It was while his parents were abroad upon one of those hunting excursions, that Thayendanegea was born, in the year 1742, on the banks of the Ohio. The home of his family was at the Canajoharie Castle—the central of the three Castles of the Mohawks, in their native valley. His father's name was Tehowaghwengaraghkwin, a full-blooded Mohawk of the Wolf Tribe. [FN] Thayendanegea was very young when his father died. His mother married a second time to a Mohawk; and the family tradition at present, is, that the name of Brant was acquired in the manner assumed by the publication already cited. There is reason to doubt the accuracy of this tradition, however, since it is believed that there was an Indian family, of some consequence and extent, bearing the English name of Brant. Indeed, from the extracts presently to be introduced from the recently discovered manuscripts of Sir William Johnson, it may be questioned whether Tehowaghwengaraghkwin, and an old chief, called by Sir William sometimes Brant, and at others Nickus Brant, were not one and the same person.
[FN] Each of the original Five Nations was divided into three tribes—the Tortoise, the Bear, and the Wolf. The subject of the present memoir was of the latter. According to David Cusick, a Tuscarora, who has written a tract respecting the history of the ancient Five Nations, the laws of the confederation required that the Onondagas should provide the King, and the Mohawks a great War-Chief.
The denial that he was a born chief, is likewise believed to be incorrect. It is very true, that among the Six Nations, chieftainship was not necessarily obtained by inheritance. But in regard to Thayendanegea, there is no doubt that he was of noble blood. The London Magazine for July, 1776, contains a sketch of him, probably furnished by Boswell, with whom he was intimate during his first visit to England in 1775-'76. In that account it is affirmed as a fact without question, that he was the grandson of one of the five sachems who visited England, and excited so much attention in the British capital, in 1710, during the reign of Queen Anne. Of those chiefs, two were of the Muhhekaneew, or River Indians, and three were Mohawks—one of whom was chief of the Canajoharie clan. [FN-1] Thayendanegea was of the latter clan; and as there is reason to believe that his father was a sachem, there can be little doubt of the correctness of the London publication, in claiming for him direct descent from the Canajoharie chief who visited the British court at the time above mentioned. But there is other evidence to sustain the assumption. In the Life of the first President Wheelock, by the Rev. Messrs. McClure and Parish, it is asserted that the father of Joseph Brant "was sachem of the Mohawks, after the death of the famous King Hendrick." The intimacy for a long time existing between the family of Brant and the Wheelocks, father and sons, renders this authority, in the absence of unwritten testimony still more authentic, very good; and as Hendrick fell in 1755, when Thayendanegea was thirteen years of age, the tradition of the early death of his father, and his consequent assumption of a new name, is essentially weakened. Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, who in early life was a resident of Albany, and intimately acquainted with the domestic relations of Sir William Johnson, speaks of the sister of young Thayendanegea, who was intimately associated in the family of the Baronet, as "the daughter of a sachem." [FN-2]
[FN-1] These five sachems, or Indian kings, as they were called, were taken to England by Colonel Schuyler. Their arrival in London created a great sensation, not only in the capital, but throughout the kingdom. The populace followed them wherever they went. The Court was at that time in mourning for the death of the Prince of Denmark, and the chiefs were dressed in black under-clothes, after the English manner; but, instead of a blanket, they had each a scarlet-ingrain cloth mantle, edged with gold, thrown over all their other clothes. This dress was directed by the dressers of the play-house, and given by the Queen. A more than ordinary solemnity attended the audience they had of her Majesty. They were conducted to St. James's in two coaches by Sir Charles Cotterel, and introduced to the royal presence by the Duke of Shrewsbury, then Lord Chamberlain. [Smith's History.] Oldmixon has preserved the speech delivered by them on the occasion, and several historians record the visit. Sir Richard Steele mentions these chiefs in the Tatler of May 13, 1710, They were also made the subject of a number of the Spectator, by Addison.
[FN-2] "Memoirs of an American Lady," chap, xxxix.
In the manuscript diary of Sir William Johnson, just referred to, and of which more particular mention has been made in the Introduction, the Baronet often had occasion to speak of Brant, of Canajoharie. Sometimes he was called "Nickus Brant," and at others Aroghyadagha—but most frequently "Old Nickus," or "Old Brant." As these private journals of Sir William have never seen the light, and are curious in themselves, a few extracts will probably not be unacceptable to the reader—serving, as they will, not only to illustrate the present history, but also the character of the intercourse and relations existing between the English and the Indians, under the administration of the Indian department by that distinguished officer. A more just idea of the character and importance of the chieftain's family, may likewise be derived from a perusal of the extracts proposed to be given, exhibiting, as they do, something of the intercourse maintained between the families of the white and the red warriors.
It must be borne in mind, that the diary to which we are referring, was written in the years 1757, '58, and '59—in the midst of the old French war, ending by the conquest of Canada, in 1763. An expedition against that colony, under the conduct of Lord Loudoun, projected early in the former year, had been abandoned in consequence of his Lordship's inability to bring a sufficient number of troops into the field, to meet the heavy reinforcements sent over that year from France. Meantime the Marquis de Montcalm, with an army of 9000 men, had advanced through Lake George, and carried Fort William Henry—the siege of which was followed by a frightful massacre—and was then threatening Fort Edward and the settlements on the Hudson; while at the west, the French, with their Indian allies, were continually threatening an invasion by the way of Oswego; and by their scouts and scalping parties, were vexing the German settlements on the Upper Mohawk, and continually harassing the Six Nations—or Iroquois—ever the objects of French hostility. In this state of things, it required the utmost activity on the part of Sir William Johnson, his officers and Indian allies, to keep themselves well informed as to the actual or intended movements of their subtle enemies. There was therefore constant employment, until the close of the year, for Indian scouts and messengers, throughout the whole wilderness country from Lake Champlain to Niagara, and Fort Du Quesne, on the Ohio. With this explanation we proceed to the diary:
"1757.—Nov. 4. Canadiorha, alias Nickus Brant's son, who was in quest after De Conagne as far as Oneida, came here (Fort Johnson), and said he inquired what news was stirring among the Oneidas. One of the sachems told him the same piece of news Ogaghte brought some days since, about the French intending to stop the powder from the Six Nations,—building a fort near Chennessio, &c.—that it made a great noise among the nations, and gave them uneasiness; wherefore they were assembling often at Chennessio, and keeping (holding) often great councils among themselves how to act in this affair of last moment. He further was told at Oneida, that but two days ago the Six Nations received a message from the Twightwees (Miamies), letting their brethren of the Six Nations know that they had heard of the insolent attempt of the French, of destroying the Six Nations; and that after the many provocations the French gave them, in stirring them up to war against the English, &c. they were now resolved to turn the hatchet against the French, and resolved to pass the Six Nations' country in their way to war. They expected not to be delayed, but to be immediately joined by the warriors of the Six Nations, and to proceed toward Canada. He also said he heard the foreign (distant) nations complain very much for want of trade with the English; and Tahaddy, a Chenundidie chief, said that he was stopped by the French to sell his fur at Cataraghqui, and that he got not the half quantity of goods that he could (have) got from the English, and that he intended to keep his furs for the future, and in the Spring to go with them to Albany, and at the same time to intercede with Sir William in behalf of all the western nations, to grant them a trade again—and further Canadiorha said not."