William Johnston (April 1, 1804 – October 15, 1891), also known as Booby Johnston was a
Whig politician from the U.S. State of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. He served in the state legislature, was
Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory
The Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory was a United States government official responsible for surveying land in the Northwest Territory in the United States late in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The position was cre ...
, was a judge, and was nominated by his party for
Governor of Ohio
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
. He had a highly profitable legal career.
Youth
William Johnston was born April 1, 1804 at
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Shippensburg is a borough in Cumberland and Franklin counties in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Settled in 1730, Shippensburg lies in the Cumberland Valley, southwest of Harrisburg, and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan St ...
. His
Scots-Irish parents moved the family to Yellow Creek,
Jefferson County, Ohio
Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,249. Its county seat is Steubenville. The county is named for Thomas Jefferson, who was vice president at the time of its creation.
...
in 1808, where he grew up. He attended the schools of
Ross Township, and studied law under
John Crafts Wright of
Steubenville
Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The city's name is deri ...
. He is said to have started the first
temperance
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
*Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
society in the county in 1833.
Early professional career
Johnston settled at
Carrollton,
Carroll County, where he was "soon retained on one side or the other of all important litigation." He was elected prosecuting attorney of Carroll County. He then served in the
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate.
The House of Representatives first met in ...
for a year. He was active in the legislature, and was effective in his advocacy for the common-school law and the abolition of imprisonment for debt.
After describing the difficulties he had had in obtaining an education, he insisted that boys and girls should have a better chance than he did on the banks of "Yaller Creek." He said "The old Irish schoolmaster holds forth three months of the year in a poor cabin, with
greased-paper window panes. The children trudge three miles through winter snow and mud to school. They begin at a-b, ab, and get over as far as b-oo-by, booby, when school gives out, and they take up their spring work on the farm. The next winter, when school takes up again, having forgotten all that they had been taught previously in the speller, they begin again at a-b, ab, but year after year never get any further than b-oo-by, booby."
Judge Burnet said it was the most powerful speech on education ever made in Ohio, but
Samuel Medary
Samuel Medary (February 25, 1801 – November 7, 1864) was an American newspaper owner and politician.
Biography
Born and raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, he settled in Bethel, Ohio, in 1825. After a term in the Ohio House of Represent ...
of the ''Ohio Statesman'' gave him the name Booby Johnson disrespectfully. The nickname stuck among Johnston's friends.
Johnston also wrote the law which abolished imprisonment for debt in Ohio, when not accompanied by fraud. He was in Steubenville at the time when founder of the city
Bezaleel Wells
Bezaleel Wells (January 28, 1773 – August 14, 1846) was an American politician, judge, surveyor and landowner from Ohio. He was known as the founder of Steubenville and Canton. He was a member of the Ohio Senate, representing Jefferson Coun ...
went bankrupt, and was jailed for his debts. The 1802
Ohio Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Ohio is the basic governing document of the State of Ohio, which in 1803 became the 17th state to join the United States of America. Ohio has had three constitutions since statehood was granted.
Ohio was create ...
allowed a non-fraudulent debtor to be held in prison until he "delivered up his estate for the benefit of his creditors."
Johnston felt the law was unjust, and vowed he would repeal the law should he ever be elected to the legislature.
Move to Cincinnati
Johnston moved to
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
in 1839. His first year, 1840, was involved campaigning for
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
for president. He "made a great reputation as a
stump orator," and was "making a reputation as an orator scarcely equaled by that of any of the celebrated speakers of that wonderful campaign." His efforts in the campaign led to his appointment as
Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory
The Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory was a United States government official responsible for surveying land in the Northwest Territory in the United States late in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The position was cre ...
, responsible for the states of Ohio,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
and
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. He held that position until 1845.
After ending his federal service, Johnston became judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati (1847-1850), which he held until he ran for
Governor of Ohio
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
as the
Whig nominee in 1850.
In 1850, Johnston came second to
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Reuben Wood
Reuben Wood (1792/1793October 1, 1864) was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. He served as the 21st governor of Ohio.
Biography
Wood was born near Middletown, Rutland County, Vermont in either 1792 or 1793. While living wi ...
in a three-way race for Governor. He returned to private practice that autumn, and was very successful, "particularly before juries." "No person could listen to him and ever forget his clearness of logic, his simplicity, his force of style, his vivid flashes of wit, his mirth provoking humor, his moving elocution." He was long associated with
Thomas Corwin
Thomas Corwin (July 29, 1794 – December 18, 1865), also known as Tom Corwin, The Wagon Boy, and Black Tom was a politician from the state of Ohio. He represented Ohio in both houses of Congress and served as the 15th governor of Ohio and the ...
, including obtaining an acquittal with an argument of self-defense in an 1858 trial when ex-Ohio Governor
William Bebb
William Bebb (December 8, 1802October 23, 1873) was a Whig politician from Ohio. He served as the 19th governor of Ohio from 1846 to 1849 and was the third native Ohioan to be elected to the office.
Biography
Bebb was born in what was then Ham ...
was charged with manslaughter in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. He also associated with
Reverdy Johnson
Reverdy Johnson (May 21, 1796February 10, 1876) was a statesman and jurist from Maryland. He gained fame as a defense attorney, defending notables such as Sandford of the Dred Scott case, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter at his court-martial, and Mary ...
in a
Revolutionary War claim against the United States Government, for which they received a fee of $100,000.
In 1861, Johnston moved to Washington, D.C. and practiced before the
Court of Claims and the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. In 1866, President
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
appointed him to the commission to revise the statutes of the United States, where he served for three years. He then retired from public service, and retired from practice at age seventy.
Personal
Johnston married Elizabeth Blackstone of
Smithfield Township, Jefferson County, Ohio
Smithfield Township is one of the fourteen townships of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. The 2010 census found 3,473 people in the township, 1,819 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.
Geography
Located in the sout ...
, and had two sons, who preceded him in death, and two daughters, who survived him. He spent the last years of his life at
Loveland, Ohio
Loveland is a city in Hamilton, Clermont, and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Considered part of the Greater Cincinnati area, Loveland is located near exit 52 off Interstate 275, about northeast of the Cinc ...
, where he died October 15, 1891. The
William Johnston House at Loveland is now listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, William (judge)
1804 births
1891 deaths
Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery
County district attorneys in Ohio
Judges of the Superior Court of Cincinnati
Members of the Ohio House of Representatives
Ohio lawyers
Ohio Whigs
19th-century American politicians
People from Carrollton, Ohio
People from Jefferson County, Ohio
People from Loveland, Ohio
Politicians from Cincinnati
Lawyers from Washington, D.C.
People from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Surveyors General of the Northwest Territory
19th-century American judges
19th-century American lawyers