Molly Brant - Early Life

Early Life

Little is known for certain about Molly Brant's early life. Named Mary, but commonly known as "Molly", she was born around 1736, possibly in the Mohawk village of Canajoharie, or perhaps further west in the Ohio Country. Her parents were Christian Mohawks. She may have been the child named Mary who was christened at the chapel at Fort Hunter, near the Lower Castle, another Mohawk village, on April 13, 1735. If so, her parents were named Margaret and Cannassware. Most historians believe that her father was named Peter. Joseph Brant, born in 1743, was Molly's brother or half-brother.

One of Molly's Mohawk names, perhaps her birth name, was Konwatsi'tsiaienni, which means "Someone Lends Her a Flower". Her other Mohawk name, given to her at adulthood, was Degonwadonti, meaning "Two Against One". Her Mohawk names have been spelled in a variety of ways in historical records.

The Mohawk are one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League. At the time of the American Revolutionary War, they lived primarily in the Mohawk River valley in what is now upstate New York. At some point, either before or after her birth, Molly's family moved west to the Ohio Country, which was used as an Iroquois hunting ground.

After Molly's father died, her family moved back to Canajoharie. On September 9, 1753, Molly's mother married Brant Kanagaradunkwa, a Mohawk sachem of the Turtle clan. Possibly to reinforce their connection to Brant Kanagaradunkwa, who was a prominent leader, Molly and Joseph took their stepfather's name as a surname, which was unusual for that time.

Molly Brant was raised in a Mohawk culture that was highly anglicized. In Canajoharie, the Brants lived in a substantial colonial-style frame house and used many European household goods. The family attended the Church of England. Molly was fluent in Mohawk and English. It is not clear whether she was formally educated or whether she could read and write. There are several letters signed "Mary Brant", but these may have been dictated by Molly and written by someone else. A letter from 1782 is signed with "her mark", indicating that she may have been only semi-literate.

In 1754, Molly accompanied her stepfather and a delegation of Mohawk elders to Philadelphia, where the men were to discuss a fraudulent land sale with colonial leaders. The party traveled to Albany, where an English officer, Captain Staats Long Morris, nephew of Governor Lewis Morris of Pennsylvania, met and fell in love with Brant. She was then about nineteen years old and described as "pretty likely", meaning "good looking".