Sun 09 Dec 2001 08:48:23 AM EST
Johnson of course is an extremely common surname (the names Johnson and Johnston have often been used interchangeably), which makes it very hard to trace the movements of this family from generation to generation and from place to place.
There is some historical evidence of an association between the two families in York Co., but I've found no intermarriage until Lawrence Co. AL in the 19th century. The Johnson line is nebulous and can only be pieced together on the basis of a number of guesses, surmises and at worst speculations.
In this study I do not claim kinship links unless they are specifically stated in the text. I present it here in the hope that it may provide useful information to some cousin, or better yet lead to some creative correction, comment, suggestion, criticism or whatever from you, dear reader. Send such to
John Johnston was born in Maryland. In Baltimore he married Martha (1758). They moved to York Co. SC. During the Revolution John was a sergeant under Capt. John Moffett. They were in Davidson Co. TN briefly and then in Maury. In 1841 Martha applied for a pension. She had a daughter, born ca 1779 and a younger child, born ca 1800. (This material taken from Peden's Marylanders to Carolina, pp 93-4.
Members of the Johnson family were probably in Cecil at a very early period:
Thomas Johnston died in 1730 in Cecil Co. MD. His wife was Millicent Hyland. Two of their sons moved to Frederick Co. VA.
In its early days Cecil Co. MD intruded into an area that later became part of Chester (and perhaps Lancaster) Co. PA. Many of the names listed in Cecil show up in those area a few years after 1739.
In 1767 James and Mary Johnston conveyed 500a to
James and William McElheney on Fishing Creek in York Co.
SC adjacent to Samuel Moor.
Witnesses were Thomas and Jane McElheney and
Catherine McAdoo.
John Johnston of York SC. Scotland/Ireland and wife Martha Allison, dau of Hugh Allison, who died in York Co. SC. John is said to have got land grant in Dickson or Davidson Co., then Maury Co. and Lawrence Co (TN).
Abel and Elijah Johnson were in Spartanburg in 1800.
In 1801 Robert Johnston finished his administration of the estate of David Johnston. Legatees included John Boyd and Sarah Johnston.
David Johnston (1797-1825) is buried at Bethel Presbyterian Cemetery along with Joseph (and many others) Feemster, Andrew Kerr, Alexander Ross, Craigs, Moores, and Alexanders.
Minos B. Feemster's youngest sister, Eliz L, married John Johnston
Able and Isaac Johnston were in Montgomery Co. TN in 1820.
Johnsons and Stephensons were closely related in Maury Co. TN and later in Lawrence Co. AL and likely in York Co. SC before Maury.
William Watson Stephenson married Malinda Johnston, daughter of William Johnston and Elizabeth McGaughey in Maury Co. TN in 1810.
W.W.'s sister, Mary Margaret (Polly)Stephenson married John Miller Johnston in Maury Co. TN in 1813.
By 1820 Stephensons, McGaugheys, and Johnsons were in Lawrence Co. AL, including Polly Johns on. They were all Cumberland Presbyterians as were at least some of the Leech family.
The SC Militia was active in the War of 1812. Many of Andrew Jackson's army returning from the Battle of New Orleans were said to have settled in the Mt. Hope area of Lawrence Co. John Leech of York Co. SC may have been one of these.
John Miller Johnson (Johnston) married Mary M.
"Polly" STEPHENSON 26 July 1813 in Maury Co. TN.
She was the daughter of Hugh W. and Margaret Stephenson
who came to TN from Chester Co. SC. Polly was born in
1795 in Smith County TN. John Miller and his brother
William were born in KY.
In 1818, both Stephensons and Johnstons moved to
Lawrence Co AL. John Miller Johnston died the following
year.
(Data on John Miller and Polly came from friend
Karen Dale.)
In 1824 Able Johnston, said to be from Kentucky married Jane Leech, daughter of John Leech of York Co. SC and Lawrence Co. AL. The bond was signed by Able Johnson and David Leech, Jane's brother. Jane died in 1844 and was buried at the Free Will Bapt. Church in Detroit, in Marion Co. AL.
(For the children of Able and Jane Johnston go to LAFAYETTE MS
Abel Johnston married(2) Ruth Frazier in 1850 in Lawrence Co. AL.
Abel Johnston died in 1878 in Sarepta, MS.
The identity of Abel Johnston was the primary object of this file (study). Several Johnston cousins have been able and valuable collaborators. I mention particularly Karen Dale and Bill Hodges, but there are many others who made significant contributions.
Here is printed a letter from Karen to Bill giving her latest findings:
Subj: Re: William Johnston Sr.
Date: 12/16/2000
It has been very tempting to look at the WILLIAM JOHNSTON SR. (see 1830 census) as the father of WILLIAM JR. ABEL and JOHN MILLER JOHNSTON, but based on material from Stephensons and McGaugheys, I have real questions about that because I think this is the William Johnston who was married to Elizabeth McGaughey.
Faye Johnston tells me that a map she got from Bill (I have not seen it) puts WILLIAM STEPHENSON next to William Johnston Sr. and Jr. William Stephenson was WILLIAM WATSON STEPHENSON, son of HUGH STEPHENSON and wife Margaret, and brother to the Mary Margaret (Polly) Stephenson who married John Miller Johnston in Maury Co. TN 1813. WILLIAM WATSON STEPHENSON married MALINDA JOHNSTON, daughter of WILLIAM JOHNSTON and ELIZABETH MCGAUGHEY, in Maury Co. TN 28 Oct 1810, Theron Balch, bondsman. McGaugheys moved to Lawrence Co. AL 1819, along with the Stephensons and John Miller Johnston. McGaughey files say Elizabeth McGaughey Johnston died in Lawrence Co. and is buried there.
Now, about 1900 (published 1906) J.C. Stephenson, son of Malinda Johnston and William Watson Stephenson, wrote a Stephenson family history. In that history, he gives Malinda's birthdate as 3 Jan 1791. SHE IS THE ONLY CHILD HE LISTS FOR WILLIAM JOHNSTON AND ELIZABETH MCGAUGHEY. Since they were his grandparents, and since Stephensons and Johnstons all lived close together in Lawrence, surely he would have known if Abel, William Jr. and John Miller were his uncles, all younger than his mother, and would have included them in his family history.
The William Johnston Sr. in Lawrence census records may or may not be this William Johnston, but if he is, I cannot believe he is the father of the younger Johnston men. Why would J.C. Stephenson have left them out of the family history? He gives no information at all about William Johnston who married McGaughey beyond speculation that he was from the Arundel Johnstons. He does not mention at all a William Jr. or an Abel. He does include John Miller Johnston, but only because he was married to J.C.'s paternal aunt, Polly Stephenson Johnston.
In that William Sr. household, the oldest male and the oldest female in the household are ages 60-70. There is one male, 15-20, two females, 20-30. If he was 60, he was born 1770, which certainly makes him the right age to be a father to children born 1791, 1794, 1798 and 1803, but again, if this is the William married to Eliz. McGaughey, why did J.C. Stephenson include only Malinda?
The oldest female, also 60-70, is also of an age to be Eliz. McGaughey. I don't have a birthdate for her, but her oldest brother (she was supposedly the 3rd child) Samuel was born 15 Jul 1763.
If there were census records out of Maury TN 1800-1810, we might have some clue to this William's identity. I didn't find any tax lists, etc. in Nashville this summer.
I did find one interesting deed in Maury Co. TN: A William Johnston and wife Elizabeth selling land in Adair Co. KY--deed dated 1814. I haven't tracked that one down yet.
HOWEVER: having said William is probably not the father of William, John Miller or Abel (and more and more I'm leaning toward Abel being a brother to Wm. Jr and John Miller--at least a cousin), I do think he is clearly related to them, but probably an uncle rather than father.
Enough speculation?
In 1832 William Johnson and William Johnston, Jr. acquired property in Sec 6 and Sec. 7 of Twp 6S 8W; those two sections were directly adjacent to the two sections that embraced John Leech's farm.
In 1822 John T. Johnson married Eliz. W. Henry (1805) in KY, daughter of Rev. William Henry. This Henry family, allied with Dickeys, had lived successively in Halifax VA, Pendleton SC, Logan and Livingston Counties in KY. Some of its members found their way to Lawrence Co. AL
James Johnson was born in Prince Edward Co. VA. in 1785. As a boy he moved with his family to KY. He was sheriff of Livingston County from 1803 to 1809. In 1806 he married Jane Leeper. He studied medicine and became a physician. In 1808 he joined the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In the War of 1812 he served as an assistant surgeon.
In 1819 a year after his wife died James Johnson was licensed to preach, and 1822 he was ordained by the Logan Presbytery. He died in 1837 and left 10 children.
Material on Dr. James Johnson's life came from a book by Richard Beard Brief Biographical Sketches of Some of the Early Ministers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Methodist Publishing House, 1867, pages 245-262]
Abel Johnston married Jane Leetch in Lawrence Co. in 1824. The marriage bond was said to be made by Abel Johnson and David Leech, but the signature was Abel Johnston.
Abel Johnston's wife, Jane Leetch, died in 1844 in Marion Co. Al and was buried at the Free Will Baptist Church cemetery in Detroit, Lamar Co. AL, a few miles from Mississippi. Abel moved on to Lafayette Co. MS where in 1851 he married Ruth Frazier. He acquired property a few miles from the farm of John A Leech, the son of David Leech. Abel and Ruth are both buried in the cemetery at the old (extinct) town of Dallas in SE Lafayette Co.
The children of Abel and Jane Leech Johnston were:
(Abel and Jane had 7 sons: the second and the sixth,
William C. and David may have been named for her two
brothers, and the third, John, perhaps after her father.
On the basis of the boys' names we might speculate that
Abel's father may have been named Robert.)
1. Elizabeth Malinda, born 1825 md James M Jones.
2. Robert born 1826 md Margaret M.Y.Frazier in
1853.
3. Mary C Johnston b 1828
4. Wm Charles b 1834 md 23 year old
Jane Emeline King in 1856, dau of James Harvey
and Jane Madison Hope King. They had 2 children:
Roxie and Charles William Johnston.(8 children)
Charles William and family lived and died in Toccapola
in Pontotoc, just across the Lafayette line. (Wm Charles
died in the Civil War and was buried at Shiloh.)
(on Sept. 10, 1849 Benjamin Franklin King deeded
some live stock to Able Johnson to settle a debt of $6. (Lafayette Deed
Book E, page 441)
5. John I. Johnstone was listed in the 1850 census,
age
13,
birthplace
Alabama. John Johnston md Margaret Dunlap in Lafayette
County
on 30
October 1855. (another correspondent, Jerry Johnston
(jerry@ttha.com)
stated that John Lewis Johnston, b 1837 md Amanda Bowles
in
1960.)
6. Samuel M. Johnston was listed in the 1850
census, age 11, born Alabama.
7. Albert Monroe Johnston was listed in the 1850
census, age 9, birthplace Alabama. Albert M.Johnston md Eliza K.
Bowles in Lafayette County on 17 January 1867. (They were the ancestors of
Jerry Johnston (jerry@ttha.com).)
8. David F. Johnston was listed in the 1850 census at
the age of
6, birthplace Alabama.
Abel Johnston (1803-78) is buried in Old Dallas, in SE Lafayette Co. MS.
© 2001 Larry
Clayton
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