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Jonathan Johnson was born in Harwick, Worcester county, Massachusetts, on the 14th day of August, 1788. He was of English descent, and his father had been a soldier in the revolutionary war. Jonathan studied medicine and attended medical lectures and hospital instruction in New York. He then returned to his native town where he spent a short time, and then made his way on horseback in 1808, across the state into Albany county, and settled in Guilderland. He received license from the Society, and became a member of it in 1812, while it was yet in its infancy, and for several years was usually present at its meetings, a circumstance that indicates the importance he attached to medical associations. He subsequently attended lectures in New York, and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Rutgers College. For a period of nearly half a century he was regularly and perseveringly engaged in his profession, encountering its toils, meeting its responsibilities and receiving its humble rewards. The circuit of his engagements extended over his own and adjoining towns.
Dr. Johnson was a man of rigid memory, and was especially interested in the study of geography and astronomy. He wrote a valuable paper on mineral poison and several fugitive poems. For many years he was inspector of common schools, and gave his influence to promote the cause of common school education. He was a regular attendant at church, and towards the close of his life it is said that his faith in Christ became full and implicit. He died of disease of the heart on the 23d day of May 1860, at the age of seventy-five years.
His son George T. Johnson was a member of the state senate in 1858 and '59, and another sor, Dr. Stephen Johnson, is a practitioner in Cohoes, N. Y.
