Andrew Johnson Administration - Early Life
Early Life
Born in a log cottage at Casso's Inn, Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 29, 1808, Andrew Johnson started from the humblest of beginnings. His father, Jacob Johnson, held a series of jobs including porter, tavern servant, constable, and bank janitor. Although illiterate like his wife, Jacob Johnson was a respectable member of his community serving as a militia captain and as a sexton (a minor church official) of the Presbyterian Church. Andrew Johnson's mother, Mary "Polly" McDonough, married Jacob Johnson in 1801. They had two sons, William and Andrew.
In December 1811 Jacob Johnson dove into a pond to save two men from drowning. He never fully recovered from the exhaustion of the event. While tolling the church bell the next month as part of his duties as sexton, Jacob collapsed and died. Andrew Johnson was only three years old. Mary Johnson supported her family by sewing, weaving, and washing. A few years...
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