South Carolina Governor Robert Johnson

[Sully Cross]

    Robert Johnson served as the governor of South Carolina from 1717 to 1719 and from 1729 to 1735. He was the son of Sir Nathaniel Johnson and inherited a considerable estate from his father. On April 30, 1717, he was commissioned governor of South Carolina.

 

   Johnson oversaw the suppression of the pirates who were preying upon the commerce of South Carolina and neighboring colonies. Fitting out an expedition, he personally commanded a victorious engagement with them off the bar of Charleston killing Richard Worley. A second expedition commanded by Col. William Rhett, captured Stede Bonnet resulting in his execution.

 

   In 1719, when the proprietary government was overthrown, the revolutionary convention, of which Arthur Middleton was president, requested him to continue in office if he would agree to administer it in the name of the king, but Johnson declined to do so, asserting the rights of the proprietors to whom he owed allegiance.

 

   Notwithstanding the loyalty thus shown to the proprietors, he was appointed first regular royal governor of the colony on December 9, 1729, and upon his arrival at Charleston, early in 1731, was joyfully received by the people. His administration was marked by the issuance of several acts regarding the granting of land to new settlers, and by a protracted boundary dispute with North Carolina, the two colonies being for the first time constituted entirely separate provinces. He aided James Oglethorpe in the settlement of Georgia by providing food and escort to his colonists. Johnson endeared himself to the people by his high-minded character, which won for him the title of the "good governor".

 

   He remained in office till his death, in Charleston on May 3, 1735.

Edited May 23 by Sully Cross