Robert Ward Johnson

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Robert Ward Johnson
Attorney General of Arkansas
In office
February 3, 1843 – September 25, 1843
GovernorArchibald Yell
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byGeorge C. Watkins
Personal details
Born(1814-07-22)July 22, 1814
Scott County, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJuly 26, 1879(1879-07-26) (aged 65)
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Cause of deathDysentery
Resting placeMount Holly Cemetery,
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
34°44′15.3″N 92°16′42.5″W / 34.737583°N 92.278472°W / 34.737583; -92.278472
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Sarah Frances Johnson
​
​
(m. 1836⁠–⁠1862)​
Laura S. Johnson
​
​
(m. 1863)​
Children6
Parent
RelativesConway-Johnson family
Alma materSt. Joseph's College
OccupationFarmer, planter, lawyer
ProfessionAgriculture, legal
Signature

Robert Ward Johnson (July 22, 1814 – July 26, 1879) was an American planter and lawyer who served as the senior Confederate States senator for Arkansas, a seat that he was elected to in 1861. He previously served as a delegate from Arkansas to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862.

Early life and education

Portrait of Robert Ward Johnson in his younger years

Robert Ward Johnson was born on July 22, 1814, in

vice president of the United States under Martin Van Buren; and his brothers James Johnson and John Telemachus Johnson
, older and younger, respectively, who were each elected as U.S. Representatives from Kentucky.

In 1821 when Johnson was seven, his parents moved the family to

Choctaw boys from the Southeast in the English language and European-American culture. He was handsomely paid by the federal government.[1][2]

At times, 200–300 boys attended the academy. The Choctaw students were at the school in the period prior to the

St. Joseph's College, an academy in Bardstown
, and graduated.

After St. Joseph's, Johnson returned to Little Rock. He studied law as a legal apprentice and was admitted to the bar in 1835. He married Sarah Frances Smith in 1836. They had six children together; three survived to adulthood. Sarah died in 1862, during the American Civil War. The next year, Johnson at the age of 49 married her younger sister, Laura. They had no children.

Political career

In Little Rock, Johnson soon became involved in Democratic Party politics. He was elected as the prosecuting attorney for Little Rock and served from 1840 to 1843. He effectively acted as the state's attorney.

His sister Juliette married

The Family
, a group of men related by marriage and politics, who dominated the state Democratic Party and politics, and its national representation in the antebellum years.

Prior to the American Civil War, Johnson moved his family to

Thirty-second
Congresses. He became chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs. In this period, his brother-in-law Sevier was chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Johnson declined to run for reelection in 1852. He was appointed by the legislature to the

Confederate States
in 1862. He served as a member of the Confederate Senate from 1862 to 1865.

Later life and death

The American Civil War ended Johnson's political career. Property damage and the abolition of slavery ruined him economically. After the war, he practiced law in Washington, D.C., for more than a decade. Returning to Arkansas in the late 1870s, he ran unsuccessfully for reelection to the Senate in 1878. Johnson died in Little Rock in 1879. He is buried in the historic Mount Holly Cemetery there.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Robert Ward Johnson (1814-1879)", Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, accessed 12 November 2013
  2. ^ a b Carolyn Foreman, "The Choctaw Academy" Archived June 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 6, No. 4, December 1928, accessed 12 November 2013

Further reading

  • Address of Robert W. Johnson, to the Citizens of Arkansas. Washington: Jno. T. Towers. 1850 – via Internet Archive.
  • Johnson, R. W.;
    OL 22895434M – via Internet Archive
    .
  • Lewis, Elsie M. (Spring 1954). "Robert Ward Johnson: Militant Spokesman of the Old-South-West". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 13 (1). Arkansas Historical Association: 16–30.
    JSTOR 40037953
    .
  • Speech of Mr. Johnson of Arkansas, in the C. S. Senate, February 9th, 1864, on the Bill to Limit and Define the Terms of Office of the Principal Officers or Heads of Departments. Richmond: James E. Goode. 1864.
    OCLC 06836906 – via Internet Archive
    .

External links

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