William Samuel
Johnson (1727-1819)
Beardsley,
E. E. Life and Times of William Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1876. Unusually accurate for
its day, but lacking the sophistication of Groce and of McCaughey,
below, which supersede it.
Benton,
William A. Whig-Loyalism: An Aspect of Political Ideology in
the American Revolutionary Era. Rutherford, N.J.: Farleigh-Dickinson
University Press, 1969. Benton deals with Whig-Loyalists in separate
essays. Johnson is one of them. Based on a University of Pennsylvania
dissertation under Richard Dunn. Farrell, John T., ed. The
Superior Court Diary of William Samuel Johnson, 1772-1773of the
Colony of Connecticut Washington, D.C.: American Historical
Association, 1942. See under "Law," above.
Greene,
Evarts B. "William Samuel Johnson and the American Revolution."
Columbia University Quarterly 22(June, 1930):157-78. An
excellent piece written by the man who supervised Groce's work,
listed below.
Groce,
George C. William Samuel Johnson, A Maker of the Constitution.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1937. This is a very reliable
work based on a Columbia doctoral dissertation. See Groce's excellent
bibliography, which includes items not listed here.
McCaughey,
Elizabeth P. From Loyalist to Founding Father: The Political
Odyssey of William Samuel Johnson. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1980. Based on an 824-page Columbia dissertation (1976),
this is a thorough, straightforward work. "Johnson's mild
temper, liberal understanding, and deep attachment to America—together
with a large measure of political astuteness—had enabled him to
serve his colony well, to dissent from Revolution and yet emerge
from the struggle unembittered, unharmed, and ready to lead his
countrymen in the quest for national unity. He was at once a devout
Churchman and a thorough New Englander, a loyalist and a true
patriot." (from the abstract) See also McCaughey's "William
Samuel Johnson, the Loyal Whig," in The American Revolution:
Changing Perspectives, W. M. Fowler and Wallace Coyle, eds.
(Boston, 1979).
Zeichner,
Oscar, ed. "Jeremy Belknap and the William Samuel Johnson
Correspondence." New England Quarterly 14(June, 1941)2:362-74.
In 1795, Belknap I wanted to publish the letters Johnson wrote
while he was Connecticut agent j in England. Johnson refused
permission. Some nice insights.
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