Elijah Johnson

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Elijah Johnson (ca. 1789 [A] – March 23, 1849) was an African American who was one of the first colonial agents of the American Colonization Society in what would later become Liberia. He was probably born in New Jersey, received some limited schooling in New Jersey and New York, served as a soldier in the War of 1812 and studied for the Methodist ministry. He had two children out of wedlock, Lewis Johnson (1810 – 1838) and Charles Johnson (born 1812). He latter married and had one daughter Elizabeth (born 1818) with his wife Mary Johnson.[1]

In 1820 Johnson emigrated on the ship Elizabeth to West Africa and landed on Sherbro Island in what is today Sierra Leone. The settler had a difficulty surviving, with many including his wife Mary dying from Malaria and yellow fever. In 1821 the surviving settlers moved to Providence Island near what is today Monrovia. There he married Rachel Wright (born ca. 1798), with whom he had several other children, including Hilary Johnson, who would become the eleventh President of Liberia in 1884.[2]

Johnson became the colonial agent of the American Colonization Society after the death of the white first colonial agent Eli Ayers and his black successor Frederick James. He served in this role from June 4, 1822 until August 8, 1822 and again from April 2, 1823 until August 14, 1823 and was replaced by Jehudi Ashmun. He was then appointed Commissary of Stores, but was still active in politics. In 1847 he was one of the signers of the Liberian Declaration of Independence. Johnson died in 1849 in White Plains, a missionary station in the interior of Liberia. [3]

[edit] Notes

[A] According to the ship records[4] and the 1843 census of Liberia[2]. Other sources cite as a birth date ca 1780.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Rauh Bethel, Elizabeth (1999). The Roots of African-American Identity: Memory and History in Antebellum. Macmillan Publishers, 223. ISBN 0312218362. 
  2. ^ a b Christine's Genealogy Website. Census of the Colony of Liberia - September 1843. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  3. ^ (1849) The African Repository, Volume 25. American Colonization Society, 246-248. 
  4. ^ Christine's Genealogy Website. Ship Elizabeth's company, arrived at Sierra Leone March 9, 1820. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.