Tombstone of Dr. Richmond Johnson, Congressional Cemetery, Washington D.C.
Richmond served as a surgeon's mate during the War of 1812 in the U.S. Navy. He studied medicine at the Washington Institute in the District of Columbia, was one of the founders of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, was a consulting physician to the Western Cholera Hospital and was a clerk and the chief clerk in the office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army.3
A description of Dr. Richmond Johnson in the History of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia gives us an idea of what kind of person he was:
"A more disinterested physician than Dr. Richmond Johnson never lived. He was the accoucheur [midwife] in the first ward for a long time, and this gave him great popularity. He was exceedingly kind to the poor, and after his work for the day was over at the Surgeon General's Office he frequently visited from fifteen to twenty poor patients. He was an accomplished physician and an exceedingly devoted Christian."4
Sadly for Richmond, he married twice and both his wives died at an early age. He first married Louisa C. Balmain in 1819 in Washington D.C. According to DAR records, they had a son, Paul Lovell Johnson, who died as an infant and Louisa died as well in 1820. In 1823 Richmond married Louisa's sister, Margaret T. Balmain, and they had several children before Margaret died in 1833. Three more sons died before Richmond did but he lived to see two grandchildren born before he died in 1874. He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C.5
