Hon. Henry Johnson (Muncy, PA)

Engraving of Pennsylvania State Senator and President of the First National Bank of Muncy, Henry Johnson.

Hon. Henry Johnson (June 12, 1819 – Aug 11, 1895)

Biography

Johnson's house on the corner of Maynard and Fourth Streets, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, ca2023. Courtesy of Google Maps

• Name: Hon. Henry Johnson
• Birth: June 12, 1819 Newton, Sussex Co., New Jersey
• Death: August 11, 1895 Williamsport, Pennsylvania
• Company K, 14th Pennsylvania Infantry, 1861
• Pennsylvania State Senator 1861-1864, chairman, Judiciary Committee, 1864.

Early life and family

Henry Johnson was born June 12, 1819, at Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey, son of Samuel (d. 1820) and Rebecca Justina Brodhead (Heiner) Johnson. His grandfather, Captain Henry Johnson, was an officer of the Revolutionary War, a quartermaster and then Captain in Washington's Army. His mother was a granddaughter of General Daniel Brodhead from whom she inherited a tract of land at Muncy, Pennsylvania, and where she moved with her five children in 1841. Mr. Johnson graduated from Princeton College in 1837, then spent three years studying law under Hon. Whitfield S. Johnson, secretary of state of New Jersey (1861-1866). In 1841 he passed an examination before the state Supreme Court judges and was admitted to the bar. He at once opened an office at Muncy where he practiced for nearly 50 years. In 1848 he was a presidential elector for Pennsylvania and an ardent supporter of the Whig Party and Gen. Zachary Taylor. Upon the organization of the Republican Party in 1856, he became identified with it and in 1861 was elected to the State Senate from the district comprising Lycoming, Union, Clinton and Centre Counties. He served from 1862 to 1864 and during the last year was chairman of the judiciary committee and also for a considerable time served as speaker pro tempore of the Senate. During the war he was an intense supporter of the Union and enlisted in the 14th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in 1861 while a Senator. He refused any higher rank than that of private.

On July 22, 1856, Henry Johnson married Margaret Green in Easton Pennsylvania. They had eight daughters: Rebecca Justina Johnson Lose, Mary Green Johnson, Ida Josephine Johnson Baldwin, Laura Louise Johnson, Helen Gertrude Johnson, Anna Holstein Johnson Collins, Margaret Green Johnson Collins, and Edith Brodhead Johnson. Mrs. Johnson was the daughter of Enoch Green of Easton and sister of Hon. Henry Green, at the time of his death chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Career highlights

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln had good cause to fear defeat against presidential candidate George Brinton McClellan of Philadelphia, the often-maligned former commander of the Army of the Potomac whom Lincoln fired after the Battle of Antietam. The president feared, should McClellan win, especially in his home state of Pennsylvania with eleven percent of the country’s electoral votes, the war would immediately end, and the nation would be reduced to half its original size. He expressed his worst fears to General William Tecumseh Sherman, asking him to furlough his Indiana troops during the upcoming general election. Sherman cooperated, putting off his “march to the sea” for three months. Indiana, and all other states except Ohio, did not permit an active duty soldier to vote in the field. In most cases, the troops needed a furlough to return home and vote, like Pennsylvania; or as in the case of New York, send a “vote by proxy” (mail) to the hometown county courthouse – a process highly susceptible to election fraud. Ohio was the only state to permit soldier balloting in the field (1863), but Lincoln direly needed more than the Buckeye state in 1864 election. He desperately needed Pennsylvania.

In March 1864, the amendments to the State Constitution which received the sanction of the Legislature (allowing soldiers to vote) would shortly be submitted to the people. The Constitution required that such amendments (to be made not oftener than once in five years) shall receive the assent of two succeeding Legislatures and shall be voted upon by the people within three months after publication by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The original bill allowing soldiers to vote was introduced into the Legislature on January 22, 1863, by Senator Henry Johnson of Lycoming County. It passed the Senate unanimously on February 11th, 1863 and it was held by the House until a few days before the final adjournment when it was passed by that body, but with the addition of two sections having no reference whatever to the right of suffrage. The friends of the original bill in the Senate were forced to accept these additions in order at the late hour to secure the passage of the more important proposition. The Secretary of the Commonwealth in accordance with law advertised the amendments during 1863. In the early part of the 1864 session, Senator Johnson made attempts at every opportunity to pass the bill and finally succeeded in doing so on March 9th, the measure being also considered by the House. The same Senator also presented two supplemental bills. One defining the manner in which amendments were to be submitted to the people and one regulating the elections by soldiers when in actual military service. Both of these would pass the Legislature. The entire system was devised by Senator Johnson and the success of the measure was entirely due to his efforts. Soldiers of Pennsylvania in actual service would thus be enabled to vote in the field for the next President of the United States.

Pennsylvania’s soldiers in the field could now vote at age 18. They did so, and the Commonwealth re-elected the incumbent President.  The act made national headlines. Lincoln carried Pennsylvania by 19,000 votes, with the soldier vote in just the Army of the Potomac amounting to 14,000 of the margin. The other nine Armies contributed over 7,000 – far in excess of Lincoln’s victorious margin. Overall, 78 percent of Pennsylvania’s soldiers voted for President Abraham Lincoln in 1864 – Republicans and Democrats. Henry Johnson saved Pennsylvania for the Union. Henry Johnson's legislative success – just one bill – might have very well changed the course of U.S. history.

On April 28, 1864, in the Hall of the House of Representatives in Harrisburg, the Union State Convention delegates were chosen for the Baltimore National Convention. Senator Henry Johnson was nominated by Mr. Bergner of Dauphin County. The nomination was followed by his election, the vote being unanimous.

In January 1865, he was nominated for State Treasurer. In February he was chosen as president of the First National Bank of Muncy and would hold that office for 10 years. For many years he was secretary and treasury of the Muncy Bridge Company. At the time of his death he was a director of the Lycoming National Bank of Williamsport.

Later life and death

In 1890, Mr. Johnson moved from Muncy to Williamsport where his last days were spent.

In July 1890, Messrs. Greevy & Snyder, well-known plasterers of Williamsport, were awarded the contract for plastering the Cameron County Courthouse at Emporium.  Among their home contracts was one for the new residence of Hon. Henry Johnson, corner of Maynard and Fourth Streets.

On August 11, 1895, Hon. Henry Johnson, the nestor of the Lycoming County Bar, died at his home in Williamsport at the age of 86 years. He began the practice of law in Lycoming County in 1841 and achieved remarkable success. He was a presidential elector in 1848, and in 1861 was elected to the State Senate. He introduced the resolution to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to give soldiers in the field the right to vote. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Baltimore in 1864, and was a member of Post No. 66, Grand Army of the Republic and the Muncy Lodge No. 299, Free and Accepted Masons.

The funeral took place from the house, 901 West Fourth Street at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and was largely attended. Rev. G.C. Foley, rector of Trinity Church conducted the services and the singing was by Messrs. Charles Gleim, O.B. Lake and Charles A. Bowman. The remains rested in a cedar casket and were surrounded by cut flowers, palms and designs. A special train conveyed Mr. Johnson and sorrowing friends to Muncy where interment was made in the family plot. Brief services were conducted at the grave by Rev. DeWitt, rector of St. James' Episcopal Church of Muncy of which Mr. Johnson for many years had been a member and by Rev. Foley of Williamsport.

Bank Officer Summary

During his banking career, Henry Johnson was involved with the following bank:

• First National Bank, Muncy, PA (Charter 837): President 1865-1874
• Lycoming National Bank, Williamsport, PA (Charter 2227): Director 1895

Original Series $1 bank note with pen signatures of John M. Bowman, Cashier and Henry Johnson, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

Sources

• Senator Henry Johnson, PA Legislator Biographies
• Henry Johnson on Findagrave.com
• Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project