I cannot be very helpful with the term "yellow boys" except to say that it was not used by Sir William Johnson.  I went through all the documents concerning the capture of Captain Bull and the transfer of those captured to New York City and that term is never used in any of the original documents.  It was probably a term used by the newspaper to provide some sensationalizing to the event.  There was support for Captain Bull and his followers by the Quakers and other residents of Philadelphia.  The Quakers often opposed Johnson's policies and tried to stir up anti-Johnson feelings in the newspapers--it would be interesting to discover what their role might have been in this.  Also, it was not John Johnson who was sent on the expedition to capture Capt. Bull.  It was a man named John Johnston who accompanied Henry Montour and William Hare in the original capture--they wrote a letter expressing gratitude to Johnson after Johnson agreed to send Mohawks to help them with the transfer of Capt. Bull and his followers to Johnson Hall.  All of this was quite a feat, since it was difficult even for Johnson to convince Mohawks, or any other nation, to comply in the arrest of representatives of other nations. I did look up "yellow boys" in a 19th century dictionary, which sometimes references earlier definitions.  It referenced the term as "southern" and as a derogatory term for mulattoes or Indians.  If you need any further information from the Johnson documents, please let me know:
Wanda Burch, Site Manager
Johnson Hall State Historic Site
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-----Original Message-----
From: NYHISTLED [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2002 6:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Yellow Boys, NYC, 1764


Thanks to any NYHIST-L subscribers who can provide an explanation of the term "yellow boys" as used in New York City ca. 1764. Explanation follows:

The New York Mercury  for March 26, 1764, contains a news report about the arrival in New York City of fourteen Indians captured by a force of Mohawks sent out by Sir William Johnson to destroy hostile Indian towns in the Chemung Valley. One of the prisoners was Capt. Bull, the son of Teedyuscung (d. 1763), a spokesman for the Delaware Indians in their negotiations with Pennsylvania and with Johnson. The article contains the following text:  "The most famous Capt. Bull . . . is among the Tribe of Yellow Boys.  He has confess'd the killing and scalping Abundance of our back Inhabitants. . . ." Bull and the other Indians were jailed in New York City and later released on Johnson's orders.

What is the meaning, in this context, of the term "Yellow Boys"?  The Encyclopedia of New York City, ed. Jackson, does not have an entry or reference for this term. Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles, ed. Mitford M. Mathews (1951), p. 1903, has an entry for "yellow boy" ("yellow man," etc.) as follows: "In designations, usually contemptuous and slang, of Negroes and Indians of a brown or mulatto color." The earliest example of usage of the term is dated 1814, and refers to a man without reference to a specific racial or ethnic group. The usage examples for "yellow" man or woman or boy referring to African-Americans are all later, starting 1830s.


Jim Folts
New York State Archives