William Johnson

Profile

Other Names: None

Assumed Gender: Male

Birth Date: 1715

Birth Place: Unknown

Death Date: 1774

Death Place: Unknown

Affiliations: British Government

Notes: British official. Johnson moved to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren, which was located amidst the Mohawk. Johnson learned the Mohawk language and Iroquois customs, and was appointed the British agent to the Iroquois; he was appointed in 1756 as British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies. He had numerous children with several European and Native American women. Johnson had a relationship with Elizabeth Brant, a Mohawk woman by whom he had a surviving son, Keghneghtago or Brant (born in 1742). Johnson also had a son named Tagawirunta, also known as William of Canajoharie, by a Mohawk woman, possibly Margaret Brant, Elizabeth's younger sister.

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