Who Were the Loyalists?
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Biographies of the Loyalist Era

Molly Brant (Koñwatsiãtsiaiéñni), Loyalist

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.