 Carrie Johnson Teacher  Caroline
May "Carrie" Johnson was born Wednesday, August 28, 1872 in Alton,
Madison County, Illinois, the 4th child and 2nd daughter of Henry C.
Johnson and Frances Arcena Wallace Johnson. Madison County is
located on the lower eastern border of Illinois and Missouri with the
mighty Mississippi River running between the two states.
 Carrie's
father served in the Union forces from Illinois during the Civil War as
a Private in Co. A, 144th Illinois Infantry from 5 September 1864 until
14 July 1865, suffering no injuries. In 1874 Henry C. Johnson,
along with a brother, W.F. Johnson, left Illinois for Denison, Texas.
Their intentions were to continue on to California if they didn't
like the Texas area. "New brick yard! W.F. Johnson has
leased ground from the Town Company, a third of a mile east of the
depot, and opened a brick yard." (The Denison Daily News, 16 August
1874)
Soon after Christmas 1874, Henry's family - wife Frances Arcena and four children, Charlie, Frannie, Frank and Carrie ~ made the trip from Alton, Illinois by wagon to St. Louis, then by boat down the Mississippi, and then by train to Denison by early 1875. After living in two different locations, Henry bought a block of land in 1878 at the west end of town, known for many years as the "Johnson Place". He cleared the southeast corner and built a two-room house which expanded over the years to accomodate his growing family. The address of the Johnson family became 1505 W. Gandy street.  1505 West Gandy Street Home of Miss Carrie Johnson, long-time teacher at historic Denison High School Photo courtesy of Frances Johnson Bailey, who lived next door to the (no-kin) Johnsons as a child. This was the next block up from Dr. Acheson's house. Carrie attended Denison schools. She attended the Educational Institute, later to be known as Denison High School.  Inez Cartwright and Carrie Johnson Two Schools on Main Street, fig. 1.17. Background: Educational Institute  Young women teachers at the Educational Institute Lower left: Carrie Johnson Upper right: Inez Cartwright Father, Henry C., died in August 1896. "Carrie did not marry Bob Barron, as she and Frank had the responsibility of taking care of the rest of the family." (History of Grayson Co., Texas, vol. I, pg. 406). Carrie attended Huntsville Normal for two years and came back to Denison to begin her teaching career.  Carrie Johnson died on October 4, 1936 in Fort Worth, Texas where she had been staying for two months. She was 64 years old and had spent 40 of those years as a school teacher, with her last day being in April of 1936. Carrie is buried in the family plot at Fairview Cemetery, Denison, Texas. Sources: Fairview Cemetery, Denison, Texas tombstones History of Grayson County, vol. 1, Henry C. Johnson family Texas Death Certificate for Caroline May Johnson 1890 Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, Grayson Co., Texas  Denison High School History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |