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This article is from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright ©1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Johnson, Charles

by James Elliott Moore, 1988

d. 23 July 1802

Charles Johnson, state senator and congressman, was born in Scotland. According to family tradition, he was a member of the great Johnston family in southern Scotland. As a youth he took part in the unsuccessful rising of Prince Charles Edward in 1745. After the Battle of Culloden, he escaped to the Continent and dropped the "t" from his name. After a time he returned to Scotland and later went to London where he worked for the East India Company for several years.

After his arrival in North Carolina, Johnson located in the Albemarle region and married Ann Earl, the daughter of the Reverend Daniel Earl, rector of St. Paul's Church, Edenton, and owner of nearby Bandon plantation. After his marriage he pursued extensive agricultural interests.

Johnson rose to prominence in the region and became active in politics. An ardent Federalist, he aligned himself with Samuel Johnston, James Iredell, and Allen Jones. Johnson was elected to represent Chowan County in the state senate from 1781 to 1784 and from 1788 to 1792. During his second term, he was speaker of the senate (1789) while Samuel Johnston presided over the constitutional convention. Johnson vigorously supported ratification of the Constitution. He was elected to the Seventh Congress and served from 4 Mar. 1801 until his death at Bandon more than a year later. He was buried in Edenton. By his marriage to Ann Earl he left one son, Charles Earl.

References:

Samuel A. Ashe, ed., Biographical History of North Carolina, vol. 2 (1905).

Biog. Dir. Am. Cong. (1961).

Additional Resources:

"Johnson, Charles, (Birth date unknown - 1802)." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Washington, D.C.: The Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000123 (accessed May 23, 2014).

"CSR Documents by Johnston, Charles." Colonial and State Records of North Carolina. Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/creators/csr10613 (accessed May 23, 2014).

Subjects: 
Biographies
Planters
Public officials
Authors: 
Moore, James Elliott
Origin - location: 
Chowan County
Edenton
From: 
Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.

1 January 1988 | Moore, James Elliott