Henry S. Johnson | |
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| United States Senator fromLouisiana | |
| In office February 12, 1844 – March 3, 1849 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander Porter |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Soulé |
| In office January 12, 1818 – May 27, 1824 | |
| Preceded by | William C.C. Claiborne |
| Succeeded by | Dominique Bouligny |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's1st district | |
| In office December 1, 1834[1] – March 3, 1839 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Douglass White, Sr. |
| Succeeded by | Edward Douglass White, Sr. |
| 5th Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office December 13, 1824 – December 15, 1828 | |
| Preceded by | Henry S. Thibodaux |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Derbigny |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1783-09-14)September 14, 1783 |
| Died | September 4, 1864(1864-09-04) (aged 80) |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican,National Republican,Whig |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Rousby Key |
Henry S. Johnson (September 14, 1783 – September 4, 1864) was an American attorney and politician who served as thefifth Governor ofLouisiana (1824–1828). He also served as aUnited States representative and as aUnited States senator. He participated in theslave trade in the United States.
Johnson was born in Virginia.[2] His family is said to have resided in southern Virginia, where Johnson completed academic study and became a member of Virginiabar. He wasEpiscopalian.
In 1812, Johnson lost a bid to theU.S. Congress. After his defeat, hepracticed law inDonaldsonville, Louisiana, located on the south bank of the Mississippi River in the south-central part of the state. He became a district judge of theAscension Parish Court in 1811; and was selected as a delegate to the first State constitutional convention in 1812.[2]
Upon the death of U.S. senatorWilliam C.C. Claiborne in 1818, Johnson was elected by the state legislature as aDemocratic-Republican to fill his vacancy. He served as chairman, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, in the 17th Congress. In 1823, he was elected by theLouisiana State Legislature as an "Adams Republican," also known as theNational Republican Party candidate,[2] to a full six-year U.S. Senate term. The Party asked him not to run for governor in 1824, as it wanted to retain control of that Senate seat.
Johnson did run for governor, being elected in 1824. He served a full term asLouisiana Governor from 1824 until 1828.[2] During his term, the legislature moved thestate seat of government toDonaldsonville, a compromise location settled on betweenAnglo-American leaders, who wanted the capital moved fromNew Orleans to a more northerly location, andFrench Creoles, who wanted to retain the seat of government within an historically-French area to reflect the state's origins. Earlier in 1824, riots in New Orleans over this same issue had forced the resignation of GovernorThomas B. Robertson.
Johnson gained election as governor due to a bitter division among the Creoles at the time. He also enjoyed the goodwill of a visit to Louisiana by theAmerican Revolutionary War hero, the FrencharistocratMarquis de Lafayette. That visit allayed the bitter Creole-Anglo split. Johnson inflamed the conflict again by taking the side of the "Anglos" in a dispute about cotton and sugar cane cultivation.
During Johnson's term, his administration founded two financial institutions that promoted prosperity: the Louisiana State Bank and the Consolidated Association of Planters of Louisiana. He improved commerce within Louisiana by forming theInternal Improvement Board to maintain and build infrastructure – such as roads and canals, to improve transportation and facilitate the movement of goods and produce to market.
In 1828, Johnson ran to gain election by the state legislature to his formerU.S. Senate seat againstCharles Dominique Joseph Bouligny, a man ofFrench and Spanish Creole descent, whose father had been a high-ranking official inSpanish Louisiana at the end of the 18th century. In that election year, Johnson backedEdward Douglass White, Sr., againstEdward Livingston for theLouisiana's 1st congressional district,John Quincy Adams forPresident, andPierre Derbigny for governor. Some of the men he supported were elected, but the legislature re-elected incumbent Bouligny to the Senate. Bouligny had first been elected after Johnson resigned to take the governorship in 1824.[2] (Adams lost the Presidency to Andrew Jackson.)
In 1834 Johnson was elected as aWhig to theU.S. House of Representatives, to fill the vacancy after the resignation ofEdward Douglass White, Sr. He was re-elected for two more terms, serving in total from 1834 to 1839.[2]
In June 1838, while a congressman, Johnson was a party to the1838 Jesuit slave sale, involving 272 slaves, nearly a third of which were not yet 10 years old. Some of the slaves were sent to Johnson's Chatham Plantation inAscension Parish, while others ended up on West Oak Plantation (owned byJesse Batey), in nearbyMaringouin,Iberville Parish.[3][4] Johnson renegotiated the terms of payment in 1844, needing more time to pay off his debt.[5] That same year, Johnson sold a share of Chatham and would eventually sell the remainder of his land and enslaved people to John R. Thompson in 1851.[6]
Henry Johnson unsuccessfully ran forgovernor in1842 as theWhig nominee. He was defeated byDemocratic nominee U. S. SenatorAlexandre Mouton.
In 1844, Johnson waselected to fill the vacant U.S. Senate position ofAlexander Porter, who never took the seat due to ill health and died in January 1844. Johnson served the remainder of the term until 1849. He served as Chairman of the Committee on Pensions. As senator he supported bills favoring the annexation of Texas, which had become anindependent Republic after separating from Mexico. He also voted to repeal the tariff of 1846.
In 1848 Johnson lost a bid to remain in the Senate toPierre Soulé, aJacksonian-Democrat of French Creole descent. In 1850, he suffered a final political defeat, losing a race for U.S. Representative againstHenry Adams Bullard (Whig).
Henry Johnson moved toNew Roads inPointe Coupée Parish and continued thepractice of law.[2]
After passing the bar, Johnson married Elizabeth Rousby Key, a daughter ofPhilip Barton Key by Ann Plater, a daughter ofGeorge Plater; Elizabeth's father was an uncle ofFrancis Scott Key and Anne Arnold Phoebe Charlton Key, who marriedRoger B. Taney. The couple had a family together.
Several years after the United States made theLouisiana Purchase, the Johnsons moved to theTerritory of Orleans, in 1809. He was appointed as clerk of the Second Superior Court of the Territory. In 1811, he was appointed clerk of the newly formedSt. Mary Parish in the southwestern part of the state.[2]
During theCivil War, Gov. Johnson remained in Pointe Coupee Parish. The state was controlled by the Union after the fall of New Orleans. He died in September 1864, near the close of the war, and was buried onhis plantation, which lies at the confluence of Bayou Grosse Tête and Bayou Maringouin.
Sidney A. Marchand in hisStory of Ascension Parish said that Johnson had bequeathed the land in Donaldsonville on which was built the present-day Ascension Episcopal Church (at the corner of Attakapas/Nicholls and St. Patrick streets).[citation needed]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Whig nominee forGovernor of Louisiana 1842 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Louisiana January 12, 1818 – May 27, 1824 Served alongside:Eligius Fromentin,James Brown,Josiah S. Johnston | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Louisiana February 12, 1844 – March 3, 1849 Served alongside:Alexander Barrow,Pierre Soulé,Solomon W. Downs | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Louisiana 1824–1828 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's 1st congressional district December 1, 1834 – March 3, 1839 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Most senior living U.S. senator (Sitting or former) July 26, 1863 – September 4, 1864 | Succeeded by |
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| Full Committee (1993–) | ||
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