Chapman Johnson
American politician
Chapman Johnson
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the Richmond City district
In office
1835–1836
Preceded byJohn Rutherfoord
Succeeded byRobert Stanard
Member of the Virginia Senate
from the Augusta, Rockbridge and Pendleton Counties district
In office
December 6, 1819 – December 3, 1826
Preceded bydistrict reorganized
Succeeded byDavid W. Patteson
Member of the Virginia Senate
from the Augusta, Rockingham, Rockbridge, Shenandoah, Pendleton and Bath Counties district
In office
December 3, 1804 – December 5, 1819
Preceded byFreeman Epes
Succeeded bydistrict reorganized
Personal details
Born(1779-03-12)March 12, 1779
Louisa County, Virginia, U.S.
Died1849 (aged 69–70)
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
SpouseMary Ann Nicholson
Alma materCollege of William and Mary
OccupationLawyer, politician
Military service
Allegiance United States of America
Branch/serviceVirginia militia
Years of serviceWar of 1812
Rankcaptain

Chapman Johnson (March 12, 1779 – July 12, 1849) was a nineteenth-century Virginia lawyer, military officer, politician and educator, who served in the War of 1812 and more than two decades in the Virginia Senate representing Augusta County and neighboring areas which he also represented in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830, after which he served probably one term in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Richmond, and later became rector of the University of Virginia (1836-1845).[1]

Early life

Johnson was born in Louisa County during the American Revolutionary War, to Thomas Johnson (1744-circa 1795) and his wife Jane Chapman. They were associated with Boswell's Tavern, built by Thomas's father Nicholas Johnson (this man's grandfather) but operated by his son-in-law (this man's brother in law) John Boswell until Boswell died in 1788.[2]

Complicating matters, Louisa County had two and possibly three men named Thomas Johnson who supported the Revolutionary cause, two of whom served on the county's very active Committee of Safety.[3] One (called the "Major") served several terms in the House of Burgesses (incl. 1758) and was the grandson of Richard Johnson, a merchant who emigrated from England as an agent for the English Jeffreys firm and who sat on the Governor's Council at the beginning of the 18th century, and whose son Thomas Johnson (Sr.) was a burgess representing King William County in Tidewater Virginia. That Thomas Johnson Sr. continued the family's merchant trade alongside his brother William (their eldest brother Richard dying without marrying) but ultimately sold the family plantation Chericoke to Chapman.[4] Another Louisa important patriot Thomas Johnson was this man's father (sometimes called Thomas Johnson (the "Minor")). In any event, his mother Jane Chapman came from King William County (hence his first name and the middle name of his second eldest brother Richard Chapman Johnson, who administered their father's estate).[5] Thomas Johnson the Minor's will was admitted to probate in Louisa County in October 1795, and in addition to freeing some slaves and bequeathing others, named his children as John Boswell Johnson, Richard Chapman Johnson, Thomas Meriwether Johnson, Chapman Johnson (this man), William Johnson, Jane Johnson and Ann Johnson.[6] Another Louisa County man of the same name who died nearly a decade later, Thomas Johnson (1836-1803), served as captain in the Virginia Line during American Revolutionary War (from 1776 to 1779 defending the arsenal at the relatively nearby Point of Fork, 1776–1779 as well as serving under General Muhlenberg). That revolutionary officer married his second cousin Elizabeth Meriwether, and his heirs received land grants in the west in 1838.[7] Further complicating matters, this man's eldest brother, John Boswell Johnson (1771-1815), also named one of his sons Chapman Johnson (whom this man mentored after his brother's death, as related below, but whom later moved to Tennessee).

His mother died when Chapman was young and his father managed the tavern to support his young family, despite what some warned would be the clientele's deleterious effects upon the young boys and girls. The family could only afford to send the eldest brother for higher education (at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg), but Chapman impressed Rev. Peter Nelson (who operated a local school) and Patrick Michie (a neighbor who had attended college as well as spent some time in South Carolina before returning to Louisa county).[8] All sources agree that this Chapman Johnson traveled to Williamsburg in 1801, and studied at the College of William and Mary in an accelerated program, including morality under bishop Madison and law under St. George Tucker, and received a degree in 1802.[9][10]

Career

The Virginia Capitol at Richmond VA
where 19th century Conventions met

After graduation and being admitted to the Virginia bar in Richmond, upon the recommendation of Judge William Wirt,[11] Chapman Johnson moved to Staunton, the county seat of Augusta County, Virginia and gateway to both the state's Shenandoah Valley and Appalachian regions. Initially, he found building a successful practice difficult and contemplated moving further west to Kentucky, but John Coalter urged him to persist, and in 1805 Johnson was admitted to Virginia's appellate bar as well.[12] Several distinguished merchants also moved to Staunton between 1800 and 1812, as did fellow lawyers Briscoe G. Baldwin from Frederick County and John Howe Peyton from Stafford County. There, in addition to his legal practice, Johnson operated a plantation called "Bearwallow".[13]

Johnson became involved in politics by delivering a speech lauding the Louisiana Purchase circa 1805, which was published and distributed widely.[14] Staunton voters elected Johnson their mayor in 1808 and again in 1811.[15] He also served (part-time) more than two decades in the Virginia state Senate (1804 through 1826) from a district made up of Augusta, Rockbridge and Pendleton Counties (also including until 1819 Rockingham and Bath Counties).[16][17]

In the summer of 1813, during the War of 1812, Johnson recruited 54 men from in and around Staunton (40 of them mounted) and proceeded to Richmond. On July 9, as their captain he volunteered their services, but was told they were not needed, so the men returned home.[18] Nonetheless, Johnson served as an aide-de-camp to General James Breckinridge.[19][20] Fellow Staunton lawyer John Howe Peyton held a similar position on the staff of General Robert Porterfield.[21]

This Chapman Johnson corresponded a great deal with Thomas Jefferson, particular after the President's retirement, Joseph C. Cabell having recommended him.[22] Johnson served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Virginia from 1819 to 1845, and served as the University's rector from 1836 to 1845.[23]

Although this Chapman Johnson spent considerable time in Richmond (including helping family members during the theater fire of December 1811) and moved to state capital in 1824, he continued to keep a summer home near Staunton.[24][25][26][27]

He had long sought increased representation in the state senate for western Virginians, having advocated a constitutional convention as early as 1816 after Staunton residents demanded it in a meeting.[28] The existing regime made the eastern slave-holding counties (particularly the plantations of the Tidewater area) a permanent majority in the General Assembly, opposing direct election of the Governor as well as internal improvements to connect the western regions to markets in the eastern region and even overseas. Thus, despite or because Johnson primarily lived in Richmond, Western Virginians from Augusta, Rockbridge and Pendleton Counties elected him as one of their four delegates to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830, held in Richmond.[29] Fellow delegates elected him to serve on the Legislative Committee.[30] During that Convention, Johnson proved one of the western leaders, although more conservative concerning property rights qualifications of voters than Congressman Philip Doddridge.[31] His friend and fellow Richmond lawyer (and soon to become U.S. Senator) Benjamin W. Leigh was Johnson's counterpart for the conservative party.[32] The White Basis Party sought reapportionment of the state legislature to represent citizens only, without weighting the legislature by counting slaves held as property, but Johnson was one of the Westerners voting against it (although that which would have made the state legislature 46% westerners). Johnson he was among those voting for another compromise that allowed the West 41% of the legislature, albeit at the price of allowing no amendment process (which led to another state constitutional convention in 1850, shortly after his death).[33][34]

Complicating matters, the century-old biographies indicate only his legislative service in the state senate and that convention (one noting that since he was not wealthy and depended on his legal practice for this livelihood, such preparation must have cost Johnson considerable legal income needed to support his growing family).[35] Following the convention, Richmond City voters elected Chapman Johnson as their representative to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1834-1835, replacing his neighbor and multi-term delegate John Rutherfoord, and being replaced the next year by future appellate judge Robert Stanard.[36][37] This man's nephew, nicknamed "Chap", the son of an older brother who died and who this man helped educate at the University of Virginia with one of his sons in 1835, represented Augusta County in the House of Delegates alongside Hugh Sheffey from 1846 to 1848.[38][39][40][41][42]

Personal life

This Chapman Johnson married the orphan Mary Ann Nicholson (1788-1859) in Henrico County outside Richmond in 1806. Her father, George Nicholson, had been a prominent merchant in Williamsburg, twice served as its mayor, and had three daughters with two successive Virginia wives. He moved to Richmond where he operated a rope-manufacturing company with two partners. However, he never returned from a trip to Madiera in May 1802, and was presumed lost at sea. His brother Thomas Nicholson became his executor, and litigation resulted by 1808. Her parents had married in Virginia Beach in 1783.

This Chapman Johnson and his wife had several children, the eldest being George Johnson (d. 1855), who became a lawyer and accompanied his father on many visits to Bearwallow, White Sulfur Springs and other health spas, particularly after this man experienced many medical issues after 1839.[43] However, Johnson was not descended from the First Families of Virginia, and only his daughter and youngest sons remained in Staunton after the Civil War (the youngest, Carter Page Johnson married Ann Love and moved to Washington D.C. and named their son born in 1855 Chapman Johnson).[44]

Death

Chapman Johnson died July 12, 1849, at Richmond, Virginia, and was buried at historic Shockoe Hill Cemetery.[45] Although the accompanying acreage continues to decrease, the house constructed at Bear Wallow Farm in 1845 (1926 Spring Hill Road) (i.e. after his death), still exists and was restored in modern times (and sold in the last decade).

See also

References

  1. ^ Appleton's Cyclopedia vol.3, p. 473
  2. ^ "Boswell's Tavern – DHR". www.dhr.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
  3. ^ "The revolution in Louisa county" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-22.
  4. ^ Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (1915) vol. 1, pp. 265-266 available at hathitrust.org
  5. ^ One author names the grandfather as William Johnson, but notes that this man's sister failed to mention that burgess link in a family history written before her death in 1899. See Esther C. M. Steele, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Apr. 1927), pp. 161-174
  6. ^ "1795 - Johnson to sundry slaves - Louisa Co, VA · Manumission Project". manumissionproject.omeka.net. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
  7. ^ "Thomas Johnson - heirs of". 1838-01-09. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18.
  8. ^ "The Late Chapman Johnson, ESQ". Southern Literary Messenger. 15: 674–675. November 1849.
  9. ^ Appleton
  10. ^ Tyler vol. 2 p. 107
  11. ^ Steele p. 167
  12. ^ Steele pp. 167-168
  13. ^ Jos. S. Waddell, Annals of Augusta County, Virginia from 1726 to 1871 (2nd ed. 1902)(reprinted: Harrisonburg, C.J. Carrier Company 1979) pp. 380, 439
  14. ^ Steele p. 167
  15. ^ City council archive photo emailed from Staunton Public library unfortunately lacks book number
  16. ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 263, 368, 272, 276, 280, 284, 288, 292, 239, 301, 306, 311, 316, 321, 326, 331
  17. ^ Waddell p. 383
  18. ^ Waddell, p. 397
  19. ^ Appleton's
  20. ^ *Pulliam, David Loyd (1901). The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the foundation of the Commonwealth to the present time. John T. West, Richmond. p. 77. OCLC 6407098.
  21. ^ Waddell p. 397
  22. ^ Steele pp. 168-169
  23. ^ "Chapman_Johnson". Swem Library. College of William and Mary. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  24. ^ Steele p168
  25. ^ He owned 37 slaves in Augusta County's Middlebrook District in the 1820 census, see p. 7 of 9
  26. ^ He owned 10 slaves in Richmond's Madison Ward in 1830, see pp. 21-22 of 42 and 10 slaves in Richmond's 2nd Ward in 1840, see p. 41 of 48
  27. ^ He owned 33 slaves in Augusta County's Northern District in the 1830 census, see p. 45 of 102
  28. ^ Steele, Chapman Johnson (continued) pp. 246-257
  29. ^ Leonard p. 353
  30. ^ Pulliam 1901, p. 68, 70
  31. ^ Steele pp. 251-252
  32. ^ Steele p. 249
  33. ^ Appleton
  34. ^ Pulliam 1901, p.78
  35. ^ Steele pp.172-173
  36. ^ Leonard p. 373
  37. ^ Steele p. 253 quotes Hugh R. Pleasants two decades later calling Johnson a "hero" of the 1830 Convention, but on the following page states that his legislative membership was only in the Senate. However, Johnson's personal vertigo issues began in 1837 and the Richmond Bar resolution after his death (p. 255) only mentions his retirement from legislative life.
  38. ^ Leonard pp. 424, 425
  39. ^ Steele pp. 173, 254note 105
  40. ^ The Augusta Commonwealth Attorney named as Chapman Johnson (Jr.) in Augusta County Virginia Heritage Book, 1732-1998 (Walsworth Publishing Co. L.C. No. 99–600–43) p.
  41. ^ One of the men was the Chapman C. Johnson who witnessed a will of Sally Thornhill, which was admitted to probate in Buckingham County, Virginia in 1843 (upstream on the James River from Richmond but downstream from Lynchburg and its connection to Staunton), see Genealogies of Virginia Families from the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. 1981) p. 480
  42. ^ That nephew or still another man or men named Chapman Johnson owned slaves in geographically separated Lynchburg (a commercial hub with slave trading as well as slaves rented by industrial or commercial firms), and the Alleghanian Rockbridge and Montgomery Counties in 1860, long after this man's death
  43. ^ Steele pp. 254-255
  44. ^ Virginia Mag. Hist. and Bio., Vol. 26 (1918) pp. 206-207
  45. ^ Pulliam 1901, p. 78


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