Researching John Johnson
Genealogical research on my great-great-grandfather, John L. Johnson, has been challenging because of the commonness of the name and the paucity of records available. I intend here to outline in detail what exactly we know about him.
Family tradition:
(1) John had three sons (who grew to maturity): William Barry Johnson (24 Sep 1852–15 Jan 1928), Columbus Joseph Johnson (28 Aug 1855–27 Aug 1936), and Alfred John Johnson (25 May 1859–1 Aug 1956, my great-grandfather). I have bits of “family tradition” handed down from each. While there are discrepancies, they agree in general outline: the family lived near Van Buren, Crawford co., AR; John fought for the Confederacy but died on the way home from the war; his wife, Frances Jane Elliott, died within a few years of his death; the three orphaned sons were brought to California by an uncle in 1869.
(2) My grandfather Olin Johnson, son of John’s youngest son Alfred J. Johnson, stated that John was married to Frances Elliott. He said John was “a major in the Confederate army,” that he fought through the war, and then “got fever” on the way home and died. His wife died “a short time after.” He said that they “had a plantation with slaves on it” in Arkansas, around Van Buren.
(3) Columbus J. Johnson, John’s middle son, gave detailed information, probably in the early 1930s, to his daughter Ila Johnson who recorded it; this was then transcribed and sent to my great-aunt in the 1960s by Elmer Thomas, Columbus’s son-in-law (married to his daughter Beatrice). Describing it as “an exact copy” of Ila’s notes, he wrote this: “The 3 boys was all born in Franklin County, Arkansas and in 1862 the family moved to a plantation in Crawford County, near Little Rock Arkansas where they remained until they were brought to Calif. The father, John S. Johnson (middle name not mentioned) served in the Confederate army and died in Texas on the Red River, May 11, 1865. He was born Sept. 3, 1826. The mother Frances Jane Elliott was born April 8, 1833 and died Feb. 27, 1868. The 3 boys lived with a neighbor, Mr. Dyer, ‘til 1869 when an uncle William Johnson came from California and got the boys in March and came across the planes to Calif. by ox team. The father John Johnson’s business was farming and operating a grist mill. … Both John Johnson and Jane Elliott were probably born and spent their entire lives in the same area in the vicinity of Little Rock, Arkansas. They were married Dec. 11, 1851. … William, Columbus & Alfred had a younger brother Cyrus who died at the age of 4 during the war. Cyrus was a family name on the father’s side. … John Johnson served 3 years in the Rebellion.”
(4) Elmer also transmitted to Elma information received from a son of William B. Johnson (also named Alfred J. Johnson). Elmer wrote as follows: “(Cousin Alfred’s version)—Bill (Rough) Elliott an uncle came to Calif. during the gold rush and was here all during the Civil war. As soon as the war ended, he returned to Arkansas to see his sister, Mrs. John Johnson, and found that she had just died leaving three orphan children. He had himself appointed administrator of the estate and guardian of the 3 children. He sold the plantation and grist mill and moved to Calif. with the children. He was captain of the wagon train overland to Calif.” Alfred here has conflated the boys’ uncles, William T. C. Elliott and William T. B. Johnson. It was certainly William T. B. Johnson who brought the three boys to California; they appear in his household in the 1870 census, and several of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren reported that their grandfather had brought three orphaned nephews from Arkansas. One of W. T. B. Johnson’s grandchildren, Frank Howeth Johnson, wrote to me in 1997: “There is some things that I recall my Grandmother Johnson telling me that I had forgot. Rough Elliott did go to Cal. Before Civil War. He came back to Arkansas after his sister Mrs. John Johnson had died. But never came to see the 3 boys. He was appointed their guardian & sold everything & left –before Capt. Billy Johnson [i.e., Frank’s grandfather, W. T. B. Johnson] arrived in Ark this was what my Grandmother Johnson told me.” While I can find no documentary evidence of this (most Crawford county records were destroyed in a courthouse fire in 1877), I find it credible; Elliott at that time lived in Reno, NV, and was frequently mentioned in the local newspapers, but there is a several-month period in 1868-69 where there is no mention of him—precisely the time frame when he might have gone to Arkansas following his sister’s death.
(5) An Illustrated History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties, Oregon (1902) contains a biographical sketch of William B. Johnson, eldest son of John Johnson, for which he presumably supplied the information. It states: “Mr. Johnson was born in Crawford county, Arkansas, on September 24, 1852, being the son of John L. and Frances (Elliott) Johnson. The father was an orderly sergeant in the Confederate Army and died in service. The widow was left with four children and the improvements of the plantation were all destroyed by the ravages of war. Bravely she stood with her little flock and kept them together. Our subject received a primary education from the schools of his native place and in the spring of 1868 came with an uncle to California, assisting to bring a band of cattle.”
(6) In a letter to Jim Schneider in 1988, the aforementioned Frank Howeth Johnson, grandson of William T. B. Johnson, wrote about a brother of his grandfather whom he called “Columbus” but he clearly was referring to John: “The [Alfred M. Johnson] family left Arkansas in 1852 and went to Calif. Only Columbus [John] would not go. He was married & had three sons. He served in Civil War & on the road home was taken sick and was cared for by some family some place & died. They buried him & wrote to his wife. She became sick up in the hills possibly north of Alma & she died. My grandmother Johnson was not married & she nursed her. She died & they buried her. … She took the 3 sons home with her & wrote to Wm. Johnson to come & get his nephews, which he did. His wife had already died in Calif. & he married my grandmother in Dec. 1868. In spring of 1869 he took his last wagon train to Calif.”
Documentary records
(1) The first documentary record specifically naming John that I’ve found is the 1850 census of Crawford county, AR, where he appears in the household of his parents, Alfred M. and Huldah (Sanford) Johnson (though in this record, the family name is recorded as “Johnston”). John is the oldest child in the household, age 22, born in Missouri. Alfred Johnson and family had previously appeared in the 1840 and 1830 censuses of Boone co. MO, and in each case, there is at least one boy in the household whose age is consistent with John’s.
(2) A John Johnson appears on the tax list for Crawford co. in 1851 (but without land).
(3) John Johnson married Frances Jane Elliott in Franklin co. AR (immediately to the east of Crawford co.) 11 Dec 1851.
(4) A John Johnson appears on the tax list for Franklin co. AR 1854, 1855, 1857 (but without land).
(5) John Johnson one of three men appointed to survey a road in Mulberry township, Franklin co. 16 Jan 1860
(6) 1860 census, Mulberry twp., Franklin co., Jn. Johnson, age 31, b. MO; also in the household, his apparent wife F. J. Johnson, 27, b. TN, and three sons William, age 7, Columbus, age 4, Alfred, age 1, all b. Arkansas. This family is adjacent to Eliz. Ellet [Elliott], mother of Frances Jane (Elliott) Johnson.
(7) J. L. Johnson appears on 1860 tax list of Franklin co. AR (but without land)
(8) John Johnson appears on 1861 Franklin co. tax list (but without land)
(9) John Johnson received patent for 80 acres in Franklin co. 1861. This land is in the same section where his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Elliott, had lived since 1837.
(10) Crawford co. AR tax list for 1865 includes “John L. Johnson estate.” The following three years, the tax lists include “Mrs. Jane Johnson” (the taxed property being the same: 40 acres NE quarter of NW quarter township 10, range 29, section 18).
Resolving discrepancies
(1) John Johnson’s middle name. Columbus’s recollection gave John’s middle name as “S,” while the Harney county history sketch (no doubt based on information from William B.) referred to “John L.” While much of Columbus’s material has proven to be correct, I have found no other source that supports the middle initial “S,” while the few documents in Arkansas seem to support “L.” The material from Columbus was stated by Elmer Thomas to be “an exact copy of notes taken by Ila Johnson,” and we cannot exclude the possibility that Elmer had either misread Ila’s notes, or misstated what they said, or that Ila herself had misunderstood. On the other hand, it should be noted that John’s maternal grandfather was named John Sanford. He died just a couple of years before John’s birth, and it would not be unexpected for John to be named for him. But John’s older sister was definitely named “Nancy Sanford Johnson” (per her marriage record; Nancy Sanford was their maternal grandmother), and it seems unlikely for two siblings to be given the same middle name. On balance, it seems more likely that he was “John L. Johnson.” There is no indication of what the “L” might have stood for, though Leonard was a family name in the Sanford family.
(2) John’s birthdate. Columbus gave a date of 3 Sep. 1826, but all records in which John’s age is stated suggest a date of 1827 or 1828. His age as recorded in his 1851 marriage record—an age no doubt stated by himself—would place his birth in 1828.
(3) John’s war service. John’s service record with the Confederate army has not been found. Olin Johnson said he was a major; the sketch of William B. Johnson said he was an “orderly sergeant.” It seems likely, though not certain, that he held some rank higher than private. Columbus stated that he had served “three years,” which would mean he entered service in 1862. Note the claim by Columbus that in 1862 the family moved from Franklin to Crawford co. (which is supported by the existing tax records). Perhaps John purchased land in Crawford county to ensure that his family had property on which to live before going off to war.
(4) John’s death. Columbus stated that John died in Texas 11 May 1865 and “on the way home.” The war ended in April 1865, and the Crawford county tax roll for 1865 lists the “John L. Johnson estate,” which supports his death in the spring of 1865. There is an interesting story recounted by Billy Frank Johnson, a great-grandson of John’s older brother William T. B. Johnson: “I remember a cast iron cannon [ball] we used as a door-stop for the front door of the ranch house at Ojo de Los Burros [NM]. My father, Kelder, told me that that was the ball that took of his great uncle’s foot during the War. He said his uncle saw the ball rolling along the ground during a battle and idly put out his foot to stop it. The cannon-ball chopped his foot off as neatly as if an axe had done it. A little memento of the war when he died? How did it get from Dyers ark. to a cow-ranch in Socorro co. New Mexico?” While this story must be treated with some skepticism (how did that cannon ball get back to John’s family if he died on the way home?), it gives credence to the idea that John died of a wound received during the war.
(5) John’s children. Columbus stated that the three boys had a younger brother, Cyrus, who died as a child during the war. He notes that Cyrus was a family name in John’s family, which is correct; John had a maternal cousin, Cyrus Sanford, who was a few years older than he and with whom he had apparently grown up in Missouri. I found reference some years ago (I unfortunately don’t recall where, and I cannot find the reference) to this boy being named “Robert Cyrus,” b. 23 Aug 1862, d. 14 Dec 186. 1862. While I do not know of anyone named Robert who was a close relation, John’s grandmother’s maiden name was Roberts.
(6) John’s movements. The documentary records support Columbus’s claim that John, after marrying Frances, lived in Franklin co. AR, where the older boys were born, then moved to Crawford co. ca. 1862. It would have been a short move. The land in Franklin co. patented in 1861 was in Section 15 of Township 10N, Range 29W, while the land taxed as “J. L. Johnson estate” in 1865 in Crawford co. was in Section 18 of Township 10W, Range 29W. A section is approximately one square mile, and Section 18 is due east of Section 15, so about three miles away (even though at that time in a different county; the land was transferred from Franklin to Crawford co. in 1895). There is a survey of John’s land recorded in Franklin co. dated 7 Feb. 1862; presumably he was having the land surveyed in order to sell it. (Unfortunately, deed records are missing for this period, or at least they are missing from the Family Search images; apparently there was a fire in 1863). So it would appear this move took place early in 1862.
(7) Frances Jane (Elliott) Johnson’s death. Columbus gives a date of 27 Feb 1868, which is likely close to correct. In January 1868, Frances, along with her niece, Johnana (Ragsdale) Henson (and her husband Wesley Henson), sold land in Franklin county which was likely inherited from Elizabeth Elliott (Johnana Henson was the only surviving child of Frances’s sister Hester, who had died ca. 1848). It can be assumed that when W. T. B. Johnson brought his nephews to California by wagon train, they would have left Arkansas no later than March or April 1869, and it would have taken some time for W. T. B. Johnson to be notified of the death of his sister-in-law and to travel to Arkansas. Certainly Frances died sometime between January 1868 and December 1868 (when Frank H. Johnson says W. T. B. married Caroline Dyer, who was taking care of the three boys, so Frances had surely died by that time), and most likely near the beginning of that window.
This photo of John at the top was encased in a brooch passed down from his son Alfred to my grandfather and then my father. It was the only memento Alfred had of his father.
Roj 7/9/25
