When William Johnson left Meath sometime around 1738 he could hardly have foreseen the part he would play in ensuring that America would be English speaking from sea to sea but his exploits in the French and Indian wars of the period would do just that. Born in 1715 close beside Killeen Castle his family were tenants of the Warrens who themselves were tenants of the Plunkets and had connections on both sides back to the Gaelic MacShanes and the Anglo Norman. They found themselves on the wrong side after the Battle of the Boyne and for a young man from what was a Jacobite background the shift in fortunes must have been immense. For the Catholic gentry of Meath it became expedient to shift both allegiance and religion and this the Warrens and Johnsons did. Sent out to manage his uncle's estates in the new world William Johnson prospered beyond anything he could have imagined and has been cast almost as the ideal american both in literature and myth and this allowing for the fact that his family ended up on the wrong side again in the American war of independence. The White Savage by Fintan Ó Toole is a great read though it tends to run on many asides but for anyone interested in the making of America or the history of County Meath, an absolute must. Look it up!
No comments:
Post a Comment