The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1888-02-18
James johnson.

Cecil county has sustained the loss
of valuable citizen in the death Of
him whose name heads this column,
and while we sincerely mourn the loss
of friend and associate, it is still a
pleasure to bear our testimony to the
many excellent qualities which distin-
guished him as man. We hove known
him for years intimately and well, and
have respected him for his sturdy devo.
ton to principle, his manly loyalty to
his friends, his cordial and genial man.
ners, and his considerate respect for
the opinions and feelings of others
James Johnson came of sturdy stock
of ancestors whose integrity Of charac-
ter and stern unyielding principle have
been perpetuated in their posterity.
The family of Leslies from whom he is
descended were distinguished in then
day for their intelligence and influence,
and numerous descendants of that
family are still living who owe to it the
possession of such qualities of mind
and heart as exert a powerful influence
in their immediate viclnities. Mr. John
son had no superiors and few equals in
what may be called the receptive quality
of his nature. He was IN every sense
of the term a self-educated man, and
although he had not enjoyed the advan
tages of a collegiate career or even of
an academic course, yet few men you
met had superior intellectual acquire
ments, or were better taught in those
essential matters which constitute the
basis of sound and practical educa-
ton. Very early in life he developed
fondness for politics and his tastes ran
in the line of debate and forensic dis
cussion. He was a diligent reader not
to say student of current polical litera-
ture and kept abreast OF his times in
his knowledge of the history and pro-
gress of great political movements.
Like his father he was an ardent Wing,
and devoted admirer of Henry Clay,
and the intense feeling of Americanism
which he had imbibed in that school,
led him upon the disbanding of the
old Wing party into the ranks of the
native American organization and later
upon the outbreak of the rebellion into
the ranks of what was then known IN
this county as the Union Working
Mems party. On the great humanitarian
questions of his day he was In advance
of his political associates IN this section
and his sincere conviction of the fallacy
of the divinity of slavery, and lis out
spoken admiration for the aggressive
boldness of Wendall Phillips and
Horace Greedy, brought him more than
once under the surveillance of the law
as interpreted under the old and
infamous black code of Maryland. 1t
was not difficult therefore to assign him
his place when the slave oligarchy of
the south undertook TO erect a govern
ment upon slavery as its corner stone.
He became at once an influential local
champion of Human Rights, and the
uncompromising advocate of the unity
of the nation whose protection he en-
joyed, and during the troublous times
of secession and disunion, he was ever
the unfinching defender of his coun-
try's honor and flag.
In his knowledge of the details and
data of local politics, Mr.. Johnson had
no superior. He had a wonderful
memory for the minutiae of political
history. He laid up unconsciouslY
in the store house of his memory an
accurate record of passing political