Editing Reverdy Johnson (section)

==Early life==
[[Image:RJohnson House-AnnapolisMD.jpg|thumb|left|Reverdy Johnson's house in [[Annapolis, Maryland]], relocated onto the campus of [[St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)|St. John's College.]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Annapolis Experience Blog Picture Of The Day – The Chancellor Johnson House Circa 1720 • St. John's College – Tuesday June 30th 2015 « Annapolis Experience Blog|url=http://www.annapolisexperience.com/blog/2015/06/30/annapolis-experience-blog-picture-of-the-day-the-chancellor-johnson-house-circa-1720-%E2%80%A2-st-johns-college-tuesday-june-30th-2015/|access-date=2020-06-11|website=www.annapolisexperience.com}}</ref>]]
Johnson was born on May 21, 1796, in [[Annapolis, Maryland]].<ref name="miller-center">{{cite web |last=Holt |first=Michael |title=Reverdy Johnson (1849–1850): Attorney General |url=http://millercenter.org/president/taylor/essays/cabinet/244 |work=American President: An Online Reference Resource |publisher=The University of Virginia |access-date=13 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217094148/http://millercenter.org/president/taylor/essays/cabinet/244 |archive-date=17 December 2010}}</ref> He was the son of a distinguished [[Maryland]] lawyer and politician, [[John Johnson Sr.|John Johnson]] (1770–1824), who served as [[Attorney General of Maryland]] from 1806 to 1811 and later [[Chancellor of Maryland]], and Deborah ([[née]] Ghieselen) Johnson (1773–1847). His younger brothers were [[John Johnson Jr.]] (1798–1856), the last Chancellor of Maryland,<ref name="upenn">{{cite web|title=John Johnson (Johnson, John, 1798-1856, reporter)|url=http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Johnson%2C%20John%2C%201798-1856%2C%20reporter|website=onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]]|access-date=11 May 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Johnson">{{cite book|last1=Gill|first1=Richard W.|last2=Johnson|first2=John|title=Reports of cases argued and determined in the Court of Appeals of Maryland: [1829-1842] ...|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010426753|via=catalog.hathitrust.org|publisher=F. Lucas, Jr.|access-date=11 May 2017|date=1 September 1833}}</ref> and George Johnson (1817–1892).<ref name="Marbury">William J. Marbury, "[http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/html/chancery.html The High Court of Chancery and the Chancellors of Maryland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205164041/https://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/html/chancery.html |date=2021-12-05 }}", Report of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Maryland State Bar Association, (1905), p. 137-155.</ref>

He graduated from [[St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)|St. John's College]] in 1812 and then studied law. He was admitted to the [[bar (law)|bar]] in 1815.<ref name="miller-center"/> In August 1814, he served as a Private in Ens. William Brewer’s detachment of the 36th Maryland Militia, fighting at the [[Battle of Bladensburg]].