John Johnson Sr.

Johnson was born in Annapolis, Maryland, on September 12, 1770. He was the son of Anne and Robert Johnson, who was said to have been a revolutionary officer.[2] This cannot be positively ascertained.[1] The incidents of Johnson's early life "seem to be lost in obscurity".[1]

He settled in Annapolis and there practiced his profession. He was appointed Attorney-General of Maryland on October 18, 1806, to succeed John Thomson Mason, his predecessors in that office having also included Luther Martin and William Pinkney.[1] Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, in his Autobiography, mentions John Johnson along with Luther Martin, Philip Barton Key, John Thomson Mason, Arthur Scharff, James Winchester as a leader of the bar when he went to Annapolis to study law in the first decade of the last century. In other places he speaks of him with honor.[1]

He was Attorney-General March 25, 1811, when he was appointed Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge Gantt.[1] Johnson held this position for ten years, where he authored many well-regarded opinions.[1] He was a Presidential Elector in 1816.[1]

On January 9, 1794, he married Deborah (née Ghieselen) Johnson (1773–1847), the daughter of Reverdy Ghiselin. Together, they were the parents of:

• Reverdy Johnson (1796–1876),[3] who married Mary Mackall Bowie (1801–1873),[4] the sister of Thomas Fielder Bowie[5]
• John Johnson Jr. (1798–1856) who would become the last Chancellor of Maryland.[6][7]
• Mary Johnson (b. 1802)
• George Johnson (1817–1892), who married Henrietta E. Harwood (1819–1895)
• William Johnson

He died at Hancock, Maryland on July 30, 1824 of fever while in discharge of his duties in the western part of the State.[1] At the time of his death, he owned a house in Annapolis and a farm in Prince George's County. His estate was valued at $4,174, and he owned 10 slaves.[2]