Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/108

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JOHNS


JOHNSON


JOHNS, Henry Van Dyck, clergyman, was born in Newcastle, Del., Oct. 13, 1803 ; son of Kensey and Ann (Van Dyck) Johns. He was a student at Princeton and was graduated at Union with lienors in 1823. He matriculated at the General Theological seminary, class of 1827 ; was made deacon in 1826 and ordained priest in 1827. He organized Trinity church, Washington, D.C. ; was chaplain of the U.S. senate in 1832-33; re- moved to Rochester, N.Y., in 1833, and was rector of All Saints, Frederick, Md., 1836; of Trinity, Baltimore, 1837 ;of St. Andrews', Baltimore, 1838- 43 : removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1843, and was rector of Christ church, Baltimore, 1844-54 and of Emmanuel, which he founded, 1854-59. He died in Baltimore, Md., in 1859.

JOHNS, John, fourth bishop of Virginia and 39th in succession in the American episcopate, was born in New Castle, Del., July 10, 1796; son of Chancellor Kensey and Ann (Van Dyke) Johns, and giandbon ot Kensey and Susannah (Gallo\\a>)


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Johns and of Gov. Nicholas Van Dyke, second president of the commonwealth of Delaware. John was graduated at the College of New Jersey, A.B.. 1815, A.M., 1818 ; studied at the Princeton Theological seminary, 1816-17 ; took deacon's or- ders May 6, 1819, and was ordained priest in 1820. He was in charge of All Saints' parish, Frederick, Md., 1819-29, and was rector of Christ church, Bal- timore, Md., 1829-37 and of the Church of the Mes- •siah, Baltimore, 1737-42. He was elected assistant bishoji of Virginia, May 21,1842, and was conse- crated Oct. 13, 1842, by Bishops Griswold, Meade, Ives and Whittingham. Upon the death of Bishop Meade, March 14, 1862, he succeeded him as bishop of the diocese. He was the fifteenth president of William and Mary college, Fredericksburg, Va., 1849-54. He was married first to Juliana Johnson, of Frederick, Md., secondly' to Jane Shaff, of Georgetown, D.C, andthirdly toMrs. Smithgate. He received the degree of S.T.D. from the College of New Jersey and from the University of the City of New York in 1834, and that of LL.D. from William and Mary college in 1855. He is the au- tlior of : Memorial of Bishop Meade (1857). He died in Fairfax county, Va., April 5, 1876.


JOHNS, Kensey, chancellor, was born at West River, Md., June 14, 1759 ; son of Kensey and Susannah (Galloway) Johns, and a descendant of Richard Johns, of "The Clitfs," Maryland, who was born ii\ Carmartlienshire, Wales, in 16;;0, and came to America in 1692. He served in the Revo- lutionary war as a " minuteman ; " studied law under Judge Samuel Chase, of Annapolis, Md., and subsequently under George Reade, of New Castle, Del., where he practised his profession for twelve years. He was married to Nancy, daugh- ter of Gov. Nicholas Van Dyke, of Ne\v Castle, Del. He was a member of the convention that fi'amed the state constitution in 1792, and was ap- pointed by Governor Clayton U.S. senator to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George Reade, but was refused admittance to the senate as a session of the legislature had intervened after the vacancy had occurred. He succeeded George Reade as chief justice of Delaware, serving 1798- 1828, and was chancellor of the state, 1828-32. He died in New Castle, Del., Dec. 21, 1848.

JOHNS, Kensey, rei^resentative, was born in New Castle, Del., Dec. 10, 1791 ; son of Chan- cellor Kensey and Ann (Van Dyke) Johns. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1810 ; studied law with his father and was admit- ted to the bar in 1813. He was the representative from Delaware in the 20th and 21st congresses, 1827-31, and was appointed chancellor of the state as successor to his father, serving 1832-57. He was married to Maria McCalmont. Jefferson college. Pa., conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1846. He died in New Castle, Del.. March 28. 1857.

JOHNSON, Alexander Smith, jurist, was born in Utica, N.Y., July 30, 1817. He was graduated from Yale in 1835 ; was admitted to the bar in 1838, and practised in New York city. He was a judge of the New York court of appeals, 1846-60 ; U.S. commissioner for the settlement of the claims of the Hudson Bay and Puget Sound com- panies ; regent of the University of the State of New York, 1846-60; commissioner of the court of appeals in 1873 as successor to Judge Ward Hunt, and U.S. judge of the second judicial district, 1873-78. He received the degree of LL.D. from Hamilton college in 1859. He died in Nassau, Bahama Islands, Jan. 36, 1878.

JOHNSON, Andrew, seventeenth President of the United States, was born in Raleigh, N.C., Dec. 29, 1808 ; son of Jacob and Mary (McDon- ough) Johnson. His father was city constable and porter in the state bank of Raleigh and lost his life through rescuing Tliomas Henderson, editor of the Raleigh Gazette, from drowning. Andi'ew's early education was neglected, and in 1818 he was apprenticed to J. J. Selby, a tailor, in Raleigh, with whom he remained until 1824, when