James Madison Johnson

​First Generation
 
1.  James Madison Johnson was born in 1829 in North Carolina. He died in 1881 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Macedonia Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
1860 US census - Wise Co, Texas - pg 333
1870 US census - Brown Co, Texas - San Saba Co pg 121
 
Appointed by Gen Buchanan as Sheriff of Brown Co 5/1 2/1868
 
James M. JOHNSON was appointed on May 12, 1868, by General Buchanan’s Special Order #154 and served until December 3, 1868. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
(January 23, 2008— e-mail sent to Patti) - Thanks for some interesting additional info on the Johnson family. I stopped researching when my mother (Jo Ann King, daughter of Tibitha Alabama Johnson) died in 1998, and just ran across your RootsWeb info this morning while searching during a moment of renewed interest. I’ve visited Macedonia Cemetery in Brownwood, TX while researching the Johnson clan. Also thought you might like this little “odd” tidbit: -“Jim Johnson Survey was on the Pecan Bayou, just south of Susan Earp’s place. The thing that he is remembered for was his six fingers.” (From “Early Communities of Lake Brownwood”, p. 16) - That trait (6 fingers) continues on: I was born with 6 fingers on each hand, and my brother’s son was born with 6 fingers and 6 toes. - Thanks again. - Pat Williams - Wimberley, TX
 
The Jim Johnson listed here is my husband’s great-great-grandfather who came to Brown County in 1863. His sons and neighbors were involved in the wire cutting incident that began in the spring of 1883, which was quite a to do here in Brown County. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
James married Martha Williams daughter of Jonas Williams and Mary Ware Polly. Martha was
born in 1833 in Arkansas. She died in 1913 in Brown Co, Texas. She was buried in Macedonia
Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 +2M      i.              Clarence Jefferson Johnson was born in Oct 1855. He died in 1926.
 +3M      ii.             William Franklin Johnson was born on 26 Aug 1859. He died on 11 Oct 1950.
 +4M      iii.            Charles Wesley Johnson was born on 12 Jan 1862. He died on 15 Mar 1944.
 +5F        iv.           Nancy Ann Johnson was born on 3 Aug 1866. She died on 18 Aug 1964.
 +6F        v.            Susan Alabama Johnson was born on 25 Mar 1868. She died on 17 Jan 1957.
 +7F        vi.           Etta Johnson.
 
Second Generation
 
2.  Clarence Jefferson Johnson (James Madison) was born in Oct 1855 in Prairie Point, Wise Co,
Texas. He died in 1926 in Brown Co, Texas. Clarence married Tabitha ‘Nannie’ Parrock daughter of Lou. Tabitha was born in Jan 1859 in Missouri. She died on 4 Nov 1904 in Dublin, Erath Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 8F          i.              Martha Mattie L Johnson was born in Apr 1877 in Texas.
Martha married (1) John Parrack.
Martha married (2) Ed Dool.
 9M        ii.             James Robert Bob Johnson was born in Jul 1879 in Callahan Co,Texas.
James married Alice Carroll. Alice was born on 15 Nov 1885. She died on 26 Dec 1961.
 10M      iii.            Charles Columbus Lum Johnson was born in Aug 1882.
Charles married Ollie.
 11M      iv.           Ernest Johnson was born in Nov 1885.
 +12F     v.            Tabitha Alabama Johnson was born on 1 Apr 1888.
 13M      vi.           Clarence Jefferson Johnson, Jr was born in Apr 1891 in Texas.
 14F        vii.          Marietta Johnson was born in Feb 1896 in Texas.
Marietta married Frank Billman.
 15M      viii.         Eugene Dewey Johnson was born in Feb 1899.
Eugene married Holtsie Brigance.

​3.  William Franklin Johnson (James Madison) was born on 26 Aug 1859 in Prairie Point, Wise
Co, Texas. He died on 11 Oct 1950 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
William married Ann Arciadia Allen daughter of John W Allen and Sarah Eggles. Ann was born
on 18 Dec 1865 in Bell or Bosque Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 16M      i.              James Madison Jim Johnson was born on 2 Oct 1883.
 17M      ii.             Ceburn (Seaborn) Wesley Johnson was born on 8 Nov 1884.
 +18F     iii.            Maggie May Johnson was born on 30 Mar 1890. She died on 27 Aug 1965.
 +19M   iv.           Charles Thomason Johnson was born on 5 Aug 1897.
 +20F     v.            Addle Laurie Johnson was born on 25 Nov 1899. She died on 2 Feb 1995.
 21F        vi.           Emily Allen Johnson was born on 22 Feb 1893. She died in 1893.
 
4.  Charles Wesley Johnson (James Madison) was born on 12 Jan 1862 in Brown Co, Texas. He died on 15 Mar 1944 in Bangs, Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Macedonia Weedon Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
Uncle Charlie Johnson (the outlaw) and Aunt Pearl were neighbors before they married. In the early 1900’s Charlie and his sister Alabama were living with their mother on her land just north of Brownwood near Bangs. Charlie was in his early forties and “Allie” (his sister) (as she’s referred to on the census record) was in her early thirties. Around 1908 the Moores moved onto the farm next door. Jasper Moore and his wife Arcadia and their youngest daughter Pearl lived on part of the land, and their son (Pearl’s brother) Thallie and his family lived on the other part. In late 1910 Charlie, then 47, and Pearl then 17, were married. They had only one child, Lonnie in 1911, who was shot and killed in 1926. Thallie (T.T.) Moore signed Jasper’s death certificate. 1870 US census - Brown Co, Texas
 
E mail sent 1/23/2008 - No, sorry. The oldest Johnson photo I have is the one of CJ’s family taken about 1896 (with the man I knew as “Uncle Jeff’, then 5 yrs old). I don’t have any Johnson lineage beyond Jim either.
The wire-cutting story, and the buffalo stories are some of the ones I’ve heard passed down from my grandparents, uncles, and parents over the years. I had the book ‘Old Communities of Lake Srownwood” but loaned it to another researcher and never got it back. If you know where I can buy another copy, I would love to do so.
You may have read the text below from someone else, as I wrote it about 15 years ago, and have passed it on to several people years ago when I was actively researching.
This was from notes I had made about Wesley (Charles Wesley Johnson):
Born in Prairie Point, Wise County, Texas, January 12, 1863.
Charles and Pearl were neighbors before they married. In the early 1900’s, Charlie and his sister Alabama were living with their mother on her land just north of Brownwood near Bangs. Charlie was in his early forties and “Allie” (as she’s referred to on the census record) was in her early thirties. Around lOO8the Moores moved on to the farm next door. Jasper Moore and his wife Arcadia and their youngest daughter Pearl lived on part of the land, and their son (Pearl’s brother) Thallie and his family lived on the other part. In late 1910 Charlie, then 47, and Pearl, then 17, were married. They had only one child, Lonnie, in 1911, who was shot and killed in 1926. Thallie (T.T. Moore) signed Jasper’s death certificate.
 
Another family living in the same area at the time was the Weedons. As of 1993, the Weedons still owned land in this area, including Weedon Ranch, on which is located Macedonia Cemetery, where Charles, Pearl, Lonnie, and C. J. Johnson are buried. This is a small cemetery which originally was located across the road from the local church. Since Lake Brownwood was constructed, the road and the church have been lost.
 
Mark Johnson told the story of Charles having shot a man who turned in Charles and C.J. for “cutting wire” (a method of protesting the partitioning of open range land by cutting fences). Charles later told Mark that he didn’t kill the man “but meant to”. Charles ran after the shooting, living in Oklahoma, Arkansas and north Texas for seven years. In that time he reportedly spent only one night in a bed (a corn husk bed for which he paid fifty cents for the night). He later told Mark that he spent this time travelling ‘tor his health”. After seven years, Charles returned and turned himself in, but due to a lack of credible witnesses, he was released. (This story has since been found printed in the book, “Old Communities of Lake Brownwood”, 1980, by Pattie Lee Cross Weedon. The night the shooting took place is listed as November 9, 1886. Among the known wire cutters is listed Charlie, C.J. “Jeff” Johnson, Frank Johnson, Bill Purcell (husband of sister Nancy Johnson), and Bob Parrock (believed to be Nannies brother).
 
Died in Bangs, Brown County, TX March 16, 1944 at the age of 81 of acute heart failure. His death certificate lists contributing factors as hypertension and senility.
Regards, Pat Williams Wimberley, TX
 
Charles married Pearl Neal Moore daughter of Jasper ‘Jap’ Lafayette Moore and Arcadia Neal.
Pearl was born on 4 Mar 1893 in Texas.
They had the following children:
 22M      i.              Lonnie Johnson was born on 18 Jan 1911 in Brown Co, Texas.
 
5.  Nancy Ann Johnson (James Madison) was born on 3 Aug 1866 in Brown Co, Texas. She died on 18 Aug 1964 in Coleman Co, Texas. She was buried in Macedonia Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
Nancy married (1) Squire Dan Eaton on 24 Feb 1883 in Brown Co, Texas. Squire was born on 18 Apr 1859.
They had the following children:
 23M      i.              Dan Eaton, Jr was born on 5 Jan 1884 in Brown Co, Texas.
 24M      ii.             Charles Chock Squire Eaton was born on 24 Sep 1885.
Charles married Josie Byrd. Josie was born on 24 Jul 1895. She died on 18 Dec 1972.
 
Nancy married (2) William Madison Bill Purcell son of William Charles Purcell and Lucendia
Paralee Haynes on 2 Mar 1891 in Cottonwood, Brown Co, Texas. William was born on 7 Mar
1866 in Washington Co, Texas. He died on 29 Nov 1937 in Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 +25M   iii.            Walter Scott Purcell was born on 26 Dec 1891.
 +26F     iv.           Mary Faye ‘Polly’ Purcell was born on 29 Jun 1894.
 +27M   v.            William Madison Bill Purcell, Jr was born on 27 Mar 1898.
 +28M   vi.           James Homer Purcell was born on 16 Oct 1900. He died on 1 Oct 1980.
  29F       vii.          Mattie Lee Purcell was born on 21 Jan 1903 in Brown Co, Texas.
Mattie married James Isaac Brown. James was born on 12 Feb 1898. He died on 11 Feb 1978.
 30M      viii.         Benjamin Franklin Purcell was born on 21 Jul 1905 in Brown Co, Texas. He died in 1918.
 +31M   ix.           Raymond Stanley Purcell was born on 26 Aug 1908. He died on 19 Nov 1998.
 
6.  Susan Alabama Johnson (James Madison) was born on 25 Mar 1868 in Brown Co, Texas.
She died on 17 Jan 1957 in Brown Co, Texas. She was buried in Macedonia Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
Susan married Oliver Bright. Oliver was born on 19 Feb 1862. He died on 25 Feb 1956 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Macedonia Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 32F        i.              Lila Mae Lavell Bright was born on 24 Jan 1913 in Jones CO, Texas.
Lila married Rodney Leon Bell.  Rodney was born on 11 Jun 1914.
 
7.  Etta Johnson (James Madison) was born in Brown Co, Texas. She died in Phoenix, Maricopa Co, Arizona. Etta married Purcell Benjamin son of William Charles Purcell and Lucendia Paralee Haynes.
Benjamin was born in 1869 in Washington CO, Texas.
They had the following children:
 33F        i.              Wilma Purcell.