Life
He was the son of Sir Nathaniel Johnson, governor of the Province of South Carolina from 1702-08, and had inherited from his father a considerable estate. On Apr. 30, 1717, he was commissioned governor of South Carolina. Like his father, he soon won the confidence of the people, but coming at a time when the powers of the proprietors were already tottering, he was baffled in his efforts to conciliate the colonists, by the proprietors' own greed and folly, and in his endeavors to sustain their authority he lost whatever influence he might have exercised. The most important event of this period of his administration was the suppression of the pirates who were preying upon the commerce of South Carolina and neighboring colonies. Fitting out an expedition, he personally commanded a victorious engagement with them off the bar of Charleston, and carried on the campaign until they were exterminated and their famous leader. Stede Bonnet was captured, and on Sept. 10, 1718 was executed. In 1719, when the proprietary government was overthrown, the revolutionary convention, of which Arthur Middleton was president, requested him to continue in office if he would agree to administer it in the name of the king, but Johnson declined to do so, asserting the rights of the proprietors to whom he owed allegiance. James Moore II was thereupon elected governor by the convention, and Johnson was set aside.
Notwithstanding the loyalty thus shown to the proprietors, he was appointed first regular royal governor of the colony in December, 1729, and upon his arrival at Charleston, early in 1731, was joyfully received by the people. His administration was marked by the issuance of several acts regarding the granting of land to new settlers, and by a protracted boundary dispute with North Carolina, the two colonies being for the first time constituted entirely separate provinces. He aided James Oglethorpe in the settlement of Georgia by providing food and escort to his colonists, and during his term the settlement of Purrysburg was made by the Swiss under Jean-Pierre de Pury. Gov. Johnson endeared himself to the people by his high-minded character, which won for him the title of the "good governor." He remained in office till his death, which took place in Charleston on May 3, 1735. In the same year the general assembly erected a monument to his memory in St. Philip's Church, where it remained until the edifice was burned in 1835.
Read more about this topic: Robert Johnson (governor)
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“After us they’ll fly in hot air balloons, coat styles will change, perhaps they’ll discover a sixth sense and cultivate it, but life will remain the same, a hard life full of secrets, but happy. And a thousand years from now man will still be sighing, “Oh! Life is so hard!” and will still, like now, be afraid of death and not want to die.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“To make life more bearable and pleasant for everybody, choose the issues that are significant enough to fight over, and ignore or use distraction for those you can let slide that day. Picking your battles will eliminate a number of conflicts, and yet will still leave you feeling in control.”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)
“I have heard that whoever loves is in no condition old. I have heard that whenever the name of man is spoken, the doctrine of immortality is announced; it cleaves to his constitution. The mode of it baffles our wit, and no whisper comes to us from the other side. But the inference from the working of intellect, hiving knowledge, hiving skill,—at the end of life just ready to be born,—affirms the inspirations of affection and of the moral sentiment.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)