GOVERNOR JOSEPH JOHNSON (1785-1877). Thirty-Second Governor of Virginia (1852- January 1856), the First Virginia Governor Elected by direct Popular Vote under the reformed State Constitution of 1851; also the Only Governor of Antebellum Virginia to come from west of the Alleghenies.
February 1st, 1853-Dated Antebellum Era, Partly-Printed Vellum Document Signed, "Jos. Johnson" as Governor, 1 page, measuring 13.5” x 11” with its original official Embossed Seal, at Richmond, Choice Very Fine. This Land grant conveying 190.5 acres in Hampshire County to Spencer R. Gray, issued under the Seal of the Commonwealth and signed by Joseph Johnson as Governor of Virginia. Johnson, the thirty-second governor, was the first Virginia chief executive chosen by direct popular vote under the reformed constitution of 1851, and the only Virginia governor from west of the Alleghenies; his home region later became West Virginia. This nice quality document has clear easily readable manuscript text and signature on its clean lightly folded vellum.
Born in Orange County, New York to a poor family, Joseph Johnson moved as a young man to Bridgeport in Harrison County, in what is now West Virginia. Largely self-educated, he rose through farming and local standing rather than the plantation aristocracy that typically produced Virginia's governors.

He served as a captain of riflemen in the War of 1812, then entered politics as a Jacksonian Democrat, serving multiple terms in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1823 and 1847 (with interruptions), as well as in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Governor Johnson presided during the implementation years of the new 1851 "Reform Constitution," which expanded Suffrage to all white male adults and made numerous offices elective.

His administration dealt with internal improvements such as canals, turnpikes, and the expanding railroads, issues of particular importance to his underrepresented trans-Allegheny constituents.

When the Civil War came, Johnson, then in his mid-seventies, sided with the Confederacy even as his home region became the new Unionist State of West Virginia, making him something of an outlier among his neighbors.

He spent part of the war within Confederate lines but returned afterward to Bridgeport, where he died in 1877 at the age of 91. He is buried in Bridgeport, West Virginia, and is sometimes noted as the only Virginia governor whose grave lies in West Virginia.
[Antebellum Period, Virginia, 19th Century America] [Joseph Johnson, Land Grants, State Government] [Manuscripts, Documents, Vellum, Autographs]