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William Samuel Johnson was born in Stratford,CT
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He Graduated from Yale in 1744 he studied About 3 years later he won a master of arts degree from the same institution and an honorary master's from Harvard.
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In 1749, adding to his already substantial wealth, he married Anne Beach, daughter of a local businessman. The couple was to have five daughters and six sons, but many of them died at an early age.
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In the 1750s he began his public career as a Connecticut militia officer.
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he acted as Connecticut's agent in Britain during the years 1767-71; and he was friendly with men such as Jared Ingersoll, Sr., who were affiliated with the British administration.
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In 1761 and 1765 he served in the lower house of the colonial assembly. In 1766 and 1771 he was elected to the upper house.
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Johnson finally decided to work for peace between Britain and the colonies and to oppose the extremist Whig faction. On that basis, he refused to participate in the First Continental Congress, to which he was elected in 1774, following service as a judge of the Connecticut colonial supreme court (1772-74).
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Johnson took part in the new government, in the U.S. Senate where he contributed to passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789
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In 1791, the year after the government moved from New York to Philadelphia, he resigned mainly because he preferred to devote all his energies to the presidency of Columbia College (1787-1800), in New York City.
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