When Johnson returned from Europe late in 1855 and moved in with his family in Washington, D.C., he began receiving portrait commissions. Like the commissioned drawings done earlier, Johnson generally used charcoal (named in some records as black chalk) with touches of white and created a strong chiaroscuro for his sitters. In his later professional years as a painter of oil few portraits of children are recorded. His art commanded high prices; perhaps families were then reluctant to include their children in sittings for portrait drawings. —PH
MacGibeny, 2022: Martha Newton, Johnson's sister-in-law (sister of William Henry Newton, husband of Johnson's sister Sarah Osgood Johnson Newton) appears as the woman holding the newspaper in Johnson's 1857 group portrait Group with Sarah Fairchild Dean.
Martha Newton (1841–?). Niece of Johnson; daughter of Sarah Osgood Johnson, Johnson’s sister, and William Henry Newton. Youngest sister of siblings Mary Elizabeth, William Henry, John, and James. Married Hamilton Murray Peyton (m. 1864).
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