New Testament used by Rev. Nathan S. Johnson

New Testament used by Rev. Nathan S. Johnson, circa 1825.

This “saddle bag” New Testament was used by Rev. Nathan S. Johnson (1802–1860), a Methodist circuit-riding preacher who was born in Virginia, began his ministry in the Kentucky Conference in 1824, transferred to the Tennessee Conference where he became a missionary to the Cherokee Indians in 1831, and moved to Texas in 1851. Johnson’s appointments in the East Texas Conference included Panola Circuit (1851 and 1856), Jefferson Circuit (1852), Greenville (1853), Wood County Circuit (1854), Quitman Mission (1855), and Randolph Mission (1858). He superannuated (retired) in 1859 and died of pneumonia on November 4, 1860. 

Two pencil inscriptions within note the date January 3, 1825, suggesting the possibility that Rev. Johnson carried this Testament throughout his ministry.