Samuel Thomas Johnson married Lula Masters in Alabama in 1877. Sam and Lula, and their eldest daughter Lillie, moved to East Texas about 1878 along with Lula's mother, Rebecca Katherine Ryan Masters. Sam was a farmer and a carpenter. He and Lula had 5 children born in Texas: Pascal 1880-1940, Nora 1882-1949, Sadie 1884-1979, Malcolm 1887-1960, and Geneva who was born in 1890 and died in infancy.
Samuel Thomas Johnson was a member of Masonic Lodge 364 in Gavatt Texas.
His son Malcolm is interred at Evergreen Alameda Cemetery, El Paso, TX Find a Grave # 113850310, Malcolm T Johnson Sr.
Samuel Thomas Johnson definitely was born in Tennessee. That info is on the death certificate of his daughter Nora Katherine Johnson Barrier, and on his census records for 1880 and 1900 in Titus County Texas. All five of his children who lived to adulthood knew his birth date: December 11, 1847. None of his children left a written record of Sam's parents, and none of his grandchildren or great grandchildren have been able to work it out.
Problem is we still have no death record for him:
Morris County has an excerpted death record of a Samuel S Johnson whose recorded date was November 4, 1909, and who was 61 years old.(right age ) His parents are not recorded. Samuel's eldest daughter Lillie's 4th child, Morris, was born on October 30, 1909, one month after Samuel died on September 29, 1909. Since Lillie was 8 months pregnant when her father died, it is very likely that the birth of Morris Barrier and the death of Samuel Thomas Johnson were recorded at the same time (with an incorrect date and middle initial) by Lillie's husband Thomas Jefferson Barrier.
The State of Texas does NOT have a death record for Samuel Thomas Johnson, in 1909.
Titus County has no record for anyone named Johnson dying in 1909.
We have reason to believe that Samuel Thomas MAY have been the son of Lucy Melvina Browne Johnson and James Johnson. They have a Sam resident with them in Sabine Louisiana on Census records for 1850 and in 1860, and that Sam was born in Tennessee at the right time.But we have nothing that proves our Sam is the right fellow to be their son.
Notes passed down among descendants of some of Lucy Melvina and James' children say that "young Sam" died - "after the family moved to Texas", which since they did not arrive until 1888, could have referred to his death in 1909, or that he "died of dysentery after returning from the Civil War"
The writer of a note that said one of her father's brothers died of dysentery after the Civil War was Ethel Johnson Fusell, daughter of William T. Johnson. Ethel was born in 1886. She did know her grandmother Lucy Melvina. Ethel wrote the letter in 1962, when she was 76 years old. At that time Ethel's memory was already failing.
We know that James Johnson died of diarrhea in 1864, as noted on his Confederate Service/Death record. We know that William T Johnson had a son named Samuel who lived from 1888-1891. Ethel could have confused these facts with what actually happened to James and Lucy Melvina's Samuel Johnson born in 1847.
The "young Sam" who died "after the family came to Texas" was definitely the SON of William T Johnson, and not his brother. It would be odd for BOTH father (James) and son (Sam) to die of dysentery after returning from the war, although many died that way.
Some of Lucy Melvina's children went to Texas before her: Her eldest, Nancy Syble, married David Crocket Dempsey in 1869, four years after James died. The marriage is recorded in Kaufman County Texas. David was a widower with 2 daughters. Nancy Syble and David Dempsey are on the 1870 census in Kaufman County. We have no 1870 census records of any of the others. The second child to marry was Sarah Elizabeth, who married in 1872 in Kaufman Texas, where Nancy Syble already lived. So two daughters settled in Kaufman County. The third marriage was that of William T in Louisiana in 1875. He remained in Louisiana and is listed in the 1880 census in Sabine Parish with his wife Sarah and one year old daughter. The fourth marriage was that of (our) Samuel to Lula Masters in Alabama in 1877. They are shown on the census in Titus County Texas with one child by 1880, not far from Kaufman County. Now 3 of Lucy's children are in East Texas (if our Sam is her Sam).
At the beginning of 1880, Lucy Melvina was still in Louisiana (Natchitoches) living with 3 of her children: Franklin, Emma and Lony/Leona. Her four other children were all married and 3 were living in Texas., as documented by census reports. William T and his wife and one child were still in Louisiana in Sabine Parish. In 1880,William's daughter Lona, born 1876, had died.
Emma was the 5th child to marry. She was married in September. At the end of 1880, only two children remained unmarried. Lona/Leona/Lony married in 1884, and Franklin B married in 1888. (Franklin was divorced by the 1900 census.)
Lucy Melvina apparently went to Texas after 6 of her children had married rather than going to Texas with her young brood after her husband died.William T's son Sam was born in Texas in January 1888, while his daughter Ethel was born in Louisiana in October 1886. We have no information on exactly where any of them were in 1890, given the destruction by fire of those census records. By 1900, Lucy is living with Frank in Fort Bend County, and William T and his family were living in Trinity County.
Lucy Melvina, Franklin B, William T, and several of William T's children are buried in Glendale Cemetery, Trinity Texas
The remaining question, since Samuel Thomas Johnson was married in Alabama in 1877, and came to Texas later that year, is how the family lost track of him (or he of them.) Our Sam definitely lived until 1909, and had six children, of whom 5 survived.The Bible belonging to Sam and to his wife Lula Masters was lost in closing their grand daughter's home in 1986. The Court House in the county where he was buried had a fire which destroyed most of their records.
A lot happened which could explain the break in communications between Sam and the others:
In 1887, William T. and Sarah came to Texas, then had a baby (Sam) in January 1888, and Franklin B got married in February 1888.
Sam and Lula had a baby born in October 1887 (Malcolm). In February 1889, Lona and her husband died, and Emma took their 20 month old to raise.
In March 1890, Sam and Lula had a baby who died, and Lula was in and out of the hospital, finally going back into the hospital in December 1890. In January 1891, W.T. and Sarah had a new baby and lost their 3 year old Sam a week later. Meanwhile, Samuel Thomas Johnson was struggling to take care of 5 little kids who could not understand why their mother did not come home. I think this just might explain the breakdown in communications. Sufficient unto the immediate family were the troubles thereof. And they were not living in the same part of Texas. Then in December 1891, Nancy Syble, the oldest child of Lucy Melvina and James died.
What an ordeal they all went through. In three years the oldest and youngest of Lucy's daughters died, and Lucy lost FOUR grandchildren: Lona's two in 1887-89, Sam's in 1890, and William T's in 1891.
None of Samuel Thomas Johnson's great grandchildren has any more info on his parents than shown here. His 1880 census record days that his mother was born in Tennessee and his father in Virginia.
James Johnson was born in Tennessee and Lucy Melvina Browne was born in Tennessee. For Sam to be the son of James and Lucy Melvina, Samuel Thomas Johnson's census record about his father's birthplace would have to be wrong. It could be, or it could be confused. What is now Tennessee was once part of Virginia, and the state lines were not firmly established for some time. Many families owned land which straddled the state border.
DNA testing in 2016 has established links with the families of James and Lucy Melvina which support the idea that Sam was their son.
Barbara Bowie-Whitman great grand daughter of Samuel Thomas Johnson (1847-1909) and Lula Masters Johnson (1860-1944)
Samuel Thomas Johnson was a member of Masonic Lodge 364 in Gavatt Texas.
His son Malcolm is interred at Evergreen Alameda Cemetery, El Paso, TX Find a Grave # 113850310, Malcolm T Johnson Sr.
Samuel Thomas Johnson definitely was born in Tennessee. That info is on the death certificate of his daughter Nora Katherine Johnson Barrier, and on his census records for 1880 and 1900 in Titus County Texas. All five of his children who lived to adulthood knew his birth date: December 11, 1847. None of his children left a written record of Sam's parents, and none of his grandchildren or great grandchildren have been able to work it out.
Problem is we still have no death record for him:
Morris County has an excerpted death record of a Samuel S Johnson whose recorded date was November 4, 1909, and who was 61 years old.(right age ) His parents are not recorded. Samuel's eldest daughter Lillie's 4th child, Morris, was born on October 30, 1909, one month after Samuel died on September 29, 1909. Since Lillie was 8 months pregnant when her father died, it is very likely that the birth of Morris Barrier and the death of Samuel Thomas Johnson were recorded at the same time (with an incorrect date and middle initial) by Lillie's husband Thomas Jefferson Barrier.
The State of Texas does NOT have a death record for Samuel Thomas Johnson, in 1909.
Titus County has no record for anyone named Johnson dying in 1909.
We have reason to believe that Samuel Thomas MAY have been the son of Lucy Melvina Browne Johnson and James Johnson. They have a Sam resident with them in Sabine Louisiana on Census records for 1850 and in 1860, and that Sam was born in Tennessee at the right time.But we have nothing that proves our Sam is the right fellow to be their son.
Notes passed down among descendants of some of Lucy Melvina and James' children say that "young Sam" died - "after the family moved to Texas", which since they did not arrive until 1888, could have referred to his death in 1909, or that he "died of dysentery after returning from the Civil War"
The writer of a note that said one of her father's brothers died of dysentery after the Civil War was Ethel Johnson Fusell, daughter of William T. Johnson. Ethel was born in 1886. She did know her grandmother Lucy Melvina. Ethel wrote the letter in 1962, when she was 76 years old. At that time Ethel's memory was already failing.
We know that James Johnson died of diarrhea in 1864, as noted on his Confederate Service/Death record. We know that William T Johnson had a son named Samuel who lived from 1888-1891. Ethel could have confused these facts with what actually happened to James and Lucy Melvina's Samuel Johnson born in 1847.
The "young Sam" who died "after the family came to Texas" was definitely the SON of William T Johnson, and not his brother. It would be odd for BOTH father (James) and son (Sam) to die of dysentery after returning from the war, although many died that way.
Some of Lucy Melvina's children went to Texas before her: Her eldest, Nancy Syble, married David Crocket Dempsey in 1869, four years after James died. The marriage is recorded in Kaufman County Texas. David was a widower with 2 daughters. Nancy Syble and David Dempsey are on the 1870 census in Kaufman County. We have no 1870 census records of any of the others. The second child to marry was Sarah Elizabeth, who married in 1872 in Kaufman Texas, where Nancy Syble already lived. So two daughters settled in Kaufman County. The third marriage was that of William T in Louisiana in 1875. He remained in Louisiana and is listed in the 1880 census in Sabine Parish with his wife Sarah and one year old daughter. The fourth marriage was that of (our) Samuel to Lula Masters in Alabama in 1877. They are shown on the census in Titus County Texas with one child by 1880, not far from Kaufman County. Now 3 of Lucy's children are in East Texas (if our Sam is her Sam).
At the beginning of 1880, Lucy Melvina was still in Louisiana (Natchitoches) living with 3 of her children: Franklin, Emma and Lony/Leona. Her four other children were all married and 3 were living in Texas., as documented by census reports. William T and his wife and one child were still in Louisiana in Sabine Parish. In 1880,William's daughter Lona, born 1876, had died.
Emma was the 5th child to marry. She was married in September. At the end of 1880, only two children remained unmarried. Lona/Leona/Lony married in 1884, and Franklin B married in 1888. (Franklin was divorced by the 1900 census.)
Lucy Melvina apparently went to Texas after 6 of her children had married rather than going to Texas with her young brood after her husband died.William T's son Sam was born in Texas in January 1888, while his daughter Ethel was born in Louisiana in October 1886. We have no information on exactly where any of them were in 1890, given the destruction by fire of those census records. By 1900, Lucy is living with Frank in Fort Bend County, and William T and his family were living in Trinity County.
Lucy Melvina, Franklin B, William T, and several of William T's children are buried in Glendale Cemetery, Trinity Texas
The remaining question, since Samuel Thomas Johnson was married in Alabama in 1877, and came to Texas later that year, is how the family lost track of him (or he of them.) Our Sam definitely lived until 1909, and had six children, of whom 5 survived.The Bible belonging to Sam and to his wife Lula Masters was lost in closing their grand daughter's home in 1986. The Court House in the county where he was buried had a fire which destroyed most of their records.
A lot happened which could explain the break in communications between Sam and the others:
In 1887, William T. and Sarah came to Texas, then had a baby (Sam) in January 1888, and Franklin B got married in February 1888.
Sam and Lula had a baby born in October 1887 (Malcolm). In February 1889, Lona and her husband died, and Emma took their 20 month old to raise.
In March 1890, Sam and Lula had a baby who died, and Lula was in and out of the hospital, finally going back into the hospital in December 1890. In January 1891, W.T. and Sarah had a new baby and lost their 3 year old Sam a week later. Meanwhile, Samuel Thomas Johnson was struggling to take care of 5 little kids who could not understand why their mother did not come home. I think this just might explain the breakdown in communications. Sufficient unto the immediate family were the troubles thereof. And they were not living in the same part of Texas. Then in December 1891, Nancy Syble, the oldest child of Lucy Melvina and James died.
What an ordeal they all went through. In three years the oldest and youngest of Lucy's daughters died, and Lucy lost FOUR grandchildren: Lona's two in 1887-89, Sam's in 1890, and William T's in 1891.
None of Samuel Thomas Johnson's great grandchildren has any more info on his parents than shown here. His 1880 census record days that his mother was born in Tennessee and his father in Virginia.
James Johnson was born in Tennessee and Lucy Melvina Browne was born in Tennessee. For Sam to be the son of James and Lucy Melvina, Samuel Thomas Johnson's census record about his father's birthplace would have to be wrong. It could be, or it could be confused. What is now Tennessee was once part of Virginia, and the state lines were not firmly established for some time. Many families owned land which straddled the state border.
DNA testing in 2016 has established links with the families of James and Lucy Melvina which support the idea that Sam was their son.
Barbara Bowie-Whitman great grand daughter of Samuel Thomas Johnson (1847-1909) and Lula Masters Johnson (1860-1944)
Samuel Thomas Johnson married Lula Masters in Alabama in 1877. Sam and Lula, and their eldest daughter Lillie, moved to East Texas about 1878 along with Lula's mother, Rebecca Katherine Ryan Masters. Sam was a farmer and a carpenter. He and Lula had 5 children born in Texas: Pascal 1880-1940, Nora 1882-1949, Sadie 1884-1979, Malcolm 1887-1960, and Geneva who was born in 1890 and died in infancy.
Samuel Thomas Johnson was a member of Masonic Lodge 364 in Gavatt Texas.
His son Malcolm is interred at Evergreen Alameda Cemetery, El Paso, TX Find a Grave # 113850310, Malcolm T Johnson Sr.
Samuel Thomas Johnson definitely was born in Tennessee. That info is on the death certificate of his daughter Nora Katherine Johnson Barrier, and on his census records for 1880 and 1900 in Titus County Texas. All five of his children who lived to adulthood knew his birth date: December 11, 1847. None of his children left a written record of Sam's parents, and none of his grandchildren or great grandchildren have been able to work it out.
Problem is we still have no death record for him:
Morris County has an excerpted death record of a Samuel S Johnson whose recorded date was November 4, 1909, and who was 61 years old.(right age ) His parents are not recorded. Samuel's eldest daughter Lillie's 4th child, Morris, was born on October 30, 1909, one month after Samuel died on September 29, 1909. Since Lillie was 8 months pregnant when her father died, it is very likely that the birth of Morris Barrier and the death of Samuel Thomas Johnson were recorded at the same time (with an incorrect date and middle initial) by Lillie's husband Thomas Jefferson Barrier.
The State of Texas does NOT have a death record for Samuel Thomas Johnson, in 1909.
Titus County has no record for anyone named Johnson dying in 1909.
We have reason to believe that Samuel Thomas MAY have been the son of Lucy Melvina Browne Johnson and James Johnson. They have a Sam resident with them in Sabine Louisiana on Census records for 1850 and in 1860, and that Sam was born in Tennessee at the right time.But we have nothing that proves our Sam is the right fellow to be their son.
Notes passed down among descendants of some of Lucy Melvina and James' children say that "young Sam" died - "after the family moved to Texas", which since they did not arrive until 1888, could have referred to his death in 1909, or that he "died of dysentery after returning from the Civil War"
The writer of a note that said one of her father's brothers died of dysentery after the Civil War was Ethel Johnson Fusell, daughter of William T. Johnson. Ethel was born in 1886. She did know her grandmother Lucy Melvina. Ethel wrote the letter in 1962, when she was 76 years old. At that time Ethel's memory was already failing.
We know that James Johnson died of diarrhea in 1864, as noted on his Confederate Service/Death record. We know that William T Johnson had a son named Samuel who lived from 1888-1891. Ethel could have confused these facts with what actually happened to James and Lucy Melvina's Samuel Johnson born in 1847.
The "young Sam" who died "after the family came to Texas" was definitely the SON of William T Johnson, and not his brother. It would be odd for BOTH father (James) and son (Sam) to die of dysentery after returning from the war, although many died that way.
Some of Lucy Melvina's children went to Texas before her: Her eldest, Nancy Syble, married David Crocket Dempsey in 1869, four years after James died. The marriage is recorded in Kaufman County Texas. David was a widower with 2 daughters. Nancy Syble and David Dempsey are on the 1870 census in Kaufman County. We have no 1870 census records of any of the others. The second child to marry was Sarah Elizabeth, who married in 1872 in Kaufman Texas, where Nancy Syble already lived. So two daughters settled in Kaufman County. The third marriage was that of William T in Louisiana in 1875. He remained in Louisiana and is listed in the 1880 census in Sabine Parish with his wife Sarah and one year old daughter. The fourth marriage was that of (our) Samuel to Lula Masters in Alabama in 1877. They are shown on the census in Titus County Texas with one child by 1880, not far from Kaufman County. Now 3 of Lucy's children are in East Texas (if our Sam is her Sam).
At the beginning of 1880, Lucy Melvina was still in Louisiana (Natchitoches) living with 3 of her children: Franklin, Emma and Lony/Leona. Her four other children were all married and 3 were living in Texas., as documented by census reports. William T and his wife and one child were still in Louisiana in Sabine Parish. In 1880,William's daughter Lona, born 1876, had died.
Emma was the 5th child to marry. She was married in September. At the end of 1880, only two children remained unmarried. Lona/Leona/Lony married in 1884, and Franklin B married in 1888. (Franklin was divorced by the 1900 census.)
Lucy Melvina apparently went to Texas after 6 of her children had married rather than going to Texas with her young brood after her husband died.William T's son Sam was born in Texas in January 1888, while his daughter Ethel was born in Louisiana in October 1886. We have no information on exactly where any of them were in 1890, given the destruction by fire of those census records. By 1900, Lucy is living with Frank in Fort Bend County, and William T and his family were living in Trinity County.
Lucy Melvina, Franklin B, William T, and several of William T's children are buried in Glendale Cemetery, Trinity Texas
The remaining question, since Samuel Thomas Johnson was married in Alabama in 1877, and came to Texas later that year, is how the family lost track of him (or he of them.) Our Sam definitely lived until 1909, and had six children, of whom 5 survived.The Bible belonging to Sam and to his wife Lula Masters was lost in closing their grand daughter's home in 1986. The Court House in the county where he was buried had a fire which destroyed most of their records.
A lot happened which could explain the break in communications between Sam and the others:
In 1887, William T. and Sarah came to Texas, then had a baby (Sam) in January 1888, and Franklin B got married in February 1888.
Sam and Lula had a baby born in October 1887 (Malcolm). In February 1889, Lona and her husband died, and Emma took their 20 month old to raise.
In March 1890, Sam and Lula had a baby who died, and Lula was in and out of the hospital, finally going back into the hospital in December 1890. In January 1891, W.T. and Sarah had a new baby and lost their 3 year old Sam a week later. Meanwhile, Samuel Thomas Johnson was struggling to take care of 5 little kids who could not understand why their mother did not come home. I think this just might explain the breakdown in communications. Sufficient unto the immediate family were the troubles thereof. And they were not living in the same part of Texas. Then in December 1891, Nancy Syble, the oldest child of Lucy Melvina and James died.
What an ordeal they all went through. In three years the oldest and youngest of Lucy's daughters died, and Lucy lost FOUR grandchildren: Lona's two in 1887-89, Sam's in 1890, and William T's in 1891.
None of Samuel Thomas Johnson's great grandchildren has any more info on his parents than shown here. His 1880 census record days that his mother was born in Tennessee and his father in Virginia.
James Johnson was born in Tennessee and Lucy Melvina Browne was born in Tennessee. For Sam to be the son of James and Lucy Melvina, Samuel Thomas Johnson's census record about his father's birthplace would have to be wrong. It could be, or it could be confused. What is now Tennessee was once part of Virginia, and the state lines were not firmly established for some time. Many families owned land which straddled the state border.
DNA testing in 2016 has established links with the families of James and Lucy Melvina which support the idea that Sam was their son.
Barbara Bowie-Whitman great grand daughter of Samuel Thomas Johnson (1847-1909) and Lula Masters Johnson (1860-1944)
Samuel Thomas Johnson was a member of Masonic Lodge 364 in Gavatt Texas.
His son Malcolm is interred at Evergreen Alameda Cemetery, El Paso, TX Find a Grave # 113850310, Malcolm T Johnson Sr.
Samuel Thomas Johnson definitely was born in Tennessee. That info is on the death certificate of his daughter Nora Katherine Johnson Barrier, and on his census records for 1880 and 1900 in Titus County Texas. All five of his children who lived to adulthood knew his birth date: December 11, 1847. None of his children left a written record of Sam's parents, and none of his grandchildren or great grandchildren have been able to work it out.
Problem is we still have no death record for him:
Morris County has an excerpted death record of a Samuel S Johnson whose recorded date was November 4, 1909, and who was 61 years old.(right age ) His parents are not recorded. Samuel's eldest daughter Lillie's 4th child, Morris, was born on October 30, 1909, one month after Samuel died on September 29, 1909. Since Lillie was 8 months pregnant when her father died, it is very likely that the birth of Morris Barrier and the death of Samuel Thomas Johnson were recorded at the same time (with an incorrect date and middle initial) by Lillie's husband Thomas Jefferson Barrier.
The State of Texas does NOT have a death record for Samuel Thomas Johnson, in 1909.
Titus County has no record for anyone named Johnson dying in 1909.
We have reason to believe that Samuel Thomas MAY have been the son of Lucy Melvina Browne Johnson and James Johnson. They have a Sam resident with them in Sabine Louisiana on Census records for 1850 and in 1860, and that Sam was born in Tennessee at the right time.But we have nothing that proves our Sam is the right fellow to be their son.
Notes passed down among descendants of some of Lucy Melvina and James' children say that "young Sam" died - "after the family moved to Texas", which since they did not arrive until 1888, could have referred to his death in 1909, or that he "died of dysentery after returning from the Civil War"
The writer of a note that said one of her father's brothers died of dysentery after the Civil War was Ethel Johnson Fusell, daughter of William T. Johnson. Ethel was born in 1886. She did know her grandmother Lucy Melvina. Ethel wrote the letter in 1962, when she was 76 years old. At that time Ethel's memory was already failing.
We know that James Johnson died of diarrhea in 1864, as noted on his Confederate Service/Death record. We know that William T Johnson had a son named Samuel who lived from 1888-1891. Ethel could have confused these facts with what actually happened to James and Lucy Melvina's Samuel Johnson born in 1847.
The "young Sam" who died "after the family came to Texas" was definitely the SON of William T Johnson, and not his brother. It would be odd for BOTH father (James) and son (Sam) to die of dysentery after returning from the war, although many died that way.
Some of Lucy Melvina's children went to Texas before her: Her eldest, Nancy Syble, married David Crocket Dempsey in 1869, four years after James died. The marriage is recorded in Kaufman County Texas. David was a widower with 2 daughters. Nancy Syble and David Dempsey are on the 1870 census in Kaufman County. We have no 1870 census records of any of the others. The second child to marry was Sarah Elizabeth, who married in 1872 in Kaufman Texas, where Nancy Syble already lived. So two daughters settled in Kaufman County. The third marriage was that of William T in Louisiana in 1875. He remained in Louisiana and is listed in the 1880 census in Sabine Parish with his wife Sarah and one year old daughter. The fourth marriage was that of (our) Samuel to Lula Masters in Alabama in 1877. They are shown on the census in Titus County Texas with one child by 1880, not far from Kaufman County. Now 3 of Lucy's children are in East Texas (if our Sam is her Sam).
At the beginning of 1880, Lucy Melvina was still in Louisiana (Natchitoches) living with 3 of her children: Franklin, Emma and Lony/Leona. Her four other children were all married and 3 were living in Texas., as documented by census reports. William T and his wife and one child were still in Louisiana in Sabine Parish. In 1880,William's daughter Lona, born 1876, had died.
Emma was the 5th child to marry. She was married in September. At the end of 1880, only two children remained unmarried. Lona/Leona/Lony married in 1884, and Franklin B married in 1888. (Franklin was divorced by the 1900 census.)
Lucy Melvina apparently went to Texas after 6 of her children had married rather than going to Texas with her young brood after her husband died.William T's son Sam was born in Texas in January 1888, while his daughter Ethel was born in Louisiana in October 1886. We have no information on exactly where any of them were in 1890, given the destruction by fire of those census records. By 1900, Lucy is living with Frank in Fort Bend County, and William T and his family were living in Trinity County.
Lucy Melvina, Franklin B, William T, and several of William T's children are buried in Glendale Cemetery, Trinity Texas
The remaining question, since Samuel Thomas Johnson was married in Alabama in 1877, and came to Texas later that year, is how the family lost track of him (or he of them.) Our Sam definitely lived until 1909, and had six children, of whom 5 survived.The Bible belonging to Sam and to his wife Lula Masters was lost in closing their grand daughter's home in 1986. The Court House in the county where he was buried had a fire which destroyed most of their records.
A lot happened which could explain the break in communications between Sam and the others:
In 1887, William T. and Sarah came to Texas, then had a baby (Sam) in January 1888, and Franklin B got married in February 1888.
Sam and Lula had a baby born in October 1887 (Malcolm). In February 1889, Lona and her husband died, and Emma took their 20 month old to raise.
In March 1890, Sam and Lula had a baby who died, and Lula was in and out of the hospital, finally going back into the hospital in December 1890. In January 1891, W.T. and Sarah had a new baby and lost their 3 year old Sam a week later. Meanwhile, Samuel Thomas Johnson was struggling to take care of 5 little kids who could not understand why their mother did not come home. I think this just might explain the breakdown in communications. Sufficient unto the immediate family were the troubles thereof. And they were not living in the same part of Texas. Then in December 1891, Nancy Syble, the oldest child of Lucy Melvina and James died.
What an ordeal they all went through. In three years the oldest and youngest of Lucy's daughters died, and Lucy lost FOUR grandchildren: Lona's two in 1887-89, Sam's in 1890, and William T's in 1891.
None of Samuel Thomas Johnson's great grandchildren has any more info on his parents than shown here. His 1880 census record days that his mother was born in Tennessee and his father in Virginia.
James Johnson was born in Tennessee and Lucy Melvina Browne was born in Tennessee. For Sam to be the son of James and Lucy Melvina, Samuel Thomas Johnson's census record about his father's birthplace would have to be wrong. It could be, or it could be confused. What is now Tennessee was once part of Virginia, and the state lines were not firmly established for some time. Many families owned land which straddled the state border.
DNA testing in 2016 has established links with the families of James and Lucy Melvina which support the idea that Sam was their son.
Barbara Bowie-Whitman great grand daughter of Samuel Thomas Johnson (1847-1909) and Lula Masters Johnson (1860-1944)
Gravesite Details
son Malcolm interred at Evergreen Alameda Cemetery, El Paso, TX Find a Grave # 31402575, Malcolm T Johnson Sr.
