Although he owned an impressive house and other property along the Albany waterfront, Sir William Johnson (1715-1774), rarely if ever spent more than a night in the colonial city. However, from the 1740s until his death in 1774, he was a pivotal figure in early Albany history.

Frontier developer, businessman, Indian diplomat, military leader, Masonic enthusiast, and all-around British official, William Johnson was one of the most important people in colonial New York. His life in America has been the subject of several biographies and other historical treatments. The multi-volume edition of his papers provides an important and unparalleled window on Albany's diverse functions during the middle of the eighteenth century.

At the same time, Johnson was intimately involved with the Albany business community, in Indian diplomacy - which frequently brought him into conflict with the Albany Indian commissioners, and in the Albany Masonic Lodge. In the future, this page will better explain William Johnson in his early Albany context!

Detail from a portrait of William Johnson by John Wollaston, Jr. painted about 1751. In the collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art. Several other likenesses of Johnson are known to exist!.

Johnson's Albany house stood on the east side of Market Street and on the north side of State Street. He purchased that property from Henry Holland during the winter of 1748-49. Johnson called it "one of the best houses in Albany." An undated notice (but probably of 1748-49 vintage) described a two-story, brick building with good cellars, kitchen, and bleach yard. It was valued at 1,500 pounds. Also included on the property was a water lot with a frame house - valued at 500 pounds.The In 1759, Johnson purchased an adjacent lot from the city of Albany. Johnson's Albany property was left to his son-in-law, Daniel Claus.

first posted: 11/00; last revised 9/10/01