Lady Arbella Johnson (née Clinton; 3 August 1597 – 30 August 1630) was one of the early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was the daughter of

Thomas Clinton, 3rd Earl of Lincoln Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

and his wife

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

William Allen William Allen may refer to: Politicians United States *William Allen (congressman) (1827–1881), United States Representative from Ohio *William Allen (governor) (1803–1879), U.S. Representative, Senator, and 31st Governor of Ohio *William ...

suggests that she was probably named after

Lady Arbella Stuart Lady Arbella Stuart (also Arabella, or Stewart; 1575 – 25 September 1615) was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England. During the reign of King James VI and I (her first cousin), she marrie ...

. On April 15, 1623, she married Rev.

Isaac Johnson Isaac Johnson (November 1, 1803 – March 15, 1853) was a US politician and the 12th Governor of the state of Louisiana. Born on his father's plantation "Troy" near St. Francisville in West Feliciana Parish, Johnson was the fourth son of J ...

. In 1630, they both sailed to Massachusetts on a ship that was named the ''

Arbella ''Arbella'' or ''Arabella'' was the flagship of the Winthrop Fleet on which Governor John Winthrop, other members of the Company (including William Gager), and Puritan emigrants transported themselves and the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Co ...

'' after her. She died soon after arriving, while her husband died a month later. She was described as "lovely in both character and person". Cotton Mather says in his '' Magnalia Christi Americana'' that Johnson, "left an earthly paradise in the family of an earldom, to encounter the sorrows of a wilderness, for the entertainments of a pure worship in the house of God; and then immediately left that wilderness for the heavenly paradise, whereto the compassionate Jesus, of whom she was a follower, called her." On the other hand, William Hubbard said of her:

Coming from a paradise of plenty and pleasure, which she enjoyed in the family of a noble Earldom, into a wilderness of wants, it proved too strong a temptation for her; so that the virtues of her mind were not able to stem the tide of those many adversities of her outward condition, which she, soon after her arrival, saw herself surrounded withal.

Johnson is the first person described in

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

's ''Grandfather's Chair'', which is a collection of tales from American history. Gillian Brown notes that "American history, according to Hawthorne, begins with the story of Lady Arbella Johnson."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Arbella 1597 births 1630 deaths Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony Daughters of British earls