Charles Fletcher Johnson

Charles Fletcher Johnson
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
In office April 30, 1929 – February 15, 1930
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
In office October 1, 1917 – April 30, 1929
Appointed by	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	William LeBaron Putnam
Succeeded by	Scott Wilson
United States Senator from Maine
In office March 4, 1911 – March 4, 1917
Preceded by	Eugene Hale
Succeeded by	Frederick Hale
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
In office 1905-1907
Personal details
Born	(1859-02-14)February 14, 1859 Winslow, Maine
Died	February 15, 1930(1930-02-15) (aged 71) St. Petersburg, Florida
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Abbie W. Britton
Residence	Waterville, Maine
Education	Bowdoin College (A.B.)

Charles Fletcher Johnson (February 14, 1859 – February 15, 1930) was an American lawyer, politician and judge who served as a Senator from Maine and as a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Born in Winslow, Maine, he attended the public schools and the Waterville Classical Institute. He graduated from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, in 1879. He was the principal of the high school of Machias, Maine from 1881 to 1886. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1886 and commenced his practice as an attorney in Waterville, Maine. He married Abbie W. Britton on 21 December 1881.

Johnson ran for Governor of Maine in 1892. He was elected Mayor of Waterville in 1893,^[1] but left that office in 1894^[2] and again ran for Governor. He was not successful. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1904, and also stood for the Maine House of Representatives in 1904. He was elected, and served in that body from 1905 until 1907.

Johnson was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1910 and served from March 4, 1911, until March 4, 1917. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1916. During his Senate term he served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on National Banks, the U.S. Senate Committee on Fisheries, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Pensions.

Upon his election, Johnson became the first Democrat to represent Maine in the United States Senate since Hannibal Hamlin's defection from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in 1856. Early in his Senate tenure, Johnson was joined in the Senate by Obadiah Gardner, who was also a Democrat. It was the first time Maine had two Democratic United States Senators since Hamlin served with James W. Bradbury in 1853. During this time, Maine also went Democratic at the Presidential level for the first time since the founding of the Republican Party nearly 60 years before; in the 1912 presidenial election, a plurality of Maine voters cast their ballots for Democrat Woodrow Wilson. The traditionally Republican electorate was split between incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft and the insurgent Progressive Party campaign run by former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt. It was the first time Maine had gone Democratic in a presidential election since 1852 and the last time until 1964.

After Johnson left the Senate in 1917, Maine would not send another Democrat to the Senate until Edmund Muskie was elected in 1958.

Johnson was named as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1917. He served from 1917 until 1929, and assumed senior status on April 30, 1929. His service as a judge terminated at his death.

Johnson died in St. Petersburg, Florida on 15 February 1930. He was interred in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Waterville.

Johnson was a member of the Unitarian Church. He was associated with the Psi Upsilon fraternity, and with the Freemasons.

References

Sources

• Charles Fletcher Johnson at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• United States Congress. "Charles Fletcher Johnson (id: J000124)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.