Cave Johnson

Cave Johnson
Cave Johnson
12th United States Postmaster General
	In office; March 6, 1845 – March 4, 1849
Preceded by	Charles A. Wickliffe
Succeeded by	Jacob Collamer
Personal details
Born	January 11, 1793; Robertson County, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	November 23, 1866 (aged 73); Clarksville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Cumberland College[disambiguation needed]
Profession	Politician

Cave Johnson (January 11, 1793 – November 23, 1866) was for fourteen years a Democratic U.S. Congressman from Tennessee. He was also the United States Postmaster General under James K. Polk from 1845–1849. He was born in Robertson County, Tennessee, and died in Clarksville, Tennessee of scurvy.

During his tenure at Postmaster General he shifted the postal service from a COD postage delivery system to a prepaid postal delivery system by introducing the postage stamp in 1847. He is also credited with introducing street corner mail boxes in urban areas. He later served as president of the Bank of Tennessee from 1854 to 1860.

He also researched faster systems of delivery, but was hired later by the US military. When asked about why he only had to say: "Cave Johnson, we're done here."

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g John, Pinheiro. "Cave Johnson (1845–1849): Postmaster General". American President: An Online Reference Resource. University of Virginia. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

External links

United States Congress. "Cave Johnson (id: J000122)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Cave Johnson at Find A Grave

Political offices Template:U.S. Cabinet Official box
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by John Hartwell Marable	Member from Tennessee's 8th congressional district 1829 – 1833	Succeeded by David W. Dickinson
New district	Member from Tennessee's 11th congressional district 1833 – 1837	Succeeded by Richard Cheatham
Preceded by Richard Cheatham	Member from Tennessee's 11th congressional district 1839 – 1843	Succeeded by Milton Brown
Preceded by Harvey Magee Watterson	Member from Tennessee's 9th congressional district 1843 – 1845	Succeeded by Lucien Bonaparte Chase

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[miller-center-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g John, Pinheiro. "Cave Johnson (1845–1849): Postmaster General". American President: An Online Reference Resource. University of Virginia. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

[1]

v t e United States postmasters general
Confederal	Franklin Bache Hazard
Federal	Osgood Pickering Habersham G. Granger Meigs McLean
Cabinet level Post Office Department	Barry Kendall Niles F. Granger Wickliffe Johnson Collamer Hall Hubbard Campbell A. Brown Holt King Blair Dennison Randall Creswell Marshall Jewell Tyner Key Maynard James Howe Gresham Hatton Vilas Dickinson Wanamaker Bissell Wilson Gary Smith Payne Wynne Cortelyou Meyer Hitchcock Burleson Hays Work New W. Brown Farley Walker Hannegan Donaldson Summerfield Day Gronouski O'Brien Watson Blount
U.S. Postal Service	Blount Klassen Bailar Bolger Carlin Casey Tisch Frank Runyon Henderson Potter Donahoe Brennan DeJoy

v t e Cabinet of President James K. Polk (1845–1849)
Secretary of State	James Buchanan (1845–1849)
Secretary of the Treasury	Robert J. Walker (1845–1849)
Secretary of War	William L. Marcy (1845–1849)
Attorney General	John Y. Mason (1845–1846) Nathan Clifford (1846–1848) Isaac Toucey (1848–1849)
Postmaster General	Cave Johnson (1845–1849)
Secretary of the Navy	George Bancroft (1845–1846) John Y. Mason (1846–1849)