Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/689

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JOHNSON JOHNSTON 669 dians on that occasion, at which they strongly urged his reappointment as their superinten- dent. At the council of Alexandria, April 14, 1755, he was sent for by Braddock and com- missioned by him "sole superintendent of the affairs of the Six United Nations, their allies and dependants." He was also, pursuant to the determination of that council, created a major general, and commander-in-chief of the provincial forces destined for the expedition against Crown Point. At the head of these forces, in September, Johnson utterly defeat- ed Baron Dieskau at Lake George. He was wounded in the hip early in the action, but re- mained on the field of battle. This victory saved the colony from the ravages of the French, prevented any attack on Oswego, and went far to counteract Braddock's disastrous defeat on the Monongahela. Gen. Johnson received the thanks of parliament for his vic- tory, was voted 5,000, and on Nov. 27, 1755, was created a baronet of Great Britain. It was on his arrival at Lake St. Sacrement a few days before this battle that he gave to it the name of Lake George, " not only in honor of his majesty, but to assert his undoubted do- minion here." In March, 1756, he received from George II. a commission as "colonel, agent, and sole superintendent of the affairs of the Six Nations, and other northern Indians," with a salary of 600, paid by the mother country. He held this office for the rest of his life. In 1756 and 1757 he was engaged with his Indians in the abortive attempts of the British commanders to relieve Oswego and Fort William Henry ; and in 1758 he was pres- ent with Abercrombie at the repulse of Ticon- deroga. In Gen. Prideaux's expedition against Fort Niagara in 1759, Sir William Johnson was second in command, and upon the death of Prideaux before that fort succeeded to the command in chief. He continued the siege with great vigor, routed the French army un- der Aubry sent to its relief, and then sum- moned the garrison, which surrendered at dis- cretion. He led the Indian allies the following year in the Canadian expedition of Amherst, and was present at the capitulation of Mon- treal and the surrender of Canada to the Brit- ish arms in 1760. The war was now at an end, and the king granted to Sir William for his services a tract of 100,000 acres of land, north of the Mohawk, long known as " Kings- land" oe.the "Royal Grant." His influence alone prevented the whole Six Nations from joining Pontiac in 1763, though he could not prevent some acts of hostility by the Senecas. In 1764 Sir William erected Johnson hall, a large wooden edifice still standing near the village of Johnstown, a few miles north of Fort Johnson. The village of Johnstown had already been laid "out, and the building of stores, an inn, a court house, and an Episcopal church soon followed. Numerous settlers were brought in, the surrounding country was improved, and in three years Johnstown be- came a thriving village, and in 1772 the shire town of Tryon co. Sir William gave great at- tention to agriculture, and was the first who introduced sheep and blood horses into the valley of the Mohawk. He lived in the style of an old English baron, and exercised the most unbounded hospitality. He continued active in his duties as head of the Indian de- partment, made the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768, and his death resulted from over-exertion at an Indian council. About 1740 he married Catharine Wisenburgh, a German girl, who died young, leaving him a widower with three children, a son, John, knighted in 1765, and two daughters, who married respectively Col. Clans and Col. Guy Johnson. Sir William never married again. He had for some years many mistresses, both Indian and white, by whom it is said that he had 100 children ; and one of his earlier ones, also a German, has been the probable cause, from having been confounded with his wife, of the erroneous statement that none of his children were le- gitimate. Mary, or as she is generally called " Molly " Brant, the sister of Thayendanega or Joseph Brant, the great Mohawk sachem, whom he took to his house, and with whom he lived happily till his death, is by some termed his wife, but they were never legally married. He had eight children by her, whom he provided for by his will, in which he calls them his natural children. The church in a vault of which he was buried was burned down in 1837 ; but in 1862 the vault was discovered, and his remains were removed and reinterred. His life has been written by W. L. Stone (2 vols., 1865). II. Sir Jobn, son of the preceding, born in 1742, died in Montreal, Canada, Jan. 4, 1830. He succeeded to his father's title in 1774, and was at the same time appointed a major general in the British service. In the revolutionary war he remained loyal to the crown, and used his influence with the Indians to inflict frequent injuries upon the frontier settlements of New York, in retaliation for the sequestration of his large estates in the Mohawk valley. He was governor of Upper Canada for several years subsequent to 1796. JOHNSTON, a central county of North Caro- lina, drained by Neuse and Little rivers ; area, 660 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 16,897, of whom 5,194 were colored. It has a diversified sur- face, and contains iron ore and granite. The North Carolina railroad traverses it. The chief productions in 1870 were 246,338 bushels of Indian corn, 132,277 of sweet potatoes, and 4,108 bales of cotton. There were 1,366 horses, 788 mules and asses, 3,253 milch cows, 1,689 working oxen, 4,239 other cattle, 5,653 sheep, and 20,530 swine ; 4 flour mills, 5 saw mills, 1 manufactory of sash, doors, and blinds, and 6 of tar and turpentine. Capital, Smithfield. JOHNSTON, Albert Sidney, an American sol- dier, born in Mason co., Ky., in 1803, killed at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. He gradu- ated at West Point in 1826, and served on fron-