Elijah Johnson ( 1789 – April 3, 1849) was an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

who was one of the first colonial agents of the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

in what later became Liberia. He was probably born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and received some limited schooling in New Jersey and New York. He served as a soldier in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

and studied for the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

ministry. In 1835 he led a company of 120 armed volunteers from

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...

on a punitive expedition to engage King Joe as a result of the Port Cresson massacre. His son Hilary R. W. Johnson was elected in 1884 as President of Liberia, the first to have been born in the country.

Early life and children

Elijah Johnson was of

mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...

ancestry, and was born about 1790 probably in New York. He had two children out of wedlock, Lewis Johnson (1810 – 1838) and Charles Johnson (born 1812). He later married and had one daughter, Elizabeth (born 1818), with his wife Mary Johnson. After immigrating to the colony of Liberia in 1820, his wife died of fever or

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. He married again and had several children with his second wife, Rachel Wright. Two of his children, Sarah (b. about 1811), and Elijah Johnson, Junior (born about 1812), were left in an orphanage in

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Delaware Valley region of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53 ...

in 1816. Their mother was not identified, but their father was recorded as Elijah Johnson. He is known to have moved to Pennsylvania from New York, prior to the

, in which he served. After the War, he studied at a Methodist school and was ordained as a minister of the Methodist church in northern New York.

Immigration to Liberia

Elijah Johnson was a member of the American Colonization Society, as was his friend

Jehudi Ashmun Jehudi Ashmun (April 21, 1794 – August 25, 1828) was an American religious leader and social reformer from New England who became involved in the American Colonization Society. It founded the colony of Liberia in West Africa as a place to rese ...

. They traveled to Liberia on the ''Elizabeth'' in 1820 along with their wives and children. On March 9, 1820, they landed on

Sherbro Island Sherbro Island is in the Atlantic Ocean, and is included within Bonthe District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone. The island is separated from the African mainland by the Sherbro River in the north and Sherbro Strait in the east. It is long ...

in what is today

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. The early settlers had difficulty with the frontier conditions. Many died of malaria and

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

, including Johnson's wife Mary. In 1821, the surviving settlers moved to Providence Island near what is today Monrovia. There, Johnson married Rachel Wright (born ca. 1798), another American immigrant, with whom he had several children. They included Hilary R. W. Johnson, who was elected the eleventh President of Liberia. Johnson became the acting colonial agent of the American Colonization Society after the deaths of

Eli Ayers Eli Ayers (May 9, 1778 – April 25, 1822) was a physician and the first colonial agent of the American Colonization Society in what later became Liberia. He was born in 1778 in Shiloh, New Jersey, and married Elizabeth West in 1812. He pract ...

, the white first agent, and his black successor Frederick James. He served in this role from June 4, 1822, until August 8, 1822; and again from April 2, 1823, until August 14, 1823. He was replaced by Jehudi Ashmun. Johnson was appointed as Commissary of Stores and became active in politics. In 1847, he was one of the signers of the

Liberian Declaration of Independence The Liberian Declaration of Independence is a document adopted by the Liberian Constitutional Convention on 26 July 1847, to announce that the Commonwealth of Liberia, a colony founded and controlled by the private American Colonization Society, ...

. He was elected as President Pro Tempore of the Senate of Liberia in 1848. He died in 1849 in White Plains, a missionary station in the interior of Liberia.

Notes

:According to the ship records and the 1843 census of Liberia. Other sources cite as a birth date ca 1780. * Wills, Anita L., (2009) ''Pieces of the Quilt: The Mosaic of An African American Family''; Wills: CA

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Elijah 1780s births Year of birth uncertain 1849 deaths Agents and Governors of Liberia Presidents pro tempore of the Senate of Liberia Americo-Liberian people African-American history of New Jersey People from New Jersey Signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence