LEROY JOHNSON

 

 

SURNAMES: JOHNSON, ARNOLD, HARLAN, PICKNEY, PINCKNEY, WRIGHT, JACKSON, GRIFFITH, YELVERTON, KILLEBREW, BASQUEZ

 

     Leroy Johnson, b May 2, 1827 in Laurens District, South Carolina, d September 21, 1872 at Blue Ridge in Falls County, Texas and buried there - was married "by the town squire in the town square in Laurens" ca 1846 to Louisa Eliza Arnold, b July 28, 1827 near the Cherokee Reservation in South Carolina, d March 13, 1903 at Blue Ridge in Falls County, they are both buried in the Blue Ridge Cemetery. Leroy was a black- smith who "fixed shoe and made bullets during the Civil War."

     Leroy and Louisa moved to Alabama ca 1848, thence to Arkansas in 1856. By 1872, the family had come through Nemo, Glen Rose, and Cleburne in Parker and Johnson Counties and then followed in their "ox drawn covered wagon" the Thomas D. Harlan family to Blue Ridge, where they settled across the road from the Blue Ridge Baptist Church in Falls County, Texas. That first winter was harsh as there were epidemics of pneumonia, jaundice, and measles - causing the deaths of Leroy Johnson and three of their sons. Leroy and Louisa (Arnold) Johnson had nine children:

     Albert John Pickney (sic "Pinckney") Johnson, b February 14, 1847 in Laurens District, South Carolina, d January 11, 1886 at Blue Ridge - married August 1, 1875 by Reverend Johnson V. Wright to Lydia Ann Clementine Jackson.

     Ruben Dixon Johnson, b January 20,1849 in Alabama, d November 23, 1872 at Blue Ridge and buried there.

     Evander Simpson Johnson, b December 14, 1851, d March 7, 1873 at Blue Ridge and buried there.

     Josier (sic "Josiah") Johnson, b October 12,1854, d 1861.

     Jesse Warren Johnson, b July 17, 1857, d February 1, 1873 at Blue Ridge and buried there.

     Albaney Martin Johnson, b November 30, 1861, d January 1, 1880 at Blue Ridge and buried there.

     Carolyn Frances Johnson, b October 12, 1863, d October 6, 1940 - married James Griffith and moved to Johnson County, Texas.

     John Thomas Johnson, b August 16, 1865, d November 15, 1911- married in 1896 to Eula Yelverton of Bremond, Robertson County, Texas, and had Leroy, Hill, Earl, and Vivian Johnson. They lived at Blue Ridge in Falls County until 1908, when they moved to Kerrville, Texas - returning to Marlin, Texas in 1912.

     Josephine Johnson, b July 28, 1869, d October 1900 - married a Mr. Killebrew.

     In 1882, Louisa Johnson signed Albert John Pickney (sic Pinckney) Johnson's note to buy 1,109.5 acres: of land in the Gregoria Basquez survey at Hog Island; in Falls County, for four dollars and fifty cents an acre.

When Albert died four years later his widow, Clementine, deeded 300 acres back to her mother-in-law,

Louisa (Arnold) Johnson, who then deeded it in equal shares of 100 acres each to her three other children, Thomas, Frances, and Josephine.

 

 

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.

"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 251 column  2 and page 252 column 1 and 2. 

Member of Falls County Historical Commission.