Part 2
The following will was copied from the original will, #13, in
Dickson Co., TN, not from the copy transcribed in the will book.
"Whereas Samuel Johnson of the State of Tennessee and county of
Dickson is in a Low State of helth But having a Sound mind and in
the full exercise of his Reson Makes his Last will and Testament as
follows "My Negro Elick I Leave to My Dear Wife polly while she
Lives and the Beds and hous furniture I give to my Wife to Dispose
of as she pleaseth allso one cow an yearlin heffer and all my hogs
for her to suport the family on. The said Negro Elick after my
wife's Death I leave to my three sons William Johnson Dunkin
Johnson and James Johnson. Allso I give my wife two mares a Brown
and a Duns allso give 50 acres of Land Lyin on the head of White
Oak Creek of Tennessee River to my two sons Dunkin and James and
after all my Depts is payed out of the monies Due to me By other
obligation and accounts the Balinces of said monies I want equally
Divided amongst all my Children. Whereunto set My hand and seal
this 25th of March 1816 Sam'l Johnson Seal
Test
William Givin Exacators
John Epperson owes ) James King
the fees) William Johnson
January Term 1817 the last Will and Testament of Samuel Johnson
Deceased was this day produced in open Court and proven by the
Oathes of William Given & John Epperson and ordered to be
received and Recorded.
Jany 7, 1817 Field Farror Clerk
State of Tennessee) January 25th 1817
Dickson County ) Then was the within
Will Recorded in Book A page 30 & 31
Field Farror Clk
CFR lists other children for Samuel. I wonder if they are
included in "all my children" which he does not name or are the
three sons "all my children"?
On the deed in Bk. 34, p. 194, Bladen Co., NC, Samuel includes
this statement, "In witness whereof the said Sam'l Johnston hath
hereunto set his hand and seal the day and year first above
written reserves to him & his heirs and family connection one
eighth acre of land including the grave yard which land by the
agreement of the parties is to remain same for a burying ground."
I do not know whether this grave yard still exists but probably it
was lost 150 years ago. I wonder if this reservation is still
legal?
21 William JOHNSON listed in father's will. There is a William in
the 1820 Census of Dickson Co., age 18 to 26, wife age 16 to 26,
1 dau. under 10. In the 1830 he was age 20 to 30, wife age 20
to 30, 2 dau. under 5, 1 dau. 10 to 15. In the 1830 is also a
Wm. and wife age 20 to 30.
22 James JOHNSON is listed in father's will.
(At this time I have no direct evidence that this James is a
brother of our Duncan but I do have good circumstantial
evidence and have found no other persons in the counties who
could fit into these facts. People have been hung on such
evidence. That is pretty positive. Starting with the
following statement, I worked down the steps to some new
information.) "The Johnsons and Stewarts of Calhoun Co., MS,
have long called each other cousin; Robert Stewart and his
wife, Caroline, were Cousin Bob and Cousin Calline" (no "r"
pronounced).
1. Robert C. Stewart and wife Calline M. b. Mar 1842 AL, 1900
Cen. Calhoun Co., MS.
2. Robert Stewart and wife Mary C. age 38 b. AL, 1880 Cen.
Calhoun Co.
3. Robt. Stewart and wife Mary age 31 b. AL, 1870 Cen., Bibb
Co., AL.
4. Robert E. Stewart m. Caroline Johnson July 28, 1861 Bibb
Co., Marr. Bk E, 1850-1868, p. 291, Bibb Co., AL.
5. Harriett Johnson age 38 b. Tenn. ) 1850 Census Bibb Co.,
Fam. #1048 Caraline Johnson age 7 b. AL. )
Pleasant Rice age 1 b. AL )
(I had found this census many years ago because this
Pleasant Rice was the son of Duncan's deceased daughter
Mary Freeman (Johnson) Rice. I have wondered many times
who was this Harriett. The name was not in our family that
I knew of. I wondered why was not Duncan's grandson with
some of his family?)
6. James Johnson m. Harriett Tate Feb. 13, 1841, Bibb Co. Marr.
Bk D, p. 189, by David L. Brown, J.P. (Samuel TATE in his
will listed his dau. Harriett Johnson. As James is not in
the 1850 census, he probably died.) Harriet is listed with
two children, one is Duncan's grandson and the other is
Caroline.
7. A James Johnson is listed in CFR as a brother of a Duncan.
8. If Caroline was James's dau. and James was a brother of
Duncan, then this would make Caroline a cousin (first) of
Joshua West, which was the family tradition that we started
with. There are no other persons in Bibb Co., that could
fit all these relationships. There is no person named James
in the Bibb census from 1820 through 1850. James might have
been missed by the census taker or recently moved from TN,
or another county, when he m. Harriett. This is more
circumstantial evidence for Duncan being a son of Samuel.
23 Duncan JOHNSON b. 1797 Bladen Co., NC, d. 30 Oct 1877 Banner,
Calhoun Co., MS, bur. Banner Cem., m(1) 14 Mar 1820 Cahawba Co.,
Letty MORRIS b.c. 1801 SC, d. Spring 1835 Bibb Co., dau. of John
MORRIS and his wife Rebecca LEWIS, dau. of David LEWIS Jr. and
his 2nd wife Elizabeth LOCKHART of Spartanburg Co., SC. He m(2)
11 Feb 1845 Bibb Co., Sarah (DICKERSON) PRATT, widow of Hopkins
PRATT who died in 1841 and is bur. in the Pratt-Wallace Cem. at
River Bend. Her children by Hopkins are listed with Duncan in
the 1850 and 1860 Censuses but in 1850 they are given the name
JOHNSON in error. Before I found the 1845 marriage license,
this wife and these children were difficult to place. These
names were unknown in the family. Maybe this wasn't my Duncan,
BUT there is only one in the county. The marriage license and
two letters written back to Bibb Co. by Mollie (GLASS) DEW
reminiscing about old times, referring to "Old Uncle Duncan
JOHNSON was there" cleared up any confusion. I have not been
able to find any mention of Sarah after the 1860 census. She
might have died before the family went to MS in 1866. There has
been no mention of a wife of Duncan coming to MS with them or of
one being buried with him at Banner. Aunt Angie never mentioned
her to my mother. Aunt Angie was about 12 at the 1860 census
and certainly would have known her step-grandmother. She would
not have known any other grandmother. Possibly she did not like
her and later refused to mention her. Another strange thing is
that as of 1859 when Joshua West Johnson sent all of the family
information to Wm. Terrell LEWIS and mentioned that Duncan's
wife Letty had died in 1835, there was NO mention that Duncan
had married again in 1845 and that then, 1859, he still was
living with his wife Sarah. We know this as Sarah was listed in
the 1860 census with two children named Pratt. The Lewis
ancestry of Letty MORRIS may be found on pages 209-210 of The
Genealogy of the Lewis Family in America, by Wm. Terrell Lewis,
1893.
Duncan was not the first to ask for the hand of Letty. In the
Loose Papers of Bibb Co., I found the following note,
March the 29 1819
Sir Please to let luke Johnson have
lison, an you will obblige
yours
Trully John Morris
Anar Tate (what does this mean?)(a wit. named Anna
Tate?)
Marriage Bond - 29 March 1819, Territory of Alabama, Cahaba Co.
Luke Johnston to Letty Morris
But 10 days later is found :
Marriage Bond -8 April 1819 Territory of Alabama, Cahaba Co.
Luke Johnston to Anah Helms.
Luke did marry Anah, and so the next record was possible:
Marriage license - 14 March 1820 State of Alabama, Cahawba Co.
Dunken Johnston to Letty Morris - performed by Joshua West
M.G.
I wonder - Did Letty get "cold feet"?, did Anah have a bigger
dowry?, was Luke just fickle? or? We will never know.
Duncan and Letty were married by the early Methodist minister,
Joshua WEST and I am sure that is where Duncan's son got his
name. This caused me to wonder about the denominational
affiliation of our ancestors. The Lewises were long time
members of the Church of England in VA. Rebecca Lewis could
have brought John MORRIS into that church or possibly he was a
member already. The census says Duncan could not read. If so,
he would not know how his name was spelled on his marriage
license. Since it was spelled Dunkin Johnston, I think that was
probably the way he pronounced it. Maybe the closest Letty
could get to the Episcopal Church on the AL frontier would be
the Methodists. Cousin Maria said that Joshua West remained a
Methodist while his wife and most of his children went to the
Baptist church. Ron Johnson has found that Duncan was a Sunday
School leader for many years in the Methodist Church. This
leader would be the same as teacher in Baptist churches.
Duncan was listed as a charge customer of James C. C. Wiley in
his account book in Centreville before 1829. See p. 237, Bibb
County, Alabama, The First Hundred Years 1818-1918, by Ellison.
He also was a patient of Dr. David R. Boyd in 1829, p. 25, the
original ledger is in the Centreville-Brent Library. It was
pub. in 1993, by Chester R. Johnson as, The Wiley-Boyd Ledger,
Before 1823 - 1839. Duncan was listed in Wiley's index. The
actual pages of Wiley's ledger were cut out long ago probably by
Dr. Boyd before he started to use the ledger. Dr. Boyd kept
Wiley's index and added his patient to it. We are fortunate
that Wiley's index was not cut out also. The index is missing
the letters B, C, E, F, M, N. for both Wiley and Boyd. Duncan
was a petient in 1829. I used his patient page as the photo
cover for my book.
Duncan was listed in his father's will as Dunkin and inherited
1/2 ownership in 50 acres in Dickson Co., TN and 1/3 ownership
in a slave named Elick, to be received after his mother's death.
I have not found what happened to the land or the slave Elick.
Kate (Johnson) Cannon had a tintype of Duncan wearing a small
derby. This was copied in a large (12x16) charcoal? portrait
without the hat. I have seen two copies of this. Kate had one.
I have photographed her tintype and portrait.
Since the CFR book only mentions that Samuel had a son named
Duncan and that he went to AL, the following data is offered to
prove this relationship. Samuel of the CFR family moved from
Bladen Co., NC to Dickson Co., TN, c. l807. Duncan is shown in
the 1850 and 1860 census of Bibb Co., as b. 1797 NC. Trad. said
Duncan came to AL from TN. CFR says Samuel and his family moved
to AL. As Samuel died in Dickson Co., he did not move. But
Duncan was in Bibb Co. in Mar 1820 and married there. CFR says
Samuel m. Polly FREEMAN. Duncan named his dau. Mary Freeman.
Polly is a nickname for Mary. I think I can show beyond
resonable doubt that Cousin Caroline is a dau. of James JOHNSON.
CFR says Duncan had a brother James. Here is a James in Bibb
Co. with a dau. Caroline who could be a first cousin of Joshua
West. There are no known Freemans in Letty's family. I know
quite a bit about her LEWIS line. I know nothing about her
father's family, the MORRISes.
Finally there are NO other Duncan JOHNS(T)ONs in the AL census
1820 - 1860.
Also in Harriet Johnson's household was Pleasant RICE, son of
Duncan's dau. Mary Freeman (JOHNSON) RICE who had d. in 1849. I
have found no other persons named Duncan, James or Caroline who
could fit all of these situations.
The 1850 and 1860 censuses say that he cannot read or write.
Another researcher told me that one man she found that was
marked "can't read or write" also had in the margin that he had
a broken thumb. If a man was now blind, he could be so marked.
That does not mean that he didn't know how.
Sarah PRATT is on a list of members of Schultz Creek Baptist
Church inserted between the minutes of Feb. 1844 and April 1844.
There was no entry of the March minutes. Saturday before the
5th Sabbath in June 1844 Sister Pratt was received by letter.
In a list of members dated 1856, Sarah Johnson is listed
immediately after Mary Pratt. Mary Pratt was her sister. See
Shultz Creek Church Book by Chester R. Johnson.
231 Joshua West JOHNSON b. 21 Feb 1821 Bibb Co., AL, d. 29 Jun
1900 Banner, Calhoun Co., MS, m. 11 Dec 1845 Bibb Co.,
Maria(h)BLAKE b. 23 Feb 1826 Bibb Co., d. 8 Jul 1910 Banner,
both bur. Spring Creek Cem., Calhoun Co. Maria(h) was a dau.
of Archibald Henry BLAKE Sr. and his wife Theodocia PRATT (see
The Blakes of Bibb County, Alabama 1819-1988, by Chester R.
Johnson.
All of my life I have heard it said that they had 13 children.
So it was a surprise when I found in their census record of
1900 and 1910 Mariah told the census taker that she had had 14
children, 12 of which were still living. Theodocia Frances
had died in Texas in 1895 with no surviving children. The
existance of another child was not known in the family until
on 1 April [not a joke] 1999, I received a copy of the letter
that Joshua West Johnson wrote on 17 July 1859 to Wm. Terrell
Lewis about his family. Joshua West was living in
Scottsville, Bibb Co., and Wm. Terrell Lewis was living in
Louisville, Winston Co., MS. These letters have just been
found in the AL State Archives in Montgomery. A son was born
between 6 May 1852 and 26 Jun 1855, only lived three days, and
was not named.
Kate (Johnson) Cannon had Joshua West's Bible. It only lists
13 children by name. It did not list the infant son. All of
the family record section is complete but the title page, plus
a few more, are missing. Ron Johnson has Uncle Lattimer's
Bible and it is identical and complete. They were most likely
bought at the same time.
Joshua West was a farmer in both AL and MS. He was initiated
and Passed in 1871 in Dallas Lodge #319, Dallas, Lafayette
Co., MS, (Tocopola P.O.), Raised to Master Mason in the same
lodge in 1872 and demitted the same year to the Banner Lodge
#329 Banner, Calhoun Co., MS. This Masonic record shows that
when the Johnsons came from AL, they spent about 5 years in
Lafayette Co., before finally settling in Calhoun Co.) He
served as Junior Warden in 1873 and a member from 1874 until
demitting in 1877. He was reported Non - Affiliated, Paid, in
1886. He reaffiliated with the Banner Lodge in 1887 and was
a member until 1894 when he was suspended for non-payment of
dues. He was reinstated in 1898 and was a mem. until he died
30 Jun 1900.
During the short existence of the Banner College at Banner,
Joshua West Johnson was one of the trustees and advisory
council. A catalogue for the first year, 1887-1888, was found
by Jimmy Johnson of Oxford among the items in the estate of
Eudora Welty which he purchased. He furnished me with a copy.
The college only lasted 3 years. I checked with the Library
of the Univ. of MS, in Oxford, about catalogues of other years
but they did not know of the existence of any catalogue of any
year. With Jimmy's approval, I let them copy my copy for
their educational archives. They were delighted with Jimmy's
find. Family members listed among the students were: Sidney
Brantly, Rosana Cobb, Luther Cobb, Will Johnson, and Mack
Johnson.
His wife's tombstone says he was a Capt. (in the Confederate
Army). Aunt Angie Brantley said that she remembered him
drilling men up and down the streets of Centreville. She was
13 years old in 1861. The Confederate records of many states
are incomplete and I have not yet found any record of him
being in the Confederate Army. Possibly he in a militia
company that recruited soldiers. Cousin Maria said in her
book that he recruited men of the area and they elected him
their officer, that they served with Clanton's Division
throughout the Civil War. I have not found any mention of
this group in the records of Clanton's Division. This does
not mean that it is not true as the records are incomplete.
He was 45 and had 10 children at that time, 1 died at birth.
The AL Confederate Archives show only a J. W. Johnson who was
21 in 1862 and was not from Bibb Co.
[Continued in Part 3]
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