Ovid F. Johnson

Ovid Fraser Johnson (March 3, 1807 – February, 1854) was a Pennsylvania lawyer, who served as state Attorney General.

Ovid Fraser Johnson
Pennsylvania Attorney General
In office
January 15, 1839 – January 21, 1845
GovernorDavid R. Porter
Preceded byWilliam B. Reed
Succeeded byJohn K. Kane
Personal details
Born(1807-03-07)March 7, 1807
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
DiedFebruary 10, 1854(1854-02-10) (aged 46)
Washington, D.C.
Spouse(s)Jane Alricks
Children4

Biography and career

Johnson was born the son of Jehodia (or Jehoidia) Pitt Johnson and Hannah Fraser (or Frazer or Frazier).[1][2] He was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county in 1831. He married Jane Alricks, a descendant of a New Netherland settler.[1] They had four children. The one named after the father also became a lawyer.[2]

Johnson was co-author, with Benjamin Parke, of A Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, from [7 Apr. 1830 to 15 Apr. 1835] (Harrisburg, 1836).

The 1838 election of Governor Porter led to the appointment of Johnson to state Attorney General when he was only 31 years old. Porter's re-election led to Johnson serving two terms. Johnson's most notable case was Prigg v. Pennsylvania, where Edward Prigg was tried by Pennsylvania for kidnapping a "fugitive slave", despite Prigg's acting under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. Johnson took the unusual view that the federal and state laws were actually compatible, a view that would be rejected by the Supreme Court.[3]

References
  1. George Brubaker Kulp (1890). Families of the Wyoming Valley: Biographical, Genealogical and Historical. Sketches of the Bench and Bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Volume 3. E. B. Yordy. pp. 1165–7.
  2. Oscar Jewell Harvey (1909). A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time: including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume 2. Raeder Press. pp. 747–8.
  3. David Delaney (2010). Race, Place, and the Law, 1836-1948. University of Texas Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780292789487.
Legal offices
Preceded by
William B. Reed		 Attorney General of Pennsylvania
1839–1845		 Succeeded by
John K. Kane
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