Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Samuel Johnson (b. 1826 - d. 1929)
MSA SC 3520-3461
USCT Soldier, Howard County, Maryland

Biography:


    Samuel Johnson was born in 1826 near Curtis Bay, in Anne Arundel County on the south side of Patapsco River.1 Although born a free man, Johnson was bound out by his mother to work for a man named Isaac Benjamin until the age of 21.2 Finding work where he could, Johnson became a fisher and crabber along the bay, getting down to Potato Neck, Virginia.3 Johnson moved to Baltimore and married Susan Johnson. Johnson worked in Baltimore for 8 years; during the summer season he worked in a brick yard owned and operated by Mr. George Robinson.4 During the winter season, Johnson worked in the Oyster House shucking oysters for Mr. Maltby.5 Johnson married Susan Waters; Waters was born on September 14th 1837 in Somerset County Maryland.6    

    Johnson was drafted into Company C of the 39th United States Colored Infantry on June 28th 1864, and mustered out on December 4th, 1865.7 The 39th USCT was organized in Baltimore in March of 1864.8 The unit notably participated in the Federal Point, Hatcher’s Run, Bermuda Hundred, both expeditions to Fort Fisher, The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill, and the Capture of Wilmington.9 The regiment saw significant short range combat in the Battle of the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg.10


    The Siege of Petersburg was a nine month effort by Union officials from June of 1864 to March of 1865 to cut off supplies from Petersburg to Richmond, the Confederacy’s capital.11 The Battle of the Crater was a significant assault by the Union troops during the Siege of Petersburg. Union troops dug under the Petersburg battlefield at the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pleasants and set up four tons of gunpowder to explode under the confederate banks.12 The gunpowder exploded on July 30th 1864, leading to a massive entanglement with a high casualty roll.13 Presumably, Johnson was hit by a piece of shrapnel from the mine explosion.


    Johnson contracted rheumatism, a nonspecific medical term for muscle and joint pain, on route from Fort Fisher to Raleigh North Carolina in the spring of 1865.14 From June 26th to July 25th 1865, Johnson was treated in Fort Hospital at New Bern, North Carolina for intermittent fever and September 12th to October 23rd 1865 for chronic rheumatism at Petersburg, Virginia in August 1864.15


    In 1865, Johnson was pulled out of the hospital because the regiment was to be mustered out.16 Markedly deteriorated, Johnson suffered from severe rheumatism for the rest of his life. Johnson commented on his poor physical condition after the war, stating that “at no time since discharge been able to do half what I could do in 1864”.17


    Over the course of his life, Johnson lived in seven different places. Johnson probably had to move so many times because of his rheumatic condition, which would have made it difficult to find work and maintain a living. From 1866 to 1868, Johnson lived on Parte Street near Clay in Baltimore. From 1871 to 1882, Johnson lived on Little Sharp Street. From 1884 to 1885, Johnson lived on Jasper Street near New Street. From 1886 to 1889, Johnson lived at 445 Little Monument Street. During 1889, Johnson lived at 510 Moores Alley, in Baltimore Maryland. Johnson lived at both 221 North Liberty Street and 539 Orchard Street in Baltimore during the year 1898. Johnson moved in with his brother-in-law Leonard Waters for the next eight years, beginning one year after his service.18


    On February 16th 1889, Johnson applied for an invalid pension but was rejected “upon the opinion of the Medical Referee, to wit: ‘Rheumatism rejected no pensionable disability since filing claim’”.19 In 1889, Johnson was rejected again because he was considered in fair condition; the rheumatism and intermittent fever he applied for did not warrant a pension. However, Johnson became eligible for government money under the Act of June 27th 1890, which allotted pensions to disabled veterans even if their disability was deemed unrelated to the war.20 On May 3rd 1892 he began receiving $6 per month. An increase to $8 in 1890 was for severe rheumatism in spine, shoulders, disease of the heart, senility, and “general breaking down of health”.21 Johnson was rendered unable to perform any manual labor; he required assistance for almost everything, including dressing himself. Johnson applied for an invalid pension in 1886 and received compensation of $2 per month for his service. Johnson applied for an increase in 1889 and received $6. Applying for increases in both 1890 and 1898, Johnson increased his pension rate to $8 and $12 per month, respectively.22 In 1896, Johnson suffered a stroke, and was unable to work due to dementia. Samuel Johnson died on July 14th 1929 at 538 Orchard Street of Paralysis, and was buried at Loudon Park National Cemetery.23


    Several statutes enacted by Congress widened the berth for eligibility and compensation for widows of veterans. Mrs. Susan Johnson lived off of her widow’s pension for the remainder of her life. Mrs. Johnson became eligible for a $20 pension under the Act of September 8, 1916 and successfully applied on November 2, 1916. On August 4th 1926, Mrs. Johnson successfully applied for an increase to $50 per month under the Act of July 3, 1926.24 Mrs. Johnson died on February 14th, 1929; she is buried with her husband. Mrs. Bell Ewell, Susan Johnson’s niece, took responsibility for the funeral expense of Mrs. Susan Johnson.25


Endnotes:

1. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 32.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid. 

4. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 81.

5. Ibid. 

6. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 107.

7. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 56.

8. National Park Service. "39th United States Colored Infantry." The Civil War. National Park Service, Department of the Interior, 2013. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.

9. Ibid. 

10. Ibid. 

11. Ibid. 

12. Ibid. 

13. Ibid. 

14. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 56.

15. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 60.

16. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 56.

17. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 102.

18. Ibid. 

19. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 35.

20. Wilson, Gil. "The Disability Act of June 27, 1890." The Disability Act of June 27, 1890. Dr. Bronson History, 2013. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.

21. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 51.

22. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 141.

23. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 26.

24. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 15.

25. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Samuel Johnson, Box 30, Folder 4, Page 40.


Written and Researched by Daniel Ingham, 2013.

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