Passed Vice Presidents - # 9 – Richard Mentor Johnson

Grave of Richard M. Johnson (12 July 2023)

Served under Martin Van Buren

4 March 1837 – 4 March 1841

Preceded by # 8 – Martin Van Buren

Succeeded by # 10 – John Tyler

Born – 17 October 1780

Died – 19 November 1850 (age 70)

Buried – Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, KY

Date Visited – 12 July 2023

In a quaint cemetery in Kentucky’s capital city of Frankfort, you can find the last resting place of Daniel Boone and an impressive war memorial dedicated to those who fought in all the nation’s conflicts. Placed squarely in front of the Memorial is the grave of our ninth vice president, Richard Mentor Johnson.

Richard Mentor Johnson was a Kentucky lawyer, soldier, politician and slave owner. He served in the Kentucky legislature before representing the state in the U.S. House and Senate. Along the way, he also went to war. In the War of 1812, he raised a militia of Kentucky volunteers who fought the British and their Indian allies in the western territories and Canada. In the Battle of the Thames in Canada, Colonel Johnson served under future president William Henry Harrison who defeated the Shawnee Confederacy and their famous chief Tecumseh. Many reported that Johnson, who was shot five times in the battle, personally killed the chief. Though never verified, this attribution served him well in his future political career.

Kentucky War Memorial and

Grave of Richard Johnson (12 July 2023)

In the first half of the 19th century, as the new nation seriously expanded westward, there were inevitable conflicts with the people who had lived there for thousands of years. It was one thing to occasionally ally with certain tribes during our colonial wars, but the restless new nation had lands to settle and the native residents were now in the way. As a result, our electoral politics of the time favored Indian fighters. President Andrew Jackson was hugely popular for clearing out the natives from the southeast. William Henry Harrison won decades after he defeated Tecumseh.

Portrait of Richard Mentor Johnson by John Neagle [1843]

National Gallery of Art / Wikimedia Commons

The president who served after Jackson and before Harrison was Martin Van Buren. He was a dumpy dandy lawyer from New York with no military experience. Who better to have as a running mate but the guy who killed Tecumseh? His exploits helped the Van Buren ticket prevail.

But wait.

Van Buren, Andrew Jackson’s vice president, handily won the popular and Electoral College votes. However, the fine and proper gentlemen from Virginia became ‘faithless electors’ and refused to cast their 23 votes for Johnson because his deceased common-law wife was one of his slaves. Apparently, it was OK to rape your slaves or keep them as concubines but to call one your bride and educate the resulting children was a bridge too far. This forced a vote in the Senate where, under the authority of the Twelfth Amendment, Johnson secured his victory. This was the only time in our history when the Senate decided a vice presidential race.
   

Relief Figure on Grave of Richard Mentor

Johnson, Frankfort Cemetery (12 July 2023)

When his father died in 1815, Johnson was bequeathed Julia Chinn, an octaroon slave. Octaroon means she was seven-eighths White. But that don’t matter none in the land of ‘One Drop of Negro Blood Makes You Negro.’ She was property like the cows in the field. However, she was literate and educated and Richard was smitten. She became more than a mistress. He referred to her as his bride. She ran the plantation when he was away in Washington and the staff understood Julia was in charge. Kentucky law prohibited marrying a slave but Johnson would not free her. They had two daughters who were educated and married White men.

There are no accurate descriptions of Ms. Chinn but I’m guessing she could pass for White and did not look anything like the images used to besmirch Johnson when things got dicey.

Racialized Depiction of Julia Chinn

By Robinson, Henry R., -1850.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99631575

Johnson was a popular representative of the people, advocating on behalf of debtors, army reform issues, and bills for widows and veterans. He founded the Choctaw Academy, a school to educate Native boys. Julia Chinn ran it. She also nursed the sick there and died of the cholera that ravaged the Academy in 1833. I find it strange that we don’t know where she is buried. If she was so important to Johnson, one would think he would have provided a proper last resting place for her.

His personal life continued to dog him and by the time of the next election in 1840, seven years after Ms. Chinn was in the ground, the Democratic Party refused to renominate him with Van Buren...who ran without a running mate and lost to another Indian fighter, Harrison. The final insult happened after Johnson died in 1850. His surviving daughter had no standing to inherit any of the estate which was divided amongst other family members.

Whether he freed Julia or not, their relationship was a major issue in national politics at the time. If you have eight minutes, check out this video from Kentucky Educational Television. The contributing voices note how interracial acceptance was making progress until the southern politicians and racist publishers devoted so much effort to denigrating the vice president and his family.

Relief Sculpture Depicting the Killing of Tecumseh,

Grave of Richard Mentor Johnson,

Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, KY (12 July 2023)

I don’t know if the marble has weathered this way or the sculpture was vandalized but Johnson’s head appears to be missing.

The End.