Sally Ainse was married to Andrew Montour when she was a teenager.
19 Facts About Sally Ainse
1.
2.
Sally Ainse received custody of most of their children who were sent to live with people in Pennsylvania.
3.
Sally Ainse lived with Nicholas in an Oneida settlement near the Mohawk River.
4.
Sally Ainse became owner of a deed for the land where Fort Stanwix was located, receiving the deed from the Oneida.
5.
However, Sally Ainse was unsuccessful in having the colonial government of New York honor her land claim.
6.
Sally Ainse expanded her trade west into the Great Lakes, trading with the Mississaugas on the north side of Lake Erie in 1766 and living at Michilimackinac, where she traded in rum and other goods.
7.
Sally Ainse regularly traveled between Michilimackinac, Detroit, and New York for trade and had a relationship with William Maxwell, the fort's commissary.
8.
Sally Ainse moved to Detroit around 1775, during the time of American Revolution.
9.
Sally Ainse expanded her business, trading in furs, cider, and other goods, and became more commonly known as Sally Ainse.
10.
Sally Ainse purchased a house and lot for 120 pounds New York Currency in 1778.
11.
The lot was sixteen feet wide, and the following year, Sally Ainse bought the neighboring lot for 80 pounds New York Currency, making her lots a total of thirty-two feet wide.
12.
In 1782, Sally Ainse made the largest land purchase of her life, acquiring 1600 acres of land on the north shore of the Thames River from Ojibwe people.
13.
In 1787, Sally Ainse had sold her property in Detroit and had begun living on land she acquired in 1783 near present-day Chatham, Ontario.
14.
Sally Ainse brought at least one slave with her, who was old in 1789, and she likely brought more as she had had a house built, along with farms, an Indian corn field, and an orchard.
15.
Sally Ainse continued to trade in the Detroit region and performed political work, serving as an ally, liaison, and messenger to Joseph Brant during the Northwest Indian War and negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Greenville.
16.
Sally Ainse served as a liaison for and the British.
17.
In 1790, the Indian Department acquired the land from the Ojibwe in the McKee Purchase, though chief negotiator Alexander McKee refused to acknowledge that Sally Ainse was the rightful owner of the land even though the Ojibwe repeatedly stated Sally Ainse's land was exempt from the purchase.
18.
Sally Ainse continued to make legal attempts to have her ownership recognized in 1808,1809,1813, and 1815, when the Executive Council of Upper Canada claimed she was dead.
19.
Sally Ainse had an illustrious career as a trader throughout the Great Lakes, accumulating large amount of property and influence before her legal battles at the turn of the nineteenth century.