Zopher Johnston: Patriarch
ZOPHER JOHNSTON
PATRIARCH OF THE
DISTRICT 12 JOHNSON FAMILIES
OF GREENE COUNTY TN
SUBMITTED
BY: Stevie Hughes, stevie1302@aol.com
The Patriarch of the
District 12 (Baileyton Road area) Johnson family was Zopher Johnston.
His year of birth is not known, but he was born sometime in the early
1700’s. His name was carried forward by multiple generations over an
unbroken, 200 year time span. The last of his namesakes (who was born in
Greene County in 1851) died in Macedonia, Illinois in 1932.
By
1791, there were three “Zopher Johnstons” in Greene County. The family
Patriarch, Zopher, who was born in the early 1700’s, is who we refer to
as Zopher “The Elder”. The original surname was Johnston, but is often
spelled as “Johnson” in various records. We have a first hand account of
his name by Jane Brown Cooper in 1844, when, in her own hand, she
phonetically spelled his name as “Zaffa Johnston”. By 1840, the “T” had
been dropped from the surname in most records. By 1850, the “T” is
completely gone, and the surname is Johnson. This is the surname his
descendants would carry in their future westward migrations into Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois and Missouri.
We first find the Patriarch,
Zopher Johnston, in the 1730 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania tax list:
“Zopher and John Johnson, settled ten years”; thus, we know he was in
the Colonies at least by the year 1720. The timing coincides perfectly
with the initial mass immigration of the Scots into the Colonies. It is
possible Zopher and John, came to the Colonies as young, indentured
servants to a wealthy Quaker Family living in Philadelphia. After their
indenture was fully paid, they migrated westward. This scenario is one
theory.
The next “sighting” occurs in September 1761. Again, both
“Sopher” and John Johnston are once again in a Tax List, this time in
Allen Township in Northampton County, PA. We can now make some
speculative assumptions. Zopher and John appear to be brothers. “Sopher”
has 6 persons in his household, while John has 5. We know “Sopher” is
Zopher Johnston, the Patriarch of the District 12 Greene County
Johnsons, because in 1832 in Greene County TN his son, Zopher Johnston
Senior, filed for a Revolutionary War Pension. In this pension
application, Zopher Senior stated he was born on the Forks of Delaware
in Pennsylvania. This area is in Northampton County, PA. In 1832, Zopher
Senior stated his age as 70 years old; thus, dating his birth in
Northampton County about 1762.
Another twenty years will elapse
before we are able to learn more about Zopher Johnston, the Patriarch of
the Greene County District 12 Johnson families. During this twenty year
interval (1761-82), like so many of the Scots, Zopher migrated south
from Pennsylvania, down the Great Wagon Road into the Shenandoah Valley
in Virginia. It is uncertain if Zopher’s brother, John, came with him.
In 1782, we find only Zopher Johnston in Frederick County Virginia. His
“brother”, John, is not with him. In the 1782 Frederick County Virginia
Tax List, Zopher is listed with eight persons in his household. Two of
his sons reside next door in their separate households. These sons are
Moses and Zopher Johnston Senior, the Revolutionary War soldier who is
buried at Kidwell Cemetery. Both of these sons came to Greene County
Tennessee with their father, Zopher, about 1790. Residing next door to
this Johnston Family in 1782 is the Jotham Brown Family. Jotham Brown’s
wife, Pheby, is believed to be a daughter of Zopher Johnston. There is
not yet specific documentation with which to make this claim with
certainty. Most of the Jotham Brown family members also migrated into
Greene County Tennessee about 1805.
On November 17, 1790, Zopher
Johnston, the Patriarch of the Greene County family, purchased 100 acres
of land from the State of North Carolina, Grant #850, paying 50
shillings. The exact location of this land is not known; however, it was
adjacent to land owned by William Hannah and Daniel “Britten”. We know
the original land purchase in Greene County was by the Father, Zopher,
because of the 1791/92 Tax List. In the Captain Tate Company, 1791/92
Tax List, both Zopher, the Father, and Zopher Senior, his son, are in
the tax list. The Father, Zopher, owned the 100 acres. The son, Zopher
Senior, is shown with no land and is taxed only as a poll. A few years
later, on August 8, 1795, another 100 acres of land was purchased on
Grant # 1336. This land was located at the Little Chuckey at Pigeon
Creek, adjacent to the land owned by Frederick Hale and Henry Dunham
(e.g. Dunham’s Fork in District 12). On February 6, 1795, another 200
acres was purchased from Thomas McMeans. The description of this acreage
was Limestone Fork. The 1795 land purchases, could be by either the
Father, Zopher, or the son, Zopher Senior. The next available tax list,
that of Captain Gist’s Company in 1796, both Father and son, Zopher, own
land, as does the son, Moses.
With the absence of census records
until 1830, the annual Greene County Tax Lists begin to “tell the story”
of Zopher Johnston, the Patriarch of the Greene County families in
District 12. Zopher is first found in the Greene County Tax Lists in
1791/92, owning 100 acres of land. He continues to be in the early Tax
Lists up through 1798. In 1791/2 the land was under Captain Tate’s
District. In 1796, the District was under Captain Joseph Gist. By 1797,
the area was under Captain John Harmon. In the 1798 listing of Captain
John Harmon’s Company, Zopher is listed with 300 acres of land. So, too,
are his sons Zopher Senior (born c. 1762), who owned 150 acres, and
Moses (born c. 1755), who owned 100 acres, all in the same District.
Neither Zopher Johnston the Patriarch, nor either of his sons, are
in the 1800 List. This seems to imply the 1800 Tax List of Greene County
is incomplete. The Tax Lists for the years 1801-1804 are missing. In the
1805 Tax List, only a Harrison Johnston (born 1780) is named. Harrison
is believed to be a much younger son of Zopher the Patriarch by a
younger, second wife, Catherine Harrison (born 1753; died 1834). The Tax
Lists for the years 1806 through 1808 no longer exist. By 1809, only
Zopher Johnston Sr. (born c. 1762), the Revolutionary War Soldier buried
at Kidwell Cemetery, remained in Greene County.
Zopher Johnston,
the family Patriarch, who brought his family from Virginia into Greene
County Tennessee by 1790, most probably died in Greene County between
1800 and 1805. He is clearly deceased by March 1809, when his son
Harrison, was named in a lawsuit in Greene County as the Administrator
of the Estate of Zopher Johnston, deceased.
The known children
of Zopher Johnston, the Patriarch of the Greene County District 12
Johnson families, and his first wife whose name is not known, include:
1. Zopher Johnston Senior, born c. 1762 Forks of Delaware
Pennsylvania; died c. 1836-39 in Greene County TN. In the 1782 Frederick
County Tax List, he had two persons in his household. He and his young
family came to Greene County with his Father about 1790. Zopher Senior
was a Revolutionary War soldier who received a pension in Greene County
between 1832-1836. He is the only son of Zopher “The Elder” who remained
in Greene County. He is buried in Kidwell Cemetery near Baileyton Road.
For more information on this family, please refer to the Zopher Johnston
Senior Family of Greene County Tennessee.
2. Moses, born c. 1755.
In the 1782 Tax List of Frederick County Virginia, Moses had six persons
in his household. From this, we presume, Moses was somewhat older than
his brother, Zopher. Moses was in Greene County through-out the 1790’s
and into the early 1800’s. He is found in the Greene County Court
Records appointed to juries and road construction. He is also found in
the ledgers of Merchant, Robert Wyly. Moses is not in the 1809 Greene
County Tax List. By 1813, it appears Moses had moved to adjacent Hawkins
County. He is named in a land deed on 10-20-1813 in Hawkins County, when
a James Johnson purchased 200 acres of land adjacent to that of Moses
Johnson. One witness to the deed was William Stapleton, a known
intermarried family member. Moses is believed to also have named a son,
Zopher. This Zopher, born between 1800 – 1810, is in the 1830 Greene
County Census with his young wife and two children, living near Zopher
Johnston Senior (born c. 1762), and his son, Zopher Johnston Junior
(born 1791). This is the only record where Zopher, son of Moses, appears
in Greene County. Another son of Moses is believed to be Moses Junior.
Moses Junior married on 3-23-1818 in Greene County to Polly Weston.
Zopher, son of Moses, and Moses Junior are not found in any Tax List or
land deeds in Greene County.
3. Joseph. Joseph was named in his
brother, Zopher Johnston Senior’s, Revolutionary War Pension
application. In 1832, Zopher Senior stated that he substituted for his
brother, Joseph, in the Virginia Militia. By 1787, Joseph had left
Frederick County and was in Faquire County Virginia where his son,
Zopher, was born. Joseph and his family never came to Greene County
(that is known). Zopher, son of Joseph, migrated into Ohio, then into
Indiana, by 1830.
4. Pheby, born c. 1745. In the 1782 Frederick
County Tax List, the Father, Zopher, had eight people in his household,
with his two sons, Moses and Zopher, residing next door. Also residing
next door is the Jotham Brown family. Jotham’s wife, Pheby, is believed
to be a daughter of Zopher Johnston, the Patriarch of the Greene County
families. In 1797 in Montgomery County Virginia, Pheby, wife of Jotham
Brown, identified eleven children as her legal heirs. Pheby and Jotham’s
daughter, Jane, was born about 1765 in Virginia. Jane Brown Cooper was
age 85 in the 1850 Greene County Census. This tells us three things: (1)
Pheby, wife of Jotham Brown, was married on or about 1765. (2) Pheby’s
year of birth can be estimated to about 1745; and (3) If Jane Brown
Cooper was born in Virginia, then both the Jotham Brown and the Zopher
Johnston families were in Virginia by 1765. Most of Pheby and Jotham
Brown’s children came to Greene County by 1805. For information on Phebe
(Johnston??) and Jotham Brown, please refer to the Jotham Brown Family
of Greene County Tennessee.
5. Others??? It is virtually certain
that Zopher Johnston, the Patriarch of the Greene County District 12
Johnson families, named a son, John. This name carried forward in
multiple generations of the Greene County family. John, a son of Zopher,
was possibly in Greene County in 1796. A John Johnson appears with 200
acres of land in the 1796 Tax List of Captain Joseph Gist. There is also
an Abner Johnson, poll only, in this list. This is the same tax list
where the Father, Zopher, and his known sons Zopher Senior and Moses are
also listed. In the 1797 Tax List, both John and Abner Johnson are gone,
but in their place is a William Johnson who now owned 200 acres of land.
In the 1798 Tax List William Johnson is now gone, but Abner Johnson has
returned and he now owned 200 acres of land. The 1798 Tax List is the
last time John, William or Abner Johnson appear in this area of Greene
County. This gives rise to the possibility that more sons and/or
grandsons of Zopher “The Elder’” were also in Greene County.
Zopher Johnston’s first wife died before 1780. Zopher remarried to
Catherine Harrison about that time. There is only one known child by
Zopher “The Elder” and his second wife, Catherine Harrison:
6.
Harrison, born 6-18-1780. Harrison Johnston is named in a lawsuit
brought before the Greene County Courts in March 1809. He was identified
as the Administrator of the Estate of “Zopher Johnston, deceased”.
Previously, in the 1805 Tax List, Harrison is the only one of the
Johnston family members who were in this Tax List. It is probable that
his Father, Zopher, was dead by 1805; and Zopher’s second wife and
widow, Catherine Harrison, and her son, Harrison, were “legal” owners of
the farm. March 1809 is the last time Harrison can be documented in
Greene County. He is not in the 1809 Greene County Tax List. He is also
not found in the Marriage records. Harrison and his mother, Catherine
Harrison Johnson migrated to western Tennessee, settling in Madison
County. They are both buried in the Johnson Family Cemetery on their
farm. Catherine, born 9-13-1753, died on 5-22-1834. On Harrison
Johnson’s tombstone, he is identified as the son of Zopher and Catherine
Johnson. Harrison died on 6-3-1857. A picture of their tombstones is at
the website, www.johnsonfamilyhistory.org.
It is the opinion of
the author of this paper, that the 1809 law suit over the Estate of
Zopher Johnston was the division of the Father, Zopher’s, property among
the heirs. In the 1809 Greene County Tax List Zopher Johnston Sr. is
shown for the first time with the 189 acre farm located at the Roaring
Fork of Lick Creek. The Roaring Fork farm would pass to Zopher Senior’s
sons, John and Joseph, and later to his grandsons. Moses Johnston is no
longer in Greene County in 1809, nor is Harrison Johnston.
For
further information on this Johnston/Johnson Family and their
intermarried Greene County families please visit the Johnson Family
website, www.johnsonfamilyhistory.org.
For persons with the
Johnson/Johnston surname, a DNA project is available for the male
descendants of the Zopher Johnston/Johnson Family. Three proven male
descendants of Zopher Johnston have DNA results available for
comparison. Two have the latest 37-marker test results. This Johnson
database is administered by Family Tree DNA. The DNA results are also
available at the family website. We welcome more participants with the
hope of identifying more male descendants of this family.
THIS
FAMILY HISTORY HAS BEEN COMPILED FROM PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS IN
PENNSYLVANIA, VIRGINIA, INDIANA, OHIO, ILLINOIS AND GREENE COUNTY
TENNESSEE; GREENE COUNTY MARRIAGES 1783-1868 BY GOLDENE FILLERS BURGNER;
GREENE COUNTY TN DEED ABSTRACTS 1810-22 BY JOYCE MARTIN MURRAY; HAWKINS
COUNTY TN DEED ABSTRACTS 1801-19 BY JOYCE MARTIN MURRY; AS WELL AS
FAMILY INFORMATION FROM THE DESCENDANTS OF ZOPHER JOHNSTON SENIOR OF
GREENE COUNTY TENNESSEE, PHEBY JOHNSTON BROWN OF GREENE COUNTY
TENNESSEE, HARRISON JOHNSON OF MADISON COUNTY TN AND ZOPHER (OF JOSEPH)
JOHNSON OF INDIANA.
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