Johns, John

(July 10, 1796-Apr. 5, 1876). Bishop, college president, and evangelical leader. He was born in New Castle, Delaware. Johns graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1815, and then studied for two years at Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon on May 6, 1819, and priest on July 26, 1820. Johns was rector of All Saints' Church, Fredericktown, Maryland, 1819-1829, and then rector of Christ Church, Baltimore, 1829-1842. He was consecrated Assistant Bishop of Virginia on Oct. 13, 1842, and became the fourth Bishop of Virginia on Mar. 14, 1862. Johns was president of the College of William and Mary, 1849-1854. He was a leading evangelical and president of the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Theological Seminary, 1862-1876. His major published work was Memoir of the Life of the Right Rev. William Meade (1867), his predecessor as Bishop of Virginia. Johns died in Alexandria, Virginia.