Individual Details
Catherine Lykas BRANT
(1747 - 1795)
[young.FTW]
In general women were rarely active participants in the business of war. The occasional young farm wife might visit her husband in camp, if that camp was within travelling distance, and small numbers of women were official campfollowers. (Campfollowers were a small group of women assigned to a company of the regiment. They were often chosen by lottery. In return for sewing and laundry duties they received partial rations for themselves and their children.) The average woman was unlikely to be involved in the business of war. Civilians were often merely used as suppliers, billeters or servants to the army. However, the American Revolution was a civil war, and as such, the rules of engagement changed and people, regardless of gender and from all walks of life, got caught up in the maelstrom. Although popular American mythology has canonized the role of the "patriot" woman, very little knowledge has been preserved about the role of women who, for whatever reason, stayed true to her government and became an enemy in her own country.
"The Women of those Enemies (Loyalist) is still living among us, some behave very rudely at present, and have proved very active to support and spirit up the opposite Cause..."
Excerpt from the minutes, August 25 1777, Chamber of Commitee for the County of Tryon...Mohawk Valley in the Revolution, Committe of Safety Papers & Genealogical Compendium....Marilyn B. Penrose
The Loyalist left most of the women behind to keep the family farm or business operating and out of the hands of the rebels. Of course, once the war in the north was in full swing, the rebels found that confiscating a loyalist's farm and evicting his woman and her children (grandparents, sisters, servants, etc.) was a popular act, and a sesible form of revenge. Not only did it satisfy the urge for retribution, but it also prevented another house from being a refuge or supply depot for loyalist scouting/raiding parties. And more and more loyalist homes were vandalized for the personal gain of rebel sympathizers and then sold cheap, often to a loyalist's own nieghbour to help finance the rebel cause. Women and children were often physically and morally the hostages in this bitter frontier war.
As the war progressed, more women and children found their way to the haven of the British Military Administration in Quebec. Sometimes they would be rescued by raiding parties from the north; sometimes they would band together and apply to the rebel government to be exchanged for rebel prisoners; sometimes they made their way on their own by selling their only possessions to raise money to hire a guide; and, some merely picked up their stuff and their children and fled. It is a testament to their strength and hardiness that many of them waited for an overtly hostile or violent action by local rebels (Somtimes their own neighbours) before they removed themselves to safety. And inevitably, some of them waited too long and died as a consquence.
An oral history statement taken in the early 1800 from a former Tryon Co Militia tells the story of how a squad of Militia (five men) went to a Loyalist Officers farm to confincate the farm and to drive his Mohawk wife and kids from the land. There was only one Loyalist Officer who had a Mohawk wife, and her name would have been Catherine, sister to Joseph Brand, Mohawk War Chief.
As the story goes they were ambushed at the front door by a women who killed two of their number with pistol shot and a third was killed by a young boy(most likely Abraham, her oldest son) with a tohomalk and knife. She then burned down her own farm and the family escaped into the woods. FIELD NAME Page FIELD NAME Page FIELD NAME Page FIELD NAME Page
In general women were rarely active participants in the business of war. The occasional young farm wife might visit her husband in camp, if that camp was within travelling distance, and small numbers of women were official campfollowers. (Campfollowers were a small group of women assigned to a company of the regiment. They were often chosen by lottery. In return for sewing and laundry duties they received partial rations for themselves and their children.) The average woman was unlikely to be involved in the business of war. Civilians were often merely used as suppliers, billeters or servants to the army. However, the American Revolution was a civil war, and as such, the rules of engagement changed and people, regardless of gender and from all walks of life, got caught up in the maelstrom. Although popular American mythology has canonized the role of the "patriot" woman, very little knowledge has been preserved about the role of women who, for whatever reason, stayed true to her government and became an enemy in her own country.
"The Women of those Enemies (Loyalist) is still living among us, some behave very rudely at present, and have proved very active to support and spirit up the opposite Cause..."
Excerpt from the minutes, August 25 1777, Chamber of Commitee for the County of Tryon...Mohawk Valley in the Revolution, Committe of Safety Papers & Genealogical Compendium....Marilyn B. Penrose
The Loyalist left most of the women behind to keep the family farm or business operating and out of the hands of the rebels. Of course, once the war in the north was in full swing, the rebels found that confiscating a loyalist's farm and evicting his woman and her children (grandparents, sisters, servants, etc.) was a popular act, and a sesible form of revenge. Not only did it satisfy the urge for retribution, but it also prevented another house from being a refuge or supply depot for loyalist scouting/raiding parties. And more and more loyalist homes were vandalized for the personal gain of rebel sympathizers and then sold cheap, often to a loyalist's own nieghbour to help finance the rebel cause. Women and children were often physically and morally the hostages in this bitter frontier war.
As the war progressed, more women and children found their way to the haven of the British Military Administration in Quebec. Sometimes they would be rescued by raiding parties from the north; sometimes they would band together and apply to the rebel government to be exchanged for rebel prisoners; sometimes they made their way on their own by selling their only possessions to raise money to hire a guide; and, some merely picked up their stuff and their children and fled. It is a testament to their strength and hardiness that many of them waited for an overtly hostile or violent action by local rebels (Somtimes their own neighbours) before they removed themselves to safety. And inevitably, some of them waited too long and died as a consquence.
An oral history statement taken in the early 1800 from a former Tryon Co Militia tells the story of how a squad of Militia (five men) went to a Loyalist Officers farm to confincate the farm and to drive his Mohawk wife and kids from the land. There was only one Loyalist Officer who had a Mohawk wife, and her name would have been Catherine, sister to Joseph Brand, Mohawk War Chief.
As the story goes they were ambushed at the front door by a women who killed two of their number with pistol shot and a third was killed by a young boy(most likely Abraham, her oldest son) with a tohomalk and knife. She then burned down her own farm and the family escaped into the woods. FIELD NAME Page FIELD NAME Page FIELD NAME Page FIELD NAME Page
Events
| Birth | 1747 | Canajoharie New York |  | ||
| Marriage | 1765 | Canajoharie New York - Lt. John YOUNG | | ||
| Death | 1795 | Six Nations Grand River Reserve Ontario | | ||
| Burial | Four Mile Creek | |
Families
| Spouse | Lt. John YOUNG (1742 - 1812) |
| Child | Abraham YOUNG (1766 - 1815) |
| Child | Unknown YOUNG (1768 - 1779) |
| Child | Daniel YOUNG (1770 - ) |
| Child | John YOUNG (1772 - 1851) |
| Child | Elizabeth YOUNG (1774 - ) |
| Child | Joseph YOUNG (1781 - ) |
| Father | Living |
| Mother | Dehwondah MARGARET (1715 - 1777) |
| Sibling | Joseph Brant THAYENDANEGEA (1742 - 1807) |
| Sibling | Lea Lykas BRANT (1750 - ) |
| Father | Peter TEHONWAGHWANGERAGHK (1707 - 1745) |
| Mother | Dehwondah MARGARET (1715 - 1777) |
| Sibling | Peter BRANT (1735 - ) |
| Sibling | Jackob BRANT (1740 - ) |
| Sibling | Christina BRANT (1741 - ) |
| Sibling | Joseph Brant THAYENDANEGEA (1742 - 1807) |
Endnotes
1. young.FTW Source Media Type: Other.
2. young.FTW Source Media Type: Other.
3. young.FTW Source Media Type: Other.
4. young.FTW Source Media Type: Other.