Robert Ward Johnson
Encyclopedia
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and Confederate States Senator
Congress of the Confederate States
The Congress of the Confederate States was the legislative body of the Confederate States of America, existing during the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865...
from the State of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
.
Robert Ward Johnson was born in Scott County, Kentucky
Scott County, Kentucky
Scott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 47,173 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Georgetown.Scott County is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. He attended Choctaw Academy and St. Joseph's College in Bardstown, Kentucky
Bardstown, Kentucky
As of the census of 2010, there were 11,700 people, 4,712 households, and 2,949 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,113 housing units at an average density of...
. He moved with his father to Arkansas in 1821.
Johnson studied law and was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1835. He was elected prosecuting attorney for Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
and served from 1840 to 1842 and effectively acted as the state's attorney. Johnson took up residence in Helena, Arkansas
Helena, Arkansas
Helena is the eastern portion of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, this portion of the city population was 6,323. Helena was the county seat of Phillips County until January 1, 2006, when it merged its government and city limits with...
prior to the Civil War.
Johnson was elected to the Thirtieth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second congresses. He was chairman on the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Johnson declined to run for reelection in 1852. He was appointed and later elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
to fill the unexpired term of Senator Solon Borland
Solon Borland
Solon Borland was a newspaperman, soldier, diplomat, Democratic United States Senator from the State of Arkansas and a Confederate officer during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
. He was reelected in 1855 and served until 3 March 1861.
After the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
he served as a delegate to the Provisional Government of the Confederate States in 1862. Member of the Confederate Senate from 1862 to 1865.
After the war he practiced law in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and ran unsuccessfully for reelection to the Senate in 1878.
Robert Ward Johnson died in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. Johnson is buried in the historic Mount Holly Cemetery
Mount Holly Cemetery
Mount Holly Cemetery is the original cemetery in the Quapaw Quarter area of downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, and is the resting place for numerous Arkansans of note...
in Little Rock.
Robert Ward Johnson was the nephew of Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Richard Mentor Johnson
Richard Mentor Johnson
Richard Mentor Johnson was the ninth Vice President of the United States, serving in the administration of Martin Van Buren . He was the only vice-president ever elected by the United States Senate under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment. Johnson also represented Kentucky in the U.S...
and his brothers James Johnson
James Johnson (Kentucky)
James Johnson was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, brother of Richard Mentor Johnson and John Telemachus Johnson and uncle of Robert Ward Johnson....
and John Telemachus Johnson
John Telemachus Johnson
John Telemachus Johnson was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, brother of James Johnson and Richard M. Johnson and uncle of Robert Ward Johnson.Born at Great Crossings, Kentucky, Johnson pursued preparatory studies....
who were both US Representatives from Kentucky. Robert Ward Johnson was the brother-in-law of Senator Ambrose Hundley Sevier
Ambrose Hundley Sevier
Ambrose Hundley Sevier was a Democratic member of the United States Senate from Arkansas.Ambrose Hundley Sevier was born near Greeneville, Tennessee in Greene County, Tennessee. Sevier moved to Missouri in 1820 and to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1821.In Arkansas he became clerk of the Territorial...
, Sevier marrying Johnson's sister. Johnson himself married twice, first to Sarah Smith in 1836, whom he had six children with (three living to adulthood), and, after Sarah's death in 1862, her younger sister, Laura, in 1863, with whom he had no children.
External links
- Robert Ward Johnson at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
- Robert Ward Johnson at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture