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16 - Mohawk Valley by W. Max Reid · Mohawk Valley

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  Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen of The Mohawk Valley. This LibriVox recording is
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  Speaker 1: in the public domain recording by Roger Malin The Mohawk Valley,
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  Speaker 1: Its Legends and its History by W. Max Reid, Chapter fifteen,
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  Speaker 1: The Joseph Brandt of Romance and of Fact. The late A. G.
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  Speaker 1: Richmond of Canaja. Harry, who was curator of the New
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  Speaker 1: York State Museum at the time of his death, was
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  Speaker 1: very much interested in the early history of the Indians
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  Speaker 1: of the Mohawk Valley, and had been able to make
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  Speaker 1: a very complete and valuable collection of Indian relics. He
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  Speaker 1: acknowledged that it was his hobby, and his private correspondence
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  Speaker 1: was embellished with a small vignette representing an old woman
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  Speaker 1: with a pointed hat riding on a broomstick, with a
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  Speaker 1: legend we all have our hobby. From the frequent recurrence
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  Speaker 1: of the name of Sir William Johnson in these pages,
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  Speaker 1: you will undoubtedly infer that he is my hobby. But
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  Speaker 1: he is not, except incidentally for the hobby that I
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  Speaker 1: claim or acknowledge, is the early history of the Mohawk
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  Speaker 1: Valley and the location of early Indian villages east of
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  Speaker 1: Skahari River. However, as my avowed object is to place
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  Speaker 1: on record all available history of this section of New York,
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  Speaker 1: the prominent individuals who were connected with its early history
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  Speaker 1: must necessarily often be brought forward. Perhaps there is no
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  Speaker 1: name that is as often spoke of in connection with
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  Speaker 1: Sir William Johnson and his family as the name of
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  Speaker 1: Brandt Joseph Brandt during the Revolution from seventeen seventy five
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  Speaker 1: to seventeen eighty Brandt and his senecas was a name
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  Speaker 1: which paled the cheek and made mothers convulsively clasped their
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  Speaker 1: helpless infants, and caused many a strong man's muscles to
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  Speaker 1: grow rigid and grasp with anxious look the trusty rifle
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  Speaker 1: or the ever present hunting knife in his belt. In
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  Speaker 1: Benson J. Lawsing's Field Book of the Revolution, we find
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  Speaker 1: the following account of this noted Indian warrior, and as
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  Speaker 1: other records seem to agree with it, it has been
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  Speaker 1: accepted as in the main correct. Joseph Brandt Fianda Negea
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  Speaker 1: was a Mohawk of pure blood. His father was a
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  Speaker 1: chief of the Onondaga nation and had three sons in
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  Speaker 1: the army with Sir William Johnson, under the Great Mohawk
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  Speaker 1: chief King Hendrick in the Battle of Lake George in
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  Speaker 1: seventeen fifty five. Joseph, his youngest son, whose Indian name
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  Speaker 1: Thiandanaga signifies a bundle of Styx or another word strength,
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  Speaker 1: was born on the bank of the Ohio in seventeen
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  Speaker 1: forty two, whither his family had gone on a hunting trip.
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  Speaker 1: His mother returned to Canaja Harry Indian castle with two children,
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  Speaker 1: Mary or Molly and Thiandanaga. His father, Tahoe wog wangarag Quinn,
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  Speaker 1: a chief of the Wolf clan of the Mohawk, seems
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  Speaker 1: to have died in the Ohio country. His mother, after
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  Speaker 1: her return, married an Indian called Caribogo news carrier, whom
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  Speaker 1: the Whites named Barnet, which by contraction became Barnt, and
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  Speaker 1: finally brand Thiandanaga was called Joseph and was known as
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  Speaker 1: Branch Joseph or Joseph brand. Sir William Johnson sent young
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  Speaker 1: Brandt to the school of Doctor Whelick of Lebanon, Connecticut,
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  Speaker 1: and after he was well educated for those days, employed
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  Speaker 1: him as secretary and as agent in public affairs. He
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  Speaker 1: was employed as missionary interpreter from seventeen sixty two to
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  Speaker 1: seventeen sixty five, and exerted himself for the religious instruction
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  Speaker 1: of his tribe. Lassing's explanation of the manner in which
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  Speaker 1: Thayandinaga got his name of Brandt is quite ingenious and
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  Speaker 1: may be true. But the name Brandt a Mohawk Indian,
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  Speaker 1: appears in a conference held in Albany in August seventeen
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  Speaker 1: hundred in connection with King Hendrick, and again in an
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  Speaker 1: Indian deed, also in connection with King Hendrick, dated July tenth,
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  Speaker 1: seventeen fourteen, which conveys land that was formerly the site
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  Speaker 1: of the old Indian village of Canahuaga. When the revolution
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  Speaker 1: broke out, Joseph Brandt attached himself to the British cause,
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  Speaker 1: left the Mohawk Valley, went to Canada, and in seventeen
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  Speaker 1: seventy six went to England, where his education and his
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  Speaker 1: business and social connection with Sir William Johnson gave him
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  Speaker 1: free access to the nobility. In seventeen eighty six he
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  Speaker 1: again visited England. It is said that at a social
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  Speaker 1: function given in his honor, he attended in all his
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  Speaker 1: gorgeous savage apparel and was the center of attraction During
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  Speaker 1: the evening, he was approached by the Turkish ambassador in
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  Speaker 1: company with some ladies. The Turk, thinking him a savage,
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  Speaker 1: took hold of some portion of his apparel to examine it,
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  Speaker 1: when Brandt turned upon him in anger, at the same
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  Speaker 1: time uttering a hideous war whoop, which so frightened the
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  Speaker 1: Turk that he fled precipitately, while many of the company
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  Speaker 1: ran from the room in consternation. The Earl of Warwick
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  Speaker 1: caused Romney, the eminent painter, to make a portrait of him,
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  Speaker 1: which is said to have been an excellent likeness. In
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  Speaker 1: seventeen fifty five, at the age of thirteen, he was
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  Speaker 1: with the Mohawks under King Hendrik, then a very old man,
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  Speaker 1: at the Battle of Lake George. In the final ambush
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  Speaker 1: at Bloody Pond, he confessed to feeling so frightened at
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  Speaker 1: the first discharge that he clung to a tree for support,
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  Speaker 1: hardly able to grasp his gun. But this feeling soon
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  Speaker 1: changed and he was able to continue the fight bravely
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  Speaker 1: and with calmness. We next hear of him at the
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  Speaker 1: Battle of Cedar Rapids in seventeen seventy six, where a
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  Speaker 1: party of British regulars and Canadians under Foster and five
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  Speaker 1: hundred Indians under the command of Brandt attacked a small
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  Speaker 1: fortress defended by three hundred ninety Americans under Colonel Biddell, who,
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  Speaker 1: with but a small show of resistance, surrendered as soon
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  Speaker 1: as Captain Foster arrived. Meanwhile, a party of one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and forty men under Major Henry Sherburne was sent by
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  Speaker 1: Arnold to reinforce the garrison. These were ambushed, and after
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  Speaker 1: a brave fight of an hour and a half they
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  Speaker 1: infuriated by the obstinate resistance of the Americans, the Indians
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  Speaker 1: butchered about twenty of their number. It is said that
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  Speaker 1: Brandt tried to restrain the Indians in their fury, but
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  Speaker 1: was unable to do so, although he was able to
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  Speaker 1: save the life of Captain Mackinstry after preparations had been
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  Speaker 1: made to torture him by fire. In May seventeen seventy seven,
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  Speaker 1: it is recorded in Campbell's Annals of try And County
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  Speaker 1: that Brandt and his warriors made an attempt to cut
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  Speaker 1: off Cherry Valley. They approached from the east side and
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  Speaker 1: reconnoitered the settlement from a lofty hill. He was astonished
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  Speaker 1: to find a fortification and quite a large and well
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  Speaker 1: armed garrison drilling on the esplanade in front of Judge
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  Speaker 1: Campbell's house. Considering it inexpedient to attack a well armed garrison,
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  Speaker 1: he withdrew and the little village was saved from destruction.
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  Speaker 1: At that time. Brant had been deceived, however, in regard
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  Speaker 1: to the effectiveness of the garrison, as the well armed
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  Speaker 1: soldiers that he supposed he saw from the high hills
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  Speaker 1: were the boys of the village drilling with wooden guns
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  Speaker 1: and swords. But it is said that on their retreat
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  Speaker 1: they ambushed two officers, one of whom Lieutenant Wormwood, was
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  Speaker 1: killed and the other captured. Brandt rushed from his concealment
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  Speaker 1: and scalped the lieutenant with his own hands. In the
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  Speaker 1: same year, Brandt was at Fort Schuyler in command of
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  Speaker 1: a party of Senecas, and also took part in the
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  Speaker 1: ambush and battle at Oriskany. Previous to this, he and
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  Speaker 1: his warriors joined Sir John Johnson and Colonel John Butler,
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  Speaker 1: who had collected a large body of tories at Oswego
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  Speaker 1: preparatory to a descent on the Mohawk and Scahari settlements there,
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  Speaker 1: Guy Johnson summoned a Grand Council of the six nations.
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  Speaker 1: There was a pretty full attendance at the council, but
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  Speaker 1: a large portion of the sachems adhered faithfully to a
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  Speaker 1: covenant of neutrality made with General Schuyler at German Flats
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  Speaker 1: in the spring of seventeen seventy seven. The Commissioner represented
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  Speaker 1: to the Indians that the soldiers of the King were
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  Speaker 1: as numerous of the leaves of the forest, that the
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  Speaker 1: rum of the King was as abundant as the waters
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  Speaker 1: of Lake Ontario, and that if the Indians would become
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  Speaker 1: his allies during the war, they should never want goods
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  Speaker 1: or money. Tawdry articles such as scarlet cloths, beads, and
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  Speaker 1: trinkets were displayed and presented to the Indians, which pleased
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  Speaker 1: them greatly, and they concluded an alliance by binding themselves
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  Speaker 1: to take up the hatchet against the Patriots and continue
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  Speaker 1: their warfare until they were subdued to Each man was
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  Speaker 1: then presented a brass kettle, a suit of clothes, a gun,
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  Speaker 1: a tomahawk and scalping knife, a piece of gold, a
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  Speaker 1: quantity of ammunition, and a promise of a bounty on
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  Speaker 1: every scalp he should bring in. Brandt was thenceforced the
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  Speaker 1: acknowledged head of the Six Nations, and soon after commenced
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  Speaker 1: his terrible career. In the midst of the Mohawk and
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  Speaker 1: Scahari Valleys, Sir John Johnson, Guy Johnson, Colonel John Butler,
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  Speaker 1: and other Tory commissioners bought the savages, placed in their
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  Speaker 1: hands instruments of death, bargained for the scalps of the patriots,
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  Speaker 1: and inaugurated deeds of horror which culminated in the massacres
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  Speaker 1: of Wyoming, Cherry Valley, Scahery, and points on the Mohawk
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  Speaker 1: River extending from Indian Castle to Warrensbush, and the isolated
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  Speaker 1: farms lying north and south of the river. The Oneidas
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  Speaker 1: fought the patriots. The Indians of the lower Mohawk Castle
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  Speaker 1: were not particularly active against the patriots, but the Onondagas, Cayugas,
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  Speaker 1: and particularly the Senecas committed many an act of horror
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  Speaker 1: and earned their bounty of eight dollars for each scalp.
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  Speaker 1: We here again of Brandt in seventeen seventy eight, when
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  Speaker 1: with three hundred Tories and one hundred and fifty Indians
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  Speaker 1: he overran the settlements of German Flats, when dwellings and
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  Speaker 1: barns were burned, grain destroyed, and stock captured. Neither scalps
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  Speaker 1: nor prisoners were secured, as the settlers took refuge in
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  Speaker 1: Forts Dayton and Herkimer, and the old stone churchs of
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  Speaker 1: German Flats, which had been built under the auspices and
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  Speaker 1: by the liberal contributions of Sir William Johnson. It was
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  Speaker 1: during the spring of this year that Brandt destroyed Springfield
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  Speaker 1: at the head of Otsego Lake. It is said that
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  Speaker 1: every house was burned except one into which the women
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  Speaker 1: and children were gathered and kept unharmed. Lossing says the
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  Speaker 1: absence of tories in that expedition and the freedom to
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  Speaker 1: act as he pleased on the part of Brant, may
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  Speaker 1: account for this act of humanity. The story of Cherry
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  Speaker 1: Valley and Wyoming has been told in previous chapters. Brandt
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  Speaker 1: was with Walter N. Butler at Cherry Valley, but has
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  Speaker 1: been wrongfully accused of atrocities at Wyoming. As the Senecas
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  Speaker 1: at the massacre were under a chief called Guillaguata, and
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  Speaker 1: Captain Brandt was many miles away. Brandt and his Senecas
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  Speaker 1: were at the Battle of Conewahwah now Elmira between General
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan's army and Tories and Indians under command of Sir
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  Speaker 1: John Johnson. The Patriots were victorious. The record says Brandt,
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  Speaker 1: perceiving that all was lost, raised the loud retreating cry
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  Speaker 1: Una Unah, and savages and Tories, in great confusion, abandoned
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  Speaker 1: their works and fled across the river, pursued by the victors.
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  Speaker 1: This battle is known as the Battle of Chemong. It
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  Speaker 1: is said that the victors killed and scalped eight of
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  Speaker 1: the Indians in the pursuit. In April seventeen eighty, Brant
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  Speaker 1: and his Indians and Sir John Johnson and the Tories
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  Speaker 1: destroyed Harper's Field and settlements in Scohari. It was during
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  Speaker 1: this year that Little Falls Canna to Harry and Fort
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  Speaker 1: Plain were destroyed at the Battle of Clocksfield. During the
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  Speaker 1: Raid of the Mohawk Valley in October seventeen eighty, the
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  Speaker 1: Patriots were victorious. Brant was wounded in the heel but escaped.
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  Speaker 1: Johnson fled towards Onondaga Lake, where his boats had been concealed.
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  Speaker 1: When General Van Rensler heard of the concealment of the boats.
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  Speaker 1: At that point, he dispatched a messenger to Captain Vroeman,
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  Speaker 1: then in command at Fort Schuyler, ordering him to go
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  Speaker 1: with a strong detachment and destroy them. Vroman instantly obeyed.
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  Speaker 1: One of his men feigned sickness at Oneida and was
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  Speaker 1: left behind. He was there when Johnson arrived and informed
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  Speaker 1: him of Vroman's expedition. Brandt and a body of Indians
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  Speaker 1: hastened forward, came upon Vroman and his party while at dinner,
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  Speaker 1: and captured the whole of them without firing a gun.
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  Speaker 1: Johnson had no further impediments in his way and easily
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  Speaker 1: escaped to Canada by way of Oswego, taking with him
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  Speaker 1: Captain Roman and his party prisoners, but leaving behind him
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  Speaker 1: a great number of his own men. And Tryon County
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  Speaker 1: enjoyed comparative repose through the remainder of the autumn and
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  Speaker 1: part of the winter. In January seventeen eighty one, Brandt
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  Speaker 1: was again on the war path in the vicinity of
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  Speaker 1: Fort Schuyler. The slender barrier of the Oneida nation had
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  Speaker 1: been broken the previous year by driving that people upon
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  Speaker 1: the white settlements and the warriors from Niagara had an
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  Speaker 1: unimpeded way to the Mohawk Valley. They were separated into
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  Speaker 1: small parties, annoying the settlements and occasionally capturing supplies. Some
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  Speaker 1: of these penetrated as far as Schenectady, probably to engage
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  Speaker 1: the Oneidas who were located there at that time. In
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  Speaker 1: September of this year, Brandt was in the region now
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  Speaker 1: the state of Ohio, also in Kentucky, and together with
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  Speaker 1: McKee and a party of rangers, advanced on Boone's four
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  Speaker 1: and ambushed a party of horsemen, most of whom were
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  Speaker 1: killed or captured. This probably accounts for the fact that
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  Speaker 1: no mention is made of Brandt's being present in the
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  Speaker 1: last raid through the Mohawk Valley and final dispersion of
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  Speaker 1: the rangers at the Battle of Johnstown. Here I would
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  Speaker 1: like to introduce an account of the raid of Ross
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  Speaker 1: and Walter N. Butler in October seventeen eighty one, taken
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  Speaker 1: from an English report. Governor Haldeman at that time organized
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  Speaker 1: a second expedition to destroy the remaining settlements in the
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  Speaker 1: Mohawk Valley. Sir John Johnson was sent by the way
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  Speaker 1: of Crown Point in order to strike the valley from
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  Speaker 1: the east. Major Ross was to advance from Niagara by
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  Speaker 1: the way of Oswego. A violent gale prevented the detachments
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  Speaker 1: from Niagara from reaching Oswego until October ninth, seventeen eighty one.
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  Speaker 1: On the teeenth, Major Ross left his boats with a
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  Speaker 1: guard in a creek falling into Lake Oneida, and marched
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  Speaker 1: toward Otsego Lake. During the march, several prisoners were brought in,
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  Speaker 1: from whom it was learned that Sir John Johnson had
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  Speaker 1: appeared at Crown Point, but that their own movements were
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  Speaker 1: as yet undiscovered. On the twenty third, they passed through
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  Speaker 1: Cherry Valley and on the evening of the following day
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  Speaker 1: reached Currytown. Owing to the roundabout way they had taken,
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  Speaker 1: their appearance was as unexpected as though they had sprung
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  Speaker 1: from the earth. As they hurried toward the Mohawk, they
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  Speaker 1: took a few prisoners, who stated that there were one
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  Speaker 1: thousand men assembled at Schenectady, five hundred at Scohari, and
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  Speaker 1: that Colonel Willett was at Kenna, Jaherry with four hundred
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  Speaker 1: more Duanesburg or Warrens Bush. Their objective point lying centrally
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  Speaker 1: between these two two Garrisons was deemed perfectly safe from attack.
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  Speaker 1: Major Ross perceived that he had no time to lose,
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  Speaker 1: as in a few hours his presence would be known
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  Speaker 1: at all these places. And although his men were already
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  Speaker 1: fatigued by eight days of steady marching in very bad weather,
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  Speaker 1: and much of the time ankle deep in mud, he
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  Speaker 1: marched all night through incessant rain and over fourteen miles
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  Speaker 1: of the worst possible roads. His men struggled gallantly to
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  Speaker 1: keep together, and not more than a dozen fell behind,
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  Speaker 1: worn out by fatigue, and were abandoned to the tender
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  Speaker 1: mercies of the enemy. At three o'clock on the morning
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  Speaker 1: of the twenty fifth, they forded the Scohari within gunshot
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  Speaker 1: of Fort Hunter, and two hours later halted near Warrens Bush,
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  Speaker 1: fifth ward Amsterdam, where they were allowed to rest on
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  Speaker 1: their arms until daybreak. The rangers and Indians were detailed
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  Speaker 1: to destroy the settlement, which was seven miles in length,
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  Speaker 1: while the remainder of the troops moved along the main
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  Speaker 1: road to support them. They found the place totally deserted,
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  Speaker 1: for the inhabitants had fled during the night. By ten
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  Speaker 1: o'clock they had advanced within twelve miles of Schenectady, and
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  Speaker 1: every building in sight was in flames, including three mills
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  Speaker 1: and a large public magazine. Ross then wheeled about and
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  Speaker 1: marched swiftly up the Mohawk, which he forded with much
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: difficulty as the river was swollen by the rain. A
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: small party sallied from Fort Johnson to dispute their passage,
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  Speaker 1: but the officer in command was killed at the first
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: fire and his men dispersed. The militia began to gather
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: behind him, and Ross determined to retreat directly through the
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: woods instead of attempting to return to his boats at
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: Oneida Lake. Marching through the woods to Johnstown, he halted
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  Speaker 1: in the fields near Johnson Hall. There Colonel Willett found
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  Speaker 1: him and gave battle, which resulted in driving Ross and
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: his rangers and Indians into the forest, as told in
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: the account of the Battle of Johnstown in a previous chapter.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Although most of the raids in which Brandt participated were
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: in the Mohawk Valley and the west, there is an
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: account of one as far east and south as Minnisink
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: in Orange County, New York. The story is only a
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: repetition of many of the horrors that were perpetrated by
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: the Indians and Tories during the revolution. It was in
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: seventeen seventy nine, and this border settlement had been left
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  Speaker 1: unprotected by the withdrawal of Count Pulaski and his cavalry,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: who had been ordered to South Carolina. During the night, Brandt,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: at the head of sixty Indians and twenty seven Tories,
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  Speaker 1: stole on the little town and fired several dwellings, a
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  Speaker 1: small stockade, fort, a mill, and twelve houses and barns
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  Speaker 1: were burned, and a number of persons killed and taken prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: The next day there was a gathering of many volunteers,
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  Speaker 1: and soon a hundred and fifty nine hardy men were
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  Speaker 1: clamoring to be led against the enemy. Colonel Tustan, who
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  Speaker 1: knew the prowess of Brandt, opposed marching against a large
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: body of the enemy with so small a force, but
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  Speaker 1: the debate was cut short by Major Meeker, mounting his horse,
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  Speaker 1: flourishing his sword, and shouting, let the brave men follow me,
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  Speaker 1: the cowards may stay behind. These words aroused the assembly,
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  Speaker 1: and the line of march was immediately formed. There was
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the oft repeated ambush, the fierce fight at close quarters.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: The exhaustion of ammunition, massacre, and only thirty of the
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: brave men return to tell the tale. It is said
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  Speaker 1: that during the battle Major Wood made a Masonic sign
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  Speaker 1: by accident, which Brandt, being a Freemason, recognized and heeded,
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  Speaker 1: and his life was spared, and he was kindly treated
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  Speaker 1: until the Mohawk chief perceived he was not a Mason.
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  Speaker 1: After that Brandt treated him with contempt, although he was
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: afterward released and joined the fraternity by whose instrumentality his
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: life was saved. Many tales are told of Brant's savage cruelty,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: and he is often spoken of as a monster, but
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: in almost every instance of horrible, bloodthirsty Indian atrocity, the
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: red men were accompanied by armed tories who assisted them
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  Speaker 1: in massacres, while Brandt made every effort to restrain their
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: savage instincts. From early boyhood he was a companion of
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: the whites, and in his early manhood was an assistant
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: of Sir William Johnson. By birth he was a savage,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: but by education a white man. It is hard to
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: believe that a man who had been cared for by
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: Sir William as though he had been his own son,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: and who had learned from him the virtues of generosity
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: and conciliation. A man who had been placed in contact
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: with the eminent white men of that period in business matters,
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: one who was a friend of Dominie, Stuart, Erkhart and Kirkland,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: and assisted them in the translation of portions of the
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Gospel and Prayer Book into Mohawk, and exerted himself in
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: many ways for the spiritual welfare of his people, could
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: degenerate into the savage that early historians have pictured him.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: The Scottish poet Thomas Campbell makes the oneida say in
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: Gertrude of Wyoming, this is no time to fill the
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: joyous cup. The mammoth comes the foe, the monster Brant,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: with all his howling, desolating band, scorning to wield the
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: hatchet for his bribe. Gainst Brant himself, I went to
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: battle forth a cursed Brant. Brant was not at Wyoming,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: but many miles distant. And although Campbell wrote to Brandt's
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: son John a letter of apology and regret, his poems
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: are still published with that damning falsehood. The bribe came
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: from the British, through Sir John and Guy Johnson. In
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: the bounty of eight dollars for every scalp, and was
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: the incentive for the murder of many helpless men, women
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: and children that Brant was powerless to prevent. The Battle
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: of Minnisink was not a massacre, but the extermination of
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: a body of brave, stubborn colonists who chose to die
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: rather than surrender, although Brandt offered good treatment if they
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: would lay down their arms, but warned them of the
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: fierceness of the thirst for blood that actuated his warriors.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: After the Peace of seventeen eighty three, he visited England,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: and on returning to America, devoted himself to the social
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: and religious improvement of the Mohawks, who were settled at
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Grand River, Brant County, Canada, and on the Bay of Kintay.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: To Brandt was entrusted the care of the silver communion
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: set given to the Mohawks by Queen Anne in seventeen
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: twelve for use in Queen Anne's chapel at Fort Hunter.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Since that time, its care has been transmitted to successive
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: members of his family. In eighteen ninety eight, I met
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: the great granddaughter of Joseph Brandt in company with about
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: forty members of the Iroquois who were in Albany to
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: deposit some valuable wampum belts in the New York State Museum.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: Her name was Missus John Loft, and the babe at
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: her breast was the great great grandson of Joseph Brandt.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Brandt held a colonel's commission in the English Army, but
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: he is generally known as Captain Brandt. He died at
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: his residence at the head of Lake, Ontario, November twenty fourth,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: eighteen o seven, at the age of sixty five years.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: As the name of Fort Schuyler appears frequently in these pages,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: it may be of interest to state where it was situated.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: I will begin by saying that there were two Fort
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Schuylers in western and one in northern New York. During
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: the Last French War, as it was called, a number
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: of forts were built along the Mohawk Valley between seventeen
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: fifty five and seventeen fifty eight. In seventeen fifty eight,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: a fort was constructed where the city of Utica now stands,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: and named Fort Schuyler for General Peter Schuyler. Previous to
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: seventeen ten, a fort was erected on the site of
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Fort Anne and named Fort Peter Schuyler, which was destroyed
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: at that date by Colonel Schuyler, as it was thought
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: worthless unless garrisoned. The Fort Schuyler at Utica had been
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: allowed to decay, and in seventeen seventy seven was only
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: a fortress in ruins. At the same date that the
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Utica fort was built, seventeen fifty eight, a fort was
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: erected at Rome, New York, and named Fort Stanwix. In
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six, it was repaired and named Fort Schuyler
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: in honor of General Phillip Schuyler of revolutionary fame. In
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: seventeen eighty one, this fort, noted for its connection with
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: the Battle of Oriskany, was destroyed by fire and flood
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: and never rebuilt. End of Chapter fifteen. Recording by Roger
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Moline