Essex County NJ Archives Biographies.....John Lawrence JOHNSON, 1847 - 1915
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 8, 2008, 8:26 am

Author: Mary Depue Ogden, Editor  (1917)

JOHNSON, Judge John Lawrence,
Lawyer, Jurist, Progressive Citizen.

  It cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent factors
in public affairs than any other class in the community, and this is but the
natural result of causes which are manifest and which require no explanation.
The ability and training which qualify one to practice law, also qualify him in
many respects for duties which lie outside the strict path of his profession,
and which touch the general interests of society. The keen discernment and the
habits of logical reasoning and of arriving at accurate deductions so necessary
to the successful lawyer enable him to view correctly important public questions
and to manage intricate business affairs successfully. Holding marked prestige
among the members of the bar of the State of New Jersey, the late Judge John
Lawrence Johnson, of Verona, Essex county, was for many years numbered among its
leading practitioners, and his connection with its litigated interests was of a
most important and extensive character. Not only did he attain to an eminent
position in connection with his chosen calling, but his marked intellectuality
and fitness for leadership was beneficially felt in other directions, especially
in the field of education. He was a man remarkable in the breadth of his wisdom,
in his indomitable perseverance and his strong individuality, and he possessed a
weight of character, a native sagacity, a farseeing judgment and a fidelity of
purpose that commanded the respect of all.

  Judge John Lawrence Johnson, of Scotch-Irish descent, and son of William Pitt
and Abigail Adaline (Bell) Johnson, was born at Heuvelton, St. Lawrence county,
New York, May 16,1847, and died March 25, 1915, at his home in Verona, Essex
county, New Jersey. From his earliest years he was of an earnest and studious
disposition, and made the best use of the limited educational advantages offered
by the schools of his native town, and the study of mathematics always had an
especial attraction for him. Having reached a stage where the schools of
Heuvelton no longer benefited him, he became a student of the New York
Gouverneur Seminary, and then entered the State Normal Academy at Albany, from
which he was graduated January 31, 1871. In the same year he went to Verona, New
Jersey, with which town his subsequent life was identified. For a time he was
engaged in teaching school, then was appointed tutor of mathematics in the
famous Stevens School of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, and in 1873 was
offered and accepted the tutorship of mathematics in the high school at Newark,
and during his incumbency of this office he introduced many improvements in the
system of instruction which have been approved by competent judges and have been
adopted by other institutions of a similar kind. Many of his pupils are at the
present day filling positions of responsibility and honor, and it is one of
their pleasurable memories that they were at one time under the tuition of Judge
Johnson.

  An ardent spirit of laudable ambition would not, however, permit Mr. Johnson
to rest content in this limited field for his activities. For a long time he had
felt that in the legal profession he would be able to accomplish more for the
general good than in any other line of activity, and he had read law with
avidity for some time. With the idea that in the west, a rapidly growing
country, an ambitious young man could advance with proportionate rapidity, he
went to Iowa in 1876, and in the same year was admitted to the bar. He did not,
however, find conditions for advancement there as he had been led to expect, and
accordingly returned to Newark at the end of six months and resumed his duties
as Professor of Mathematics in the High School, retaining this position until
1883, when he resigned it in order to assume the duties and responsibilities of
public office. In that year he had been appointed by Governor George C. Ludlow
as one of the lay judges of the Essex County Court of Common Pleas for a term of
five years, and, while faithfully discharging the duties of his public office,
entered his name as a law student in the office of the late Aram G. Sayre, and
was admitted to the bar of the New Jersey Supreme Court, February 7, 1886. His
term of office as lay judge expired in 1888, and he at once opened an office for
private practice in Newark, where his prestige as a judge resulted in his
obtaining a large and lucrative practice in a comparatively short period of
time, and this increased consistently in the course of years. Some years later,
when the increased demands of his growing clientele made it impossible for Judge
Johnson to personally take charge of all the cases entrusted to him, he admitted
Scott Germain to a partnership, and the firm practiced under the style of
Johnson & Germain.

  When Judge Johnson took up his residence in Verona, it was but a small hamlet,
and he took a prominent part in the development which resulted in its first
growing into a village, and then becoming incorporated with borough privileges.
He was a member of St. John's Lodge. No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons, of Newark,
having served this lodge as past master; and was a member of Damascus
Commandery, Knights Templar. Every movement, whether moral, educational or
religious, had his earnest and undivided support.

  Judge Johnson married (first) in 1872, Sarah Alice, who died in 1879, a
daughter of Stephen Personette, of French Huguenot descent, and by this marriage
there were two children. He married (second) in November, 1880, Alice L.
Thornton, and this union was blessed with one child, Maria J.

  Nowhere are the evidences of Judge Johnson's public-spiritedness and his
ability to accomplish public benefits morel easily recognized than in the town
which he chose for his home. The very trolley by which one reaches Verona is a
monument to his energy and ability. The Erie train, as it winds its way along
the undulating western hill, also pays tribute to the man who worked hard and
long for its coming. No one put a higher value upon town improvements than did
this man, who also loved the birds, and yearly provided for their food in his
plantings. No one so utterly disregarded his own fatigue in the battle to win.
Neither time nor money nor strength counted—to secure was all. Judge Johnson
planned and accomplished the first brick school house. He was the inspiration
and founder of the First Presbyterian Church in Verona, and its principal
financial support during the struggle of its first few years. He secured the
money for the first Public Library in Verona, which was placed in the new brick
school house. Later he gave generously in ability and support to the Library,
which has since become the Free Public Library of Verona, housed in the public
school, which has twice been enlarged since Judge Johnson planted the trees in
front of the first brick school house. For years he was the president of the
Board of Education and always maintained an interest in school affairs. The
school children were his friends, and he was theirs—a loyal champion always. The
Verona Building and Loan Association was started and organized by him, and he
was its counsel for many years.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

MEMORIAL CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF MARY DEPUE OGDEN

VOLUME III
MEMORIAL HISTORY COMPANY NEWARK,  NEW JERSEY
1917

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