Mary Johnson

Mary Johnson Stover (May 8, 1832 – April 19, 1883) was the daughter of Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States, and his wife Eliza McCardle. She was born in Greeneville, Tennessee, in the family residence on Water Street. She was the third of five children in the family. Her father, Andrew Johnson, was born into poverty and received limited formal education, but prioritized his children's education, including Mary's attendance at the Rogersville Female Institute in Hawkins County, Tennessee.

In 1852, Mary Johnson married Daniel Stover, a farmer from Carter County, Tennessee. Daniel Stover was described as a "blue-eyed mountaineer" and a nephew of Mordecai Lincoln. He later became colonel of the Fourth Tennessee Union Infantry during the American Civil War. At the time of their marriage, the Stover family owned a substantial plantation in the Watauga Valley, with an estate valued at approximately $12,000, and a farm worth approximately $18,000 in 1860 dollars. The couple had three children: Eliza Johnson Stover, Sarah Drake Stover, and Andrew Johnson Stover.

During the Civil War, Daniel Stover participated in pro-Union activities, including serving as a delegate to the East Tennessee Convention in June 1861 and participating in the East Tennessee bridge burnings, a guerrilla operation aimed at disrupting Confederate infrastructure. The November 1861 destruction of bridges, notably the Holston River Bridge, was carried out with the approval of Union leaders, including Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Following the operation and subsequent military orders, Daniel Stover lived for several months in hiding in the Pond Mountains of Carter County. Throughout this period, Mary Stover and her mother, Eliza McCardle Johnson, managed household affairs and provided provisions for men in the hills and their families.

In October 1862, the Stover family was displaced from their Carter County home, which was pillaged after their departure. They subsequently traveled to Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee, arriving in late May 1863. Daniel Stover's health deteriorated due to his wartime experiences, leading to his resignation from the Army on August 10, 1864, and his death shortly before Christmas of that year in Nashville.

During her father's presidency (1865–1869), Mary Johnson Stover was present at the White House, assisting her sister Martha Johnson Patterson, who served as the de facto First Lady. She contributed to household management and hosting duties, supporting the family during significant events, such as President Johnson's impeachment crisis. Notable occasions included a birthday celebration for Andrew Johnson in 1868 and a public event attended by President Johnson's grandchildren.

Following her father's presidency, Mary Johnson remarried on April 20, 1869, to William Ramsay Brown, a merchant from Greeneville, Tennessee. Brown, born in 1819 and died in 1902, was previously married, with his late first wife being a cousin of Abraham Lincoln. The couple's marriage was private and was followed by the death of Mary's brother Robert Johnson in 1870, who committed suicide. The marriage proved to be unhappy, and Mary lived mostly apart from Brown, residing primarily at her family estate in Carter County.

In 1875, Andrew Johnson died while visiting her near Elizabethton, Tennessee, but Mary did not attend his funeral, as she was caring for her mother. Her mother Eliza Johnson died approximately six months later, in early 1876. Mary filed for divorce from William Ramsay Brown in February 1876, shortly after her parents' deaths, and the divorce was granted within five days. She continued to use the surname Stover afterward and later lived in Union, Tennessee, with her household in 1880, as she managed her personal affairs until her death in 1883.