Streets in a subdivision on Tucson's far east side remember several people who served under President Abraham Lincoln, including Andrew Johnson, who would become the nation's 17th president.

Johnson was born in 1808 to Jacob and Mary (McDonough) Johnson in a log cabin in Raleigh, N.C. At 3 years old Johnson lost his father, and his family, which included his mother and older brother, lived in extreme poverty.

Johnson did not attend school, and his mother was forced to apprentice both her sons to James J. Selby, who owned a tailor shop. As Johnson's biographer, Hans Trefousse wrote, "North Carolina law placed apprentices in a position little better than that of slaves." At 15, Johnson and his brother fled, and soon after an ad appeared in the Raleigh Gazette offering a reward for their capture.

Johnson stayed in South Carolina for a while, returning briefly to Raleigh before moving to Tennessee with his mother and stepfather in a one-horse cart.

The Johnsons settled in Greenville, Tenn., where 17-year-old Andrew opened his own store under the name "A. Johnson, Tailor."

In 1827, Johnson, 18, wed Eliza McCardle in Greenville. At 16, she wed at a younger age than any other first lady. They had five children.

From 1828 to 1843, Johnson served successively as a town councilman, the mayor of Greenville and in the Tennessee House of Representatives and state Senate.

In 1843 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for 10 years

and then became governor of Tennessee from 1853 to 1857 and U.S. senator from 1857 to 1862. …