Willis F. Johnson b. 1 May 1806 North Carolina, USA d. 20 Dec 1853 Brenham, Washington, Texas, USA: My Family Online

1806 - 1853 (47 years)

Name	Willis F. Johnson
Born	1 May 1806	North Carolina, USA
Gender	Male
Died	20 Dec 1853	Brenham, Washington, Texas, USA
Buried	22 Dec 1853	DeWitt, Texas, USA
Person ID	I13	My Family Tree \| Collett-Williams, Raynor-Armstrong
Last Modified	12 Sep 2018

Father	Snellen Johnson, b. Oct 1772, Hillsboro, Jasper, Georgia, USA , d. 3 Dec 1842, Hillsboro, Jasper, Georgia, USA (Age ~ 70 years)
Mother	Mary Foreman, b. 5 Nov 1778, South Carolina, Britsh Colonial, USA , d. 9 Apr 1856, Hillsboro, Jasper, Georgia, USA (Age 77 years)
Family ID	F14	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Nancy Reddick Greer, b. 9 Aug 1805, Hillsboro, Jasper, Georgia, USA , d. 9 Oct 1878, Fairview, Lincoln, Wyoming, USA (Age 73 years)

Married Abt 1825

Children

+	1. Sarah Ann Johnson, b. 9 Aug 1827, Hillsboro, Jasper, Georgia, USA , d. 28 Apr 1916, Owensville, Robertson, Texas, USA (Age 88 years)
+	2. Snellen Marion "Cub" Johnson, b. 27 Oct 1827, Hillsboro, Jasper, Georgia, USA , d. 10 Jun 1900, Lonetree, Uinta, Wyoming, USA (Age 72 years)
+	3. Mary Willmirth Johnson, b. Abt 1832, Chambers County, Alabama, USA , d. 21 Jun 1855, Kansas, USA (Age ~ 23 years)
	4. Alfred Summers Johnson, Sr., b. 14 Sep 1835, Chambers County, Alabama, USA , d. 23 Aug 1891, Vernal, Uintah, Utah, United States (Age 55 years)
	5. James A Johnson, b. 13 Oct 1837, Hillsboro, Jasper, Georgia, USA , d. 1874, Laketown, Rich, Utah, USA (Age 36 years)
	6. Hanna Victoria Johnson, b. 13 Oct 1839, Autauga County, Alabama, USA , d. 13 Apr 1903, Manassa, Conejos, Colorado, USA (Age 63 years)
+	7. Nancy Willmirth Johnson, b. 22 Nov 1841, San Augustine, San Augustine, Texas, USA , d. 13 Mar 1902, Vernal, Uintah, Utah, United States (Age 60 years)
+	8. John Lycurgus Johnson, b. 25 Aug 1844, Brenham, Washington, Texas, USA , d. 29 Jun 1908, Vernal, Uintah, Utah, United States (Age 63 years)
	9. Willis Leonidas Johnson, b. 1846, San Augustine, San Augustine, Texas, USA , bur. 1856 (Age ~ 10 years)

Last Modified 28 Sep 2017

Family ID F5 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Event Map

Born - 1 May 1806 - North Carolina, USA

Died - 20 Dec 1853 - Brenham, Washington, Texas, USA

Buried - 22 Dec 1853 - Dewitt, Texas, USA

= Link to Google Earth

Documents » Slide Show		1810 US Census possibly for Snelling Johnson (husband and wife with 2 children under 10 years old) Name: Snellen Johnstone Home in 1810: Abbeville, Abbeville, South Carolina Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: 2 Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44: 1 Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44: 1 Numbers of Slaves: 5 Number of Household Members Under 16: 2 Number of Household Members Over 25: 2 Number of Household Members: 9
		1830 US Census - Willis Johnson Home in 1830 (City, County, State): Capt Britain C Tyars District, Troup, Georgia Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 1 Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: 2 Free White Persons - Females - Under 5: 1 Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: 1 Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23: 1 Slaves - Females - Under 10: 1 Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23: 2 Free White Persons - Under 20: 2 Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 3 Total Free White Persons: 5 Total Slaves: 4 Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 9
		1830 Troup County, Georgia Families 81 Families in the Troup County census in 1830
		1834 Circuit Court Panel for Willis Johnson Willis Johnson's name was drawn to serve on the circuit court panel in Chambers County, Alabama about October 1834 Source: The Reason for the Tears by Bobby L. Lindsey, 1971, pg. 77.
		1837 Record of Willis Johnson as the 1st stage coach rider of the US Mail to arrive in LaFayette, Chambers County, Alabama "Nothing created more excitement in LaFayette than the first day in December, 1837, when the first stage coach came dashing into town with the words "United States Mail" emblazoned on the bright glided panels. Prior to this date, the eastern mail arrived by rider on his way to an over night stop at Tallassee, via Dudleyville and Dadeville...The much envied driver of the first stage to arrive in LaFayette was Willis Johnson. His salary was listed at $5.00 per month, plus board. Source: The Reason for the Tears by Bobby L. Lindsey, 1971, pg. 104.
		1838 Record of purchase of annual pass for the ferry at West Point by Willis Johnson West Point is a city east of LaFayette in Chambers County, Alabama aside the Chattahoochee River. Source: The Reason for the Tears by Bobby L. Lindsey, 1971, pg. 157
		Headrights and Grants Definitions Source: http://www.texasancestors.com/page%2012/Headright%20and%20Grants.html
		1838 Town of Wickersville census in winter of 1838 One of the largest of the early settlements in Chambers County, Alabama numbered nearly two thousand at the time this census. It was located on the Creek "Horse Path" where the trail crossed the Osligee. The Willis Johnson, William Greer and Widow Mangrum families are living near each other (see middle column, near bottom). William D. Greer is an older brother (born 18 June 1800) of Nancy Reddick Greer. Jane Greer (born 13 March 1787) is the older sister of Nancy Reddick Greer and had married a Thomas Mangham. Thomas's father was Solomon and he also had a brother named Solomon. Source: The Reason for the Tears by Bobby L. Lindsey, 1971, pgs. 250-251.
		1840 US Census for Willis and Nancy Johnson Family Head Name: Willis S Johnson Home in 1840 (City, County, State): Chambers, Alabama Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 2 Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39: 1 Free White Persons - Females - Under 5: 2 Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: 1 Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23: 1 Persons Employed in Agriculture: 2 Free White Persons - Under 20: 4 Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 2 Total Free White Persons: 6 Total Slaves: 1 Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 7
		1841 land record for agreement between Willis Johnson and W.B.W. George Filed: 3 April 1841 Rent: $6 in gold Lien: $180 in gold 2 mules, four horses, five yoke oxen, yokes and chains and waggon Due: 1 January 1842 Culivation and gathering cropbs August 1 1841 December 25 1841 $81 gold 1 January 1842 pay for farming utensils $261 604 bushels of corn - 1st Nov 1841 Willis paying $604 gin house
		1842 Washington County Tax Record for Willis Johnson Cattle: 25 Poll Tax: $1 Specific Tax: $0.75 Total Amount of Tax: $1.75
		1844 Letters at Washington Post Office - 10 February 1844 - Willis Johnson The National Vindicator. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 25, Ed. 1, Saturday, February 10, 1844
		1844 Washington County - Texas Post Office Notice 6 April 1844 Letter for Willis Johnson at Post Office in Washington County, Texas The National Vindicator. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 25, Ed. 1, Saturday, February 10, 1844 Source: texashistory.unt.edu
		1845 Board of Land Commissioners approval of Certificate No. 300 Class 4 for Willis Johnson Republic of Texas - County of Washington - No. 300 Class 4 This is to certify that James B. Wells assigned of Willis Johnson has appeared before us the Board of Land Commissioners for the County aforesaid and proved according to Laws that the said Johnson arrived to this Republic prior to the year eighteen hundred and forty two that he was then a married man and having never received a certificate for the quantity of lands for which he applies, is Entitled to Six Hundred and forty acres of land he having proved to us that he has resided three years in the Republic and performed all the duties required of him as a citizen. Given under our hands at Brenham this the 29th day of September 1845.
		1845 Washington County Report of Unconditional Certificates - Willis Johnson Certificate:#300 - Acres:640 - Date of Unconditional Certificate: 29 September 1845 J. B. Mills appointed of Willis Johnson - Witnessed by John R. Wise (Certificate #312) & James H. Calvert (Certificate #304) These three men witnessed each others certificates J. B. Mills/Willis - neighbor to Willis per 1850 slave census for Washington County, pg. 10, in Bell County, Texas in 1856 per tax assessment ,1867 voter registration list for Milam lists J. B Wills as born in Tennessee, 1850 US Census has J. B. Mills in Washington County, Texas and born in Tennessee and married to Anna Mills from Tennessee. A James B. Wills and Anny W. Shackleford were married in Rutherford, Tennessee 3 January 1810. By 1860 Jas B and Amy Wills are living in Bell County, Texas. According to FindAGrave James Buchanan Wills died 2 March 1875 in Milam County, Texas.
		1848 Tax Roll for Willis Johnson in Washington County, Texas Name: Willis Johnson Real Property Acres: 450 Value: $1,250 Original Grantee: William Pryor Town Lot: Brenham Personal Property Negroes: 7 Value: $2,600 Number of Horses: 5 Value: $150 Number of Cattle: 5 Value: $15 Money earning Interest: - Miscellaneous Property: Wagon & Hogs Value: $95 Total Value: $4,060 Poll Tax: $100 State Tax: $9.12 County Tax: $4.56
		1849 Tax Roll for Willis Johnson in Washington County, Texas Name: Willis Johnson Real Property Acres: 450 Value: $900 Original Grantee: W. Pryor Tract: - Claim Type: Headright Personal Property Negroes: 8 Value: $2,600 Number of Horses: 2 Value: $150 Number of Cattle: 5 Value: $15 Money earning Interest: - Merchandize on Hand: - Miscellaneous Property: Oxen Wagon Hogs Value: $130 Total Value: $3,795 Poll Tax: $100 State Tax: $8.59 County Tax: $4.29
		1850 Sale of Headright Certificate by Willis Johnson to James B. Wells County: Washington Date: 15 January 1850 Certificate: #300 Issue Date: 29 September 1845 Acres: 640 Sale Price: $100
		1850 US Census for Willis and Nancy Johnson Willis Johnson 45 North Carolina Farmer $2,500 N R Johnson 44 Georgia S M Johnson 18 Georgia S A Johnson 15 Georgia M W Johnson 13 Alabama A S Johnson 11 Alabama James Johnson 9 Alabama H V Johnson 8 Alabama Nancy Johnson 7 Alabama L P Johnson 11 Texas W S Johnson 3 Texas J C Parker 36 Texas 29 October 1850
		1850 Washington County Schedule of Productions of Agriculture of Willis Johnson Improved Acres: 70 Unimproved Acres: 300 Cash value of Farm: $1,500 Value of Farming Implements and Machinery: $150 Horses: 4 Asses and Mules: 1 Milk Cows: 5 Working Oxen: 4 Other Cattle: 10 Swine: 30 Value of Live Stock: 400
		Willis and Nancy Johnson - 1850 US Census (Enhanced close-up)
		1850 Tax Roll for Willis Johnson in Washington County, Texas Name: Willis Johnson Real Property Acres: 450 Value: $1,250 Original Grantee: Pryor Tract: League Claim Type: Headright Personal Property Negroes: 8 Value: $3,200 Number of Horses: 5 Value: $200 Number of Cattle: 0 Value: $0 Money earning Interest: - Merchandize on Hand: - Miscellaneous Property: Wagon Value: $50 Total Value: $4,700 Poll Tax: $50 State Tax: $4.86 County Tax: $2.43
		1850 Slave Census for Washington County, Texas - Willis Johnson & N. H. Greer - 29 September 1850 Willis Johnson 1 64 1786 Female Black Willis Johnson 1 21 1829 Female Mulatto Willis Johnson 1 23 1827 Female Mulatto Willis Johnson 1 13 1837 Female Black Willis Johnson 1 12 1838 Female Black Willis Johnson 1 12 1838 Male Black Willis Johnson 1 10 1840 Male Black Willis Johnson 1 7 1843 Male Black N H Greer 1 4 1846 Male Black N H Greer 1 8 1842 Male Black N H Greer 1 9 1841 Male Black N H Greer 1 20 1830 Male Mulatto N H Greer 1 28 1822 Male Mulatto N H Greer 1 34 1816 Female Black N H Greer 1 36 1814 Female Black N H Greer 1 42 1808 Female Black N H Greer 1 4 1846 Female Black N H Greer 1 7 1843 Male Mulatto N H Greer 1 21 1829 Male Black N H Greer 1 15 1835 Male Black N H Greer 1 0 1850 Male Mulatto
		1851 Tax Roll for Willis Johnson in Washington County, Texas Name: Willis Johnson Real Property Acres: 453 Value: $1,500 Original Grantee: William Pryor Tract: League Stream: Mill Creek Personal Property Negroes: 10 Value: $3,000 Number of Horses: 3 Value: $135 Number of Cattle: 10 Value: $40 Money earning Interest: - Merchandize on Hand: - Miscellaneous Property: unreadable Value: $125 Total Value: $4,790 Poll Tax: $50 State Tax: $7.65 County Tax: $3.84
		1852 Tax Roll for Willis Johnson in DeWitt County, Texas Name: Willis Johnson (on 350 acres of John Jordan with son Snellen Marion Johnson) Real Property Acres: - Value: - Original Grantee: - Tract: - Claim Type: - Stream: Guadaloupe Personal Property Negroes: 10 Value: $4,000 Number of Horses: 4 Value: $200 Number of Cattle: - Value: - Money earning Interest: - Merchandize on Hand: - Miscellaneous Property: Wagons & Oxen Value: $220 Total Value: $4,420 Poll Tax: $50 State Tax: $6.63 County Tax: $3.--
		1853 Tax Roll for Willis Johnson in DeWitt County, Texas Name: Willis Johnson (on 369 acres of a Mr. Johnson with son Snellen Marion Johnson) Real Property Acres: - Value: - Original Grantee: - Tract: - Claim Type: - Stream: McCoy Personal Property Negroes: - Value: - Number of Horses: - Value: - Number of Cattle: - Value: - Money earning Interest: - Merchandize on Hand: - Miscellaneous Property: - Value: - Total Value: - Poll Tax: $50 State Tax: - County Tax: $0.25
		DeWitt County Land Grants Map
		Allday case 2332 vs Johnsons - Suit over slave named Allen of Willis Johnson Texas Ranger. (Brenham, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 37, Ed. 1, Friday, February 25, 1859 Lancaster, J., editor. Texas Ranger. (Brenham, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 37, Ed. 1, Friday, February 25, 1859, Newspaper, February 25, 1859; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth48854/ : accessed March 11, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, Austin, Texas.
		Washington County, Texas District Court Minutes for Sarah Allday vs Thomas Irvin 8 October 1858 - 13 October 1860
		Index to Probate Minutes for DeWitt County, Texas Willis Johnson - Minute Book C page 94 and Minute Book D pages 207-208
		Probate Minutes of DeWitt County 30 August 1858 Alfred L. Brigance appointed Administer Pro Tem upon estate of Willis F. Johnson

Histories » Slide Show		Journal Excerpt of Edward Stevenson Source: http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneerdetails/1,15791,4018-1-17776,00.html
		Johnson-Greer-Davis Connection A genealogical book compiled by June Belcher Roberts showing the ancestry of Cora Myrtle Johnson and the connections to the Greer and Davis lines. Many photographs, stories, and histories are included in this book of 230 pages.
		Autobiography of Dickson Hamblin Greer Excerpt Source: http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneerdetails/1,15791,4018-1-17776,00.html
		Sylvester Henry Earl Diary Excerpt Source: http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneerdetails/1,15791,4018-1-17776,00.html
		William Brockerman Wright Diary Excerpt Source: http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompanysources/1,16272,4019-1-69,00.html
		Sons of Snellen and Mary Forman Johnson By June Belcher Roberts Some of the claims in this article have been proven incorrect.
		Snelling Johnson - Comments by Wallace L Taylor regarding June Belcher Robert's biography By Wallace L. Taylor, 4 January 1994
		William Wallace Johnson - Progressive Men of Wyoming - Pages 849-850 This biography recounts the heritage and life of William Wallace Johnson, son of Snellen M. Johnson and Rebecca Baker, grandson of Willis and Nancy Johnson. William also recounts the life of his parents and grandparents although some of the statements are incorrect. Published in 1903
		Johnson Family Cemetery - Hillsboro, Jasper County, GA - Cemetery Archives Source:http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/jasper/cemeteries/johnsonf179gcm.txt

Notes

Lafayette was the county seat of Chambers County, Alabama from 1833 to present. Originally known as Chambersville, name changed to Lafayette in 1835. Incorporated in 1835. Post office established in 1875.

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Cemetery notes and/or description:
Description: An old cemetery - the later portion (German) is tended, the older Anglo-Saxon side is overgrown. About 2.5 miles ENE of Greenvine on a gravel road. There are 55 to 60 grave spaces indicated by brick or rock surrounds or rock markers with no legible information on them.

The following article is excerpted from the Historical Marker application, written circa 1991:

Bethlehem Cemetery in south Washington County, Texas, is a cemetery containing persons and their family members who were among the very first Anglo-American settlers to Stephen F. Austin's colony, the "old three hundred". The Allcorn (sometimes spelled Alcorn) family, who have family members in this cemetery, were the second Anglo family to arrive in present Washington County spending the last night of 1821 by a creek they subsequently named with dawn, "New Year's Creek".

Bethlehem Cemetery is located on five and three-fourths acres of the original Josiah Lester League in Washington County, a headright league granted to Lester by the Mexican government and later conveyed by him to Erwin Brown. It was Erwin Brown, in turn, who conveyed the five and three-fourths acre parcel on August 13, 1851, to the trustees of the Bethlehem Academy for the purpose of a settlement school and house of worship for the Baptist and Methodist denominations. The first trustees receiving the deed were James C. Crenshaw, James Lane, Leander Burns, Willis Johnson, and I. M. Harris.

The site soon also became a "burial place for the neighborhood", as cited in an officially recorded agreement signed April 14, 1873, between the Bethlehem trustees and one J. E. Gray for erecting a fence around the cemetery. The first burial for which there is an extant marker was that of Susan J. Burdett, age 39, who died in 1852 (though Henry Burdett, age about 65, may have died earlier; his tombstone gives only his age and not date of death).

Little Rufus Mallets, one of the earliest burials with an extant headstone, appears on the 1860 mortality census (1859 deaths): he died of the "flux" in November, 1859, at the age of one. Also on that mortality census were members of the Armstrong, Crenshaw, Barnhill, Woods, Bowers and Sanders families--- most of them infants, who may have been buried without headstones in many cases. It is a sad commentary on the infant mortality rate of the day to read that census.

Bethlehem Cemetery is now a beautiful, spacious, old (and new) cemetery, located on the very top of a high rolling hill that overlooks the Mill Creek valley, home to the earliest of the Anglo-Texans settlers. Some of these earliest of settlers belonged within one lifetime to the Republic of Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America-and some a second time to the United States of America.

Today the cemetery is in a remarkably attractive condition. Several plots are enclosed still by their original wrought iron fences, standing guard after all these years. The feeling of the cemetery is one of quiet, rural peace and endurance. The cemetery was restored by a group of citizens banded together at nearby Greenvine Lutheran Church March 6, 1988. Donations were taken at this first meeting and one man hired to rid the site of the major obstructions. Then citizens literally lined up shoulder to shoulder and cut their way into the jungle with chain saws. A couple of years prior to that some persons crawling through the brambles, briars, and brush, and snake holes, seeking an ancestor's tombstone, were trapped and got out only by tearing up clothes and skin-the older part of the cemetery had gotten to that state. After the chain saw crews' attack, men, women and children followed up against the brush, weeds, and trash, carefully working around the old tombstones and iron fences. Anyone viewing the cemetery today will have a hard time imagining what it was like three years ago.

The Bethlehem Cemetery group makes this application to the state of Texas for a historical marker for following reasons: this is, no doubt one of the more historical cemeteries of the state, both for its location and for the pioneers buried in it; these pioneers gave so much to the Republic and to the state that they are deserving of respect and perpetual remembrance; and a historical marker will contribute toward protecting this site from future neglect and any future vandalism. Present day and future citizens need to know who built this state and where its origins lie; and they need occasionally to stop and visit these peoples graves in this lovely place. Bethlehem Cemetery is today part of what remains of colonial Texas.

Source: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GSln=Doerntge&GSiman=1&GScid=2383&CRid=2383&pt=Bethlehem%20Cemetery&

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Wharton County, Texas (979) 532-2381
https://coclerk.co.wharton.tx.us/external/User/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fexternal%2fIndex.aspx
No records of Willis Johnson from 1845-1900. Researched 10/14/2013

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Yorktown Public Library - 103 West Main, Yorktown, Texas 78164
(361) 564-3232
yplbeth@yahoo.com
***Nothing as far back as 1850s***

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Yorktown Historical Museum
144 West Main
Yorktown, TX 78164
(361) 564-9115

Has old tax records that haven't been indexed

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Milam County Courthouse and all county records were destroyed by fire in April 1874.