Thomas Johnson (July 11, 1802 – January 2, 1865) was an

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missionary in Kansas who founded the Shawnee Methodist Mission in 1830. It was intended to serve and convert the Shawnee, several hundred of whom had been relocated to Kansas Indian Territory from east of the Mississippi River. Johnson was a Kansas slave holder and sided strongly with the pro-slavery group during a period known as Bleeding Kansas. Residents on either side of the slavery question recruited newcomers and fought violently prior to voting as to whether slavery would be allowed in the territory. Johnson was elected as a member of the

Kansas territorial legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senator ...

, which temporarily designated Shawnee Mission as the state capital from 1855 to 1856. Johnson was pro-

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in sympathy but signed a Unionist pledge at the time of the American Civil War. Johnson County, Kansas is named for him.

Death

Johnson was murdered at his home on January 2, 1865, in the last year of the Civil War. It is unknown whether he was killed during commission of a robbery or whether it was a political assassination. Some historians have suggested that his murderers were outraged at his apparent betrayal of the Southern cause.

References

1802 births 1865 deaths American Methodist missionaries American proslavery activists People murdered in Kansas Deaths by firearm in Kansas Assassinated American politicians Methodist missionaries in the United States {{Kansas-politician-stub Assassinated American territory politician