Four Kings and a Queen looks at America’s lost nobility. It first revisits a 1710 meeting between four Native American chiefs and Queen Anne at the Court of St. James in London. The kings are greeted as visiting sovereigns and treated as celebrities. The event represents the high-water mark in British and Native American relations, and it sets in motion that events will lead to the ultimate control of North America.

The story then follows the lives of William Johnson and Molly Brant. He’s an Irish immigrant whose savvy dealings with Native Americans make him one of the richest and most influential men in colonial America as well as a rare colonial addition to British nobility. Molly is a Native American princess with ties to two of the Four Kings. She enjoys rare cross-cultural status and privilege. She ranks as a leader among her people and as diplomat by Britain. Long before Prince Harry and Meghan, there was Bill and Molly.

James McKinley resides in Tredyffrin Township and has served on the Board of the Duportail House in Chesterbrook, PA, since 2016 and on the Board of the recently formed Tredyffrin Heritage Center at Duportail. The historic Duportail House (circa 1740) was the General’s quarters during the Valley Forge encampment. Before moving to Tredyffrin in 1997, Jim lived in Mt. Kisco, NY, where he was a founding member of the Mt. Kisco Historical Society.

News about the new Tredyffrin Heritage Center at Duportail