The Mohawk Valley Path Through History begins with the Revolutionary War - the sites and events related to this period in history.
First shots of Revolution fired in Mohawk Valley
The first shots fired in Johnstown occured when an angry crowd came looking for Tory Sheriff Alexander White. He had arrested and jailed their friend John Fonda. There are two locations given as the site of shooting. The first is from Fonda's daughter, Mrs. Evert Yates, "Sheriff White was at the village Inn kept by one Mattice, and thither the patriotic mob of the enlargement enterprise went to arrest him. Amred with a double barreled gun, from an upper window he discovered Sampson Sammons and fired at him. The shot was instantly returned by a number of the crowd." The other location was the Robert Pickens house, which was on the SW corner of William and Main Streets. The angry mob went here and were fired upon by Sheriff White. The angry patriots returned fire and stormed the house. This house was later moved up William Street and is now the D.A.R. chapter house.