William Johnson Kerr (1787 - 1845)

Ancestors

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Biography

William Johnson Kerr Indian Department officer, jp, and politician; b. 1787, was the son of Dr. Robert Kerr and Elizabeth Johnson. He married Elizabeth Brant (first cousin once removed), a daughter of Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), and they had four sons and one daughter; d. 23 April 1845 at Wellington Square (Burlington), Upper Canada.

During the War of 1812, William served as an officer in the Indian Department. Along with John Brant and John Norton, he led the Six Nations forces against the Americans at the Battle of Queenston Heights. He also fought in the battles of Fort Erie and Beaver Dams. Late in the war he was captured and spent time in the United States as a prisoner of war. ^[1]

See Kerr's entry in Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

In the historical notes of the novel "George Johnson's War" it is claimed that Robert and Elizabeth had five children and gives the names of four: William, Walter, Robert and Nancy.

At the Battle of Beaver Dams, the warriors in Lt. FitzGibbons command, included about 100 Grand River Mohawks "under the command of young John Brant, and his 2nd cousin, Capt. William Johnson Kerr and the Mohawks adopted Scottish leader, John Norton". ...and a second reference to William Johnson Kerr is found in "His Majesty's Indian Allies", British Indian Policy in The Defence of Canada 1774-1815, pg184: " During the Rebellion of 1837...:about 100 warriors volunteered to serve under the command of William Johnson Kerr, a grandson of Sir William Johnson". Since Elizabeth Johnson was the only Johnson daughter married to a Kerr, William Johnson Kerr would appear to be the s/o of Robert and Elizabeth Kerr.

March 1832, when at a raucous political meeting in Hamilton William Lyon Mackenzie was roughed up, Kerr was one of the tory crowd. He grabbed the diminutive Scot and pulled him down from a table on which he had jumped to speak. Later in the evening Kerr organized some local thugs to thrash Mackenzie. He was prosecuted and fined for his part in the assault.

At the time of the rebellion of 1837, about 100 warriors volunteered to serve under Kerr against the rebels. Someone had convinced them that if the supporters of Mackenzie and Charles Duncombe gained power the Grand River lands would be confiscated.

Marriages and families:[2]^[2]

Croghan married in the 1740s and had a daughter, Susannah Croghan. He later married again, while serving as Deputy Indian agent to Sir William Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northern District. His second wife was a Mohawk woman, Catherine (Takarihoga), daughter of Mohawk chief Nickus Peters (Karaghaigdatie). Their daughter Catherine (Adonwentishon) Croghan (1759-1837) would assume her mother's hereditary role as head of the Turtle clan. She later was the third wife of Joseph Brant, the prominent Mohawk war leader who led his people during their migration and settlement in Canada on lands granted by the Crown after the American Revolutionary War. Brant's sister Molly was a long-term consort of Sir William Johnson, so Croghan was doubly connected to influential British and Mohawk families in the East. Elizabeth Brant, a daughter of Joseph Brant and Catherine (Adonwentishon) Crogan, married William Johnson Kerr, a grandson of Sir William Johnson and Molly Brant.

Sources

1. ↑ Burlington Historical Society [1]
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Croghan

See also:

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2Y-5SX2 : accessed 14 September 2015), William Johnson Kerr, 1845; Burial, Burlington, Halton Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada, Saint Lukes Anglican Churchyard Cemetery; citing record ID 86558362, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
• "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FMF2-7MS : accessed 14 September 2015), William Johnson Kerr in entry for William J Luicoe Kerr and Catherine Hunter, 28 Jul 1870; citing registration , Nelson, Halton, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,862,474.
• http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/detail.php?letter=k&line=87
• In collaboration, “KERR, WILLIAM JOHNSON,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed January 18, 2019, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/kerr_william_johnson_7E.html.