Johnson H Hellen was the oldest son of Walter Hellen Jr. and his first wife Ann "Nancy" Johnson Hellen. No family records, or other, note his middle name, unfortunately, only the initial. His uncle, John Quincy Adams, after his return from Europe, in 1818 took him and his orphaned siblings in, then still living in Georgetown with their young step-mother (and aunt, and cousin), Adelaide Johnson Hellen, and later helped to send him, noted as "quiet and studious", to Princeton, from which he graduated with a degree in law.

Although subsequent events make it clear that Johnson was the most stable and ultimately successful of the Hellen siblings, the diaries of (their aunt), Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, note that all the siblings were at one time "troublesome" to her and her husband, John Quincy. Johnson was in fact briefly expelled from Princeton for "taking part in a demonstration" in which he showed "disrespect". When all is taken into account, this often appears more a degree of independence exhibited by all the orphaned Hellens, sometimes at odds with their surrogate parents.

Returning to Washington after graduation, he lived once again with the Adamses, John Quincy then Secretary of State, and also appears then to have worked for him. By 1823, however, he moved to Rockville, MD, was admitted to the bar, and established his own law practice there. By 1826, however, he had again returned to Washington, was admitted to the bar in that city on 14 May, and for a period of time, worked again for his uncle, now president, in the White House. His enormous mahogany White House secretarial desk remained in the family and is still extant, passed down to a great granddaughter. His father had left him a sizable inheritance which included significant real estate in Washington, in which he continued to deal and invest, and Johnson became a prominent, even more wealthy, figure in the community, a respected attorney, later a judge. An obituary for one son and a much later newspaper article noted him as "Judge Johnson H Hellen", but included no additional details. Regardless, from available records, Johnson was not a federal judge, but perhaps a former Washington Circuit Court associate judge prior to those positions being eliminated in the city in a reorganization of the courts by an act of Congress in 1863.

Johnson is recorded as a slave owner, those (number unknown) all appearing "domestics", and some inherited from his father. In one ironic footnote, he "leased" a male domestic, "Holzey", to his then president, uncle John, who served in the White House for a number of years, recorded as dying there on 23 Feb 1828 of "consumption". Another interesting aside is that Louisa Adams hired a cook in Washington in 1846, a slave girl named Julia, who's papers were held by Johnson Hellen, but she allowed to work, gradually earning her own freedom, and by then nearly paid in full. Louisa made her final payment, $125, for her that year, and freed her. Later available records note only free "domestics" in the Hellen household by 1860, two young women of Irish birth. It is speculated by family researchers, with some supporting documentation, that Johnson's views changed as he grew older, perhaps influenced by many of his known associations over the years, one with Daniel Webster (Johnson also his landlord at one time), and may, by at least the 1850s, have joined the growing ranks of abolitionists, also discretely assisting the Underground Railroad.

Johnson, briefly engaged in 1824, but that broken off, met Jane Elizabeth Winnull when she was a White House maid and his Aunt Louisa Johnson Adams' womanservant when he worked for his uncle there. Their courtship and marriage on April 18, 1829 in Washington was opposed by most family as "below [Johnson's] station", but appears based on love, not propriety (of the time). Johnson announced the engagement only five days prior to the marriage, one historian noting the marriage so shocked the Adamses, that they "took to their chambers and smelling salts". It was, however, ultimately a long and successful union, certainly much more so than others of his family, including the 1828 marriage of his younger sister, Mary Catherine Hellen, to John Adams II, for whom both he and his younger brother, Thomas Johnson Hellen, were groomsman, John's own two brothers refusing to attend the White House wedding.

Johnson Hellen's father, Walter Hellen Jr., was an Episcopalian, as it is assumed his eldest son. It is now confirmed by research that Jane was a Catholic, explaining why all their offspring were raised Catholic, as the church wished, and all but one buried in predominately Catholic Mt. Olivet. Johnson himself appears not to have converted for the marriage (officiated by a priest), or later, and expressed his desire in his will of 23 April 1866 to be buried in Rock Creek Cemetery with his "relations", but was of course interred here instead, that remaining unexplained, but most likely as his widow and surviving offspring then wished.

One newspaper report of his funeral is attached, that from the Evening Star, Jan 24, 1867, which notes his casket was first placed in a vault pending final internment, and per The National Republican, Jan 25, 1867: "remains were interred at Mount Olivet", so appearing removed from the vault and interred the following day in the conventional grave. The report also notes the many prominent attendees, including the major, but makes no mention of his widow, surviving offspring, or other family.

Johnson and Jane's home was noted as 501 D Street, NW, that and an adjacent building, 503, both owned by Johnson, the home recorded as built by him in 1832 and 503 in about 1845, both still extant, though later converted to other use sometime after Jane's death, certainly by 1882. All of Johnson and Jane's offspring born after 1832 were then also most likely born in that home. See the attached photo, the structure now sadly much changed from a once fashionable townhouse. Additional properties he once owned have now been confirmed as just a block away from his home on 7th Street NW, two of those also extant in greatly modified form, and having been owned by the Hellen heirs up until 1922.

Johnson and Jane had a total of ten offspring, all now with memorials as linked below.

Allan Garner - Rev: Jan 20, 2022.
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Note: Johnson Hellen is sometimes confused by Hellen family researchers with his cousin, Joseph Johnson Hellen, born in Calvert County in 1796, and died there after 1850. He and his wife, Aletha Elizabeth Ireland, born abt 1805, do not have memorials to date as their death dates and burial locations cannot be confirmed, however, four of their five offspring do have memorials. See Dr William Dawkins Hellen, one son, and with additional links as needed.