ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Title
William Lupton Johnson Collection
Collection Number
SC 503
OCLC Number
In-process
Creator
William Lupton Johnson (1800-1870)
Provenance
Under review
Extent, Scope, and Content Note
Extent: 1 leaf (sheet)
Date: November 13, 1823; written from Southold, New York.
Dimensions: ? x? cm.
Context: W. L. Johnson, writing as Rector of Grace Church, Jamaica, Long Island, New York
William Lupton (W. L.) Johnson was born in Albany on September 15, 1800. His father, Reverend John Barent Johnson, delivered a funeral oration for George Washington before the New York Legislature. W. L. Johnson entered Columbia College in 1815 and graduated in 1819. He initially pursued a degree in law but soon became disinterested and turned instead to the ministry, eventually earning a doctorate in theology.
He married Mary Elizabeth Whitlock, and together they had three children, all of whom were involved in the church. Johnson served as rector from 1830 until his death in 1870 – the longest rectorship in the church’s history. His ministry was considered the most effective in the church’s 200-year history, marked by record numbers of parishioners.
In 1840, Grace Sunday School was established, and Mary taught several of its classes. On New Year’s morning in 1861, a fire destroyed the church building. Johnson was appointed to the rebuilding committee, and remarkably, the church reopened just 11 months later, in 1862.
Johnson passed away on August 4, 1870. He was buried in the Grace Church memorial grounds. In honor of his legacy, his rectorship was symbolically continued for 40 years after his death.
His tombstone reads: “To the glory of God, and in loving memory of William Lupton Johnson, Priest, for forty years Rector of this church, his family and descendants. ‘Out of your charity pray for our souls.’”
Arrangement and Processing Note
Transcription and research by Nicole Shaw, intern, 2015.
Finding aid updated and revised by Kristen J. Nyitray in September 2025.
Language
English
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open to researchers without restriction.
Rights and Permissions
Stony Brook University Libraries’ consent to access as the physical owner of the collection does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. It is the sole responsibility of the user of Special Collections and University Archives materials to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission where needed prior to publication.
Citation
William Lupton Johnson Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Stony Brook University Libraries.
Subjects
In-process
Transcription
W. L. Johnson
Rector of Grace Church
Jamaica L. I.
No one is so imbued with a loving
Faith but has somewhat, perhaps,
of Bigotry to unlearn; no one so
narrow-minded, and full of self,
but is influenced, it is to be hoped,
in his degree, by the Spirit of Faith.