1808-1826
No President other than maybe Abraham Lincoln was born into such poverty as Andrew Johnson. Johnson was born on December 29th, 1808, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was the second son of Jacob Johnson, “an ignorant old man…”[1] Jacob Johnson could not read, nor write, and is depicted as a “poor white.”[2] Heretofore the birth of Andrew Johnson, Jacob had a son, named William, who was born in 1804[3]
To the life of Jacob Johnson, one biographer of Andrew Johnson wrote of him: “The most that may be said against Jacob Johnson, perhaps, was that he was a shiftless, improvident man, with little energy, and with little or no care about lifting himself and his family out of ignorance and social worthlessness.”[4] Later, Johnson’s political enemies attacked him for the possibility of him being a bastard. A lawyer from Tennessee started the rumors and they continued until it would be lost in time.
Andrew’s mother was named Mary McDonough, who had married Jacob in 1801. She was known as “Polly the Weaver” due to her experience as a laundress. Her father was a Revolutionary War hero who was also a native of North Carolina. [5]
The day of the birth of Andrew Johnson has been recorded. Someone asked Mary: “What are you going to name the Boy?” Mary replied: “Andrew Jackson Johnson.” So, Andrew Johnson was named after the war.[6] hero of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson. Raleigh was a small town—and was a very poor and rude town. But it had a sense of hospitality.
In Raleigh, there was a gap between the rich and the poor. Andrew was very young during the time of General Jackson’s rise to fame and eventually the presidency. Jackson would soon bring his influence on all of the United States, including down south. Jackson was a president of the “common man” thus appealing to many of them. So we are obliged to think that Johnson and his family were supporters of Andrew Jackson. This is also looking further into the life of Andrew Johnson—especially his career in Congress.
To explain the tribulation of the early life of Andrew Johnson, you would first need to think of how poor Johnson and his family were. The Johnsons were the lowest social class other than mulattos—Johnson even played outside with mulatto children.[7] The life of Andrew Johnson was bitter and sad, but Johnson always had high hopes—one biographer put it: “He might be disappointed but could not be defeated. If he were thwarted one day, he tried again the next. Obstacles only excited his energies, and where he tumbled to-day he would triumph to-morrow.”[8] Another wrote of their deprived social class: “Their social position was necessarily, from their pecuniary circumstances, of that grade which debarred them from all, save business intercourse, with their more wealthy and aristocratic neighbors.”[9]
Johnson’s birth home was mediocre, cramped, and had old dirty wooden floors; it had two or three rooms, one story, and was very narrow. The best part of the Johnson house was the sturdy brick chimney.[10] With modifications outside such as new paint, the Andrew Johnson birth home is still standing.
Johnson when he was in Congress, wrote to a Congressman: “If being poor was a crime, and I was before you as my judge upon trial, and the charge was read to me, and I was asked to put in my plea, I should have to plead that I was guilty; that I was a great criminal; that I had been born a criminal; and that I had lived a criminal a large portion of my life. Yes, I have wrestled with poverty, that gaunt and haggard monster. I have met it in the day and night. I have felt his withering approach and his blighting influence; but did I feel myself a criminal? No; I felt that I was chastened, and that I was an honest man, and that I would rescue myself from the grasp of the monster.”[11]
By the time Andrew Johnson was three[12], his father would die thus leaving his mother alone to raise two growing boys. Jacob died after saving three men from drowning. The boatmen accidentally rooked the boat to where it tipped upside down burying them from under the boat; so, Jacob took a dip in the pond and saved all three men. After the event, he would die from it supposedly being too weak—so weak that his heart stopped.[13]
The daily paper The Raleigh Star, wrote of the heroic death of Jacob Thomas. It reported:
Died, in this city on Saturday last, Jacob Johnston, who for many years occupied a humble but useful station. He was the city constable, sexton, and porter to State Bank. In his last illness he was visited by the principal inhabitants of the city, by all of whom he was esteemed for his honesty, sobriety, industry, and his humane friendly disposition. Among all among whom he was known and esteemed, none lament him, except perhaps his own relatives, more than the publisher of the of this newspaper, for he woes his life of a particular occasion to the kindness and humanity of Johnson.”[14]
Due to his heroic actions that cold winter day, he was commemorated in a monument. At the bottom, an engraving which states: “In memory of Jacob Johnson. An Honest man, loved and respected by all who knew him.”[15] Jacob also gained credit for his service in the North Carolina state militia. [16]
With the death of her husband, Mary was left in tremendous financial turmoil. So, for money, she would weave and spin clothing. Sooner or later, she received the right amount of money to head to Tennessee.[17]
On August 14th, 1814, Willaim was placed in an apprenticeship[18] with a friend of Mary’s new husband. After Henderson died, William was relocated to J.J. Shelby—by now, Andrew was now 14 so he was eligible for an apprenticeship.[19] The contract is as follows:
Ordered that Andrew Johnson an orphan boy the son of Jacob Johnson decd., 14 years of age, be bound to James J. Selby untill he arrive to lawfull age to learn the trade of a Taylor.[20]
Johnson was not a very noble apprentice. He had the utmost insubordination but seldom did he not listen to his master. In the mindset of James Selby, this was his way of getting free labor out of the boy and for the boy to receive an education in a trade. In this case, the trade was tailoring.
Before he was signed up for this apprenticeship, he supposably learned the first few letters of the alphabet;[21] but Johnson would never receive a formal education. He would never go to a college either. Johnson only learned what he picked up. Johnson learned to somewhat read while attempting to read “The American Speaker.” He was gifted this book by a customer of the Tailors Shack. The man taught and read out loud the words on the page thus learning how to read the book. [22]
The man who taught him how to read, named Mr. Litchfield said to an early biographer: “…he [Andrew] deserves unbounded credit, for some people say as how they had a grand start, and I reckon he started underground.” [23] This eyewitness account proves the agony of the life of Andrew Johnson. “He is described as a wild ‘harum-scarum boy,’ but had no ‘unhonorable traits about him.’”[24]
Johnson as a boy, was wild—he would jump fences—climb trees—Mr. Litchfield recalled that, “He was exceedingly restless, and his activity in climbing fences, trees, etc., with the natural sequence thereof of tearing his clothing, was a great source of trouble to his mistress.”[25] It was one day, after a little over two years in his apprenticeship, Andrew and his brother William were caught into trouble with a lady named Mrs. Wells. It became so had, that Mrs. Wells threatened to sue the boys and Mr. Sleby. So, the Johnson brothers left Raleigh thus running away from their master. The master, James J. Selby post this in the Raleigh Star,
“RAN AWAY from the Subscriber, on the night of the 15th instant, two apprentice boys, legally bound, named WILLIAM and ANDREW JOHNSON. The former is of a dark complexion, black hair, eyes, and habits. They are much of a height, about 5 feet 4 or 5 inches. The latter is very fleshy, freckled face, light hair, and fair complexion. . . . They were well clad — blue cloth coats, light colored homespun coats, and new hats, the maker’s name in the crown of the hats, is Theodore Clark. I will pay the above reward to any person who will deliver said apprentices to me in Raleigh, or I will give the above Reward for Andrew Johnson alone.
All persons are cautioned against harboring or employing said apprentices on pain of being persecuted. [26]
Thus, Andrew and his older brother were left to walk, barefooted, to Carthage. They were never to return to their apprenticeship. But Andrew was still interested in becoming a tailor. Here, in Moore County, he would become a journeyman. They would live in a rented shack for a few months. [27]
With him on this journey, was his mother, who had left him a few years earlier. Johnson would become self-employed for a time. He ran his own tailor’s shack—this business seemed very lucrative to poor Andrew Johnson; however, running away from his apprenticeship made Johnson and his brother a criminal; thus, they were scared of James Sleby looking for them—as Raleigh was just 75 miles away from Carthage. So, Johnson and his family moved to South Carolina.
They only inhabited South Carolina for two years.[28] At Laurens, South Carolina, this is where a considerable amount of annals of Andrew Johnson begins. When he arrived at Laurens, he went straight to the Courthouse—here, he found employment as a journeyman tailor once more. Here, in Laurens, South Carolina, he met a girl named Mary Wood[29], whom he had fallen in love with. She was aware of his poverty; however, it was too much for her. They never married nor courted.
Andrew and his brother’s life began to fall. He had no sense of money and none coming in. He barely knew how to read or write, and was jobless; so, he and his brother made the decision to head back to Raleigh where they would finish their apprenticeship. After heading back to Raleigh, they were stricken with the news that Selby had relocated his shop and had handed over the ownership to a friend.
Then one day, when Andrew was thinking of going into an apprenticeship with Litchford, Selby was there waiting for him.[30] Andrew was so scared by the presence of Sleby that, he decided to leave North Carolina and head to Tennessee. Therefore, John was to head to Tennessee with barely any money, or education—and with his family—who relied on him for financial stability which was ever present.
Therefore, they headed down to Tennessee, with no sort of adequate transportation, or any sense of hope. At best, they had a rude and cramped buggy they borrowed.[31] Along with the Johnson brothers, were their mother and her new Husband. Together, they climbed mountains—transition who could fit in the buggy.[32]
After a day of traveling, they stopped and slept; while trying to find a place to sleep, they attempted to sleep in whatever they could find for warmth such as leaves and anything they had brought on the journey. For food, Andrew and William fought a bear—then skinned it and cooked it over a fire.[33] After a few days of traveling, they finally reached their location of choice. At Greensville, Tennessee—about seventy miles from Knoxville, they settled.
At Greensville, Tennessee, people worked for a living—nothing else more. Johnson had no other options in life other than to work. It was a place with a high social class line as well—Aristocrats roamed as much as Jacksonian men. By this time in Johnson’s life, Andrew Jackson was taking over the government with his persuasion to many people. Eventually, the Democratic Party would be established—Johnson, thereafter, would be affiliated with the Democrats.
The year of Johnson’s failed escape from his apprenticeship, Johnson had a hard defeat against John Quincy Adams, son of former president, John Adams. It was called a “Corrupt Bargain” due to Jackson’s supporters thinking that Henry Clay rigged the election in order for him to claim the office of Secretary of State.
The Presidential election of 1824 was one of the most vicious ones in American History. This election was the first time that people had to pick sides on someone who was not a Virginia man and an Adams from Braintree. The results of the Election were inclusive—Jackson with 99 electoral votes—John Quincy Adams with 84—Willaim H. Crawford of Georgia with 42—and Henry Clay of Kentucky with 37.[34] Jackson had won the popular vote; however, he did not win a majority of the electoral votes to secure the presidency. Thus, the race went to the House of Representatives according to the 12th Amendment. The top there candidates would be in the race for this new vote—that meant Henry Clay was out of the race. Also, William H. Crawford had a stroke during the campaign season so he was stuck in bed—so it was a battle against Adams and Jefferson.
With Clay being Speaker of the House, Clay used his superiority to get people to vote for John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams would win that new vote and thus secure the presidency for four years. Jacksons’ first comments on the results were in a letter to a correspondent. He wrote:
…for the little liesure I have had since my arrival at this place your letter of the 10th would have been earlier replied to. I assure you my dear Sir that so far as my feelings stand staked on the late contest before the American people, I feel myself greatly gratified, and amply remunerated against every thing of unpleasantness, which abuse and slander has heaped upon me, in the recollection and hope, that my friends have been actuated by the fairest motives. I recollect with pride and pleasure that in no one instance have I sought either by promise or management to draw to myself the good opinion of a single individual in society—[35]
Andrew Johnson was not at the age of voting yet in 1824; but when Johnson reached Tennessee, the state where the Hermitage resided, he must have become a devout of Andrew Jackson. The poor, such as Johnson, appealed to the Jacksonian movement—the movement to empower the poor—and conquer the rich. Jackson and Johnson have relatable childhoods in a sense. They were both orphaned at a young age—really had no one to rely on other than themselves—had no sense of security until they got older—were insecure about their spelling and writing abilities—and eventually climbed themselves to the highest office of the land.
Johnson would, for the rest of his life support Jackson, and Jackson’s eventual predecessor but in this election, he voted for Hugh Lawson White.[36] But Johnson later in his life, would continue the legacy of Andrew Jackson.
[1] Life and Times of Andrew Johnson by John Irelan, 14. This Biography is from a little-known series of 18 volumes by one man who wrote for an inexpungible amount of time on President George Washington—Andrew Johnson. This is a palatable-sized book that has been long out of print but stands well for a single volume on President Andrew Johnson.
[2] Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 4. This is the traditional Biography published and produced by the time of The Andrew Johnson Papers project.
[3] Also, a sister of Andrew, Elizabeth was born but died without being preserved in the history books. Johnson would not talk a lot about his siblings probably because of how briefly he knew them.
[4] Life and Times of Andrew Johnson by John Irelan, 14. This seems to be a very harsh account of the father of Andrew Johnson. Hans Trefousse is more lenient on the image of Jacob Johnson by calling him and Mary Johnson, “average working people—” Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse, 18. Almost all of the biographies of Johnson, however, are fairly harsh on Jacob.
[5] Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse, 19. This Biography is one of the modern interpretations of the Life of Andrew Johnson. It is the most detailed account of the early life of Andrew Johnson and his parents.
[6] Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 4.
[7] Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse, The statement that young Johnson played with mulatto children is on page 21.
[8] The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, Including His State Papers, Speeches, and Addresses by John Savage, 14.
[9] Life, Speeches, and Services Of Andrew Johnson. Seventeenth of The United States Published by T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 22.
[10] For the best description of the birth home of Andrew Johnson, see: The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, Including His State Papers, Speeches, and Addresses by John Savage, 17 in the footnotes.
[11] The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, Including His State Papers, Speeches, and Addresses by John Savage, 318.—Also found: Andrew Johnson: A Study in Courage, by Lloyd Paul Stryker, 2.
[12] Older Biographers say he was five years old at the time of his father’s death. It was most certainly 3 years old as the Newspaper which announced his father’s death was dated January 1812.
[13] Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse, for the incident of Jacob Johnsons’ death see pages 19-20. Also— Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 7.
[14] Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse, quote from a news paper named The Raleigh Star. Located on page 20. See also The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, Including His State Papers, Speeches, and Addresses by John Savage, 13—This one of the earliest biographies of President Johnson as the publication date was 1866.
[15] Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 7.
[16] Andrew Johnson: A Study in Courage, by Lloyd Paul Stryker, 2. This biography is the most comprehensive study of the life of Andrew Johnson.
[17] During the time between Andrews’s father’s death, Mary remarried to Turner Daugherty a few months later. See— Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 8.
[18] The best guess for why Mary left her children in an apprenticeship is answered differently. Robert Winston writes of the incident: “The Burden of supporting the family was too heavy for her, however, and on August 14, 1814, she disposed of Bill by apprenticing him to Colonel Thomas Henderson.”— Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 8.
[19] There are certain debates on when Andrew was placed in an apprenticeship before the publication of the Andrew Johnson papers; furthermore, he was 14 when he was placed as quoted from the apprenticeship contract.
[20] The Paper of Andrew Johnson edited by Leroy P. Graf and Ralph W. Haskins et. al eds., Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1967-2000 (16 volumes)— Indenture to James J. Selby, February 18th, 1822— 1:3
[21] Life and Times of Andrew Johnson by John Irelan, 18.
[22] Life and Times of Andrew Johnson by John Irelan, 19. More information on: Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 9.
[23] The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, Including His State Papers, Speeches, and Addresses by John Savage, 15-17. This citation was a footnote of a meeting with the person who taught Andrew Johnson how to read.
[24]The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, Including His State Papers, Speeches, and Addresses by John Savage, 15-17. Ibid.
[25] The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, Including His State Papers, Speeches, and Addresses by John Savage, 15-17. Ibid.
[26] The Paper of Andrew Johnson edited by Leroy P. Graf and Ralph W. Haskins et. al eds., Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1967-2000 (16 volumes)— Notice of Runaway Apprentices, February 18th, 1822— 1:3
[27] More information on Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 11. Also found on: Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse, 23.
[28] Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse, 23.
[29]According to a modern Biographer (Hans Trefousse), the name of Johnson first love was Mary. Found on— Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse, 23. But according to an older biographer, Obert W. Winston, her name is Sarah Word— Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 11. I am obliged to think that Johnson’s first love was named Mary Wood. There is just so little information on the matter that it is hard to differentiate the two. And even older Biographers don’t give a name to this mystery woman.
[30] Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 12.
[31] More information on Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 13.
[32] The possible number of two could fit in that rude buggy—See Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 13.
[33] Andrew Johnson: Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 13.
[34] John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was placed on both the Adams and Jackson ticket for Vice President—the only time for this phenomenon to occur in American History.
[35] Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, edited by John Spencer Bassett, in Six Volumes, 3:268—Andrew Jackson to Samuel Swartwout, December 14th, 1824.
[36] Plebeian and Patriot by Robert W. Winston, 26. I am oblige to think that Johnson, when eligible to vote, voted for Jackson—the Abundance of information before 1836 is the reason for this statement. But what is certain is that Johnson voted for Hugh Lawson White in 1836—instead of Van Buren.
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