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James Slidell Johnson


Other Name:
James Johnson
Gender:
Male
Born:
May 20, 1796
Died:
July 27, 1865
Home Town:
Charleston, SC
Later Residences:
Lynchburgh, SC
Marriage(s):
Eleanor Reid Johnson (April 5, 1820)
Biographical Notes:
James Sidell Johnson was the son of William and Sarah (Nightingale) Johnson. During the Revolutionary War, his father was imprisoned by the British and his family was exiled to Philadelphia, PA.

Johnson was prepared for college by the Rev. Moses Waddell at the Willington Academy in the Abbeyville District of South Carolina. After attending the Litchfield Law School, James returned to South Carolina. He found legal practice unappealing and soon abandoned the law to engage in the hay and grain business. He is buried in the western yard of St. Michael's Church in Charleston, SC.

Education
Years at LLS:
1816-1817
Other Education:
Studied in preparation for college with Rev. Moses Waddel and attended the Willington Academy. He graduated from South Carolina College in 1815.

Profession / Service
Profession:
Business; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
South Carolina in 1819
State Posts:
State Assessor for St. Philip's and St. Michael's Parishes (SC) 1853-1862

Related Objects and Documents
Other:
help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Handwritten list by William Samuel Johnson, Catalogue of the Students at Law in the school at Litchfield Conn. at & after Aug. 15th 1817, Connecticut Historical Society, Johnson Family Papers, 1722-1863, Box - Johnson Papers.

Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849.

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