Mohawk – Wyandot Ancestry of Lt. John Young's ... - Davidkfaux.org

grandson of the said Mary Hill) it was stated that the father, encountered anIndian maiden, a grand – daughter of a Mohawk Chief, Isaac Hill, who was arelative of the celebrated Joseph Brant (Ibid., p.76). More specifics come fromDavid Jacket Hill. Draper stated that the, Informants father was Capt. Isaac Hill– (whose father was Isaac Hill also, from Mohawk country) - born in 1762 – died46 years ago – 1833, above Brantford, aged 71 years (Ibid., Vol. 13, p.29, 26September 1879). It seems likely that Draper recorded the father’s age for that ofthe grandfather – but this is unclear. Assuming that 1762 plus or minus two yearsis correct, then between 1760 and 1764 there were 9 recorded Mohawk baptisms,all at the Dutch Reformed Church of Schenectady, and 4 infants were given thename Isaac. A better candidate is an Isaac, son of Isaac and Catharine (married24 February 1754), baptized at the Ft. Hunter Anglican Church 25 February 1756.This Isaac had a brother Abraham baptized here 9 February 1758 (Sievertsen,1996). In explaining the origin of the Hill surname, Draper said that Mrs. Martin(descendant of the Hills of Ft. Hunter) and David Jacket Hill, can give no accountof relationship with Capt. David Hill & brothers, yet give me precisely the samehill – side origin of the family name. Hence it would seem to me, they had acommon origin (Ibid., p.40). The above is clear as mud in an attempt to ascertainwhether “our” Isaac was the above scion of this large family responsible for somany of those with the surname Hill, the most common / frequent of all surnameson the Six Nations Reserve). If he was the brother of Catharine, then the surnameHill could also likely be the surname by which she was known.Irrespective of the Brant or Hill surname issues, the date of Isaac’s death (orrelinquishing of his credentials) can be inferred via the timing of Joseph Brant’s selectionof a new interpreter, an individual he formally adopted as a nephew, presumably in theplace of Isaac.Joseph Brant’s “adopted nephew” and official interpreter was John Norton (the son of aScottish mother and Cherokee father). Norton served earlier as a school teacher atTyendinaga and trader for John Askin in the west. This “adoption” appears to have takenplace about 1795 when Norton was recommended by Joseph Brant to be the official SixNations interpreter (see Kelsay, 1986). John Norton’s Indian names wereTeyoninhokarawen (after 1799) and earlier “The Snipe” (Dow-wis-dow-wis). On 22December 1795, Governor Simcoe forwarded a letter to Lord Dorchester from JosephBrant requesting that Norton be made Interpreter in the Indian Department for the SixNations (DCB, Vol. VI).The fact is that Brant’s interpreter prior to 1795 was his nephew Isaac, but that in 1795Brant petitioned for a paid position as interpreter for Norton. This may mean that Isaacand his family remained in the Sandusky area after the defeat of the Western Nations atFallen Timbers by General Anthony Wayne, and that Brant needed a replacement whowould reside at Six Nations on the Grand River (see Biographical Introduction, Journal ofJohn Norton, 1816, Published 1970 by the Champlain Society). Also it is very likely thatthe reason for Norton’s appointment was due to the death of Joseph Brant’s nephew Isaacin 1794 or 1795. Thus Norton would be “in the room of” Isaac, Brant’s nephew and so23