"Cousin Irene" Johnson Holt on the Johns[t]on family

[Clayton Mann]

About 1939, Irene Johnson Holt of Chatham County, NC, daughter of Jesse Johns[t]on and great-granddaughter of Charles & Prudence Mann Johnston, wrote a letter to her cousin Nan (Nancy Emma Holt Gillespie, daughter of Young Anderson Holt) regarding the history of the Johns[t]on family.  Note: By the time she was writing this, all the Johnston family had dropped the t in their name.

There used to be in my young days a Henry Johnson, who attended Christian Chapel Church, that was related to my father in some way, but I've never heard him say what relation.  And this Henry had some daughters, too; and I knew them, but don't remember their names.

My mother, Caroline Holt Johnson, used to say that it worried her that we children knew so little about our kinsfolk, or cared to know, and after she passed on I have often wished that she could answer some of the questions that have entered my mind. So, I am going to jot down some of the things I know before my memory fails, and if every my children want to know any of it, it will be in black and white to refer to.

Part of what I am going to jot down comes from memory of things I picked up in childhood from hearing it talked, although I was not interested at the time. And a few years before my Aunt Louise Johnson Seagroves (my father's sister) died, she spent a week with me and she gave me the history of the Johnson family.

Some of them used to live at and own the Pink Mason place, later called them Stephen's place; and once when we were living there my father (Jesse Johnson) and I were sitting on the back porch and he spoke of some big rocks shining on the surface and said "I reckon Uncle Johnny Johnson planted them rocks". I said I guessed God planted them.  He and Aunt Louise both said that the Johnsons owned all the land from the Pink Mason place to the Joe Boling place down near where Bonsal now is.

There was a large family of these children: four boys and two girls went away, and one boy and three girls were left behind.  Therefore, there are not many back her by the Johnson name.  My grandfather, Charles Johnson 2nd, was the boy left.  Aunt Louise said that she was about five years old when her uncles and aunts left for Mississippi and other countries; and by counting her age at the time made it around 1847 when they went away. On the next page you will find the names of this family: my great-grandparents & great-uncles and aunts.

The Johnson Family Tree

The grandparents of Jesse Johnson (my father) were Charles and Prudence Johnson and this is as far back as I know of the Johnsons.

Charles and Prudence Johnson had ten children and six of these children, four boys and two girls left around 1847 on covered wagons with their families.  In my childhood days I have heard my father and mother talk of them and some of them came back on a visit and they wrote for awhile and were finally lost sight of.

Some of them, if not all, went to Mississippi at first, and it could be that some of the Johnsons in North Carolina now are descendants of some of those who went away, drifted back, but we don't know.  Of course this first Charles Johnson had a father and mother and probably brothers and sisters.

This is the Johnson Family Tree....
Charles and Prudence Johnson children below ---

Jim Johnson  --  went away
John Johnson  --  went away
Joe Johnson  --  went away
Daniel Johnson  --  went away
Nancy Johnson  --  went away
Lucy Johnson  --  went away
Charles Johnson 2nd  --  married Lucy Mann
Betsy Johnson  --  married George Holt
Prudence Johnson  --  married Alsey Holt
Miriam Johnson  --  married Benton Holt and Britton Drake

• The children of Charles Johnson & Lucy Mann were Jesse Johnson, Louise Johnson, & Rufus Johnson
• The children of Betsy Johnston & George Holt were Ruffin Holt, Tyresa Holt, Harriett Holt, Caroline Holt, David Holt, & Maturia Holt
• The children of Prudence Johnson & Alsey Holt were Bob Holt, Joe Holt, Caswell Holt, Chess Holt, Young Holt, Wesley Holt, Kizzy Holt, and Miley Holt
• The children of Miriam Johnson and Benton Holt were one child; and Benton and son were both killed in war.  Miriam ("Mink") and Britton Drake didn't have any children.

The Children of Charles and Lucy Mann

1. Jesse Johnson married Caroline Holt
2. Louise Johnson married Thomas Seagroves
3. Rufus Johnson married Lizzie Johnson

The Children of Betsy Johnson & George Holt

1. Ruffin Holt married Penny Em Mann
2. Tyresa Holt married Jim Holt
3. Harriet Holt married Silas Mann
4. Caroline Holt married Jesse Johnson
5. David Holt married Partilda Womack
6. Maturia Holt married Taylor Mann

The Children of Prudence Johnson & Alsey Holt

1. Bob Holt married Betsy Ann Stephens
2. Joe Holt married ___
3. Caswell Holt married Elizabeth Cox
4. Young Holt married ____
5. Wesley Holt married Adelaid Mann
6. Kizzie Holt married Thomas Lawrence and Sion Mitchell
7. Miley Holt married Robert Pollard

These descendants of the Prudence & Betsy Johnson on the Johnson side are the descendants of Alsey & George Holt on the Holt side.

This is the last of the letter.  I welcome your comments, additions, corrections, etc.  I'll have comments myself on this letter later in the week.

Clayton Mann

[clayto...@gmail.com]

The first and last paragraphs are mine; everything in between was
written by Irene. The last sentence in the first paragraph should read
as follows: ...the Johnston family had dropped the t in their name.
Don't know why the letter "t" was shoved into the word "in" to make
"tin". I composed the e-mail in another program before sending it to
the Google group.

Clayton

[Steve]

Hi Clayton, the Henry Johnson referred to in Irene Johnson Holt's
letter was almost certainly my great-grandfather Henry Thomas Johnson
(1843-1922), son of James and Jane (Rollins) Johnson and grandson of
Richard and Patience (Mann) Johnson, who lived in the Buck Horn-Cape
Fear area on both sides of the Wake-Chatham line until moving with his
family to Morrisville in Wake County between 1900-1910. The Johnsons
worshipped at Christian Chapel; Henry, his widow, and three of his
children are buried there. He had eleven children, seven of them
girls. I'm just getting back into genealogy after several years but
have plenty of information I can share about this family with anyone
who may be interested. And also some questions others may be able to
answer! Steve

[clayto...@gmail.com]

Steve, thanks for responding so quickly and confirming what I was
tentatively concluding: that Henry was the son of James & Jane Rollins
Johns[t]on. Do you have Henry's death certificate? Also, can you tell
us about Henry's siblings? Please fill us in on his siblings and his
children when you can. And where do you live?

Clayton

[Steve]

Hi Clayton,

I live in Virginia in the Hampton Roads area; my parents still live in
Durham. Yes, I have a copy of H. T. Johnson's death certificate and
will try scan and email it to you tomorrow. It lists his father's
name as James Johnson and erroneously lists his mother's name as Emma
Utley (actually she was his wife). I also have Cornelia's and
Charles's death certificates if you want them.

James Johnson was initially a pain to track down in 1850 because the
census takers spelled the family's name as "Jonston" (1850 Wake
195B). I shouldn't complain, after all it's perfectly phonetic!
Jane Rollins, James Johnson's wife, was possibly a daughter of
Frederick and Rebecca Rollins in Chatham Co., but I haven't proven
that yet (have some tantalizing evidence to that effect that I can
share, though).

Does anyone know when James and Jane died or where they are buried? I
know from deeds that they lived at least until 1889 and suspect they
died during the 1890s.

James and Jane Johnson's family:

+Sarah Ann Johnson (c1834-) m. Oct. 7, 1860 in Wake Co., NC Andrew
Jackson Davis
+Miley Johnson (Jan. 17, 1835-Sep. 3, 1871) m. Mar. 14, 1869 in Chatham
Co., NC Wesley Buchanan
+William Johnson (c1839-) possibly married an Elvira <?>
+Henry Thomas Johnson (Jul. 2, 1843-Jun. 22, 1922) m. Dec. 6, 1871 in
Chatham Co., NC Julia Emma Utley
+Monroe Johnson (c1846-)
+John Johnson (c1850-) probably died young
+Cornelia Johnson (c1853-Apr. 26, 1921) m. Jun. 16, 1871 in Wake Co.
Johnson Holland
+Laura Johnson (c1855-) m. Oct. 25, 1876 in Wake Co. Joseph John Palmer
+James Charles Johnson (Sep. 14, 1863-May 15, 1926) m. 1st Eliza Pool,
m. 2nd Nov. 28, 1920 in Durham Co., NC Ella J. Bennett

Henry and Emma Johnson's brood:

+Clara Josephine Johnson (Nov. 6, 1872-Sep. 15, 1900) bur. Christian
Chapel, never m.
+Annie Jane Johnson (May 19, 1874-Feb. 23, 1969) never m.
+Susan Evelyn Johnson (Nov. 5, 1875-Nov. 19, 1933) bur. Christian
Chapel m. Jun. 16, 1901 in Durham Co., NC Jacob Willis Roberson
+Mila Frances Johnson (Oct. 3, 1877-Nov. 30, 1961) never m.
+Joseph Benjamin Johnson (Oct. 24, 1879-Dec. 22, 1908) m. Jun. 23, 1901
in Durham Co., NC Hattie Marzella Ellen
+James Jacob Johnson (Mar. 10, 1882-Feb. 18, 1947) bur. Christian
Chapel, never m. - note that he is named after both his grandfathers:
James Johnson and Jacob Wesley Utley
+John Thomas Johnson (May 2, 1884-May 25, 1943) m. Dec. 22, 1915 in
Wake Co., NC Laura Lee Grady - my grandparents
+Wesley Brock Johnson (Feb. 17, 1887-Sep. 14, 1962) m. 1st Apr. 3, 1912
in Wake Co., NC Georgia Cornelia Wood, m. 2nd Helen Holmes
+Minnie Catherine Johnson (Oct. 11, 1889-Jul. 4, 1919) m. Mar. 29, 1916
in Chatham Co., NC Evander Vance Lawrence
+Eva Lee Johnson (Feb. 6, 1893-Feb. 16, 1986) m. Durrell McCoy Estes
+Nay Neff Johnson (Jan. 16, 1895-Jun. 29, 1977) never m.

Hope this helps!

Steve

[Clayton Mann]

Thanks Steve.  Yes, I'd like to see the death certificates.  Do you know anything about why the Johnston's started dropping the t in their name around the time of the war?

Also attached the 1850 census page that shows James & Jane Johnston, as well as John & Patience Holt (Patience was James' sister), and Nial & Jane Gunter (Jane was a sister of James, as well, as was Milly who later married Nial after Jane died).

Clayton

[Clayton Mann]

I think I stumble on Monroe Johnson in some Civil War records.  I think this is Monroe:

Name:	Monroe Johnson ,
Enlistment Date:	30 March 1863
Distinguished Service:	DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
Side Served:	Confederacy
State Served:	North Carolina
Unit Numbers:	5 5
Service Record:	Enlisted as a Private on 30 March 1863 Enlisted in Company E, 1st Light Artillery Regiment North Carolina on 30 March 1863. disch underage Company E, 1st Light Artillery Regiment North Carolina on 27 May 1863

On 9/22/05, Steve <sgw...@yahoo.com> wrote:

[Steve]

Hi Clayton, thanks for the attachment. No, no idea about the
Johnston's dropping the "t." Funny thing, though, when my mom and her
siblings were coming along, whoever filled out the birth certificates
on some of them put the "t" back in and the family had to have the
certificates amended!

I've seen Monroe Johnson in Civil War records, too, but am not yet
certain he's the same fellow. Could be - he was approximately the
right age. his brother Henry served in Co. H 47th NC Regiment. I have
a copy of Henry's pension application for Civil War service from the NC
Archives. My uncle used to have Henry's original parole from the Point
Lookout internment camp but since his death in 2001 no one seems to
know what became of it. He showed it to me once but of course no
photocopier was available so I hand wrote what it said and can share
that if you like. It included a nice physical description - now I know
where these hazel eyes came from!

I have some old tintype photos that have been passed down as well - of
course, no idea who any of the people are. Do have photos of HT and
Emma Johnson, though, and of course of JT Johnson as well, if anyone
wants copies.

Steve

[Steve]

Clayton,

I've scanned the Johnson death certificates but am not sure how to post
them. Please email me at sgw0810 (at) yahoo.com and I will email them
to you.

Steve

[Clayton Mann]

Steve, just send a standard e-mail from this Yahoo address, sgw...@yahoo.com, and include any attachments as you normally would in your Yahoo e-mails, but direct the e-mail to MannWakeChath...@googlegroups.com.  It will show up in the Google group forum.  Note: the attachment(s) can not be larger than 1MB (1024KB) and you have to use the e-mail address you signed up with: sgw0810.  Can not be another address.

My address is a GMail.com address.  claytonpmann    @    gmail.com
If you or anyone else out there want a GMail e-mail address, let me know.

Clayton