Dates

• Existence: 1818 - 1895

Biographical History

Thomas Smith Johnson (1818-1895) was a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Schenectady, New York who served in various positions of the church including as a missionary in New York and Australia, a team captain of the Benjamin Hawkins Company, and as a Seventy.

Thomas Smith Johnson was born to Isaac Johnson, Jr. and Grace Smith in Schenectady, New York on January 1, 1818. During his childhood, while living in Oneida County with his father, he was indentured to work as an apprentice to carpenter John Kingsbury until he turned 21. While he served in this identure, his father died and he was mistreated by Kingsbury to the point where he was released from his indenture not so far afterwards.

In 1839 after Johnson married his first wife Patience, Johnson was baptized as a member of the Church near Utica, New York. While not well received by members of his local community, he was called immediately after his conversion to preach the gospel in the community. After being released from this calling, he soon moved with wife and his children to Nauvoo--losing a child on the way. During this time in Nauvoo, he was called to return to New York to preach the gospel, and, after Joseph Smith's death in 1844, he left to migrate to the Salt Lake Valley in 1850--serving as a captain of the Benjamin Hawkins company at that time. After nine years living in the valley, he was called to preach the gospel once more--this time serving a three-year mission to Australia. After returning to Utah, his family soon settled in present-day Cache and Weber counties where he would serve as a farmer until his death in 1895.

Citation:

UPB files, Sept. 16, 2016 (Johnson served as an apprentice early on in his life; after his father's death, he soon was released from the indenture after enduring the abuses imposed on him by his master John Kingsbury; Johnson joined the church a time after marrying his first wife Patience in 1839; Johnson served two missions in N.Y.)

LDS.org, via WWW, Sept. 16, 2016 (Johnson served as a captain of the Benjamin Hawkins company while migrating to Utah in 1850; served a mission to Australia in 1859)

FamilySearch.org, Sept. 16, 2016 (Census records indicate that Johnson served as a farmer in both Cache and Weber county during the latter portion of his life; died in Weber County, UT in 1895)

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