Morrison's Pensions
FORT JOHNSON ‑ A FORTIFIED HOME DURING
THE WAR
OF INDEPENDENCE
BY JAMES
F. MORRISON
The first anecdote was taken from the Journal
of Captain Joseph Bloomfield of the Third New Jersey Regiment which
was stationed in the Mohawk Valley during 1776.
"Sunday the 19th of May [1776]
Proceeded on our March early this Morning. At 8 passed
by the elegeant Buildings of Col. Guy Johnson & Col. Claus, Son in Law
of Sr Wm Johnson & now in England doing America all the Mischief in their
Power. At 11 passed by the Very Neat and Elegeant Buildings that the
late Sr Wm Johnson lived in, generally called Fort or Castle William on the
East side of the Mohawk River and within four miles of the lower Castle of
the Mohawk Indians called Fort Hunter".
June 5th, Captain Bloomfield again mentions passing Fort Johnson
on his way to Johnstown. This journal has been preserved by the New
Jersey Historical Society and it contains a wealth of information
and insight of the inhabitants in the Mohawk Valley.
A document printed in New York In the Revolution
As Colony and State, Supplement, ed. Erastus C. Knight, 1901, pp 246-249 titled "A
Rent Roll of the Farms left by the Persons gone to the Enemy and forfeited
to the United States and whose Possession they are now" is excerpted
the following: Sir John Johnson's Old Fort was rented to Abraham Barclay
on June 7, 1777 for the amount of , 100 which he is listed as having not paid
this sum and as having run away.
Sir John Johnson's mill & Fort was rented to Albert
Vedder for the year 1778 for the amount of , 80.
Farm & Mill at Fort was again rented to Albert
Vedder for the year 1779 for , 150. The document ends in 1779 but it
is assumed that Albert Vedder rented Fort Johnson for a few more years. It
should be noted that the rent was collected by the Tryon County Commissioners
of Sequestration and was used for various military and civil expenses.
The following information was taken from Lieutenant
William McKendry's Journal from October 25, 1777 until August 19, 1779 printed
in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, May 1886, pp
442-463.
March 20th 1779 Left Fort Alden [Cherry
Valley] with Comy [Commissary] Woodman crossed Mohawk River at Goshen Van Alstines
dind five miles West from Majr Fundas lodged at Sir Wm Castle.
March 21st 1779 Left Sir Wm Castle and
dind at Schenectady at Mr. Johnstons.
March 29th 1779 Left Albany with Comy
Woodman 9 o'clock AM Dind at Schenectady & Lodged at Sir Wm Castle.
March 30th 1779 Left Sir Wm Castle 8 o'clock
A.M.
July 12th 1778 Dind at Sir John Johnstons
on Mohawk River Lodgd at Major Fundays
in Cognawagna.
The following letter was copied from The Public
Papers of George Clinton, 1901, Vol. IV, page 288.
Mount
Johnson Sunday Morning 2 o'clock
[November
15, 1778]
Sir,
The inclosed letters this moment came to hand I have sent
forward for your information. I shall March my Regt for Canajohary as
soon as the daylight appears, I am with respect your very Humble servant
Goose
Van Schaick Colo
To General [Edward] Hand
Colonel Van Schaick's regiment was marched from Schenectady
on receiving news that the Cherry Valley settlement was destroyed on November
11, 1778 and several days later they arrived at Fort Schuyler [Fort Stanwix]
where they were stationed until the fall of 1780.
The following is excerpted from Colonel Frederick
Visscher's Letter and Order Book for 1779 and 1780 and is preserved
in the Rome Historical Society's Museum in Rome, New York. Colonel
Visscher was the commanding officer of the Third Battalion of Tryon County
Militia and it was his duty to provide guards for Fort Johnson against any
enemy raids from Canada.
March the 29 [1780] "ordered the Remainder of
the Regt onder Arms and Stationed as folows
Captains De graaf McMaster & Yomans at ould Fort Johnson
Snocks at Tripes Hill
Mebes at Conyns
Fisher and Gardinier at Butlersbury
Yates and Veeder at Adam Fondas and Pages, Wimples, Wimps to Johnstown untill
farther orders."
The following is extracted from the Pension
Application of Daniel McGraw No. S9947 [N.Y.].
"That in the latter part of the year [1777] he was
drafted from Captain [William] Snooks company [Col. Visscher's Regiment] & stationed
at Fort Johnson below Tripes Hill under the command of Captain [Hermanus]
Mabee; Lieutenant [James] McMaster was also an officer under Captain Mabee;
and the forces were placed on guard watching Tories and Indians and this
deponant [McGraw] served eight days and was then discharged."
On April 11, 1779, about 1 o'clock in then afternoon,
Albert H. Vedder left his home Fort Johnson to go to the house of Colonel Daniel
Claus where Justice William Harper and Colonel John Harper were residing about
a few miles distant. He had only gone about one third of the distance
when near a creek he spotted several Indians running towards him but it was
too late and he was taken prisoner. He was taken to where the rest of
the Indians under Captain John were waiting with several other prisoners. The
other prisoners taken were Andries Rodinburg, Samuel Kennedy, a Mr. Longs and
Findley Stewart were taken earlier. Vedder and Rodinburg were able to
escape that night and the others were carried to Canada. The above information
was taken from a letter from Justice William Harper to Governor George Clinton
dated April 12, 1779 and was printed on pp 712‑717, Vol. IV,
Public Papers of George Clinton. This final anecdote
was taken from Captain Gilbert Tice's Journal, General Frederick Haldimand
Papers, MG21 B107, Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa. Captain
Tice who was serving in the Indian Department was serving under Major John
Ross and was with him during his October 1781 raid into the Mohawk Valley when
he burned Warrensbush (a settlement in the present day Town of Florida) and
at the Battle of Johnstown on October 25th.
Oct. 24th [1781] "Then wheeled about marched up the
Mohock River, crossed at Fort Johnson, and took the main road to Johnstown."
The anecdotes and incidents in this article are just a few
of many that took place during the American Revolution at or near Fort Johnson
which still stands after 200 years as an everlasting monument of the 18th Century.