Rev. Jacob Johnson and Mary Giddings
Husband Rev. Jacob Johnson 1 2 3
Born: 7 Apr 1713 - Wallingford, New Haven Co, CT 3 Christened: Died: 15 Mar 1797 - Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne Co, PA 3 Buried: - Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne Co, PA
Father: Jacob Johnson (1674-1749) 3 Mother: Abigail Merriman ( -1727) 3
Marriage: - ? Groton, New London Co, CT
Wife Mary Giddings 4
Born: 28 Nov 1730 4 Christened: Died: 18 Jan 1805 - Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne Co, PA 4 Buried:
Father: Capt. Nathaniel Giddings ( - ) 4 Mother: Mary Williams ( - ) 4
Children
1 M Rev. Jehoiada Pitt Johnson 4 5
Born: 1767 - Connecticut 4 Christened: Died: 8 Jan 1830 4 Buried:Spouse: Hannah Frazer ( - ) 6
2 M Jacob Johnson 4
Born: 1765 - Connecticut 4 Christened: Died: May 1807 4 Buried:Spouse: Unknown ( - )
3 F Christina Olive Johnson 4
Born: - Connecticut Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: William Russell ( - ) 4 Marr: 25 Mar 1801 4
4 F [Infant] Johnson 4
Born: - Connecticut Christened: Died: in infancy Buried:
5 F [Infant] Johnson 4
Born: - Connecticut Christened: Died: in infancy Buried:
General Notes: Husband - Rev. Jacob Johnson
He graduated at Yale College in 1740, prepared for the ministry and was pastor of the Congregational Church at Groton, Connecticut, 1749 to 1772. He first appears in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania in 1772, when he was invited by the town of Wilkes-Barre to minister to their spiritual wants to "Come and labor with the people as their pastor." Under the custom of the church he preached one year as minister of the Wilkes-Barre Congregational Church (afterward First Presbyterian) and then, August 23, 1773, was permanently settled as pastor. This "was the first actual settlement of any minister of the Gospel, west of the Blue Mountains in the territory comprising the state of Pennsylvania." He continued his work as minister of the Gospel for more than half a century, dying as he had lived, an earnest, untiring, God-following and God-serving man. During the period of the Revolution his zeal in behalf of the patriot cause was intense and by his splendid example and Christian sympathy, he softened the hardships of war, to which his people were so frequently and so long subjected. "He was early and outspoken in his advocacy of American liberty and a commanding figure in the early history of the Wyoming Valley. He wrote the articles of capitulation following the destruction of the infant settlement by the British and Indians in 1778, and was a firm defender of the Connecticut title, throughout the prolonged contest with Pennsylvania." In 1768, while pastor at Groton, Connecticut, he labored as a missionary among the Indians of the province of New York. He learned somewhat of the language of the Six Nations and preached to them in their own tongue. He was present at the treaty of Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York) in 1768. The council at which this treaty was enacted was attended by the governors, the commissioners, and agents of the colonies of Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York, and by about three thousand Indians. Rev. Jacob Johnson was there as the special representative of Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, who hoped to secure from the Six Nations a concession of lands, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a school for civilizing, educating and Christianizing the Indians. The council was dominated by the Penns. John Penn, a son of William, being present. He sought to acquire title to the lands of north eastern Pennsylvania, which were claimed by Connecticut, and which had been purchased from the Indians by Connecticut. This latter colony was not invited to the council that sought to wrest from her a part of her possessions and this missionary, Rev. Jacob Johnson, entirely without authority, undertook to defend the Connecticut title by dissuading the Indians from selling to the Penns the lands claimed by Connecticut. The New York representative was the great Sir William Johnson, the King's own agent and superintendent of Indian affairs in that royal province. While the treaty was in progress, Sir William gave a banquet to which Rev. Jacob Johnson was invited. The banquet was made the occasion of bursts of eloquence as to the greatness of England, and toasts were drunk to the health of King George III. When the adulations to the King were over and the preacher from Connecticut was called upon, he addressed the assembled revelers in these thrilling words: "I drink to the health of King George III of Great Britain, Comprehending New England and all the British Colonies in North America, and I mean to drink such a health so long as his royal majesty shall govern the British and American subjects according to the great charter of English liberty, and so long as he hears the prayers of his American subjects. But in case his British Majesty (which God in great mercy prevent) should proceed contrary to charter rights and privileges, and govern us with a rod of iron and the mouth of cannons, and utterly refuse to consider our humble prayers, then I should consider it my indispensable duty to join my countrymen in forming a new Empire in America". These were prophetic words and show the quality and noble character of this Connecticut missionary who was the pioneer of the Johnson family in the Wyoming Valley. In later years when pastor of the church at Westmoreland, he denounced the Pennamite outrages with such vehemence that he was (1784) dragged to court and compelled to give bonds for his peaceable behavior. [CRFP, 1493]
He was a superior linguist and man of rich education and culture, a graduate of Yale College, where he took his degree as early as 1740, with distinguished honor. In 1778 he was called from his home in Connecticut to reside in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. After that terrible event, the massacre of Wyoming, he assisted Col. Dennison with his advice and influence, in protecting the inhabitants that remained, and the original articles of capitulation were in the proper handwriting of Mr. Johnson. In quite a lengthy biography written of him in the year 1836, by the venerable writer and historian of Wyoming, Charles Miner, appears this: "When the Revolutionary war broke out, Mr. Johnson took his stand early and firmly in behalf of freedom. And through the whole contest he rendered the utmost service in his power, which from his learning, talents, and the respect he commanded, was very considerable. A son born while the animated discussions preceding the Revolution were going on and the elder Pitt was thundering his anathemas against ministers for their tyrannous conduct to the colonies, Mr. Johnson named Jehoiada Pitt. . . . Jehoiada is sometime since deceased, but a son of his with hereditary genius is winning his way to enviable distinction."
General Notes: Wife - Mary Giddings
from Preston
1 John E. Alexander, A Record of the Descendants of John Alexander (Philadelphia, PA: Alfred Martien, 1878), Pg 32.
2 William Henry Egle, History of the County of Dauphin in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 508.
3 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1493.
4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1494.
5 John E. Alexander, A Record of the Descendants of John Alexander (Philadelphia, PA: Alfred Martien, 1878), Pg 33.
6
John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1495.
Home | Table of Contents | Surnames | Name List
This Web Site was Created 15 Dec 2024 with Legacy 9.0 from Millennia