Thomas Johnson

Thomas Johnson (November 4, 1732 – October 26, 1819) was an 18th-century American lawyer, politician, and patriot. He was a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774, where he signed the Continental Association; commander of the Maryland militia in 1776; and elected first (non-Colonial) governor of Maryland in 1777. Throughout his career, Johnson maintained a personal and political friendship with George Washington, who gave him a recess appointment as an associate justice of the Supreme Court in August 1791. He served only briefly, resigning in January 1793, citing health issues. Life before the Revolution Thomas his siblings were educated at home. As a young man he was attracted to the law, studied it with an established firm, and was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1753. By 1760, he had moved his practice to Frederick County, and in 1761 he was elected to the Maryland provincial assembly for the first time. On February 16, 1766, Johnson married Ann Jennings, the daughter of the judge under whom he apprenticed. They had eight children, including one who died in infancy and a second who died as a young adult. Revolutionary years In 1774 and 1775, the Maryland assembly sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress. In the Congress Johnson was allied with those who favored separation from Great Britain. In November 1775, Congress created a Committee of [Secret] Correspondence that was to seek foreign support for the war. Thomas Johnson, along with Benjamin Franklin, and Benjamin Harrison V, were initially named to the committee.