Andrew Jackson Johnson was the son of Lemuel & Marie "Mary" Ann Norris Johnson. He married Permelia Isabella Bain 26 Sep 1876. They had 12 children; Moses, Mary Rosetta, Erasmus Lemuel "Rass", Sephalcus Pearl, Roxie Olivia, Charles Alexander, Audley Jackson, Lilly Jane, Andrew Onius, John Bryan, William Talmadge, Otis K Jessup Johnson.

From his autobiography:

"...I love my wife, my family and relations but the great Divine Spiritual relationship has a greater congent influence than that of kin relationship. We are taught that we shall forsake father, mother and all of this world for Christ Jesus, which even includes ourselves. As to say, first seek God and his righteousness and all will be added to you.

Father & Mother were Christians, as the tree is known by its fruit. Yes, they both taught by example, as well by precept.

I will here aver without the fear of successful contradiction too, that there are even very few in this vain world who have seen one-tenth as many of their relations as I have. My relations on my father's side of the house are almost innumerable to behold. I will give you an idea of the great multiplicity of my kinfolks.

Now my father's grandmother had fourteen children, seven boys and seven girls. they were my father's uncles and aunts and they had very large families, each having from eleven to fifteen children. Hence, all these had large families but one, whose name was Clemmie Phillips. Other members of the Phillips family married in different families, twit: Adam Shilds, McKinney, Oliver, Dickens, Sanders, Watkins, Pilgrim, Wilson, Guin, etc.

Now there were 6 boys and 8 girls in my father's family. Most of them had large families, many of whom lived in MS, in the several counties, especially in Neshoba, Attala, Monroe, Chickawaw, Calhoun, LaFayette & Tipah.

I remember quite well that they had a big family celebration and spread a most wonderful dinner, hence they came to Sarepta in Calhoun Co., MS, from Chickasaw, LaFayette & Tipah counties, which great gathering was said to number four hundred and eighty five men, women and children.

So now, I take my mother's side. Her father was J. A. Norris and her mother's maiden name was Polly Ann Smith. My mother had two brothers and five sisters, all of whom had families, most of whom I have seen.

Now all of these folks live in several states, as to say, AL, MS, AR, OK, TN and LA and also CA & TX.

About five or six years ago, in my much travels, I found some forty or fifty of these kinsfolk of mine whom I had not heard from in about sixty years. One of these bunches I found not far from Birmingham, AL. Some of their names are Olive, Sanders & Grimes. Only one year ago I found a bunch of these kinsfolk in the city of Memphis, TN whom I had never seen. They are offspring of my first cousin, John Harris, whom I have not seen in about seventy years. This cousin of mine, when a small boy, lived at my father's home in Fayette, AL. I not having married until I was about 32 years, visited hundreds of my much beloved relations in several states and would very often live with them, sometimes only a few months and with two or three of them, one to two years. Therefore, I became much endeared to my relations.

As all things will grow, if fostered or cultivated, so love has become very strong and wedded to my heart and life generally. Here I will confess that I love money and property very greatly, but I love friends and kinsfolk far better. Friendship is not like money, because the more you use friendship the greater it becomes in power and is fruitfulness. In fact, a friend properly used, will become a perfect giant. Therefore, he does not only become tantamount, but paramount on all occasions, when needed.

Now in the period of the forties, it was not so essential that farming was so extensive as in later years. At this period, my father had a two horse farm, raising generally two hundred or three hundred bushels of corn, two bales of cotton and from one hundred to one hundred and twenty five bushels of wheat. The general range was rich and fine with all sorts of Mast, such as acorns and chestnuts. As far the cattle, the hills were fledged with rich grasses and the bottoms, small and large, were covered with reed and cane. Therefore, we carried from seventy to one hundred head of sheep and about the same amount of cattle, hence much milk, butter, beef and mutton and wood was sold.

.....forties and fifties, there were very little bottom lands cultivated hence, but little ditching. In '52, my father had a branch of Steen's Creek ditched, which was a four foot ditch. Many men came from ten to fifteen miles to see this ditch.

Now as to public roads in the yore period, they were very narrow, from eight to ten feet wide, and were worked by the public, by men from 18 to 45 years old, with common hoes, mostly iron. In the forties there were but 3 roads in Fayette County, the Tuscaloosa road, the Columbus Road and the Carrolton Road, all of which lead to the Fayette Court House.

Now up to '50, there was not a railroad in AL. The first one was the Mobile and Ohio Road, built in '54 or '55 hence all commodities, both raw and manufactured merchandise, were shipped and transferred by water facilities. In fact, up to the forties, old AL was in a state of great crudity, both materially and intellectually. The great coming force of our country, as to the people, were both inane and nude, hence I was in the same company and therefore my intellect was poorly developed. When the Civil War came, schools were few and far between. Practically, we common children, got no schooling. The third year of the war, I enlisted. In April, the fifth year of the war, it ended. I was about 21 years old and internally empty and extremely nude or naked. When I returned, I found the home people almost broken up. The pockets of the South were totally inane and its backs' were almost in the state of nudity.

Now the most of my remarks are pertaining to the general conditions of Noshoba County about seventy-five years ago. Seventy-two years ago, I and my good old mount made our inception in Neshoba County in the northeast corner of the said county, being in the community of the Erks, Phillips, Pilgrims, Pedan and McKinney settlement, all of whom are my blood relations on my father's side of the house of kinsfolk and of whom at this time, there were not less than several hundreds. Today, however, the most of these folks have died or moved west. Now to my own knowledge, none of these fathers and mothers are living and many of the children have died, mostly of old age, while I am still living on this side of the river."

Andrew Jackson Johnson wrote the above as part of his autobiography between 1932 and 1937, a man in his eighties. Like many of the Johnson's' he lived to be 96 years old. Juanita Johnson Britton b. Jul 19, 1916 m. Jun 6, 1943 to Arnold Taylor Britton and was the daughter of Rass Lemuel Johnson, M.D. b. Feb 12, 1888 near Ethel, Attala, MS m. Mary Ellen Moore, Nov 8, 1914 in Ethel, Attala, MS d. Apr 20, 1973 in Blytheville, AR, son of Lemuel Johnson and Mary Ann Norris. Lemuel Johnson was b in Spartanburg, SC in 1822 m. Jan 16, 1840 to Mary Ann Norris b. May 2, 1822 (probably in SC or GA d. Mar 26, 1900 Carson Ridge, Ethel, Attala, MS.