Samuel Johnston (December 15, 1733 – August 17, 1816) was an American planter, lawyer, Grand Master of Freemasons, slave holder, and statesman from Chowan County, North Carolina. He represented North Carolina in both the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

and the United States Senate, and he was the sixth

Governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...

Early life and revolutionary politics

Johnston was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland in the Kingdom of Great Britain, but came to America when his father, Samuel Sr., moved to Onslow County, North Carolina, in 1736. Samuel Sr. became surveyor-general of the colony where his brother,

Gabriel Johnston Gabriel Johnston (1699 – 17 July 1752) was a British colonial official who served as the sixth governor of the Province of North Carolina from 1734 until his death in 1752. He was the longest serving governor, holding the office for 18 ...

, was governor. Young Samuel was educated in New England, then

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

in Carolina. He moved to Chowan County and started a plantation known as Hayes near

Edenton Edenton is a town in, and the county seat of, Chowan County, North Carolina, United States, on Albemarle Sound. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has b ...

. Johnston was admitted to the bar and began a law practice in Edenton. In 1759, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Burgesses and served in that body until it was displaced in 1775 during the American Revolution. During North Carolina's War of the Regulation in December 1770, he introduced the anti-Regulators bill was later passed as the Johnston Riot Act in response to the September 1770

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

Riot and to later reports of a planned Regulator march upon the provincial capital, New Bern, which ultimately did not occur. The passage of the Johnston Riot Act and others precipitated an even more significant enlargement of the Regulator movement and forced Royal Governor Tryon to call out the provincial militia, which culminated in the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771. As a strong supporter of independence, he was also elected as a delegate to the first four provincial congresses and presided over the Third and Fourth congresses in 1775 and 1776. After Royal Governor

Josiah Martin Josiah Martin (23 April 1737 – 13 April 1786) was a British Army officer and colonial official who served as the ninth and last British governor of North Carolina from 1771 to 1776. Early life and career Martin was born in Dublin, Ireland, ...

abdicated in 1775, he was the highest-ranking official in the state until Richard Caswell was elected president of the Fifth Provincial Congress. Johnston is frequently cited as having served in the North Carolina Senate in 1779, but that is not confirmed in Senate Journals. He may have been elected, but he certainly did not attend. In Johnston's own words, after 1777, "...had nothing to do with public business..." during the Revolution. Under the new state government, Johnston was elected to the North Carolina Senate in 1783 and 1784. Johnson was the first Grand Master of Freemasons for the State of North Carolina, voted into office on 11 Dec 1787 to revive Masonic activities that had been defunct after breaking away from England. There had only been Deputy Grand Master until he was elected Grand Master. He would be elected Grand Master again in 1789-1791.

Election as president

North Carolina sent Johnston as a delegate to the

in 1780 and 1781. Johnston was elected the first '' President of the United States in Congress Assembled'' under the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...

, but he declined the office. This was reportedUSCA Journals, America's Four Republics: The More or Less United States. 2d Edition, June 2018 on July 10, 1781:

Later career and death

Johnston served as

from 1787 to 1789. He presided over both conventions called to ratify the

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

. The one in 1788 rejected the Constitution despite Johnston's strong support. He called another convention in 1789, which decided on ratification. Johnston then resigned as governor to become one of the state's first two

US Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

and served from 1789 to 1793. In 1800, he was made a Judge in the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

of North Carolina, an office he held until his retirement in 1803. Johnston died at his home,

Hayes Plantation Hayes Plantation, also known as Hayes Farm, is a historic plantation near Edenton, North Carolina that belonged to Samuel Johnston (1733–1816), who served as Governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789. Johnston became one of the state's fir ...

, near Edenton, in Chowan County; he purchased the house from David Rieusett in 1765 and lived there until 1793 when he moved to the Hermitage, a plantation in Martin County. The 1790 Census shows that he enslaved 96 people at Hayes Plantation.Family search
In 1816 he was buried in the Johnston Burial Ground there. The plantation house is privately owned but was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973. It is now within Edenton, but the current house was completed by his son, James Cathcart Johnston, a year after Samuel's death.

Legacy

Samuel Johnston's collection of books, which he bequeathed to his son James, is preserved in a full-scale replication of Hayes Plantation's library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The octagon-shaped historic room is on permanent exhibit in the North Carolina Collection Gallery in Wilson Library.

References

External links