Table of Contents
William Samuel Johnson Papers
A Guide to the collection at the Connecticut Historical Society
Collection Overview |
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| Repository: | Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut |
| Creator : | Johnson, William Samuel |
| Title : | William Samuel Johnson Papers |
| Dates : | 1648-1833 |
| Extent : | 4.38 linear feet (11 boxes) |
| Location: | MS 22977 |
| Language: | English |
Biographical Sketch
William Samuel Johnson (1727-1819), was an attorney, judge, senator, and statesman who contributed to the creation of the United States Constitution. He was president of Columbia College (1787-1800) and served as a militia officer in Connecticut. Johnson was born and lived most of his life in Stratford, Connecticut, but lived in London, England, during the case of the Mohegan tribe v. the Colony of Connecticut from 1767-1771.
Johnson’s father, Reverend Dr. Samuel Johnson (1696-1772) was a clergyman, first as a Congregational minister in West Haven, Conn., then later re-ordained as an Anglican minister in Stratford, Conn., where he spoke out against Congregationalism and Evangelicalism. The Rev. Dr. Johnson was selected by Trinity Church in New York City to be the first president of King’s College which later became Columbia College, later Columbia University.
William Samuel Johnson graduated from Yale in 1744, received a Master’s degree from Yale in 1747 and an honorary degree from Harvard the same year. Johnson educated himself in law and was admitted to the bar. He opened his practice in Stratford and represented clients from both Connecticut and New York. Early in his career, Johnson established himself as an orator and scholar and in 1766 was award an honorary degree from Oxford.
In 1761 and 1765, Johnson served in the lower house of the Connecticut legislature. He served in the upper house in 1766 and again from 1771-1775. He served on the colony’s Supreme Court from 1772-1774. In between, from 1767-1770, Johnson lived in England and represented the Colony in the Mohegan Indians v. Connecticut case. A portion of the collection consists of Johnson’s notes, case studies, and research.
In 1774, Johnson was elected to serve in the First Continental Congress; however, he refused to participate. Throughout the 1760’s and 1770’s Johnson was divided in his loyalties. He tried to maintain a balance between increasingly polarized factions. While he criticized British policy for the colonies, he could not commit himself to a severance from the mother country with which he had so many personal and professional ties. Ultimately, he opted to work as a peacemaker prior to and during the war. His influence diminished as radical patriots gained power in Connecticut government. In 1779, he was arrested for communicating with the enemy, British General Thomas Gage, about ending the conflicts but was able to clear himself.
Johnson’s abilities were again appreciated after the Revolutionary War. He became an influential delegate in the Confederation Congress in 1785 and spoke on the subject of representation. He supported the Connecticut Compromise, the precursor to the representation plan in the Constitution. Johnson was also active in framing the Constitution’s final form and his signature can be found listed with Roger Sherman under Connecticut.
Johnson served in the United States Senate of the new nation as the first Senator of Connecticut starting in 1789 but resigned in 1791 after the government moved from New York to Philadelphia. At that time he was president of Columbia College and concentrated his work there.
In his personal life, in 1749 Johnson married Anne Beach (1729-1796). They had eleven children but not all survived until adulthood. His last wills and testaments identify his children as: sons Samuel William (1761-1846) and Robert Charles (1766-1839) and five daughters Charity Kneeland (1750-1777), Sarah, (1754-1762), Gloriana Ann Alden (1757-1785), Mary (1759-1783), and Elizabeth Verplanck (1763-1789). He also corresponded with grandson, Gulian C. Verplanck and daughter-in-law, Susan (Edwards). Johnson married Mary Brewster Beach in 1800 after his first wife passed away.
Johnson died in 1819 in Stratford, Connecticut. He is buried in Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery in Stratford.
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Scope and Content
The William Samuel Johnson collection consists of personal and business records, including court documents, correspondence, personal papers and finances, and evidence and documentation from the Mohegan Indian land case.
The business records relate to his law business and cases and include information on iron works. His business correspondence contains letters to and from peers such as Thomas Davies, Silas Deane, Eliphalet Dyer, Benjamin Gale, Jared Ingersoll, Benjamin Latrobe, Thomas Life, William Pitkin, Nathan Rogers, William Smith Jr., Nicholas Stuyvesant, Robert Temple, Jonathan Trumbull, and John Wendell. Letters include his time spent in London England for the Mohegan case as well as his time in Stratford, Conn., and New York.
A portion of the collection was received in 1840 from the heirs of Governor Jonathan Trumbull. In 1903, three volumes were collected and bound. The volumes were disassembled (possibly in the 1980’s). Additions to the collection were added in 1911 and in 2016 all records were filed chronologically. The volume and numbered order are still visible on the previously bound records.
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Arrangement
Materials are organized into three series, two have sub-series, based on form and creator.
Series I: Legal Records from Johnson's business Contains three sub-series, Mohegan Case, Assorted legal documents, and Johnson's cases and notes. Mohegan Case consists of of court documents, research, and documentation of Johnson’s work on the Mohegan v Colony of Connecticut case. Assorted legal documents contains documents relating to various topics and may include information pertaining to Mohegan case. Johnson's cases and notescontains various legal documents and may include items related to the Mohegan case.
Series II: William Samuel Johnson Correspondence Contains five sub-series, business to and business from Johnson, letterbooks, and family to and family from Johnson. Business to Johnson consists of incoming correspondence primarily from business associates and friends arranged chronologically. Business from Johnson consists of outgoing correspondences that appears to be drafts and are arranged chronologically. Letter booksJohnson’s collection of copies of letters in bound books arranged chronologically.Family to contains correspondence from Johnson's family to him, arranged chronologically. Family fromcontains correspondence from Johnson to hi family, arranged chronologically.
Series III:Personal Papers and Financial Reocrds Consists of diaries, memoranda, memoirs, personal financial documents, personal legal and estate papers, and last will and testaments.
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Restrictions
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions on access to the collection.
Use Restrictions
Use of the material requires compliance with the Connecticut Historical Society's Research Center regulations.
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Subject Headings
Personal Names
Family Names
Corporate Names
Subjects
Occupations
Geographic Names
Genre Forms
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Item, Collection Title, Collection number (Box #, Folder #). Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.
Processing Details
Collection was processed by Amy Hietala in 2016.
EAD Finding Aid created March 2016.
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Contents:
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Return to the Table of Contents Series I. William Samuel Johnson Legal Records.1648-1833, undated |
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| Subseries 1. Mohegan Case | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Documents for Mohegan Case. 1648-1700 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Documents for Mohegan Case 1701-1708 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Documents for Mohegan Case 171709-1723 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Documents for Mohegan Case. 1725-1737 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Documents for Mohegan Case 171738-1740 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Documents for Mohegan Case. 1742-1769 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Documents for Mohegan Case. 1770-1833 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Documents for Mohegan Case. no date | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Documents for Mohegan Case no date | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Documents for Mohegan Case no date | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Documents for Mohegan Case, collection of records. | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | Correspondence with enclosures for Mohegan Case. 1736-1737 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Indian Documents for Mohegan Case. 1663-1737 | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | Indian Documents for Mohegan Case 1738-1785, no date | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Personal Notes for Mohegan Case. 1770, no date | |||||||||
| 2 | 7 | Bound 'Mohegan Affairs' part 1. 1769 | |||||||||
| 2 | 8 | Bound 'Mohegan Affairs' part 2. 1769 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Cover for 'Mohegan Affairs' bound volume. 1769 | |||||||||
| Subseries 2. Assorted Legal Documents | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Information relating to Susquehannah | |||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Town of Stratford, CT. 1748-1779, no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 3 | New York and Connecticut land trust (possibly part of Mohegan case research). 1782, no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | Land Records and Surveys. 1751-1813, no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 5 | Political. 1765-1792, no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 6 | Assorted Writings. no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 7 | Legal Notes. 1684-1760 | |||||||||
| 4 | 8 | Legal Notes. 1764-1774 | |||||||||
| 4 | 9 | Legal Notes. 1775-1788 | |||||||||
| 4 | 10 | Legal Notes. no dates | |||||||||
| 4 | 11 | Legal Notes. no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 12 | Legal Notes. no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 13 | Legal Resources. 1764-1765 | |||||||||
| Subseries 3. Johnson Cases and Notes | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 14 | Case Notes. 1749 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Case Notes. January-March 1750 | |||||||||
| 5 | 2 | Case Notes. MArch-December 1750 | |||||||||
| 5 | 3 | Case Notes. 1751 | |||||||||
| 5 | 4 | Case Notes. 1755, 1758, undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 5 | Case Notes. no date | |||||||||
| 5 | 6 | Court Docket no. 9 Court Dockets 1775-1786 | |||||||||
| 5 | 7 | Court Dockets 1775-1786 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents Series II. Correspondence |
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| Subseries 1. Business Correspondence to Johnson | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 6 | 1 | Correspondence to 1744-1747 | |||||||||
| 6 | 2 | Correspondence to 1748-1750 | |||||||||
| 6 | 3 | Correspondence to 1753-1759 | |||||||||
| 6 | 4 | Correspondence to 1760-1765 | |||||||||
| 6 | 5 | Correspondence to 1766-1767, June | |||||||||
| 6 | 6 | Correspondence to July 1767-December 1767 | |||||||||
| 6 | 7 | Correspondence to 1768 | |||||||||
| 6 | 8 | Correspondence to 1769 | |||||||||
| 6 | 9 | Correspondence to 1770 | |||||||||
| 6 | 10 | Correspondence to 1771 | |||||||||
| 6 | 11 | Correspondence to January-June 1772 | |||||||||
| 6 | 12 | Correspondence to July-October 1772 | |||||||||
| 6 | 13 | Correspondence to 1773 | |||||||||
| 6 | 14 | Correspondence to 1774-1775 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 7 | 1 | Correspondence to 1776-1784 | |||||||||
| 7 | 2 | Correspondence to 1785 | |||||||||
| 7 | 3 | Correspondence to 1786 | |||||||||
| 7 | 4 | Correspondence to 1787-1788 | |||||||||
| 7 | 5 | Correspondence to 1789-1791 | |||||||||
| 7 | 6 | Correspondence to 171793-1816 | |||||||||
| 7 | 7 | Correspondence to no date | |||||||||
| 7 | 8 | Correspondence to no date, envelope only | |||||||||
| Subseries 2. Business Correspondence from Johnson | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 7 | 9 | Correpondence from. 1750-1765 | |||||||||
| 7 | 10 | Correpondence from. 1766 | |||||||||
| 7 | 11 | Correpondence from. 1767 | |||||||||
| 7 | 12 | Correpondence from. 1768 | |||||||||
| 7 | 13 | Correpondence from. 1769 | |||||||||
| 7 | 14 | Correpondence from. January and February 1770 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | Correpondence from. February-December 1770 | |||||||||
| 8 | 2 | Correpondence from. 1771 | |||||||||
| 8 | 3 | Correpondence from. January-June 1772 | |||||||||
| 8 | 4 | Correpondence from. July-October 1772 | |||||||||
| 8 | 5 | Correpondence from. 1773 | |||||||||
| 8 | 6 | Correpondence from. 1774-1775 | |||||||||
| 8 | 7 | Correpondence from. 1780-1784 | |||||||||
| 8 | 8 | Correpondence from. 1785 | |||||||||
| 8 | 9 | Correpondence from. 1786-1787 | |||||||||
| 8 | 10 | Correpondence from. 1789-1795 | |||||||||
| 8 | 11 | Correpondence from. no date | |||||||||
| 8 | 12 | Transcriptions of correspondence. 1753-1785 | |||||||||
| Subseries 3. Letterbooks | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 8 | 13 | Letterbooks. June 1746-May 1748 | |||||||||
| 8 | 14 | Letterbooks. August 1748-November 1751 | |||||||||
| 8 | 15 | Letterbooks. November 1751-November 1759 | |||||||||
| 8 | 15 | Letterbooks. November 1759-January 1764 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 9 | 1 | Letterbooks. 1764-1774 | |||||||||
| Subseries 4. Family Correspondence to Johnson | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 9 | 2 | Family Correspondence to Johnson. 1755-1769 | |||||||||
| 9 | 3 | Family Correspondence to Johnson. 1785 | |||||||||
| 9 | 4 | Family Correspondence to Johnson. 1786-1787 | |||||||||
| 9 | 5 | Family Correspondence to Johnson. 1788-1817, no date | |||||||||
| 9 | 6 | Transcription of Family Correspondence to Johnson. 1762 | |||||||||
| Subseries 5. Family Correspondence from Johnson | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 9 | 7 | Family Correspondence from Johnson 1747-1759 | |||||||||
| 9 | 8 | Family Correspondence from Johnson 1763-1766 | |||||||||
| 9 | 9 | Family Correspondence from Johnson 1767 | |||||||||
| 9 | 10 | Family Correspondence from Johnson 1768 | |||||||||
| 9 | 11 | Family Correspondence from Johnson 1769 | |||||||||
| 9 | 12 | Family Correspondence from Johnson 1770 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | Family Correspondence from Johnson 1771-July 1785 | |||||||||
| 10 | 2 | Family Correspondence from Johnson August 1785-September 1787 | |||||||||
| 10 | 3 | Family Correspondence from Johnson October 1787-1792 | |||||||||
| 10 | 4 | Family Correspondence from Johnson 1793-1802, no date | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents Series III. Personal Papers1753-1830 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 10 | 5 | Editorial on inoculation. no date | |||||||||
| 10 | 6 | Financial papers, includes 3 items on Iron Works. 1753-1772 | |||||||||
| 10 | 7 | Financial Papers. 1774-1799, no date | |||||||||
| 10 | 8 | Account Books. 1765-1799 | |||||||||
| 10 | 9 | Debt Books. 1773-1784 | |||||||||
| 10 | 10 | Financial Memos. 1790-1803 | |||||||||
| 10 | 11 | Estate and Legal Records. 1753-1818 | |||||||||
| 10 | 12 | Estate and Legal Records. 1819-1827 | |||||||||
| 10 | 13 | Last Wills and Testaments. 1753-1796 | |||||||||
| 10 | 14 | Personal Papers. 1753-1765, no date | |||||||||
| 10 | 15 | Newspaper article about Johnson's life. 1830 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 11 | 1 | Collection of Epitaphs. 1771-1777, no date | |||||||||
| 11 | 2 | Memoranda. 1759-1791 | |||||||||
| 11 | 3 | Diaries. 1766-1767 | |||||||||
| 11 | 4 | Diaries. January 1768-May 1768 | |||||||||
| 11 | 5 | Diaries. May 1768-May 1769 | |||||||||
| 11 | 6 | Diaries. May 1769-April 1770 | |||||||||
| 11 | 7 | Diaries. April 1770-1771 | |||||||||
| 11 | 8 | Diaries. 1772-1774 | |||||||||
| 11 | 9 | Personal Memories. After 1771 | |||||||||
| 11 | 10 | Memoirs. Post 1800 | |||||||||