John Johnson Sr. (September 12, 1770 – July 30, 1824) was an American attorney and judge who was the fourth

Chancellor of Maryland The Chancellor of Maryland was the highest judicial office in the state of Maryland from before the American Revolution until the state's High Court of Chancery ceased to exist, on June 4, 1854. The High Court of Chancery of Maryland was organiz ...

from 1821 to 1824.William J. Marbury,
The High Court of Chancery and the Chancellors of Maryland
, Report of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Maryland State Bar Association, (1905), p. 137-155.

Early life

Johnson was born in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, on September 12, 1770. He was the son of Anne and Robert Johnson, who was said to have been a revolutionary officer, though this cannot be positively ascertained. The incidents of Johnson's early life "seem to be lost in obscurity".

Career

He settled in

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

and there practiced his profession. He was appointed Attorney-General of Maryland on October 18, 1806, to succeed

John Thomson Mason John Thomson Mason (15 March 1765 – 10 December 1824) was an American lawyer and Attorney General of Maryland in 1806. Early life Mason was born on 15 March 1765 at Chopawamsic (plantation), Chopawamsic in Stafford County, Virginia. He wa ...

, his predecessors in that office having also included

Luther Martin Luther Martin (February 20, 1748, New Brunswick, New Jersey – July 10, 1826, New York, New York) was a Founding Father of the United States, framer of the U.S. Constitution, politician, lawyer, and slave owner. Martin was a delegate from M ...

and

William Pinkney William Pinkney (March 17, 1764February 25, 1822) was an American statesman and diplomat, and was appointed the seventh U.S. Attorney General by President James Madison. Biography William Pinkney was born in 1764 in Annapolis in the Province o ...

. Chief Justice

Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney ( ; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 186 ...

, in his ''Autobiography'', mentions John Johnson along with Luther Martin,

Philip Barton Key Philip Barton Key (April 12, 1757 – July 28, 1815), was an American Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War and later was a United States Circuit Judge and Chief United States Circuit Judge of the United States circuit court for the F ...

, John Thomson Mason, Arthur Scharff, James Winchester as a leader of the bar when he went to Annapolis to study law in the first decade of the last century. In other places he speaks of him with honor. He was Attorney-General March 25, 1811, when he was appointed Judge of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland (previously the Maryland Court of Appeals) is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief justice and six associate justices, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of ...

to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge Gantt. Johnson held this position for ten years, where he authored many well-regarded opinions. He was a Presidential Elector in 1816.

Chancellor of Maryland

Upon the death of William Kilty, Johnson was the sole candidate considered for the office of Chancellor of Maryland. He was immediately appointed and accepted. He was appointed to this position on October 15, 1821, but his term was comparatively short and few of his opinions are given in the reports of the Court of Appeals, most of the cases that went up on appeal containing the bare decree of the Chancellor below. He was one of the Boundary Commissioners to settle the dispute between Maryland and Virginia.

Personal life

On January 9, 1794, he married Deborah (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Ghiselen) Johnson (1773–1847), the daughter of Reverdy Ghiselin. Together, they were the parents of: *

Reverdy Johnson Reverdy Johnson (May 21, 1796February 10, 1876) was an American politician, statesman, and jurist from Annapolis, Maryland. He gained fame as a defense attorney, defending notables such as Sandford of the Dred Scott case, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Por ...

(1796–1876), who married Mary Mackall Bowie (1801–1873), the sister of

Thomas Fielder Bowie Thomas Fielder Bowie (April 7, 1808 – October 30, 1869) was an American politician who served in office from 1842 to 1859. Early life Born in Queen Anne, in Prince George's County, Maryland, Bowie attended Charlotte Hall Military Acade ...

John Johnson Jr. John Johnson Jr. (August 8, 1798 – October 4, 1856) was an American politician who was the last Chancellor of Maryland, serving in that office from to 1846 to 1851.William J. Marbury,The High Court of Chancery and the Chancellors of Maryland, R ...

(1798–1856) who would become the last Chancellor of Maryland. * Mary Johnson (b. 1802) * George Johnson (1817–1892), who married Henrietta E. Harwood (1819–1895) * William Johnson He died at

Hancock, Maryland Hancock is a town in Washington County, Maryland, Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,557 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Western Maryland community is notable for being located at the narrowest part ...

on July 30, 1824 of fever while in discharge of his duties in the western part of the State. At the time of his death, he owned a house in

and a farm in

Prince George's County Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it the second-most populous ...

. His estate was valued at $4,174, and he owned 10 slaves.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, John Sr. 1770 births 1824 deaths Chancellors of Maryland Judges of the Supreme Court of Maryland