Artemas N. Johnson

JOHNSON, Artemas Nixon. b. Middlebury, Vermont, 22 June 1817; d. New Milford, Connecticut, 1 January 1892.  A. N. Johnson and his brother James C. Johnson (1820-1895) were musicians, teachers, composers, and publishers of church music.  A. N. Johnson’s hymn tune MENDOTA (SPEAK GENTLY), with text by Frederick George Lee (1832-1902), appears in several 20th-century hymnals. Johnson’s parents, James Johnson, Sr. (nda) and Anna Ward Johnson (nda) attended the Congregational Church in Middlebury.  The church operated a Sabbath school in which A.N. and J.C. learned the fundamentals of music.  In 1827 they moved with their parents to Boston.  In August of the same year, Lowell Mason*, already a...