Sold – Jefferson Notifies Thomas Johnson of His Appointment As 6th Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Thomas Johnson was a member of the Continental Congress from Maryland and served on its Committee of Safety, which was responsible for military and defensive matters. In that capacity, on June 15, 1775, he placed George Washington’s name in nomination for commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. In January 1776, Johnson was chosen brigadier-general of his state’s militia and returned home. Although he was not in Congress to sign the Declaration of Independence, he strongly supported it and was a draftsman of Maryland’s own declaration. When General Washington was in retreat through New Jersey in 1776, he sent an urgent appeal to General Johnson to re-enforce him, saying that he had not men enough to fight the enemy, and too few to run away with. Johnson immediately embodied and organized 1,800 militia in the western counties and led them in person to the relief of the hard-pressed Washington. This was noted by Washington, who was not the kind of man to forget such reliability and dedication.

On February 14, 1777, Johnson was elected the first governor of Maryland. He was twice reelected to that office. In the 1780’s he held a number of judicial posts and served in the Maryland Assembly. In this same time period, he was a supporter and director of the Potomac Company, which was formed to make the Potomac River navigable to its western reaches and thus open up the western lands to settlement and trade. George Washington was a fellow director of that enterprise and worked closely with him. Johnson was later a member of the Maryland convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States, of which he was an ardent supporter. On the organization of the judiciary under the new U.S. government, Johnson was appointed chief judge of the Maryland General Court. Then fate intervened, and his old friend, President Washington, lured him to federal service. Initially he was a commissioner to plan and erect the new Federal City being built on the Potomac.

Then, on November 1, 1791, George Washington nominated Thomas Johnson to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed the appointment on November 7, 1791, and the appointment paperwork was then prepared and signed by the President. On November 10, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson officially notified Johnson of his appointment as the High Court’s 6th Justice. This letter is that official notice.

Letter Signed, Philadelphia, November 10, 1791, to Johnson. “The President of the United States desiring to avail the public of your services as one of the associate Justices of the Supreme Court, have now the honor of enclosing you the commission, and of expressing to you the sentiments of perfect esteem with which I am…Thomas Jefferson.”

Back then, even Supreme Court Justices were required to do some circuit-riding. This Johnson found an ordeal and he resigned after only 14 months on the Court. Despite the brevity of his service, Johnson made an important mark, as he has the honor of having written the Supreme Court’s first reported opinion, Georgia v. Brailsford (1792).