Historic New Orleans Collection

JOHNSON, Henry, a Senator and a Representative from Louisiana; born in Virginia September 14, 1783; pursued an academic course; studied law; admitted to the bar; moved to the Territory of Orleans in 1809 and became clerk of the second superior court of the Territory; district judge of the Parish Court 1811; delegate to the first State constitutional convention 1812; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1812 to the Thirteenth Congress; practiced law in Donaldsonville, La.; elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate in 1818 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William C.C. Claiborne; reelected in 1823 as an Adams-Clay Republican, and served from January 12, 1818, to May 27, 1824, when he resigned to become a gubernatorial candidate; chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Seventeenth Congress); Governor of Louisiana 1824-1828; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1829; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward D. White; reelected to the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Congresses and served from September 25, 1834, to March 3, 1839; unsuccessful Whig candidate for Governor in 1838 and 1842; again elected to the United States Senate, as a Whig, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Alexander Porter and served from February 12, 1844, to March 3, 1849; chairman, Committee on Pensions (Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for election in 1850 to the Thirty-second Congress; moved to New River, La., and continued the practice of law; died in the Parish of Pointe Coupee, La., September 4, 1864; interment on his plantation.