Cave Johnson II (1793 - 1866)

Born 11 Jan 1793 in Springfield, Robertson County, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Died 23 Nov 1866 at age 73 in Clarksville, Montgomery, Tennessee, United States

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Preceded by 11th Postmaster General Charles A. Wickliffe

Cave Johnson 12th United States Postmaster General 1845—1849

Succeeded by 13th Postmaster General Jacob Collamer

This profile is part of the Johnson Name Study.

Biography

Cave Johnson was born on January 11, 1793 to Thomas Johnson and Mary Noel in Robertson County, Tennessee. He was named after Rev. Richard Cave, a Baptist minister in Kentucky, who is believed to be the brother of Mrs. Thomas Johnson's mother. ^{[1] [2]}

Trained as a lawyer, Johnson served in the U. S. Congress as a representative from Tennessee from 1829 to 1837 and again from 1839 to 1845. He acted as one of the campaign managers for presidential candidate James K. Polk at both the Democratic party convention and for the general election. After his victory Polk appointed him United States Postmaster General, a post in which he served from 1845–1849. He died in Clarksville, Tennessee.

During his tenure at United States Postmaster General he shifted the postal service from a collect on delivery postage delivery system to a prepaid postal delivery system by introducing the adhesive postage stamp in 1847. He is also credited with introducing street corner mail boxes in urban areas. He later served as president of the Bank of Tennessee from 1854 to 1860. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Cave married the widow Elizabeth Dortch Brunson on 20 Feb 1638. Their children were: ^[6]

1. JAMES HICKMAN JOHNSON, b. 8 Oct 1840, d. 1880. He became a major in the Civil War and surrendered with Lee at Appomattox Court House in Virginia in April, 1865. On 15 Oct 1867, he married Mary Boyd.
2. THOMAS DIXON JOHNSON, born 21 Jan 1842, was an aid to General Harry Heth in the Civil War, became a doctor and was appointed in 1875 as Staff Surgeon in the Egyptian army with the rank of Major, campaigned in Abyssinis, decorated by the Khedive of Egypt, came home in 1877 and in 1880 he married Carrie Lurton. Their children were:
   1. Sarah Johnson
   2. Thomas Dixon Johnson, Jr.
   3. Polk G. Johnson
3. POLK GRUNDY JOHNSON, born 2 Nov 1844, was first named Henry Stewart but was changed to Polk Grundy in 1845. He joined his uncle, Capt. William Forbes' Company (with his two older brothers) in 1861, refused admission because of his youth and his father's protest, he later joined Co. A. of 49th Tennessee, which surrendered at Fort Darelson. He was a prisoner of war in Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois until exchanged at Vicksburg, in 1862. He became assistant Inspector General on General William McComb's staff and surrendered at Appomattox. He went to McGill College in Montreal, Canada in Sept. 1865, and became a lawyer. He married Emma V. Robb, who died in 1872. He then married Nannie W. Tyler in 1875. Their children were:
   1. Cave Johnson
   2. Mildred Johnson
   3. Boyd Johnson (was a lawyer, lived in Clarksville, Tenn)
   4. Lurton Johnson.

Death

Died: 23 Nov 1866 in Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee, USA

Buried: Greenwood Cemetery, Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee, USA ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1886 - Bedford County (Tenn.) p. 735-736. Available online in GoogleBooks, accessed 4.7.16
2. ↑ Titus, William P.,Picturesque Clarksville, past and present. A history of the City of the hills, 1887, The Library of Congress. p. 295. Letter from Cave Johnson to his sons dated Jan 10, 1862.
3. ↑ Wikipedia article on Cave Johnson
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Find A Grave Memorial #6009350
5. ↑ Winn, Thomas H. Article on Cave Johnson in The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, Version 2.0. Published December 25, 2009. Last Updated » January 01, 2010.
6. ↑ Johnson, Lee E.; McCaw, Mary S.; Butler, Christine P., The Johnson Family Record, published 1976; page 9.