Canada. Superintendent General of Indian Affairs (1756-1828) : From the earliest years, governors of British colonies in North America held responsibility for managing relations with the native peoples within and adjacent to the territories they administered. In May 1755, Edmund Atkin submitted a "Plan of General Direction and Management of the Indian Affairs throughout North America" to Lord Halifax, who approved the idea of dividing the continent into a Northern and a Southern District. The commission appointing Sir William Johnson as Superintendent in the northern colonies was dated 17 February 1756, while that appointing Atkin, his counterpart in the southern colonies, was dated 13 May 1756. The commissions state neither precise boundaries nor specific duties for these two officials. Reporting to and taking orders from the Commander of British Forces in North America, the superintendents concerned themselves with military alliances rather than civil administration.
The roles and responsibilities of the Superintendents evolved in the ensuing decades. Each appointed deputies, secretaries, interpreters, commissaries and other agents, dividing territories as they saw fit. Lands won from the French were added to the northern district (now running from Pennsylvania to the Hudson's Bay Company's territory), and from the Spanish to the southern district. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec Act of 1774 gave both officials additional concerns beyond boundaries of established colonies. The northern Superintendent's exercise of authority over Nova Scotia, tenuous at best, ended with the appointment in 1777 of Michael Francklin to manage affairs in that province. The loss of the thirteen revolting colonies effectively terminated the southern superintendency, and altered the territorial jurisdiction of the northern.
Guy Johnson, appointed acting Superintendent of the Northern District on the death of Sir William in 1774, allowed the authority of the office to erode. Sir John Johnson, appointed Superintendent General and Inspector General of Indians in Quebec on 14 March 1782, revived that authority, but lost ground during long absences from the province. His jurisdiction was reduced in 1796 by the surrender of the Western Posts (British-held territories south of the Great Lakes) and a transfer from military to civil authority in Upper Canada that made the superintendents and agents answerable to the Lieutenant Governor there. Between 1800 and 1815, Sir John reported to the Governor of Lower Canada, then again to the Commander of the Forces until the office of Superintendent General and Inspector General was abolished in 1828 and new structures established for the management of Indian Affairs within each colony of North America.
Johnson, William, Sir, 1715-1774 : Sir William Johnson, Bart. (1715-1774) was born in Smithstown, County Meath, Ireland in 1715. He was the son of Christopher Johnson and his wife Anne, née Warren. Early in 1738, he came to the colony of New York to oversee the estate of his uncle, Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Warren, on the south side of the Mohawk River near the mouth of the Schoharie. With capital supplied by his uncle, he built one of the largest fortunes in colonial America and acquired great influence over the Indians. In 1755, he was created a baronet and appointed superintendent of Indian affairs for New York. He died at Johnson Hall, near Schenectady, New York, 11 July 1774.
Sir William was succeeded as superintendent of Indian affairs by his nephew and son-in-law, Guy Johnson (1740?-1788). Guy Johnson who was married to Sir William's daughter Mary, held the post until 1782. Sir William's daughter Anne married Daniel Claus, who also held offices in the Indian department.
Johnson, John, Sir, 1742-1830 : Sir John Johnson, Bart. (1742-1830) was the only son of Sir William Johnson and his wife, Catherine Wissenberg (Wisenberg) (d. 1759). He was born, 5 November 1742, in the Mohawk Valley. He married Mary Watts of New York in 1773. She became known as Lady Polly Johnson (1750?-1850). Sir John succeeded to his father's estates in New York in 1774 but was forced to flee to Canada in 1776 because of his Loyalist sympathies. Lady Polly and two of her children were captured by American soldiers but they later escaped and joined Sir John in Canada.
In Canada, Sir John organized and commanded two battalions of the King's Royal Regiment of New York, and played an important part in the border forays that marked the later stages of the War of the American Revolution. After the war, he and his family settled in Montreal and, in 1783, he was appointed superintendent-general of Indian affairs in British North America. He died at Mount Johnson, near Montreal, on 4 January 1830.
