Robert Ward Johnson

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Robert Johnson
Confederate States Senator from Arkansas
In office February 18, 1862 – May 10, 1865
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
United States Senator from Arkansas
In office July 6, 1853 – March 3, 1861
Preceded by	Solon Borland
Succeeded by	Charles Mitchel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's At-large district
In office March 4, 1847 – March 4, 1853
Preceded by	Thomas Newton
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1814-07-02)July 2, 1814 Scott County, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	July 26, 1879(1879-07-26) (aged 65) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Sarah Frances Smith Laura Smith
Alma mater	St. Joseph's College, Kentucky

Portrait of Johnson in his younger years.

Portrait of Johnson c. 1865.

Robert Ward Johnson (July 22, 1814 – July 26, 1879) was an attorney and politician, elected Democratic United States Senator and Confederate States Senator from the state of Arkansas.

Early life and education [edit]

Robert Ward Johnson was born in Scott County, Kentucky to a politically prominent family. His siblings included a sister Juliette.

His paternal uncles were Richard Mentor Johnson, a US Representative and Senator, and Vice President of the United States under Martin Van Buren; and his brothers James Johnson and John Telemachus, who were each elected as US Representatives from Kentucky.

In 1821 when Robert was seven, his parents moved the family to Arkansas Territory, where they settled in Little Rock. The boy was later sent back to Kentucky to study at Choctaw Academy and St. Joseph's College in Bardstown.

Marriage and family [edit]

Johnson married Sarah Smith in 1836, with whom he had six children. Three survived to adulthood. Sarah died in 1862, during the American Civil War.

The next year, Johnson at the age of 49 married her younger sister, Laura Smith. They had no children.

Career [edit]

After college, Johnson returned to Little Rock, Arkansas. He studied law as a legal apprentice and was admitted to the bar in 1835. He soon became involved in Democratic Party politics. He was elected as the prosecuting attorney for Little Rock and served from 1840 to 1842. He effectively acted as the state's attorney.

His sister Juliette married Ambrose Hundley Sevier, who was later elected as US Senator from Arkansas. Both Sevier and Johnson became part of The Family, interrelated men who dominated state politics and its national representation in the antebellum years.

Prior to the Civil War, Johnson moved to Helena, Arkansas, in the Mississippi Delta, where he established his law practice. Johnson was elected from there to the Thirtieth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second Congresses. He became chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs. His brother-in-law Sevier was chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Johnson declined to run for reelection in 1852. He was appointed by the legislature to the United States Senate to fill the unexpired term of Senator Solon Borland. He was elected by the legislature to the seat in 1855 and served until 3 March 1861.

After the outbreak of the American Civil War, he served as a delegate to the Provisional Government of the Confederate States in 1862. He served as a member of the Confederate Senate from 1862 to 1865.

The war ended Sevier's political career and ruined him economically. After the war, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. Returning to Arkansas, he ran unsuccessfully for reelection to the Senate in 1878, after the end of the Reconstruction era.

Robert Ward Johnson died in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1879. He is buried in the historic Mount Holly Cemetery there.

See also [edit]

• The Family (Arkansas politics)

External links [edit]

• Robert Ward Johnson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Robert Ward Johnson at Find A Grave
• Robert Ward Johnson at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture

v t e United States Senators from Arkansas Class 2 Fulton Ashley Sebastian McDonald Clayton Garland Berry Davis Heiskell Kavanaugh Robinson Miller Spencer McClellan Hodges D. Pryor Hutchinson M. Pryor Class 3 Sevier Borland Johnson Mitchel Rice Dorsey Walker Jones Clarke Kirby T. Caraway H. Caraway Fulbright Bumpers Lincoln Boozman