of the 14 slaves who operated his home and business. Johnson continued to operate his business despite of the loss of his slaves in 1866 after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. By the mid-1870s, he was dabbling in the banking business, as well as wholesaling liquor. Widowed in 1875, he never remarried. His generosity to the poor and to the Catholic Church earned him a knighthood in the Order of Saint Gregory the Great from Pope Leo XIII in 1886. When he died in 1889, Johnson was the wealthiest man in Nelson County, leaving an estate of over $500,000 (). His funeral was attended by over 2000 people and was officiated over by William George McCloskey, Bishop of Louisville. He is buried next to his wife in Saint Catherine Cemetery in New Haven. References External links Biography of Silvester Johnson at Ancestry.com People from Nelson County, Kentucky Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives 1813 births 1889 deaths 19th-century American politicians American slave owners