BIOGRAPHY: Judge Robert L. JOHNSON, Cambria County, PA 

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From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria 
County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 344-7
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JUDGE ROBT. L. JOHNSON, deceased, of Ebensburg, who was president judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Cambria county, ex-treasurer and ex-prothonotary of 
that county, and one of the oldest members of the Pennsylvania bar at the time 
of his death, was born in Franklin township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, 
January 7, 1815, and died October 28, 1890.
     His father, William Johnson, was a member of an Episcopalian family of 
Fermanagh county, Ireland, which had its home in Enniskillen on the banks of 
Long Erne. After the rebellion of 1798 he, together with his widowed mother and 
brothers and sisters, emigrated to the United States, landing at New Castle, 
then the port of Philadelphia. Mrs. Johnson and her family settled at Milesburg, 
Centre county, Penn., in 1801; and at Bellefonte in 1806, where William Johnson, 
her son, was naturalized. The latter married, in 1804, Miss Jane Ramsey, of 
Milesburg, whose mother was a Blair, and claimed purely Scottish ancestry.
     The subject of this sketch was the sixth of eleven children born to this 
marriage. His infancy and youth were spent before Pennsylvania had adopted the 
common-school system, and, therefore, his early education was such only as could 
be gathered at the private schools then in existence. Compared with the splendid 
advantages of the present day, those he enjoyed scarcely deserve mention; but 
the lad was studious by nature, and through an accident at the age of fourteen, 
by which he lost entirely the use of one of his limbs and was confined to his 
home for a long period, he was enabled to devote himself industriously to such 
books as were procurable, and thus by means of one misfortune repaired another, 
at least to a considerable extent. The profession of law seemed to him to 
present special advantages for life work, and to be more in consonance with his 
wishes than any other vocation, and although conscious of his educational 
shortcomings he determined to attempt its mastery. Accordingly, in 1839, he 
removed to Cambria county, and entering the office of the late Dan Maghean, 
Esq., a lawyer of excellent repute and extended practice, he began his studies. 
In the spring of 1841, he was admitted to practice, and from that period down to 
his death devoted himself mainly to professional and judicial work. In 1845 he 
was elected county treasurer, and after serving in this office was elected, in 
1851, prothonotary of the county. In both of these positions he was 
distinguished for his probity and the faithful performance of duty. A democrat 
in matters of national policy, judge Johnson always took a more or less 
prominent part in politics in connection with his party, and in 1864 and 1866, 
was its candidate for Congress in the district in which he lived. The majority 
in his district holding adverse political views, he was defeated on both 
occasions. As a lawyer Judge Johnson was known throughout a wide section of the 
State for his superior skill and the great energy with which he prosecuted his 
cases. A practice of nearly half a century gave him a rare command of legal 
knowledge and of the intricacies and technicalities of his profession. His great 
success resulted from diligence and study, aided by unvarying honesty and an 
absolute freedom from the pettiness and trickery which occasionally stain legal 
practice. He was known also as a high-minded citizen, whose promises and 
obligations were faithfully redeemed on all occasions, and in consequence he 
possessed the esteem, not only of his professional associates, but also of the 
great body of his fellow-citizens. In religious belief, Judge Johnson was a 
conscientious and professing member of the Roman Catholic church, a regular 
attendant at its services and a liberal contributor to its charities. In a wide 
social circle he was respected as a man of upright and pure life.
     In the fall of 1883, Judge Johnson was elected president judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas of Cambria county. He took his seat on the bench on his sixty-
ninth birthday, January 7, 1884, and until his death filled his judicial 
position with fearlessness and impartiality. He was faithful to the high trust 
imposed in him.
     Judge Johnson was twice married. On October 13, 1842, he was married to 
Eveline Rodrigue (by whom he had a daughter, who married John Scanlon, Esq.), 
and has since died. Afterwards he married Mrs. Mary Glass, by whom he has one 
son, a boy, now (1896) seventeen years of age.
     Showing the high standing of Judge Johnson with the bar of the county, we 
append the following resolutions passed by the Bar Association of Cambria 
county, upon his death:
     While the death of Hon. Robert L. Johnson has affected the entire community 
with a sense of bereavement, this is especially the case with the members of the 
bar to whom he was in more than a professional sense a brother; and we unite in 
placing upon record our testimony to his great worth and excellence, not only in 
the chosen fields of his labors, but also in all the relations of life. Admitted 
to the bar in 1841, he came to the practice of the law at a time when its 
principles in many branches were necessarily receiving new applications, and 
precedents in the form of deciding cases were yet to be made. The great lawyers 
of an earlier day, whose fame is a rich legacy of the bar, had not yet passed 
from the stage. He was recognized by them as their worthy associate, and he like 
them was richly endowed with that living learning in the law which is not found 
in books, but in the breasts of its upright advocates and judges. Without 
pretension of any kind, plain in apparel and simple and direct in speech, he 
never sought nor used any opportunity for proud display. He employed none of the 
arts of oratory with court or jury, yet his opponents at the bar recognized him 
as a most formidable antagonist. He had a thorough knowledge of human nature; he 
was in touch with the common people, and while he never courted the reputation 
of being a great advocate, he was master of the art of winning verdicts. In his 
successful career in his profession of nearly half a century as lawyer and 
judge, there can be found no record of personal antagonisms and no connection 
with any matter having the slightest taint of impropriety.
     As a lawyer zealous for his client's cause, he never forgot professional 
courtesy in his duty to the court, and as a judge his native kindliness made 
approach to him always pleasant,--blessed as he was with a cheerful nature and 
an unselfish disposition.
     Judge Johnson achieved the success in life which was most grateful to him. 
He had the affectionate regard of all classes and conditions of men. He had the 
touchstone to all hearts in that he was really and truly loved of his kind. This 
made him a most genial companion, and he entranced society with his engaging 
manners, his scholarship, his fund of apposite anecdotes and his wit that was 
always without a sting. The records of this court will show how large a part 
Judge Johnson had in the conduct of its business. His clientage was large and 
his labors necessarily great, and yet he was always thoroughly informed upon the 
questions of the day, and he found relaxation in gratifying his tastes for the 
standard English authors and the best current literature. He was especially 
familiar with and enjoyed the works of Charles Dickens, and was never at a loss 
for apt quotation illustrating some of the finer shades of humor. He took 
pleasure in spending his winter evenings in his village home with the members of 
his family around him in reading aloud to them from some favorite volume, and 
their appreciation of its wit and pathos added to his enjoyment. His tastes and 
talents were so decidedly literary that if he had adopted literature as a 
profession he might have had notable success. He was master of a clear and 
forcible style, and had a keen sense of the niceties and fitness of words. He 
loved poetry, and was the author of occasional poems, one of which deserves an 
honorable place among the best lyrics of the war.
     Judge Johnson was the first superintendent of the common schools of Cambria 
county. He served a term as county treasurer. He was elected to the office of 
prothonotary. Since 1884 he had been president-judge of the county courts. 
During many years he was the leading member of the Cambria bar. He was an able 
lawyer. He was an upright and learned judge. He was a good citizen. In all the 
relations of life he was honorable and worthy of honor--a man of truth, whose 
word was his bond. He enjoyed life, and made life more enjoyable for those 
around him. We trust he has gone to his reward. In losing him each of us has 
lost a personal friend. We loved him.