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 * http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/people/mollybrant.html

Mary "Molly" Brant was born c. 1736 in the Mohawk valley of the [then] Province of New York. She spent the first twenty-two years of her adult life acting as housekeeper, concubine and bearer of nine children to Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs. As stepdaughter of influential Mohawk sachem[chief] Brant Canagaraduncka and "wife" of Mohawk honorary sachem, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs William Johnson, Molly was a natural to become one of the Clan Mothers of her people. In matrilineal Iroquois society, Clan Mothers wield a great deal of power since it is they who appoint and fire war and religious leaders. As Sir William's housekeeper, Molly Brant handled the accounts and did the purchasing and, according to the records, spent a great deal on clothing, blankets, and rum. Much of this, along with sums of money, went to the Iroquois people as gifts and Molly's influence increased in proportion to her generosity to such an extent that she soon became the leader of the Mohawk Clan Mothers. As one of her biographer put it, Molly "was as highly respected by the Indians as was her husband, and she was as versatile. He could dance, painted and naked except for a breach clout, around a fire with his native friends, and she could entertain the cream of white society graciously and properly in the grand rooms of Johnson Hall, with their Chippendale furniture and fine china." In 1774, as tension mounted between Britain and her thirteen colonies, Sir William tried his best to keep the Iroquois loyal to the British Crown. It was while addressing an Iroquois council assembled at Johnson Hall that year that he collapsed and died. Molly and her children moved back to her home village of Canajoharie where she opened a store with money Sir William had left her in his will. Less than a year later, the Revolutionary War broke out. It was a bitter conflict, as much civil war as revolution, with neighbour fighting against neighbour and brother against brother. At first, the Iroquois remained neutral. But Molly felt, as had Sir William, that the Iroquois should naturally side with the British against the Americans who were intent on robbing them of their land. She began to exert her influence with the Mohawk to keep them loyal to the British. She gathered information about the activities of the rebels on behalf of the British. She provided shelter for Loyalists fleeing from bands of zealous Patriots. She even supplied arms and ammunition to Loyalists engaged in the fighting. Acting on information she'd gathered, Molly's brother Joseph at the head of over 400 Iroquois warriors and some white Loyalists, ambushed and killed the greater part of a band of 800 Patriots at the Battle of Oriskany, thereby ending all semblance of Mohawk neutrality. With the exception of the Oneidas and some of the Tuscaroras who sided with the Rebels, the Iroquois were now openly pro-British, thanks in no small part to Molly's own efforts. The Patriots, however, wanted revenge and George Washington dispatched an army of 11 regiments to chastise the Iroquois. The Mohawks, Molly included, were forced to flee north. Nevertheless, Molly continued to work hard for the rest of the war to keep the Iroquois and other First Nations loyal to the British. When news of the peace treaty arrived in 1783, Molly and her people were rightfully incensed: the First Nations had been left out of it entirely. The boundary was to be the centre of the Great Lakes and all the Iroquois land to the south went to the Americans. But there could be no turning back for Molly, who moved with her children into the house the British built for her at Cataraqui (Kingston) and accepted the yearly 100 pound pension awarded her, "In consideration of the early and uniform fidelity, attachment and zealous services rendered to His Majesty's Government by Mrs Brant and her Family." Her brother Joseph and the Mohawks settled at Grand River in Canada. Later, as an Indian war loomed in the Ohio Valley, the American government, aware of her influence with her people, tried to entice Molly back to the United States by her offering sums of money that she contemptuously refused. Nevertheless, she and her brother Joseph tried to persuade their western brethren to negotiate with the Americans rather than fight. But in the end, the Ohio Indians fought and lost the Battle of Fallen Timbers against "Mad" Anthony Wayne in 1794. A late eighteenth century visitor to Kingston left us a glimpse of Molly:

"In the Church at Kingston we saw an Indian woman, who sat in an honourable place among the English. She appeared very devout during Divine Service and very attentive to the Sermon. She was the relict of the late Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the province of New York, and mother of several children by him, who are married to Englishmen and supported by the Crown.... When Indian embassies arrived she was sent for, dined at Governor Simcoe's, and was treated with respect by himself and his lady. During the life of Sir William she was attended with splendour and respect, and since the war receives a pension and compensation for losses for herself and her children."

Though she died over a decade before its outbreak, Molly Brant nevertheless played an important role in First Nations' participation in the War of 1812. Her own people, the Grand River Mohawk, under the nominal leadership of her nephew John Brant, were often able to tip the balance of early battles in favour of the British. ||

http://www.learnquebec.ca/en/content/curriculum/social_sciences/features/loyalists/background/loybkgr_mbrant.html

Molly Brant was born in about 1736 in the Ohio River Valley. She died at the age of 60 on April 16, 1796 in Kingston, Ontario.

Molly Brant was born and lived in the Ohio River Valley with her father, Peter, mother, Margaret, and her brother, Joseph. Her father died so they moved back to the Mohawk River Valley in New York,. Her mother then married a Dutch settler, Nickus Brant. Nickus Brant owned a farm and was a friend of William Johnson. Molly learned to live as the Europeans she lived with. She went to a mission (religious) school so she learned to read and write in English.

Probably because of her education and because the Iroquois used a system of government based on the power of the women in the family, she became involved in native politics. At 18 years old, she travelled to Philadelphia to argue for the rights of Mohawks in some land problems.

at the age of about 22, Molly "married" the rich farmer, Sir William Johnson, father of John Johnson. They had eight children and lived at their home, Fort Johnson, and then at Johnson Hall until about 1774. They lived as wealthy and powerful people. She held power in her Iroquois clan but lived very well as a "european" lady in her large house. She took care of many of her husband's business when he was away. She also controlled the servants and black slaves of the Johnson home. They often had visitors from many far-away places. She was also an expert in the use of plants in making medicine.

Molly suddenly became a widow in July 1774 as Sir William died at the age of 59. She inherited a good amount of money to keep her family of eight children, aged from a baby to one of 15 years old. She quickly used the money to set up a trading business.

The start of the Revolutionary War caused William Johnson's sons Guy and William, as well as his son-in-law, Daniel Claus, to escape the rebels attacks on them and their property. They escaped to Canada and organized regiments of Loyal men to fight the revolutionaries. While her brother Joseph convinced his warriors to join the British side in the War, Molly fed and protected Loyalist soldiers and their families. But after the Battle of Oriskany in 1777, she also fled with her children, two servants and two slaves to Fort Niagara (near Niagara Falls).

Through the War, Molly travelled back and forth from Fort Niagara to Fort Haldimand on Carleton Island (on the St. Lawrence River just south-east of Kingston) to Montreal. She was asked to keep the Iroquois on the side of the British. In return, she became powerful and received many things from the "Indian Department" of the British government for her efforts. The war caused many native and Loyalist homes and farmland to be seized or burned. She took care of the many starving and poor Iroquois families who arrived at Fort Niagara from central New York.

When the Revolutionary War ended, Molly and Joseph Brant asked Governor Haldimand for help. Haldimand gave Joseph Brant land along the Grand River, west of Lake Ontario. Another group of Mohawks under the leadership of John Deserontyou received land on the Bay of Quinte, on the St. Lawrence River in Upper Canada (near Trenton and Belleville, Ontario).

Molly Brant did not live in either place. She decided to settle at Cataraqui (now Kingston). The fact that three of her daughters lived near there must have helped her decision. She was given land and a house was built for her by the Army. It seems Daniel Claus and Governor Haldimand also sent her goods, clothes and money to help replace things she had lost over the years. She dressed like a Mohawk among European settlers. She continued to help sick and poor Iroquois as much as she could. She continued to ask the government for more help for the Iroquois.

She was important and "valuable" enough for the Americans to try to get her and her family to move back to the Mohawk River Valley. When she returned to New York to sign some legal papers in 1785, some officials apparently offered her money to come back.

She spent the rest of her days as a respected woman. She was known for helping the local parish and the Iroquois. She visited with important people like Governor Simcoe and his wife. She died in Kingston in 1796 and was supposed to have been buried in the church grave yard there.