Chief Joseph Brant
Joseph Brant or Thayendanegea was born around March 1743 in Ohio. His father was Nickus (or "Nicholas") of the Wolfe family, who, although not a chief, was a Mohawk of some standing in the tribe.
While still in his early youth, Brant became a favorite of Sir William Johnson, the British superintendent of the northern Indians of America, who was extremely popular with the tribes under his supervision. During his time with the Iroquois, Johnson became particularly close to the Mohawk tribes. He was also a Mason and a former Provincial Grand Master of the New York colony. After Johnsons European wife Catherine died in 1759, he married his former Indian mistress, Molly, who was Brants sister, in an Indian ceremony later that year. It was due largely to Johnsons relationship with Molly that Brant received the favor and protection of Sir William and through him the British government, which set Brant on the road to promotion.
From this point on, Brant favored the British during the Revolutionary War and did all he could to help the British. Ultimately, Brant was commissioned as a Captain over Mohawk Native Americans in the War against the Americans.
Brant fought in many wars for the British. When the British finally lost the war, Brant went to Canada where he had a great farm with many slaves.
Brant died on November 24, 1807, at the age of nearly sixty-five years, at his own house on Grand River, Ontario.
The Draper Collection
There is a great collection of information on this Mohawk Chief, Joseph Brant, in a collection of personal information by a man named Lyman Draper.
The Draper collection is available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. A book entitled "Guide to the Draper Manuscripts" by Josephine L. Harper serves as an index to the microfilms that are available at the library. This book is available at the 2nd Floor Reference area on the 2nd floor of the Library. This book cannot be loaned outside the library. However, the book does have references to microfilms of the actual collection. These microfilms can be ordered from FamilySearch Centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch Centers are in most of the large cities throughout the United States. To find the FamilySearch Center nearest to you, click here.
The image below is an image of the title page of the book "Guide to the Draper Manuscripts" by Josephine Harper.
The Following is the page in the Guide (title page shown above) that gives references to Joseph Brant that are available in the collection;
The page above, Page 25, (referenced as 10 E in the Guide) shows that there may not be much information on Joseph Brant in this microfilm (0889134).
The page above (Page 27), referenced by 16 E, microfilm 0889135, shows that there might not be too much information about Joseph Brant.
Page 28, above, in the Guide shows that there is a 22 Volume Collection called the Joseph Brant Papers. Notice to the right of the words 22 volumes there is a range of numbers (0889137-0889144) penciled in. Those numbers represent micorfilm numbers for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. These films can be ordered from the Family History Library at Salt Lake City through FamilySearch Centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These FamilySearch Centers are located in most large cities throughout the United States. To find the FamilySearch Center nearest to you, click here.
The following pages from the Guide contain summaries of what is in each volume and the associated microfilm numbers at the Family History Library in Salt Lake, Utah. The number that is penciled in is the microfilm number that can be ordered from the Family History Library through a FamilySearch Center near you.
This is the end of information about the Draper Collection for Joseph Brant on this website.
Family Tree
To find the family tree for Chief Joseph Brant in Roots Web, click here. This will take you to his individual information page. To see his ancestors, click on the Pedigree tab. To see his descendants, click on the Descendants tab.
LDS
If you are LDS (a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and you have a new FamilySearch account, you can find Chief Joseph Brant and his descendants on new.familysearch.org. Once you are in new.familysearch.org, type in your user name and password. Click on the Search tab. Click on the Search by Number tab. Type in LHZ5-ZW8 in the Person Identifier box. Click on Search
Chief Joseph Brant's pedigree with children will appear. At this point you will be able to move around and see his ancestors and descendants. If you have trouble, contact your ward family history consultant.
Other Chiefs
Black Hawk - Sak
Keokuk - Sak
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
Cochise - Apache
Geronimo - Apache
Osceola - Seminole
Quanah Parker - Comanche
Tecumseh - Shawnee
White Cloud - Iowa
