General Washington Johnston

General W. Johnston
General W. Johnston
Member of the Indiana Territory Legislature; from the Knox County, Indiana district
Member of the Indiana State Assembly; from the Knox County, Indiana district; 1821, 1822, 1826, 1829
Personal details
Born	General Washington Johnston; November 10, 1776; Culpepper County, Virginia
Died	October 26, 1833 (aged 56)
Education	Read law in Louisville, Kentucky
Occupation	Lawyer, legislator
Known for	Early settler and attorney of Vincennes, Indiana; Founder of Vincennes Masonic Lodge #1; Defendant in Clark vs. G.W. Johnston;
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Unit	William Henry Harrison
Battles/wars	Battle of Tippecanoe

General Washington Johnston (November 10, 1776 – October 26, 1833) was born in Culpeper County, Virginia. General was his given name.^[1] At the age of 17, he was among the first people to permanently settle in the wildness area of the Northwest Territory (1787–1803), in what is now Vincennes, Indiana.^[2] He read law in Louisville, Kentucky.^[2] In February 1799, he became the first man in the territory admitted to the bar.^[3]

Among Johnston's firsts in Vincennes and the Indiana Territory, he is generally considered the founder of Vincennes Masonic Lodge #1, F.&A.M. in 1809 (originally Vincennes Lodge #15 under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky).^[2] Johnston served several terms as Worshipful Master of Vincennes Lodge and many terms in different Grand Lodge offices.

Johnston served in the Territorial Legislature during the 1807 and 1808 sessions,^[1] and he fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.^[4]

He was the defendant in the landmark Indiana Supreme Court case of Mary Clark v. General W. Johnston. Johnston had purchased Mary Bateman Clark's indenture from Benjamin Harrison on October 24, 1816, the same year of the passage of the Constitution of Indiana, which prohibited slavery and indentured servitude. She was purchased for $350 and was to serve Johnston for 20 years. Johnston claimed that she voluntarily entered into the indenture arrangement. Clark sued for her freedom, and after losing in the Knox County Circuit Court, she appealed to the state Supreme Court, in Mary Clark v. G.W. Johnston. She was freed upon the justices's ruling that the constitution clearly stated that indentured servitude was prohibited in the state.^[5]

He served in the Indiana General Assembly in the years 1821, 1822, 1826, and 1829.^[1] During the 1822 session, he served as Speaker of the House. His most notable contribution might have occurred in 1808 when the Indiana Territory was considering allowing enslaved people to be brought into the state. The Legislature was evenly divided on the subject. Johnston, seeming to be pro-slavery, delivered a "forceful indictment against human slavery" that swayed the body and won the day.^[1]

He died at his home in 1833.^[2] A monument was established in the Greenlawn Cemetery in Vincennes by the Masons in 1923. It is a memorial to his service in Indiana.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Curtis G. Shake, General Washington Johnston; an Early Opponent of Slavery, The Builders Magazine (July 1929).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Smyth, Jessica (May 2017). "General Washington Johnston Record: Biographical Sketch, Collection SC 3266" (PDF). Indianapolis: Manuscript and Visual Collections Department, William Henry Smith Memorial Library, Indiana Historical Society. p. 3. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
^ Weston A. Goodspeed, preparer, History of Knox and Daviess Counties (Chicago: John Morris Company, 1886), 172-173.
^ Goodspeed, 208.
^ Williams, Sandra Boyd (1997). "The Indiana Supreme Court and the Struggle Against Slavery". Indiana Law Review. Symposium: The History of Indiana Courts: People, Legacy and Defining Moments. 30 (1): 307–310. doi:10.18060/3223.

[Shake-1] Curtis G. Shake, General Washington Johnston; an Early Opponent of Slavery, The Builders Magazine (July 1929).

[Smyth-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Smyth, Jessica (May 2017). "General Washington Johnston Record: Biographical Sketch, Collection SC 3266" (PDF). Indianapolis: Manuscript and Visual Collections Department, William Henry Smith Memorial Library, Indiana Historical Society. p. 3. Retrieved February 22, 2022.

[3] Weston A. Goodspeed, preparer, History of Knox and Daviess Counties (Chicago: John Morris Company, 1886), 172-173.

[4] Goodspeed, 208.

[Williams-5] Williams, Sandra Boyd (1997). "The Indiana Supreme Court and the Struggle Against Slavery". Indiana Law Review. Symposium: The History of Indiana Courts: People, Legacy and Defining Moments. 30 (1): 307–310. doi:10.18060/3223.

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v t e History of Indiana
Early history	Clovis Adena Hopewell Mississippian Beaver Wars European contact La Salle Expeditions French Rule
1700–1799	Vincennes Fort Miamis Ouiatenon French and Indian War British Rule Pontiac's War American Revolution George Rogers Clark Illinois campaign Clark's Grant Northwest Territory Wabash Confederacy Northwest Indian War Petit Fort
1800–1816	Indiana Territory Buffalo Trace Treaty of Vincennes Johnny Appleseed Treaty of Grouseland Indiana Rangers Tecumseh's War Battle of Tippecanoe War of 1812 Abolitionist movement Harmony 1st Indiana Canal Company Constitutional Convention
1817–1899	Statehood Polly v. Lasselle Mary Clark v. G.W. Johnston Treaty of St. Mary's Indian Removals Fall Creek massacre Bank of Indiana 2nd Indiana Canal Company Whitewater Canal Wabash and Erie Canal Public Works and Bankruptcy Underground Railroad Mexican-American War New Constitution Civil War Golden Age Eli Lilly & Company Reno Gang Gas boom Black Day of the General Assembly Indiana pi bill Golden Age of Literature
1900–1999	White Caps Elwood Haynes Indianapolis Motor Speedway World War I Indianapolis strike and riots Samuel Woodfill Indiana Klan Great Depression John Dillinger World War II Freeman Field mutiny Shipp & Smith lynchings Flood of 1937 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion Supreme Court Reorganization
Since 2000	Flood of 2008 Indiana State Fair stage collapse
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See also: History of the United States, History of the Midwestern United States and Portal:Indiana WikiProject Indiana's History Department

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