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

Canajoharie (Upper Mohawk Castle), and further afield the Hill family of Tiononderoge(Lower Mohawk Castle). In the 1789 deed of sale for Ft. Hunter, Captain Joseph Brantsigned to represent the Canajoharie Mohawks and Captain David Hill (noted in the 1792Campbell Diary) did the same for the Ft. Hunter Mohawks.At the time of his marriage to Catharine circa 1765-7, John Young, later lieutenant of theSix Nation Indian Department, resided at Canajoharie on property owned by his fatherAdam on the Van Horne Tract among the Mohawk settlements between Ft. Hendrickopposite the mouth of East Canada Creek, and the most westerly cluster at Indian Castle.However it is important to note that proximity was one of the major determining factorsin selecting a marriage partner. It was most typical to marry neighbors, generally closeones at that – certainly among the Palatine Germans of the Mohawk Valley (Jones, 1986).Young resided among the Canajoharie Mohawks at the Upper Castle. It was 36 miles tothe Ft. Hunter Lower Castle. While finding a marriage partner who was residing in thelatter location was certainly possible, it was somewhat improbable – although thepreviously noted pre-Revolution association between the Young family and the Ft.Hunter Mohawks, likely the Hill family, needs to be explained.The above suggests that it was very likely that Catharine was also residing at Canajohariein the 1760s. The Johnson Papers make note that by 1755 Nicholas Brant was in theprocess of building a house near Ft. Hendrick in Canajoharie (Upper Castle), perhaps tojoin his father who had moved there about 1753.It was the acculturated Mohawks who tended to be scrupulous about ensuring that eachchild was baptized (whether the event would be recorded by the minister is anothermatter), and tended to accept or encourage their children’s marriages to prominent Whitemen – the Brants and Hills being the most sterling example of this tendency in theMohawk Valley and in the early days along the Grand River. An unnamed daughter ofBrant Canagaradunckwa married Sir William Johnson and had two sons by him (noted inthe will of Sir William), one of whom, Lt. Brant Johnson, married a white woman.Joseph Brant’s sister Molly Brant also married Sir William Johnson. Esther Hill marriedEpaph. Lord Phelps, and Mary Hill married William Kennedy Smith (see Faux, 2002).There was a small handful of Mohawks named Catharine baptized between 1745 and1749 (the target year range based on Catharine’s age in the Census of Niagara of 1783,which indicates that she was born circa 1747). However there is generally a “problem” inan attempt to link any to the matter here under discussion. The only recorded Mohawkbaptism of a Catharine in 1747 occurred 3 June at the Schenectady Reformed DutchChurch. She was born to Nicus Brant and Margaretje, with the former’s father Brant(Canagaradunckwa) and step - mother Christina as sponsors. Click here to see thebaptismal record. Unfortunately only a brother Lawrence (baptized 1754 Ft. Hunter) anda sister Susanna (baptized 1758 Schoharie) are documented in the church registers. Therewere likely more (perhaps many more) children, probably baptized by Reverend Ehle -but he left no existing written records of his ministerial duties.42