Samuel Johnston, a leading patriot during the American Revolution, served as governor of North Carolina in 1789. He is credited with being the first person elected as president of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, but he declined the position and continued in national politics through ratification of the Constitution in 1789. Sometime in the 1780s, Johnston built a home, The Hermitage, in Williamston off present-day Park Street, and ruins of the structure were still visible as late as 1913.