Stephen Johnson (May 17, 1724November 8, 1786) was a Congregationalist minister and

pamphleteer Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation. Context Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articulate a poli ...

from

Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The population was 2,352 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lyme i ...

who wrote one of the first pamphlets condemning the Stamp Act.

Life

Johnson was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Ogden, and Nathaniel Johnson. Through his mother, he was the great-grandson of John Ogden, who founded

Elizabethtown, New Jersey Elizabeth Township, also called Elizabethtown, was a township that existed in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, from 1664 until 1855. The area was initially part of the Elizabethtown Tract, purchased from the Lenape on October 28, 166 ...

. Johnson married Elizabeth Diodati, the daughter of a

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

merchant, on July 26, 1744. Johnson graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1743 (he would later serve as a member of the

Yale Corporation The Yale Corporation, officially The President and Fellows of Yale College, is the governing body of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Assembly of corporation The Corporation comprises 19 members: * Three ex officio An ''ex officio'' m ...

) and became minister of Lyme's First Congregational Church in 1746, succeeding Jonathan Parsons. He subscribed to New Divinity theology. Johnson was attached as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

to a regiment in the Revolutionary War. He left for battle in May 1775, likely as part of the 6th Connecticut Regiment commanded by

Samuel Holden Parsons Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789) was an American lawyer, jurist, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 428. in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Countr ...

, and was present at the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

. He is buried at

Duck River Cemetery The Duck River Cemetery, also known as the Old Lyme Cemetery is the communal burying ground of the town of Old Lyme, Connecticut. Slater, James A. The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them. Memoirs of the Conne ...

Writing

Johnson wrote his pamphlet, one of the first against the Stamp Act, in 1765, during his 20th year as minister of Lyme's First Congregational Church. Titled ''Some Important Observations, Occasioned by and Adapted to the Publick Fast, Ordered by Authority'', it was delivered as a

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

on December 18, 1765. In an oft-quoted passage,

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

describes it as "a paper from the incomparable Stephen Johnson, of Lyme". Johnson's work is a "fiery article, designed to rouse the community to a sense of the public danger" from the Stamp Act. Its substantive content was printed in two versions: once serially in a

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa *New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town ** ...

newspaper, and then in pamphlet form by a printer in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

. Although the two versions make similar arguments, the newspaper version is cast in secular terms, whereas the pamphlet is styled as a sermon. The newspaper version was published

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

ously, like many 18th-century

polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

s, under the name of "Addison". Johnson's neighbor John McCurdy financed the dissemination of Johnson's works. The two were close, and often discussed their various grievances with the administration of Governor Thomas Fitch. His two other known other works include an election day sermon preached on May 10, 1770, and a massive anti- Unitarian treatise.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Stephen 1724 births 1786 deaths American Congregationalist ministers American pamphleteers American male non-fiction writers Clergy from Newark, New Jersey People from Lyme, Connecticut Yale College alumni 18th-century American clergy