle a great part of the time.
The frontiersmen had expected an end to the menace of Indian forays at the close of the war with Canada, but a new danger now confronted the Colonies.
Prior to the victory over New France, the Canadian Indians, the Six Nations and the Indians of the Northwest occupied a commanding position in every military situation.
The English and French then had made strenuous efforts to gain or retain their friendship.
Now the Indians of Northeastern America began to realize their inevitable fate.
They were generally embittered at the white man.
It only needed leadership to make them rise against the frontiersmen throughout the Colonies.
Again the borders were in danger and this was particularly true of the Mohawk Valley.
The Indians, with the exception of the Six Nations, generally were inimical to the English.
Even the Mohawks were embittered by the land frauds from which they had suffered.
Practically all their Mohawk Valley domain had been taken away from them.
The Indian towns were also full of rapacious white traders and rum sellers, many of whom were hated by the red men.
A plot of the Senecas to unite all the Indians against the English was revealed to Sir William Johnson early in 1761.
At that time the Cherokees had already started war on the Georgia and Carolina frontiers.
Johnson decided to make a journey to Detroit to placate the Indians and investigate the fortifications and trade of the Great Lakes.
On July 1, 1761, he met the Mohawks at Fort Johnson and, on July 5th, he started for Detroit with 182 medals given him by General Amherst which were to be presented to the red men who had accompanied the British-American army to Montreal in 1760.
On this journey, Johnson met and conferred with the Oneidas, Chippewas, Wyandots, Senecas, Ottawas and other Indians, besides visiting over ten forts and posts.
At Detroit, Johnson made a treaty of peace in a great council with the Indians.
Sir William Johnson considered the results of the journey satisfactory, but it only postponed the Indian trouble which broke out as Pontiac's war, in 1763.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 51: The Mohawk Valley from 1760 to 1774., continued ...
Far from retiring to a quiet and peaceful life at the end of his strenuous exertions during the French and Indian war, Sir William Johnson's duties as Colonial Indian Commissioner now kept him in the saddle a great part of the time.
The frontiersmen had expected an end to the menace of Indian forays at the close of the war with Canada, but a new danger now confronted the Colonies.
Prior to the victory over New France, the Canadian Indians, the Six Nations and the Indians of the Northwest occupied a commanding position in every military situation.
The English and French then had made strenuous efforts to gain or retain their friendship.
Now the Indians of Northeastern America began to realize their inevitable fate.
They were generally embittered at the white man.
It only needed leadership to make them rise against the frontiersmen throughout the Colonies.
Again the borders were in danger and this was particularly true of the Mohawk Valley.
The Indians, with the exception of the Six Nations, generally were inimical to the English.
Even the Mohawks were embittered by the land frauds from which they had suffered.
Practically all their Mohawk Valley domain had been taken away from them.
The Indian towns were also full of rapacious white traders and rum sellers, many of whom were hated by the red men.
A plot of the Senecas to unite all the Indians against the English was revealed to Sir William Johnson early in 1761.
At that time the Cherokees had already started war on the Georgia and Carolina frontiers.
Johnson decided to make a journey to Detroit to placate the Indians and investigate the fortifications and trade of the Great Lakes.
On July 1, 1761, he met the Mohawks at Fort Johnson and, on July 5th, he started for Detroit with 182 medals given him by General Amherst which were to be presented to the red men who had accompanied the British-American army to Montreal in 1760.
On this journey, Johnson met and conferred with the Oneidas, Chippewas, Wyandots, Senecas, Ottawas and other Indians, besides visiting over ten forts and posts.
At Detroit, Johnson made a treaty of peace in a great council with the Indians.
Sir William Johnson considered the results of the journey satisfactory, but it only postponed the Indian trouble which broke out as Pontiac's war, in 1763.
TO BE CONTINUED ...