Every family has skeletons in its lineage. Some are true heroes, brave military leaders, powerful politicians; others are scoundrels, law-breakers, or ax-murderers. Such is the human dimension of genealogy. There are many fascinating stories, though due to space I can only include a few in this site for your enjoyment. I hope you will find the information interesting and educational.
BRANT, Joseph - (1742-1807) Mohawk Chief.
Joseph was born in 1742 in a hunting village along the banks of the Ohio River. His father having died soon after Joseph's birth, his mother took him and his older sister, Molly, back to central NY, where his mother married a Mohawk Indian with the single name, "Brant." Joseph became known as "Brant's Joseph," which very soon was transposed into Joseph Brant. He had no Brant lineage beyond his step-father's taken English name. Many thories abound regarding the identity of Joseph's biological father. Perhaps the strongest evidence favors Sir William Johnson, who later took Joseph's older sister, Molly, as one of his several common-law wives. Johnson seemed to take an unusual interest in Joseph, providing for him financially and educationally. Joseph married 3 times, producing 9 children, including 4 sons. Isaac, in a drunken rage, was killed by his father. Next oldest, Joseph, was born in 1783. Jacob and John were the others. After Chief Joseph's death on 14 Nov 1807, John became the tribal head, but could never fill his father's mocassins (bad pun, sorry). The entire clan settled in Brantford (orig. Brant's Ford), Canada, and descendants periodically plan family reunions. There were Brants who came from England and Massachusetts into central NY in the mid-1700's. No doubt the fame (or infamy) of this well-known warrior traveled with the Brants as they moved west. Many descendants of Simeon Brant settled in Berrien Co., MI. Many casual researchers and dreamers have believed and perpetuated the story that the ignominous or celebrated (depending upon your point of view of history) Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant is a long-lost relative of their Brant family. After many years of trying to prove such a connection, I must conclude that he is no relation to any Brant whose line can be traced back to the early- to mid-1700's.
For additional information on Joseph Brant, see Article 1 or Article 2.
HARTRANFT, John Frederick - (1830-1889) Civil War General, Governor of Pennsylvania, Republican nominee for U.S. President.
Although not directly in my line of Hartranfts, his father, Samuel E. Hartranft, was a first-cousin to my great-great grandfather, Dieter Hartranft. John was the only child born to Samuel E. Hartranft and Lydia Bucher. Born 16 Dec 1830 in New Hanover, Montgomery Co., PA, John married 26 Jan 1854 Sallie D. Sebring, daughter of William L. Sebring of Easton, PA. They had seven children: Samuel, Ada, Wilson, Linn, Marion, Annie, and an unnamed child. John rose to the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army during the Civil War and presided over the executions of the convicted conspirators involved in the assasination of Abraham Lincoln. He served as Governor of Pennsylvania for two terms (1872-79) and was nominated to be the Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1876. On the final balloting, he lost the bid to Ohio's governor, Rutherford B. Hayes. John died 17 Oct 1889 and is buried in Norristown, PA.
For more information and pictures of Gen. John F. Hartranft, go to the National Archives site.
If you have an interesting biography of a related person, e-mail it to draper-tree. Thanks.
