Sir William Johnson

Born in Ireland, William Johnson came to the colonies to manage land in the Mohawk River valley near present-day Amsterdam that had been granted to his uncle, Admiral Sir Peter Warren, in 1737. As Superintendent of Indian Affairs, he worked with and respected American Indians to build friendship and cooperation, was adopted into the Mohawk tribe, and received the name Warraghiyagey, translated as "A man who undertakes great things." Commissioned a major general in the British Army, he led an expedition against the French Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point and defeated French forces at Lake George in 1755, earning a baronetcy from King George II. Johnson Creek was named for him after he camped near there on July 5, 1759, with British troops under Brigadier General John Prideaux on the final stop before the army landed at Four Mile Creek and began the siege of French Fort Niagara. After Prideaux was killed during the siege, Johnson assumed command and compelled the French to surrender, a victory that broke the French army's supply chain and contributed to the end of the war. One of the most important figures of the French and Indian War, Johnson lived at Fort Johnson on the Mohawk River before moving in 1763 to Johnson Hall, where he died after a two hour council in the hot sun with American Indians; he is buried outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Johnstown, New York.

Carlton, New York · United States