Johnson House Historic Site

John Johnson (1709-1794), son of a Dutch Quaker immigrant, built this house as a wedding present for his son John Johnson, Jr. (1748-1810), in 1765-1768. Johnson farmed and also operated a tannery on his property, reflecting the convergence of agriculture and industry in late eighteenth-century Germantown. His nineteenth- century descendants were energetic abolitionists, and this house was a “station” on the Underground Railroad. 

The building is a mixture of high-style English Georgian and vernacular German features. The builder was Jacob Knorr (c. 1730-1804), the Mennonite master carpenter who also constructed Cliveden. There is a split, so-called “Dutch” front door, originally flanked by wood benches, and the front and left side are wrapped above the first floor by a German-style pent roof. But the main façade is formally symmetrical and built of squared masonry (while the sides and rear are rubble), and there is a triangular pediment over the entrance. These classical exterior elements are a prelude to the remarkably ambitious central hallway. It is spanned by a Doric screen whose pilasters carry a full entablature of triglyphs and metopes—doubtless inspired by the similar, even grander ensemble at Cliveden.

From 1770 to 1908 the Johnson House was the home of five generations of the Johnson family. In 1805 John Johnson, Jr., relinquished the property to his son Samuel (1777-1847) who married Jennett Rowland (1784-1876). Their six children—Joshua, Sarah, Rowland, Israel, Ellwood, and Elizabeth—together with their nephew William M. Dorsey (who lived across the street)--were all active in the Quaker-based antislavery movement, which found strong support in Germantown.

Especially significant was the work of Rowland Johnson (1816-1886), who called himself an "infidel abolitionist" and was vice-president of the national American Anti-Slavery Society. He was also an officer of the Junior Anti-Slavery Society, a member of the Association of Friends Committee on Requited Labor, secretary of the Upper Delaware Ward Anti-Slavery Society, a member of the Vigilance Committee of Philadelphia (which resisted slave-catchers), and a founder of the Longwood Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends. 

The Johnson house, functioning together with several neighboring homes, was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. This enterprise relied on stealth and speed to assist those seeking freedom in the north. The family’s involvement was vividly recalled by Edward T. Johnson (1849-1919), son of Ellwood Johnson, who lived in the house: 

“One of my earliest recollections, about the year, 1858 or ‘59, was being wakened up very early in the morning, by a furious knocking, at our back door. My Father answered it, and, coming back, said that a big colored man, a slave, was there, with a note, which said, he was trying to escape and please to give him food and clothing and help him along to the next station. I remember our giving him his breakfast; getting the Dearborn wagon; putting him in the back part; covering him with straw and a piece of old carpet. We then drove … several miles, to put him on the right road to some Quaker farmer, in Montgomery County, whose name was in the note, and whom my Father knew. We afterwards heard, through the ‘Underground’ channels, that he got safely to Canada, where he was free.” 

After the death of last Johnson family occupant, the house stood vacant from 1908 to 1917 when it was sold to the Woman's Club of Germantown for use as a club house. In 1980, the club gave the property to the Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust, which began to operate it as a museum, highlighting its importance in African American history. In 1997 stewardship was transferred to the new Johnson House Historic Site, Inc., which in 2015 established the Center for Social Advocacy (CSA), which seeks to engage the community and address contemporary issues.