http://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/39/922/Johnson_Family_Genealogy.pdf d0753553ad6bb59dcd71490a8c0ac065 PDF Text Text 85 PIONEER PORTRAITS: THE JOHN R. JOHNSON FAMILY OF BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN .Contributed by .Ross F., and Arthur W. Johnson The Johnson farm in Barry County, 40 acres on the west side of Johnson Road, Section 19> and 40 acres on the east side of the same road, Section 20, Irving Township, has been named one of some 1800 centennial farms in Michigan. FAMILY ’ HISTORY The pioneer experiences of the Johnson family have been compiled from notes left by our Mother, and from records in the family Bible. Only the dates of birth are shown in the Bible. The places of birth were given us by our Grandmother and Aunt Lovina, to which we have added the dates of death and burial places. John R. Johnson and Elizabeth Harris were married in Yarmouth, England, in 1841. He was a fisherman on the North Sea. In 1852 they set sail for America, in a small boat, with their five children: William, 10; Lovina, 75 John, 55 Hannah, 35 and Robert, 1. During the trip they ran into days of absolutely no wind or breeze, and the trip lasted into months instead of days, before they reached America. With them, also cane Mr. and Mrs. Robert Johnson and a Mr. and Mrs. Harris. Mr. Harris was a brother of the two Johnson ladies. They lived in New York State for a while, where Margaret was bom in 1853* In I858 they moved to Michigan where they lived in a cabin on Section 24 of Thomapple Township, Barry County, for the winter. In the spring of 1859 they located on the present farm in Irving Township, which they purchased.-. These acres were granted to one Benjamin Green, July 11, 1836. Their first- home was a log cabin about six or eight rods from the present Johnson Road, near a nice spring of water. They later built beside the road which was not established when the log cabin was built. The road at that time led from the present house, south and west across the fields, to Robinson’s Comers. The first hone had beds in the comers of the cabin on poles stuck in the logs. Money was scarce in those days, and the Father walked miles to do a day’s work, splitting rails and bringing his day’s wages home on his back. Usually this was something the growing family could eat, such , as .pork or cornmeal. .In the winter months he wade sleighs in. their one-room cabin, the Mother often working in shavings up to her shoe tops, and when she complained she was told, ’’Shavings are nothing, . What if our boy has to go to war.” Later, their first-bom, William, enlisted in the First Engineers &- Mechanics, Company F, under General Sherman, and went away to war. Then the Mother knew she was happier with the shavings. William came home from the war in 1865, but was broken in health and passed away while still a young man. He rests with other soldiers in the Irving Township Cemetery. The History of Allegan and Barry1 Counties shows John-R. Johnson on the present farm in 18595 it is the last item in the account of Irving Township. An Atlas of i860, belonging to Mr^ Burpee of Delton, shows John R. Johnson as owner of the pre­ sent farm in i860. /Editor’s note: The Titus Atlas of Barry County, 1873* shows John Johnson as owner of 60 acres in Sec. 19 and 40 acres in Section 20, and William Johnson and John Johnson, Jr., with 40 acres each, in Section 12/. All of the child­ ren have passed away. Our Father, Fred, was the youngest, and he left the farm to us, Arthur W. Johnson who resides on and works the farm, and Ross W. Johnson of Jackson, Michigan. �86 BIBLE AND FAMILY PLACE NAME John R. Johnson Elizabeth Harris William Johnson Lovina Johnson John Johnson Hannah Johnson Robert Johnson Margaret Johnson Samuel Johnson Charles Johnson Etta Johnson Elizabeth Johnson Ida Johnsen Frederick Johnson RECORDS DIED 4-1-1821 Yarmouth, England 10-17-1824 Yarmouth, England Children: 25-1842 7Yarmouth, England 9-28-1845 Yarmouth, England 18-1847 8Yarmouth, England 7-26-1849 Yarmouth, England 7-14-1851 Yarmouth, England 6-27-1853 New York State 4-28-1856 Thornapple Township 1-13-1858 Thornapple Township 29-1859 9Irving Township 2-2-1861 Irving Township 7-28-1862 Irving Township . 8-5-1867 Irving Township CORRECTION TO MICHIGAN PIONEER PLACE OF BURIAL 5-3-1880 2-12-1895 Irving Cemetery Irving Cemetery 12-16-1876 7-7-1933 3-18-1917 4-23-1870 4-17-1929 8-18-1865 3-9-1927 9-4-1921 9-15-1931 5-4-1939 5-14-1917 1-31-1955 Irving Cemetery Irving Cemetery Kalkaska Cemetery Irving Cemetery Middleville Cem. Irving Cemetery Middleville Cem, Middleville Cem. Middleville Cem. Middleville Cem. Caledonia Cemetery Irving Cemetery COLLECTIONS — VOLUME XII Sent by Isabella E. Swan - Grosse lie, Michigan In Volume 12 of the Michigan Pioneer Collections is an insert of an "undated" census taken in the district allotted to B. F. H. Witherell. A notation at the top indicates that it is probably for 1827• After finding the Grosse lie residents thereon who died in 1826, suspicions were aroused. Happily all census takers on Grosse lie went to the Island and did the full job, so it is possible to discover the beginnings and endings of the Grosse lie entries. In the Burton Historical Collection, there is an original of the 1820 census taken in Monguagon Township (which included Grosse lie). It is very different from the listings on the MPC insert. Comparison of the 1820 census, as published in the Detroit Society for Gen­ ealogical Research Magazine, XVIII; 85, with the insert in MPC, demonstrates that the latter must also be the 1820 census. I have found only one exception. In 1820 Gideon Leet appears between Terrence Smith and Manoah Hubbard. Somehow Gideon is omitted in the MPC insert. The men who died in 1826 on Grosse lie are: William Macomb, Gideon Leet, and • Joseph Bates. I also suspect that Sylvester Bates died prior to 1827, but have not proved this as yet. Hannah Bates, on the 1827 Monguagon tabulation, must have been either a widow, or her husband was off elsewhere in 1827* In DSGR Magazine, XVIII: 85, note 20 states that Manoah Hubbard located on Grosse lie in 1827. He came to the Island prior to 1820, and was here, I believe, as early as 1817 or 1818. He was still here in 1827, but had moved elsewhere by 1830. I hope you can call this correction of the MPC entry to attention so that others may not be confused as I was for some time. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Family Histories Subject The topic of the resource MI.BarryCounty.FamilyHistory Description An account of the resource A collection of family history documents for families with connection to Barry County, MI. All histories were donated to the library and are presented "as is" with no guarantee to accuracy or completeness. HPL cannot ensure the authenticity of any specific data point. Users should validate their research and cross-reference available information. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Johnson Family Genealogy Subject The topic of the resource MI.BarryCounty.FamilyHistory Description An account of the resource Johnson Family Genealogy Type The nature or genre of the resource PDF Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ross F. and Arthur W. Johnson Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource unknown Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Ross F. and Arthur W. Johnson and Hastings Public Library