SEPTEMBER 27, 1794

MOHAWK CHIEF AHYONWAEGHS (JOHN BRANT) BORN

Brant, born near Brantford, Ontario, son of famed Mohawk chieftain Joseph Brant, grew up near Burlington Bay and studied at Ancaster and Niagara-on-the-Lake. During the War of 1812, Brant and John Norton led the Mohawk in victory at the Battle of Queenston Heights where Brant captured American officer, Colonel Winfield Scott. Brant, Norton, and Brant’s brother-in-law, Richard John Kerr fought in the Battle of Beaver Dams, in June 1813. In 1821, Brant and Kerr traveled to England and successfully lobbied for land rights for the Grand River Mohawk. The British Indian Department appointed him Resident Indian Superintendent for the Grand River Mohawk in 1828. In 1830, Brant was elected to the Upper Canada legislative assembly. However, his election was challenged, costing him his seat. In 1831, Brant was named Grand Chief of the Grand River Mohawk (Tekarihoga), a title that passed through his maternal line. He died in Brantford, Ontario on August 27, 1832, during a cholera epidemic.

Source:  D.S. Davis, “John Brant (Ahyonwaeghs), The Canadian Encyclopedia, 1/17/2011.  Retrieved 7/11/2019,  https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-brant-ahyonwaeghs   

Lithograph:  John T. Bowen (1801-1856?), 1842.  DeGoyler Library, Southern Methodist University.  No known restrictions.  Likely Public Domain, alternatively Fair Use.