Johnson, A. B. (Alexander Bryan), 1786-1867

Alexander Bryan Johnson was a banker in Utica, New York who had immigrated from England in 1797. He wrote ten books and many pamphlets on morals, politics, language, and financial subjects. Some of his letters of advice to his children were incorporated by him into his published works. The best known of his fourteen children was Alexander Smith Johnson, a jurist.

Alexander Bryan Johnson was the son of Leah Simpson and Bryan Johnson, a descendant of Dutch and German-Jewish ancestors. He was born in Gosport, England, on May 29, 1786 and lived in England until he was nearly fifteen. In 1801 Alexander and his mother moved to Utica, New York (then Old Fort Schuyler), to join his father who had emigrated to the United States in 1797 and was becoming a respected merchant. In 1810 Alexander took over the management of his father's business and also established a glass factory in Ontario county. In 1811 Johnson went to New York to invest in bank stocks and learn more about finances. It was here in 1812 that he published his first book, An Inquiry into the Nature of Value and of Capital .

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