John Lottridge

John Lottridge was born prior to 1740. He probably was the eldest son of newcomer Albany innkeepers Robert and Elizabeth Hopkins Lottridge. His father died in 1758. His mother remarried in 1759 and continued management of the Southside landmark for a number of years.

John Lottridge served during the Seven Years War as a lieutenant in Edmund Matthews' militia company. He is said to have been at Lake George in September 1755 when the fort was attacked by the French. He then volunteered for the "Indian Service" and saw action at a number of frontier locations. Over the winter of 1759-60, he was on duty at Oswego. He then took part in the capture of Montreal and served there and as a trader in the Great Lakes region until the fall of 1763 when he left for Lake Champlain. In October of that year, he was reported "lost" while exploring the wilderness around the Bay of Missisquoi.

During those years, he appears to have been a frontier representative of his Albany family and involved in Indian diplomacy under Sir William Johnson. His accounts with Johnson and other Johnson associates point to trading beyond the Indian service. In August 1761, Johnson referred to him as "Captain" and as the brother of Thomas Lottridge.

Perhaps this individual did not marry as no family information has been encountered for him.

Frontier operative John Lottridge died sometime in 1763. In January 1764, letters of administration were issued to his brother Thomas as John had died intestate. Thomas Lottridge spent several years trying to settle his dead brother's accounts.

Sources: The life of John Lottridge has no CAP biography number. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources. He does not appear to have been the subject of a biographical initiative. The most comprehensive compilation of his activities appears in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.