Obadiah Johnson papers

Correspondence, notebooks, military commissions, and other military papers of Colonel Obadiah Johnson make up the bulk of this collection. Included are items such as orderly books, receipt books, and account books for the 21st Regiment of the Connecticut Militia, a notebook entitled "Journal of the Army at Sampton and Chatham" (1776-1777), as well as assorted documents signed by such persons as John Hancock and Jonathan Trumbull. Taken together, the papers provide information on the Revolutionary War activities of the Connecticut Militia and form the basis of the history of the 21st regiment.

Also represented in the collection are members of Johnson's family, namely his great-great-great-grandfather Edward Johnson (1598-1672) of Woburn, Massachussetts; his father, Obadiah Johnson (1702-1765); his second wife, Lucy (Cady) Spaulding (1742-1814), and in particular, his son, John Johnson (1774-1854). Further information on the family can be found in History and Genealogy of One Line of Descent from Captain Edward Johnson, by Alfred Johnson. Most of the John Johnson correspondence concerns applications for pensions by members of the 21st Regiment. Finally, xerox copies of various printed pamphlets, broadsides, and so forth (1774-1816) are included in the collection. The originals have been transferred to the Beinecke Rare Book library.

A detailed list of the contents of this collection is available in the register file of Manuscripts and Archives. The papers were given to Yale University by Frederick Morgan Johnson in 1916.