Johnson, Thomas, 1732-1819

JOHNSON, Thomas, a Delegate from Maryland; born near the mouth of St. Leonards Creek, Calvert County, Md., November 4, 1732; at an early age moved to Annapolis, Md.; studied law; was admitted to the bar; entered the provincial assembly as a delegate from Anne Arundel County in 1762; member of the committee of correspondence and of the council of safety; assisted in organizing the Potomac Co. for improving the navigation of the Potomac River; a member of the Annapolis Convention of June 1774; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1776; nominated George Washington as commander in chief of the American forces June 15, 1775; delegate to the first constitutional convention of Maryland in 1776; served in the Revolutionary War as senior brigadier general of Maryland Militia; first Governor of Maryland 1777-1779; moved to Frederick County, Md.; member of the Maryland house of delegates in 1780, 1786, and 1787; member of the Maryland convention for ratification of the Federal Constitution in 1788; chief judge of the general court of Maryland in 1790 and 1791; appointed by President Washington the first United States judge for the district of Maryland in September 1789 but declined; appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1791 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Rutledge and served until February 1793, when he resigned on account of ill health; declined a Cabinet portfolio of Secretary of State tendered by President Washington August 24, 1795; appointed by President John Adams chief judge of the Territory of Columbia February 28, 1801; member of the Board of Commissioners of the Federal City; died at ``Rose Hill,'' Frederick, Md., October 26, 1819; interment in All Saints' Episcopal Churchyard; reinterment in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Frederick, Md.

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li> 11/14/1808 MD Governor Lost 19.28% (-53.01%)</li>
<li> 11/10/1806 MD Governor Lost 1.35% (-78.38%)</li>
<li> 11/07/1791 Supreme Court - Associate Justice Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 11/10/1788 MD Governor Lost 0.00% (-100.00%)</li>
<li> 11/09/1778 MD Governor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 11/10/1777 MD Governor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 02/13/1777 MD Governor Won 76.92% (+59.62%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1775 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1774 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 08/01/1774 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Thomas Johnson was born in Calvert County, Maryland, on November 4, 1732, to Thomas and Dorcas Sedgwick Johnson. His grandfather, also named Thomas, was a lawyer in London who had emigrated to Maryland sometime before 1700. The younger Thomas was the fourth of ten children, some of whom later had large families of their own. (Louisa Johnson, daughter of his brother Joshua, married John Quincy Adams.</p>

<p>Thomas and his siblings were 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. Johnson married Ann Jennings, the daughter of a judge from Annapolis on February 16, 1766.</p>