Johnson, Andrew

From Poverty to Shop Owner at Eighteen

Andrew Johnson was born on December 29, 1808, in a cottage in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was the youngest oftwo sons of Jacob and Mary Johnson. Johnson's father worked many odd jobs to provide for his family, including porter (one who carries suitcases for guests) and waiter at an inn and janitor at a bank. He served in the local militia (a citizen military force) and as a sexton (a minor church official) of the community's Presbyterian Church. Shortly after Johnson turned three, his father died from complications that began after he dove into a pond to save two men from drowning. Already poor, the family scraped along on the money Mary Johnson earned by sewing, weaving, and washing.

Johnson never attended school and no one in the family could read. By age ten, he began working for a tailor, responsible for cleaning shop and learning the skills of a tailor. By his early teens, Johnson had acquired tailoring skills and had learned the basics of reading and writing. It was common for shop owners to keep their workers entertained by having someone read to them while they worked. A local minister read to the tailors in the shop where Johnson worked, and he spent some extra time teaching Johnson how to read and write.

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