Richard Mentor Johnson (1780 - 1850)

Born 17 Oct 1780 in Beargrass, Jefferson Co., VA (Now KY)

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 19 Nov 1850 at age 70 in Frankfort, Franklin, Kentucky, United States

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Preceded by 8th Vice President Martin Van Buren Preceded by John J. Crittenden

Richard Mentor Johnson 9th Vice President of the United States 1837—1841 US Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky 1819—1829

Succeeded by 10th Vice President John Tyler Succeeded by George M. Bibb

Biography

Richard Johnson is Notable.

Richard M. Johnson^[1]passed away 19 November 1850, Kentucky, United States. ^[1]

Note: His biography from the Biographical Directory of the American Congress follows:

JOHNSON, Richard Mentor, (1780 - 1850)

Senate Years of Service: 1819-1829

Party: Democratic Republican; Jackson Republican; Jacksonian

JOHNSON, Richard Mentor, (brother of James Johnson [1774-1826] and John Telemachus Johnson, and uncle of Robert Ward Johnson), a Representative and a Senator from Kentucky and a Vice President of the United States; born at “Beargrass,” Jefferson County, Ky., near the present site of Louisville, October 17, 1780; attended the common schools and Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky.; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1802 and commenced practice in Great Crossings, Ky.; member, State house of representatives 1804-1806 and again in 1819; elected as a Democratic Republican to the Tenth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1807-March 3, 1819); chairman, Committee on Claims (Eleventh Congress), Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Fifteenth Congress); commissioned colonel of Kentucky Volunteers and commanded a regiment in engagements against the British in lower Canada in 1813; elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John J. Crittenden; reelected as a Jackson Republican (and later Jacksonian) and served from December 10, 1819, to March 3, 1829; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1829; chairman, Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses); elected to the Twenty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1829-March 3, 1837); chairman, Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses), Committee on Military Affairs (Twenty-second through Twenty-fourth Congresses); was chosen Vice President of the United States by the Senate on February 8, 1837, no candidate having received a majority of the electoral vote, and served under President Martin Van Buren from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1841; member, State house of representatives 1850; died in Frankfort, Ky., November 19, 1850; interment in the Frankfort Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Meyer, Leland. The Life and Times of Colonel Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky. 1932. Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1967; Jones, Jonathan Milnor. “The Making of a Vice President: The National Political Career of Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Memphis, 1998.

Family

Johnson had a longtime relationship with an enslaved woman, Julia Chinn, who is also portrayed as his common-law wife. He provided for a high level of education of their two daughters, Adaline and Imogene, and attempted to promote them in society.

"Johnson gave to Adaline and her husband the Blue Spring farm, and to Imogene and her husband certain land on North Elkhorn. After the disposal of his home place, Johnson removed to the other side of the Elkhorn, the White Sulphur tract."^[2]

Burial

Burial:

Place: Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, KY

Legacy

• Four US states have counties named in Vice President Johnson's honor. They are: Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Nebraska. Iowa has changed their Johnson County to honor Lulu Merle Johnson.^[3][4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24Q-KZRG : accessed 26 February 2020), Richard M Johnson, ; citing Kentucky, United States, NARA microfilm publication T718 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1962), roll 11; FHL microfilm 1,319,391.
2. ↑ Meyer, Leland Winfield, The Life and Times of Colonel Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, Columbia University Press, New York, 1932. Page 321
3. ↑ "Meet the new namesake of Johnson County" by Tom Snee, 25 September, 2020 IowaNow
4. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/news/iowa-county-chooses-named-black-190232375.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink

See also:

• Find A Grave Memorial# 2898
• Richard Mentor Johnson on Wikipedia
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/02/07/julia-chinn-slave-wife-vice-president/
• https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/12/2192944/-He-Became-the-Nation-s-Ninth-Vice-President-She-Was-His-Enslaved-Wife
• https://www.amazon.com/Vice-Presidents-Black-Wife-Untold/dp/1469675234