William Freame Johnston (29 November 1808-25 October 1872) was the Whig Governor of Pennsylvania from 9 July 1848 to 20 January 1852, succeeding Francis R. Shunk and preceding William Bigler.
Biography[]
William Freame Johnston was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania in 1808, the son of Scots-Irish immigrant parents. He became the Democratic district attorney of Westmoreland County in 1829 at the age of 21, and he went on to serve in the state legislature. He became a Whig in 1847 to run for the State Senate, and he went on to serve as Governor of Pennsylvania from 1848 to 1852. He fought the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act in his state, and, in 1856, the Northern anti-slavery faction of the Know Nothings nominated Johnston for the vice-presidency. He supported the Radical Republican presidential ticket in 1864, and he died in Pittsburgh in 1872.