Johnson, Thomas, 1732-1819

Thomas Johnson (November 4, 1732 – October 26, 1819) was an 18th-century American judge, politician, and a Founding Father of the United States who participated in several ventures to support the Revolutionary War. Johnson was the first non-Colonial governor of Maryland, a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, and an associate justice of the Supreme Court. He was the first person appointed to the court after its original organization and staffing with six justices. Johnson's tenure on the Supreme Court lasted only 163 days, which makes him the shortest-serving justice in U.S. history.

Born in Calvert County, Maryland, Johnson was educated at home. As a young man he was attracted to the law, studied it with an established firm, and was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1753. By 1760, he had moved his practice to Frederick County, and in 1761 he was elected to the Maryland provincial assembly for the first time. In 1774 and 1775, the Maryland assembly sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress. In the Congress Johnson was allied with those who favored separation from Great Britain. In November 1775, Congress created a Committee of [Secret] Correspondence that was to seek foreign support for the war. Thomas Johnson, along with Benjamin Franklin, and Benjamin Harrison V, were initially named to the committee. Johnson returned to Maryland and continued his work in the state's Assembly when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed. In 1775 he drafted the declaration of rights adopted by the Maryland assembly and later included as the first part of the state's first constitution. He also served as brigadier general in the Maryland militia.

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