President Andrew Johnson Plaque
Location: Toreagh Primary School, Raloo
The grandparents of US President Andrew Johnson are reputed to have lived at a site near the modern Toreagh Primary School at Raloo prior to emigrating to the United States in search of better fortune. Johnson, the son of Jacob and Mary Johnston, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was a champion of the common people when he entered politics.
He was to succeed the assassinated Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States following the American War, a position which he held between 1865-1869. This Ulster-Scot was among a number who occupied the highest political office in the land, and in addition to his natural sympathies with the "common man", displayed during his Governorship of Tennessee and Presidency, he was also a Freemason, belonging at one stage to the same Masonic Lodge as had President Andrew Jackson, whose family had connections with Bonnybefore, Carrickfergus, and Bellahill, Ballycarry.
