Herschel Vespasian Johnson (New Tork Times)

HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON

The Hon. Herschel V. Johnson died at his home in Jefferson County, Ga., Monday night, at the age of 68 years. He was a native of Georgia, having been born in Burke County, Sept. 18, 1812. After being graduated at the University of Georgia in 1834, he adopted the profession of law, and became prominent in politics. In 1844 he was a Presidential Elector, and in 1848 was appointed United States Senator, to fill a vacancy. On the expiration of his term, in 1849, he was elected Judge of the Superior Court, and in 1853 became Governor of Georgia, an office which he held for four years. He next came prominently before the country in 1860, when he was nominated by the Democrats for Vice-President, on the ticket with Stephen A. Douglas. Being defeated, he became an anti-secession advocate, and, in the Georgia Convention of 1861, vigorously opposed the policy of leaving the Union. In 1863 he was chosen a member of the Confederate Senate, and in 1865 presided over the State Constitutional Convention. The following year he attended the “National Union Convention,” in Philadelphia, and was elected a United States Senator by the Georgia Legislature, but was not permitted to take his seat. In 1873 he became Circuit Judge of the State, a position which he held till his death.