Robert Ward Johnson (1814 - 1879)

Born 22 Jul 1814 in Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 26 Jul 1879 at age 65 in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, USA

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Preceded by Solon Borland Preceded by Office established November 6, 1861

Robert Ward Johnson US Senator (Class 3) from Arkansas 1853—1861 CS Senator from Arkansas 1862—1865

Succeeded by Charles B. Mitchel Succeeded by Office abolished May 10, 1865

Biography

Robert Johnson is Notable.

Robert Ward Johnson (July 22, 1814 – July 26, 1879) was an attorney and politician, elected United States Representative and Democratic US Senator, as well as Confederate States Senator, from the state of Arkansas.

Considered a member of The Family, a political network in Arkansas, he was the nephew of three Johnson brothers in Kentucky who each served as US Congressman from the state, and held other prominent business and political positions in the state and nationally.

Robert Ward Johnson was born to Benjamin and Matilda (née Williams) Johnson in Scott County, Kentucky; his father had three brothers who were elected as US Congressmen and the family was politically prominent in the state. His grandfather Johnson had acquired thousands of acres of land in the area at the end of the eighteenth century. The family were slaveholders. Robert Johnson's siblings included a sister Juliette.

His paternal uncles were Richard Mentor Johnson, a US Representative and Senator, and 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 US Representatives from Kentucky.

In 1821 when Robert was seven, his parents moved the family to Arkansas Territory, where his father had been appointed as Superior Judge. They settled in Little Rock. His father was appointed in 1836 as the first federal district judge in the new state of Arkansas.

The boy was later sent back to Kentucky to study at the Choctaw Academy, which his uncle Richard M. Johnson had founded in 1825 on his farm near Georgetown, Kentucky.

Robert Ward Johnson went on to study at Saint Joseph's College, an academy in Bardstown, and graduated.

After St. Joseph's, Johnson returned to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he studied law (read the law) as a legal apprentice and was admitted to the bar in 1835.

After being admitted to the bar in Arkansas, Johnson married Sarah 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 Smith. They had no children.

Place of Burial: Mt Holly Cemetery, Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States

Sources

• Wikipedia article: Robert Ward Johnson

• Geni profile: Robert Ward Johnson

• Find A Grave Memorial# 6932130

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress