History of Easthampton Its Settlement and Growth, Its Material, Education and Religious Inte... Book

A careful, balanced biography of Johnson, vividly portrayed here as an Indian leader.

Flexner does a fine job describing Johnson’s complicated personal life, and his involvement in and diplomacy with the Iroquois Confederacy. The term “frontiersman” evokes images of log cabins, fringed buckskin shirts and marksmanship with a rifle. While a frontiersman, Johnson was not one in this sense, and Flexner describes the aspects of Johnson that defied the stereotype: his feudal manor, his status as a Mohawk sachem, and his political alliances and personal friendships among the Iroquois. Flexner also portrays Johnson as a successful military commander.

While readable, Flexner’s biography does not describe Johnson’s business activities or his role as a landlord and landowner in much detail (perhaps because they clash with his frontier image) Also, he seems to exaggerate Johnson’s role in the demises of Shirley and Amherst. We never really get a real glimpse into Johnson’s character, and Flexner often portrays him as unprincipled, although this doesn’t appear to have been a dominant trait.

A gripping, engaging, and interesting biography.