Date Published:
January 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Sir John Johnson

Johnson, Sir John, Bart. (1742-1830), loyalist, was born in the Mohawk valley on November 5, 1742, the only son of Sir William Johnson, Bart. He succeeded to his father's estates in the Mohawk valley in 1774; but in 1776 he was compelled to flee, with a large number of his tenants, to Canada, because of his loyalist sympathies. In Canada he organized and commanded two battalions of the King's Royal Regiment of New York; and he played an important part in the border forays which marked the later stages of the War of the Revolution. His estates in New York having been confiscated, he settled in Canada after the war, and was appointed in 1783 superintendent-general of Indian affairs in British North America. He was regarded as the most outstanding of the United Empire Loyalists in Canada, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the position of lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada in 1791. In 1787 he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of Quebec, and in 1796 of that of Lower Canada ; and he sat in this Council until his death at Mount Johnson, near Montreal, on January 4, 1830. In 1773 he married Mary, daughter of John Watts, of New York ; and by her he had eight sons and three daughters. He was knighted in 1765, and he succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1774. See J. Watts de Peyster, The life and misfortunes and the military career of Brig.Gen. Sir John Johnson, Bart. (New York, 1882), and Mabel G. Walker, Sir John Johnson, loyalist (Mississippi Valley Historical Review, December, 1916).

Source : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. III, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 396p., p. 304.