| THOMAS JOHNSON |
| 1830-1887 |
| Thomas Johnson was the second child of Andrew and Elizabeth Johnson. He ws born August 1, 1830, in Gwinnett County, Georgia, soon after his parents moved there. His younger sister, Mary, was born six years later in Dekalb County. Therefore, we think the family moved there from Gwinnett County between 1830 and 1836. Andrew operated a general store on Killian Hill Road in Gwinnett about this time. Thomas, William II, Mary and George probably grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Life must have been good for them at this time and we can imagine them enjoying the mountain, their beautiful grove and the excitement of living near something so new to everyone...a train! Just think how much more comfortable train travel was than a stagecoach. However, tragedy sturck early when Elizabeth and Andrew died while still quite young. Although everyone in this family seemed to be prosperous in the 1850's, there were many deaths. In the small Johnson-Maddox-Goldsmith Cemetery there are six graves with tombstones showing they died in the 1850's. Thomas' father, mother, grandfather, nephew, cousin Emily Goldsmith (child of Lucretia) and Lucretia's husband, William Goldsmith, all died in the 1850's. At the age of 26, Thomas married 17 year old Virginia Eugenia Emerson in Dekalb County, Georgia, September 23, 1856. Records show that soon after their first child, Alice, was born in 1857, Thomas received 192 acres of land December 19, 1857, from William Johnson I, his grandfather, who died in 1858. By the time Thoas and Virginia Eugenia's second and third children, Dora and Oscar came along, times were changing! The Civil War was upon them and Thomas had to leave to join the fighting. We don't know much about what happened to him until he was injured in the Civil War in a train collision. He returned home, injured for life, to Virginia Eugenia, who was then 25 years old, and their children, Alice (7), Dora (4) and Oscar (2). Records also show that on June 1, 1867, Thomas received $2,000 for land sold to Benjamin F. Veal. His injured leg continued to cause him much pain, but somehow he managed to work of a cotton mill in Atlanta. Thomas died June 23, 1887, in Dekalb County from an overdose of morphine that he took to ease his chronic pain. He is buried at Macedonia Cemetery in Lithonia, Dekalb, Georgia. For a hundred years, Thomas' grave (all alone) had no headstone or coping and no recognition for his courage, bravery and a lifetime of pain and suffering from his injuries in the War. Finally, his granddaughter, Hazel Britt Mitchell, put a headstone and coping around his grave. On Sunday, September 24, 200, a memorial marker was placed on his grave by the Atlanta Chapter #18 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. by Cora Whitley Lambert |
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| Ginny Brewton Family History |
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| Thomas was in the 12th Battalion Co.C Georgia Light Artillery. They had just completed their training on July 5, 1862 in Augusta, GA and were on a train going to help defend Chattanooga, when there was a tragic collision. |